The Flag Raising Ceremony held on July 1 at the Clear Water Bay campus served as a powerful platform for instilling a strong sense of national identity, nurturing crucial personal development, and highlighting the interconnectedness with the Guangzhou campus.
This highly meaningful occasion marked the 29th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the People’s Republic of China, with an exemplary display by the Flag Guard Team.
The team entrusted with the solemn duty of escorting and hoisting the National, HKSAR, and the HKUST flags at the Piazza comprised 35 students and alumni from both the Clear Water Bay and the Guangzhou campuses—a number that deliberately marked HKUST’s 35th anniversary.
Observing the ceremony were Dr. John CHAN Cho-Chak, HKUST Pro-Chancellor; Prof. Harry SHUM, HKUST Council Chairman; Prof. Nancy IP, HKUST President; Prof. Lionel NI Ming-Shuan, HKUST (Guangzhou) President; Ms. Edith SHIH, HKUST Council Vice-Chairperson; Mr. Stephen YIU Kin-wah, HKUST University Treasurer; and Counsellor HUANG Jingrui, Spokesperson of the Commissioner’s Office of China’s Foreign Ministry in the HKSAR and Director-General of the Department of Media and Public Relations.
Training for the ceremony required immense commitment and relentless effort, according to the hardworking team members. XIANG Tianyi, a first-year undergraduate at HKUST (Guangzhou), said one of the biggest challenges was scheduling.
"The two detachments from the Clear Water Bay and the Guangzhou campuses spent over half a month in intensive joint training for this ceremony," Xiang shared. “With the summer break underway, many students had already made personal plans, such as summer school or travel. Yet everyone willingly prioritized the rehearsals over their private time to practice as much as possible.”
Then there was the challenge of locations. “Our Guangzhou members had to travel back and forth to Clear Water Bay for joint team training. It was physically exhausting, and to make matters more challenging, we frequently had to train through heavy downpours!" she joked.
WANG Yige, a second-year PhD student in Industrial Engineering and Decision Analytics from the Clear Water Bay detachment, echoed these sentiments. For him, the ultimate test lay in cross-campus coordination.
“To bridge this gap, members from both sides traveled to each other’s campuses ahead of the date to train together and exchange information,” he said, adding that a tremendous amount of effort went into ensuring their performance was perfect.
“Both teams need to align everything—from the precise height of each member of the team and the tempo of our leg kicks and arm swings to standardizing every single posture,” Wang said.
Xiang added that this joint exercise has been very moving. “The flag-raising ceremony coincided with the anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, the 29th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR, and the 35th anniversary of the founding of the HKUST. With all these special occasions, the ceremony was especially precious,” she shared.
“Through rigorous and intense training, members from both campuses have completed the mission with resounding success. I felt proud to be one of the 35 members who took over this important mission!” she added.
Established in 2025, the Flag Guard Team, comprising the Clear Water Bay and Guangzhou campus teams, also organizes exchange visits, team-building events, and national studies sessions.
Meanwhile, a team of eight HKUST students, competing for the first time, delivered an outstanding performance, securing a silver medal in the “Zheng Bu” group. They also won a bronze medal in the "Quick March” group in the Flag-Raising Competition organized by the Hong Kong Army Cadets Association on April 12.
