Larry Kwok Australia China Scholarship

Respected Hong Kong lawyer, Larry Kwok, has created two new scholarships at the University: the Larry Kwok Australia-China Scholarship and the Gough Whitlam Australia-China Scholarship.

Commencing this year, both programs are assisting student from the University of Sydney to study for a semester at the Peking University. The scholarships aim to promote relations and understanding between Australia and China.

The below letter, sent to Mr Kwok, highlights the impact of Mr Kwok's generous donation on the Larry Kwok Australia-China Scholarships inaugural recipient, Joel Wing-Lun.

Dear Mr Kwok,

I would like to express my sincere appreciation for your generous donation of the Larry Kwok Australia China Scholarship. I am a third year Bachelor of Arts (languages) student at the University of Sydney majoring in Asian Studies and Chinese Studies, and am both proud and immensely grateful to be named as an inaugural recipient of this scholarship. On my return to Sydney, I will commence my honours year in Chinese Studies, writing on discourses of modernisation and the Chinese intellectual landscape in the post-Tiananmen years of the 1990s. My exchange placement at Peking University and the generous financial support of your scholarship will enable me to progress beyond my workman-like grasp of Chinese to pursue my research in original language materials.

My stay at Beida will not only afford me access to China’s best teachers and a wealth of material for my research, but also an opportunity to get to know some of the world’s brightest and most motivated students, some of whom I have already been privileged enough to meet. As a student of Chinese history, the prospect of studying at Beida is particularly exciting because of the university’s central role in Chinese narratives of political and intellectual history as much as for its continued intellectual dynamism. Beida is also the ideal place to pursue my recent interest in classical Chinese, and I hope to extend my period of study for a further semester to take full advantage of its celebrated academic environment. Your financial support has also enabled me to make the most of my time in China and escape the occasionally stifling confines of Beijing. Before taking up my place at Beida, in addition to visiting friends and relatives in Hong Kong, Guangdong, and Shanghai, I spent one month travelling through Guangxi, Guizhou and Yunnan, all of which provided valuable experiences that furthered my understanding of China’s cultural diversity and regional dynamics.

Although I am approaching the end of my bachelor degree, I realised some time ago that this is only the beginning of my studies. On the completion of my degree, I will have to weigh my longstanding inclination towards politics, policy and public service against my more recently acquired Chinese Studies project and the possibility of pursuing my research further. Your scholarship and the opportunity to study at Peking University will afford me a great advantage, whichever direction my studies take, and I would again like to express my sincere gratitude. I will most likely be in Hong Kong in February and again in July on my way home, and would welcome the opportunity to thank you personally.

Yours sincerely,

Joel Wing-Lun

For more information on establishing a named scholarship please contact:


Phone: + 61 2 8627 8830