On 12 September 2025, United College held a College Assembly and was honoured to welcome Mr Sudesh Thevasenabathy, Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Asia at Manulife, to engage students in a meaningful discussion on cultural intelligence and the importance of diversity and inclusion.

Sudesh used his own life stories to explain what multiculturalism means and why cultural intelligence is important.

Sudesh emphasised that cultural intelligence is the ability to understand, respect and collaborate effectively with people from diverse cultural backgrounds. He highlighted its critical role in students’ campus life, interpersonal relationships, and future career development and encouraged approaching differences with an open mind to foster genuine connection and understanding.

During the event, a live online survey was conducted, allowing students to respond in real time to a series of questions related to diversity and inclusion. The results were analysed and discussed jointly by student organisation representatives—including Ms Avril Y W Cheng (Journalism and Communication) from Student Union, Ms Pinto Netaniah Kisha (Biomedical Sciences) from United Club, and Ms Teng Shih Hsuan (Mathematics) from Mainland Student Association—and Sudesh.

The assembly aimed to encourage students to understand and respect different cultural backgrounds with an open attitude, promoting the creation of a truly inclusive and empathetic campus environment. Sudesh’s sharing was not a one-way lecture, but rather a thought-provoking dialogue. Through questions, he guided students to reflect on their own beliefs and consider how they could practice diversity and inclusion in the future.

To thank the student representatives for joining the discussion, Sudesh prepared small gifts for them. Professor Stephen H S Wong, College Head (far left), Professor H K Lee, Associate Head and Dean of General Education (3^rd right), Professor C S Tse, Associate Dean of Students (2^nd right), and Dr John H W Lai, Chairperson of the Committee on Inclusive Excellence (far right) also joined for a group photo to mark the occasion.