Bulletin Autumn 1977

Professor Chen Chih-fan of Electronics Department Q. What do you think of this University, as compared to other world-renowned universities at which you have worked and lived? A. In many ways, The Chinese University of Hong Kong is comparable to first-rate universities. The distance of this University from downtown Hong Kong is just ideal, just as Cambridge is to London and Princeton to New York. Berkeley is too near San Francisco, so is Harvard to Boston. Our campus is one of the world's most beautiful, excelling Cambridge and Harvard in natural setting and surpassing Cornell in magnificence. The student population of the University is just the right size, although the number at each college is slightly too big. The most valuable asset of this University is the college system. Unlike colleges in American universities, our colleges are not the administrative machinery for the departments; rather, they are like colleges of Oxbridge, which are responsible for guiding students in their studies and attending to their daily lives. This is one of the characteristics of the Chinese University. Q. College system is an effective system for student- orientated teaching. I understand you are a staunch supporter of this system. Would you like to tell us some of its advantages? A. Departments are responsible for the provision of lectures, laboratory work and examinations, etc. Colleges have the unique function of letting staff and students live together and know one another. Meals, drinks and chitchats constitute an important part of our everyday life; however, American professors who go for “efficiency" tend to neglect, intentionally or unintentionally, such matters of importance in education. A college should include as its members teachers and students of different faculties and disciplines. Although a college may for historical