KY CHEUNG

Feb-Mar

In the first few lesson, we were introduced to the professional associations in the discipline, such as HKILA and LARB. Also, we understand the way of becoming a “Landscape Architect”. The responsibility of RLA in real world is quite different with what we are doing in the academic world, as professional conduct is very important.

In the following sessions, information of how to start our career are given. In Hong Kong, the HKSAR government is the employer who hires the largest number of landscape architect. However, the design and regulation is quite rigid when comparing to the private company, so we should review our own interest and status to find the most suitable company/sector.

Virtual tours of private companies are arranged. From understanding the structure of an office to how to manage a project, the jobs in companies seem more interesting, having greater flexibility and more challenging than working as civil servant.

18-Mar

Winning a Project

In red team presentation, they introduced the nature of a contract, essentials of a valid contract and the standard forms of remuneration. The methods of charging fees can be divided into three categories, including percentage fees, lump sum and time charges.

The virtual site visit provided detail supplementary information to the presentation in the presentation session. As what we learnt about the topic was theoretical, it is good to know how’s the company operates in the practical world.

25-Mar

Project procurement

Our group is responsible for introducing different procurement methods to the class. Our main focus was to help classmates identify three different procurement method: traditional, design-build and management. On top of the course materials, many online materials can be found relating to the topic. However, I think the operation and execution of different procurement methods may vary in different countries/company scales thus confusion may be resulted in our presentation.

Different role of project stakeholders (employer, client, lead consultant, LA, contractor…) may have different role and responsibility in different procurement and nature of project.

Even after the quiz, there are still some confusion and I think only practical experience can help for further clarifying the questions.

1-Apr and 8-Apr

A visit with Urbis was arranged in two consecutive weeks.

Urbis is a large scale international company with about 50 landscape designers and 7 RLAs. They have involved in many well-known projects such as Hong Kong wetland park and West Kowloon Cultural Zone.

To develop the linkage between the knowledge in class and the practical world, Urbis introduced the project of SENT landfill (1994-2058) to us. They were responsible of operating and hand overing to the landlord, and a landscape restoration and management plan was developed (1996).

By studying this project a more clear framework including company structure, job division, procurement method and process were demonstrated.

After the introduction of project, a virtual SENT visit was arranged and some field works such as planting native species, removing exotic species and creating woodland were shown.

15-Apr

Preparation of Job application

When we are given chance of interview, besides presenting our personality and experience to the interviewer, it is also important to prepare question for the interviewer.

Open question is preferred for starting a conversation to make the interviewer more impressive. Meanwhile, we should show the interest and enthusiasm in working in the company and some company background knowledge for resonance.

Some questions raised in the class can be used as future reference:

-Any team building activity in the company

-Any advice of my portfolio

-Who am I going to work with

-Time allocation of job

-Any extra training for fresh graduate

-Any training to equip for the RLA exam

-Why is my position important for the company

-Ask about the interviewer’s story of staying in the company

-How the company due with covid

Then, we were given an assignment of writing application letter to Barry Wilson Project Initiatives

by email. In the letter content, besides presenting the experience and qualification of ourselves, we also need to show our knowledge to the company. Therefore, some background research or even site visit to the company’s project is required in order to show our sincerity.

It is also important to pay attention to the details, such as the layout, the title of the recipient and the tone of presentation, as all these details will make us stand out from other competitors.

22-Apr

Peer review assessment

In the peer review form, we are required to rate the contribution of each group members. It is a very hard time for us as we have worked as a team for a long time. But I think it’s a good time for us to be reflective, to evaluate our different role in the team, as we are individual with different strength and weakness. Working as a team and delivering a successful presentation is a convincing proof that we are able to maximize our strength and eliminate our weakness.

When we apply for job, it is crucial to show our personal quality in the interview to beat other competitors, however, we will be working in team in the future, therefore, it is important for us to know each other’s strong and weak points and help complementing.

29-Apr

Reflection of self and group

In the final session, we have done a reflection about the course and our own, the following key points

1. What do we learn in this course?

Some general background of this discipline, such as HKILA, how to before RLA and professional discipline. Then is about the structure and the duty in a company. Get ready to enter the field of LA. As our learning in HKU emphasis on conceptual theory. The course equips us with practical knowledge of the field and give us confidence

2. What suggestions to help improve the course?

As some topics are not that straight forward, especially those about contract and procurement, some briefing for each group before preparing the presentation material can minimise the chance of providing inaccurate information. Also, more time should be allocated for lecture in ‘clarifying’ the unclear presentation materials.

3. What are the shortages of our work and what could be better?

More case study should be done for investigating different procurement method. We have mixed up different characteristics of them, as the reference we read may be from different countries/describing different project scale, which may differ from Hong Kong. Luckily, our group members help each other generously such as sharing information and material in completing the presentation.