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Meet the Students from the University of Hong Kong

Meet the students reporting from abroad for ABC News.

ByABC News
May 18, 2009, 5:19 PM

Feb. 7, 2011— -- This year 16 students from the University of Hong Kong will contribute to the ABC News on Campus program.

Each student will have the opportunity to develop projects for ABC News. Some will travel to other Asia destinations on reporting trips. The partnership marks the second year of collaboration for ABC News on Campus and HKU. Under the tutelage of Jim Laurie, an ABC News veteran who now teaches at HKU, the students will pitch stories directly to ABC News in New York, with the goal of completing 12 packages throughout the course of the year for use on one or more of ABC News' platforms.

The students, identified as the best and brightest from the HKU, hail from a variety of backgrounds and several different countries.

Read their bios below to learn more.

Kathleen Ngai is a masters of journalism student. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Florida in 2010, where she majored in telecommunication news with a minor in communication studies. She has previously reported for Gainesville's PBS affiliate, WUFT-TV, and UF's award-winning radio news station, WRUF-AM. She has also interned with NOW-TV in Hong Kong.

Kathleen was born and raised in Hong Kong. She is fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin and English. She dreams of one day working as an anchor or foreign correspondent. Outside journalism, Kathleen enjoys singing, dancing, taking pictures and acting.

Grace Lee is a master's of journalism student. Born in Qingdao, a costal city in Northern China, Lee attended college in Beijing. She chose journalism as her major because it constantly provides her with novel life experiences.

Grace's internships at China Radio International and Xinhua News Agency, as well as her volunteer work in media operations for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, expanded her journalism experience and reinforced her passion for it. Grace aspires to be a TV journalist.

Maha Shah, a master's of journalism student, grew up in Pakistan. While completing her MBA from a leading business university in Pakistan in 2007, she worked on a documentary about a teenage burn victim who had survived domestic violence. She credits that experience with changing her outlook on life and giving her a true appreciation of the role played by video journalists. With each assignment at HKU, her ability to use a camera to tell a story has evolved from a hobby into a passion.

Richard Schuster is a broadcast journalist and documentary filmmaker with seven years' experience at the leading TV news program in his native Hungary, where he worked as a reporter and anchor of the morning news. He has reported from a variety of places, including Afghanistan and Kosovo. He received the "Prima Junior Award" for journalistic performance and Hungary's Documentary of the Year Award.

He came to the Journalism and Media Studies Centre of the HKU to develop the journalistic skills needed in a digital, multi-platform environment.

Temily Gopan hails from Malaysia and is currently pursuing her undergraduate degree in journalism. She recently gained experience in TV news production with an internship at CNN International, which has made her more determined than ever to pursue a career in broadcasting.

Daniel Goodman is pursuing his master's in journalism. Originally from the quiet suburbs of New Jersey, Daniel moved to China in 2006 to teach English for a year in Hunan Province and has lived in the country ever since. After a year in Hunan, Daniel moved to Beijing where he worked as an office furniture salesman, a public relations and public affairs consultant and, most recently, a freelance research writer for Meritas Partners, a U.S.-based consulting firm, and as an occasional blogger. He received his undergraduate degree from Johns Hopkins University, where he double-majored in anthropology and political science. He speaks conversational Mandarin Chinese, Spanish and Hebrew.

Adrian Wong was born and raised in the U.K. and completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Manchester, majoring in geography. He is currently a master's of journalism student at HKU.

In 2005, Adrian interned at Granada TV Studios in Manchester, where he first gained insight into the world of TV production. He later worked as a production assistant at Hong Kong Disneyland in 2008, where he produced and managed various TV and film shoots at the theme park.

Adrian enjoys travelling, watching films and playing the piano. He is fluent in Cantonese and speaks conversational Mandarin.

Henri Viiralt hails from Tallinn, Estonia, where he received a BA in audio-visual media at the Baltic Film and Media School in 2008. The coursework introduced him to everything from shooting, writing and editing, to lighting, sound design and production. His class projects ranged from TV news clips and live TV broadcasts to documentaries and music videos.After graduating he worked as a cameraman for two drama shows before moving to Bangkok, where he lived and worked for several years. He then moved to Hong Kong to pursue a master's degree in journalism.

Vanessa Ko's first newsroom experience was a summer internship at CNN International. She has since worked in finance, public relations, visual arts and journalism. She freelanced for travel and lifestyle magazines from 2008 to 2010. A desire to learn a more varied set of writing skills led to her current studies at HKU, where she is pursuing a master's degree in journalism. She is currently also interning at the South China Morning Post.

Vanessa was born and raised in Hong Kong, and graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in communication studies.

Lisa Onland is a second year undergraduate student at HKU, double-majoring in journalism and sociology. Originally from New Zealand, she came to Hong Kong to pursue a career in journalism and work in one of Asia's most vibrant international cities. She spent last summer as an editorial intern for Time Out Magazine Hong Kong and currently writes a regular monthly column for her hometown newspaper, The Manawatu Standard.

Shari Nijman has had a desire to wander the world ever since she could walk. After earning her degree in communication science at the University of Amsterdam, she has lived in New York, rural China and now Hong Kong. Her jobs include working as a correspondent for Inter Press Service at the UN in New York, and as a travel writer for a group of country-specific websites in Amsterdam.

Her passion is to tell stories with pictures and make them accessible to as wide an audience as possible. She loves to share newfound knowledge of Asia and China with the rest of the world.

Heidi Yeung, HKU bureau chief, was born in Hong Kong and grew up mostly in Sydney, where she first developed a passion for writing. She returned to Hong Kong after high school in 2004, and graduated from Lingnan University in 2009 with a B.A. in history and a minor in English.

Before entering the master's of journalism program at HKU, she spent a year working in different media and communications jobs, including Time Out Hong Kong.

Stephanie Kwan is a master's of journalism student. She previously graduated from Queen's University, Ontario, with a degree in psychology and education.

Four years ago she moved to Hong Kong from her hometown of Toronto. Having grown up in North America, Stephanie has a great appreciation for the outdoors, but still enjoys the vibe of Asian cities.

Stephanie has worked for various magazines and journals as a contributor and editor. She is also currently an intern at the South China Morning Post. Before pursuing her career in journalism, she worked as a teacher. She hopes to combine her two passions, education and journalism, by reporting on issues that have special relevance to education and youth.

Carol Zhong majored in communication studies as an undergraduate at Shenzhen University, just across the border from Hong Kong in mainland China, and has been interning at the Finance Channel of Shenzhen Media Group as a video journalist.

Carol, a native speaker in both Mandarin and Cantonese, has been gaining experience in video editing, interviewing, writing and post-production. And last year, she created a street fashion blog called Lookin, which aims to be the source of record for fashion and style in Shenzhen.

Nicole Xu Ke, which means "permission" in Chinese, is from Anhui Province in central China. She believes her parents gave her the name hoping she would get "permission" and praise from people. She has been in Hong Kong for four years to finish her undergraduate studies. She has enjoyed working with video editing software and wants to pursue a career in TV journalism. She gained some valuable experience from an internship in China Central Television (CCTV), Xinhua News Agency, and the Student TV Station at her undergraduate university.

Holly Ip is a master's of journalism student. Fluent in English, Cantonese and Mandarin, Holly was born in Hong Kong and studied in the U.K. for more than eight years, earning her bachelor's degree at the Nottingham Trent University. She majored in marketing, design and communication.

She is now developing her multimedia skills, including video shooting, editing and web management, through her studies at HKU.