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The Fulier of Hong Kong

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Memorandum for the Far Eastern Committee by the Colonial Office on Hong Kong University.

"Memorandum by

202

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The University of Hong Kong (which developed out of the College of Medicine founded in 1887) was incorporated under the Local University Ordinance of 1911 and was opened in 1912.

It

was established "for the promotion of Learning, Arts, Science and Research, the provision of higher education, the conferring of degrees, the development and formation of the character of

students of all races, nationalities and creeds, and the maintenance of good understanding with the neighbouring country

of China. The conception of the University as a vehicle for

the establishment of good relations between Great Britain and

China was always foremost in the mind of the founder,

Lord Lugard, who visualized it as a centre from which would emanate an influence "profoundly affecting a nation' numbering one- fourth of the population of the world."

At the time of the Japanese occupation there were four faculties - Medicine, Engineering, Science and Arts and it was open to students of both sexes without distinction of race, nationality or religious belief.

In 1939 the Governor of Hong Kong set up a Committee

consisting of a few members of the Court of the University, to consider and report on the steps which should be taken to enable the University to achieve the purposes of its foundation.

Committee the 1939 University Development Committee

-

This

agreed

that the University had largely failed in one of the main objects for which it was founded, namely to provide a University education of British inspiration for students from China. While it was recognised that language difficulties and the growth of nationalis sentiment in China were contributiong factors, the most important reason for the failure of the University was held to be the inadequacy of the scale of staffing and the paucity of equipment,

The comparatively high cost of fus &

in H.K. Compared with

mans touanse

Chambon Universities in China,

botir all

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