CO129-625-6 Hong Kong University- endowment fund 1-5-1951 - 30-9-1951 — Page 30

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NOTE OF A MEETING IN MR. PASKIN'S ROOM AT 11.0 a.m. ON 16TH AUGUST

Present:

Mr. Paskin in the chair

Sir Arthur Morse) Members of Executive Council, Hong Kong

Sir Man Kam Lo

Mr. Sidebotham

Mr. Hall

Mr. Paskin opened the meeting by referring to Hong Kong telegram No. 858 (32) and suggested there were two points for conson:

(a) How the proposal would be accepted in Hong Kong as it would leave

so much less of the Japanese assets for other things; and

(b) the proposal would seem on the face of it to do away with any

incentive for private subscriptions. There was a feeling here that some of the more wealthy Hong Kong inhabitants should assist by contributing to the upkeep of such institutions.

Sir A. Morse said that there were other things which could be supported by local contributions. For example there was the need for a decent library. The Jockey Club might be prepared to assist in establishing one provided it could be used by the public in general (i.e., its use would not be restricted to any particular section). This would cost about 1 million. The Jockey Club had also been interested in endowing scholarships rather than in con- tributing directly to the University Endowment Fund. He thought we could say that having agreed to $16 million of the Japanese assets being used for the creation of the Endowment Fund it was still up to Hong Kong to do more.

Sir M. K. Lo said that one of the difficulties about raising money for the University was the uncertainty about its future. Sir A. Morse agreed that the setting up of an Endowment Fund would have an enormous effect on public opinion. Both Sir M. K. Lo and Sir A. Morse thought that once it was clear that the University was on a sound financial footing, people would be prepared to help it. There was already a proposal to endow three research scholarships. The University would provide for two and the business community would provide the third. There had, however, been some opposition to this as it was argued that while the future of the University was so uncertain it would be foolish to waste money on it. There was another aspect. When the Japanese occupied Hong Kong they did all they could to remove all traces of "Western culture". It would be a good gesture to put the University on a permanent basis by using Japanese assets for this purpose!

Sir A. Morse thought that it should still be possible to raise more money locally for the library and for further scholarships but in the latter case it would be wrong to specify any particular number of scholarships as experience had shown that funds set aside for particular scholarships had proved inadequate at a later date when the rise in costs had exceeded the income. He thought sums should be set aside for the provision of scholarships but the actual number should depend on the circumstances prevailing at the time.

#t

Mr. Sidebotham proposed that a sentence should be added to the proposed announcement after

boys and girls" on the lines "and the

Zother urgent needs of the University such as a new library, and provision for further scholarships will be 2 by local subscriptions".

Sir A. Morse and Sir 11. K. Lo welcomed this suggestion.

Şir M. K. Lo enquired when the money was likely to become available.

Mr. Paskin

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