Bulletin Summer‧Autumn 1993

On the T h r e s h o l d o f M a t u r i t y 一 The First 3 0 Years o f The Chinese University o f Hong Kong The establishm ent o f The Chinese U n ive rsity o f H ong Kong 30 years ago epitom ized Hong Kong's constant quest fo r im provem ent. A t a time w h e n the te rrito ry u rg e n tly needed educated m anpow e r fo r its social and econom ic g row th , the crea tion o f a second un ive rsity p ro vided the m uch sought- after oppo rtun itie s o f h igher education fo r aspiring local youths. The Chinese U niversity in co r porated at its in cep tion diverse streams o f Chinese h igher education — the national universities w ith the ir Con fucian background, the Christian u n i versities w ith the ir Western ou tloo k, and the lo ca lly-o rien ted colleges w ith th e ir deep in te re s t in c om m u n ity problems. The result was a strong, rich and challenging educational e n v iro n ­ ment. The University has since come a long way. It is n o w a comprehensive m odern un iversity w ith a m agnificent campus and excellent facilities. It offers a w id e range o f undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, the q u a lity o f w h ic h has been fu lly recognized by the international academ ic comm unity. It has g row n w ith H ong K ong and has continued to produce qua lity graduates to serve its needs. T h irty years may n o t be a long time in the life o f an organization, but is lo n g enough to transform the fledg ­ lin g Chinese University in to a mature and sophisticated in s titu tio n o f h igher learning w e see today in 1993. 4