Newsletter No. 524

# 5 2 4 | 0 4 . 1 0 . 2 0 1 8 口 談 實 錄 / V iva V oce 糧食不足的問題有多嚴重？ 據聯合國報告，全球食不果腹、營養不良的人口2016年有八億一千五百萬， 是總人口的一成一，當中亞洲佔了五億二千萬，非洲佔二億四千三百萬。換 句話說，每九個人便有一個捱餓，每幾秒更有一個人死於饑餓。 你在新推出的通識課程「二十一世紀全球公民大挑戰」裏教授一個單元，是 個怎樣的挑戰？ 我主講的題目是「糧食危機與永續農業」。當農作物失收時，活在同一天空 下的社會公民沒有誰可獨善其身。科學家的責任是研究新技術，增加糧食 產量和提升質量；而社會公民除要珍惜食物外，更應意識如何應用科研成 果，集思廣益，共同努力，確保糧食安全和可持續發展之間的平衡。 你研究大豆多年，成果豐碩，你認為所獲肯定是否足夠？ 研究的成果歸功於整個團隊。來自各方的肯定固然是一種鼓勵，但這不是 研究的目的，我的願望是探知求真，為人類文明進步和生活改善作一點點 貢獻。 在教研層面還希望有怎樣的進展？ 希望通過教學，培育接棒的年輕一代科研人員，並藉研究所得，激發更多相 關研究，齊為人類福祉而努力。或許我們的研究資助未必及得上內地一些 機構和院校雄厚，但香港是國際城市，中大又與海外院校和科研機構建立 了緊密聯繫，可讓我們開展前沿、創新、富冒險精神的研究。 為何活躍於網上社交網絡？ 在大學任職給我一個很好的舞台。研究讓我接觸到海內外不同的科研人 員，也有機會參觀各地農村和田間工作。教學和學生宿舍舍監工作以外，我 還參與中學課程發展和推動STEM教育。我很希望能藉社交網絡分享所見 所聞，供學生參考，同時傳遞正能量，鼓勵他們要有更廣闊視野、更包容、 更關愛，以及更具睿智的理性思維。我知道一些學生平時不會主動和我談 話，但會看我的臉書專頁。 怎樣看網民留言讚賞或是惡意攻擊？ 科學精神是求真、講邏輯，辯論也如是，我不介意別人不認同我的看法，歡 迎他們提出事實和觀點來討論，但前提是理性和客觀，對於無理的攻擊， 不用動氣，也不必糾結。 你愛習蔡李佛，習武與工作可有相通之處？ 當初與女兒一起在新亞國術會習武，是覺得除強身健體和減壓外，更是和 女兒的親子時間。回想十多年前初學時，對於沒有武術底子的我，非常辛 苦，但亦讓我更深體會到堅持的重要，並不追求當最好，而是挑戰和超越自 己，不斷改進，這亦可放諸工作上。 How severe is food shortage? According to a UN report, the number of undernourished people worldwide rose to 815 million in 2016 (520 m in Asia; 243 m in Africa), accounting for 11% of the world’s population. In other words, one in nine had starved while one died of hunger every few seconds. What’s the challenge of teaching in the new GE course ‘Grand Challenges for Global Citizens in the 21st Century’? My topic is ‘Hunger and Sustainable Agriculture’. No one can stay away from the effects of a widespread crop failure. Scientists are responsible for developing new technologies to increase crop yield and quality. Besides not wasting food, ordinary citizens have to work together to keep the balance between food supply and sustainable development with the application of the technologies. Are you satisfied with the recognitions you received for your soybean research? The credit goes to every one in the research team. It’s certainly encouraging to have received such recognitions, but it’s not the ultimate goal of research. I want to get to the bottom of things and contribute my little part to the betterment of civilization and human livelihood. How do you view the next stage of your teaching and research? I hope to nurture the next generation of researchers through teaching and to inspire more related research through my work with the aim of improving the human lot. We might not be as well endowed in research funding as our mainland counterparts. But Hong Kong is an international city, and CUHK has set up a close network with overseas research institutions. We have an edge in forefront, innovative and bold research. You are also active in social media. Why? The University is a good platform for me to know researchers from all corners of the world, as well as visiting villages and doing fieldworks around the world. In addition to my roles as teacher and hostel warden, I also take part in secondary school curriculum development and the promotion of STEM education. I hope I can share all these experiences in the social media to impart a positive attitude so as to encourage the students to broaden their horizons and be more considerate and develop rational thinking. Some of the students will not usually raise anything with me but they would check out my Facebook. How do you view the ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’ left by netizens? The spirit of science is the attainment of truth via logical thinking. This is the same for debate. I don’t mind disagreements at all and would welcome facts and points of view. One must always remain rational and objective, and should be neither angered nor vexed by the trolls. You’ve been practising kung fu (Choy Lee Fu) for years. Anything in common between kung fu and your work? The purpose of joining the New Asia Chinese Kung Fu Society with my daughter is twofold: to work out and relieve stress, and to have a father-daughter time regularly. I had a tough start more than 15 years ago, but I also realized the importance of persistence. The object of pursuit is not perfection but overcoming challenges and continuous improvement. This also applies to work. C.F. • 生命科學學院分子生物技術學課程主任 Director, Molecular Biotechnology Programme, School of Life Sciences • 農業生物技術國家重點實驗室（香港中文大學）主任 Director, State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology (CUHK) • 大學教育資助委員會卓越學科領域植物與環境互作基因組研究中心主任 Director, University Grants Committee Areas of Excellence Centre for Genomic Studies on Plant-Environment Interaction 林 漢明 教授 Prof. Lam Hon-ming