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I the
been as well, a point'appui of Western
culture upon the edge of an awakening China,
a place where a real marriage of Eastern and
Western civilisations could take place. This
ambition was never fully realised and various
factors combined to make this aspect of the
University's work less effective as time passed.
The University was never framed on the essential
scale. British Governments and the British
people have never fully understood either
University functions or University finance.
Hongkong has been no exception in this respect
though it has been a more than usually glaring
vietim
example of this national failing. The growth
of agressive nationalism in China itself
diminished the flow of students already kept
Ko small dimensions by the unforunate fact
that the cost of living in Hongkong was higher
than on the mainland. This last discrepancy
was increased by the growth of a laudable
feeling that linked patriotism with poverty
and caused Chinese of the new age to bear with patience, and even to welcome conditions
that the students and staff of a British
Colony could not be expected to ac ept,since they naturally compared their situation with
that of their fellows in other British lands
and institutions.