A New Era Begins 1975-78

Public Affairs Research Centre On 1st February, 1978, the Public Affairs Research Centre was established. Its research efforts will focus on Hong Kong, China, and Southeast Asia as area studies requiring an interdisciplinary approach. Current projects include: 1. Sino-Japanese Relations in the '70's; 2. Anti-imperialism and Chinese Politics; and 3. Chinese Foreign Policy and Its Impact on Overseas Chinese in Malaysia. The Centre has organized some discussion sessions related to its research interests, as follows: 1 . F o r um on the Hong Kong Government Budget ； 2. Seminar on the F i f th People's Congress of the PRC; and 3. Seminar on Urban Life in China. Institute of Science and Technology The area of the physical and biological sciences is represented by the Institute of Science and Technology. This Institute, unlike the other Institutes, takes no responsibility for individual or group research projects in a particular discipline. These are sponsored by the Boards of Studies concerned. Between 1972 and 1975 more than 300 research papers by the Science Faculty members have been published in the established scientific journals. At the present time, the Institute is primarily concerned wi th the research activities being carried on by two units: (1) the Unit on Chinese Medicinal Material, and (2) the Unit on Food Protein Production from Wastes. The research activities of the first Unit are centred on the extraction of bioactive components from Chinese herbs to produce new drugs, particularly in those areas where Western medicine has not made significant progress. Many promising lines of investigation are opening up, but at the present time, the Unit which is composed of staff from Chemistry, Biology, Biochemistry, and Sociology, is concentrating its efforts on three topics: (1) Antifertility Herbs: The development of new contraceptive agents from potential antifertility plants; the effectiveness of the Chinese motherwort, for example, has been confirmed. The Chinese University has been designated by the World Health Organization as one of six centres in the world to be part of the Task Force on Indigenous Plants for Fertility Regulation. (2) Herbs Affecting Hepatic Function: Tests have established the effectiveness of a Chinese herb in lowering blood bilirubin level in jaundiced rats. In this project the study of active principles in Chinese medicinal herbs has been brought to the enzymatic level. 57