HONG KONG: Winners of the Page Personnel Hong Kong Executive Assistant (EA) of the Year awards have been revealed.
Of the 10 finalists, Terance Sum from eBay International (Hong Kong) was deemed Hong Kong’s best executive assistant, personal assistant, office manager or secretary for 2013.
Along with the title, Sum won the chance to plan for her dream holiday to the value of HK$30,000. She also won for her company an online advertising package worth HK$38,000.
As executive assistant to the senior director for Greater China CBT trust and safety for eBay, Sum’s main responsibilities include providing comprehensive secretarial support to the finance team and her manager, Hsueh Tsang. She also assists with office administration, organising events and IT support.
The judges were BDO Limited human resources director Angela Wong, Baker Tilly Hong Kong HR director Janet Bibi Ferreira, Draftfcb Asia-Pacific HR director Connie Wong, JDS Uniphase Corporation Asia-Pacific HR director David Mui, Thorn Lighting (Hong Kong) Asian HR head John Li, Tristate Holdings HR vice-president Raymond Tsang, and Freudenberg Asia CFO Stephan Wirtz.
“The judges, together with the Page Personnel management team, reviewed each finalist’s submission and summaries of interviews with the finalist and their manager as part of the judging process,” said Olga Yung, director of Page Personnel in Hong Kong.
“While it was a tight competition, Sum’s strong passion, pride and clear display of her ability to go beyond her job scope stood out. We are thrilled to announce her as the Page Personnel EA of the Year in Hong Kong,” Yung added.
Sum, who has been an EA for six years, said the award was a great honour and fantastic recognition of the work of EAs.
“I am very pleased to have received a fantastic nomination from my manager which I feel is an absolute recognition for the work I have done. I would like to share this win with all the other finalists, who I feel are all winners,” Sum said.
“I’ve had around five different candidates in this EA role over the past two years, due to the scope of work required,” said Hsueh Tsang of her EA. “We originally hired [Sum] as a temporary staff member and were delighted to find that she was an excellent choice for the position.
“As I desperately didn’t want to lose her, I ensured she became a permanent employee at eBay. What sets her apart is her ability to provide comprehensive support to our overseas guests. There’s a lot of work to do and she’s done a perfect job. You can tell that she’s really made a very positive difference for us here,” Tsang added.
Also acknowledged at the awards, and receiving dining vouchers worth HK$2,500 each, were three runner-ups: Corrinne Markowitz, who supports the managing director at Asian Sky Group; Jenny Wong, who supports the vice-president for marketing and business development at Coach Asia; and Nikita Chen, who supports the CEO at Haloglow.
In addition, two entrants – Jenny Wong and Irene Lee – each won HK$1,500 worth of shopping vouchers, simply for participating in the competition.
“The Page Personnel Hong Kong EA of the Year Award is a fantastic opportunity for all executive assistants, personal assistants, office managers and secretaries in Hong Kong to be recognised and rewarded for the great job they do, and we are already looking forward to finding the next deserving winner in 2014,” Yung said.
