Yu Choi-man

Senior Sports Attendant
Student Development Services

“Be happy and joyful!”

Yu Choi-man started working at City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) in May 1990. He has spent 33 years at the University and is now a Senior Sports Attendant, leading a small team to work on sports venue-related work, such as setting up activities and taking reservations. He also helps with the co-ordination of major sports events, such as the annual athletic meet and aquatic meet. He wins over colleagues and sports team members with his cheerful personality, commitment to work and willingness to suffer a loss. He has also saved lives on multiple occasions.

A serious cycling accident at the age of 15 almost took his life, and that experience taught Yu Choi-man that life is fragile. He decided to live each day happily and joyfully, which is the secret ingredient that earn his most prized possession from his time at CityUHK – friendship. He said that he has worked with many good colleagues and mentors at CityUHK. When the University organises large-scale activities, such as orientation for new students, his team needs to work with other departments, such as the event team, AV team, and transportation team, to deliver them. Thanks to these close relationships, Yu Choi-man and members of other departments can often deal with situations efficiently and work closely together to solve problems.

In CityUHK, he met his admired mentors, Sunny Chau Yat-kwong and Denis Wan Chung-yin. When Yu Choi-man was still a junior staff, he had to interact with staff and students frequently on sports venue related matters. He lacked the skills to communicate in a tactful manner to resolve conflicts. Sunny shared with him tips on handling tense situation with a suitable timing and ways of presentation. Denis, on the other hand, taught him to "listen more, speak more, communicate more and write more". When he had to manage a small team, Denis taught him the importance of delegation and passing on skills to other members. Denis also reminded him that he needed to lead and give direction to the team.

Yu Choi-man has saved many lives at CityUHK over the years. During a badminton match, for example, a father who was watching his son on the court, suddenly had a heart attack because he was very nervous. Yu Choi-man immediately helped other first-aiders perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation. In another incident, an employee encountered a similar situation while playing badminton. Yu Choi-man saved his life with the help of an automatic defibrillator (AED). After that incident, CityUHK installed AEDs in many places on campus.

Because of his interaction with members of sports teams, he realises the importance of mindset in their performance. There are currently counselling services for students regarding personal issues, but for sports team members, a resilience mindset and a willingness to work with others from various backgrounds with different personalities is crucial. Therefore, he hopes that in the future, he can establish professional services like this at CityUHK to further improve the performance of the students.

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