<In 1912
96
20
therefore, figures seem to show that about one third of students come from Chinese domiciles and one third from Hong Kong it would probably be more in keeping with the unstable composition of the population of Hong Kong to estimate that one half, rather than one third, is about the true fraction of students who have legal domicile in Hong Kong.
Effect of opening Malayan University:
It has been assumed in the Report of the Committee appointed by the Secretary of State that students, amounting to about one third of the total who in recent years have come from Malaya and the Dutch Indies should be ignored in any estimat of numbers for the University after the establishment of a University in Malaya. I have always dissented from this view for the following reasons.
1)
2)
There is a strong feeling in Chinese families (which are nearer to our con- ception of clans than of families) that higher education should, if possible, be sought in China or in a Chinese environment. This will tend to bring tha to Hong Kong a number of Malayan Chinese who know English well but are not sufficiently grounded in classical Chinese to follow instruction in that language. If they have sufficient Mandarin they will tend to go to China.
The division of families mentioned above between Malaya and Hong Kong is likely to be an effective cause in attracting Malayan Chinese to Hong Kong for their University studies.
3) I am doubtful if a Malayan University will make an immediate appeal to Chinese
who have funds to enable them to seek University studies elsewhere. The doubts are based on my experience between 1921 and 1936 in Burma, where a new Univer- sity was established and under dominantly Burmese influence in the Legislative and Executive adopted the obviously sound policy of fitting Burmese to occupy places of importance in the services and the professions. With conspicuous exceptions both Chinese and Indians did better in University studies and examinations. Nevertheless there was quiet persistent discrimination against them when appointments were made. For administrative posts, it was easy to establish the desirability of choosing men of the same race and religion as the mass of the people over whom they exercised authority. In Law and Medici ne the criterion was apt to become that of language since that of race was of less moment.
I conceive that a University in Malaya will find itself compelled deliberately to adopt, or will drift into,a like concern for the Malays, with inevitably something less than equal justice to Chinese and Indians. On the whole I think the adoption of such a policy is right in the main, though it almost certainly will involve one element which it is difficult to justify from a stric academic point of view. Generally, Chinese and Indians work harded than other Orientals but in Malaya the standard will be set according to the capacity of the Malays. There is not likely to be discrimination in examinations and the like against Chinese and Indians, but the framing of courses and establishing of standards will not call for the best of which Chinese and Indians are capable. The Indian sometimes will go to Indian Universities where there is likely rarely to be room for them: the Chinese in some cases will continue to seek University studies in China and in Hong Kong. I have sufficient belief in the intellectual ambition of good Chinese students to be certain that they would prefer to work where there is a demand of effort rather than where standards are pitched too low. The number of these who in any year would seek admission to Hong Kong where they would be in competition with theit Chinese fellows, it is impossible to estimate.
though
For these three reasons I am disposed to believe that/the number of students drawn from Malaya would decrease, there still would be a considerable number of such people.
Future:
It is clear The total and distribution of students hereafter is speculative. that when the University was founded there was no idea that entrants would come
The total number of pupils in exclusively or even mainly from Hong Kong schools. secondary schools in the Colony in the six years of the school course/was hardly
Of such a 2000, i.e. less than 100 could have been in the final school class. number, and in Hong Kong conditions, one would expect not more than forty to wish to enter the University and yet the University was framed to have a total of some thing about 500 students which would involve having a first year class of not les than 130. China was the place of recruitment that the founders had in view.
If a University of the standard and scope of that suggested in the Report
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