XN000022-1983-04-08 — Page 3

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FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 1983

NOTE TO EDITORS:

THE TEXT OF SIR EDWARD'S SPEECH FOLLOWS:

+MR TING, DR HU, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,

+I AM DELIGHTED TO BE HERE TODAY TO LAY THE FOUNDATION STONE FOR THE NEW CAMPUS OF HONG KONG SHUE YAN COLLEGE. THIS EVENT MARKS A NEW PAGE IN THE HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE : AND CONSTITUTES ANOTHER STEP FORWARD IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION IN HONG KONG.

+1 AM PLEASED TO LEARN THAT, SINCE ITS FOUNDATION IN 1971 AS A LIBERAL ARTS POST-SECONDARY COLLEGE, SHUE YAN HAS EXPANDED RAPIDLY IN BOTH STUDENT NUMBERS AND IN THE NUMBER OF COURSES OF STUDY OFFERED. INDEED BY 1977 IT HAD OUTGROWN THE PREMISES IN SING WOO ROAD AND HAD TO ACQUIRE ADDITIONAL PREMISES IN MONMOUTH PATH, WAN CHAI, TO ACCOMMODATE THE TOTAL ENROLMENT OF 3 500 STUDENTS.

+ THE NEED FOR PURPOSE-BUILT ACCOMMODATION FOR THE COLLEGE ON A PERMANENT CAMPUS WAS RECOGNISED FROM THE OUTSET BY THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS AND DETAILED PLANNING COMMENCED AS EARLY AS 1972 FOR A NEW CAMPUS TO BE ERECTED ON THIS SITE, WHICH WAS GRANTED BY GOVERNMENT AT NIL PREMIUM. THE CAPITAL COST OF BUILDING AND EQUIPPING THE COLLEGE'S NEW FACILITIES IS ESTIMATED TO BE $35 MILLION AND WILL BE MET BY DONATIONS FROM THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS AND CONCERNED INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANISATIONS. I WOULD LIKE TO PAY PARTICULAR TRIBUTE TO DR HU AND DR CHUNG, WHO FOUNDED THE COLLEGE IN 1971 AND TO THE TING FAMILY. THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS IN PERSONAL ENTHUSIASM AND IN FINANCIAL TERMS ARE CONSIDERABLE, AS ARE THOSE OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS. WITHOUT THEIR ENERGY, FORESIGHT AND DETERMINATION, SHUE YAN WOULD NOT HAVE COME INTO BEING AND THIS PROJECT WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN REALISED.

+THE DEMAND FOR POST-SECONDARY PLACES IN HONG KONG IS EVIDENT AND IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT WE CONTINUE TO INVEST IN THE EDUCATION OF OUR YOUNG PEOPLE SO THAT THEY WILL BE WELL TRAINED AND EQUIPPED TO MEET THE CHALLENGES OF THE FUTURE. SHUE YAN IS MAKING A VALUABLE CONTRIBUTION TO HONG KONG IN THIS RESPECT,

+ONCE AGAIN, I CONGRATULATE THE COLLEGE ON GETTING THIS FINE PROJECT OFF THE GROUND AND LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING ITS COMPLETION IN THE NOT TOO DISTANT FUTURE.+

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