UH Manoa Student Wins Big Wave Honolulu Scholarship

Mil Lan Ching is the recipient of the 2002 Big Wave Honolulu Scholarship administered by the University of Hawaiʻi Foundation. She recently received a check for $2,000 from Big Wave Honolulu founder Dalton Tanonaka.

Ching was born in China, and moved to Los Angeles, Calif., when she was 17 years old before moving to Hawaiʻi in 1992 at the age of 22. She overcame language barriers and worked hard to earn her high school G.E.D. in 1995. She continued her education and received an associate‘s degree in accounting from Kapiʻolani Community College in 1997. Since 1998, she has attended the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where she is currently studying Information Computer Sciences (ICS) and hopes to pursue a career in the field after she graduates.

Big Wave Honolulu is the annual benefit event that features Asia‘s superstar entertainers in concert in Hawaiʻi. Previous invitees include Japan‘s Namie Amuro and Hong Kong‘s CoCo Lee. Organizers are working on bringing in a major Japanese performer in late summer or early fall for this year‘s event.

"We want to expose Hawaiʻi to the abundance of musical talent in the Asia-Pacific region while helping students pay their college bills," said Tanonaka, who recently left CNN International in Hong Kong to enter public service.

For further information on the Big Wave Honolulu Scholarship, contact Malia Staggs at the University of Hawaiʻi Foundation at (808) 956-6748.