Newsletter No. 416

Photos of Prof. Shen Xu Hui Simon in this issue by Cheung Wai-lok 沈旭暉教授 社會科學院副教授 你負責的全球政治經濟社會科學碩士課程提出 「全球在地化的學習經驗」的口號，是甚麼意思？ 我們的課程內容是關於國際事務，但會從學生身邊一 些與他們最相關或他們最感興趣的事物出發。例如 他是個基金經理，一定想知道金磚國家的概念和發展 趨勢，我們可能從那裏開始，慢慢講到這些國家的背景 和經濟模式等等。又或者他只喜歡看足球，我們明年會 開一班有關全球政治經濟與運動的科目，比如曼聯怎 樣管理其全球化經營體系。 我們的社會有足夠的全球視野嗎？ 幾十年前的報紙，是會一直把越戰當為頭條報道；近十 多二十年卻明顯變得非常本地化，全年可能未必有一 件國際新聞放在頭條。這反映出我們不覺得國際事務 與我們的生活有關，但如果我們只對本地事物有興趣， 視野就像唐人街一樣。我唸書時常去唐人街看中文報 紙，它們常報道我們這條街那個同鄉會領袖做過些甚 麼，接待了那個來賓。香港是國際都市，國際事件和我 們的生存直接有關。如果我們目光如豆，很快就會喪失 發揮優勢的位置。 你希望怎樣改變這種風氣？ 我相信每一份工作都需要全球事務的知識。比如波斯 灣打仗，對你公司的表現有何影響。如果能令企業負責 面試的人力資源經理明白，全球事務的知識就像良好 的中英文能力一樣，是就業所需的基本技能，甚至令他 們在企業培訓中加入這些元素，相信可以慢慢改變社 會的觀念。 你是否有興趣從政？ 絕對沒有。我的主要身分是國際關係的研究者，以此身 分為基礎的任何合作，我覺得都很合適；完全抽離這種 身分，就本末倒置很不合適。現在擔任的公職多多少少 與我的主要身分有關，比如參與太平洋經濟合作香港 委員會，便與我研究的範疇直接有關。一直以來都有很 多不同的邀請或工作介紹，只要是超出我的身分或專 業範疇，我都不會做，這是我的原則。 你喜歡在媒體曝光嗎？ 不喜歡。我並非享受到媒體上發言的人，從小到大都不 是。但你不用這種方式，就很難達到某些效果。最近幾 年我很想做的事，是與一些機構建立比較穩定的合作， 在幕前培養另一批人。我有很多學生已經準備就緒，往 後幾年會見到很多新臉孔。我自己則會專心建立一些 框架。我覺得自己在幕後做規劃的價值，大於在幕前不 斷去衝。 你寫文章資料都很豐富，是信手拈來，還是要花很 多時間查資料？ 我小時候愛集郵，基本資料是那時候累積的。集郵須 要認識國家，知道它們的歷史，為甚麼改這個國名，甚 麼年代用甚麼王國名稱，用甚 麼文字，有甚麼圖案，有那些 歷史人物，甚麼時候和甚麼國 家關係不同了，引致甚麼變化， 這些都是很基本的知識。我 又喜歡把東西分門別類，所以 當時就不斷做統計畫圖表，慢 慢就很熟悉。當然每寫一個個 案，都會做一些簡單的研究。 Prof. Shen Xu Hui Simon Associate Professor, Faculty of Social Science Are you interested in going into politics? Absolutely not. I am first and foremost a researcher of international affairs. I believe that any form of collaboration based on this role would be appropriate; any undertaking unrelated to it is not. The positions I’ve held in public service are more or less related to this identity. For example, I’m a member of the Hong Kong Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation, a position directly related to my research field. Over the years I’ve received many invitations or job referrals, I’ve rejected all those that are not related to my identity or research fields. That’s my principle. Do you enjoy appearing in the media? Not at all. I’ve never liked media exposure. But if you don’t rely on the media, it’ll be very difficult to achieve some of your objectives. In recent years I’ve strived to establish more stable relationships with some organizations and groom someone new for media exposure. Many of my students are ready. There will be some new faces in the years to come. By that time, I’ll have devoted myself to setting up frameworks. I believe that I’m of greater value planning behind the scenes than being in the spotlight. Your articles are rich in information. Is it all in by heart or you have to do a lot of research before putting pen to paper? I was a stamp collector when I was young. My knowledge of various countries was acquired at that time. If you’re serious about stamp collecting, you need to know a lot about countries—their histories, how they got their names, other names they had, symbols they use, their historical figures, the relations with other countries and what consequences entailed changes to these relations. These are basic. I also like to sort and categorize things. So, I kept statistics and drew a lot of tables and charts. Of course, whenever I write about a particular case, I still have to do some simple research. 請掃描QR碼閱讀全文版 Scan the QR code for the full version The Master of Social Science Programme in Global Political Economy that you are in charge of pledges to offer a ‘Glocalizing Learning Experience’. What does that mean? Our programme is about international affairs. But we start from something that is most relevant to students or that interests them most. For example, if a student is a fund manager, he or she must be interested in knowing the concept underlying the so-called BRIC countries and their developmental trends. From that, we can move on to the backgrounds and economic patterns of these countries. For students who are football fans, we’ll have a course on global political economy and sports that will teach topics including, for example, Manchester United’s international marketing strategy. Is Hong Kong society global enough? A few decades ago, the Vietnam War was front-page news. But in the past 10 or 20 years, newspapers have been extremely localized. You are hard put to find one international issue that makes front-page headlines in a year. This reflects the fact that we don’t think international issues are relevant to our lives. But if we’re only interested in local matters, our vision will be similar to those people in China towns overseas. When I was a student, I often went to China town to read Chinese newspapers. They often ran stories about Mr. so-and-so was given a reception by some leader from some fellow townsmen association. Hong Kong is a global city. International issues are relevant to our survival. If we are too parochial, this city will lose its niche. How should this be changed? I believe that every job has a certain global dimension. For example, how does a war in the Persian Gulf affect your company’s performance? The perception of society will gradually change if human resources managers come to realize that knowledge of international affairs is a basic skill for employment, just like proficiency in English and Chinese. They may also incorporate this dimension into their corporate training programmes. 12 No. 416, 19.4.2013