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4.
We cannot emphasize too strongly our conviction
that the standards of the University must be such that it
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can stand comparison with those of other British universities
and of its sister Chinese universities on the mainland.
contrast to its position when first founded, as the only
university institution on the Chinese continent, its relative
position had radically changed in the period before the war
with the development of Chinese universities of first-class
standard. It is certain that after the war Chinese
institutions, partly with generous material and other
assistance from American sources, will regain and surpass
their former distinction and standards. For the British
Commonwealth to be represented by an impoverished institution,
with an overworked and underequipped staff, denied the conditions
of making contributions to knowledge by research, and yet pre-
suming to call itself a university, would be discreditable.
The continuing damage to our prestige involved would be far
greater than that entailed by a frank confession now that we
are not able or willing to restore Hong Kong University, with
the implication that we are uncertain of our position in
Hong Kong and in the Far East, and uninterested in the
commerce of ideas.
5. The development of higher education facilities in
British colonial areas in the Far East, particularly the
establishment of a University of Malaya, will reduce the
proportion of students coming from overseas to Hong Kong.
Our conception of the central purpose and justification of
the University, however, implies that it should revert to the
function envisaged for it in its earliest days by Lord Lugard,
and that it should especially attract both undergraduate and
postgraduate students from the mainland of China.
recommend in our detailed suggestions that there should be a generous scheme of scholarships to Hong Kong for students and
research workers from the mainland and appropriate hostel
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arrangements
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