Dilys Chau Suet-fung

Graduate, College of Business
Partner, Ernst & Young

“Your attitude determines your altitude.”

A willingness to suffer a loss for a greater purpose and a never-give-up attitude have contributed to the remarkable success of Dilys Chau Suet-fung, our distinguished alumna, who is determined to give back to her alma mater through the professional knowledge she gained here.

Dilys, a partner in Ernst & Young, is a graduate of the Accountancy programme at CityUHK. She is a former Court and Council member of CityUHK, an Honorary Fellow and the first female recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award. She has been an Adjunct Professor in the College of Business of CityUHK since 2012 and received the Beta Gamma Sigma CityUHK Chapter Honouree Award in 2012.

She also actively serves in various roles for the Hong Kong SAR Government and the local community, and was President of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants Hong Kong in 2006/2007 and Chairlady of the Association of Christian Accountants from 2014 to 2017. Dilys received the Chief Executive’s Commendation for Community Service in July 2021 and was appointed Justice of the Peace by the Hong Kong SAR Government in July 2023.

Dilys started her journey at CityUHK as a student in company secretarial studies. She remembers her time on the Mongkok campus, which offered the then CityUHK community a cosy and warm place to collaborate and mingle. The time spent in the common room and the basement library with fellow students, and sneaking out of lectures to reserve a good table to host up to 14 to 16 classmates at nearby Chinese restaurants are among the fond memories that formed a great part of her campus life.  

At that time, the whole class liked to spend long hours in the library to study for the global qualification examinations. Because of this good learning atmosphere, she received the world’s best paper award in one of the subjects in her global examination. This award helped her get a few job offers after graduation. As her classes in CityUHK always overlapped with those of the Accountancy programme, she had a lot of chances to interact with accounting students and get a good understanding of what the accounting profession is like. Subsequently, she joined the auditing profession. Dilys mentioned that it was not her that picked accounting, but accounting that picked her.

Dilys is grateful for her education at CityUHK, which has driven her to give back to her alma mater. As a Council member, she experienced first-hand the unity and effectiveness of the management of the University, and she was proud to witness many of the great milestones that helped make the University what it is today. Thanks to her professional knowledge in accountancy, she helped set up a joint venture for the University in China and the transition of the operations of the Community College of CityUHK to the University of Wollongong, establishing the UOW College Hong Kong. She said she also felt honoured to witness the whole development process and establishment of the vet school against all odds. 

As the saying goes ‘your attitude determines your altitude’. Dilys believes that persistence, curiosity, and doing what others are unwilling to do are the keys to success in society. When she started her career, many businesses in remote regions of China invited accounting firms to help them with their IPOs. The processes often took months and even years, so most of her colleagues were reluctant to go. Dilys, in contrast, was willing to venture into the unknown and volunteered. With great attention to detail and teamwork, she overcame many challenges, and eventually, multiple doors opened for her.

Dilys is determined to live life to the fullest. She has also made it her purpose in life to help and groom the next generation. She understands that many people will measure success based on a person’s work or achievements. But she believes that every person’s life carries a message through the way they treat people and deal with issues, which has a bigger impact than any of their achievements!  That’s why she likes to challenge herself with the same question everyday: have I made good impact on the people around me through my words and deeds today?

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