The Spirit of Hong Kong Awards are judged by an esteemed panel to ensure the awards are being recognised as authoritative, in-touch, and positive image to our readers and the public.
Founder and Managing Director, Altaya Group
Mr Paulo Pong is the Founder and Managing Director of Altaya Group.
In the arts, cultural and tourism sphere, Mr Pong is the Chairman to the Board of Ocean Park Corporation and the Trustee Chair of Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong; the Chairman of M+ Museum Board; a Board Member of WKCDA; the Governing Board Chairman of JCCAC and a Member of Hong Kong Film Development Council.
Mr Pong is also the Honorary Court Member of Hong Kong Baptist University; Vice President of The Hong Kong Chinese Importers and Exporters Association; a Member of Former Directors Committee and Vice Patron of The Community Chest of Hong Kong; The Advisor of the Our Hong Kong Foundation; the Convenor of the Advisory Committee of 21C@JC; and the Chairman of The 11th, 12th and 13th Spirit of Hong Kong Awards Judging Panel. He has been Justice of the Peace since July 2018 and awarded the HKSAR Bronze Bauhinia Star in 2024.
Mr Pong obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Chairperson, Women’s Commission
Dr Eliza C. H. Chan is a non-official Member of HKSAR Executive Council, Chairperson of Women’s Commission, Member of the Board of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority and Member of Equal Opportunities Commission. She is also a Member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (“CPPCC”), Standing Member of CPPCC Tianjin Committee and Permanent Honorary Chairman of Hong Kong CPPCC (Provincial) Members Association. She has served in a number of Hong Kong Government-appointed positions, notably as a member of Hong Kong Hospital Authority, member of Hong Kong Public Service Commission, member of The Medical Council of Hong Kong, member of Hong Kong Board of Education, member of Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority, Chairman of Public Complaints Committee under Hong Kong Hospital Authority, Chairman of Kowloon Hospital, Chairman of Hong Kong Eye Hospital, Chairman of Tseung Kwan O Hospital, Chairman of Pensions Appeal Panel, adjudicator of Hong Kong Immigration Tribunal, Investigation Panel Member of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Council member of The University of Science & Technology and Board member of Hong Kong Science and Technology Park Corporation. She also serves as Vice-chairperson of Bank of Communications (Hong Kong) Limited and as Independent Non-Executive Director of several Hong Kong listed companies.
Chief Executive, The Hong Kong Council of Social Service
Ms Grace Chan has over 30 years of experience in social welfare and is the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service. Her extensive public service includes membership in the WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group for the “Global Network for Age-friendly Cities and Communities,” as well as roles on the Consumer Council and the Hospital Authority Clinical Research Ethics Committee. Currently, she is involved with the Elderly Commission, the Community Care Fund Task Force, and the Social Workers Registration Board. A board member of the International Federation on Ageing since 2006, she served as International Vice-President in 2020. Ms. Chan received the “Global Influencer Award in the Ageing Industry” from Ageing Asia and was honoured with the JESSICA Most Successful Women Award in 2022.
CEO, ConnectedGroup
Mr Mathew Gollop has been in the recruitment and search industry since 1997 and in Hong Kong (with ConnectedGroup) since 2001. In addition to leading the business, Mathew engages with clients to discuss their operational and market strategy from CEO’s office down. He aligns ConnectedGroup’s service offering across all functions and operates as an account manager for key clients. In addition, Mathew has helped define and shape ConnectedGroup’s social purpose and his team supports the not for profit community in Hong Kong, connecting talent to help amplify worthy causes including via their www.Recruit4Good.com initiative. Mathew is also a board member for the Fair Employment Agency, and the ExCo Chair at the SPCA Hong Kong.
Director, Hotung Mills Education Foundation
Mrs Joanna Hotung is Director of the Hotung Mills Education Foundation. Her work incorporates education, healthcare, and the arts and she supports many initiatives across these areas.
She is a Board Director of The Women’s Foundation, Playright Children’s Play Association, and the Hong Kong Arts Festival. She sits on the Advisory Board of Gleneagles Hospital HK and is Chairperson Emeritus of Youth Diabetes Action. She is also a Board Trustee of SOAS University of London.
Originally from a corporate background (Marks & Spencer, PwC) she has spent most of her career as an entrepreneur, founding the KG Group, an innovative education organisation, which she sold in 2023 to private equity.
Among several awards, she is winner of South China Morning Post Woman of our Time and the AmCham Women of Influence Entrepreneur award.
Director of Philanthropy, Sino Group
Non-Executive Director,
Sino Land Company Limited
Tsim Sha Tsui Properties Limited
Sino Hotels (Holdings) Limited
Ms Nikki Ng is the Director of Philanthropy of Sino Group and a Non-Executive Director of Sino Land Company Limited, Tsim Sha Tsui Properties Limited and Sino Hotels (Holdings) Limited. She is the Group’s ESG Steering Committee member, Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation Director, Hong Kong Innovation Foundation Deputy Chairman and Hong Kong Heritage Conservation Foundation Director.
Ms Ng holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University and a Master of Arts degree from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
She is a member of the 14th Shanghai Committee of the CPPCC, and a Vice Chairman of the General Committee of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce. She serves as a non-official member of the Commission on Poverty, a member of its Community Care Fund, Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Fund Task Forces, and a member of the Personal Data (Privacy) Advisory Committee, as well as a member of the Hong Kong Tourism Board. She is also a member of The Hospital Governing Committee of Queen Elizabeth Hospital and its Charitable Trust, and Advisor of the Institute of Mental Health of Castle Peak Hospital, a member of the Board of Mind Mental Health Hong Kong Limited and an honorary advisor of The Hong Kong Mental Wellness Association.
She also serves as a trustee of YK Pao Education Foundation, a director of Tai Kwun Culture and Arts Company Limited, and a board member of The Community Chest of Hong Kong.
Chairman, Sino Group
Chairman, Hong Kong Innovation Foundation
Chairman, Hong Kong Community Foundation
Chairman, Hong Kong-ASEAN Foundation
Director, Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation
Director, Hong Kong Heritage Conservation Foundation
Dr Daryl Ng, Chairman of Sino Group and Founding Chairmen of the Hong Kong Innovation Foundation, Hong Kong Community Foundation and Hong Kong-ASEAN Foundation, is a committed advocate of good causes for the betterment of society.
To better support the community, he has founded the Hong Kong Community Foundation to promote positivity in the community, the Hong Kong Innovation Foundation, a holistic innovation system supporting Hong Kong development into an international innovation and technology hub as well as the Hong Kong-ASEAN Foundation to promote and deepen ties between Hong Kong and the ASEAN to consolidate Hong Kong’s international position.
Mr Ng is enthusiastic about supporting the youth, and has initiated an array of undertakings conducive to youth development such as the Go Code Programme, Sino Junior Reporter Programme, Hospitality Young Leaders Programme to empower the young generations with essential skills.
In 2008, the Ng Family set up the Hong Kong Heritage Conservation Foundation to revitalise historic buildings and promote appreciation of cultural heritage. Tai O Heritage Hotel, converted from the Old Tai O Police Station, a Grade II historic building, opened doors in March 2012. The hotel is a devoted member of the Tai O community; since opening, it has been providing complimentary docent tours daily, welcomed more than 2 million visitors from Hong Kong and overseas, participated in over 100 community services. It has received over 30 international and local accolades, including the 2013 Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation organised by the UNESCO, becoming Hong Kong’s first UNESCO-awarded hotel.
In 2010, the Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation was set up in memory of the late founder of Sino Group, Mr Ng Teng Fong. The Foundation places heavy emphasis on education, youth development and community services, areas that are crucial to long-term development of society. It has donated to over 300 local non-governmental organisations, universities and social enterprises. It established the Ng Teng Fong Scholarships in 2015 to give encouragement to outstanding secondary and university students in Hong Kong and Mainland; more than 8,000 students have received scholarships in ten years.
The HKSAR Government awarded the Silver Bauhinia Star to Mr Ng in 2021 in recognition of his contributions to the community, in particular his work on heritage in Tai O and overseas. The UNESCO appointed him as Special Adviser to the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation in 2023.
Editor-in-Chief, South China Morning Post
Ms Tammy Tam is the South China Morning Post’s Editor-in-Chief, responsible for its editorial direction, development strategies and overall operations for both the print and digital platforms. She plays an instrumental role in SCMP’s continuing journey of digitization which has turned this Hong Kong’s newspaper of record into a digital-first global brand with growing global influence by leading the SCMP editorial teams in providing worldwide readers and audience with credible, fact-based and non-partisan digital products and content. She leads the fast development of the Hong Kong rooted SCMP into an internationally recognized news platform with overseas bureaus and correspondents in mainland China, the US, Europe and major Asian countries. Tammy is committed to advance and elevate the quality of journalism in this challenging digital era.
Before joining SCMP in late 2011, Tammy served in different key management roles in major TV broadcasters in Hong Kong.
Tammy is Chairperson of Hong Kong News Executives’ Association and Vice Chairwoman of the Newspaper Society of Hong Kong. She is also a member of the World Editors Forum, Asia Chapter. She was a board member of the Media Communications Training Board, the Hong Kong Vocational Training Council, which is dedicated to training talents in the media industry, from 2017 to 2023.