86
THE CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG
STEVE S. C. HUANG
The need for a university in Hong Kong teaching through the medium of Chinese has existed for many years. As the "Report of the Committee on Higher Education in Hong Kong," published in 1952 by a group of British scholars led by Professor John Keswick and commonly known as the Keswick Report, said, "Hong Kong is unique geographically and politically and its people have a more advanced cultural background than the peoples of most other colonies."
The vast majority of its inhabitants are Chinese, and the Chinese have a traditional love of scholarship, and a highly developed language, literature, and artistic sense. Hong Kong, it was thought, by reason of its location and circumstances, should certainly be a centre for the East and the West to meet, not only for commercial advantage, but also for cultural exchange. To accomplish this, a university with Chinese as the medium of teaching was considered as important as a university with English as the medium of teaching; each would make a valuable complement to the other,
Ever since the inception of the University of Hong Kong, even among the British residents in the Colony, there have been many who have advanced the idea of establishing a university which would teach through the medium of Chinese, or a university which would teach through the medium of both Chinese and English, in all branches of learning. The Keswick Report gave strong support to such an idea. For various reasons, however, this recommendation of the Keswick Report did not lead to immediate action.
Nevertheless, the need existed. Since 1949, social and political conditions in China have undergone a great change. In addition to the large number of young men and women of college age who could no longer return to China for their higher education as earlier generations did, there were thousands who emigrated from
The author, a former student of Journalism and History at the University of California, Berkeley, and City Editor of the Hong Kong Tiger-Standard, is currently Assistant Registrar of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
86
THE CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG
STEVE S. C. HUANG
The need for a university in Hong Kong teaching through the medium of Chinese has existed for many years. As the "Report of the Committee on Higher Education in Hong Kong," published in 1952 by a group of British scholars led by Professor John Keswick and commonly known as the Keswick Report, said, "Hong Kong is unique geographically and politically and its people have a more advanced cultural background than the peoples of most other colonies."
The vast majority of its inhabitants are Chinese, and the Chinese have a traditional love of scholarship, and a highly developed language, literature, and artistic sense. Hong Kong, it was thought, by reason of its location and circumstances, should certainly be a centre for the East and the West to meet, not only for commercial advantage, but also for cultural exchange. To accomplish this, a university with Chinese as the medium of teaching was considered as important as a university with English as the medium of teaching; each would make a valuable comple- ment to the other,
Ever since the inception of the University of Hong Kong, even among the British residents in the Colony, there have been many who have advanced the idea of establishing a university which would teach through the medium of Chinese, or a university which would teach through the medium of both Chinese and English, in all branches of learning. The Keswick Report gave strong support to such an idea. For various reasons, however, this recommendation of the Keswick Report did not lead to immediate action.
Nevertheless, the need existed. Since 1949, social and political conditions in China have undergone a great change. In addition to the large number of young men and women of college age who could no longer return to China for their higher education as earlier generations did, there were thousands who emigrated from
The author, a former student of Journalism and History at the University of California, Berkeley, and City Editor of the Hong Kong Tiger-Standard, is currently Assistant Registrar of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
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