Golden Horse Film Awards Best Actress Chung Suet-ying shares career experiences at her alma mater

Golden Horse Film Awards Best Actress, Chung Suet-ying of the film The Way We Talk returned to her alma mater, Hong Kong Baptist University, to share her career experiences with journalism students on Friday.

Chung played Sophie Fong in The Way We Talk, an optimistic deaf girl who faces difficulties in life but tries to be seen as “normal”. She won best actress at the 61st Golden Horse Awards and was nominated best actress for the 43rd Hong Kong Film Awards.

Chung was a graduate of the financial journalism stream at the School of Communication. She said that the Journalism Department enhanced her nosy and curious nature.“Being nosy is not shameful, but a way to absorb knowledge and enjoy learning, just like reading and asking questions,” she said.

She added that what’s common between  journalism and movies is that they're both about stories. “I can extract the ideas from stories told by others, and convert them to become my motivation,” Chung said.

“I think it's amazing that she went from financial journalism to acting. Everyone has their own path to success, and I believe her experience will also inspire my future career planning,” said Zhang Jiahe, a freshman at Hong Kong Baptist University, who aims to study financial journalism in the future.

Chung first became a disc jockey after graduation. After that, she was in several on-screen performances, including films, TV series and music videos.In Time, she played Wat Tsz-ying, and she was nominated 40th Hong Kong Film Awards best supporting actress for her debut performance in a feature-length film. In The Lyricist Wannabe, she was the female-lead, and was nominated for the 60th Golden Horse Film Awards for best actress. She also wrote song lyrics for singers such as Eason Chan, Jace Chan and Kaho Hung.

Many students were curious and asked about Chung's career planning during her undergraduate studies. According to Hong Kong Baptist University Graduate Employment Survey, only 53.1% of full-time employed journalism graduates work in jobs related to journalism and media communication.

Chung added that she was registered in a lyrics-writing course and performed in student films during her undergraduate studies, in which she explored new interests."Don't be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and try something you are truly passionate about,” she said.

“I had known Chung Suet-ying back then, especially her role as a hearing-impaired person in the award-winning film,” said Wang Mingzhu, another journalism student at Hong Kong Baptist University.

“Passion is always important,” said Dr. Raymond Li, the head of the Department of Journalism from Hong Kong Baptist University, ”I will always believe that enthusiasm is the most important when choosing a career.”

Dr. Li said that interests and abilities are both important when choosing future plans. He advises students that only by staying curious and trying something new, can they make continuous progress.