In a review of two academic treatises on Japanese foodways, Prof. Timothy Tsu, who taught at the Department of Japanese Studies from 2007 to 2009, observed that, ‘Few scholars showed an academic interest in the food they encountered in the course of research….Personal insights on food were usually consigned to conversation during conference receptions and postseminar parties, where the food and drink were again enjoyed but uninvestigated in academic terms.’*

Food and drinks are never far from the centre of academic activities, in fact, any human activity. To the discerning, the CUHK campus can be an open menu. Starting from this issue, we will be serving the University community with a new feature, ‘Mouth-watering Morsels’, and investigate different delicacies and delights on campus, not in academic but in appetizing terms.

The University Library building itself has changed very little over the years, still a haven to the book-lovers and the swifts. But the two photos in ‘Then vs Now’, with 29 years in between, tell us time did leave its marks on our landmark.

To continue our profiling of outstanding academic programmes, we visited the School of Pharmacy to try to understand the chemistry behind its successful programmes. Prof. Vincent Lee, the school director, further told us how he aspired to be an artist when younger but was convinced to pursue a career in the pharmaceutical sciences.

*Journal of Japanese Studies, 38:2 (2012), p. 416.