Newsletter No. 42

No.42 May 1993 CUHK Newsletter Main Exhibition Venue: Exhibition Hall of City Hall Date: 26th-29th March 1993 No. of Panels: 140 Total No. of Viewers: Over 4,500 Content of Panels: 1. A Thirty Year Retrospective 2. Programmes of Studies & Admission 3. College Life 4. Teaching and Research in the Faculties 5. Research Institutes 6. Student Life 7. Alumni Affairs 8. Campus Facilities 9. Photo Exhibition 10. Academic Links & Links with the Community 11. Towards The 21st Century in the middle of June, with a relatively small group. Mr. Kingsley Ma of The Chinese University Press agreed to take on the entire production job, promising to turn draft manuscripts and photo negatives into exhibits 一 and we didn't have to worry about what happened in between. He, together with Miss Mable Yeung and many colleagues, did exactly that, and in retrospect it was clear that leaving the production to experts was the smartest thing we did. Dr. Alice Ng of the Department of History, who was coordinating a project on the history of the University, took initial charge of the history section, later helped by Dr. P. Y. Ho of her department. Mr. S. W. Lee of the Admissions Section was there, to advise on reaching secondary school students in addition to the general public. And Miss Amy Leung from the Publication Office agreed to be the editor of the text — and if there were relatively few errors, it was very much due to her effort through several proofs. From there, the sub-committee grew as the tasks became more finely subdivided and responsibility shared. In fact, I don't suppose I can come up with a definitive list of who was or was not a member, but the main thing is that everyone chipped in enthusiastically. Prof. Joe Wehrer of the Department of Architecture designed the layout, Dr. K. M. Chan of the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology suggested performances (and was naturally given the task of coordinating them 一 which in the end became one of the main attractions), Mrs. Grace Chow of the Office of Students Affairs and Mr. Hardy Tsoi of the Sir Run Run Shaw Hall took complete charge of the photography contest, and Miss Joanna Poon of the Science Faculty Office became deputy secretary of the sub-committee and ended up helping Mrs. Alison Lee in doing a lot of the coordinating work. Mr. Hardy Tsoi planned and oversaw the on-site management. There were of course also the four college representatives and the seven faculty representatives (who no doubt had their own sub-sub-contractors), and representatives from student affairs and alumni affairs. Mrs. Clara Lee, Mrs. Shirley Kwok and Mr. Ali Li took charge of the public relations and the opening ceremony. Thus it was that all the different parts eventually came together, and on the evening of 25th March, some 40 people were on hand at the City Hall to help set up the exhibition. There was a small army of student helpers under Mr. Kingsley Ma's command, who knew exactly what they were supposed to do, without having to be told. In the end it took less than the three alloted hours to make the exhibition ready. There was a very good turnout at the opening ceremony, with many council members and friends of the University, as well as many colleagues, no doubt to check that we had not made too many mistakes in the panels pertaining to their units. Mr. John Chan, Secretary for Education, had very kind words to say: '...And The Chinese University has ah impressive story to tell, a story of accomplishment in the pursuit of excellence. ...Being the forward looking institution that it is, The Chinese University aspires to "lead, innovate and serve" into the next century. ... All of this inspires confidence in the University's ability to fulfil its aspiration and, in doing so, play a crucial role in fostering Hong Kong's economic and social progress.' Well, the exhibition sub-committee is forward looking too; we are even now preparing for a number of small scale satellite exhibitions, in several MTR stations and several commercial complexes at various times throughout the year, and in the lobby of the Convention and Exhibition Centre on the day of the Anniversary Dinner. The exhibition was (and we hope the forthcoming satellite exhibitions will be) a success in making the community more aware of the past success and future aspirations of the University. Equally, the many units working together help to renew the sense of shared purpose within the University. But I now understand why anniversaries are celebrated only once a decade -one needs at least 10 years' rest between such major undertakings. 7