MBSAA (China) has shown agility by being able to adapt to the current environment, changing  the format of connecting to our members.  Regrettably, the outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus put a brake on the MBSAA Spring Dinner which was planned for mid-March 2020. 

The Board’s precautionary measures for safety and health  inevitably meant cancelling the most popular event of our members.  We foresee our plan of activities and events will be disrupted for a further  period , but we also understand the importance of being connected with our members and the need to support each other in the current situation. 

Briefly, in a Board meeting we decided to host an online forum with sharing by prominent alumni which can be easily arranged with modern conferencing technology.  Therefore, we had our very first online forum “In the Virus Era, how are you Transforming? Are you Ready?” was held on the morning of Saturday 21 March with 40 participants connected from Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Singapore.  In this forum, we had invited Mr. William Lee, Dr. Justin Cheng, and Mr. Wilfred Leung to share their stories from the previous epidemic (SARS) experience in 2003 in order to give insights to the audiences for forward thinking and opportunities in relation to the current pandemic and economic turmoil. 

Following on, the second online forum “Leadership dialogue: From Corporate Risk Management to Personal Risk Planning to prepare for the imminent challenges in 2020 and beyond” was held on the evening of a Thursday on 9 April with 37 participants.  This time we had Mr. William Lee to share his in-depth experience in risk management for corporates; Mr. Kino Fu as a deputy CFO shared the critical risks to business in the current crisis; and Ms. Donna Buckland shared the corporate risks in the insurance industry. Their discussion led to personal risk planning in the view of the current situation and possible outcomes.  Post forums, we have received  positive feedback and encouragement for running more forums on different topics.  We are now lining up more prominent alumni and reviewing topics for upcoming forums.

Last but not least, without the volunteers, there could not be any forum.  Special thanks go to our speakers, moderator, participants and those who contributed in making the forums a success.