6 September 2022
Another academic year has begun. I hope you all had a good and meaningful summer break. I would also like to welcome again all new colleagues and students to the HKBU community. I am sure you will soon find that campus life here is interesting and rewarding, despite the challenges brought by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.
Technological advancements, especially in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), have completely transformed the world. While these developments have greatly improved our lives, some people may feel threatened by them. To ensure that our students are ready to embrace the unlimited possibilities brought about by technological innovations, as well as the challenges that they bring, the University has launched four new transdisciplinary programmes for undergraduates this year. Three of them cover areas such as the arts and technology, global entertainment, and innovation in health and social well-being. The remaining one, the Bachelor of Arts, Science and Technology, is truly a novelty, as students can chart their scope of study and design their own pathways under the guidance of professors. As with the other programmes, these new courses will offer students the best learning experience, and they will enable them to thrive and shine in the future world.
Our vision for futurity is also embodied by the recently established School of Creative Arts, which opened its doors on 1 July 2022. With our three strong arms of creativity, namely the Academy of Film, Academy of Music and Academy of Visual Arts, under one roof, the School is ideally placed to further augment human creativity in the world of arts, as well as nurture the next generation of creative talent. Its integrated pool of experts from different arts disciplines will also enhance our transdisciplinary research strength in the arts and technology.
Indeed, our artists have been working closely with our AI scientists on the significant art-tech research project “Building platform technologies for symbiotic creativity in Hong Kong”, which is being led by Professor Guo Yike, Vice-President (Research and Development) and Professor Johnny M Poon, Associate Vice-President (Interdisciplinary Research). We saw amazing results over the past year, and at the Annual Gala Concert of the HKBU Symphony Orchestra in July, we showcased the world’s first human-AI performance involving the University’s symphony orchestra, an AI virtual choir, an AI media artist and AI virtual dancers. The innovative performance delighted the audience and gave them a novel artistic experience, while demonstrating the possibilities that can be unleashed when our artists and AI scientists work together.
Subsequently in August, the University launched the “Turing AI Orchestra” (TAIO), the world’s first AI ensemble which aims to achieve a new form of symbiotic artistic creation and performance between humans and AI systems. By using blockchain technologies, TAIO will realise the world’s first Decentralised Autonomous Organisation (DAO) ecosystem for art creation through collaborations between scientists and artists. It is certainly another milestone in our visionary plan to broaden the scope and explore potential opportunities in art co-creation by humans and AI.
Creativity at HKBU does not limit to art and art-tech creation. I would like to share with you the good news that Professor Ge Liang of the Department of Chinese Language and Literature was recently awarded the Lu Xun Literature Prize by the China Writers Association for his novella which depicts the tradition and development of the hairdressing industry in Hong Kong, and he is the first Hong Kong writer to receive this prestigious award, which is undoubtedly another testament to the creativity of this prolific writer.
Despite the exciting outcomes of our excellent research, we understand that society cannot benefit from these innovations and discoveries if they are not translated into real-life applications. Indeed, according to the University Grants Committee, knowledge transfer is the third mission of a university.
In June, we established the Institute for Innovation, Translation and Policy Research (ITPR) and appointed Professor Terence Lau as the Interim Chief Innovation Officer to lead the Institute and implement its mission of driving strategic alliances and collaborations, as well as multidisciplinary research and development and their applications. Knowledge transfer is everyone’s business, and hopefully, with the establishment of the ITPR, the knowledge created by our brilliant scholars will be translated into innovative deliverables for the benefit of Hong Kong, our nation, and the world.
HKBU is a caring university imbued with a mission to serve the community and tend to the needy with our knowledge. With Chinese medicine being one of our strengths, we have been providing timely support to society since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2020, we have been distributing the “HKBU Chinese Medicine Immunity Enhancement Remedy” to frontline medical staff, elderly homes, daycare centres, schools, and underprivileged families.
We also pioneered the provision of free online Chinese medicine consultations and door-to-door deliveries of herbal medicine for COVID-19 patients, while our dedicated Chinese medicine practitioners provided Chinese medicine-based treatment services to the resident elderly patients in the Kai Tak Holding Centre. This has given us valuable experience ahead of the opening and operation of Hong Kong’s first Chinese Medicine Hospital in 2025, which will start a new chapter for Chinese medicine healthcare services and raise the level of excellence in Chinese medicine clinical training and research in Hong Kong.
Sport, health and wellness is another focus of the University, and our education and research in this area have been widely recognised. The Physical Education and Recreation Management Programme offered by the Department of Sport, Physical Education and Health since 1992 is the first degree programme specialising in recreation management in Hong Kong. Recently, it has enrolled six elite Hong Kong athletes through the Talented Athletes Direct Admission Scheme (TADAS) launched earlier this year, including Olympic gold medallist fencer Cheung Ka-long.
Dedicated to the development of sport in Hong Kong, the University has been conducting sport science research, and we offer comprehensive and diversified sport science and management programmes to nurture sporting talent in the city. Since the Elite Athletes Admission Scheme was established in 2016, we have supported many elite athletes, including the world-champion track cyclist Sarah Lee, in their pursuit of a university education with flexible study arrangements. With the implementation of TADAS and the six student-athletes joining us, I am sure the sporting culture and healthy lifestyle on campus will be further boosted.
Today, I was thrilled to meet our new students at the 67th Convocation. As I said in my address, HKBU has never ceased to make progress with the aim of staying on top as a leading liberal arts university. We focus not only on delivering an excellent transdisciplinary education, but also on innovating in art-tech, Chinese medicine, communications and many other fields to bring about comprehensive and transformative progress for humankind. Let’s work together and be a powerful force of progress makers for our society and the world.
Last but not least, I hope all of you will have a rewarding academic year, and enjoy your learning, teaching, conducting research on the HKBU campus.