In this 7th annual competition organised by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Hong Kong, participating teams were required to propose a business project for providing services to senior citizens.

The proposal had to be based on a two-year funding plan of a total of HK$1 million. In the final contest, the shortlisted teams had to present their projects to a panel of judges.

CityU’s winning team consisted of four members: Anika Cheng Tsz-kwan, a Year 2 student from the Department of Marketing; Florence Lee Hoi-ling, a Year 3 student from the Department of Accountancy; Gordon Leung Kong-sang, a Year 3 student from the Department of Information Systems; and Daniel Chan Yuk-leung, a Year 2 student from the Department of Management Sciences.

The rationale for the idea of running a mobile dental clinic for senior citizens stemmed from a perception that public dental services were currently inadequate, expensive and less effective than those provided at private dental clinics.

The students proposed operating a dental clinic from a vehicle named “Crescent Moon” which would visit different districts regularly and provide quality dental services at reasonable charges for elderly people experiencing financial difficulties.

They would collaborate with non-government organisations and community centres to promote their services. When the net profit is recorded, they will organise social gatherings for their clients so that they can enjoy meals together with their healthy teeth and enrich their retirement life with more social interaction.

CityU’s team outperformed more than 500 participating groups and won the championship with three major awards, as their business plan was highly feasible and well supported by detailed information and inspiring ideas.

The judges commended their proposal for not only taking care of the physical and mental well-being of senior citizens, but also for making a profit. They praised the idea of arranging social gatherings that could enrich the social life of the elderly.

Anika said she was delighted about their performance. Reflecting on the factors for winning the contest, she said, “We believe that a reasonable price, reliable services provided by registered dentists and convenient services offered by our mobile clinic can attract the patronage of senior citizens.”

Her team’s winning project was solid and practical, well supported by related data collected and analysed by all four members with the application of the knowledge and skills they learned from CityU of accounting, information systems, management science and marketing.

“We combined the strengths of our knowledge in different disciplines to compile this comprehensive plan. Winning the competition was certainly our goal, yet we performed better than expected as we were relaxed while making our presentation in front of the judges,” Gordon added.

The winning students said they would like to thank their teachers at CityU for their valuable guidance and advice on selecting the topic, writing the proposal and preparing the presentation that helped them win the contest.