After more than a decade of teaching in the Faculty of Business Administration (FBA) at the University of Macau (UM), Prof Desmond Lam Chee Shiong changed his career path in the 2021/2022 academic year and became the master of Lui Che Woo College. In just six months, his life at the university has changed dramatically—from one where he focused on his academic research to one where he lives and learns with students. Prof Lam is committed to making the RC a loving and caring family for the students.

From Singapore to Macao

Lam was born in Singapore to Chinese parents from Malaysia. As a child, he had some aircraft-related books at home, which aroused his curiosity about mechanics. After graduating from junior college, he served in the Singapore Armed Forces for two years as an instructor in a commander school before retiring to the National University of Singapore (NUS) to study mechanical engineering. ‘My parents were not very strict about my studies,’ says Prof Lam. ’When I was a teenager, I once heard them say in private that they thought I might not be able to go to university. In a relaxed family environment, I chose what I wanted to learn based on my interests from a young age.’

While studying at the NUS, Lam realised that the subjects he was most interested in and got the best grades in were business-related. In his junior year, he took an internship in an engineering company and was inadvertently exposed to a group of professionals who knew both engineering and marketing, which led to his interest in marketing. After graduating from university and studying a master’s programme in business administration at the University of Melbourne in Australia, he spent six months as an exchange student in Germany and then did an internship at Deutsche Bank in Germany before moving to the University of Western Australia to study for a PhD in marketing. In 2005, he visited Macao for the first time and began his teaching career at UM.

As a child, Prof Lam spoke Hakka at home, and English and Chinese at school and in the community. And he often watched Cantonese dramas on Hong Kong TV channels. ‘So when I first came to Macao, hearing Cantonese on the street, I felt as if I was in a TV drama, which was a bit surreal. But a year later, I got used to my life in Macao,’ he says.

Over the past decade, Prof Lam has witnessed the tremendous changes of Macao and the university, and he is most proud of the fast-growing international reputation of the university and its academic programmes. In addition to teaching marketing, integrated resorts and tourism management in the FBA, Prof Lam also served as the director of accreditations from 2016 to 2021, helping the faculty to obtain several important international accreditations.

Growing Together with the Students

Since arriving at the RC in August 2021, Prof Lam has found that the way he used to spend time with students in the faculty has many limitations. In the past, he spent a lot of time in the faculty doing research and did not have much interaction with students except for discussing the content of his lectures in class. Sometimes students would visit his office to discuss their studies and further education, but usually not for long. ‘In the faculty, students come and go in a hurry, whereas in the RC the pace is slower,’ he says.

‘In the RC, I have the opportunity to spend time with students from morning to night, in the dining hall, the library, and the gym, and I feel closer to them,’ says Prof Lam. One day, he met a student he did not know very well who asked if he was free for a chat. ‘We ended up talking for half an hour about what master’s course she wanted to take. Very often, students have problems that they can’t solve, but they are too shy to make an appointment with a professor in the faculty,’ he says.

‘Before I became the college master, I was not only a professor in the FBA, but also a non-resident affiliate to the Stanley Ho East Asia College, sometimes attending RC events like high-table dinners and playing table tennis with students. But it wasn’t until I started living in the RC that I really had the chance to get to know the students.’ Most of the time, Prof Lam talks to students about their future career paths and personal growth paths, which has led to a deeper understanding of the students. ‘I feel that the RC is a big, loving and caring family,’ says Prof Lam.

Working and living in the RC has made Prof Lam realise that learning extends beyond the classroom. ‘Everyday life is also a kind of learning. Everyone has their own strengths, and living together in the same space, we can always learn from each other and grow together. Therefore, I can always learn from my colleagues and students what I can do to improve myself.’

Fostering a Love of Learning and Sports

On the day of our interview, Prof Lam told us the stories behind his badminton, table tennis and golf bats, as well as a signed cricket bat from the University of Cambridge. ‘I was a visiting scholar at the Clare Hall in 2015,’ he says. ‘Cambridge has a century-old residential college system and sport is an important part of college life. I have always treasured this special souvenir from an annual Clare Hall teacher-student cricket competition where all the participating teachers and students signed on this bat.’

Prof Lam is committed to fostering a love of sports in the RC. He practises with students on the RC badminton court every week; he also plays table tennis with them to help them prepare for inter-college competitions. ‘I hope that every student in the RC will participate in at least one sport,’ he says. ‘I got this idea partly from my father. He was a member of the Malaya Badminton National Team in the 1950s and taught me a lot about sports, which made me realise the importance of sports. I believe that sport builds character, leadership, and cooperation skills.’

Prof Lam is also committed to creating an environment in which students could support each other’s learning. With his advocacy, the college established an academic section. ‘The academic section is basically run by students, and we want them to help each other,’ he says. ‘It’s like a tutor training programme for students. If students need, they can also ask for help from professors in the faculty through the academic section.’ Prof Lam says the RC will also help students improve their English language skills so they can perform better in their studies. In addition, the RC recently launched a programming course to enhance students’ data analysis skills.

Source: My UM e-version