27 IN FOCUS Greater Bay success story eadership skills developed at HKUST and an ability to seize opportunities and embrace change have resulted in alumna Eva TSANG Chin-Lam ( BEng in Chemical Engineering) being recognized with a Greater Bay Area Outstanding Women Entrepreneur Award . With a goal in life to learn as much as she could, in the early years of the new millennium Eva saw there were openings in Mainland China for engineers. In , she joined Opal Cosmetics (HK) Ltd., where she has since risen up the ladder to her current position of Executive Director. She sees her recent accolade as a recognition of her -plus years of hard work and business achievement at the company. Working at Opal, a personal care and beauty products manufacturer that sells its own brands as well as producing goods for other companies, has meant being mostly based in Huizhou in Guangdong on weekdays, and only returning to Hong Kong at weekends. In fact, the past year spent totally in Hong Kong due to the COVID- pandemic was her rst for a long time. In the early days of her Opal career, Eva’s cross-border lifestyle proved a challenge, having to adapt to numerous issues such as handling sudden power outages. However, her time at HKUST, then a new university, equipped her to take fresh adventures in her stride. At the School of Engineering, she studied chemical engineering in the rst department of its kind in Hong Kong. She also became the rst female chairperson of the Engineering Students’ Union, gaining experience in how to form and lead a team, and organize international events, encouraging her to widen her vision beyond Hong Kong. Such experiences proved highly valuable in helping Eva establish herself at Opal, where she initially oversaw the company’s original equipment manufacturing business in overseas markets. Meanwhile her chemical engineering degree meant she was familiar with formulations and the manufacturing involved in the company’s products. Now part of the company’s senior management overseeing operations and management in sales and marketing, Eva regards care for employees as a key factor in a company’s long-term development. It is an approach that has helped the business not only survive but thrive during the pandemic, which has been the most di cult period of her career, she noted. With crisis management to the fore, the company switched to personal protective equipment (PPE) in response to market needs. “I realized we could no longer focus on our regular business and had to immediately pivot and devote ourselves to the introduction of PPE products.” Despite the challenges in logistics and marketing as well as safety issues, the company’s business has been able to grow, while Eva has had the joy of seeing the resilience and agility of her team in adapting to rapidly unfolding market circumstances. She also remains positive about Hong Kong’s ability to overcome the economic di culties it currently faces. The city has survived many such dips over the decades, she noted, through being able to “ nd opportunities and go on with hope”. L At the Greater Bay Area Outstanding Women Entrepreneur Awards 2020 ceremony, with colleagues and friends. Eva Tsang has always been ready to seize opportunities and embrace wider horizons.
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