Confucius. In the modem sense, the second character "wen," the same as the second character of the name of the University, denotes all academic disciplines. Thus the motto reinforces the proper meaning of the name of our university. (Chinese University Bulletin, Winter 1978, p. 7)
This broad-based interpretation of the name of the University provided more flexibility, with "wen" incorporated into the traditional Chinese educational ideal of "transformation of the pattern of humanity" and "by contemplating the pattern of humanity, we can successfully transform the world." In this speech, Vice-Chancellor Li did not explain how Chinese culture could be assimilated into each academic discipline. He did so, though, in another speech, when he explicitly summarized the spirit and goals of The Chinese University:
At the very beginning, The Chinese University-established as its spe-cial objective the promotion of the interflow and integration of Chinese and W estem intellectual and cultural traditions. This obvious-ly requires of each student a deepened understanding of his own Chinese intellectual heritage as well as a mastery of W estem empirical methods and scientific knowledge. Bilingualism is an indispensable tool of understanding and communication. The Chinese University expects each of you, its graduates, to move between these two great cultures and to interact effectively with each. (Chinese University Bulletin, Winter 1977, p. 15)
2. From "The Meeting of East-West Cultures" to "A World Spirit"
Vice-Chancellor Choh-ming Li's vision and effort was supported and continued by his successor, Vice-Chancellor Ma Lin, who also publicized and promoted the "Chinese University spirit" on various occasions. For example, in an article published on December 1980 in the Chinese University Students' Newspaper, he said:
We have always emphasized the importance of the spreading of our excellent cultural heritage and the integration of the Chinese and Western cultures. The "Chinese University man" educated under our principles of "general education" and "student-centred curricula" should possess a strong cultural sense to "inherit the past and step into the future" and to "integrate the Chinese and Western cultures."
In another speech entitled "International Recognition Comes to CUHK" given at a Rotary Club luncheon on 9 December 1977, Profes-sor Ma again emphasized the mission of The Chinese University to encourage the meeting of cultures. He went on to remind those present of the vision of Vice-Chancellor Li:
The character of The Chinese University, as has been pointed out by Vice-Chancellor Dr C. M. Li, ever since its inception, is to be interna-tional. To be an international university, The Chinese University must have a profound concern for Chinese learning and culture. This con-cern enables the inflow and integration of Chinese and Western intel-lectual and cultural traditions. The University expects its staff and students to move between these two great cultures and interact effec-tively with each .... CUHK has, within the short span of 14 years, advanced to such a stage that it no longer serves as a bridge between East and West, but is "blending" Eastern and Western cultures to create a new synthesis, thus benefiting and enriching the two great cultural traditions. (Chinese University Bulletin, Winter 1977, p. 19)
It is obvious that Professor Ma fully accepted th.e aspirations of the University. He was also constantly reminding faculty and students alike of the need to work towards this goal. Looking back, itis now clear why. The time of his inauguration in 1978 saw the University in the midst of the turbulent Legalization of Chinese Campaign and the Protect Diaoyutai Movement, when Chinese nationalistic sentir_nents were very high. It was reported that during the latter part of the 1970s some at The Chinese University were engrossed also in discussing the possible role to be played by the University in the betterment of the Chinese race and country. Vice-Chancellor Ma's statement i. relation to the University's determination to create a meeting ground for the Chinese and Western cultures has thus a great historical significance. Of course, to promote Chinese culture and to establish links with overseas academic institu-tions ("internationalism") are not mutually exclusive. Rather, in the overall development of the University, especially during this time in history, these two aims can become interdependent. (The exact defini-tion of "internationalism" and its significance will be dealt with in the following parts of this chapter.) Nevertheless, the feeling of nationalism amongst Chinese University students and staff lead to a certain tension against the development of foreign links. This happened in spite of the fact that Dr Li had made clear earlier that the promotion of Chinese
Overseas Academic Links and International Exchanges
culture should not prevent the two cultures from meeting; rather, the two sides should coexist. Furthermore, the Head of New Asia College, Professor Ambrose King, also directly pointed at the interdependence of China and the rest of the world. When asked whether The Chinese University was established only for the Chinese and what its world view was, Professor King explained:
It is true in spirit to say that The Chinese University is "a university for the Chinese" and that it is "built for China." The founding of The Chinese University is for the Chinese people, Chinese studies and Chinese culture. Besides, our undergraduates are one hundred percent Chinese. However,.it is also true that this University should uphold the "world spirit." In fact any academic institution that deserves to be called a "University" must uphold this "world spirit." ... To improve, to earn a place in the international academic circle, The Chinese University cannot isolate herself but must participate in academic exchanges, al).d must embrace this open "world spirit."
The relationship that exists between "China" and "the world" is a symbiotic one. Any achievement, especially academic, made by The Chinese University is an achievement for the world. At the same time, this "university for China" takes its stand in the world. In practice, a "university for China" is necessarily one for the world as well. (Zhongda ershi nian, 1984, p. 80)
Actually, Professor King, who has long been contemplating the issue and is indeed a prime figure in fostering foreign links, said in an article entitled, "The Emergence of a World Culture" that international communication was the obvious and logical step forward for contem-porary education in China. Only when a modern university has reached international and world status can it turn back and assess its country of origin -a government or particular society -and contribute to its progress. Although Professor King did not refer specifically to The Chinese University, the thesis and the message is intimately linked to the University's spirit of encouraging the meeting of Chinese and Western cultures. Professor King also tried to prompt these ideals to an even higher level, one that was more worldwide. He suggested:
I believe that the situation from now on will not be the total disap-pearance of the characteristics of Chinese culture, or the destruction of the Chinese way of life. Rather, we should see losses of characteristics
in both Chinese and Western cultures, and also additions. There will also be wearing down and building up in the Chinese. and Western ways of life. In other words, I believe that in the years to come, there will be a varied, complicated cultural characteristic (Eastern as well as Western) building a brand new world way of life. Here, or in the "universal cultural structure" suggested by Clark Wissler, a new world culture will gradually emerge. (Ambrose King, Cong chuantong dao xiandai [From the Traditional to the Contemporary], Taipei, 1991, p. 210)
3. lnterflow of New Knowledge
According to Professor Clark Kerr, a Council member of The Chinese University and ex-Vice.Chancellor and Honorary Professor of the University of California, the "internationalization of learning" at the tertiary level should include:
(a)
the flow of new knowledge;
(b)
the flow of scholars;
(
c) the flow of students; and
(
d) the international content of the curriculum. ("International Learning and National Purposes in Higher Education" in American Behavioural Scientist, Vol. 35, September/October 1991, p. 25)
Its success depends on the approval of the University on the policy-making, planning, administrative and structural levels. Hence, the flow of new knowledge should be made through participating with university associations in different parts of the world.
The Chinese University has been active in such endeavours right from the start. Shortly after its inauguration, the University joined the Association of Commonwealth Universities, and Vice-Chancellor Choh-ming Li was thrice elected to the Executive Committee of the Association. In 1964, the University became a member of the Inter-University Council for Higher Education Overseas. In 1969, Vice-Chancellor Li was invited to be a member of the Planning Committee for the Association of Commonwealth Universities Conference of Ex-ecutive Heads to prepare for the conferences in Ottawa, Canada (1970), Kenya (1971) and Hong Kong (1972). Through the sponsorship of
Overseas Academic Links and International Exchanges
international trust funds, The Chinese University was able to improve its curriculum as well as offer grants to its staff for overseas studies.
One major activity for the flow of new knowledge internationally is conferencing, and The Chinese University has been active in participat-ing in, and organizing local and international conferences. Statistics show that on the average, The Chinese University organized 3.3 con-. ferences a year in the period 1975-1978; 6 in 1978-1982; 8.7 in 1982-1985; and from 1985-1987, �Pan average of 9 international conferences and seminars were held every year at The Chinese University. Although activities�P of this kind cannot continue to grow indefinitely, a steady, though gradual, increase in number can be readily observed. The subject matters, methodologies, and content of such conferences all reached international standards, and were too varied to be dealt with in detail here. The following is a sample of the conferences held/organized here that were related to tertiary education and internationalism:
(1)
1964: Vice-Chancellor Choh-ming Li attended the Fifth General Conference of the Association of Southeast Asia In-stitutions of Higher Education in Bangkok in December. He was the first representative from The Chinese University since its inauguration.
(2)
1966: "University Cooperation and Asian Development" was held.in Hong Kong under the auspices of the Asia Founda-tion. At the conference, Vice-Chancellor Choh-ming Li presented a paper entitled "Inter-University Cooperation in Area Programmes and the Social Sciences: Asian Problems. and Prospects."
(3)
1968: The Sixth General Conference of the Association of Southeast Asian Institutions of Higher Education was held at The Chinese University. The student exchange programmes in the fifty Southeast Asian countries represented were the focus of discussion. This was�P the first time a conference on this theme was held in Asia.
(4)
1969: The Asian Workshop on Higher Education was held here at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Vice-Chancellor Dr Choh-ming Li was elected Director of this workshop which had the theme "A New Man for a New Society: Universities and Colleges as Agents of Change." Educators from twenty countries in Southeast Asia attended.
(5)
1970: The Chinese University and the University of Hong Kong were the venues for a series of seminars organized by the Comparative and International Education Society. A hundred and ten scholars attended, including heads and facul-ty from major universities in the USA and Canada. In the same year, Vice-Chancellor Choh-ming Li attended the Asian-US Educators' Conference, held in Hong Kong under the sponsorship of the Institute of International Education where possibilities for cooperation were sought and dis: cussed. Efforts were also made to open channels of com-munication for heads of universities all over the USA and Asia for student and faculty exchange. This cooperation was further discussed in the following three conferences that Vice-Chancellor Li attended in August and September of the same year, with results that proved critical to the international links established in the following years. Also, the Fourth Asian-US Educators Conference in 1974 was again organized by the two universities in Hong Kong, one of the major themes being the cooperation between tertiary institutions. These conferences provided important insights for The Chinese University decision-making bodies on the sig-nificance of internationalism.
(6)
1979: The Institute of Chinese Studies organized a Sym-posium on Sino-Japanese Cultural Interchange.
(7)
1981: The Association of Commonwealth Universities Con-ference of Executive Heads was held at The Chinese Univer-sity.
(8)
1986: The School of Education held an international educa-tion conference featuring the theme of "Future Perspectives for Education in Chinese Societies in Asia." The Eighth Com-monwealth Conference of Registrars of Universities of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Area was also held at The Chinese University.
(9)
1988: The School of Education of the University and the Goethe-Institut co-sponsored an international conference on "Cultural Tradition and Contemporary Education: P.dagogy, Curriculum and Policy." This conference explored the problems in education worldwide from different angles,
Overseas Academic Links and International Exchanges
Such international activities were not restricted to university staff and faculty. Indeed, Chinese University students, through their student unions, have always been active in international student activities. Notable examples include the Asian Youth Conference in 1966, interna-tional youth conferences and students' seminars where Chinese Univer-sity students participated as delegates representing the Hong Kong Federation of Students. In addition to participating in international con-ferences, The Chinese University also started academic cooperation and exchange with other universities. For example, an agreement was reached with the University of Pittsburgh for exchange programmes in Sociology, Economics and Geography. In the same year, under the sponsorship of the Leverhulme Trust Fellowships, an exchange programme was set up with various universities in Britain whereby their lecturers came to teach at The Chinese University and our junior faculty were sent to do research in British universities. Another faculty ex-change programme was set up under the sponsorship of the Inter-University Council for Higher Education Overseas between the Chemistry Departments of The Chinese University and Cambridge University. All these outstanding achievements prompted Vice-Chan-cellor Choh-ming Li to note in his Vice.Chancellor's Report, 1975-1978:
In bridging East and West, The Chinese University has endeavoured to be an international university in the fullest sense. Like Hong Kong itself, the University is at the crossroads of the academic world. The intellectual climate of the campus is free and cosmopolitan; many different cultural perspectives and approaches to education are repre-sented in the faculty. The University maintains fruitful relations with government agencies and associations in various countries, and con-ducts a wide range of cooperative projects with universities in many parts of the world. The University has been significantly assisted in its aspirations by private foundations committed to the advancement of international higher education. Within this network of relationships, The Chinese University has given particular attention to its regional identity and role among Southeast Asian institutions of higher educa-tion. (A New Era Begins, 1975-1978, p. 14)
4. Faculty Links and Academic Visits
The academic exchange programmes outlined above also helped to implement Professor Kerr's second principle (the flow of scholars). Indeed, the University and its constituent Colleges all agree on the value of these exchange programmes. Since the inauguration of the Univer-sity, numerous renowned scholars from all over the world, especially expatriate Chinese scholars, have been invited to visit Hong Kong, and have helped to stimulate and promote the University's academic stand-ing.
The first formal exchange programme was set up way back in 1961 by Chung Chi College (The Wellesley-Yenching Programme). Through its thirty years' history, fellows have worked in Computer Studies, as well as in the Philosophy, Religion and Sociology Departments. More recently, it has been arranged that overseas fellows will teach in the English Language Teaching Unit, each for a period of two years, a project which has produced very valuable contributions. To promote staff quality, study grants for faculty and staff have been established, with funding provided by organizations like the Ford Foundation, the Leverhulme Trust Fellowships, the Sino-British Fellowships, the Asia Foundation, the Japan Foundation, the Yale-in-China Association, the Harvard-Y enching Institute, the Henry Luce Foundation, the Board of Trustees of Lingnan University, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the John D. Rockefeller III Fund. In 1974, The Chinese University joined the Luce Scholars Programme. This programme is managed by the Asia Foundation and mandatory visits to The Chinese University by all Luce scholars are arranged. Another major exchange programme was set up in 1978 with the active support of the French government. After the visit to France by Vice-Chancellor Choh-ming Li and Vice-Chancellor Elect Ma Lin, a long term agreement was reached, stipulating exchanges of teachers and researchers in Chinese Cultural Studies, History, Anthropology, Applied Mathematics, and Business Administration. At the same time, scholarships were given by the French government to French students to study in the Asian Studies Programme at The Chinese University, and Chinese University students got grants for postgraduate studies in France. There is, in addition, a programme for the teaching staff of The Chinese University and of Robinson College, Cambridge University, to visit and teach in each
Overseas Academic Links and International Exchanges
other's countries. In sum, the fruits of such exchanges are rich and abundant.
Since 1976, there have also been close links with educational in-stitutions in China. Contact was made with Zhongshan University in Guangzhou in 1978, and this was formalized into an exchange programme in 1982. Similar programmes were established with other major universities (including Beijing University, Qinghua University, Fudan University and Chinese Academy of Sciences) over the follow-ing three years, resulting in numerous visits, joint projects and research. In connection with such exchanges, Professor Ma pointed out:
As China will no doubt continue to develop at an accelerating pace, not only in economic structure but also in its political and intellectual atmosphere, this is just a beginning, and the opportunity for contribut-ing to this development is only limited by the means the University has at its disposal. (Vice-Chancellor's Report, 1982-1985, p. 10)
The links with Chinese tertiary institutions continued to flourish in the following years, resulting in joint research projects in anthropology, geography, economics, law, marketing strategies, and economic and population development. A delegation led by Pro-Vice-Chancellor Baysung Hsu went to the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1986, and various long-,-term projects were initiated. In recent years, there have been more and more such associations, and scholars from all disciplines visiting The Chinese University every year number over a hundred.
Another notable landmark is the move of the Universities Service Centre to The Chinese University. This centre was established in 1963, and has been a major resource for the study and research of Chinese history outside of China. It houses a huge collection of provincial newspapers, books, articles and magazines on Chinese studies, written in both English and Chinese. After its incorporation into The Chinese University, the collection has been systematized and expanded, notably with information on Hong Kong, and can now provide more direct and accessible support to all scholars of China and Hong Kong.
Following our tradition of multi-institutional and cross disciplinary links, a large scale project was launched by our Anthropology Depart-ment and Yale University on "Traditional Chinese Socio-Cultural Formation in South China" in 1991. The members of the research team came from The Chinese University, Zhongshan University
(Guangzhou, China), Guangdong Province Academy of Sciences, Xiamen University, Anhui Province Academy of Sciences and Jiangxi Teachers' Training University, and was later to include researchers from Yale University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technol-ogy, Oxford University, as well as researchers from Taiwan.
Links were established between research units as well. Visiting fellows are regularly invited to work at the Institute of Chinese Studies. The Centre for East Asian Studies has visiting research fellows from Soka University, Japan and the Asiatic Research Centre of the Korea University. Every year, the University also hosts a series of lectures by distinguished scholars -the Wei Lun Lecture (The Chinese Univer-sity), the Siu Lien Ling Wong Visiting Fellows (Chung Chi College), the Ming Yu Foundation Professorship Programme, the S. Y. Chung Visiting Fellows Programme, the Ch'ien Mu Lecture in History and Culture Programme (New Asia College), the _Distinguished Visiting Scholars (United College), and the Sir Run Run Shaw Distinguished Visiting Scholars (Shaw College). Such visits and academic links have since become an integral part of life on campus. Indeed, such links and exchanges are important for the elevation of the quality and standard of any university in the world. Professor Ambrose King agrees:
The University is an important key in the academic culture in society. An academic institution deserving ofthe name "university" must place itself among the constellation of the other universities in the world; its doors must be open to welcome scholars from these other universities. Scholars are everywhere in the world, and if they can visit each other, a society of real international scholars can grndually emerge. This not only can make the university constellation shine more brightly, but can also sow the seed for a worldwide sentiment to regard the people and myriad things as a holistic entity. To be a real university, one must embrace the world spirit that knows no boundaries in academic pur-suits. And every scholar believes, as J. Donne did, that "No man is an island, entire of itself." (New Asia Life, 1980)
5. Student Exchange Programmes
In 1965, the first agreement on student exchange was reached with the University of California, United States. To celebrate this pioneering
Overseas Academic Links and International Exchanges
effort, The Chinese University appointed Dr C. T. Yung, Mr Preston Schayer and Mr H. T. Wu to form a Committee. on Inter-University Relations to oversee development. Meanwhile, the University of California sent Professor Vernon I. Cheadle, Chancellor of the Univer-sity of California, Santa Barbara, to Hong Kong to participate in the inaugural ceremony held in August. This programme was to be incor-porated into the University of California's Education Abroad Programme. Established in 1961, this programme plays a pioneering role in bridging tertiary institutions worldwide by establishing learning centres and promoting student exchange activities on campuses in different countries. At the time of the agreement with The Chinese University, the programme had already established nine centres and placed 220 students. The initial exchange with The Chinese University consisted of nine students and two teachers, with one teacher serving as field-staff director in Hong Kong overseeing the exchange students' academic and everyday affairs. The Chinese University, in return, sent a corresponding number of graduates to all campuses of the University of California for graduate studies. In his speech at the in-auguration of this programme, Vice-Chancellor Choh-ming Li was encouraging:
... the programme enables our students and faculty members to have first-hand contact with overseas scholars at The Chinese University and thus to become directly involved in the world current of intellec-tual development. Hopefully this programme will make The Chinese University a truly international centre standing in the forefront in search of new knowledge in certain fields. (Chinese University Bul-letin, October 1965, p. 5)
In fact, quite a few of the current faculty benefited from this programme and completed their doctoral studies at the University of California before returning to teach at The Chinese University.
Besides, this effort on the part of the University itself, the con-stituent Colleges had also been working hard to establish student ex-change programmes. In 1966, United College, for the first time in its history, reached an agreement with Williams College, USA, involving a US$ 2500 scholarship for a United College student to study at Williams. In 1967, United College and Indiana University agreed to sponsor one graduate student each to the. other institution. Indiana University also
offered a full scholarship to one United College graduate student for doctoral studies. Chung Chi College established exchange agreements with two American universities -Redlands University (1973), and Washington and Lee University (1973) -and two Japanese univer-sities -Keio University (1976), and International Christian University (1978). New Asia College has an even longer tradition of exchange programmes with Japanese universities, starting in 1958 (before New Asia College became a constituent college of The Chinese University of Hong Kong) with Asia University, Japan. All these programmes, each unique, play an integral part in the international ideal of the University, and have thrived, and continue to thrive.
The USA is The Chinese University's biggest partner in student exchange programmes. For instance, from 1978-1982, the University of California sent thirty-four students to The Chinese University, and we sent twenty-three in return. Thirty students/scholars and twenty-two teaching assistants from various American universities came as part of the programme and twenty-eight students and teachers from The Chinese University went to the USA. Japan is the second biggest partner. In 1975, a programme was launched with Soka University, involving an exchange of research, graduate programmes, journals and other teaching materials. In 1977, Soka University granted a yearly donation of US$ 10,000 for a scholarship at the Asian Studies Depart-ment. In 1983, there was an agreement with Tsukuba University for the exchange of two undergraduate students a year. In that five-year period, a total of fourteen Japanese lecturers and students came to The Chinese University, and a corresponding number went to Japan.
With the whole tertiary education community placing increasing importance on student exchange, the University has continued to ex-pand its programme. In recent years, work has proceeded at the departmental level as well. The two-year M.B.A. programme has set up exchange programmes with various universities: New York University (1978), University of Western Ontario (1988), University of British Columbia, Canada (1989), University of California, Los Angeles (1989), University of Chicago (1990), London Business School (1990), York University, Canada (1991), and the University of California, Berkeley (1992). The Department of Japanese Studies has a programme since 1991 of student exchange with various Japanese universities. There are also plans to send Anthropology students on exchange to the
Overseas Academic Links and International Exchanges
University of London, and English Department students to various universities in the USA and Canada.
6. Yale-China Association and the Asian Studies Programme
Since exchanges have become such a necessary and integral part of modern tertiary education, sporadic efforts in this direction could not meet all the demands. A more coherent, comprehensive structure needed to be established and to this end, the University, togetherwith the Yale-China Association established the AsianStudies Programme in 1977, representing a milestone in the efforts of The Chinese University towards international education. But let us first of all trace the history of the University's relation with the Yale-China Association.
The Yale-China Association began its work in China as early as 1903 in Changsha in Hunan province. This work had to be discontinued as a result of political changes in China and the Association sought to move to Hong Kong or Taiwan. In 1953, Professor Harry Rudin was sent by the Board of Trustees . to Hong Kong to meet with Professor Ch'ien Mu, the then Head of New Asia College in Kowloon. He was deeply impressed by the effort and enthusiasm of Professor Ch'ien, undiminished even under the extremely difficult circumstances prevail-ing at that time. Professor Rudin recommended to the Board that support should be given to enable New Asia College to develop, making pos-sible the move to much better premises in Farm Road. This association, once started, has remained steadfast and strong.
The Yale-China Association is particularly supportive of Chinese studies, especially when directed towards the study of Chinese culture. Also, every year, Yale graduates come to help in the teaching of English. Donations were also given for the building of the University Health Centre and the Y ali Guest House. The Chinese Language Centre was established with the help of the Yale-China Association, and was later, in 1974, managed by the University as an independent New Asia -Yale-in-China Chinese Language Centre. This was relocated to the newly completed Fong Shu Chuen Building (also sponsored by the Yale-China Association) in 1979.
The Asia Studies Programme, on the other hand, was started in
1976, again a joint effort of The Chinese University and Yale-China Association. Under this programme, overseas students could come to study at the University for a year. Student applications were collected and processed by Yale-China in the United States, and the programme was taught and managed by The Chinese University. Overseas students stayed in the same hostels as local students. (Yale-China Association put up a HK$ 1,000,000 endowment, resulting in 76 places being reserved for exchange students.) The agreement stipulated that the programme would enjoy financial independence, but the funding for courses and staff, policy decisions and administration would be the responsibility of the Senate Committee on International Programmes. Conceptually, the establishment of the programme is a product of the University's ideal of Chinese-Western multi-culturalism, modern-ization and internationalism. This is summarized by Professor S. S. Hsueh, the first Director of Studies of the programme:
The Chinese University of Hong Kong has always emphasized its international character in line with the cosmopolitan nature of Hong Kong and with the modem concept of a university which needs to be constantly exposed to major cultural traditions and trends in the world. One distinctive educational goal of the University is to seek a mean-ingful integration of Chinese and Western cultural and intellectual traditions. In that spirit, the University has been promoting Chinese culture through instruction, research and public service .....
Therefore, an International Asian Studies Programme has been estab-lished, in cooperation with the Yale-China Association, to provide opportunities for selected numbers of scholars from Asia and other parts of the world to pursue studies or research in a Chinese cultural environment and at the same time to stimulate intellectual contacts of our local students with foreign students. (Chinese University Bulletin, Autumn 1976, pp. 2-3)
The programme has always enjoyed tremendous support. The first year (1978) attracted 44 students from overseas. Up to 1982, a total of 320 students/researchers/scholars from 21. countries have participated in this programme. Most of the participants came from the USA and Japan. Since 1977, Soka University, Japan, sent two to four students to the programme each year and provided scholarships. Vice-Chancellor Ma Lin said of the programme:
Overseas Academic Links and International Exchanges
The development of international programmes in these four years had induced the office of IASP to change its role from the original function of serving only the IASP to one of serving all exchange programmes of the University. Such a development and the stimulation this provided had gradually transformed the office of IASP into an office for foreign students and formed a good base for centralization of efforts and better coordination. (Vice-Chancellor' Report, 1978-1982, p. 46)
In terms of the course content, this programme lays emphasis on the study of Asian cultures, and helps overseas universities and scholars with their study of Asian cultures. Cooperating with other units and research centres at the University (Japanese Department in 1976, the Centre for East Asian studies in 1971, Institute of Chinese Studies in 1967), the programme has been the driving force behind the estab-lishment of The Chinese University as a major research centre for Chinese and Asian Studies. Secondly, through the interdisciplinary ap-proach adopted in teaching methodology and course design, the programme offers a curriculum that is unique and congruent with con-temporary education theories. In the beginning, except for a few taught by the programme staff, most courses were offered jointly with other departments of the University. Gradually, more and more courses have been taught by its own staff and now the programme has matured into a coherent and comprehensive one for the study of Chinese and Asian culture, economy, politics and society.
The success of the Asian Studies Programme is not solely based on its curriculum design or teaching methodology. There are also the extracurricular activities, like the monthly dinner talks, festival dinners, recreational activities, voluntary work (teaching English) at the Viet-namese refugee camps, and weekend trips to Guangdong province, China, to teach English. These activities foster communication between the participants of the programme and the local staff and students of the University, as well as with people from all strata of society in general, thus allowing understanding and acceptance.
Although the Asian Studies Programme is designed for non-Hong Kong students, the teaching and administration is fully incorporated into the university's structure. From 1989, the eight or nine courses offered which are taught in English are also listed as general education courses open to local students. The purpose of this is to promote communication
and understanding inside and outside the classroom. In addition, in the teaching and studying of any particular subject, there is the opportunity of comparison across cultures. This latter advantage is very much in tune with the University's ideal of general education. The programme also operates a Host Family Scheme to help overseas students adapt to living in a different cultural environment. This scheme has enjoyed tremendous success since its launching, and every year at least 30 to 40 families offer their help as hosts, and many long-standing friendships are established.
The Office of International Studies Programmes (OISP) was estab-lished in 1984, taking over the adminstration of the Asian Studies Programme. The Yale-China Association continues to process applica-tions from students from North America, and to act as consultant. On campus, OISP has expanded its service network to include all non-Hong Kong students, including those from the University of California ex-change programme, International Students Exchange Programme, programmes operated by the constituent Colleges, exchange program-mes with the two Japanese universities -Tsukuba University and Saka University -the M.B.A. programme, as well as the exchange prog-ramme for the Japanese Department. There has been a considerable growth in the work of OISP, with a corresponding increase in the number of students.
The Asian Studies Programme has so far accepted 900 students from 266 universities from 24 countries. Chinese University students sent to study in other countries number more than 100. The exchange students to Hong Kong in recent years are no longer just interested in studying the Chinese language but wish also to learn about Chinese and Asian cultures; economics, society and politics. They are more academi-cally oriented, have very specific goals in mind and demand more from the courses they enrol in. Fuelled by this development, improvements have been made in the design of the Asian Studies Programme in terms ofscope, content, quantity and quality, and it is anticipated that soon, the programme will grow into a university curriculum recognized and respected worldwide.
To strengthen the ties with major international academic institutions and to provide more coordination within the administrative units in the planning and running of the exchange programmes, the University created the Committee on Academic Links in 1991. This Committee
Overseas Academic Links and International Exchanges
takes over from the Senate Committee on International Programmes in the planning of the University's exchange and networking activities. At the administrative level, there is the Office of Academic Links, with staff transferred from the University Secretariat and OISP. It provides a smoother and more efficient support service for the development of academic exchanges. In his fifth Open Letter to the University, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Charles Kao, started by emphasizing the importance of setting up worldwide academic links in the development of the University:
Over the summer months I made an extensive trip through Canada, USA, France and England. The primary purpose of the journey was to strength the linkage of this university with those universities and in-stitutions that had current or probable future relationships with us. (Chinese University Bulletin, Autumn/Winter 1991, p. 17)
He then explained the four ways in which such links can be estab-lished, with special mention of the newly set up Office of Academic Links:
In September this year, we established a new administrative office called Office of Academic Links. This administrative office along with all other administrative units is to provide support services to our academic community ... this new office,... will serve as a clearing-house for all linkage matters. It will be guided on policy matters by a committee under the chairmanship of Professor Ambrose King, our Pro-Vice-Chancellor.
The Office of Academic Links will also have direct responsibility for the management and allocation of our guest houses and hostel facilities for visitors, both short and long term. In line with our policy of decentralization, all initiatives for developing new linkages are expected to come from the faculties, either through the suggestion of the academic departments or the stimulation from outside institutions. (Chinese University Bulletin, Autumn/Winter 1991, p. 17)
The creation of the Office of Academic Links marks the beginning of a new era at The Chinese University in terms of academic exchanges. With better central planning, it is anticipated that the University can further and more concretely establish plans to promote better exchange activities with other parts of the world. Currently the Office is working .on a programme for staff exchange. For the students, there has been an
increase in the number of exchange students going to Japan, a direct result of the establishment of the Japanese Department. Other depart-ments are also working to send their students abroad. Coupled with the increase in activity with tertiary institutions in China, The Chinese University's position in the international academic circle is becoming more and more solidly established.
7. International Curriculum Design
Vice-Chancellor Kao mentioned very clearly in his Open Letters that all academic links and exchanges must be initiated at the departmental and faculty -in other words, academic -levels. There is a further task for the academic units, and indeed the University as well. This is the design and promotion of an international curriculum (the fourth activity stipu-lated by Professor Clark Kerr). On this subject, Professor Kerr himself pointed out that it was necessary for universities to break out of the traditional subject domains and offer students more courses of an inter-disciplinary nature, or subjects in "world orbit fields." He made special reference to the University and pointed out that it was especially impor-tant for us to establish a direction that rises above the restrictions posed by a single country, race or culture. He acknowledged the immense contributions made by individual departments, e.g., History, Philosophy, Literature, in their own respective domains, but regretted that not enough cross fertilization has taken place, especially in cur-riculum design, multi-cultural studies, comparative studies and evalua-tions of the significance of different cultures. The crux of the problem, he suggested, was that the comparative analysis method was not ac-cepted and applied as much as it should be, and internationalism was therefore slowed down.
We could, of course, respond to Professor Kerr's criticisms by pointing out the interdisciplinary efforts in curriculum design and re-search made by the staff of the departments mentioned. But it is far more significant to acknowledge the problem and investigate whether there is any room for modification and improvement. The goal should be a balance between academic philosophies and practical needs, as well as the promotion of the ideal of internationalism and worldwide university education. Pro-Vice-Chancellor Ambrose King has always
Overseas Academic Links and International Exchanges
been a staunch supporter of this educational ideal, both in his academic philosophy and his administrative practice. In Daxue zhi lilian (The Idea of a University), he reiterated the importance of interdisciplinary and integrated curriculum design in university education. He also agreed that students should not only study their own specialized (major) sub-jects, but should also gain knowledge or become familiar with other knowledge or expertise, as well as taking some non-academic courses.
In his book, Cong chuantong dao xiandai, Professor King again pointed out his aspirations for this "world culture." He said:
A world-view ideology and global way of life is emerging, and a new human civilization is gradually crystallized in this process of "globalization." A world culture is not only about to arrive, it is already here, and surfacing! In the process, the efforts of the Chinese intelligentsia should not remain within the boundaries of debating issues related to Eastern Asian cultures, but rather should entertain the concept of culture as having no borders. (p. 31)
Indeed, the University's promotion of the international curriculum should not aim just for an acknowledgement from academia. This effort can in fact admit The Chinese University to taking part in world culture. The interdisciplinary curriculum design or the "pan-disciplinary cur-riculum" proposed by Professor King can yield results at a pedagogical level, and promote a real "world spirit for academia."
It is this "pan-disciplinary" method (which combines methods from Political Science, Law, Economics, History, Government and Public Administration, Anthropology, Psychology and Sociology) that Profes-sor Ambrose King suggested would be useful for the study and research of Chinese social traditions and culture. It can also provide a theoretical basis for international developments. One advantage seems to be the possibility of breaking down the artificial barriers between Chinese and Western cultural studies, paving the way for a new conceptual framework. Students at The Chinese University can hope to strike a balance between traditional Chinese versus Western or modem cultures, and between benefits for the individual versus benefits for the whole society. If The Chinese University can free itself from the struggle for domination between the�P Chinese and Western cultures and gradually move towards a modern international and global conceptual curriculum model based on the "disciplinary" design, the University can escape the
age-old confinement imposed by the antagonism between the Chinese and the West resulting from over-zealous nationalistic feelings. This idea was already raised very early on by Professor King. He suggested . that to forge an outlet for China in the twentieth century through the challenge of Chinese traditional academic values by Western civiliza-tion, the Chinese must escape from an excessively ethnocentric frame of reference. The modernization of Chinese traditional values must follow a solution that goes beyond the confrontation of the East/West elements. From the points of view of education and culture, what the Chinese people today face in terms of modem and post-modem problems has been summarized by Professor Liu Shu Hsien, when he said, "And now a balance must be sought between the ancient and the contemporary, the old and the new, the inherited and the innovative, the scientific and the humane, the authoritarian and the democratic, the realistic and the idealistic." (Zhungguo jiexue yu xiandaihua, Taipei, 1980, p. 61) The internationalism of higher education just might be the solution.
It would also appear that general education could be a favourable starting point for the true internationalization of The Chinese Univer-sity. The University's long term emphasis on this educational ideal reflects just such intentions. The present Director of General Education, Professor Ho Hsiu Hwang, also agreed that the general education prin-ciple is capable of propelling Hong Kong into the world culture orbit, in an interview:
Question: Located as we are in Hong Kong, are there any charac-teristics or special meanings in the implementation of general education here at The Chinese University?
Answer: What I see as the most important characteristic is the union of Chinese and W estem cultures, because Hong Kong is influenced by both cultures. But this union should not be simply based on the fact that geographically, Hong Kong is located where these two cultures meet. We should under-stand that in the world today, a "world culture" is forming slowly. This world culture, of course, cannot completely replace individual cultures, but a person today is a "world man" besides being a "Chinese man." General education must teach one to look farther afield and be accommodat-ing to other cultures. (Zhongda ershi nian, 1984, p. 98)
Overseas Academic Links and International Exchanges
Thus the "Chinese University man" should also be a "world man," and this is exactly what Professor Ambrose King meant when he said, "The Chinese University has been established for China, but, of course, is established too, as part of the world." It has already been noted above how the Asian Studies Programme, which was originally designed for overseas students, was incorporated into the general education programme of the University, providing an opportunity for overseas and local students to study Chinese and Asian cultures, literature, economics and political systems together. Besides fostering communication, under-standing and friendship, this arrangement also holds significance for internationalization. On the surface, these studies may seem to be restricted to China or Asia, but they are not. All courses offered by the Asian Studies Programme, in design and teaching methodologies, even in the choice of topics for discussion in the classroom, all attempt to relate Chinese and Asian issues to a more Western or even global perspective, involving a comparative analysis of different cultures and values. This fits in nicely with the requirements of the international curriculum design suggested by Professor Clark Kerr. Overseas stu-dents do not just come to learn the Chinese language or study something about Chinese and Asian cultures, society, economics, and politics. They are also led to evaluate what they learn according to a conceptual framework they have already acquired, to integrate the new knowledge into this framework, and to be actively critical of it. This is also the reason why a local student whose mother tongue is Chinese should also study subjects like Chinese literature, Chinese culture and thoughts from Chinese texts translated into English. This Chinese University student will also benefit from the "general education effect" in this learning process. They may be more familiar than their overseas classmates with the subject content, but they will probably be surprised by how the materials are presented, and will benefit from the learning habits and attitudes of their classmates. Through a situation like this, a local student can enjoy a learning experience designed in terms of an international pedagogy.
General education and the international curriculum offered by the Asian Studies Programme work hand in hand with the University's ideal of international education. This should be acknowledged and continued. Currently, a few departments are setting up interdisciplinary program-mes on a trial basis. For example, several departments in the Science
Faculty have joined forces to produce programmes on Food Science and Environment Studies. In this respect, The Chinese University has moved beyond offering general education courses for students to study after they have fulfilled requirements set out for specialization. We must continue to bear in mind Professor Kerr's suggestion that any cur-riculum review on a university level must proceed with more active, more systematic internationalization in mind, and extend the specialized domain of departments to a world orbit. This concept can also expand and realize Professor Liu Shu Hsien's aspirations as stated in "Jiang tongshi yu yu zhuanke de jiaoshou zhi nei" (The Place of General Education in Specialization Classes) (from Zhexue, wenhua yu jiaoyu, edited by To Cho-yee and Liu Shu-hsien, Hong Kong, 1988, p. 89).
8. Conclusion
During the past twenty to thirty years, The Chinese University has been actively developing links with academic institutions overseas, as well as developing for itself an international curriculum. The results have been rich and positive, and, in this area, have made the University foremost among other tertiary institutions in Hong Kong. Thl.s directionis a result of the historical, cultural, social and political factors that have made the University what it is. Also, the University has. indeed !1ourished and nurtured its long term ideal in terms of spirit, educational philosophy and practical needs. The impetus for this development comes undoub-tedly from the initial goal set at the founding of the University, coupled with the fact that our first Vice-C:l)ailcellor was a keen supporter of internationalism.
We must not be satisfied with what we have already achieved. Although The Chinese University in its international links is indeed foremost among tertiary institutions in Southeast Asia, we still lag behind Japan. According to statistics, Japanese students between the ages of 15 to 19 who have studied abroad or participated in overseas exchange programmes increased from 1882 in 1965 to 84,708 in 1988. We can see from t�gese figures the extent of acceptance of inter-nationalism in that country. There is an ever bigger gap when we consider American universities. The Education Abroad Programme started by Professor Kerr at the University of California has placed over
Overseas Academic Links and International Exchanges
1500 students to more than 90 universities in 30 or more countries, and in return has accepted 600 students. (The ratio of exchange students to the whole student population for the University of California was 0.9% in 1990-1991, while the same ratio for The Chinese University was 0.3%.) This shows that in terms of scope and administrative structure, student exchange activities at The Chinese University have still a long way to go, and we can learn a lot from others. Obviously, The Chinese University does not have the manpower or resources enjoyed by Japanese or American universities, but their success is really encourag-ing to us, in that it will be well worth our while to work towards further internationalization.
In his first Open Letter to staff and students shortly after assuming office, Vice-Chancellor Charles Kao mentioned his hope for the "development of joint research projects with outside universities recog-nized as centres of excellence in mainline research areas" and the "creation of re�Psearch student fellowships with a view to increasing the number of Ph.D. candidates." (April, 1989) In the spring of 1993, the Hong Kong-America Center was established. Participating members included the Institute of International Education and the Council for American Overseas Research Centres. The aim set for this centre is to promote cultural and academic exchanges between the USA and Hong Kong, and to develop academic links with academic institutions world-wide. In another Open Letter written in March 1990, Professor Kao pointed out that two goals of The Chinese University were to make her "an effective linkage to the universities around the world" and "a truly bilingual, multi-cultural, multi-disciplined university." It is noteworthy that by referring to the "multi-cultural" and "multi-disciplinary" charac-teristics, Professor Kao is breaking out of the deadlock imposed by the traditional antagonism between Chinese and Western cultures. In the fifth Open Letter, Professor Kao continued:
Linkage to a worldwide community of universities and institutions will bring many unique opportunities of great value. Colleagues engaged in a variety of academic pursuits may find projects that could be reinforced with input from overseas collaborators. we are already engaged in a number of promising research projects that fall in this category. I see this as a vehicle to strengthen considerably our research effort. We should aim at establishing effective contacts with a network of experts around the world ....
Academic linkage a.tivities are of critical importance to this university especially at this juncture of our development, and to the development of Hong Kong as a whole. I am convinced that they will create better options for staff and students alike. Moreover, they will constitute one of the surest ways to maintain and raise our academic standard and improve our educational quality. We shall be able to clearly demonstrate the importance of academic freedom in the worldwide context. ( Chinese University Bulletin, Autumn/Winter 1991, p. 17)
Under this set of guidelines, it is clear that internationalization is an integral part of the development plans for the University. It is most encouraging to note that the realiza.ion of the aspirations of our late Vice-Chancellor Choh-ming Li is within sight.
The Students
KWOK Siu-tong
A victorious CUHK student rowing team
Background: Students at the New Asia College concourse
I. Introduction
Confucius believed that a person is ready to stand on his own feet by the age of thirty. Thirty years may be seen as no more than a flash of light in the current of historical development. But, history does not always develop at the same pace. The thirty years history of The Chinese University has been full of dynamism and vitality, a striving to progress in a period of rapid and drastic change.
University students are, in some sense, the measure of a university. Even though individual students' experiences may be unique, as a group they reflect the pulsing life of the university, responding closely to its progress. A university serves as the conscience of society, transcending the diversified and conflicting interests within society, and pointing the way for its advancement. The Chinese University has held�P to this educational ideal, developing and overcoming difficulties as it sought its own values and standards as a young educational institution. The students of the University have been happy to find inspiration from the strivings of the University. Though they may be limited in experience and knowledge, yet their enthusiasm as young intellectuals, has sup-ported the efforts of the University. Although they may, at times, make mistakes and be diverted from the right track, yet the intensity of their self-education, symbolizes in some way their feelings for the Univer-sity, their commitment to society and their identification of themselves with the mission of Chinese intellectuals. In the past thirty years, the University has cultivated a group of young students concerned with the welfare of their society and of their country. This is a solid proof that the efforts of the University have been worthwhile.
This chapter will first analyze the background of the Chinese University students over the past thirty years, then describe briefly their campus life, followed by an outline of their responses to issues related to the University, to society and to China. Their experience over these thirty years may roughly be divided into four different phases:
1.
From 1963 to 1972: the three constituent Colleges were still geographically separated; campus life was primarily college-based. This was also a period when the student movement was beginning.
2.
From 1973 to 1976: the three Colleges had moved to Shatin
and were centralized administratively. The student movement entered a phase of romantic idealism and radicalism.
3.
From 1977 to 1988: these were the years when staff and stu-dents struggled to protect the four-year curriculum structure of the University. The collegiate tradition of campus life began to diminish, creating an interflow of university and college life. During this period, the student movement began to seek new directions, assuming a new responsibility towards China and Hong Kong, as the question of the future of Hong Kong con-fronted the students.
4.
From 1989 to 1993: the University gradually began to evolve towards a new curriculum structure. The government was rapidly expanding places in tertiary institutions. Staff and stu-dents worked at reshaping the future direction of the Univer-sity. The direction of the student movement was tied in with the experience of the 1989 democratic movement in China.
II. Individual Background of the Students
Before the University was set up, the three Colleges enrolled not only local students, but also those so-called "refugee students" who �E had come down from China, as well as a small number of overseas Chinese students from Southeast Asia. (Chung Chi College Bulletin, January 1956) When the three Colleges joined to form the University, these three streams still persisted. According to the statistics of 1963 to 1964, the geographical distribution of Chung Chi College students was as follows: of a total of 595 students, those born in Hong Kong amounted to 253 ( 42.52% ), those who had arrived in Hong Kong as teenagers, 117 (19.66% ), "refugee students," 157 (26.38% ), Overseas Chinese, 63 (10.58%) and foreign students, 5 (0.8%). (Chung Chi College Bulletin, April 1964) The background of the students reflected the "guest" men-tality of students in the 1950s and early 1960s. However, by the end of the 1960s, the "refugee student" phenomenon had disappeared. In the 1970s, local born students were a large majority. Towards the middle of the 1980s, due to the new open door policy in China, more and more immigrants from the mainland settled down in Hong Kong and their children had reached the age of entering university. Because of the language factor, most of them enrolled in The Chinese University.
In addition to the geographical background, the educational back-ground of the Chinese University students also changed with time. According to the statistics on new students of the three Colleges, in the 1950s and early 1960s, over half of the students came from Chinese middle schools. For the new students of Chung Chi College in the academic year 1963-1964, the ratio of Chinese middle schools graduates versus Anglo-Chinese schools was 85.02% to 14.98%. By 1971-1972, the ratio had changed to become 56.30% to 43.70%. At New Asia College, in 1967-1968, the ratio was 81.50% (Chinese mid-dle schools) versus 16.90% (Anglo-Chinese schools). For the new stu-dents of the whole of The Chinese University, in 1979-1980, Chinese middle school graduates made up 24.00%. In 1983-1984, this figure had increased to 28.50%.
The change in educational background of the students reflected the evolution of the educational system in Hong Kong. Under the influence of local social values, and policies of the government, Anglo-Chinese schools had gradually grown stronger with a corresponding decline of Chinese middle schools. There existed a close relationship between the Chinese middle schools and the founding of The Chinese University. In the essay competition organized by Chung Chi College students in 1960, the topic of the competition was the founding of a Chinese university. All the prize-winning essays shared a similar point. Because there were about 3,000 students graduating annually_ from Chinese middle schools, they certainly needed to have a university which used the Chinese language as the medium of instruction. This corresponded to the needs of the society of the time. However, because of varied reasons, the number of Chinese middle schools decreased. The Chinese University had to adjust to the changing needs of society by absorbing more and more students from the Anglo-Chinese schools. The Univer-sity had insufficient power by itself to counter the trends of society and the policy of the government.
The family background of students over these thirty years has also shown certain changes. In the 1950s, more students came from relative-ly poorer families. Up to 1960, quite a few students were unable to continue their university education due to the high fees of the University of Hong Kong. When The Chinese University was first founded, stu-dents were quite concerned about scholarships and bursaries from the government. The percentage of students receiving scholarships was
more than fifty. (The statistics of 1966-1967) In 1969, the government increased the amount of scholarships and bursaries fourfold, helping a large number of poorer students. According to the new student statistics of New Asia College of 1967-1968, the percentage of students whose monthly family income ranged from $250 to $1,000 was 69.40%. The average family income per month was $1,069. Students from the Arts Faculty had to spend least and their annual expenditure averaged $2,670. Hence, the families of about 69% of the students would have to use two months of family income to finance their children at university if they did not receive government support.
To further analyze the changes of family income of students since the 1960s, figures for new students of New Asia College may be used (Table 1), (New Asia Life Bi-weekly and New Asia Life Monthly):
Table 1.
Academic Average family Close to Below
year monthly income average average
1966-67 $1,081.82 "19.80% 72.80%
1970-71 $1,118.16 20.29%' 70.05%
1974-75 $1,610.56 45.22% 29.17%
1978-79 $2,116.21 34.77% 6.47%
We may further illustrate the change by using statistics for new stu-dents of the University as a whole (Table 2), (Survey of New Students Conducted by the Office of Students Affairs of the Chinese University):
Table 2.
Academic year average Average family monthly income Close to average Below aver Above age
1982-83 1984-85 1986-87 1988-89 1990-91 $4,597.90 $5,949.00 $7,604.00 $8,061.00 $10,477.00 36.80% 20.40% 15.66% "18.70% 16.70% 26.60% 48.60% 55.80% 38.00% 36.50% 35.10% 28.80% 36.60% 40.50% 43.40%
Looking at new students' living environment, in the academic year of 1980-1981, new students living in public housing estates, wooden huts and temporary housing came to 52.40%, with private housing
34.10%; in 1986-1987, the figures became 47.50% versus 39.70%; in 1990-1991, the ratio reached 40.10% versus 45.80%. The educational background of new students' parents can be seen as follows (Table 3):
Table 3.
Primary or Below Secondary School Tertiary Father Mother Father Mother Father Mother
1980 62.20% 65.40% 22.60% 11.40% 6.30% 1.80%
1982 63.50% 80.20% 20.80% 13.50% 6.90% 3.20%
1984 65.00% 78.20% 24.90% 16.00% 8.50% 4.50%
1986 49.40% 65.10% 29.90% 21.70% 18.90% 11.70%
1988 43.20% 56.50% 32.10% 26.50% 21.30% 14.10%
1990 43.20% 53.50% 33.10% 30.30% 22.50% 12.80%
As a whole, the Chinese University students of the 1960s and 1970s came mainly from the lower and middle classes. In the 1980s, their family background, in terms of their family average income, living environment and educational level, had escalated to the middle class level. This trend reflects the development of Hong Kong towards a more affluent society, with an ever-expanding middle class and rising educa-tional standards.
Ill. The Social Context in which the Chinese University Students Have Grown Up
University students grow up in a certain society, enter universities, and respond to the affairs and changes of that society. It is therefore neces-sary to trace very briefly the changes in Hong Kong over the past thirty years in order to better understand the experience of the Chinese University students.
In the early 1990s, Hong Kong had evolved into a highly developed international city, ranking as one of the twenty top trading nations of the world. During the past thirty years, changes had been quite dramatic. In the early 1960s, post-war Hong Kong had reached an important moment of change. In the 1950s, due to the Korean War and its trade embargo, Hong Kong' s economy was forced to change, transforming it from a
entrepot into an industrial city. Hong Kong started with labour intensive industries including textiles, rubber, and clothes manufacturing. With the coming of the 1970s, Hong Kong began to move towards tech-nologically intensive and pluralist industries. In 1980, the government announced a report on economic diversification, stimulating an overall attempt to develop a wide range of professional and service industries including technological crafts, transportation, trade, communication, travel, finance and administration. Towards the end of the 1980s, Hong Kong was firmly established in its international position in finance, transportation and communication.
In the context of a rapidly developing economy, Hong Kong society had been changing correspondingly, and in a drastic manner. First of all, there was a sharp population increase. The population grew from 3.13 million in 1961, to 5.20 million in 1981, and to over 6 million in 1991. The increase in population and the transformation in economic structure forced the government to develop the urban areas and establish more active policies in social welfare, including the setting up of new towns, the establishment of mass communication systems, the development of public housing and district communities, and the increase in basic social welfare. With the 1970s, Hong Kong had become an "affluent society." Its class structure had gradually become more and more open and rationalized. Free enterprise offered individuals more opportunities for social mobility. The size of .he middle class had grown continuously. The failure of radical labour politics in the 1950s and 1960s, and the internal divisions of the working class contributed to dilute the intensity of class conflicts in Hong Kong.
The socio-economic dynamism accelerated the liberalization of Hong Kong politics. In the 1950s and 1960s, the government main-tained its relatively traditional and conservative colonial system of rule. After the 1966 Star Ferry fare increase incident and the leftists' riots of 1967, the government started to set up a network of district affairs offices and advisory committees in order to strengthen its communica-tions with the common people. The 1970s saw the emergence of interest groups which began to exert pressure on the government. These pres-sure groups later evolved into the political groups of the 1980s. The 1980s were also the time when the government initiated the policy of district administration and representative government, as a response to the Sino-British negotiations on Hong Kong' s future, the signing of the
Joint Declaration and the drafting of the Basic Law. The civic con-sciousness of the Hong Kong citizens had made significant progress when compared to the situation in the 1960s. Their feeHngs and attitudes towards the political future of Hong Kong have become more sophisti-cated after the impact of the 1989 democratic movement of China and the direct elections to the legislature in 1991.
The drastic changes of the past thirty years have also helped to broaden the cultural horizons of Hong Kong. In the 1950s and 1960s, the cultural influences of Britain, the USA and Taiwan dominated. In the 1970s, local cultural elements emerged. In,tjle late 1970s, with the beginning of reform in China, Chinese arts and crafts and other forms of Chinese traditional culture filtered into Hong Kong. Tl.f same period also witnessed the take-off of the development of communications and the mass media which, in tum, facilitated an even faster growth of local culture. Under the influence of rapid progress in electronic communica-tion techniques in the tourist industry and in advertising, the horizons and sensitivity of Hong Kong citizens have become more and more internationalized.
Vis-a-vis the progress of society as a whole, the educational development of Hong Kong has been relatively tortuous without suffi-cient or careful planning.'In 1954, the government started to expand the seven-year primary education system and rapidly increased primary school places. However, places in government and subsidized secon-dary schools were far from sufficient. This situation can be seen from the statistics of September 1974: there were 696,987 primary school places, 389,298 secondary school places and 11,771 university places. Between 1978 to 1980, the Government extended free education to Junior Secondary 3. In 1983, school certificate examination candidates reached the number of 130,000. However, expansion in university education was still rather slow. When The Chinese University celebrated its twentieth anniversary, tertiary education was still fairly elitist. In 1988, the government announced a rapid increase in tertiary education places. However, as the quality of basic education was still far from satisfactory, overly rapid expansion in tertiary education has created a dubious impact on it. The situation was further complicated by the government's policy of pushing for a unified educational system in Hong Kong. From 1977 to 1988, the government continued to exert pressure for change on The Chinese University. This finally ended with
the decision of the Executive Council to unify sixth form and tertiary educational systems.
The students of The Chinese University grew up in the midst of these drastic changes of the past thirty years. Challenges from within and without the University were many. Young students with enthusiasm and idealism bravely faced and accepted these different challenges. The ideal of The Chinese University is to pursue a holistic education and to promote the exchange of Chinese and Western cultures. During their days in the University, students have tried very hard to respond to the challenges of the time hoping to realize their ideal in practice. In the short span of four years, to achieve this educational ideal was not easy. Moreover, the drastic and continuous changes in the University have definitely made the load shouldered by the students even heavier.
IV. Change in the Environment of Studies
The Chinese University is an institution charged with change and dynamism. Among the first of the changes there �P was that of the geographical environment. When the University was first founded, the three Colleges were scattered in different parts of Hong Kong. In 1972 and 1973, United College and New Asia College moved on to the campus at Ma Liu Shuithus centralizing the University geographically. From 1963 to 1972, when the three Colleges were separated geographi-cally and the community was quite small in each location, there evolved inside each community a much stronger network of human relation-ships, preserving basically the characteristics of small colleges.
When the three Colleges came together, the University began to contemplate changing its federal structure. After several years' prepara-tion, the University finally decided in 1976 to make the change. All the subject-orientated teaching, research and administration were central-ized at the University. The Colleges were responsible for general educa-tion and student-orientated teaching. In the meantime, the departmental offices formerly distributed in the three Colleges were moved together. The separation of departmental offices from the Colleges obviously affected the communal life of the Colleges.
With the centralization of the University, the former inter-collegiate courses disappeared. The curriculum structure became simpler. In 1987,
the University decided to further simplify the dual system of degree examination and credit units. The degree examination was abolished leaving only the credit unit system intact. Furthermore, general educa-tion was mostly absorbed by the University. In 1989 when the Univer-sity reviewed its curriculum, it decided to implement a flexible credit unit system in 1990, giving the students more flexibility in their choice of courses.
Both the degree examination and the credit unit system influenced student life and there are pros and cons to these two systems. When the University undertook two systems at the same time, examination pres-sure on students was heavier. To use either one or the other was reasonable. The degree examination system places the pressure of ex-amination over the last two years. Yet students may enjoy a lighter study load in the first two years of their studies. The credit unit system seems to be fairer since there is no examination pressure at any specific period. However, if students' attitude towards their studies is very much con-cerned with good grades, students will struggle to attain high marks in every subject they take. When Hong Kong secondary school education is so much affected by examinations and scores in examinations, it would be a pity if the credit unit system created a relatively tense study environment either in reality or in the imagination of the students.
Looking back at the development of the University over the past thirty years, the pressure and challenges it faced were definitely im-mense. Internally, it sought reform and expansion, and externally it had to protect its curriculum structure. For a young university, this was by no means easy. When students entered the University every year, they directly experienced the campus environment and educational system of that particular time and place. They also indirectly felt the influence of the spirit and idealism of the founders of the University. Their experien-ces were diversified corresponding to the difference in time and space, but their overall experiences may be woven into a beautiful and touch-ing epic.
V. Campus Life and Student Activities
Campus life may be divided into two categories. Firstly, there are the traditional activities organized by the University or the Colleges, e.g.,
founders' day, sports day and cultural activities. Most of these activities are jointly organized by the staff and students among them are founders' day, sports day and the swimming gala. There are also academic lec-tures, and activities organized by college committees or by Sir Run Run Shaw Hall. Secondly, there are activities organized and promoted by the student bodies which include student unions (of the University and the Colleges), departmental, affiliated, hostel, independent and othertypes of societies.
When the University was first founded, the three Colleges were geographically separated. Student organizations were mainly college-based. As early as 1951, Chung Chi College Students Union (then named Chung Chi Students Autonomous Society) was founded. United College and New Asia College had their students' unions founded respectively in 1963 and 1964. They published their own students' newspapers. The Chinese University Students Union was founded in 1971. It published its own The Chinese University Students Newspaper. Its predecessor was jointly published by the three College students unions in 1969 under the title of The Chinese University Students Newspaper Joint Publication: In 1974, due to internal controversies among the students, it was decided by referendum to have the students' newspaper break away from the Executive Committee of the Students Union, turning the students' publication into a separate publishing com-mittee to be headed by an independent cabinet.
Departmental and affiliated societies were the foundation for stu-dent unions. Chung Chi students have their own unique organization -the class society. A class society is founded in the first year of the students' studies, forming an important horizontal and cross-departmen-tal organization. United College and New Asia College students did try to set up class societies, but it failed to become a tradition. Since the three Colleges have built hostels, residents of hostels organize themsel-ves into residents' societies. In 1981, United College even set up two non-resident students halls in the staff-student centre of the College which were designated as affiliated societies under the college students union. Affiliated societies include different kinds of interest groups, for instance, collegiate and university drama societies, the Chinese Music Society of New Asia College, the Guitar Society of United College, the Qigong Society of Shaw College, the Photography Society of Chung Chi College, the Chinese Affairs Society of the University, and the
Modem Dance Club. Moreover, there are religious bodies, such as, the Christian Students Fellowship of Chung Chi College, and the Catholic Students Society of New Asia. Other types of student bodies are the branches of external organizations, such as, the Rotary Club of United College and Chung Chi College, and the Sonta Club of Chung Chi College. After the three Colleges were moved together in Shatin, some of the interest groups with separate collegiate bodies merged together to form a single unit. As a whole, the collegiate student organizations were relatively stronger in the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1980s, under the influence of various factors, the pace of growth was faster in university student organizations.
According to the statistics of the Office of Student Affairs, student activities may be divided into the following: cultural and recreational, sports, religion, meetings, lectures, academic, forums, service, new students' orientation, external exchange and participation in university administration. Taking the statistics of 1979 to 1982, the more frequent activities include cultural and recreational, as well as religious and academic. The statistics of 1984 to 1989 show that recreational, social, academic and sports activities were held more frequently. That cultural and recreational activities have always been popular reflects a relatively relaxed atmosphere on campus. The large number of academic activities is a happy sign indicating that the Chinese University students have considerable respect for academic functions. The sports facilities of the 1980s were greatly improved, a trend reflected in the numerical increase in sport activities. However, the statistics of 1984 to 1989, indicate that there was a decrease in several types of activities including religious, recreational and social, academic, current affairs, cultural and artistic. Lastly, there has been a continuous increase in activities related to services.
Again according to research carried out by students in 1987, 1990 and 1991 which analyzed the extracurricular activities of the Chinese University students, the results of their findings were very close. Some of the major points include:
(1) The frequency of students' participation in extracurricular ac-tivities varied with levels of years they were attending, and the types of activities they participated in showed also different emphasis.
(2)
Factors affecting the frequency of participation included inter-est, department, hostel, course assignments and part-time job. Pressure of studies and insufficiency of time are ranked as the most serious factors. Frequency of participation of residential students was higher. Because participation in social and politi-cal affairs requires more time and is more demanding, the participation rate was relatively lower in these areas.
(3)
Students taking up positions on executive committees or working groups aim to train themselves in organizational abilities as well as promoting these activities in order to serve others. (The research papers of the four groups of the Senior Seminar Course in the Chung Chi College General Education Programme)
When the three Colleges were still under the federal system, espe-cially before they were moved together in Shatin, the number of staff and students was relatively smaller. The college atmosphere as a result was much stronger. Student activities of different colleges had their own characteristics. For example, Chung Chi inherited the Christian college tradition of the past and laid more emphasis on religious activities. In the 1950s and 1960s, the strongest student affiliated society was the Chris-tian Fellowship. The society not only organized different kinds of religious activities, but also set up a free "Common People Evening School," from 1953 to 1960, which provided children without other opportunities to attend school, a chance to receive education and medi-cal care. In the 1970s, students from the three Colleges joined together to form The Chinese University Christian Fellowship, thus absorbing the earlier Chung Chi organization. Even though Chung Chi students tried to revive its traditional organization, its progress was still rather slow.
The rise and fall of different types of student activities and organiza-tions have less to do with the centralization of the three Colleges. Their fate has been more related to changes in the social atmosphere. One example is drama. From the time when The Chinese University was first founded until the 1970s, interest in drama activities was very intense. Each college held its annual drama performance and took part in the drama competitions organized by the Federation of Post-Secondary Students. Because of intensive competition, quite a number of students
were concerned with and supported this activity. Students took up script-writing, direction and acting. A group of young talents in drama was, as a result, cultivated. Of the three Colleges, the atmosphere in Chung Chi College tended to be stronger. In 1962, Chung Chi Students Union organized the first class drama competition in order to com-memorate the founding of the Students Union. The tradition of this annual competition was continued until the late 1970s. In 1973, the "Class Brightness" initiated a project, supported by staff and students, building a small open-air theatre behind the Chung Chi Tang Students Centre. The theatre was named "Stage of Class Brightness." However, interest in drama activities gradually faded in the 1980s. Hong Kong society offered more and more fashionable activities and popular cul-ture became more influential. Meanwhile, student activities on campus became more pluralistic and students' interests more diversified. Reflecting this trend of diversification of students' interests, a number of new interest groups began to emerge, including the Canoe Club, the Astronomy Society, the Yacht Club, the Squash Club, the China Invest-ment Association and the Qigong Club.
The New Asia Chinese Music Society received very strong support from staff, students and alumni in the 1960s and 1970s. Activities organized were very impressive. Courses in teaching Chinese musical instruments and concerts were very popular. However, interest in these activities gradually faded.
After the three Colleges came together in Shatin, along with the rise of the student movement, other types of organizations and activities emerged. The most representative were the Literary Society, the China Affairs Association, and The Chinese University Social Work Team. These organizations had significant influence on the Chinese University students and their activities.
The Chinese University Social Work Team was founded in 1972, one year before New Asia College moved on to the Shatin campus. In June that year, Hong Kong was attacked by a serious thunderstorm, and a large number of poor people lost their homes. About two hundred Chinese University students enthusiastically threw themselves into helping these poor people. In the meantime, they felt that they needed to have a permanent and on-going organization to be responsible for leading their fellow students in serving society so they decided to organize The Chinese University Social Work Team. Its goal was
to "unite the students, understand society, serve the labouring masses."
The Literary Society was founded in 197 4 with a close relationship to the organization, the Awards for Literary of the Youths. These two organizations cooperated closely and maintained active interflow. The development of the Literary Society extended from within the campus to the literary circles of the other post-secondary institutions, and Hong Kong society in general. Some of the activities were attended by secon-dary school students. It has made a considerable contribution towards promoting literature in Hong Kong.
-The China Affairs Association was founded in 1975. Its appearance was closely related with the "Understand the Motherland" student movement of the time. The history of its first five years was described as "having gone through strong winds, and thunderstorms, accompany-ing the understand the motherland movement from brilliance to tran-quility." (The Chinese University Students Newspaper, No. 92, March 1980, p. 103) Following this initial stormy experience, the Association wished to maintain a kind of "rational, serious and open attitude" in investigating problems concerning China. In assisting The Chinese University Students Union in promoting the movement to understand the motherland, the Association has played a very significant role.
The departmental societies which organize many activities also play an important role in campus life. They are formed by students who share a similar major programme of studies. Before the three Colleges were moved to Shatin, the significance of the departmental societies was even greater. A lot of the activities of the students unions were based on their support. They were counted as the organizations with the strongest grassroot relationships, as well as. the most broadly-based. When the three Colleges were geographically centralized, especially after the departments of the three Colleges were integrated, the relationship between college departmental societies and college student unions grew progressively less close. Moreover, because of a continuous increase in the number of student activities, of widely diversified nature, and with the electrification of the train system, students could move more easily to Shatin, Taipo and Kowloon for external functions, so that the grassroot activities organized by the departmental societies were seriously affected.
Hostels have very close relationships with their residents, hostel life
forming a very important part of campus life. When hostel life is fulfilling and active, it has a crucial effect on the informal education of students. When the University was first founded, Chung Chi College had three hostels (which were renamed, in 1970, as "Ying Lin Tang," "Ming Hua Tang" and "Hua Lian Tang") and New Asia College, located at Farm Road, had its male and female hostels. After the three Colleges came together, United College built its Adam Schall Residence, while the University built its Postgraduate Hall Complex. In 1973, because of insufficient hostel places, the decision of the Univer-sity Grants Committee (UGC) controlling the undergraduate hostel places at under 40%, provoked strong reaction from the students. The Chinese University Students Union led about a thousand students to demonstrate on campus. They staged an overnight protest in the open air, and went to the Vice-Chancellor's residence to present a protest letter, in order to push for further hostel buildings. Finally, the Univer-sity accepted the views of the Students Union, turning two army quonset huts into a temporary hostel. In the 1980s, when new hostels were built one after another, this temporary hostel with its rather special hostel environment, was replaced.
The nature of the hostels of the Chinese University is somewhat different from those of the University of Hong Kong, which has fol-lowed the British experience. The. hostels there have a heavy respon-si.ility in organizing activities and providing informal _education. The administration of the hostels and their overall design is also different. The Chinese University hostels' primary concern is to fulfil the residen-tial needs of students. Space for public activities and social functions are relatively limited. No dining facilities are provided. Still the hostels, through their wardens and student bodies, shoulder the responsibility of providing informal education. Yet, the traditional values also are dif-ferent from those of the hostels of the University of Hong Kong. The new hostels which were built are larger in size than the old and have more residents and simpler recreational facilities, resulting in hostel activities being rather affected. According to a survey carried out by the author in 1991 on learning and life of the first and third year students of Chung Chi College and United College, of the 1,150 students who returned the questionnaires, 320 were residents with 334 more having either "illegally resided" or "informally resided" (commonly known as "twisted snakes") in the hostels. Of the 654 students, 37.10% had
participated in hostel activities. Of these activities, the most popular was the "sugar water meetings" (76.70%), other activities included new students orientation (55.90% ), film nights (53.90% ), and interest groups (8.90%). In general, recreational and sports activities. were more popular. Lectures or cultural activities were fewer and participation depended greatly on the topics and speakers. Of course, other than organized activities, hostels provide an important opportunity to promote collective education. Students learn how to live independently and together with others, cultivating a spirit of tolerance, mutual support and understanding. This remains one of the most basic goals of hostel life and education.
Because of the insufficiency of hostel places, some of the non-residential students look for rooms to rent in the Chek Lai Ping Village in the neighbourhood of the University.
The "Chek Kei" (Chek Lai Ping) has fresh air and a relatively pleasant environment. It is not far from campus and fairly convenient. Groups of students join together to rent a house or apartment forming "mini halls" which sometimes may have a better atmosphere than that of regular hostels. However, because rents are quite high, not all students can afford the expense.
Looking back at the changes in the university life of the Chinese University students, progress both in terms of quality and quantity can found. Student life and activities have become more diversified. Student organizations and activities have continuously expanded, allowing more opportunities for students to participate in organizational work, and offering, at least, some experience in management and organization. This experience will significantly assist the students when they enter society.
Changes in society have also created a considerable impact on campus life. First of all, there are the effects of mass communication and modernization in transportation. In 1973 when the three Colleges were operating on the Shatin campus, the trains were still running on a single-rail and were driven by coal. With the beginning of the under-ground mass transit system and the electrification of the trains, a fun-damental change was brought into campus life. Before this, the trains were more crowded. The new towns of Shatin and Taipo had not yet been developed. The University campus formed a relatively isolated community, so that once students and staff came on campus, they had to
make the best of the facilities, participating in the activities of the university community. However, when Shatin and Taipo became fully developed and transportation had become convenient, their choice of activities multiplied. Contact between the campus and the outside be-came frequent. Thus the originally "self-sufficient" and relatively iso-lated community life was gradually diluted and became to some extent disintegrated. This is how the 1983 electrification of the railway has affected campus life.
Secondly, the present rapid development of electronic media and popular culture started in the 1980s. With the growing prosperity of Hong Kong, relaxation and recreational styles greatly developed. In the 1950s and 1960s, popular culture was still embryonic. Higher academic culture had a greater influence on the students. Popular music and films had a strong impact at that time, but when compared to the influence of television in the 1970s and of videos in the 1980s, the influences of the earlier years were greatly diluted. Students of the 1980s did carry out some analysis of campus culture, seeing very clearly how popular culture had infiltrated into campus culture. An example can be seen in the popularity of comics in the hostels of the mid-1980s. This is a sign of the trend towards diversification of the campus culture.
VI. Student Participation in University Administration
A university aims to educate talented young people for society. In order to achieve this goal, a university must cultivate concern for and, a sense of responsibility towards improving their surroundings. This is a fun-damental aim of university education, In order to provide more oppor-tunities for students to learn about democratic education, the university encourages students to make recommendations on its different develop-ments, and to some extent permits students to participate in the manage-ment and planning of the institution.
Since its founding, the University has clearly followed this educa-tional principle, gradually putting its educational ideal into practice. The Chinese University students have clearly understood the significance of this educational ideal, as they have sought opportunities to participate in the University administration.
When the Chung Chi Students Union set up its student autonomous
society, an independent and autonomous idea had taken root atan early stage. In 1956, the quality of food at the cafeteria was very poor. Staff and students were quite upset. The College appointed a committee which was composed of three representatives from the administration, the staff and the student union to negotiate with the owner of the cafeteria. This was a breakthrough, the first occasion on which the College permitted students to participate in its adminstration. After one year of negotiation which finally failed, students formed their own cooperative and set up a cafeteria in a temporary iron hut. This finally forced the owner to close the cafeteria.
In 1960, New Asia College set up a Hygiene Committee the mem-bership of which was composed of representatives from the Dean of Students Office, the Business Office and the student union. Its duty was to supervise the hygiene condition of the cafeteria. This also served as a foundation for students' participation in university administration in the future. In fact,-even before 1963, besides partially administering the cafeteria, students from the three Colleges independently or jointly organized a number of activities including placement counselling and the new students' Orientation Week.
In 1964, the University established a Student Welfare Committee, directly responsible to the Vice-Chancellor, and advising him on affairs related to student welfare. Its membership was composed of staff and students from the three Colleges.
Between 1963 to 1966, the Chung Chi College Students Union reviewed the general education programme of the College, i.e., Philosophy of Life. Finally, in 1966, the College with student participa-tion, appointed a special committee to formally review the programme. In 1967, it was decided to revise the programme which was renamed the Integrated Basic Studies programme. This was an important precedent in students' participation in reforming teaching programmes of the University.
In 1966, New Asia students initiated a storm of criticisms against the quality of food in their cafeteria. In the following years, their counterparts in Chung Chi College organized a series of boycott actions in protest against the quality of food at their canteen and demanded that the manager of the canteen be fired.
In the meantime, students from all three Colleges became more and more critical of the examination system of the University. In 1968, the
United College Students Union initiated the discussion by setting up The Chinese University Examination System Review Committee, stimulating students of other Colleges to consider the situation. In January 1969, the University of Hong Kong Students Union started their campaign to reform the school administration. In the same year, the students union of the three Colleges, one after another, set up their own study committees on students' participation in university ad-minstration. In November, the United College Students Union or-ganized a "Conference on Student Participation in University Administration in the Chinese University" in which they discussed with other students concrete strategies for participation in university ad-ministration.
In 1970, the administrators of the three Colleges affirmed the mean-ingfulness of student participation in university administration. They actively invited students to send representatives to participate in, or be observers, in most committees of the Colleges, including the Academic Boards: This marked the beginning of formal participation of students in university administration. The New Asia College Students Union, there-after, set up a Universit)'. Administration Consultative and Executive Committee of the Students Union to coordinate work in this aspect. Chung Chi College, however, did not believe that it was yet the proper time to let students participate in the Academic Board. Instead, it estab-lished a Staff-Student Joint Consultation Committee with an equal num-ber of representatives from staff and students to consult and make recommendations to the Board.
From 1963 to early 1970, the students from the three Colleges had already taken a clear direction, and laid a firm foundation for their participation in university administration. In April 1970, they took another step forward. This was at the time when the University Grants Committee had decided to cut back on expenditure on university development. The students were very angry at. this decision. After careful consideration and thorough discussion, they resolved to boycott class as a sign of protest. This was the first time the Chinese University students boycotted class in order to show their concern not only for their own welfare but also for the benefit of the University as a whole. They were taking action to support the development of the University. This was also a very important predecessor to participation in university administration by the Chinese University students, laying a significant
foundation for the students of the 1980s to protect the curriculum
structure of the University.
In 1971, Chung Chi College set up an Education Committee to be
responsible for reviewing the educational�P policy and practice of the
College. The Committee was composed of ten staff members and three
student representatives. This was another breakthrough in student par-
ticipation in the review of teaching in the University.
In the meantime, the Chinese University students took part in
demonstrations over "the Protection of the Diaoyutai Islands" move-
ment. Some of the students were arrested by the police. In January 1972,
during one of the College monthly assemblies, at New Asia College, the
students demanded a continuation of the discussion on the Movement
after the assembly was over. They got into an argument with the College
administration. After the incident, the students union called an emergen-
cy meeting and appointed a five-member committee to investigate stu-
dent opinion ori the reform of the college administration.
During 1971 and 1972, the University and the three Colleges active-ly opened up channels to allow students to participate in university administration. The most significant mechanism was the University Staff-Student Consultative Committee. In less than ten years since its �P founding, student participation in university administration had made obvious progress, fully reflecting the fact that both the University and the three Colleges identifed with, and respected, this particular educa-
tional ideal.
On the basis established in the late 1960s and early 1970s, The
Chinese University students followed the experience of the Chung Chi
College students in participating in the Education Committee. They
went ahead, identifying another important task in their participation in
university administration, i.e., drafting a proposal on the development of
academic affairs, and of the University as a whole. In February 1973,
The Chinese University Students Union submitted, through the Univer-
sity, a proposal to the University Grants Committee. It contained their
views on the development of the University between 1975 and 1978,
and their expectations of the University's contribution to tertiary educa-
tion in Hong Kong. In June of the same year, when the government
announced a large-scale increase in tuition fees for the two universities,
the students from the two institutions joined hands in opposing the
decision.
By the mid-1970s, the new direction of the student movement in Hong Kong was geared towards "to care for society and know the motherland." The emphasis was on knowing and identifying with the motherland. Students of The Chinese University, in the main, followed this trend of development. Moreover, the student population was also troubled by internal conflicts over ideologies. Consequently, their par-ticipation in university administration was relatively less enthusiastic. It was during this period that the University and the three Colleges were studying ways to change the administrative and academic structure of the University from a federal a unified system. The�P three Colleges students union did not participate too actively in this process. Compared to their teachers, their emotional involvement was far less intensive. Except for a stronger reaction from the New Asia College and the Chung Chi College Students Union, the reaction from The Chinese University and the United College Students Union was rather muted.
In 197 6, with the 4th of April Tiananmen Incident and the fall of the Gang of Four, the direction of the student movement began to change. In 1977, the University on the one hand formally launched a new system with the three Colleges unified, and the government on the other hand announced the Green Paper on Senior Secondary and Tertiary Educa-tion which contained a suggestion to change the University curriculum from a four-year into a three-year structure. Staff and students of the University rose in opposition to the suggestion. In February 1978, over 2,000 staff and students took part in an outdoor rally, joined by senior administrators of the University, to oppose the "change from 4 (year) to 3 (year)."
Soon after the controversy over the Green Paper subsided, the newly established Examination Authority considered cancelling the Chinese Language requirement for the Higher Level Examination (sub-stituting for the Chinese University Entrance Examination). Since this would have had an adverse effect on the academic level of entrants to the University, and reflected a disregard for the traditional emphasis on Chinese Language, staff and students once again gathered to criticize the Examination Authority. This further stimulated the students to reflect on the educational ideals and practice of the University. To start with, they reviewed problems related to general academic affairs includ-ing teaching, examinations, the credit unit system, the degree examina-tion, and general education. Towards the end of 1980, the focal point of
the review was�P shifted to the five-year curriculum structure of the Medical Faculty soon to be established. The students set up a Medical Faculty Curriculum Structure Review Working Group which initiated a one-man one-letter campaign. The letters, requesting that the Medical Faculty be changed to a 6 year curriculum, were collected and sent to the UPGC and the University administration. On 3 December, over 4,000 students took part in a sit-in demonstration. Soon after the demonstra-tion, the University administration took a liberal stance by setting up a temporary working group to review the curriculum structure of the Medical Faculty. Staff and student representatives were invited to join. The group came to a three-point conclusion which was presented in a special report. The contents of the negotiation were kept confidential. However, the Medical Faculty Incident had already turned into a major event of the popular student movement. Different students held different views on the understanding of, and on the ways to handle, the move-ment. The university administration requested�P that the student repre. sentatives keep the contents of the report confidential. But the representatives had to beresponsible to the students' Medical Faculty Curriculum Committee. Parts of the report were leaked which led to an increase in tension in the relationship between the students and the University. Consequently, the report was not submitted to the Univer-sity Senate for discussion. In October 1983, the students made a last effort to save the day by requesting the Senate to resolve to simplify the Medical Faculty entrance requirements by dropping Form 7 entrance. They staged a mass rally at the forum in front of the University. Ad-ministration Building from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. of the following day. However, even this last effort did not bring about any changes to the curriculum structure of the Medical Faculty. This marked the failure of another attempt by the staff and students in reforming the university administration, and trying to shape it to correspond more closely to the ideal of the University.
Five years afterthe Medical Faculty Incident, in one of the interflow meetings attended by eight former university students union presidents, the efforts made by the students in the incident were reviewed: The former union presidents agreed that the incident was a significant event in the history of the students' participation in university administration. They regretted both that it had failed, and the negative effects it had brought about, including the rejection of student representation in the
Senate in 1982. (The Chinese University Students, No. 128, August
1987)
At the end of 1982, another controversy occurred on campus. The
focal point centred around the "provisional acceptance" scheme which
the University was contemplating. In April 1983, while the Senate
approved the scheme, the students union expressed their concern about
it. However, because of the shadow of the Medical Faculty Incident, the
students did not want to take any actions which would further worsen
the already uncomfortable relationship with the University. They
decided to be�P more understanding and showed silent support for the
University.
In 1983, the attention of the students on campus was also diverted to
the Sino-British debate, and negotiations, over the future of Hong Kong.
In March 1984, The Chinese University Students once again reflected on
the current situation and the difficulties in the students' participation in
university administration. At the beginning of 1985, when the Univer-
sity was already administered the "provisional acceptance" scheme, it
had to further review its curriculum in order to cope with the increasing �P pressure from the government to change its structure.
The students union led the students in participating in the review.
The students also made use of th. opportunity to reflect on the history of
their participation in university administration. On 18 February 1985,
The Chinese University Students carried out an opinion poll on students'
views on .the issue. The survey was composed of two parts with a total
of sixteen questions. The conclusions were as followed:
(1)
a majority of the students knew of their right to participate in university administration;
(2)
most of them felt that they should be fully cognisant concern-ing participation in university administration;
(3)
a majority of the students wished that the University would periodically announce such information;
(4)
a majority of the students felt that the Chinese University students did not participate sufficiently;
(5)
students tended to choose to criticize the University through channels outside the establishment;
(6)
students in general felt that the weight of their study loads should. not be used as an excuse to prevent students from
participation in university administration, but this, in fact, was the prime reason for the students' non-participation.
The major event in 1986 was the selection of the new Vice-Chan-cellor. However, because of insufficient preparation and the fact that the selection process went faster than expected, the students' participation was insignificant. In 1987, a more significant event was the approval by the Senate of five seats for student representatives. This marked the successful ending of a series of efforts from the beginning of the 1980s and marked an il_llportant page in the history of student participation in university administration.
In 1986, the government published the No. 3 Report of the Educa-tion Commission formally requesting the University to unify its under-graduate admission at Form 7. This once again aroused a very strong reaction from staff and students. Since the�P controversy of the Green Paper on Senior. Secondary and Tertiary Education in 1977, the staff and students of the University had spent almost ten years protecting the four-year curriculum structure of the University, and so they saw the No. 3 Report of the Education Commission as an attempt to undermine their efforts. They demonstrated with an unprecedented spirit of unity. Hand in hand they systematically worked together to explain to the general public the intention of the University and managed to win broad sympathy and support from society at large. However the government finally decided against the wishes of the University and accepted the No. 3 Report in the Executive Council. In 1988, the Government announced a large scale increase in the number of places in tertiary education. The University had to consider its long range interests as a whole in main-taining its developmental dynamism. It was forced to accept the decision of the No. 3 Report. As a result, the University, in 1989, once again reviewed the curriculum and decided to implement a flexible credit unit system in order to cope with the impending changes in the future. Under the influence of the democratic movement in China in 1989, the average student reaction to the curriculum review and the flexible credit unit system was understandable.
In the early 1990s, the students felt rather depressed as a result of the victory of the No. 3 Report of the Education Commission, and the failure of the 1989 democratic movement in China. They reformulated the direction of their participation in university administration and in the
student movement. The directions in their relationship to China, to Hong Kong and to the democratization of university affairs were reaf-firmed. The new focal point in participation in university administration was better student welfare, e.g., the quality of the medical service, channels for student complaints, etc. However, under the increasing pressure of study and examinations, it was difficult for them to make any breakthrough in their participation in university administration.
VII. Student Movements
University students identify with the high ideals of the university. They wish to assume the responsibility of intellectuals in reforming society, and the nation, in order to fulfil the expectations of college educators and the public. In the past thirty years, the Chinese University students have performed impressively in this aspect, fully demonstrating the achievements of the education offered.
In the 1950s, Hong Kong society was quite traditional. Moreover, because of the Cold War and the 1957 Riot, political sensitivity was high. Consequently, students' participation in social affairs was rare. In the early 1960s, college students showed greater interest in public affairs. The year 1963 saw the emergence of the Post-Secondary Stu-dents Social Welfare Team, its membership containing students from the three Colleges. They repaired roads and improved the living en-vironment for some of the poorer people in remote areas of the New Territories.
In 1966, the Star Ferry Company fare rise aroused serious con-troversies in society. Students from Chung Chi College went to inves-tigate and published a report criticizing the decision of the company. The report was highly regarded by society at large. It was seen as a landmark of the Chinese University students' participation in public affairs in the 1960s.
In 1967, the Cultural Revolution broke out in China. The Chung Chi College Students Union and the Philosophy of Life Committee of the College jointly organized �P a series of three seminars on the Cultural Revolution. Participation was very enthusiastic. This was the first time the Chinese University students explored mainland Chinese political problems openly and on a large scale.
In November of the same year, the University of Hong Kong students' newspaper, the Undergrad, initiated the proposal to have Chinese legalized as another official language. In December, the Chung Chi Students Newspaper published a special issue on Chinese as an official language. In 1968, the Chung Chi Students Union continued the effort by organizing another related seminar and advocating the use of Chinese as an official language. All this attracted a lot of attention from the public.
In 1970, the Chinese as an official language campaign was in full swing. In the summer, two Chinese University students participated in the six-member delegation of the Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS) to the International Students Conference held in Japan. The delegation successfully solicited the support of the Conference in send-ing a telegram to the Hong Kong Governor requesting that the Chinese langauge be given an official status. In the meantime, seventeen student and cultural organizations jointly formed a Joint Committee for the Struggle to Make Chinese an Official Language. The Chairman of the Committee was a student of Chung Chi College. In mid-September, the students union of the three Colleges came together to organize a joint-action committee and fully participated in the campaign. The Chinese Language Campaign symbolized the beginning of full participation by the Chinese University students in the student movement.
Soon after the emergence of social awareness among the students, their patriotic feelings were aroused. February 1971, saw the beginning of the movement to protect the territorial integrity of the Diaoyutai Islands. During the historic demonstration on 7 July at Victoria Park, several student leaders were arrested. In the November monthly as-sembly, students of New Asia College discussed heatedly the issue of the patriotic movement. This touched off a wave of demands by the students to participate in the reform of the university administration. Because of the Chinese Language Campaign and the Diaoyutai Move-ment, the social consciousness of the students was, to a major degree, heightened. On 18 June 1972, after a disaster caused by heavy rain, the students voluntarily joined together to help the victims of the disaster. Resulting from this, The Chinese University Social Work Team was organized.
The Chinese Language Campaign and the Diaoyutai Movement also provided an outlet for the long-smothered romantically patriotic
feelings of the students. This gave rise to the first union-organized mainland tour in July 1972.
From the rnid-1960s to 1972, the Chinese University students reacted to social and national issues in the name of the three college unions. This form of participation was relatively simplistic and its organization, loose. The students were also as yet quite untutored in political ideas.
The year 1973, however, marked a turning point when the three college unions, now at Ma Liu Shui, began to have more frequent exchanges of ideas and more cooperation.
In June 1973, former Chief Superintendent Godber, a suspect in a corruption case, escaped from police investigation. The Hong Kong
. Federation of Students protested against the government's improper management of the case and its less than scrupulous attitude towards corruption. Chinese University students gave their full support to the "Capture Godber, Curb Corruption" movement. However, student sup-port was short-lived due to the inconsistency of thinking and strategies amongst anti-corruption groups. Some students were now turning to national identification activities. In October, a large number of student movement activists were attracted to the first China Week organized by the HKFS. This new era of the student movement was strongly in-fluenced by radical thinking in the mainland, which served as another outlet for strong national feelings.
Student thinking in this period can be divided into three main factions: the China Faction, the Hong Kong Faction and the Pure Stream Faction. The China Faction shared strong national feelings and iden-tified with a socialist China. They believed in allying themselves with the second world, including Britain, and the third world, as in Mao Zedong's "Theory of the Three Worlds." They believed on the other hand in confronting the hegemony of the United States and the USSR, or the first world.
The policy implications when the principle was applied in Hong Kong was that the status quo would be upheld, while national awareness among Hong Kong people would be raised, awaiting the return to China.
The Hong Kong Faction advocated reforming Hong Kong society while identifying with China. To them, anti-colonial feelings were part of patriotic feelings.
The Pure Stream Faction inherited from previous student move-ments involved a more open method of thinking. They took a critical and independent attitude towards social and national affairs, questioning both the China Faction and the Hong Kong Faction, and confronting radical thinking with their speeches and writings.
Chinese University students formed a major pillar of the student movement during this period. They led the anti-price increase move-ment in April 1974 and participated actively in the inflation exhibition in July. The most controversial of the students' involvement, however, was their response to the Anti-Lin, Anti-Confucius Campaign on the
�P mainland. In November, the university emblem in The Chinese Univer-sity Students Newspaper was replaced by the union emblem because the former bore the saying "bo-wen yue-li" ( to broaden one's intellectual horizon and to keep within the bounds of propriety). Some students felt that this was the union's unilateral action as a result of the campaign on the mainland. This particular controversy turned into calls for inde-pendence for The Chinese University Students Newspaper, a stance later supported by the results of a referendum. The incident revealed that the majority of students had reservations about the union's political direc-tion. While the majority of students chose a more independent role for the union, the ideological differences among student leaders began to widen.
Another ideological confrontation among the students was sparked off in 1976 by the April 5th Incident and the Anti.Rightist Campaign. But their attention was quickly diverted to three other incidents, the first being the failure of the students in the recruitment exercise for govern-ment administrative officers. The second incident was a court case resulting from the New Asia College Students Union confiscating pamphlets distributed by the Post-Secondary Students Group on The Chinese University campus. The third incident involved criticisms against the union for not selling the Ming Pao newspaper because of its "anti-Communist anti-Chinese" tendency. The students resentment led to a change of heart on the union's part accepting the criticism.
The patriotic feelings which dominated the mid-1970s began to diminish against the backdrop of the fall of the Gang of Four in October 1976. There was much confrontation during the 20th Annual General Meeting of the HKFS in April 1977. Students began to realize how simplistic their political tendencies had been during the past four years.
The beginning of the year 1977 marked a rapid decline of en-thusiasm in student movements and a new era for the student national identification activities. Students and staff of the University gave their support to the Jubilee Incident, which lasted from July until the same month the following year: Students from the University and the Univer-sity of Hong Kong provided summer tuition for the Jubilee School students and helped them to reorganize their school.
The Jubilee Incident had a decisive impact on the Chinese University students, in allowing them room to reflect and gather their thoughts.
During the years between 1977 and 1981, The Chinese University Student Newspaper published several articles on their attitudes towards China, and ways of knowing China. Chairman Mao's words were quoted in the articles published during the first year. Mao criticized some people for not analyzing anything, sticking only to the mainstream of igeas. He called for critical approaches and independent thinking. By 1981, the. students' thinking advocated going beyond the limits of na-tional identification. The new slogan became "to transcend national identification and continue to participate in national affairs." It was an appropriate and concrete approach to studying the democratization of China, and a breakthrough in national identification.
The national identification movement maintained this same direc-tion throughout the 1980s. The Sino-British talks on th. future of Hong Kong greatly shook the community in 1983. In a statement issued in June, the union vowed support for the principle of Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong. They criticized Allen Li for objecting to this idea. The union maintained its position on two grounds: firstly, that the Chinese government must guarantee the greatest autonomy for Hong Kong under Chinese sovereignty; and secondly, that the Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong principle must involve a process of democratization, with people from all walks of life participating in the process.
In October 1983, the union criticized, in a letter to the then British Prime Minister, Mrs Margaret Thatcher, the lack of representativeness of members of Exco and Legco. It also appealed to Britain to help Hong Kong establish democratic political institutions. Later, the executive committee of the union initiated discussion of an open letter to the then Chinese Premier, Zhao Ziyang, collecting student opinion in a number
of ways. The letter which affirmed Chinese sovereign power over Hong Kong, and called for an ope_n and democratic, as well as autonomous, government under the principle of Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong, was endorsed in a referendum in January 1984.
University students and staff members made a last-ditch effort to save the University from having to change its curricula in 1988, when the government announced the No. 3 Report of the Education Commis-sion. They showed extreme determination and diligence.
The democratic movement in China in 1989 led to an unprece-dented direct participation of the Hong Kong people in Chinese politics. University students participated actively in the process. They had grown beyond a mere emotional identification with China, as in 1972, and had turned openly to a formal participation in the making of Chinese history. Some students made it to Beijing while others stayed in Hong Kong to provide support for the movement. These few months marked the most unforgettable experience for Chinese University students throughout the 20-year-long national identification campaigns. Their courage, wisdom and sense of mission deserved respect.
Democratization in China and Hong Kong became intertwined after the student movements in 1989. It was a surprising realization of predic-tions made in 1981. Like the rest of Hong Kong, the Chinese University students gradually lost the fervour of the movement in less than a year. But the union remained critical and independent, scrutinizing sternly various forces in society, and protested, in word and deed, against acts which violated human rights, or the rule of law.
In February 1990, more than 800 students marched in support of the HKFS-organized strike to fight for democracy against autocracy, despite a sense of anti-climax on the campus. The union and the Chung Chi College Students Union tried to stimulate discussions and reflec-tions on the arguments about the issue of elections in 1991, only to receive a lukewarm response.
It was on the eve of the thirtieth anniversary of the University that the four college unions felt the anti-climax of .he slowing down of the student movement. But they were aware, at the same time, that a new direction had emerged for student movements in the future. What remained uncertain were merely public awareness, and the strategy and style of future student unions.
Conclusion
Chinese University students have had a colourful thirty years history due to the various changes in China, in Hong Kong and in the Univer-sity itself. Growth over these thirty years can be divided into four stages:
(1) 1963-1972
The seeds of a student movement were sown even before the
three Colleges had moved into Shatin, and university life was
dominated by college activities and college life.
(2) 1973-1976
Administrative unification of the three Colleges, against the
backdrop of romantic national feelings in the student move-
ment.
(3) 1977-1988
In search of a new direction in student movements when stu-
dents were fully preoccupied with protecting the university
curriculum structure. Traditional college life faded.
(4) 1989-1993
Changes resulting from the university curricula change, and
the student movement in 1989.
During the period from 1963 to 1972, each of the thr.e Colleges had an independent administration, working separately from each other. The Colleges dominated campus life and activities. This was still true despite the emergence of some independent university organizations in the early 1970s. There were also students, however, who started to analyze the meaning of a college and its spirit. Student life in the small colleges at that time was close-knit. Their background was predominantly middle to lower middle class, but they had become products of an elite education. The community as a whole remained relatively simple, going through the transition from a traditional politi-cal, social and economic culture to an economically advanced and politically open society. Student life was also relatively simple. Cul-turally, the period was marked by the benevolence of traditional Chinese culture, but interest was growing in new thinking and social movements in the West. Chinese University students showed vision in the very early stage of the university's history. They also showed
willingness to participate in the reform and development of the univer-sity, in social justice, and in the fate of their country.
The period between 1973 and 1976 marked efforts to unify college administration. The three Colleges were now gathered at Ma Liu Shui, meaning more students, more opportunities to have classes together and hence a closer exchange of ideas and cooperation. Traditional college life was put to the test when the idea of curriculum change emerged. Student organizations turned idealistic and radical in terms of ideology and showed stronger political tendencies. They were also critical of the developments in Hong Kong. These turbulent years were marked by the arguments about curriculum change which began right after the three Colleges had barely settled into their unification. The University ex-perienced added pressure to change when the Green Paper on Senior Secondary School and Tertiary Education was released in 1977. Cur-ricula reviews in 1985, abolition of degree examinations, and the intro-duction of the provisional acceptance scheme came up before the No. 3 Report of the Education Commission was released in 1987. These very difficulties had drawn various forces in the University together. Staff and students called together for a curriculum closer to their ideals, which won the sympathy and support of society at large. Although the Medical School Incident caused some hiccups in the staff-student relationship, they demonstrated their unity again in 1985, when the government announced the No. 2 Report of the Education Commission. Although the University failed in the battle to save the existing cur-riculum structure, it had done all it possibly could.
It was in the same period that students carried out reviews of the existing curricula, including the suitability of the examination system and general education, and also the quality of student life. Student organizations maintained their growth. College organizations be-came stronger during this period. Student movements also grew beyond pure reflection to reach a new direction -a responsibility in the democratization of Hong Kong and China beyond national iden-tification. Pressure from the Sino-British talks, drafting of the Basic Law and uncertainties of Hong Kong' s political future failed to dampen the spirits of the students, who went through this period of turbulence with great courage.
Student democratic movements in China swept through Hong Kong in 1989 affecting as well the development of the University. It was also
the year the government announced the decision to change the University's curriculum structure.
The direction of student movements adopted in 1981 had been realized. The anti-climax of the student movements did not weaken the determination of the students to advocate the democratization of China. Yet new challenges have appeared due to the government's intention of expanding tertiary education. The University recently successfully es-tablished an Engineering Faculty and Nursing courses. With an expand-ing campus, .an increasing number of students, the upgrading of educational standards and the curriculum changes, the next nine years will be a new challenge for the University to maintain its ideals.
8
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Hon-ming YIP
Medical faculty and students at work
Background: A walkaton to raise funds for the Hong Kong Cancer Institute, January 1993
The Concept of "Social Service"
A modern university has three missions: research, teaching, and social service. These three missions reflect the three aspects of knowledge: the acquisition of knowledge being the mission of research; the transmis-sion of. knowledge the mission of teaching; and the application of knowledge the mission of public service. (J. A. Perkins, The University in Transition, Princeton, 1966, pp. 9-10) As the centre of knowledge, a university tends naturally to link its all-round activities to the ac-quisition, transmission, and application of knowledge. The concept of "multiversity" has virtually incorporated German universities' research-oriented tradition, English universities' teaching-oriented tradition, and the American model of the modern university which has been developed on the basis of the German and English traditions and out of the needs for social service in the United States.
In China, the tradition of combining learning with a sensitivity to the needs of society can be traced back to as early as the tenth century. Officials and educators in the early Song dynasty considered it the Imperial Academy's responsibility to include practical studies for the new age. The Academy divided its curriculum into two major categories: basic studies of the Confucian classics and practical studies of current affairs. This emphasis on practical relevancy of knowledge, as pointed out by contemporary scholars and educators_ such as Profes-sor Yti Ying-shih, anteceded in spirit the much later Western develop-ment. ( Chinese University Bulletin, Winter, 1977, p. 11)
Under the pressure of democratization of education in the con-temporary world, the university can by no means be a secluded self-sufficient system. It is rather an organic part of the social construct. James Perkins, an American educator, has vividly stated that the univer-sity is the pumping heart that keeps the social system fresh, invigorated, and in motion. (Perkins, ibid., p. 19) A university will lose its vitality and function should it not be responsive to the community. As asserted by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (CF AT) in itsAnnual Report of 1966-1967, public services can bring vitality to the campus. In maintaining its social contacts, the university, playing the role of social educator and leader, can explain to the public the significance of its activities on the one hand. On the other, the univer-sity, in revising the content of its teaching and research programmes to
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meet stimulation and challenge from society, will acquire a greater social relevancy. The function of public service in modem post-secondary education was further affirmed at a series of international conferences on higher education held in the 1970s. There was a consen-sus among participant countries that universities should make a con-tribution to the solution of major problems faced by local communities and by society at large, and take part directly in the process of social change.
While the university's social service function has been highly valued, the nature of the service is difficult to elucidate precisely. Usually, the service is defined in two different ways. Under the first definition, public services cover all the university's activities and mere-ly reflect the fact that all research or teaching is ultimately of service to the community. As Perkins puts it, the university has always provided a service to society by its production of scholars, teachers, and presumab-ly a more educated citizenry. According to the second definition, never-theless, the university's social service is a function distinct from that taking the form of teaching or research. It responds to the specific problems of a clientele outside of the university community. Services of this sort imply that the interactive relations between society and the university cannot be manifested simply by the conventional form of teaching and research. According to a certain suggested classification, there are four major categories of university services (Centre for Educa-tional Research and Innovation, The University and the Community: The Problems of Changing Relationships, Paris, 1982, pp. 39-40):
1.
Technical assistance, advice and information provided directly to government, public and community groups in areas where the university has appropriate expertise.
2.
Research towards the solution of public policy problems conducted by members of the faculty and staff alone or in groups.
3.
Conferences, seminars, workshops, short courses and other non-degree-oriented upgrading and training for government officials, social service personnel, professional people, busi-ness executives, and citizens.
4.
Administrative as well as substantive support when some ele-ments of the public look to the university for financial support
or an organizational structure within which a programme or service may operate.
Furthermore, the public service activity of the university should go beyond problem identification and problem solving. In addition to the response to specific requests, the raising of questions and alternatives not foreseen in the original request are to be included in the social service responsibility of a university. The institution should take the initiative in seeking out new ways in which resources can be applied to the needs of the people of the community. In short, there are numerous forms of university service, ranging from the playing of the university's traditional role in professional training and knowledge transmission to the response to special social demands or the participation in the analysis of the community's needs as well as the implementation of given solutions based on professional advice.
However, the university-society relationship is interactive, as stressed above. In providing society with services, the university itself is in turn benefited by these services. It does not serve the public simply out of outside pressures; to a considerably great extent, it takes the initiative in serving society. While speaking of social service, we are actually commenting upon universities' influence on society at the same time. This interactive relationship is too dynamic in meaning to be called "social service" -a term with strorig connotation of one-way action. The following text will keep to the word "service" simply because it is the one most commonly used.
Links between The Chinese University and the Hong Kong Community
Under the tendency of combining knowledge and practice in the contemporary world, the close relation between the university and society has been increasingly emphasized. Large-scale research projects must be supported by social resources; but as the application of knowledge has become an increasingly complicated job, society has to rely on professional guidance and assistance. To maintain and develop this interdependent and symbiotic interrelationship, the univer-sity and society have to cooperate and build up coordination. Indeed, the
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university ought to be an organic part of society. For some historical factors, however, educational systems in some societies/countries were imported from outside. For example, in a number of colonies in Asia, universities are out of line with the academic tradition of the indigenous cultures, as critically pointed out by an educator in his comment on Asian universities' weaknesses, at a workshop on Asian higher educa-tion held in Singapore in the early 1970s. These universities, he main-tained, have not been rooted in native societies and thus cannot absorb nutrient from the communities they are situated in. Students graduated from these universities often found themselves isolated from society, because what they had learned might not be relevant to reality (G. D. Parikh, "Consensus between the University and the Community," in
The University and The Community: Proceedings, Second Asian Workshop on Higher Education, edited by R. L. Huang, Singapore, 1972, p. 65).
In Hong Kong, it was a departure from the traditional colonial educational policy to establish an academic institution which highly values Chinese culture and the Chinese language, takes root in a native Chinese community, advocates Sino-Western cultural exchange, and works for the promotion of modernization and cosmopolitanization of Hong Kong's higher education. These ideals were embodied in the founding of The Chinese University in the early 1960s, concomitant with the expansion of the educational sector as a result of increased social needs for professional talents in an era of Hong Kong' s economic transformation from the model of an entrepot economy to that of an industrial and commercial economy. For the past thirty years, The Chinese University has upheld the principles laid down by its founders on the one hand, and formulated a long-term plan for its own develop-ment to keep pace with the times, on the other. In this process, the University has gradually built up its unique style. Now under the trend of diversification in present-day society, the University has to pay attention to the demands of both the localization and the universaliza-tion of higher education, and also forge ahead to meet the standards of an age of high technology. This dual mission fully reflects the situation in which the University responds to the demand of Hong Kong society on the one hand, and brings its initiative and innovative energy into full play on the other, so as to pioneer a path for Hong Kong's future development.
Looking back on The Chinese University's development since its founding, it is beyond doubt that a close connection and cooperative relations have been maintained between the University and Hong Kong' s social circles in the fields of education, industry and commerce, culture, and so on. This strong social relevancy can easily be detected not only in the University's curricula and research projects, but also in the cultural activities which the University has sponsored or participated in, the programme of adult education developed by the University, and the consultative or professional services offered to the local community by university colleagues. As a characteristic orientation of The Chinese University, social relevancy was emphasized as early as its estab-lishment. Professor Choh-ming Li, the first Vice-Chancellor, stressed,
A university used to be regarded as an ivory tower quite detached from the community. I am afraid that sort of conception of the university has long been given up because of the modem developments of university services to the community. A university of course, has one of its basic functions in training and .educating the youths on the one hand and in developing new knowledge on the other. But, remember, that is only one basic function. There are other basic functions of the university. Another very important one is service to the community ... (Chinese University Bulletin, July 1966, p. 2)
One of the most important tasks in serving the public and leading society is to strengthen communication and contact. with the com-munity. When The Chinese University was founded in the early 1960s, it already made good use of the information systems then available to set up a strong social network to inform society of what the University had achieved, and at the same tiine to relay to its staff the community's expectation of the institution. The purpose of such a network was to invigorate cooperation between the University and society, and to enlist support for the institution. In order to communicate with different sec-tors in society, the University utilized various channels to publicize its orientations and policies. One significant medium was Chinese Univer-sity Bulletin, a monthly magazine published in both English and Chinese versions. In view of the fact that its distribution was technically limited by the postal list available, The Chinese University joined the Univer-sity of Hong Kong in July 1966 in a Radio Hong Kong English programme called "University Report." This thirty minutes' programme was broadcast bi-weekly. Staff members from the two universities were
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invited to report on the institutions' latest endeavours arid future ac-tivities. Publicity projects of this sort effectively help the public keep abreast of the University's development.
Apart from establishing a distinct public image, the University itself and its member Colleges have taken the initiative in building up links with relevant social organizations. One such move was the substantial expansion of the Board of Trustees of United College in August .1966 to increase channels for advice from different social sectors, thus enabling the College to better carry out its policy of serving Hong Kong society.
One significant aspect of its liaison with society was to maintain a close relationship with secondary schools which are the source of most of the University's recruits. Early in the history of The Chinese University, its senior administrators already set out to organize regular seminars to meet representatives from local secondary schools. The major areas of concern included the improvement of English proficiency among �P 1ocal Chinese middle schools, the curricula for university entrance examinations, the content of Chinese textbooks and the cooperation among members of various public examination committees.
The three Colleges of the University, i.e., Chung Chi College, New Asia College, and United College, are also actively involved in their respective social activities and services. Chung Chi College, for in-stance, cooperated with the Hong Kong Science Teachers' Association in organizing a seminar on teaching of science subjects in secondary schools. The purpose of this seminar held in August 1971 was to promote the use of demonstrations and experiments in class to improve pedagogical standards in the field of the natural sciences. There were also summer classes offered by the Colleges for teachers in primary and secondary schools to enhance their language ability. From the mid-1960s, for example, United College and Williams College in the United States jointly organized summer English proficiency classes for English teachers from government and private secondary and primary schools. Social workers from the Hong Kong Social Service Association were also entitled to register in these courses. The Fi11e Arts Department of New Asia College also organized summer classes for primary school teachers. The large enrolment of art teachers from primary schools proved the need for such a service.
In brief, The Chinese University performs its public services by
way of participating in adult education, contributing to the promotion of educational and cultural activities, and industrial and . commercial development, providing the community with professional advice, and demonstrating the applicability of its curriculum and research projects. Some major examples are delineated as follows.
Reaching out to Society: The Department of Extramural Studies
Offering extention courses is one important way in which the University establishes contacts with society. The Department of Extramural Studies has been playing a crucial role in this aspect. Since its estab-lishment in April 1965, the Department has utilized the facilities and manpower of the University, and other institutions, to provide mostly evening and some day-time extension courses for the public. The report of the organizing committee then clearly indicated this intention:
We are unanimous that universities as teaching institutions have a special responsibility for making available to all who can benefit from it such teaching as falls within their province. The Chinese University of Hong Kong must therefore bear such a responsibility and should make its own distinct contribution. Unless a university undertakes an academic responsibility towards those outside the regular student body ... the University would soon lose its public support. (Chinese University Bulletin, January 1965, p. 1).
The Department of Extramural Studies was created in response to the above-mentioned social needs to promote adult education and to establish closer links with different sectors of Hong Kong society. In the preparatory stage of the establish of the Department, the University Vice.Chancellor then, Dr Choh-ming Li, reiterated, that The Chinese University should serve society not merely through its graduates, but also by incorporating public service as an important item in its develop-ment plan in view of society's ardent expectations of the University. The University's prompt decision to est;iblish the Department of Ex-tramural Studies reflected the institution's firm commitment to society.
As in other universities, the Department of Extramural Studies has not only opened up educational opportunities for the public, it also extends the realm of the University to include the whole of society. It
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can therefore be regarded metaphorically as the antenna of the Univer-sity, or, from a different perspective, a sphygmometer for measuring the pulse of society. Through the Department, the University maintains contacts with society and can thus have a better understanding of its needs and changes. The following targets of community service were clearly laid down when the Department was established (The First Six Years, 1963-69, p. 67):
(1)
to interpret to the people the society in which they live;
(2)
to train people for higher competence;
(3)
to effect beneficent changes in attitude, outlook and be-haviour; and
(4)
to enrich aesthetic experiences and to broaden sympathies.
The Advisory Board which is responsible for reporting general policies and development plans regarding extramural studies to the Vice-Chancellor, was comprised of important representatives from the community. It is not an exaggeration to say that the Department of Extramural Studies is an indispensable channel through which the University has built up some of its widest social networks.
As a matter of fact, the Department of Extramural Studies has always been a major force in the University's social service. The prin-ciple behind its establishment reflects the developmental trend of modern education, and the role of the University in terms of its social service. Changes in Hong Kong society can also be generally attested to by the development of this Department. When it was first set up in April 1965, there was only one course, i.e., Modern Mathematics offered to mathematics teachers in the secondary schools. Within one year, the number of courses increased dramatically to 139 covering a large spectrum of fields. Apart from general education, professional training curricula in different specific areas were also gradually developed.
The Department's general trend of development in the 1960s was to maintain a balance between humanities studies and vocational training. With Hong Kong' s speedy development of industrialization and com-mercialization, general knowledge could no longer satisfy the needs and demands for professional knowledge. To be in line with society's progress .in the 1970s, the Department offered such certificate courses as Banking Administration, Advanced Translation, Librarianship, Person-nel Administration, Basic Systems Analysis, etc. These courses were
not only practical in nature, they also had academic value. In terms of content, course material, and teaching methods, these courses opened up new ground. Admission requirements for some courses were quite high. Some were even comparable to graduate standard. Keen competition for admission reflected the great demand for such training. Statistics show that students taking extramural courses came from various social strata, indicating that the programme was widely welcome.
Some extramural courses require cooperation and support from related professional groups. In July 1973, the Department of Extramural Studies and Commercial Radio, Hong Kong jointly organized a two-year diploma course in Basic Business Administration. This was the first time a broadcasting channel was used as a teaching medium. Since then the radio as a means for distance learning has become increasingly popular. The two broadcasting courses offered in cooperation with RTHK from 1979 to 1980 met with ethusiastic support from the public. In 197 5, the Department of Extramural Studies, together with the then newly established Commercial Television, offered instructional television programmes in such diploma courses as Basic Accounting, Interior Design and several language courses. These were the first attempt in Hong Kong to use television as a medium of adult education.
The 1970s and 1980s witnessed a new phase of developmentin courses offered through the newspaper. Six local newspapers sponsored the programme. Local or overseas scholars contributed to these newspapers on topics ranging from morals and society, technology and social change, general psychology, family and society, management and accountability, etc. The Department of Extramural Studies also offered some training programmes for government departments and private companies by contract. Such cooperation further stimulated the interaction between the University and other social institutions. While allowing the University to comprehend more accurately the needs of society, these extension courses also help to improve the calibre of our citizens.
Hong Kong's urbanization process has definitely affected the development of the Department of Extramural Studies. In view of the flow of population to suburbs and satellite towns, the Tsuen Wan Programme was established in 1966 to serve the industrial community in that district. �PThe Mei Foo Programme was established in autumn 1973 as part of the development project in Kowloon. In 1977 the K wun
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Tong Programme and the Quarry Bay Programme were also estab-lished. These study centres have helped to easy for students in different districts the problems of commuting over a long distance.
Rapid development of extramural courses, substantial growth in student numbers and the remarkable increase in new localities for in-
.truction, all testify to the fact that the Department of Extramural Studies has been growing simultaneously with Hong Kong society and that it is the University's forefront in social service. It utilizes society's resources to .provide educational opportunities for the public, and in doing so, it enlists support from the community. Through these social contacts, the University has come to have a profound grasp of the movement of social change and can make appropriate responses there-by.
Serving the Sector of Education
Along with the economic take-off in the 1970s, universal education advanced by leaps and bounds in Hong Kong. Consequently, the demand for teacher training became urgent. Since its establishment in 1965, the School of Education at The Chinese University has offered a one-year full-time day diploma course and a two-year part-time evening diploma course for university graduates and secondary school teachers. In the mid-1970s, the government devised a large-scale project' to promote secondary sch9ol education, resulting in tremendous need for the in-service training of teachers. To facilitate class training for these teachers, the School of Education organized a two-year day-time programme from 1976 to 1977. Public response was overwhelming. The number of applicants for the one-year day-time course, the two-year part-time evening course and the two-year part-time day course greatly exceeded the quota.
To promote and improve the quality of local secondary and primary education, the School of Education conducted numerous surveys to pilot future developmental trends. Some of the completed research projects include case studies of secondary school students, relative effectiveness of teaching media in secondary schools, evaluation of the current ac-tivity approach in primary school teaching, and mathematics education in secondary schools. The School also published a Chinese-English
bilingual journal entitled Studium which later became the Education Journal. It contains monographic articles, source materials, and con-ference papers.
To build up closer ties with educational circles and with teachers at their posts, so as to make joint efforts to improve the quality of Hong Kong's secondary education, the School of Education has frequently organized conferences or seminars on pertinent issues. Examples of large-scale conferences include the 1970 Symposium on the Teaching of Chinese Language, the 1974 Seminar on the White Paper on Secon-dary Education in Hong Kong over the Next Decade, and the 1977 Conference on Recent Developments in Education. Both of these oc-casions drew a very large number of participants. These were mostly people from the education sector, with the majority being secondary school teachers.
Lecturers of the School of Education have always been involved in organizing short term in-service training programmes for teachers. In 1976, the School and the Department of Extramural Studies jointly sponsored two courses, Management of Classroom Discipline and Preparing Classroom Tests, at the request of the Hong Kong Private Anglo-Chinese Schools Association. Other organizations also indicated interest in inviting lecturers from the School to hold seminars on dif-ferent pedagogical issues. For instance, at the invitation of the Hong Kong Nurses' Association, the School organized two workshops, name-ly "Preparation of Modem Types of Examination Questions" and "Teaching Methodology."
With respect to the revision and improvement of secondary school curricula, lecturers from the School of Education have made their con-tribution by serving as board members of the Education Department's Curricular Development Committee, or participating enthusiastically in relevant seminars. They play a significant role in the development of Hong Kong' s education system by providing substantial professional advice on secondary curricula and teaching methods.
During Hong Kong's political "transitional period" in the 1980s, the School of Education devoted itself to the work of localizing Hong Kong' s education. Promoting civil education and .nurturing political consciousness were also some of the crucial tasks it undertook during this period. Apart from revising the content of the existing curriculum, it also encouraged the publication of academic research reports and
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dissertations in Chinese, the translation of relevant works from foreign languages to Chinese, and the standardization of terminologies in the field of pedagogics.
As the earliest-established professional training department in The Chinese University, the School of Education has experienced rapid growth to cope with the pace of expansion of Hong Kong' s education. Its achievement in training teachers, conducting educational research, revising education policies and providing consultation services are self-evident. At the beginning of the 1990s, the School reorganized itself and became a faculty in the structure of the University. It now enjoys equal status and autonomy with the Faculties of Arts, Science, Social Science; Engineering, Business Administration and Medicine. Under its new structure, the School has three separate departments known as the Department of Educational Psychology, the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, and the Department of Educational Administration and Policy. By now, it has a fourth department of Sports Science and Physical Education. This structural renovation reflects the direction of development in the field of education in both Hong Kong and the world. It also demonstrates the role that The Chinese University plays in keeping the development of Hong Kong's education system abreast with changes in our times.
Serving Business Circles
In a society with developed industry and commerce such as Hong Kong, the development of university education has to cater to the needs of the industrial and commercial sectors. Besides, the university also has the obligation to lead future economic development with the help of its research work. In 1966, the Lingnan Institute of Business Administra-tion was established with funds supplied primarily by the Lingnan University Board of Trustees in New York, and has since then taken up The Chinese University's chief public service responsibility in the field of industry and commerce. Some major tasks include training management personnel, offering courses, organizing seminars and relaying latest theories and experiences to people in the field. At the government's request, the Institute also offered a part-time programme in management and behavioural science for in-service executive
officers and administrative officers. In 1977, the Institute and training officers in government worked together to arrange a two-year postgraduate course for the staff from over thirty government depart-ments. The course was co-sponsored by the Department of Extramural Studies. Those �P who successfully completed all course requirements could obtain ceritificates in management issued by the Department.
The Institute's closest connections were naturally those with in. dustrial and business circles. Students in the Institute frequently joined study tours to visit companies and factories during the summer vacation. The Institute also sponsors or organizes training programmes for managers on the job. Teaching staff members of the Institute are en-couraged to help such organizations as the Hong Kong Management Association, the Hong Kong Productivity Council, and the Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong to develop courses as part of their staff development schemes. They also serve as consultants for banks and advertising agencies. Other activities include the organization of seminars and on-job training programmes.
In view of the substantial and practical contribution of the Institute to society, several business firms and foundation trustees sponsored the Institute by endowing professorships and lecturerships. As the number of students registered in the two-year postgraduate programme in-creased dramatically, the University began to offer a three-year MBA programme in 1977. Programme sponsors included Mr .ung King Hey, Dr Cheng Yu Tung and other distinguished figures from the business sector. In 1981 the Lingnan Institute of Business Administration was renamed the Division of Business Administration taking charge of both two-year and three-year MBA programmes.
Since the establishment of the Faculty of Business Administration in 1974, the BBA programme has worked actively to cultivate capable personnel for industrial and commercial circles. Owing to relatively high wages and rent, Hong Kong must increase its productivity to compete successfully in the overseas market. The founding of the Faculty of Business Administration answered the needs for more ef-fective management skills and higher productivity. In view of Hong Kong' s growing importance as an international financial and trad-ing centre, the Department of Marketing and International Business was established to join the Department of Accounting and Finance, the Department of Production and Personnel Management, and the
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Department of Industrial Relations as the basic units of the Faculty of Business Administration. Apart from training professional executives for commercial firms, government departments and other social or-ganizations, and teachers in the fields of accountancy, marketing management and international business, it also provides in-service ex-ecutives in Hong Kong and mainland China with training courses so as to foster their technical competence, and knowledge in management. Teaching staff of the faculty play a part in social service by way of offering management training courses and serving as committee mem-bers of public or private organizations, and so forth. In collaboration with the Department of Extramural Studies, the Departments of Market-ing and International Business, Production and Personnel Management, and Industrial Relations offered diploma courses in personnel manage-ment and training management.
With the growth of Hong Kong's economy, the business circles' demands for university services in staff training and professional con-sultation have increased tremendously. In 1988, the Office oflndustrial and Business Development was set up in The Chinese University to strengthen the public relations of University faculties and departments. It also works to further facilitate new cooperative relationships between the University and local or international industrial or commercial or-ganizations, foundations, and public figures. It explores projects with potential to gain local or overseas sponsorship and work out plans for development with the support of relevant University faculty or departmental units. The Research and Development Contract Ad-ministration Unit in this Office assits various faculties or departments in holding talks and arranging collaborative agreements with outside in-stitutions. Items of collaboration range from scientific research, products exploration, human resources development, topical studies, to professional consultation services, etc. At present, the Unit is working actively with other tertiary institutions and local organizations in projects regarding technology transfer between China/Hong Kong and the advanced industrial countries and the exploitation of new industries with potential for development.
Starting from the 1990s, the Asia-Pacific Institute of Business es-tablished with the support of the Faculty of Business Administration has joined the Office of Industrial and Business Development in providing consultation services for local industrial and commercial enterprises. As
pointed out by Professor Charles Kao, the incumbent Vice-Chancellor of the University, one of the University's missions is to create favourable conditions for the growth of human resources and the development of industry and commerce in Hong Kong. The Lingnan Institute of Business Administration, the Faculty of Business Ad-ministration, the Division of Business Administration and the Asia-Pacific Institute of Business have been all developed to reach this goal and to contribute to the promotion of human training, curricular con-solidation and research. The Office oflndustrial and Business Develop-ment has indeed further facilitated the work of coordination, planning, liaison, and development with clear orientation, attainable targets, and feasible policies.
The Applicability of Research Projects
While some of the community services are performed in response to society's demands, others have been initiated by the university, since a university does not develop only passively in response to social needs. More importantly, it also plays an active role in leading society into the future. Apart from its pedagogical function, a university is also a re-search institution. With access to the frontiers of knowledge, the univer-sity can make contribution to the world's academic community on the one hand, and. serve society by way of indicating the applicability of research projects on the other.
Apart from urging various departments to undertake research work, The Chinese University has also established many research institutes and centres. Some examples are the Ng Tor-tai Chinese Language Research Centre and the Research Centre for Translation in the Institute of Chinese Studies, and the Chinese Medicinal Material Research Centre. During the 1970s, the Institute of Social Science established the Centre for East Asian Studies, the Mass Communications Research Centre and the Economic Research Centre. Other research units .in-cluded the Marine Science Laboratory and the Geographical Research Centre. The 1980s saw the emergence of the Centre for Hong Kong Studies. In the 1990s, newly founded research organizations such as the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, the Centre for Environ-mental Studies, and the Hong Kong Institute of Biotechn.logy have started a series of research projects in the University.
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Some of these research projects possess pragmatic values. In the late 1960s, the Chinese Linguistics Research Centre (now the Ng Tor-tai Chinese Language Research Centre), developed in-depth research on the Chinese language, and conducted a study of dialects in different districts of Guangdong, enabling better understanding of the origins of Hong Kong's local dialect. In the 1970s, the Institute of Science and Technology carried out projects on Chinese medicine and food protein. These studies, together with numerous researches conducted by the Faculty of Science, had great potential for practical use. Sponsored by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the University invited experts to participate in work on neutron generators. Besides the academic accomplishment, contribution to social service has also been made by applying research to oxygen in' steel activation analysis and activation analysis of nitrogen in food products as requested by the steel and the food manufacturing industries.
Items that have immediate impact on society are obviously those related to community development and social-economic issues. These projects are proceeded either at the request of the government and other social organizations, or on the initiative of some research units in the University. In the late 1960s, for instance, the Institute of Social Studies and the Humanities, and the Institute of Science and Technology diag-nosed the needs of Hong Kong society and then carried out different research projects to cope with its growth and changes. One of these studies was the demand for high-level human resources to support the growth of local industry. Other areas of investigation included various aspects of urban family life, the income of Hong Kong citizens and the population growth rate of the city. In the 1970s, the Social Science Centre completed several projects which had significant bearing on Hong Kong society. Among them, one on the Kwun Tong industrial community studied the social welfare system, industrial development, population growth, public health, religious groups, and social leaders in the district. Another research project was an extensive study on street hawkers covering details of their life, spatial economics and the timing of the change of their activities, the related government policies and their implementation, street hawkers' settlement problems, and public attitudes towards street hawkers.
Projects completed in the early 1970s covered such areas as the pro-fessional training of secondary school teachers, higher non-expatriate
civil servants and the information transmission systems of the Social Welfare Department. The Centre also worked with social organizations such as the Family Planning Association to conduct several studies. A major project carried out since th. mid-1970s was the study of the Shatin satellite town. Moreover, outside organizations were benefited by the Centre's advice on research planning, data collecting and analysis, etc. Likewise, other University research centres have under-taken studies closely related to Hong Kong society. Examples are projects on the prospect of local economic development carried out by the Economic Research Centre and a survey on the viewing habits of the local television audience administered by the�P Centre for Communica-tion Studies.
In the 1980s, a seven-year research project was co-sponsored by The Chinese University and the University of Michigan in the United States to study human physical activities and the quality of life. Hong Kong was chosen to be the object of study because it was one of the most densely populated cities which had experienced drastic social change along with rapid growth in its industrial and commercial sectors. Being a cosmopolitan city where Chinese culture meets its Western counterpart, Hong Kong' s experience of adjustment, and ways of con-fronting and resolving various problems, could be used for reference by other cities in similar situations. Shatin was again chosen as the sample for the research. Health conditions of students there w.re recorded to test the impact of rapid urbanization on students' physiological and mental coordination.
In the second phase of the research, the locale was shifted from schools to business firms in order to trace the process of growth from adolescence to adulthood. The third phase was a period of synthetic analyses leading to remedial design of after-school/work fitness and recreational activities for students and adults. Plans for sports activities and standard procedures of exercise testing were also recommended to adults and reviews were conducted for effect evaluation. This project provided the community medical scheme with an effective prescription for physical activities to offset professional diseases caused by everyday tension. Hong Kong's experience can be used to not only enhance the health and life quality of the local community, but also help other metropolitan centres facing similar problems to arrive at better solu-tions.
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The Department of Paediatrics in the Faculty of Medicine has also chosen the Shatin community as the locale for its study of Chinese children's conditions of growth. One hundred and seventy-four infants from the Lek Yuen district are being surveyed during the first fifteen years of their life to trace the development in their growing process with regard to, for example, the density of their bone marrow vitamin level, and growth rate of their body length. These children's physical ability, and protein and iron levels are carefully scrutinized to review the condi-tion of their growth. Based on the data gathered, the research team can assess the standard growth condition of the Chinese population with sufficient nutrition and lay down an international criterion of nutritional intake for Chinese children. Fund-raising activities were launched in the 1990s for this large-scale project with the aim of enhancing the role of the Department of Paediatrics in serving the community and heighten-ing the general public's awareness of supporting this kind of research.
The Hong�P Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, which was founded in the early 1990s, has been working towards two goals -enhancing its position in the international academic community; and exerting its influence on the development of Hong Kong society. Through various channels such as the mass media or the presentation of research reports, members of the Institute put forward their analyses and criticisms of the present situation and prospects of society. An example of the Institute's researches which has drawn public attention is the study of the outcome of Hong Kong' s 1991 election. The Institute also plays the role of a "think tank" to provide the government and other private organizations with consultative services on such issues as Hong Kong's new airport project, elections, and the political future. With respect to research materials, the Institute possesses a large bank of classified newspaper clippings from over thirty years. In terms of its scope, continuance and retrievability, facilitated by a computerized cataloguing system, it is probably one of the most outstanding inform:a-tion libraries in Hong Kong. Source materials there are not reserved only for the use of University staff and students but are also open to the public.
In addition to large-scale projects conducted by various research units, individual staff members have been carrying out independent or cooperative research projects with social relevancy, directly or indirect-ly playing their parts in social service. In the mid-1970s, for instance,
Professor Hsin Sutu, the Director of the Lingnan Institute of Business Administration, while urging the cultivation of qualified personnel in management to support the growth of industry in Hong Kong, offered his suggestions on possible solutions to various related difficulties, on the basis of his investigation into the local industrial structure. His research resulted in the publication of a report substantiated by data gathered from 1,950 factories in the area of textiles and plastics, together with references from publications by the government and private business firms. According to his findings, Hong Kong' s industry was at that time facing internal as well as external difficulties. Internal-ly, undesirable .factors included the shortage of suitable land for in-dustrial development, the instability of material supply, the relatively limited size of the domestic market, the small scale of the industry, insufficient management skills, labour shortage and high wages. Some of the external threats were the negative impact of the incorporation of the United States into the Common Market, the fiscal condition of the world, international trade barriers, and strong overseas competition. To offset these obstacles, however, Hong Kong could rely on some assets, including an efficient work force, a powerful information network, good supplementary facilities, and the positive effect of the constant influx of foreign capital and free-trade policies.
Referring to the information gathered from the research, Professor Sutu proposed the following strategies to surmount . or alleviate the difficulties faced by local industries. Light industrial products and capi-tal-intensive industries with minimal demand for labour should be developed. Rectilinear management was recommended. The govern-ment should soften the terms for loans to small firms, strengthen the network of industrial information to facilitate efficient communication, protect and nurture newly established local industries, and diversify industrial investment and markets to cope with overseas competition. This kind of research, targeting specific economic issues, is repre-sentative of our teaching staff's contribution to society. The publication of pertinent research results definitely carried significant weight in influencing Hong Kong' s economic policies.
Students of The Chinese University have also contributed to social research either of their own accord or as required by the courses they had taken. Some of their work has been consulted by the local com-munities as reference material. One example is a public opinion poll
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conducted at the Lam Tin Estate on medical services there in the summer of 1975 by students from the Sociology and Social Work Departments of Chung Chi College. Twenty students and a volunteer from the estate paid door to door visits to residents for questionnaire interviews. As revealed by this survey of 277 specimen families selected by group sampling, medical services there were far from being sufficient and residents wished that there could be more health centres and clinics in the district. They also demanded other services including community sanitation, social health care and education in hygiene. Publication of results of this kind of social research can exert influence on society and on the government.
Certain scientific projects have been developed on the basis of contracts made between the University and outside institutions. The sponsoring organizations make available research funds or other aids and, in return, enjoy priority in the use of the research results. The University retains the property rights of knowledge while the outside sponsors may utilize the research results for commercial purposes.
A great deal of The Chinese University's staff research products have great potential for commercial development. In recent years the University and a number of commercial firms have reached franchise agreements which entitle the latter to package and promote the University's scientific and technological research products for commer-cial purposes. Some computer software and biotechnical products fall into this area of cooperation. Payment for the franchise can then be used by the University to sponsor other research programmes, thus reinforc-ing teaching and research staff's academic work.
Recently the University has amended the ordinance concerning outside practice. to encourage staff members to involve themselves in advisory service aimed at lubricating communication between the University and industrial and commercial sectors. University staff members can on the one hand make full use of their professional knowledge and contribute to the work of social service, and on the other hand keep in touch with the latest developments in science and technol-ogy and updated market conditions. They can thus revise their�P teaching materials and improve the quality of their teaching. The University, through research contracts, franchise arrangements, professional and advisory services, can further increase its sources of outside income to support various activities and development schemes which are not
funded by the government. It is hence clear that teaching, research, and public social service are indeed closely related.
In sum, products of the University's research projects carried out by research institutes, centres, teachers or students, whether on their own initiative or at the request of social organizations, or of the government, have had direct or indirect influence on the Hong Kong community. On the other hand, the results of these research projects have also revealed the needs of local society which is constantly in the process of moving ahead. More especially in areas of the industrial and commercial economy, in urbanization, community development and in the commer-cialization of advanced information technology, these efforts reflect the changes in local society over the last thirty years and the subsequent needs of this society.
Advisory and Professional Services
The Chinese University has constantly encouraged its faculty members to utilize their professional knowledge to provide advisory services for the government and other social organizations. In fact, individual staff members have in their private capacity, joined organizations outside the University, becoming committee members of official, serni-official, or private organizations, acting as advisors providing consult-ation services. These organizations, in the hundreds, include the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, the Hong Kong Examina-tions Authority, the Hong Kong Productivity Council, the Hong Kong Management Association, the Committee for Scientific Coordination, the Hong Kong Vocational Training Council, etc. In recent years, a number of faculty members from The Chinese University have been appointed or elected to the posts of Unofficial Legislative Council members or District Board members. There are also many students who have participated in extramural organizations or worked in voluntary groups.
The following are some of the significant public services in which the University faculty members have been involved in the past thirty years (Vice-Chancellor's Report, 1978-82, 1982-85, 1985-87, 1987-90):
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1. Education:
Member of the Review Committee on Post-Secondary and Techni-
cal Education Member of the Hong Kong Examinations Authority Member of the School Examinations Board of the Hong Kong
Examination Authority Member of the Court of the University of Hong Kong Member of the Board of Governors, Hong Kong Baptist College Member of the Council of the Hong Kong Polytechnic Member of the Council of the City Polytechnic of Hong Kong Member of the Council of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing
Arts Chairman of the Hong Kong Jockey Club Music Fund Deputy Chairman of the Joint Universities' Committee on Student
Finance Member of the Board of Education Member of the Planning Committee for the Third University Member of the University and Polytechnic Grants Committee Member of the Chinese Textbooks Committee Member of the Planning Committee for the Establishment of the
Hong Kong Council for Academic A wards
2.
Economy
Member of the Hong Kong Productivity Council Member of the Industrial Development Board Member of the Economic Review Committee
3.
Culture
Member of the Antiquities Advisory Board Member of the Council for the Performing Arts Member of the Stamp Advisory Committee Member of the Jubilee Sports Centre Board Member of the Broadcasting Review Board Member of the Television Advisory Board
4. Science and Technolo!fY.
Member of the Committee for Scientific Coordination Member of Radiation Board Member of the Agricultural Products Scholarship Fund Advisory
Committee Member of the Advisory Committee on Science and Industrial Research Member of the Marine Fish Scholarship Fund Advisory Committee
5. Medical and Health Work
Council Member of the Society of Homes for the Handicapped Member of the Medical Development Advisory Committee Member of the Supplementary Medical Professions Council Member of the Pharmacy and Poisons Appeal Tribunal Member of the Rehabilitation Development Coordinating Commit-
tee Member of the Medical Council of Hong Kong Member of the Pneumoconiosis Compensation Fund Board Member of the Provisional Council on Smoking and Health, the
Health and Welfare Branch, Government Secretariat Member of the Working Party on Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Chairman of the Optometrists Board
6.
Social Welfare
Council Member of the Hong Kong Family Planning Association Member of the Advisory Committee on Social Work Training Member of the Social Work Training Fund Committee Member of the Social Welfare Advisory Committee Director of Widows' and Children's Pensions Scheme Member of the Vocational Training Council Member of the Po Leung Kuk Advisory Board
7.
Government and Public Administration
Member of the Citizens Advisory Committee on Community Rela-tions of the Independent Commission Against Corruption
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Unofficial Member of the Legislative Council
Member of the Fight Crime Committee
Member of Operations Review Committee of the Independent
Commission Against Corruption
Member of the Law Reform Commission of Hong Kong
Member of the Sha Tin District Advisory Board
Member of the Public Services Commission
Member of the Special Committee on Land and Water Pollution of
the Environmental Protection Advisory Committee
Member of the Environmental Protection Advisory Committee
Member of Statistics Advisory Board Committee
Member of the Tai Po District Board
Chairman of the Sai Kung District Board
Member of the Wan Chai District Board
Member of_the Provisional Regional Council
Member of the Sha Tin District Board
Member of the Country Parks Board
Member of the Advisory Committee established under the Animals
and Plants (Protection of Endangered Species) Ordinance
Member of the Appeal Board Panel under Section 32 of the Air
Pollution Control Ordinance
Member of the Clean Hong Kong (New Territories) Advisory Com-
mittee
Member of the Marketing Advisory Board
Vice-Chairman of the Police Complaints Committee
Member of the Regional Council
Member of the Hong Kong Basic Law Consultative Committee
Member of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Basic
Law Drafting Committee
Member of the Air Transport Licensing Authority
Member of the Central Committee on Youth
Member of the Transport Advisory Committee
Member of the Committee on Review of Domestic Rent Policy of
the Hong Kong Housing Authority
These advisory services cover a wide scope and reflect Hong Kong's social development and change. The foci of attention, be it anti-corruption activities in the 1970s, or recent issues concerning the
Basic Law or the establishment of the third university, were all crucial socio-political matters. Besides, as scholars and experts, faculty mem-bers of The Chinese University have expressed their views on local issues through the channel of the mass media. Public relations units of the University have also readily arranged consultation meetings be-tween relevant faculty and the press, or public inquirers, in need of advice or information.
Cultural Activities
The Chinese University staff have been enthusiastic in sponsoring and promoting cultural activities in the territory. Teachers and students of the Music Department, for instance, frequently perform in public or on the radio. They have also assisted outside organizations to arrange music programmes, and played as accompanists of visiting musicians. Teachers from the Fine Arts Department have taken up important posts in the Hong Kong branch office of the International Association of Fine Arts Education. They have also taken an active part in individual or group exhibitions. In the early 1980s, a number of University staff members helped in the founding of the Hong Kong Arts Centre. The Vice-Chancellor of the day was the Centre's sponsor and its first honorary chairman. In 1978, a group of teachers in the field of compara-tive language and literature came together to found the Hong Kong Comparative Literature Association. Students of the University have also actively participated in various cultural activities organized for young people in the areas of literature, the arts, and so on.
The University Art Gallery is open to the public all the year round, even on weekends and Sunday afternoons for holiday visitors. The Gallery has frequently held topical exhibitions on Chinese arts, music, and books in hopes of improving the level of cultural or artistic ap-preciation in our society. In early years, exhibits were mostly private collections on loan to the Gallery. Catalogues were printed with funds from private sponsors. When its Acquisition Fund Committee was es-tablished in 1972, the Gallery began to acquire permanent items for its own collection and build up its status. Responses to the committee's appeal for support have been remarkably encouraging. Generous dona-tions have now enriched the Gallery's collections. In addition to the acquisition of the Jen Yu-wen collection of paintings and calligraphy by
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Kwangtung artists, the Gallery also received donations of some bronze seals of the Han and Pre-Han periods, the rubbing of the Hua-shan Temple stele made in the Song period, and paintings of the Yangzhou Masters in the Qing dynasty, constituting the core of its permanent collection. In addition, books donated by a number of collectors have turned the place into a small fine arts library.
The University Library is also open to the public. Applications for the use of the Library have increased. A great number of reader's cards have been issued to visiting scholars and citizens who can prove their need to use the books and facilities of the University Library. The Churig Chi Library is particularly popular among people from the church, with which the College has had a close relationship.
Among all the cultural activities which The Chinese University has been promoting, translation projects best reflect the emphasis of bilin-gualism as a feature of the University. In line with the bilingualist tradition in Hong Kong society, the University has, since its estab-lishment, attached great importance to the field of translation. The Department of Translation was thus created to bring into full play the dual function of translation in facilitating communication between the East and the West, and promoting Hong Kong's modernization. Since the 1960s, the Department of Extramural Studies, in response to social needs, offered a certificate course in Advanced Translation, in addition to its general-level courses on the same subject. In 1967, the University invited Lin Yutang to compile Lin Yutang '.s Chinese-English Dictionary of Modern Usage which was seen as a milestone in academia when it came out in 1972. The dictionary, with its public-user-friendly sup-plementary indexes published in 1978, was, in its own way, a practical contribution to society.
In 1972, the University was commissioned by the government to compile a Glossary of Applied Legal Terms (English-Chinese). This was a useful reference for the Hong Kong community, of which 98% are native Chinese. This Glossary was also a useful contribution to the "Chinese as Legal Official Language" campaign at that time. Later the University compiled the English-Chinese Glossary of Terms of Biology as well. At the same time, the School of Education also worked on An English-Chinese Glossary of Social Science and Education. Reference books of this kind have been very popular among translators and inter-preters.
In 1971, the University received funding for the establishment of the Translation Centre (now the Research Centre for Translation) which was to be in charge of research on translation, and engage in the publication of a Chinese and English translation series. The Centre has joined the Department of Translation, playing the role of an organizer in building up links among the teaching staff, the academic and ad-ministrative departments, the University Press, the Depart;ment of Ex-tramural Studies and the Institute of Chinese Studies with a view to improving the work of translation. It has also offered advice ontransla-tion and held workshops on problems concerning the translation of special terms in various disciplines. The Centre published its first issue of Renditions in 1973 and since that date the periodical has been well received and widely supported by the public.
In line with the socio-economic and political changes seen today, Hong Kong will further develop as an international research centre for �E Chinese language and culture. The study of Chinese culture has all along been one of The Chinese University's core projects. The Univer-sity has not only designed a Chinese language learning programme for visiting scholars, but has also taken up the task of promoting Putonghua in Hong Kong where Cantonese is the main dialect. In 1973, services of this kind expanded after the New Asia-Yali Language Centre was incorporated into the University. The Centre (now New Asia-Yale-in-China Chinese Language Centre) since then has become an integral part of the University, offering classes in Cantonese and Mandarin on the Shatin campus, as well as in the city.
Promoting Chinese education in Hong Kong has been part of the
. mission of The Chinese University. In order to improve the quality of local Chinese teaching materials, the University set up a scheme to develop these materials in 1981. Teaching staff from various depart-ments, along with secondary school teachers, and administrators in the field of education worked together to compile Chinese teaching materials. With the assistance of The Chinese University Press, a series of secondary school teaching materials in Chinese were published in-cluding textbooks on Buddhism for Form 4 and 5 level, books for the School Certificate Examination, textbooks, teachers' books, and refer-ences on Chinese Language and Literature, Physics, Chemistry, and Integrated Science. These teaching materials have helped to encourage the use of the mother tongue as the local medium of instruction, and
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have improved proficiency in the Chinese language in Hong Kong. In recent years, the University Press has plans forpublishing textbooks and popular readings, playing a role in raising local cultural and educational standards.
To provide grounds for Sino-Western cultural exchanges and to preserve and develop our Chinese cultural heritage are clearly defined aims embraced by the University. This commitment is evident in the various cultural activities the University has been engaged in. In view of the growth of local culture in recent years, The Chinese University, as a major cultural centre in the territory, must give its full support to the study of Hong Kong culture and local identity.
The University Curriculum and Society
Naturally, The Chinese University should not limit itself to being only a local university, rather it has striven towards its main goal of maintain-ing its position as an academic institution of international standards. However, the University, too, is fully convinced that a university must take root in its community and work out a long-term plan to improve itself and thereby help advance society towards a better future. After all, the University has grown by imbibing social resources, and in return, it should repay society through its public services. The most direct way of serving society is obviously to cultivate professionals of whom the community is in need. Teachers, accountants, administrators, jour-nalists, social workers, and scientists aside, prospective social leaders are also important university products ready to deal with problems which we may encounter in Hong Kong' s future process of develop-ment.
An appropriate curriculum and a strong teaching team are essential for producing qualified and competent graduates. The effect of public services provided by the previously mentioned departments, namely, the School of Education (now Faculty of Education), the Faculty of Business Administration, the Department of Translation, etc. depends largely on the applicability and social relevancy of their curricula. In the field of applied sciences and social sciences which stress the combination of theory and practice, departments such as Computer Science, Journalism and Communication, Government and Public
Administration, and Social Work have designed or revised their cur-ricula in accordance with the actual and professional needs of jour-nalists, executives, social workers, scientists and technicians.
Many qualified young people who could not enter the university as a result of an insufficient provision of tertiary education places may wish to further their studies after work. Such people are particularly interested in subjects which have pragmatic bearings. In view of this social need, The Chinese University mulled over the idea of an "ex-tramural degree" as early as the mid-1970s. As there were not sufficient funds available to establish a new university in Hong Kong at that time, The Chinese University advocated the opening of a relatively economi-cal "part-time degree programme," using the existing teaching resour-ces and facilities. This suggestion received positive feedback from students and the public. They considered that the University, by strengthening the extramural diploma programme, and by introducing university courses conducted in the evening, could contribute positively to future social development by producing more qualified personnel in various fields.
After years of preparation and planning, the University introduced its part-time degree programme in Social Work in 1981-1982. Part-time programmes in Chinese and English, Music, and Business Administra-tion were launched in 1982-1983. These programmes mark the University's effort to alleviate the problem of insufficient resources of tertiary education to accommodate qualified candidates in Hong Kong. The day-release part-time degree programme in Social Work provides advanced education opportunites for experienced social workers without previous formal university training, or holders of diplomas in social work from other recognized tertiary institutes. One of the aims of the _part-time degree progrmme in Chinese and English is to offer practical language training that meets social needs. The part-time degree programme in Music has the clear objective of providing Hong Kong' s music teachers. with opportunities of substantial training and building up their expertise in Chinese music. The part-time BBA programme enables experienced executives to fully actualize their management potentials, making them competent administrative staff in government and business organizations. The Department of Journalism and Com-munication is also interested in establishing a part-time degree programme. A survey conducted by the Department revealed the
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increasing demand by practising journalists for professional training to cope with increasingly higher requirements �P in the field, in line with rising standards of education in Hong Kong. It is the University's responsibility to provide journalists, at their posts, with opportunities of further training;
Working people also find advanced education opportunities at the Graduate School of The Chinese University. The diploma course in Education, the two-year or three-year MBA programmes, and the diploma course or the master programme in Social Work, for instance, have offered advanced courses for experienced educators, executives, staff at business firms, and social workers. It is the University's view that the Graduate School should nurture future distinguished scholars so as to uphold the University's high ideals of academic development; on the other hand, it must also respond to the social demand for higher-degree applied courses offered to train enterprising professionals. With this understanding, the University has since its founding striven to accommodate both its quest for academic excellence and its commit-ment to public service. In fact, these two goals are mutually com-plementary. While academic research opens new frontiers for social development, responses to social needs can add a more realistic dimen-sion to research work. The development of graduate programmes in recent years signifies The Chinese University's efforts in serving the community and leading the way in social development.
Such development can be exemplified by several programmes of the Graduate School. The three-year MBA programme was established in anticipation of its important contribution to Hong Kong's develop-ment. With this in view, the University solicited sponsorship of the programme from local business circles. Another example is the diploma programme in Education which was rapidly developed in the Graduate School with the expectation of considerable social demand for profes-sional training of teachers when the government planned to expand secondary, tertiary and technical education. Realizing that the government's social welfare policies and its localization scheme would result in stronger demands for high-level professionals in social work, public administration, and journalism, the Graduate School responded by developing higher-degree programmes in these areas and has received enthusiastic local support. To keep up with the trend of higher technological development, postgraduate courses in electronics,
computer science and applied mathematics naturally became part of the range of strategic development of the Graduate School.
As evidenced in the curricular development of The Chinese Univer-sity, undergraduate courses, part-time programmes, and the post-graduate degree or diploma programmes all carry both academic value and social relevancy, testifying to the close and subtle relationship between teaching, research, and social service.
Dynamic Balance and Breakthrough
Should the university be a purely academic institution, or a service unit for society? Since the dialectic relationship between the university and society can resolve the contradication between the "ivory tower" image and the role of "service station" of the university, there would seem to be an obvious answer to the question today. The same dialectic works in other binary oppositions such as that between the criticism of tradition and the preservation of cultural heritage, and that between the autonomy of academic institutions and their integration into so.iety. After all, the relationship between the university and society is constantly an interac-tive one. The university influences society and is in tum affected by society. The university takes roots in the community and, at the same time, stands aloof to guide the community.
Today we have moved beyond the German and British traditions of the nineteenth century. The university is no longer merely an institution for transmitting knowledge and cultivating talents. Neither is it only a place where teaching and research can combine. The overwhelming emphasis on social services advocated by American universities after the Second World War has also been reviewed and criticized. How to adjust the relations between teaching, research, and public service has therefore become a focal issue of heated discussion. Professor Ambrose King, the incumbent Pro-Vice-Chancellor, puts forward the idea of "dynamic balance" when he maintains that the university should be a multi-functional unit where various contradictions and different needs coexist. Among them the university should strike a "dynamic balance."
(A. Y. C. King, "Graduate Education and Social Needs: The Chinese University of Hong Kong," in Proceedings ASAIHL Seminar on Postgraduate Education in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, 1979, p. 150)
Service to Society
As a modem tertiary academic institution, The Chinese University should thus strive for a balanced development in the interactive relation-ship between social relevancy and academic autonomy.
It is no easy job to maintain a reasonable, balanced development. Can a .university maintain scientific objectivity while being involved in social debates or even conflicts? In other words, how should a university achieve equal emphasis on social relevancy and academic inde-pendence, and give full play to their positive functions. These are quandaries that a contemporary university has to face in redefining its social role. With the current trend of continuous expansion of higher education, the university will be increasingly dependent on outside resources and will thus face pressure from society, and from the govern-ment. However, the university must enjoy certain autonomy and freedom for, as the conscience of society, the university must be al-lowed some latitude to exercise its free will and independent judgment.
This was weU put by an educator at the Second Asian Workshop on Higher Education:
As an institution, the university may stand aloof without getting alienated from society; it may get involved without being submerged in the life, the struggles and the strivings of the society around. It may be neutral but not unconcerned or indifferent. It may even take sides but without being fanatical. Above all, whether aloof or involved, it must be true to its "soul." The search for truth demands that it shall always keep its head above the troubled water of change, tensions and controversies; but as an institution engaged in the education of the rising generations, it has to take note of the process of social change and meet its requirements. As a centre of learning, the university may sometimes serve national or even regional interests; but the quality of the service it renders will indeed remain poor, if its outlook and understanding remain confined to its surroundings. (Parikh, ibid., p. 75)
In order to improve the quality of its public service, the university must have the ability, freedom, and courage to judge and criticize the communities it is committed to serve. As was pointed out by Abraham Flexner, the renowned American educator active in the 1930s, the university must give society not what society wants, but what it needs, provided that those needs are based on reasonable analysis. (A. Flexner, Universities: American, English, German, New York, 1930, p. 5)
Still stimulating today, Flexner's view was echoed in a discussion on the relationship between the university and society by Western educators who reiterated the active, initiative, and positive role of the university in fulfilling its public responsibility. They asserted that a true university must become a powerful force for social change and im-provement. Indeed, the institute should produce men and women with a passion to remake the world and emanate ideas and knowledge that will be revolutionary in their impact. This is public service in its truest form. (CFAT, The University at the Service of Society: Summary of a Discus-sion by the Trustees of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, New York, 1967, p. 6)
Therefore, the university's social service is by no means passive. In concrete terms, it covers not only public services provided by the university authority, or its staff, for the government or social organiza-tions, but also related teaching and research work conducted inde-pendently on the university's initiative, as well as the efforts made to sensitize the public to latent social problems that may tum up in the future. The university also displays its initiative in applying professional criteria to the assessment of measures taken by the government or social organizations. Thus, the university must make sober and rational analyses and judgments of serious problems concerning the targets, means, and principles of social service, and prevent itself from be-coming a commercial tool. As long as the university can give full play
_ to its strong points as an academic institution, the quality of its public service will be steadily improved, and its function of social leadership strengthened. Hence, social services are not performed at the expense of academic achievement. On the contrary, the striving for higher academic levels can only fortify the university's role in leading the community. While maintaining a balance among many and varied needs, the university should also seek out ways for making break-throughs, have a wide vision, and give clear directions. With these efforts will its innovative leadership be genuine. In retrospect, the past thirty years' experience of public service by The Chinese University reflects society's tremendous impact on the institution. In the field of education, in the business world, in cultural as well as other circles, the University's community service mirrors Hong Kong' s social needs in the areas of industrial and commercial development, economic take-off, urbanization, industrialization and
Service to Society
modernization, education universalization, the hi-tech revolution, and the coming of a post-modern world on the one hand, and the University's responses on the other. In reviewing our history and setting future goals atthe present crucial historical juncture, it is of significance to be reminded of the original ideal of the University to promote Chinese culture, bilingual education, and cultural communication be-tween East and West, and its responsibility for providing innovative leadership in the future diversified world and post-colonial local society.
With the gradual development of a local identity in Hong Kong . since the 1970s and 1980s, The Chinese University has also built up its own specific character. Now that the community is facing the challenge of the century, especially in terms of the strong impact of the China factor, and the drastic transformation of the world, can the University inspire Hong Kong society with the spirit of a new era? Does it possess the fighting courage to hold firmly to its ideals? Is it able to break new ground for difficult issues with imagination, creativity, leadership, and a sense of mission? To these questions the local community is now in urgent need of answers. In maintaining a "dynamic balance" between academic achievement and commitment to Hong Kong society and China, achieving . a breakthrough on the thorny path ahead, as Hong Kong enters a new era, is certainly part of the University's mission of social service today.
Friends of the University
Mayching KAO and Chung Kee YEUNG
Shaw College Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony, 1987
Background: Tin Ka Ping Building
To nurture men of talents is a -great pursuit requiring the support and encouragement of the community. The Chinese University of Hong Kong, from the day of its founding to its thirtieth anniversary, has been privileged to enjoy the collective wisdom and support of all quarters of society. Prominent local people, industrial and business groups, academic and cultural institutions as well as international personages have fostered the growth of the University. From buildings on campus to guidance in development, from curriculum planning to cultural ex-change, the friends and patrons of The Chinese University have made important contributions which could only be acknowledged with a most profound sense of gratitude.
A review of the contributions of the benefactors to the University at its different stages of evolution give simple proof to their trust, expecta-tions and love for the University. An analysis of the areas of supP,ort may also help to shed light on the direction of the development of the University. This chapter first traces the struggles and hardships en-countered in the early stages leading to the founding of the University. It then highlights the "international" and "local character" of the University through the various local and overseas contributions. This is followed by a summary of donations which include campus construc-tion, curriculum development, research projects, scholarships and bur-saries as well as donations in kind. Finally, a brief interpretation of the obligations of the University for reciprocation concludes the whole chapter. Through all these years, donations from hundreds and thousands of people made to the University have already been recorded in the University bulletins and the Vice-Chancellor's reports. As it is quite impossible to give an exhaustive account here, only notable ex-amples will be mentioned. Even so, omissions may inevitably occur.
One
The University is now thirty years old, but the history of its Foundation Colleges can be traced back for more than forty years. It is not the intention of this chapter to go into details of the founding of the Col-leges, although some important incidents and individuals involved may be of interest here.
Among the three Colleges, New Asia was the first to be founded.
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Following changes in the political scene of mainland China in 1949, a number of scholars who taught in renowned universities in China emigrated to Hong Kong. Under extremely stringent economic condi-tions but dedicated to the preservation of Chinese culture, Ch'ien Mu, Tang Chun-i, Tchang Pi-kai and some other scholars founded in 1949 the New Asia Arts and Commerce Evening School, the forerunner of New Asia College.
The following paragraph taken from the speech of Tchang Pi-kai delivered on the first anniversary of the College may reflect in some way the situation and the mood of the people concerned at the time of the founding of the College. It was the story of Wu Xun (1838-1896) who went begging to raise funds for education in the late Qing dynasty.
We who are seated here are all refugees, having a country in which we cannot enter, having a home to which we cannot return. We have nothing valuable in our possessions and we want to establish an ideal school of our own. What else can we do except that our teachers and students go begging together.
To go begging from door to door is a base act indeed. However, going begging for the sake of fulfilling one's own dream of promoting education lies beyond one's selfishness and is therefore a venerable act. Today, the University is earnestly seeking support from all quarters of society. The "spirit of Wu Xun" is still very much alive.
The educational ideals of New Asia met with the approval of Mr Wang Yueh-feng, a Hong Kong construction entrepreneur who came from Shanghai. With Wang's financial assistance, New Asia was founded in 1950. Assistance from Wang came to an abrupt stop as his business foundered, yet his timely assistance will be forever remem-bered.
Dr Vermier Chiu is one worthy to be held in grateful remembrance in the early history of New Asia. He was a noted barrister-at-law in Hong Kong, serving as the honorary legal adviser to New Asia. When the Hong Kong government required all private post-secondary colleges to be registered as commercial enterprises, Dr Chiu, despite his ill health, drafted the College's constitution and filed a plea on behalf of the College to overturn the government's decision. This case dragged on for years and exemption from registration as a commercial enterprise was eventually granted. The incident testifies to the firm belief of the
founders of New Asia that education is a holy calling and should not be confused with any sort of money-making business. With the support of community leaders this principle finally prevailed and won fairness and justice under the law.
Financial assistance from the Yale-China Association (formerly Yale-in-China Association)was a milestone in the history of New Asia. The Association was an organization founded by graduates of Yale University in the United States for the propagation of Christianity abroad. Since the year 1903, the Association had been setting up schools and hospitals in Changsha, Hunan province in China. With the change in the political scene in China, the Association closed its doors and left Changsha in 1951. Professor Harry Rudin was instructed to look for replacements in Southeast Asia. He met Ch'ien Mu in 1952, recalling afterwards that his meeting with Ch'ien Mu was "unforgettable." For the forty years that followed, New Asia became Yale-China's working partner. In retrospect three things are worthy of note. Firstly, New Asia insisted that despite receiving assistance from Yale-China, "the College would never become a church school" and Yale-China "would not be allowed to interfere in the internal adminstration of the College," albeit with the presence of a Yale-China representative in New Asia. These conditions were accepted by Rudin without much ado. Secondly, the proposals for financial assistance made by Ch'ien Mu were all directed to the construction of school buildings. Not a: single word was men-tioned regarding the improvement of the terms of the teaching staff. Rudin could not help showing admiration for Ch'ien Mu for his unsel-fish considerations. Thirdly, the Director of Education of the Hong Kong government, while raising no objection to the financial assistance offered to New Asia by Yale-China, had categorically emphasized that "the Hong Kong government did not wish to see any foreign country play a role in the education of Hong Kong."
At the founding of the Univeristy in 1963, the Yale-China Associa-tion strengthened its ties with the University and supported the construc-tion of the University Health Centre and the Yali Guest House, as well as sponsoring a great number of scholarships, research and exchange programmes. Such unconditional assistance from the Association bears witness to the great respect for the educational ideals of the College and the University, at the same time showing international friendship to the fullest.
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Chung Chi College was established in 1951, one of its founders being Dr Li Ying-lin, a former president of Lingnan College in Guangzhou. As an experienced educator, Dr Li was entrusted with the responsibility of founding the College by the leaders of Christian chur-ches in Hong Kong who realized that, as the result of political changes in China, the youths of Hong Kong would be unable to continue their studies in Christian universities on the mainland. With the support of Christian churches in Hong Kong and abroad, Chung Chi College survived with only simple and crude facilities in its first few years. Then in 1954 a tract of land in Ma Liu Shui was granted by the government for the construction of its campus. The College moved to the new campus two years later. It continued to expand until it obtained a government subsidy and was later incorporated into The Chinese University.
Even in its pre-government grant days, Chung Chi did not suffer the hardships that New Asia and United College did. It was largely due to the Christian churches which brought in international educational assis-tance from organizations such as the New York United Board of Chinese Christian Colleges (later known as United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia), the Lingnan College Trustees, the Associa-tion of Chinese Christian Universities in London, and the Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, and Anglican churches. It has to be pointed out that while these church grnups belong to different sects, their support was non-sectarian. Chung Chi alumni of these early years took special pride in the openness of thought of their College and the spirit of fellowship which transcended religious beliefs.
United College was founded with the amalgamation of a number of Hong Kong post-secondary colleges -Canton Overseas College, Kwang Hsia College, Wen Hua College, Wah Kiu College and Ping Jing College of Accountancy. At the initial stage, the presidents of these five colleges, headed by Dr Ping-kuen Chen, became directors of the college council, with Dr F. I. Tseung, a medical doctor, as the council chairman. Prior to receiving a government subsidy, "the col-leges could only survive on tuition fees and grants from the Asia Foundation, the British Council and the Mencius Foundation," as recalled by President T. C. Cheng in later days. In comparison with New Asia and Chung Chi, the benefactors of United mostly came from prominent local families. Dr F. I. Tseung, Sir Sik-nin Chau and Sir
Ping-fan Fung were all leaders of the Chinese community at the time, and all contributed to the College.
There are a number of similarities among the Foundation Colleges of the University in their early years of development. Their founders were all experienced educators who shared the common mission of carrying on education despite political changes in China. They all suf-fered the same predicament of insufficient material resources. That the three Colleges were able to survive and prosper amidst adverse economic conditions owed much to enthusiastic local and international support. It goes without saying that such timely assistance serves to demonstrate that a just cause enjoys the support of many people.
Two
The Joint Council of the Chinese Post-Secondary Colleges was formed in 1957 by Chung Chi, New Asia and United before they were incor-porated into The Chinese University of Hong Kong. The proposal to form the Council came from Mr Charle. Long, representative of the Yale-China Association, Bishop Hall of the Hong Kong Anglican Church, and Dr F. I. Tseung, Chairman of the Council of United Col-lege. With Dr Tseung as the first chairman, the Joint Council set about raising the standard of post-secondary education and el.vating the status of the Chinese post-secondary colleges, at the same time actively seek-ing funds from the government with the support of community leaders. After more than two years' consultations, the government finally drew up a plan to establish a university using Chinese as the principal medium of instruction and to award university status to the three Colleges once their academic standard reached an appropriate level. In 1959 the government began to provide grants to the Colleges.
With due consideration for the untiring efforts of the three Colleges and the cooperation of government officials, the birth of this University under favourable conditions was largely made possible by two commit-tees which were mainly composed of persons outside the Colleges. The first was the University Preparatory Committee which was formed in June 1961. Chaired by Sir Cho-yiu Kwan who was a member of the Legislative and Executive Councils, committee members consisted of Ch'ien Mu (President of New Asia College), the Hon P. Donohue
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(Director of Education), Mr Y. C. Li, Dr T. Y. Ling (President of United College), the Hon. J.C. McDouall (Director of Chinese Affairs), Mr B. Mellor (Registrar, University of Hong Kong), Mr J. Morgan (Adviser, Post-Secondary Colleges), Mr G. P. Norton (Acting Deputy Director of Public Works),�P Sir Lindsay Ride (Vice-Chancellor, University of Hong Kong), Mr G. T. Rowe (Chief Assistant Colonial Secretary), Mr Wan Yiu-sing, Dr C. T. Yung (President, Chung Chi College), and Mr T. L. Bedford (Colonial Secretariat). The terms of reference of the Commit-tee were to make recommendations to the government as to the selection of a site for the University and as to the scale of the University campus. The government had progressively formulated policies to assist Chinese secondary schools and to provide graduates of these schools with oppor-tunities to receive tertiary education in Hong Kong by subsidizing post-secondary colleges with the required academic standards. How-ever, whether the scale of the new university should be comparable to that of the University of Hong Kong and whether a huge amount of land and money should be provided for the new university were controversial issues among government administrators. As a witness to history, Sir
Q.W. Lee, Chairman of the University Council, had repeatedly men-tioned to his colleagues in the Council that had it not been for the efforts of Sir Cho-yiu Kwan and Dr R. C. Lee spent in numerous negotiations and consultations with the government, the University would never have got such a spacious campus on a scale comparable to that of the University of Hong Kong. The Chinese University campus of 331 acres ranks first in size among all tertiary institutions in Hong Kong. It is situated on a plateau of different levels, overlooking magnificent Ma On Shan and the beautiful Tolo Harbour. The picturesque surroundings are constant reminders of the dedication and vision of the individuals who contributed to the founding of this University.
The Chinese University was born from the recommendations of the Fulton Commission which the government accepted in its entirety. The composition of the Commission included John Fulton (later the Rt. Hon. Lord Fulton of Palmer), formerly a professor at Oxford University
�P and the first Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sussex, England, Dr Choh-ming Li, Professor of Business Administration and concur-rently Director of the Institute of Chinese Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, Dr Saw-pak Thong, Professor of Physics, Univer-sity of Malaya, Dr F. G. Young, Professor of Biochemistry, Cambridge
University, England, and Mr I.C.M. Maxwell, secretary of the Inter-University Committee for Higher Education Overseas, England. They were all leading academics and administrators in the fields of arts, sciences and business from Europe, America and Asia. Since their report was received with high approval, the university established on their recommendation enjoyed recognition by the international academic community. The relationship between Fulton and the Chinese higher educational circle in which The Chinese University was involved could be traced to 1959. In that year, he was invited to visit Hong Kong to help map out the development of the three Colleges. He was quite impressed with the performance of the Colleges which in tum benefited from his advice for further development. After the establishment of the University, Fulton was appointed an overseas member of the Council. He came back to Hong Kong in 1975 and was put in charge of another commission to study the reform of the composition and structure of the University. The second Fulton Report was released in 1976, laying the foundation for the University to adopt an integrated system. It has to be admitted that not all staff members of the University agreed with the recommendations in his report. Some argued that the recommendations put forward by the Commission were intended to outmanoeuvre the opponents of the reforms, others that the recommendations were merely based on a certainfait accompli. As for the unilateral changes made by the Hong Kong Legislative Council to its agreement with the Colleges of the University, without consent of the Boards of Directors/Trustees of the Colleges concerned, this had nothing to do with Fulton. In 1981, The Chinese University made Fulton, then the Rt. Hon. Lord Fulton of Palmer, a life member of the University Council in appreciation of his contribution.
The Chinese University was officially founded on 17 October 1963. In his inaugural address, delivered in September 1964, Dr Choh-ming Li, the first Vice-Chancellor of the University, opened his speech by expressing his gratitude for the encouragement and support from the government of Hong Kong, the local community, the University Coun-cil, the faculties and students of The Chinese University and from the sister University of Hong Kong, as well as universities, Chinese scholars and communities overseas. Dr Li then emphasized the interna-tional character of the University, considering it the University's basic quality. He said:
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�P The basic quality (of The Chinese University) is manifested in many ways. Many outstanding Chinese scholars abroad, men of internation-al reputation, together with many equally outstanding Western scholars have given us full support by serving on the three Advisory Boards of the University. The three chairmen of these Boards are one Briton, one American and one Chinese. On the University Council we have four prominent educators from the West, namely the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sussex, the Director of the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London, the Presi-dent of Harvard University and the President of the University of California. We are closely associated with the Inter-University Coun-cil of Higher Education Overseas in London, a council composed of all the major universities in the United Kingdom and with the aim of giving advice and assistance to universities overseas. A programme of close affiliation with the University of California has begun which we expect will develop into one of comprehensive cooperation that will include general research efforts and exchange of scholars, faculties and students .... In academic matters international assistance has also been forthcoming. The British Inter-University Council and American foundations have generously provided the services of experts from abroad to help in planning various programmes for the University. Cultural exchange of one form or another has been extended to us by the United Kingdom, the United States and Japan. (Chinese University Bulletin, Vol. 1, No. 3, September 1964, p. 2)
Before the conclusion of his speech, Dr Li reiterated the importance of support from the local community:
In conclusion, I would like to repeat that what with all the generous external assistance, the success of the University depends and must depend on the whole-hearted support qf the government and the com-munity of Hong Kong. I am happy to say;that during the first year of operation, the government has demoristrih.d the best of good faith and the community, represented by the University Council, has given un-stinting support. (Ibid., p. 3)
The above passages, though quoted at length, may still be inade-quate to delineate the full extent of the contributions of the friends of the University. The following paragraphs may give a more complete picture of their participation in the implementation of the grandiose plans drawn up by the University in the course of its development.
Three
The international character of The Chinese University as defined by Dr Li on various occasions concerns "reaching an international level" and "soliciting support from various quarters." Also it should include what Tang Chun-i used to say: "to make contributions to the world by offering new creations to the future of Chinese learning and culture." The interflow of Chinese and Western cultures is the subject of another chapter in this book, but it may be necessary to point out here the indispensable support from international sources.
First and foremost, appreciation should be directed to the contribu-tions of the various foreign governments. Donations came from the British government for the construction of the Science Centre, from the government of the United States for the construction of the Benjamin Franklin Centre and from the governments of France, West Germany, Italy and Japan for assistance in offering language and cultural program-mes relevant to the respective nations. Visiting lectureships in the respective languages have also been provided for. At present, Japanese has been developed into a major programme and French, German and Italian have become minor subjects on the way to establishing a depart-ment of modem European languages. Fellowships have also been offered to our graduates for advanced study in these countries. Further-more, the University Library often receives gifts of books from various governments, making its collections richer and more international in character. Contributions have come from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Next, our gratitude should go to international associations and foun-dations for their support. The Chinese University is a member of some international university associations, through which exchanges with noted universities around the world are conducted. An example is the Association of Commonwealth Universities which meets annually. The Vice-Chancellor of this University has represented regional institu-tions to serve as an executive member of the Association. The Associa-tion provides scholarships, bursaries, professional training grants, travel grants and consultation services to its members. Faculty and students of this University have taken advantage of these opportunities for
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advanced study. The University is also a member of thelnter-University Council for Higher Education Overseas. The council sponsored a meet-ing of the Conference of Overseas Vice-Chancellors and Principals at which Dr Choh-ming Li was elected to the Steering Committee.
With the aim of improving the quality of the teaching staff, the University established a Staff Development Programme to enable young teaching and administrative staff to go abroad for further training and advancement. A generous grant from the Ford Foundation made it possible for the University to implement this programme in 1965. Grants awarded by the Ford Foundation placed emphasis on selecting staff who, after receiving further education or training abroad, could take up teaching and research posts in the Graduate School. With such a substantial contribution, the Graduate School of this University was established.
In addition to the Ford Foundation, the Staff Development Programme also received contributions from the Leverhulme Trust Fellowships, the Sino-British Fellowship Trust, the British Council Scholarships, the Fulbright Scholarships and the Asia Foundation Grants. Such generous support allows a number of senior academic staff to conduct in-depth research and to acquire new methods in teaching. Senior administrative staff can also avail themselves of this opportunity to go abroad and visit other universities. The contributions have not only helped to improve the quality of the academic and administrative staff, but also promoted the interflow of Chinese and Western cultures.
With the continuing financial support of the Asia Foundation, the University was able to carry out a number of research and teaching programmes, among which may be mentioned the translation pro-gramme, the undergraduate journalism programme and the graduate professional degree programme. In addition, the Asia Foundation also took into consideration the various needs of the University by providing grants for the recataloguing project in the University Library, in addition to supporting research on population surveys on methodology for the teaching of Chinese and machine translation.
Harvard-Y enching Institute has all along been a great supporter of the Institute of Chinese Studies. In recent years, it has extended its priority items to studies in connection with the social sciences in Chinese culture. Financial assistance has been given to the Hong Kong Studies Programme in the Social Research Centre.
The New York based Board of Trustees of Lingnan University has given its unstinting support to the Lingnan Institute of Business Ad-ministration(LIBA). The expenses for staff emoluments and research assistants and other expenditures in the two-year postgraduate programme of LIBA have mainly been absorbed by the Trustees.
Of all the contributions the University has so far received, those made by the Yale-China Association have occupied a very important place. Its timely and crucial assistance has been mentioned earlier. Donations in one form or another have been given to the University from international foundations. These include the Henry Luce Founda-tion, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the John D. Rockefeller III Foundation, the Carnegie Foundation, the Mary Wood Foundation, the Volkswagenwerk Foundation, the Lee Foundation in Singapore, the Janssen Pharmaceutics Foundation, the Japan Foundation, the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, the International Scientific Research Foundat1on, the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation in Taiwan, the Huang Hsing Founda-tion (USA), the World Health Organization Special Trustees of the Royal Free Hospital and the Croucher Foundation.
The international character of The Chinese University is also reflected in its affiliation with eminent scholars in the international academic world. Advisory boards on academic matters were set up at the very beginning and their members were all authorities in their relevant academic fields. On the Board on Natural Sciences, there were Professors F. G. Young, Shiing-shen Chern, Choh-hao Li, Tsung-dao Lee, Saw-pak Thong, Chien-Shiung Wu and Chen-ning Yang. Mem-bers of the Board on Humanities included Professors Yuen-ren Chao, Fang-kuei Li, C. H. Phillips and Lien-sheng Yang. On the Board on Social Science and Business Administration were Professor Simon Kuznets, Sir Sydney Caine, Professors Carlo M. Cipolla, Franklin L. Ho, Kung-chuan Hsiao, Seymour M. Lipset, Ta-chung Liu and Erik Lundberg. In addition, internationally renowned scholars were invited to serve as external examiners or assessors in matters relating to the degree examination, curriculum planning, as well as substantiation and promotion of university teachers. The Chinese University has from the very beginning aspired to be an institute of higher learning at the international level through the recognition and guidance of the interna-tional academic community.
Apart from those mentioned above, The Chinese University
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developed a diverse range of exchange programmes with world-renowned institutions for research and faculty and student exchanges. These include, notably, the University of California, Harvard Univer-sity, Yale University, Williams College, Dartmouth College and New York University in the United States; Keio University, International Christian University, Asia University, Tsukuba University and Soka University in Japan; Beijing University, Qinghua University, Nanjing University, Renmin University, Xiamen University, Zhongshan Univer-sity, Fudan University and Shanghai Jiaotong University in China.
Four
The international character of the University is complemented by its local character. For a university with an "international character," it should; on the one hand, demonstrate that its academic standard reaches a level recognized by the international academic world and, on the other hand, it should aim at the promotion of its native culture in order to make creative contributions to the culture of the world as a whole. The ideal of setting up a university for the Chinese has appeared time and again in important documents relating to the founding of the University and its early history. The government of Hong Kong chose not to set up a branch campus of the University of Hong Kong already in existence. Instead, it established a second university through the amalgamation of a number of Chinese post-secondary colleges with strong ties with mainland Chinese universities, thereby endorsing the mission of the three Colleges to teach in Chinese and to provide a channel for Chinese secondary school graduates to further their education. It is natural that a university for the Chinese would enjoy the full support of the local Chinese people. It should be the common goal for all the people of Hong Kong to work together in making this university of the Chinese people an institution well known in the world.
The contributions of the local community leaders began from their affiliation with the Joint Council of Hong Kong Chinese Post-secondary Colleges and through the different stages leading to the establishment of the University. They assisted in such vital matters as the choice of the campus site, the scale of the University, the drafting of ordinances and statutes, the selection of the Vice-Chancellor and the loan of temporary
office space. In its history of thirty years, the University has been
privileged to be the recipient of goodwill and generosity from close to
two hundred foundations and organizations in Hong Kong, not to men-
tion the contributions from countless private individuals. The names of
donors have been acknowledged in the various issues of the University
bulletin and the reports of the Vice-Chancellors. Those given below are
only a few examples, which are chosen primarily to demonstrate the
very broad base of the University's support.
Some of the foundations established in the University are in the
name of individuals or families, for example, the Lee Hysan Founda-
tion, the Wei Lun Foundation, the Shaw Foundation, the S. H. Ho
Charitable Foundation, the Ho Tim Charitable Foundation, the Sui-
loong Pao Educational Foundation, the Fong Shu Fook Foundation, the
B. Y. Lam Foundation, the D. H. Chen Foundation, the Ming Yu Cultural Foundation, the Cheng Yu Tung Foundation, the Hui Yeung Shing Memorial Fund, the Lee Shau Kee Foundation, the Li Ka Shing Foundation, the Chiang Chen Foundation, the Tin Ka Ping Foundation, the Cheung Huen Cheong Foundation, and the Cheng Suen Shuk Man Foundation. Funds were also donated by Messrs. Wong Fook Yuan, Wong Ting Fong, Sin Wai Kin and Chan Chun Tao.Those established in the name of a business enterprise include the Hong Kong and Shan-ghai Bank Charitable Foundation, the Shun Hing Educational and Charitable Foundation and the Wing Lung Bank Chtnese Culture Development Foundation. Foundations established by the mass media include the Incorporated Trustees of the Wah Kiu Y at Pao Fund for the Relief of Underprivileged Children and the Eastern Daily Charitable Foundation. There have also been contributions from government wel-fare bodies such as the Hong Kong Government Lottery Foundation.
Contributions by community organizations come from far and wide. There are professional organizations such as the Hong Kong Engineers Society and the Hong Kong Society of Digestive Endoscopy; social
-"service groups such as the Lion's Club, the Rotary Club, the Hong Kong Red Cross; religious groups such as Sik Sik Yuen and the Church of Christian China Hong Kong Council; business groups such as the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce; government departments such as.the Department of Industry and Com-merce and the Department of Social Welfare; kinship groups such as the Shanghai Fraternity Association, Ning Po Residents' Association,
Friends of the University
Kiangsu and Chekiang Residents' Association; social groups such as the Yaumati Licensed Hawkers' Association Ltd. and the Kowloontong Club Winter-Swimming Group; cultural bodies such as the Hong Kong Chinese Culture Promotion Centre and the Hok Hoi Library; Chinese art collectors' groups such as the Min Chiu Society and the Kau Chi Society; public organizations such as the Hong Kong Tourist Associa-tion and the Consumer Council; alumni societies such as the University of Shanghai's Hong Kong Alumni Association and the Federation of Alumni Association of the Hong Kong Chinese University, and many others.
Five
While the above two sections give an account of the sources of contribu-tions to the University, this section attempts to enumerate briefly the different categories of support received by the University over the years.
Of all the donations, those for the buildings on the University campus are the most visible. The campus site was carved out of a mountain and the bulk of the cost of excavating the land and building a campus was borne by the government, augmented by contributions from both local and overseas sources. That the University is an institution full of vigour is vividly demonstrated by its continuous expansion. Ever since its founding, construction work on the campus has not stopped, neither has the source of funding for these buildings. The University acknowledges its indebtedness by naming the buildings after donors who have made substantial contributions to the cost of construction. As the campus gradually takes shape, the various buildings serve as a register of merits. Table 1 lists the donors of each building according to the time of its completion.
The development of the campus buildings programme signifies the staunch support of friends and patrons for the educational ideals of the University. The Vice-Chancellor commented on the significance of their generous contributions in 1974:
In reviewing progress satisfaction is derived not so much from the spectacular development of the physical plant but from the effective achievement of important educational ideals and goals. Thus the com-pletion of the Benjamin Franklin Centre, the University Health Centre
Table 1. University Buildings and Their Donors
Year of completion Name of building Donors/Organizations
1966 Lingnan Stadium Mr Chan Tak Tai
1968 Benjamin Franklin Centre The People of the United States
of America and the Asia
Foundation
1969 Theology Building Various local and overseas
Christian institutions and
individuals
1971 Institute of Chinese Studies Lee Hysan Estate Co., Ltd.
Cho Yiu Conference Hall Dr the Hon. Sir Cho-yiu Kwan
University Health Centre Yale-China Association
Elizabeth Luce Moore Library Henry Luce Foundation
1972 University Library Dr the Hon. P. Y. Tang
Adam Schall Residence Society of Jesus and the
Maryknoll Sisters
Wen Lin Tang Family of the late Mr Tsang Shiu
Tim
Wu Chung Library Mr Wu Chung
Cheung Chuk Shan Amenities Mr Cheung Yok Luen
Building
1973, University Science Centre The Government of the United
Kingdom
Yali Guest House Yale-China Association
1974 University Entrance Pylon "Chuwansau," an anonymous
donor
1975 Postgraduate Hall Complex Friends of Sir Cho-yiu Kwan and
General Shai-lai Ho
Friendship Lodge Yale-China Association and
members of the local business
community
Staff Quarters Block S Tsung Tsin Mission
1976 Siu-loong Pao Building Sir Yue-kong Pao
Art Gallery Annex Lee Hysan Foundation Ltd.
1978 Tennis Courts The Shell Company of Hong
Kong Ltd.
Madam S. H. Ho Hall, Xuesi Hall The Bethlehem Company Ltd.
and Bethlehem Hall and Yale-China Association
1979 Y. C. Liang Hall Mr Y. C. Liang
Pi-Ch'iu Building The Ho Tim Charitable Foundation
Fong Shu-chuen Building The Fong Shu Fook Tong and
Group of Companies
1980 Lion Pavilion Lion's Club of Kowloon Central
1981 �E Sir Run Run Shaw Hall The Shaw Foundation Hong Kong
Ltd.
Li Oak Sum Building Dr Li Oak Sum
Ching Kai Hall Dr Ho Tim and Mr Ho Yin
Madam S. H. Ho Hostel for The S. H. Ho Foundation
Medical Students at the Prince
of Wales Hospital
Friends of the University
Table 1. Continued
Year of completion Name of building Donors/Organizations
1982 University Sports Centre
Grace Tien Hall
, 983 "Three-year MBA Programme"
Town Centre
Swire Hall
2nd Extension to Science
Centre
1984 Panacea Lodge
1985 Fung King Hey Building
1986 Chen Ning Yang Reading
Room
The Sir Philip Haddon-Cave
Sports Field
Hang Seng Hall
1987 "Gate" and "Forum"
Ho Tim Building
R. C. Lee Lecture Hall
1988 Extension to Institute of
Chinese Studies
1989 Shaw College
Lady Shaw Building
1990 Fong Yun Wah Hall
1991 Leung Kau Kui Building
Chan Kwun-tung Inter-
University Hall
Hui Yeung Shing Building
1992 Hong Kong Institute of
Biotechnology
Chiang's Building
Tin Ka Ping Building
Redevelopment of Hostel
Buildings of Chung Chi
College, Phase I
1993 and Kwok Sport Building
after Wong Foo Yuan Building
Chung Chi College
Redevelopment, Phase IV
Ho Sin-hang Engineering
Building
Shanghai Fraternity
Association Research
Services Centre
The Hong Kong Jockey Club (Charities) Ltd. Dr the Hon. Francis Y. H. Tien
Dr Cheng Yu Tung and Mr Fung King Hey and members of the local business community
Swire Group
Friends of Dr C. Y. Chen
Friends of Dr C. Y. Chen Sun Hey Foundation Mr Cha Chi-ming and Mr Liu
Ying-ling
�E. Friends of Sir Philip Haddon-Cave
Hang Seng Bank Ltd.
Dr the Hon. Szeto Wai
Dr Ho Tim
Dr Lee Wing Tat
The'B. Y. Lam Foundation and
Bei Shan Tang Foundation
The Shaw Foundation Hong Kong Ltd.
Sir Run Run Shaw
Fong Shu Fook Tong Foundation Dr Leung Kau Kui Chan Kwan-lung Charitable.Fund Ltd.
Mr Hui Kwok-hau, Mr Hui Siu-wing and Mr Hui Kin-wah The Hong Kong Jockey Club (Charities) Ltd.
Dr Chiang Chen
K. P. Tin Foundation Limited Wei Lun Foundation Ltd.
Kai Yue Cheong Limited
MrWong Foo Yuan
Sino Land Company Limited
The S. H. Ho Foundation Limited
Shanghai Fraternity Association
and the Y ali Guest House, over and above rendering vital service to the University community. affords a physical means to enhance inter-national goodwill and cooperation. The completion of the Institute of Chinese Studies is more than a monument in memory of the late Mr Lee Hysan: it is a powerful force to advance a crucial educational ideal
. -to reclassify, refine and enrich Chinese culture through the applica-tion of modem methodology. The Science Centre, too, is not a mere tower of "bricks and mortar" but a vehicle by which the total maxi-mization of the resources of the entire natural science faculty can be achieved. The same applies to the University Library Building which not only serves to commemorate the late Dr P. Y. Tang and his father, but. more important. integrates the University Library System to serve the University community. the larger community of Hong Kong and. indeed, the wider scholarly world. The opening of the magnificent Conference Hall donated by the late Sir Cho-yiu Kwan does more than present the University with a showpiece for meetings of the Council and the Senate. It enables the University to conduct major internation-al and regional academic conferences essential to the achievement of the University's mission of advancing higher education in Southeast Asia. (The Emerging University: 1970-1974, pp. 84-85)
Besides the �P campus buildings programme, areas in which the educational ideals of the University are best realized are the academic programmes and research projects. This is where most of the don.tions have gone over the years. While an exhaustive list is quite impossible, the Three-Year MBA Programme and the Institute of Chinese Studies may be selected as examples.
With �Pgenerous donations from the Lingnan University Board of Trustees in New York, the University set up the Llngnan Institute of Business Administration in 1966. However. it was found to be quite impracticable for executives in business and industry to take a full-timeecourse. In view of the urgent demand for an evening programme forepeople on the job, the University launched the Three-Year MBAeProgramme with the financial assistance of two prominent businesseleaders in Hong Kong -Mr Fung King Hey and Mr Cheng Yu Tung.eThey first set up a Three-Year MBA Endowment Fund with an initialedonation of HK$2,500,000, but the Fund soon passed the five millionedollar mark through contributions from local business and industryesectors. Mr Fung and Mr Cheng helped the University again in 1982 toeraise a fund of more than seven million dollars for the purchase of ae
Friends of the University
downtown Three-Year MBA Centre in Tsimshatsui, which made pos-sible rapid expansion of the programme.
Since its founding, the University had in mind to establish an institute of Chinese studies. Realizing that the promotion of Chinese culture should be the major responsibility of the University, Dr J. S. Lee, one of the University Council members, brought up with Vice-Chancellor Choh-ming Li the idea of setting up an institute and offered his assistance for the funding of the project. The Institute of Chinese Studies was officially established in 1967, with a substantial donation from the Lee Hysan Foundation towards the construction cost of the building, which includes the Art Gallery, a lecture theatre and a techni-cal annex. The scale of the Institute increased over time and research centres of Chinese language, translation and archaeology were set up one by one: A large variety of exhibitions and research programmes have been carried out with financial assistance from Messrs Rogerio Lam, Ng Toi Tai, Yeung Wing Tak, Ng Kit Yee and his brother, and Mok Hing Cheung.
As The Chinese University is composed of three Foundation Col-leges, college life and informal education are among the special features of the University. With the implementation of "student-orientated education," function of a college with regard to teaching was more defined. There was by the mid-eighties, an apparent need for the estab-lishment of a fourth college. This demand met with the approval and support of Sir Run Run Shaw, a magnate in local mass media circles. Sir Run Run has all along maintained a close relationship with the Univer-sity. He has been a trustee of United College since 1967 and a Univer-sity Council member since 1977. In addition to his extraordinary pledge for the building of Shaw College, he has made possible the construction of Run Run Shaw Hall and Lady Shaw Building. To show the University's deepest appreciation for his generous support, United Col-lege has offered to Sir Run Run an honorary chair and made him a life trustee on its Board of Trustees, while the University also made him a life member in the University Council. Donations from outside the University that benefit our students directly are in the form of scholar-ships and bursaries. To take the academic year 1991-1992 as an ex-ample, a total amount of more than 11 million dollars was received for this purpose. Full-time and part-time students at both postgraduate and undergraduate levels are eligible for aid. There are also scholarships to
enable our graduates to study overseas. These scholarships and bur-saries, indicate the direction and expectations of our donors towards university education.
.Generally scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic per-formance as well as good conduct and financial need. Donors may have a preference for a designated faculty, department, year and even sex (for instance, e.g., The Hong Kong Association of University Women Scholarships are for female students only); or religious belief e.g., The Canadian Lakeview Women's Federation Scholarship is for Christian students only, or family conditions (for instance, e.g., The Choi Ying Choy Alumnus Part-time Prize for the Nursing Degree Programme for students who are married with children), or family relations (e.g., The Jinling and Reeves Scholarships giving preference to the children of Jinling Women's University graduates). There are some which specify outstanding performance in certain subjects, for instance, the Mr Kit-yee Ng Language Prize for the best student in the first-year joint test on Cantonese phonology and Cheung Koon Fung Confucianism Scholar-ship for students with a special interest in the study of the teachings of Confucius and Mencius. There are also scholarships for general educa-tion courses which reflect the University's emphasis on general educa-tion. Examples are the Woo Sau Wing Prizes for students with high academic achievement in general education subjects over four years of study. The Lin Yi Po Balanced Education Memorial Scholarship is for graduating students with a balanced development in academic achieve-ment, extracurricular activities, sports and college life during the entire study period at the University. The Ho Man Sum General Education Topics Research Thesis Prize is awarded to an excellent thesis in general education. In addition, there are scholarships which encourage creative activities, including the Yu Luan Shih Creative Award, the Li Sheung Shun Academic Activity Prizes, the Kao Hsiung Memorial Award for Literature and the Chen Kai Wen A ward for Composition. Many�P scholarships have been set up by foreign governments and local community leaders to sponsor our students for study abroad and to promote international academic interflow. Those worthy of mention in particular are the China Scholarship Scheme of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd. which sponsors students from mainland China to study in the Two-year MBA Programme. Preference will be given to those who are willing to go back to China to engage in
Friends of the University
banking business after their study. There are also scholarships to en-courage extracurricular activities, such as the Federation of Hong Kong Chinese University Alumni Associations Student Activities Fund Con-ference Awards for subsidizing students to take part in international student conferences.
Bursaries are awarded mainly to alleviate students' financial dif-ficulties. Some are awarded in the form of donations, such as the Croucher Foundation. Some operate as an interest-free loan; the Nam Luen Education Foundation Travel Loan is an example. There are donations like the Hsin Cheong-K. N. Godfey Yeh Campus Work Scheme which supports the University's work-study projects, while others indicate special uses, such as the Sir Edward Y oude Memorial A wards which allow disabled students to acquire personal aids and equipment. Some bursaries designate their use in a certain period, an example is the Chiap Hua Cheng Foundation Summer Assistance Scheme; students' emergencies are taken care of by such bursaries as Vitasoy International Holdings Ltd. Education Bursaries.
Donations in kind fall into three main categories: books, art works and equipment.
Though funds are provided for the purchase of books in the Univer-sity Library System, a high percentage of the library collections comes from organizations and individuals outside the University. Table 2
Table 2.
Academic year From University funds From donations* Percentage from donations
1980-1981 1981-1982 1982-1983 1983-1984 1984-1985 1985-1986 1986-1987 1987-1988 1988-1989 1989-1990 1990-1991 1991-1992 20,085 19,280 19,589 18,655 11,858 18,633 22,536 17,414 17,366 19,605 21,702 27,647 14,496 11,036 13,655 11,627 10,230 7,636 9,369 8,141 8,396 10,474 6,344 10,479 41.9 36.4 41.1 38.4 46.3 29.1 29.4 31.9 32.6 34.8 22.6 27.5
Total 234,370 121,883 34.2
* number showing actual collection in the Library.
shows the number of volumes acquired through purchase and gifts over the past twelve years.
The above table gives strong evidence that external donations ac-count for as much as one third of the University Library holdings. Major donations include a gift of more than six thousand Chinese and English titles formerly in the collection of the late writer Yeh Ling-fung. Donated in 1979 by Mrs Yeh Chiu Ke-jun, this collection contains many valuable books.�Pof modern Chinese literature. In 1981, Mr Harold Wong donated his late father's (Mr Wong Pao Hie) collection of over fifteen thousand volumes of bound Chinese books and more than ten thousand other Chinese and English books to the reference library of the Institute
Table 3.
Year Research Scholarship/ Other special Construction grant bursary grant cost Total income
1992 35,548,614 15,116,775 15,201,513 60,000 1,398,529,322t
1991 43,905;035 11,288,502 9,665,151 24,200,000 1, 105,246,926t
1990 21,586,634 10,000,365 11,299,860 17,800,000 913,079,900
1989 14,967,990 8,981,749 4,989,385 12,820,000 649,937,306
1988 11,351,204 8,938,054 4,190,700 22,578,439 532,491,711
1987 11,115,621 9,613,086 9,516,703 18,950,000 484,414,478
1986 10,397,548 8,995,687 4,663,550 20,700,000 432,504,703
1985 2,887,695 8,089,095 3,536,930 6,120,000 385,319,151
1984 5,171,794 5,880,655 7,190,704 1,000,000 310,567,441
1983 2,199,810 4,812,509 2,277,549 5,750,000 263,805,515
1982 1,567,641 6,679,061 3,469,379 12,058,000 215,508,866
1981 2,966,502 5,071,990 1,719,091 3,982,820 158,501,041
1980 1,018,138 4,771,524 980,680 3,750,000 128,055,016
1979 669,794 4,262,980 3,205,324 3,289,675 104,202,292
1978 1,433,041 3,917,563 921,374 4,376,850 95,391,090
1977 761,477 3,360,297 833,053 3,885,797 83,035,604
1976 678,,670 2,622,707 1,055,523 3,528,670 68,475,552
1975 4197197$ 825,110 498,393 686,275 1,994,877 1,436,758 1,293,310 1,387,687 1,611,823 1,823,304 145,000 3,546,581 2,439,855 58,360,132 51,842,102 41,885,805
1972 770,726 1,309,330 848,407 2,045,521 38,222,391
1971 451,870 1,146,233 1,759,813 3,389,204 30,442,912t
1970 612,297 1,094,424 1,132,870 247,416 26,881,846t
1969 416,600 164,279 783,230 1,542,158 26,206,526
1968 1967 1966 1965 1964 . 932,718 --- 191,738 --- 336,463 2,528,639* 1,724,281* -- 665,609 ---- 24,104,262 18,221,590,16,753,477,12,976,712,7,248,293
. including research grants and other donations.
t including special grants. :(The above figures do not include donations to endowed funds and to Colleges).
Friends of the Universiry
of Chinese Studies. In 1983, the University's Chinese Medicinal Material Research Centre received a total of 13,500 volumes of Chinese medical books and documents from Mr Cheng Sau-nan and Dr C. Y. Chen.
Since the founding of the Art Gallery in 1971, its permanent collec-tions have gradually taken shape to include the various branches of Chinese art. There are notable examples of calligraphy, painting, ceramics, jades, bronzes, rubbings, scholar's articles and other decora-tive arts. The development of ceramics and seals is well represented, while painting and calligraphy by Guangdong artists give the Art Gal-lery its local context. The formation of these sizable collections could only between achieved through the generous and continuous support of collectors and patrons, including the Bei Shan Tang Foundation, The B.
Y.oLam Foundation, the Min Chiu Society, the Kau Chi Society, theoFriends of the Art Gallery, Mr Jenmou Hu, Mr Tsui Tsin Tong, DroSimon Kwan .md many others.o
Donations of equipment and facilities from local enthusiastic sup-porters to the faculties of the University would be valued at millions of dollars. They vary from such major items as a whole computer system to small gifts like the fodder for laboratory animals. Worthy of a special mention was a sum of $4,500,000 from Mr Chan Chun Ha in 1981 for the computerization of pathological services and the purchase of electronic microscopes for the Prince of Wales Hospital. A further donation of a sum of $1,270,000 was made by Mr Chan in 1985 for the Department of Pathology to purchase a computer system.
Six
The number of donations and their use by the University give us a clear idea of the public's appreciation of the educational ideals of the Univer-sity and the path that it has taken. It is also evident that the growth of the University has direct bearing on the increase in donations. Table 3 provides the best proof in this connection.
All of the above resources come from the generous contributions of public-spiritoed individuals and organizations, just as the allocations from the government may also be taken as public funds coming indirect-ly from the taxpayers. As the recipients of such generosity and trust,
how should we as members of the Unviersity repay the community? Since it is the mission of the University to foster talents for our society, the least we can do is to discharge our duties conscientiously.
While the University should be sincerely grateful for the benefits bestowed upon it from all quarters of society, the University must not forsake its independence and autonomy by doing so. The founders of the Colleges in their early days set a very good example in which righteous people could "go begging" for maintenance funds, but could on the other hand, "abandon the College" in refusing to register as a business enterprise. The donors of the early years did not lay down any condi-tions, on the basis of religious beliefs, for the acceptance of their gifts. Likewise, the Hong Kong government also took great precautions to
. prevent any politics from interfering with education. All this has under-lined a principle that despite funds being supplied by society and its government, an enlightened and progressive society and its government should aim high, and should maintain the University as a stronghold of freedom in learning, so that it can function as a part of checks and balances needed in any society. To meet the actual needs of the society, the University has always been happy to offer its services to the com-munity. However, the University should not abandon its higher ideals and independence which would serve as the conscience of society.
Last but not least, the contributions received by the University, in addition to material and financial support, should also include the guidance received from the international academic world. This aspect is vividly illustrated by the words of Professor Tang Chun-i, a founder of New Asia College, in his "Letter to the Sixth Class Graduates of New Asia College." He said:
We should create our own academic future and cultural future. We have nothing at present to enjoy and do not want to share other peoples' achievements. A man is valued for his independence, and the same goes for an individual as well as for a nation. An independent person still needs help from others and can also ask for loans from others. We can ask for loans materially and spiritually, but we should be determined at the time of accepting loans to repay them in the future.
Only when we have made independent contributions towards cul-ture and scholarship can we recompense in full the material and spiritual loans made to us by society. It is the aim of this chapter to pay tribute to
Friends of the University
those individuals and organizations who, have shared the distinctive vision of The Chinese University. As the old saying goes: "Support usually flocks to where there is a just cause." The University and its staff should bear in mind the educational ideals and the struggles of early years in order to fulfill the trust aild expectations that have been placed upon us all.
10
The Alumni: A Composite Portrait
Sonia S. H. NG
Alumni Day-12 December 1990
Background: Fun on the alumni day
I. Introduction -A New University Evolves
If you were a student in 1963, beginning your studies at Harvard, Oxford, or in the University of Hong Kong, all you were expected to do, or could do, was to accept, adjust to, or accommodate yourself to the traditions and practices of these elite institutions.
The exciting thing about being a student at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) in 1963, was that you could grow, develop and evolve along with the University. The fact that it was a new institution in which the students were, and are, deeply involved in the building up of the University's traditions and evolution explains the remarkably strong loyalty, affection and identification of its alumni for their Alma Mater throughout the past thirty years. Indeed, many alumni have returned to the University as administrators and teachers.
The Chinese University gives a substantial portion of its student body the first opportunity in their families' history to go to college and to enter the professions and the middle social class. Upward social mobility is perhaps one of the most stdking and meaningful features of
,,,
The Chinese University's alumni. The portrait of a typical Chinese University alumnus, to the extent such an individual exists, is a composite of two pictures. The first picture is that of a solid Hong Kong citizen who works hard, quietly and steadily at his or her profession, using the skills, training and experience acquired at the University�P. The alumnus, whether local or overseas, remains deeply attached to the Alma Mater and is most appreciative of the campus life, warm friendship, team work, and the general education programme of his student days. The second picture is generational. Graduates of the 1960s are noted for their studies and settlement abroad. Graduates of the 1970s have a high proportion who have gone into education. They stand out for their social, political and cultural activism. The alumni after the 1970s have more varied careers because of the emergence of new academic dis-ciplines and professional schools. Despite some generational variations, the CUHK alumnus overall has been active in social, nationalistic and cultural causes. The activism stems in part from the pioneer-like experience and modest origins of many students. _ They have consistently displayed sympathy for the grassroots and the disadvantaged, and have shown generally a
The Alumni: A Composite Portrait
democratic and populist inclination. With 1997 just around the corner, more than ever the alumni are expected to play active parts in the transformation and development of Hong Kong. Their counsel and resources will help to re-define the University's mission and chart its future course.
II. A Historical Overview -From Refugee to Citizen
In 1986, the famous Chinese scholar, Qian Weichang visited The Chinese University. He was most impressed that the local university graduates, provided they reached the necessary academic level, would have the opportunity of joining the University faculty while still quite young.
Indeed, f.r some years the trend in public and private institutions in Hong Kong generally has demonstrated increasingly youthfulness and professionalism. The Chinese University reflects, as well as contributes to, this trend. Today, the decision-making and management strata in Hong Kong are mostly people in their thirties and forties. Many alumni of The Chinese University occupy various important positions. The emphasis on professional knowledge and talent in Hong Kong society complements the University's continuing effort to provide locally developed personnel over the past thirty years.
Since its founding in 1963, CUHK has produced approximately twenty-five thousand graduates. The great majority of them stay in Hong Kong and carry on their responsibilities of developing Hong Kong from within their respective positions. Further, because so many alumni go into education at both the secondary school and college levels, their cumulative impact over the years on Hong Kong through teaching, is perhaps much greater than the number of its graduates would suggest.
Historically, many Chinese in Hong Kong have looked upon their stay in the territory as transitory. This mentality did not begin to change until the second half of this century. In the 1950s a new situation emerged as a result of political changes. China's talents and resources were moving south from China. A refugee atmosphere permeated Hong Kong. Many people had plans to stay in this territory for only a short period. Looking towards China, they hoped one day to return north to their homeland. Many students of the three Colleges, also had such an attitude.
By the 1960s, however, hopes seemed diin for the graduates to return to China. At the same time, Hong Kong did not offer them many of an opportunities to develop. On the other hand, there were chances for students with outstanding records to win overseas scholarships. It became a trend for these graduates to go abroad for postgraduate educa-tion. Excepting those who moved abroad with the recent emigration tide, most alumni living overseas today are still those who went abroad in the 1960s.
Towards the end of the 1960s, in part because of fewer oppor-tunities to go abroad for study, in part because of great internal changes in Hong Kong, higher education expanded quite rapidly. The govern-ment started to subsidize students directly with loans and assistance. A large number of grassroots-level children had the opportunity to receive higher education locally.
After the mid-1970s, the economy in Hong Kong took off. The social and political structure was opening up gradually. University graduates had much better opportunities for jobs that met their expecta-tions. Graduates of this generation had neither the refugee psychology of the 1950s nor the tendency of the 1960s to go abroad. They constitute the first generation of The Chinese University to build deep roots and achieve identification with the community. They have played a positive role in the development of Hong Kong.
Ill. Social Background of the Alumni
The Chinese University was established on the foundation -of three Colleges, Chung Chi, United, and New Asia. Each of these Colleges had its own cultural and historical background. Therefore, from its begin-ning, the cultural content of the University was multifaceted, as was the composition of the student bodies and their career choices.
Chung Chi College was founded by Protestant Christian Churches that had moved south from China. The College inherited the resources and talent of thirteen Christian universities which had been based originally in China. The College's relation with the Lingnan University in Canton was particularly close. The students of the early years of Chung Chi included Hong Kong natives, students sponsored by the churches, children of overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia, as well as
IV. The Alumni's Careers
On account of the rapid industrial and commercial development in Hong Kong, there has been a continuing and increasing need for professionals and human resources with higher education. Even in the 1990s, the demand for university graduates in Hong Kong still exceeds the supply. Thus the search for employment has not been a problem for The Chinese University graduates; According to the statistics of the 1980s, over half of the fresh graduates were happy with their first jobs, and a third of them had no complaints about their first jobs.
In early 1992, a survey of our alumni was conducted. Over 1,450 alumni responded. Except for 6.6% of the respondents who had attended only the graduate school, the remaining respondents represent 5% of the total alumni and were spread evenly among men and women as well as among the Colleges and departments gender. (see Table 1)
Table 1. Alumni Survey (April 1992)
Questionnaires sent out: 5,000
Questionnaires returned: 1,450
Representation:
A: Chung Chi College Graduates 30.8% C: Graduates of the 1960s 4.3%
New Asia College Graduates 30.2% Graduates of the 1970s 21.5%
United College Graduates 30.8% Graduates.of the 1980s 55%
Shaw College Graduates 1.6% Graduates of the 1990s 14.3%
School of Education 1.9% D: Male 64.9%
Graduates Female 35.1%
Graduate School Graduates 2.8%
Part-time Degree Graduates 1.9%
B: Arts Faculty 22.7%
Science Faculty 26.6%
Social Science Faculty 26.7%
Business Faculty 19%
Medical Faculty 2%
The distribution of occupations is approximately 33.2% in educa-tion; 29.4% in business; 8% in civil services; 6.4% in social work; 5.7% in computer related jobs; and 4.3% in the media and advertising. (see Table 2)
The survey indicates that 54.7% of the respondents did not change their job at all; 21.2% changed their jobs once, 11.2% twice, and 7.4% three times. Even among graduates in the 1970s, 51.9% never changed
The Alumni: A Composite Portrait
Table 2. Major Occupations and Average Income of CUHK Graduates (1960s-1993)
Average Graduates Graduates Graduates Graduates
Job Overall annual of the of the of the of the
areas percentage income 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s
Education 33.2% 297.6K 41.3% 46.8% 30.6% 16.3%
Business 29.4% 441.4K 28.6% 22.4% 30.6% 36.5%
Civil 8.0% 301.6K 4.8% 6.7% 9.0% 7.7%
services
Social work 6.4% 277.2K 7.9% 5.4% 6.8% 7.2%
Computer 5.7% 295.9K 1.6% 4.2% 6.6% 7.2%
Media 4.3% 226.8K 1.6% 2.2% 4.9% 6.3%
Engineer- 2.6% 357.SK 1.6% 2.2% 2.1% 4.3%
ing
Medical 2.3% 414.6K 1.6% 0.3% 2.5% 4.8%
Industry 1.9% 506.?K 7.9% 3.5% 1.3% 0.5%
Transportation 1.2% 376.2K 1.3% 1.0% 2.4%
Law 0.8% 544.?K 1.9% 0.8%
Banking 0.6% 330.0K 0.6% 0.6% 1.0%
Religion 0.8% 156.5K 1.6% 0.6%
Public 0.5% 617.1K 1.6% 0.3% 1.0%
utilities
Others 0.4% 149.3K 1.6% 0.9% 2.3% 4.8%
Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%