Eastern experience
by Rebecca Gill
In
late June, HL Kam, one of Hong Kong’s most powerful businessmen and
controller of ETSA Utilities in Australia, gifted university exchange
scholarships to 21 South Australian students as part of the $7.5 million
Endeavour Australia Cheong Kong Scholarship program.
The program, which is partly funded by the Federal Government, provides
90 Australians with funds to visit Asia to further their studies. Among the
21 South Australian students to receive the awards were three from the
University of South Australia – Rachel Bullen (Visual Communication),
William Sitarenos (Visual Art) and Jessica Atkinson (Occupational Therapy).
The trio was presented with overseas grants in a ceremony at Old Government
House attended by State Government ministers and UniSA Vice Chancellor,
Professor Denise Bradley.
Bullen, who is in the second year of her degree, is eager to get a taste of
the vibrant Asian creative arts world during her four month exchange.
"When I graduate, I would love to do graphic design work for a major film or
television studio. The computer side of it, especially 3-D animation, really
fascinates me," she said.
Her chosen study destination, Hong Kong, with its lively pop cinema culture,
will provide some insight into this side of the arts and plenty of
inspiration. In time off from study, Bullen is looking forward to gathering
contacts and hopefully picking up some Cantonese.
Bullen, Sitarenos and Atkinson met at the exchange preparatory workshop, and
despite all being posted to different institutions, plan to meet in Hong
Kong.