2021年4月20日
Ms Tam, Council Chairman, guests and colleagues,
Thank you for joining our Founders’ Day Reception, whether on-site or online. First of all, I would like to thank Ms Winnie Tam for her inspiring speech. HKBU has always been privileged to have your wise counsel, from your days as a member of the Council and Court, in your capacity as an Honorary University Fellow, and as a Guest of Honour today. It’s always a rewarding experience to hear your thoughts and insights.
In fact, diversity in education, or transdisciplinary education, is something that we at HKBU are going for to prepare our students for multiple careers. I will talk about this point later. To my consolation, Ms Tam said, “the upper limit of the middle age group is 65”! That means I am still in the prime of my middle-aged life!
And now, in my middle age, I’ve taken on the role of President at this magnificent institution. Rather than diverging from my career path of the last 25 years, it is a convergence of my teaching, research and administrative roles, and today marks my first Founders’ Day celebration at HKBU.
This event has not come easy, as it was postponed twice due to the pandemic. With mask wearing, and celebrating without cake and champagne as our new normal, let’s instead offer our thanks to those who came before us, and those who make today possible.
We are grateful to our founding fathers for the founding principles that we still hold dear. Back in 1956, they created a liberal arts education and a caring and creative culture. This runs through everything we do, and it remains a key cornerstone of our vision as we work towards becoming a leading research-led liberal arts university globally.
The past year has presented us with a lot of challenges, but I’m a die-hard optimist. Our predecessors have left with us this great heritage of a caring and creative culture, an asset that will enable us to thrive in this new era. It provides us with a solid foundation on which we train our students to be transdisciplinary, and it will enable them to pursue multiple careers in an ever-changing world. It also provides us with an inspiring environment for fostering interdisciplinary research. In short, we have the prerequisites for producing future-ready students and researchers. As we work to strengthen our teaching and partnerships with other universities, and expand and extend the impact of our research to industry and the community, I look forward to working with you hand in hand to take the University to a new level of excellence.
We will shortly be presenting the Seventh Distinguished Alumni Award to our eminent and talented alumni. Their achievements inspire us and show us what’s possible with an HKBU education, and I’d like to offer my heart-felt congratulations to Mr Albert Au, Dr Cathy Lui, Mr Louis Yan and Mr William Yeung. We are very grateful for their loyalty and continued support.
Thank you also to the nominators, our supporters and the University community as a whole. This Award would not be the great success it is today without your vital contributions.
Our alumni have always been an essential part of the University’s on-going development, and we will continue to count on their unwavering support as we continue our journey.
Creativity is an essential element of our students’ whole person development. As mentioned earlier by the Chairman, the University is building a brand-new campus that is unlike anything ever seen before in Hong Kong – the Jockey Club Campus of Creativity.
Equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and a student-oriented education, the Jockey Club Campus of Creativity is the first complex in Hong Kong that integrates an academic co-creation space with student accommodation. It addresses future teaching and research needs, and will take our creativity-inspired education to a new level. It is destined to be a prominent landmark of academic excellence and creativity.
This project is unprecedented in its nature and scale. It is also a great example of what can be achieved through valued partnerships, and we’re very grateful for the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s on-going support.
The Endowed Professorships Scheme is another example of how blessed we are with the support from friends of HKBU. The Scheme serves to attract the world’s great minds to the University to broaden students’ horizons and conduct world-class, ground-breaking research.
It was most encouraging to see the generosity of supporters and their firm belief in HKBU’s vision. It is gratifying that a number of Endowed Professorships and Endowed Associate Professorships have been established as part of our efforts to bolster our teaching and research capabilities across a variety of disciplines.
As always, our heartfelt thanks go to all benefactors of the Scheme, and we look forward to extending such partnerships with the support of more individuals and organisations.
When combined, all these initiatives show what we can achieve at HKBU when we pull together as a community. In our 65th year, I strongly believe that we are in an excellent position to advance and develop our liberal arts education, and with all of you by our side, I know we can reach even greater heights.
Thank you.