Professor Wong said that the idea for the programme originated from his own enrolment in the Stanford University Professional Journalism Fellowship back in 1965. Recommended by his supervisor at the newspaper he was then working for, Wong was selected to be in the first batch of Stanford’s Professional Journalism Fellows and left his job to return to school for four months.

The daily routine for journalists is to meet deadlines and deal with "bad stuff", such as fatal accidents, and that wears them out and makes them more prone to acquire tunnel vision, Wong said. "If it wasn't for the opportunity to join the Professional Journalism Fellowship, which gave me the time to take a break and rest, I wouldn't have stayed in the industry for 50 years."

At Stanford, Wong took a number of courses on Sino-American relations. It was in the midst of the Vietnam War when he was studying as a fellow, he thus decided to take courses in Southeast Asian history and colonialism. He recalled that during his fellowship, he had the chance to meet and exchange ideas with leading figures from various industries, such as politicians and news agency executives, every two weeks. "The KOLs (key opinion leaders) back then were governors, mayors, the editor-in-chief of the New York Times, and the Secretary of State, "Wong said. He also mentioned the art history course he took, which make it much easier for him to handle his later job as a photo editor.

"We could take any course we wanted. No credits. No exams. It was a very good experience for me, so I thought, why not do the same thing in Hong Kong?" It was with this in mind that, more than half a century after he joined the Stanford University Professional Journalism Fellowship, Professor Wong finally launched the first programme of its kind in Hong Kong.

Professor Wong described his interactions with other fellows during his time on campus as "a very precious exchange". After the fellowship, almost all the journalists who participated in the programme at the same time as Professor Wong chose to stay in the industry, and eventually became chief editors and news directors of major news organizations, print and broadcast alike. As a result, Professor Wong decided that the journalists in the HKBU Professional Journalism Fellowship should commit to continuing to serve their news organizations which have supported their enrolment in the programme for a certain time on completing their fellowship.

As to whether local news organizations should support their staff to participate in the HKBU Professional Journalism Fellowship, Professor Wong said it’s important to "look at the long term". "For example, news organizations in Hong Kong usually have 60 to 100 staff members in varied grades, you can’t spare one for only four months?" According to him, if someone from a news organization is selected as one of the fellows, it is not only an affirmation of the individual but also of the organization. "They got to have something to return and go back to share what they have learned with other staff," Wong added.