Artist Gregory Rivers encourages PolyU SPEED students to dare to dream

PolyU SPEED regularly holds career talks and invites distinguished people from different industries as guest speakers, hoping students to learn from the guests’ experiences and helping them plan for their future. On 6 April 2016, the School held a talk on “Dare to Dream – Career Tips for Young Adults” and invited artist Mr Gregory Rivers to share with students about how he pursued his dream career.

Mr Rivers started by sharing how he embarked on a showbiz journey. About 30 years ago, because of his passion for Cantonese pop songs, he decided to give up medical studies and moved from Australia to Hong Kong to chase his dreams. He originally aspired to be a singer. By chance, he has become an actor. Although his dream has not come true yet, he was a step closer to his goal. Since there were few acting opportunities in Hong Kong for foreign actors, he treated each one of them seriously. For example, if there was no rehearsal before actual shooting, he would utilise his personal time to practise with hope to give better performances. Also, Mr Rivers is keen on learning new things and taking challenges. He shared his experience of studying acting in Los Angeles, US. After he finished the course and came back to Hong Kong, he immediately gained recognition from the first drama he acted in “The Gateau Affairs”, proving that hard work would pay off.

Mr Rivers encountered different challenges in pursuit of his dream. At times, he even had to find alternative ways to support his living such as developing software, working in jewelry trading and English tutoring. Whenever he feels low, he would comfort himself by thinking that “tomorrow will be a better day”. This is how he deals with the difficult situations. Despite the challenges, he did not give up pursuing his dream. 2016 is a turning point for him as he was awarded “The Most Popular Male Singer in Hong Kong” by an online media group which is very popular among the young adults. The award was a great encouragement to Mr Rivers. He thought that as a foreigner, receiving the recognition and the award from Hong Kong people is particularly precious to him. He felt honoured and said being awarded the prize was a realisation of my dream. The award was an affirmation of his hard work and also an encouragement to his singing dream. He is currently working on his album. 

When asked about his views about young people committing suicide or acting violently to resolve problems, Mr Rivers remarked that “there is always hope, and every problem has a solution”. Students should not give up easily or go radical because of difficulties. He also suggested that it might be good if one hasn’t reached his/her goal or success because it means there is still room for progress.

In the Q&A session, students asked if he regretted having given up a potentially better prospect for working as a doctor to start his showbiz venture in Hong Kong. Mr Rivers said he never regretted the decision, as acting gave him various experiences such as singing and acting in movies. The persistence and determination of Mr Rivers to pursue his dreams enlightened the students in the talk.

Mr Gregory Rivers (2nd row, 4th from right) took a group photo with PolyU SPEED students and staff.