Professor Lap-Chee Tsui was speaking to Mrs SusanLeung, Editor of Dialogue.

In this last issue for the academic year, I would like toshare my thoughts with Dialogue readers:

- Students come to the University to learn knowledge;but knowledge is never-ending and learning is life-long. Learning is not about cramming in information.It is about learning by doing. It is about looking atissues in various ways and developing capacities,especially the ability to research and dig beyond thesurface to reach the truth. It is also about finding theright information to solve problems and finish tasks.That is why our goal is to teach students to learnhow to learn, rather than merely passing informationto them. In any case, a lot of academic subjectschange significantly and quickly over time. Whileinformation can become outdated, attitude to learningand ability to learn have a longer shelve life.

- The subjects of learning how to learn and howlearning is recalled are fascinating and such researchis still on-going. However, one must not forget thatteaching should still basically arouse interest. It shouldinspire students and integrate knowledge of specifictopics with a bigger picture. While one might notwant to measure learning immediately after a class,I reckon we should consider checking what messagesstudents have received and are taking home.

- I believe in the development of the whole person.I also believe that such development need not,and indeed cannot, take place in classrooms alone;

Interviewwith theVice-Chancellor

David Brooks is a senior editor at TheWeekly Standard, a contributing editor atNewsweek andtheAtlanticMonthly, and the �Machine Age� columnist for theNewYorkTimesMagazine.Peter Beinart is editor-at-large at TheNewRepublic.AlanWolfe is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Boisi Center for Religion andAmerican Public Life at Boston College.Robert George is McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James MadisonProgram in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University.Aristotle�384 BC - 322 BC�was a Greek philosopher.Alfred NorthWhitehead�1861-1947� was a British mathematician, logician and philosopherbest known for his work in mathematical logic and the philosophy of science.Richard Livingstone �1880-1960� was an eminent classics scholar, lecturer, broadcaster, andwriter.Ron Chernow is an American biographical author.Shibley Telhami is Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development at the University ofMaryland.Charles Hill is a diplomat in residence and lecturer in International Studies at Yale University.This article is reproduced with the permission from New York Times New

Service/Syndication.

- Confucius(551 BC – 479 BC),

a famousChinese thinker

and socialphilosopher

“The object of thesuperior man is

truth.”

but that students should take advantage of theextra-curricular activities on campus to developholistically. Students should not neglect this importantaspect of their education. They should learn howto manage their time skillfully to enable themselvesto participate in extra-curricular activities even ifthey are having a relatively heavy workload fromtheir studies, such as those students doing a double-major. We are reviewing the content of compulsorysubjects and the number of required credits formajors, minors and double majors. We are alsoconsidering how to give students more flexibilityin the choice of subjects.

- HKU students are fairly confident in general. However,I would like to see more demonstration of activeleadership since we want them to lead and serveothers in future. For a start, they could learn to speakup. I understand the HKU Campus Toastmasters’Club is one of the places that provide a safeenvironment for students to get public speakingtraining and practice. Another attribute that I hopemore students would develop is the kind ofconcentration and passion for learning that I havenoticed among students in mainland China. However,while my colleagues and I are trying our best toprovide enriching academic and co-curricularprogrammes to develop students holistically, it isreally up to the students themselves to take advantageof the opportunities. Unless individuals are willing tolearn, it is difficult for other people to mobilise themto do so. (Continued on back page)

be truly educated and expand their intellectual andcultural exposure, they would, in the words of CharlesHill of Yale, develop a ‘carapace, an enveloping shell thathinders them from seeing the full, rich variety of intellectualand practical opportunities offered by the world.’

In this last issue of Dialogue for 2005-6, let us findout in the form of a stock-taking, from variousperspectives of campus life, what opportunities wehave provided for our students to expand their horizonfor personal growth and to realistically prepare themfor the future.

What every collegekid should learn

WASHINGTON�ve got great news! You�re youngand you�re smart and next yearyou�re beg inn ing co l l ege .Unfortunately, I�ve also got bad

news. The only school you got into isHarvard University, where, as PeterBeinart of The New Republic notes,students often graduate �without thekind of core knowledge that you�d expectfrom a good high school student,� andrequired courses are �a hodgepodge ofarbitrary, esoteric classes that cohereinto nothing at all.�But don�t despair. I�ve consulted with

a bevy of sages, and I�ve come up witha list. If you do everything on this list,you�ll get a great education, no matterwhat college you attend:Read Reinhold Niebuhr. Religion is a

crucial driving force of this century, andNiebuhr is the wisest guide. As AlanWolfe of Boston College notes, ifeveryone reads Niebuhr, �The devoutwould learn that public piety corruptsprivate faith and that faith must play aprophetic role in society. The atheistswould learn that some people whobelieve in God are really, really smart.All of them would learn that good andevil really do exist � and that it is neveras easy as it seems to know which iswhich. And none of them, so long asthey absorbed what they were reading,could believe that the best way to divideopinion is between liberals on the onehand and conservatives on the other.�Read Plato�s �Gorgias.� As Robert

George of Princeton observes, �Theexplicit point of the dialogue is todemonstrate the superiority ofphilosophy �the quest for wisdom andtruth� to rhetoric �the art of persuasionin the cause of victory�. At a deeper level,it teaches that the worldly honors thatone may win by being a good speakercan all too easily erode one�s devotionto truth � a devotion that is critical toour integrity as persons. So rhetoricalskills are dangerous, potentially soul-imperiling, gifts.� Explains everythingyou need to know about politics andpunditry.Take a course on ancientGreece. For 2,500

years, educators knew that the core oftheir mission was to bring students intocontact with heroes like Pericles,Socrates and Leonidas. �No habit is soimportant to acquire,� Aristotle wrote,as the ability �to delight in fine charactersand noble actions.� Alfred NorthWhitehead agreed, saying, �Moraleducation is impossible without thehabitual vision of greatness.�That core educational principle was

abandoned in the United States abouta generation ago, during a spasm ofradical egalitarianism. And once that

I

If you do everything on thislist, you�ll get a great

education, no matter whatcollege you attend.

principle was lost, the entire coherenceof higher education was lost with it. Sonow you�ve got to find your own ways tolearn about history�s heroes, the figureswho will serve as models to emulate andwho will provide you with standards touse to measure your own conduct.Remember, as the British educatorRichard Livingstone once wrote, �Oneis apt to think of moral failure as due toweakness of character: more often it isdue to an inadequate ideal.�Learn a foreign language. The

biographer RonChernow observes, �Myimpression is that many students haveturned into cunning little careerists,jockeying for advancement.� Tocounteract this, he suggests taking�wildly impractical� courses like arthistory and Elizabethan drama. �Theyshould especially try to master a foreignlanguage as a way to annex anotherculture and discover unseen sides tothemselves. As we have evolved into a

matchless global power, we have simplybecome provincial on an ever largerstage.�Spend a year abroad. Shibley Telhami

of the University of Maryland believesthat all major universities should requirea year abroad: �All evidence suggeststhis, more than any other, is atransforming experience for studentsthat lasts a lifetime.�Take a course in neuroscience. In the next

50 years, half the explanations you hearfor human behavior are going to involvebrain structure and function. You�ve gotto know which are serious and whichare cockamamie.Take statistics. Sorry, but you�ll find

later in life that it�s handy to know whata standard deviation is.Forget about your career for once in your

life. This was the core message fromeveryone I contacted. Raised to beworkaholics, students today havedeveloped a �carapace, an envelopingshell that hinders them from seeing thefull, rich variety of intellectual andpractical opportunities offered by theworld,� observes Charles Hill of Yale.You�ve got to burst out of that narrowcareerist mentality. Of course, it will behard when you�re surrounded by somany narrow careerist professorsbuilding their little subdisciplinaryempires.But you can do it. I have faith.

www.hku.hk/supportu

THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG香 港 大 學

May ‘06May ‘06

Student AffairsStudent Affairs

In his article ‘What every college kid should learn’,David Brooks argued firstly that US universities’courses can be ‘a hodgepodge of arbitrary, esotericclasses that cohere into nothing at all’; and secondlythat US students were being raised as workaholics,surrounded by ‘narrow careerist professors buildingtheir little subdisciplinary empires’. They are conditionedto developing a narrow careerist mentality. Manywould become what Ron Chernow, the biographer,calls ‘cunning little careerists, jockeying for advancement.’

If students do not use their university experience to

Editor’s Comment

MEANWHILE By David Brooks

partners is increasing. HKU is indeed veryattractive to students in many countrieswho wish to learn in this part of the worldas we teach in English, and we have a world-wide reputation. The total number ofincoming and outgoing exchange studentseach year is more than 1,000. In addition,another 1,000 students participate in studyprogrammes or internship schemes eachsummer. All these activities will betterprepare our students to be “global citizens”.

Q: Can you tell us more about this localand non-local cultural mix?

A: We currently have non-local studentsof about 70 nationalities. Additionally, wealso have students who are Hong Kongres idents but who have educat ionbackgrounds different from mainstreamHong Kong students (e.g. students fromESF and international schools in Hong Kong,students with qualifications from overseas,part-time students who are expatriates ofinternational business firms in Hong Kong).

The University would like to see culturalexchanges between its local students andstudents from different countries andbackgrounds, which is the main objectiveof our efforts to “internationalise”. Sowe try to provide more opportunities forlocal students to share experiences withnon-local students. We set up a GlobalLounge to provide a venue where localand non-local students can meet andsocialise together. Instead of building aspecial “International House” for non-local students, we have arranged for localand non-local students to live in the samehalls of residence and share the sameUniversity facil it ies. We would like toencourage our student soc iet ies toconduct act iv i t ies in which overseasstudents can participate alongside HongKong students.

Q: In what way do our postgraduateacademic courses contribute to offeringthe desired kind of postgraduate educationfor students?

A: We have Taught Postgraduate (TPg)courses and Research Postgraduate Studies.HKU of fers a wide range of TPgprogrammes to provide the SAR with theexpertise it needs. Interest in TPg coursesis rising as more working adults look forpart-time courses to improve and equipthemse lves for a knowledge-basedeconomy, a change in career direction, orto fulfill their interest in a specific subject.

We have world class academics in alldisciplines to supervise our MPhil and PhDstudents.

Interviewer: Thank you, Mr Wai, for sucha focused and succinct account of our HKUeducation.

May 8, 2006

New Undergraduate ProgrammesBachelor of Science in InformationManagement (BSc [IM]) – Faculty ofEducation

This programme targets the informationsector and includes courses on:

◆ Information technology◆ Knowledge management◆ Customer services◆ Information design and architecture◆ Information economics and policy◆ Sociology of information, and other

information scienceBachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Educationin Language Education (English) – Facultyof Arts and Faculty of Education

This four-year full-time double degreeprogramme comprises major courses inEnglish Language and Linguistics and aminor course in Education Studies coveringthe following topics:

◆ Education foundations◆ Methods and practices of teaching◆ Information technology◆ Linguistics◆ Applied linguistics◆ Literature and language proficiency

Bachelor of Business Administration(International Business and GlobalManagement) – Faculty of Business andEconomics

Thisuniqueprogramme integratesbusinessand economics and social sciences to forma single, structured and coherent programmein international business and globalmanagement. The features of this three-yearintensive programmes are:

◆ An international field trip / internshipin America, Asia, Australia or Europe

◆ A global issue team project with studentsin other countries

◆ Exposure to real-world global businessenvironment

◆ Application of academic knowledge toactual business practices during thesummers of Year 1 and 2

◆ Acompulsory one-semester internationalstudent exchange programme duringYear 2

The programme is designed to be progres-sively more demanding in later years.

For details of all undergraduate degreeprogrammes, please visit http://www.hku.hk/acad/ugp/faculty.html

Research ProgrammesHKU is very strong in its research

activities, having been awarded thelargest amount of awards in eight yearsout of the past nine, and produced thebiggest output of refereed researchpublications consistently in the pastnine consecutive years. Studentsinterested in developing original ideascan apply for either of these tworesearch programmes: Master ofPhilosophy (MPhil) and Doctor ofPhilosophy (PhD) under the researchprofessor of their choice.

Undergraduate BroadeningCourses

Broadening Courses are provided in twosemesters and during summer.

◆ Humanities and social science studies(16 courses)

◆ Science and technology studies (18courses)

◆ Cultural and value studies (15 courses)◆ Information technology studies (2

courses)The Broadening Courses develop

students’ knowledge in wide varieties ofstudies. Some examples are:

◆ Body, beauty and fashion◆ Knowing the unknown◆ Quality culture in developed economy◆ Food : facts and fallacies◆ From Sherlock Holmes to modern

forensic science◆ China and Asia in 21st century◆ Love, marriage, sex and family◆ Understanding popular culture in

Japan and Hong Kong◆ Hong Kong cinema in the context of

globalisationFor details of the Broadening Courses,

please visit http://www.hku.hk/student/broadening/

New Taught PostgraduateProgrammePostgraduate Diploma in EnglishStudies

This two-year part-time course,covering eight compulsory and fourelective courses, aims to enhanceprofessional knowledge of in-service aswell as propsective teachers of Enlgish.

The compulsory courses are:

1. Phonetics and phonology2. Lexis, morphology and semantics3. Pedagogic grammar4. Written and spoken discourse5. Sociolinguistics and English as an

international language6. Psycholinguistics and second

language acquisition7. Introduction to literature in English8. Introduction to language arts

The elective courses are:

1. Genres in professional discourse2. Language and electronic

communication3. Asian voices in English4. English and subject knowledge5. Variety of English6. English as an international

language in China

For a full list of Taught PostgraduateProgrammes, please visit http://www.hku.hk/rss/pp2006/reg_sylbs.html

ACADEMIC PROGRAMMES

2

Interview withthe Registrar

Mr Henry Wai

May‘06

Q: What is the function of the Registry?

A: The Registry provides administrativesupport to activities of the University.

Q: As things change very fast and HongKong has to develop towards becoming aknowledge-based economy, how is HKUresponding to these trends?

A: The University is making every effortto enable its students to learn the latest inknowledge and skills, and our curricula arereviewed and revised every year. NewUndergraduate Programmes are launchedfrom time to time, and new pedagogy hasbeen adopted to help students in theirlearning. More importantly, the Universityemphasises the importance of life-longlearning skills and core competencies. Ourstudents are equipped with the skills andability to conduct life-long learning, whichwill enable them to cope with future changesand to be leaders in the knowledge-basedeconomy.

With this objective in mind, the Universityis now designing a 4-year curriculum whichwill be introduced, following the “3+3+4”education reform in Hong Kong, in 2012.Students will find the new 4-year curriculumto be broader, with plenty of subject choices(unde r p rope r a cadem i c adv i ce ) .“Experiential learning” will be an area thatwill be emphasised in the new curriculum.

Q: How do we help students cope withor compensate for their having to specialisein a particular field of knowledge or subject?

A: We have incorporated many BroadeningCourses in most of our existing curricula toenable students to enhance their language,communication and IT skills, and to takecourses across disciplines (so that artsstudents, for example, could take somescience courses, and science students, artssubjects). Students will be provided witheven more flexibility in their course choicesin the new 4-year curriculum in the future.

Q: As the world is now referred to as a“global village”, what are we doing to expandour students’ experiences as “globalcitizens”?

A: In recent years, internationalisation isone area that the University has made greatstrides in. HKU has been an internationaluniversity from the time of its establishmentas far as its staff and research activities areconcerned, but because of governmentpolicy, we did not have an internationalstudent community until rather recently.We are currently bringing an increasingnumber of international and Mainlandstudents to the University, while also sendingour students to overseas countries onexchange. We have exchange agreementswith more than 150 institutions outsideHong Kong, and the number of our overseas “Real knowledge is to know the

extent of one’s ignorance.”- Confucius

year. The number of incoming and outgoingexchange students is not necessarily the same.

Q: Can you tell us some experience in makingarrangements for outgoing exchange students?

A: We select and nominate students to ourpartners according to these criteria: academicstanding, extra-curricular activities, contributionto the University, and performance at interview.We hope all outgoing students can be friendlyambassadors of HKU. Unfortunately not allstudents who wish to study abroad have a chanceto do so.

Q: How do you help outgoing studentsintegrate into different foreign communities?

A: We organise pre-departure briefing sessionstogether with the Office of Student Affairs. Weconduct experience-sharing sessions for bothincoming and outgoing students and give themadvice on how to adjust to ‘culture shock’.Handbooks are also distributed to students. Allthese will help them get prepared for studyingabroad.

Q: Did any outgoing students give up half way?

A: Fortunately it has not happened. We alwaysremind students to expect problems and to becareful. They have to manage their budget andtime on their own in a foreign place whereassistance might not be as easily available as backhome. They also have to do a lot of things forthemselves such as cooking their own meals. Itis particularly trying if they are in a non-Englishspeaking country and do not know the local

The OISE organises hundreds ofexchange opportunities for students tostudy abroadInterview with Ms Katherine H M Wan Programme DirectorOffice of International Student Exchange

Q: What is the purpose of exchangeprogrammes?

A: The main objective is to broaden students’horizon by giving them the opportunity to studyin a different environment or a new city, andexperience a new culture or a different modeof learning.

Q: Are there different types of studentexchange programmes?

A: There are exchange programmes establishedat University level and those organised byindividual Faculties or departments such as theFaculty of Business and Economics and theDepartment of Japanese Studies. Some exchangeprogrammes include internship and workplacement components . Al l exchangeprogrammes are subsidised by the University.

Q: What about the number of studentsbenefiting from these programmes?

A: So far, we have over 150 exchange partnersin more than 20 countries. For credit-bearingexchange programmes alone we exchange about550 students per year. Still many more studentsare being sent out on other programmes.

Q: How are these programmes arranged?

A: Reciprocal exchange agreements have beenestablished with our partners and we generallysend a minimum of two to a maximum of tenstudents to a partner. We also have an internalquota of the number of incoming and outgoingexchange students that we can cater for in a

language. Safety is a particularly important issueand students should know how to protectthemselves and be alert all the time. For example,pick pocketing is rampant in some countries.

Q: What are some precious experiences forthem?

A: It is not always easy for students tointegrate into a different culture and make newfriends. No matter how positive exchangeexperiences might be overall, there are boundto be difficult times. However, solving problemsindependently and managing crises on one’sown is one of the chief reasons for studyingabroad. With such experiences, studentsbecome more mature and independent. Havingsaid that I should point outthat assistance is availableto them from our overseasa lumn i chapter s andoverseas mentors, as wella s f r o m t h e h o s tuniversities.

Q: So what aboutincoming students? Whata r e t h e p r o b l e m sencountered by them?

A: The main problem is‘culture shock’. Non-localstudents have relativelylower tolerance for noisecompared with Hong Kongstudents. Late night or early

3

Ms Katherine Wan (front row, second from the left), on tour to Tai Po with exchangestudents

Ms Katherine Wan (first on the left), at an annual dinner with exchange students and the Registrar, Mr Henry Wai (second on the right)

morning activities in halls of residence are tryingfor visiting students. Acclimatising to the localclimate is something that all visiting students haveto do. For incoming students it is the heat andhumidity of Hong Kong. For outbound studentsit is the cold climate of temperate regions. Tohelp incoming students adjust, as well as to provideopportunities for local students to learn abouta different culture, we have set up a buddy system.Exchange and visiting students are paired witha local student from the same hall of residenceor Faculty.

Q: What about students who do not havethe chance to study abroad? How could theybenefit from the presence of international students?

A: Local students can always mingle with some600 exchange and visiting students who arestudying on our campus, in the classrooms andin halls. A talent exchange programme has recentlybeen set up to encourage local students to makenew friends with international students.Furthermore, our Office, the halls, societies,departments and Faculties organise a lot of socialactivities over the year for students to build uptheir social network. If both incoming and localstudents make use of these opportunities to learnabout other cultures, their world view would bemuch broader.

Q: How would you evaluate student exchangeprogrammes?

A: Although they are resource intensive,these programmes form a very important partin ach iev ing the Univers i ty ’ s goa l ofinternationalisation. For those who go abroadon exchange programmes, they have first handexperience of living and working overseas. Iam happy to see that returning students, apartfrom developing academically, especially withspeaking up in class, often become more matureand independent. Furthermore, many of themhave enhanced their global outlook after havingbeen abroad. For those who stay in Hong Kongthere are around 600 international studentsfrom a range of 69 nationalities for them tointeract with and learn from in the classroomsas well as in the halls and around the campus.

Patrick Wong BBA III Exchange student toUniversity of Navarra, Spain for one semester

The University has provided me with not onlyacademic training and career advice but also vastopportunities to expand my horizon and grow asa whole person.

As a BBA student who seeks help from theCareers Education and Placement Centre, it isunderstandable how I have benefited academicallyand careerwise from HKU. Indeed, I have alreadysecured a good job offer from a major internationalbank just one month after I returned. However,my learning experience at HKU is more thanacademic training and career advice. The grouppresentation on the topic of ‘Banking in 2046’for the HKU-Citibank University Banking Coursechallenged my communication skills and teamworkability. Incidentally we won a study trip to NewYork City with an innovative style. We adoptedthe style of a TV newsmagazine. We wanted tohighlight the special features of our product. Thisstyle proved to have drawn the attention of theadjudicators throughout. Members were frank toeach other, which enabled us to make quickdecisions on a tight schedule. The Lee Shiu Socio-economic Study Project which took me to severalmajor cities in the mainland and the internshipin Citigroup helped me develop many aspectsof my personality.

The transforming experience was, of course,the time that I spent studying abroad. In the firstsemester of my final year I had the opportunityto study international business administration atthe University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain. It wasthere that my ability to win acceptance fromstudents of different countries was tested. I alsolearned not to be discouraged or judge peopleby the first impression. For example, the Germans,who were cool, serious and cautious at firstacquaintance, were in fact very friendly when Iplucked up enough courage to strike up aconversation with them. They were not unfriendlyas I first thought. I learned a lot about their cultureas a result. The Spaniards, on the other hand, werevery enthusiastic and friendly right from the start.They were very forthcoming and keen to make

people around them happy. I took advantage ofsuch great company and enjoyed much hangingout and clubbing with them. With British andAmerican students it was rock music, musicalsand movies. Western Europeans were for sports,museums and galleries and Spaniards and LatinAmericans, parties. My horizon about their culturaland social life has certainly broadened, with greatsocial and health benefit, no less.

I could go on and on listing what I have observedabout the different mentality or cultural habitsof the people I met in Spain. In a nutshell, I learneddifferent people have different lifestyles. Each hasdifferent traits, values and sensitivities and shouldbe treated differently. I am now moreunderstanding and open-minded when I makenew friends.

However , thedifferences betweenpeople, particularlywhen it concernsviews about rightand wrong trulytested my ability tojudge as I formulatemy own va luesystem. One simplee x a m p l e w a ss m o k i n g a n ddrinking. Spaniardsthink they are onlysocial habits whichmake social is ingeasier. Most HongKong people thinkotherwise. To what

extent is each side right or wrong? I choose toknow more about them before I judge.

An obvious difference between Chinese studentsand those from other countries is that we areconservative and apprehensive about makingmistakes. Few of us dare to voice out our opinionsin class. Hence lectures in Hong Kong can be quitedull. The lively discussions in Navarra made attendinglectures an interesting and rewarding experience.One can learn a lot by speaking up.

While in Spain, my Latin friends told me howbad their living conditions were in their homecountries. I would never have known this if I hadnot met them. I am determined to do volunteerwork in Latin America someday and I can practisemy Spanish too. At the same time, I realised thatI must not limit my vision and ambition to our localenvironment alone. In fact, I should look beyondHong Kong and explore the world. Even Spain isa big place, not to mention the world. Hong Kongis just one tiny city among many habitations.

Above all else the socialising, partying, lecturesand reflection helped me reach one veryimportant thought. I now have a clear idea ofhow I can better balance my life and careerbecause many of my friends that I met have verydifferent lifestyles after all. There are many life-fulfilling things for me to do than just gettinggood grades and a good job.

U – Ms Ung Lee Ling, Manager Global Lounge

J – Joanna Wong (Comparative Literature & French Year II) - Global Lounge Student Ambassador

A – Amy Tam (Linguistics & Translation Year II) - Global Lounge Student Ambassador

Je – Jenny Ng (Master of Architecture) - Global Lounge Student Ambassador

C – Convi Fung ( Journalism Year 1) - Global Lounge Student Ambassador

W – Wallace Tang (German & European Studies Year I) - Global Lounge Student Ambassador

Wi – William Tsui ( Economics & Finance Year II) - Global Lounge Student Ambassador

O – Oscar Chan ( European Studies Year II) - Global Lounge Student Ambassador

Jc – Jack Tsoi ( Business Administration Exchange Student from Canada)

“Live as if you were to dietomorrow. Learn as if you were tolive forever.”

- Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1984), a politicaland spir itual leader of the IndianIndependence Movement

also be able to find the information and assistanceyou need at the information counter and resourcearea located here.

We believe that ‘internationalisation’ is morethan just a concept; it is a sense of community thatcan only be created when individuals from differentcultures and backgrounds can connect, get toknow each other and develop mutual trust. TheGlobal Lounge is ideal for this.

We strongly believe in ‘There are no strangershere, only friends you haven’t yet met.’ – WilliamButler Yeats. So what better place than the GlobalLounge to connect and reconnect.

Q: What do you do to achieve that goal?

4

TheGlobalLounge

A Student Ambassador at Global Lounge

ACADEMIC PROGRAMMES

Patrick, skiing on the Pyrenees and partying with friends (top and right)

May‘06

Shapingmyself intoan all-rounder

Q: What do you wish to accomplish throughthe Global Lounge?

U: The Global Lounge is a place where theworld meets. No matter whether you are fromacross town or across the globe, you will be ableto meet up with other students from around theworld and get to know them in the relaxed settingof the Lounge. The Global Lounge is a socialmeeting place and cultural hub for students, featuringopen seating spaces around a big screen plasmaTV, an internet café, gym facilities and outdoorcafé seating. No matter whether you are a localor international student or a student interestedin international exchange programmes, you will

U: The Global Lounge is an ideal place fornetworking, a platform for students to come andexchange ideas on an international level. Forstudents about to go away on exchange it is alsoa springboard to meet incoming students fromprospective host countries. For those who arenot going away as well as international studentsstudying at HKU, the Lounge provides opportunitiesfor them to learn about each other’s cultures whilestaying in Hong Kong. In a nutshell – Globalisationat Home.

Q: How is that done?

J: I started a talent exchange corner fashionedafter a similar scheme I am familiar with. Studentsare paired up to exchange talents. First you fill ina form listing your talents, such as language skills,and stating the kind of talents you wish to acquire.Matching of students is done by the computer.Most offers of, and request for, talents are languageskills at the moment; but the student body hereat HKU is actually very diverse and can be betterutilised. Learning with a talent partner should bemore effective and enjoyable than attending courseswhich are very often expensive and not interactive.Many good ideas have been generated byphilosophers such as Plato or thinkers discoursingin salons. I hope one day great ideas will also comefrom discussions inside the Lounge or the gardenoutside.

U: I cannot agree with you more. Take Christineas an example. She is a very special and talentedperson, a Fulbright Fellow. Despite being visuallyhandicapped she is more than willing to exchangeher talents with other people.

Q: What facilities do you have that wouldencourage people to mix and socialise?

U: As you can see, the Lounge is very cosy andcomfortable. Its ambience is very relaxed and isconducive to socialising. There is other means toencourage students to discuss international issues,such as personal computers with Broadbandconnection, seven international and local newschannels, daily newspapers, a reference library onthe over 150 exchange programme partners ofthe University and of course there is our collectionof national flags of our partners.

Besides catering for the mind we also cater forthe body in the form of a mini, but comprehensivefitness room, and a cafeteria serving snacks, coffeeand tea – the whole person development.

Q: What do Global Lounge StudentAmbassadors do?

A: We assist in the organisation of events forthe Global Lounge. It is a very valuable experiencefor me as I feel I am a partner of the Lounge, ratherthan an employee. It is particularly valuable forstudents who do not live in halls of residence andtherefore have few opportunities to come intocontact with people of different nationalities. Besideslearning to communicate with people from differentbackgrounds, the greatest satisfaction is to helplonely exchange students feel welcome and athome.

C: It is not only students that we get to meetin the Global Lounge, but also visitors from diversesocial strata. This is really a very good experience.My friends often wonder what I do here and whyI get such a chance. They think I am very lucky tohave so much opportunity to learn by answeringquestions raised by exchange students and chattingwith them. Of course I also help organise events.The first Lantern Festival was an unforgettableexperience. We were all nervous about it but stillwe tried our best. It was good to see that thisevent was very well received and appreciated.

Je: Yes, indeed, and it was not only students whocame that evening. Staff members actually came.Some even brought their family members. It wasa gathering of people from different socialbackgrounds, age groups, nationalities and academicdisciplines. The atmosphere in the Lounge wasgreat with all the lanterns. This experienceemphasised for me the Global Lounge’s role asthe University’s focal point for cross culturalinteraction. Even when I am off-duty, I still like toask my friends to come here when we work onour own projects.

J: Indeed, the Global Lounge is much more thana geographical location. It is also a psychologicalreality. By looking at the people in the Lounge onecan see how internationalised HKU is. Reading abook about it may not give one the same feeling.The other thing about working for the Lounge is

the satisfaction you get from thefreedom it gives you to generateand implement your own ideas.

Je: The significance of the GlobalLounge to me is the imaginationand leadership that made it possiblein transforming an unremarkablearea of a student amenities centreinto a nicely decorated internationalstudent hub, a platform forinternational exchange.

O: When I first came, I was veryshy about speaking to other people;but now I have become goodfriends with some exchangestudents. We often go shoppingand outing together. This is my firstexperience in befriending foreigners.

Now, I find it much easier to interact with peoplefrom different countries and to talk to them abouttheir culture. The Global Lounge is a great placefor me to develop an international view. It is alsoa very comfortable place to make friends and towork in. We are paid a small remuneration forworking here but the experience is much morevaluable than the pay.

W: I do not live in a hall of residence and therefore,do not have many chances to contact exchangestudents. But in the Global Lounge, I have learnthow to socialise with them and have becomeincreasingly active and bold in chatting with them.I want to know more about their cultures andhistories. I want to know their opinions, some ofwhich are totally different from mine. Talking withthem has broadened my views and cultivated mycreativity. It has also helped me find truth, or whatis close to it. We are really privileged to have sucha cosy learning and meeting place. Of course, it isnot just intellectual discussions that we enjoy together,for we often go out for parties and gatherings.

Wi: The Global Lounge has given me experiencesthat could not be obtained from other studentsocieties. When I work here, I act as a representativeof the University, explaining the function of theLounge and the uniqueness of the University tovisitors and students. I hope to give them a morecomprehensive perspective of the University. Iremember a snap visit from a group of peoplewhen we were packing up after a function – despitethe suddenness of the visit we still managed tosuccessfully entertain the visitors and also to showthem round the Lounge. It was good training formulti-tasking. This demonstrates that all of us arecommitted to carrying out our responsibilities tothe best of our ability under any circumstances.We also try to add new elements to every eventto enhance students’ understanding of what theGlobal Lounge is about.

U: Working with student ambassadors produceda by-product: a cohesive group that we can alldepend on. I greatly appreciate their willingness

to become leaders as well as assistants. Throughhard work, the Global Lounge, apart from itsinternational perspectives, is also a good trainingground for personal development. We may nothave the opportunity to travel all round the worldbut the exposure to different international culturescertainly helps in enhancing our outlook.

Besides organising events and answeringquestions, the student ambassadors also facilitatedifferent groups of students to meet, conduct andtake part in functions and events together.

Jc: I am an exchange student from Canada andam a frequent visitor of the Global Lounge. Onmy first day at HKU, I came to the Lounge to meetother exchange students. My first reaction was‘nice’. Everything looked beautiful. It was nicelydecorated and air-conditioned. We wereintroduced to some really traditional Hong Kongsnacks which was a positive start. I hang out herealmost three times a week to meet up with friends,to do homework or watch TV. People and thestaff here are wonderful, and the gym is just equallyimpressive.

As new comers to Hong Kong we did not reallyknow where to go for help, but these people here,like Jessie and Oscar, really helped us a lot. Theyanswered lots of questions for us, showed uswhere to go, what forms we had to fill out, etc.This is really a good place for exchange studentsto start their studies and make friends.

Q: Ms Ung, do you have some parting wordsfor me?

U: I am grateful to the Student Ambassadorsfor being so dedicated right from the very start.Our aim is to continue to work hard towardsfurther enhancing the Global Lounge as a popularmeeting point for all students. The number ofstudents who visit the Lounge is definitely increasingand we firmly believe that during the course ofthe next academic year the number of ‘clients’ willcontinue to grow as we forge ahead to organiseevents throughout the year.

5

The talent exchange corner at Global Lounge

The fitness room at Global Lounge

The resources centre at Global Lounge

TV showing both local and international news

The Student Liaison Office frequently takes part in overseas education fairs to recruit students fromall parts of the world to study in the University of Hong Kong.

Recruiting Students From Overseas

Ms Isabella Wong, Director of China Affairs Office, (second fromthe right), students and a parent at the fair held in Dubai

Ms Isabella Wong, Director of China Affairs Office (left),explaining to a student at the fair held in Dubai

Ms Isabella Wong, Director of China Affairs Office (left), Professor John Spinks (secondfrom the right), HKU alumni, students and staff at the fair held in Malaysia

The staff and visitors at the fair held in New Delhi, India

Professor John Spinks (right) and students at the fair held inMalaysia

(A) Undergraduate FairsLocation (Country) Location (City) Name of FairCanada Toronto The Go Abroad Fair

Hungary Budapest 29 International Fair UTAZAS

India Mumbai, India International Education Fair

New Delhi &

Bangalore

Indonesia Jakarta, 留學中國教育展 - 印尼

Bandung (萬隆)

Korea Seoul & Busan Korean Student Fair

Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Star Education Fair

Poland Warsaw 5thWarsaw InternationalEducationFair

Singapore Singapore Careers 2006

Sweden Stockholm SACO’s Student Fair

Thailand Bangkok 留學中國教育展 - 泰國

The Netherlands Utrech Studie Beurs & International SectionScope on the Globe

UAE Dubai Gulf Education & Training Exhibition

(B) Postgraduate FairsLocation (Country) Location (City) Name of the FairChile Santiago

China Beijing

China Hong Kong

China Shanghai

France Paris

Germany Berlin

Germany Frankfurt

Germany Munich

Greece Athens

Italy Milan

Mexico Mexico City

Singapore Singapore

Spain Madrid

Taiwan Taipei

Thailand Bangkok

Turkey Istanbul

UK London

Venezuela Caracas

The University of Hong Kong – Participation in Overseas Education Fairs

Students from 69 Countries/Regions Studying in HKUThe University of Hong Kong is committed to developing a global perspective and cross-culturalunderstanding among its students. It has developed a network of reciprocal student exchangeswith universities around the world. It is also admitting larger numbers of non-local students. At

present, our student body is composed of 69 nationalities. The following table shows the flagsof the nations/regions where our students come from. Are you able to recognise all of them?Ask your friends also to take this challenge. (See answers on P.16)

ACADEMIC PROGRAMMES

World Graduate School Tour

6

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36

37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48

49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69

May‘06

Why dostudents take uppostgraduatestudies?

I enrolled on the Master’s programme toqualify myself for professional practice as anarchitect. One of the distinctive features thatI appreciate about the Faculty of Architectureis its relatively small size. I can truly benefitfrom the problem-based learning process thatthe Faculty employs. It is also rewarding tolearn with other students who are motivatedand responsive to good teaching rather thanbe just a small piece among a mass producingfactory that churns out graduates.

However, the time I spent at HKU wentbeyond the mere acquisition of professionalknowledge and skills. I definitely grew as aperson and widened my exposure. For onething, I have become a more independent,logical and reasoning thinker. When peoplearound me hold different opinions, I learn notto respond to their views superficially. Rather,

I decided to enrol on a research programmerather than a taught programme because I enjoydoing research. My original career aspiration isto develop IT programmes or products. However,my career goal is gradually changing after myresearch training at HKU. I might want to continuedoing research in academia after all.

Besides research skills, my experience at HKUso far taught me how to find out what I shouldlearn, adjust my goals, and charter new paths. Inmy opinion, this is what university education

When I was an undergraduate I spent mostof my time studying. That seemed to me tobe the right thing to do at that time. Duringthe three years of undergraduate studies, Ionly took part in the orientation camp andhelped in the Open Day. After all, I won afew scholarships and represented HKU at theHong Kong Chemistry Olympics. However,when I proceeded to postgraduate studies, Irealised something was missing in my universitylife. I had never been an executive committeemember and I did not have any hall experience.Then one Saturday afternoon when discussingthe research topic with my supervisorProfessor C M Che, he reminded me of animportant thing: Postgraduate study is notmerely a way to equip oneself for a profession.The problem-solving techniques learned duringthe process are equally important. In addition,one needs to be alert to changes and try tobroaden one’s scope when there is a chanceto do so.

Upon reflection, I decided to experiencehall life through joining the summer hall at theend of my 2nd year of postgraduate studies,even though I am older (only slightly, I hastento add) than the other participants. Thoughbeing distracted from my research and study,better time management enabled me tobalance study and student activities. Also,these experiences helped me to furtherexplore my leadership as well as interpersonalskills; e.g. learning how to facilitate discussionsby drawing out salient points from theparticipants and convincing the group to arriveat a consensus. This was particularly useful atan orienteering activity when success hingedon appropriate decision-making by the group.Friends noticed the difference that the summerhall experience had on me. They found thatI was more light-hearted and high-spiritedafter living in hall. This encouraged me to seekfurther residence in a hall since I realised thatI could manage my postgraduate studies, whichare more demanding than the undergraduatecourse, (In the meanwhile, I have even won

Science subjects are more intriguing than artsand literature to me. Since secondary school Iderived a great sense of satisfaction andachievement from physics and chemistry.However, despite the significant advances theworld has achieved in the sciences, progress isstill relatively slow. There are still many unchartedterritories in our knowledge of the human body.That is why I decided to work for a PhD degreein chemistry.

Doing research opened my mind to manydifferent kinds of thinking. My attendance at theLondon International Science Forum, during thesecond year of my postgraduate study, broughtme in touch with over 100 fellow youngresearchers from the four corners of the world.The experience opened my eyes indeed.Conducting research and solving problemsindependently enhanced my confidence. I amnow more willing to try new things and faceadverse situations with a positive attitude.

Besides acquiring knowledge, studying at HKUgave me limitless opportunities to learn to think,and interact with local and overseas students. One

Jeff CHENGMaster of Architecture studentand Vice Chairman of PGSA

I try to workout why theyh o l d s u c hthoughts. Thishelps me findc o n v i n c i n gsolutions. I have also learned not to focus toomuch on bureaucracy. In order to be innova-tive, original and creative, one has to thinkout of the box. As the saying goes in a positiveway, “rules are set to be broken”.

I have met many people from various walksof life through different occasions and en-counters in the University. That is why I tookup the position of Vice Chairman of thePGSA. I hope to increase the publicity of theAssociation and build a stronger connectionwith other students, societies, and HKUmanagement.

should achieve,i . e . he lp i ngstudents learnhow to learnand expandingt h e i r l i f eexpe r i e n ce .That is why I decided to join the ExecutiveCommittee of the PGSA last year and stay onas Chairman this year to provide continuity andsmooth handover for the new team.

Ella WONGFebruary 2006 PhD graduatein Chemistry

the renewal ofthe Sir EdwardY o u d eM e m o r i a lFe l lowsh ip ) ,w h i l eparticipating instudent activities. I am also pleased to beappointed a floor tutor of R C Lee Hall sinceNov 2004. It is exciting and rewarding to beable to interact and learn from young hallmatesand watch how each of us grow. Though Imight not be able to join all their activities,they understand I am always an interestedobserver and keen supporter. Sticking tostudying alone, as I did when I was anundergraduate, is definitely not the appropriateapproach to university life. I am glad that Ihave made such a change at the right time.One would miss a lot of learning opportunitieswithout such valuable experiences.

A u n i q u e f e a t u r e o f a r e s e a r c hpostgraduate programme is the opportunityto attend an international conference withfinancial support from the University. Thetravelling experience, discussions and sharingwith postgraduates as well as experts fromall around the world engaged in a similarfield of research were really eye-opening.Being exposed to new ideas and their works,I gained new insights and views at the topicsI was tackling with.

I do think undergraduate students shouldtake fu l l advantage of the numerousexchange programmes, which were lackingin the old days, to step out of Hong Kongand gain overseas experience. I also thinkthat we graduates should give back to thecommunity, which has contributed resourcesto our university education, and maintain astrong bond with the University to ensuregrowth from generation to generation.

Sharon CHANChemistry PhD student

of the experi-ences that Itreasure greatlyis the opportu-nity to minglewith youngerstudents andinternat ionalstudents in the Lady Ho Tung Hall, where I am aresident. The other valuable experience I have isthe freedom I enjoy. It enables me to realise mydream of learning, exploring, asking questions, findinganswers, solving problems, developing as a wholeperson, and learning how to lead. Most importantof all, I have learned social awareness, ethics andmoral values.

Indeed I did not come to HKU to secure anoccupational qualification but to cultivate myintellect and broaden my horizon. I am able todo what I do because of the resources theGovernment spends on higher education. Thereciprocating attitude should thus be within allgraduates who should do whatever we can forthe community.

I have always been interested in economics,and enrolled in HKU after graduating fromthe US because I wanted to take advantageof HKU’s excellent faculty and networkingopportunities to prepare myself for entryinto the world of work. During the pastyear, I have certainly developed a muchbetter idea of my career interests, and hadample opportunities to explore real worldbusiness problems. My Putonghua skills weregreatly improved with friends from theMainland!

I reckon we should all take advantage of ourtime at universities to develop:

Kassian POLINMaster of Economics student

a) Open-mindedness, asone certainlyneeds it whenmaking friendswith peoplewho are tenyears older, orwhen attending job interviews; and

b) Time-management skills, without which lifewill be a mess.

But above all, HAVE FUN! Don’t take life tooseriously, or you’ll never get out of it alive.

7

Franklin LUPhD student in Computer Scienceand Chairman of PGSA

“Wisdom begins in wonder.”- Socrates (470 BC-399 BC), an ancient Greekphilosopher

Q: What are your responses to David Brooks’views?

A: It would be good for both undergraduatesand postgraduates to spend some time abroadto widen their horizon, either in exchangeprogrammes or in attending internationalconferences. The University of Hong Kong hasalready made sure each of our postgraduatestudents has an opportunity to attend internationalconferences to present their research findings.This is especially important for Hong Kong becauseour local academic circle is very small. Whenthey are exposed to a foreign environment andrealise they are compatible to the world’s best,this will boost their confidence. It is always goodto learn a foreign language, especially in extendingone’s network and becoming a “global citizen”.Neuroscience could be a broadening course forour HKU undergraduates. Our postgraduatesshould be smart enough to know that topic whilefocusing their effort in his/her own research.

Q: How do you expand your research frontiers?How are research topics decided?

A: Working in interdisciplinary subject areasand chatting with research students andprofessors from various groups and disciplinesare the means to expanding my research areas.Of course, my desire to develop new areasof Chemistry which bridge Physics and/orBiology provides the driving force as to why

I keep on expanding my research frontiers. Forany postgraduate who has the intention towork with me, he/she should be mature enoughto know what area, in a broad sense, to do;for example, either in synthetic chemistry orin catalysis or chemical biology. Of course itis important that the area chosen would alsobe the area that I am interested in and havethe expertise. I conceive my research groupcould provide the chances and opportunitiesto postgraduates. I conceive that research isusually driven by curiosity and have to remindstudents that they have to do new things tosolve problems that have not been resolved.You need a clear and good grasp of basicconcepts, knowledge and insight. In theacademic world, to be distinguished fromindustrial research, I usually start with vagueideas without knowing the details and orpossible outcomes. That is why I tell my studentsthat they need the drive and interest inobserving and tackling the issue. Once in myteam, they follow their seniors to acquirerelevant knowledge, techniques and skills. Theyalso have frequent dialogue and discussion withme to know ‘what to achieve’ and ‘why’. Inthe second year, they should have a clear ideaof the background and the direction of theresearch. Then they will have to take thechallenges to formulate and defend the detailsof their research.

Q: What are the new areas of research, andhow do you deicide what kind of research willmeet the needs of the community?

A: There are two areas of research. Thefirst is to integrate Chemistry and Biology.Many people denote this area as ChemicalBiology and the topics under investigation areInorganic Medicines and Biomimetic Reactions.The other is to develop interdisciplinaryresearch that connects synthetic chemistryand applied physics and the topics underinvestigation is advanced functional materialsfor optoelectronics. Chemistry usually workson molecules but materials science studiesdeal with the properties and function of bulkmaterials, which are the consequence ofmillions of molecules coming together. It isimportant to realise that collective, weakintermolecular interactions provide the drivingforce for molecules to come together, andthe ways to manipulate such intermolecularinteractions to achieve targeted propertiesremain a formidable challenge in the scientificworld. I usually present lectures to bothspecialists and lay people outside my areasof expertise. I will be very happy and considermy research successful if both the specialistsin and outside my areas of expertise and laypeople could appreciate my research andhave a high regard for what I have done.

The University’s vision is to sustain and enhanceits excellence as an institution of higher learningthrough outstanding teaching and world-classresearch, so as to produce all-round graduateswith life-long abilities to provide leadership withinthe society they serve.

In support of that vision, the research missionof the University is:

(a) To advance the bounds of scholarshipthrough engagement in innovative, high-impact and leading-edge research withinand across disciplines;

(b) To partner with the community in research

InterviewwithProfessorCHEDepartment of ChemistryMember of the ChineseAcademy of Science

AcademicStandingof theUniversityofHong Kong

that advances the cultural, social andeconomic welfare of the society;

(c) To provide leadership in research andresearch collaboration among researchersin Hong Kong, China and Asia, and act asa gateway with the rest of the world; and

(d) To become the leading centre of academicexcellence in research postgraduateeducation in the region, that fully developsindividual students’ creativity and innovativeabilities.

The following graphs demonstrate theUniversity’s research achievements of the decade:

*RGC - Research Grants Council; CERG - Competitive Earmarked Research Grant

ACADEMIC PROGRAMMES

8

Q: Do you think there will be any furtherbreakthrough in science in HK after ProfessorCharles K Kao’s Fiber Optics and Professor Lap-Chee Tsui’s cystic fibrosis?

A: Yes. I have the confidence that in the next10 to 15 years, at HKU, there will bebreakthroughs in the areas of disease gene analysisoriginated from Professor Tsui’s work on cysticfibrosis, synthetic chemistry, infective diseases,and “materials science + computational/theoreticalphysics”. I conceive the ways to accelerate suchbreakthroughs are to group the world's top-notch chemists, biologists, and physicists of thisuniversity together and provide a platform forthese scientists to interact and collaborate. Giventhe talents of these top-notch scientists, theyshould be able to formulate the means to achievethe next height of their careers. It is not necessaryto have tons of money to achieve this goal buta stable fund, say HK$10 million per year tosupport several research groups for 10 years.With such support, I am optimistic that HKUwould be able to produce success stories in theseareas with a world wide impact. Indeed, I saidsimilar things about Chemistry in a previousinterview with people from the CroucherFoundation. This is my aspiration to develop myresearch in the forthcoming decade and wouldlike to see this happen before my retirement ordeparture from this University.

May‘06

energy, values and social awareness of our students.It is heartening to see such a high level of activitiesamong students. This is a culture we should value.

CO-CURRICULAR PROGRAMMES

A Word from theDean of StudentAffairsDr Albert Chau

Living in a hall of residence is one of the greatways to develop a sense of right and wrong suchas mutual respect, fairness, justice and equality.From day to day, fellow students will form anopinion of each and every one as a member ofthe community. That opinion affects the student’schances to stay in the hall the following yearwhen the Hall Association conducts the annualreadmission exercise. Daily comments from otherstudents and feedback from the exercise nodoubt provide much fodder for open-mindedstudents to learn about themselves.

Living in a hall builds students’ moral reasoningpower. There are many instances when studentsare required to exerc ise judgement ,resourcefulness and creativity to resolve conflicts.For example, should a student who has notparticipated actively in hall activities be allowedto stay the following year? If not, why not? Whatis the moral, and constitutional justification? If

Living with other youngpeople will make you laughand might make you cry,but you will growas a person.

one student wants to turn off the light to sleepbut the roommate is working, who should respectwhom and give in? Why?

Students who do not live in halls of residenceor mini halls but are affiliated members can benefitfrom residential camps organised by hall associationsor by various societies. They can sample communalliving and practise interpersonal skills. Those affiliatedmembers who choose to do the organising havesimilar opportunities as the residents to practisedecision making, value formulation, conflictresolution and organising skills.

Another important aspect of campus life is theopportunity for good conversations, especially lateat night. When I was a hall resident myself manyyears ago, we had lively discussion about books,problems, ideals, views, and passions. It was a

good way to understand what was important toother people. It also helped us develop our ownvalue system. I believe much of it still occurs inthe halls. Of course, such discussions need not beconfined to halls of residence, but living under thesame roof does help.

On average, 20% of the residents in a hall ofresidence are non-local students. Some of themparticipate in hall orientation programmes andexecutive committees of student associationswhile others initiated new activities for their hall.At University Hall an English Speaking Week wasorganised by exchange students during which

everyone was required to speak, play games orcompete with each other using English. Withmore non-local students studying at HKU andresiding in halls, opportunities for hall residentsto develop as a global citizen will increase.

Halls of residence have a long history of producingleaders. Many community notables acknowledgethe role hall residence had on their personaldevelopment. Many of them pass on this benefitto current students by returning to their halls asspeakers at High Table Dinners to share theirthoughts with students. Among recent speakersare Anson Chan, Fanny Law, Leung Chi Hung, etc.

In the University’s mission statement, it is clearlyarticulated that HKU aims to produce ‘… responsiveleaders of integrity and willingness to serve society’.This message is reinforced every year when theVice-Chancellor welcomes new students to thecampus at the Official Welcoming Ceremony. Theyare urged to be aware of other people’s needs andtake initiative to shoulder responsibilities. A widerange of co-curricular activities is organised by variousunits of the University to complement academicprogrammes and achieve this particular mission ofthe University. As important as these officialprogrammes, I am very proud of the vibranteducational, cultural, sportive, and social activitiesthat the students themselves organise. The myriadbanners around the campus are testament to the

Dr Albert Chau delivering a speech on cultural adjustment for non-local students

Dr Albert Chau WardenUniversity Hall (1996-2006)

Students participating actively during the Trivia Night

Professor Lap-Chee Tsui, the Vice-Chancellor deliveringa speech during the inauguration ceremony

9

The guest – Dr Ng Wing Ying (second from the right); Warden –Dr Albert Chau (on the right) and tutors of the University Hall atHigh Table Dinner

“We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”- Martin Luther King, Jr (1929-1968), a Baptist minister and American political activist who

was the most famous leader of the American Civil Rights Movement

May‘06

CO-CURRICULAR PROGRAMMES

Q: David Brooks, in his article ‘What everycollege kid should learn’, argued that universitystudents should not develop the mentality of anarrow careerist. What are your views on that?

A: There is a general perception that thesociety needs specific kinds of graduates. If youare going to do business, you just need to havegood knowledge of business, be able to doaccounting and communicate in English. This isa social problem. Universities have a role toadvance the society and not produce narrowcareerists. They should cultivate the whole personand persuade the society to adopt this view. Thisis particularly important for the elite of the societyon whom the welfare of many people depend.It is important for employers to understand whythis is so. If they are persuaded to adopt thisview and start testing job applicants’ generalintellectual ability, exchange experience, crosscultural understanding, foreign language ability,philosophical views, sense of right and wrong ortruth and wisdom, then I am sure the tendencyfor students to be narrow careerists will soonbe redressed.

Q: Do you think students are able to developa sense of right and wrong, pursue wisdom andtruth, etc through involvement in activities of theStudents’ Union?

A: Yes. Students are able to acquire differentkinds of skills, training or experience throughthese activities. In the study tour to the Philippinesto examine the situation of ‘people power’ inthat country, every participant gained something,for example, better writing skills, greater exposure,better understanding of social problems, ideasabout solving these problems through participationin social movements such as advocating sustainabledevelopment.

Q: Do you think students can developimportant values through participation in SUactivities?

A: Participating in SU activities will definitelyhelp students develop their own value system.It will also help them grow as a person, makenew friends and gain greater exposure. However,the most important reason for participating inSU activities should be to serve others. Of course,the more active we are, the more we gain inpersonal growth. But that should be a by-product.

Q: What is your view over student participationin university governance?

A: HKU students are playing a greater rolethan before; but it is still not frequent norsubstantial enough. Professors should have agreater say on issues like the syllabi and teachingmethods; but students’ opinions should berespected on issues like the provision of mealsand the arrangement of sports facilities. Greaterstudent participation in university governance willbe good for both. In having a greater say onissues, even minor ones, students will be moreinterested in the development of the University.

Q: What do you think students get fromparticipation in university governance?

A: Under the present situation, studentrepresentatives gain administrative experiencefrom sitting on University committees. However,the number of students who can sit on suchcommittees is not big enough. If participation isenlarged more students will benefit. Their generalcampus experience will also be enhanced. Moreimportantly, through participating in universitygovernance, they will be able to exercise theirrights and obligations as responsible citizens. Theywill have to learn to strive for their own groupinterest as responsible members of a bigger family.

Q: Can you tell us something about theconstitutional reform of the Students’ Union?What is the aim of the reform?

A: In the past 50 years the scale and functionof the Students ’ Union have changed

tremendously and is still changing. However,no significant changes have been made to theconstitution during that time. As an institutionaldocument alone, the constitution needs to bereviewed and reformed. Furthermore, we needto understand and remind members of theSU’s core values and rebuild its centripetalforce. Through a constitutional debate/reform,we want to make every one understand againwhy we have an SU and why there are certainrules and why some outdated ones should beredressed. We will first organise forums anddebates to gather ideas. After that workinggroups will be convened to seek furtheropinions. Later on, students will be invited tovote on key issues. If more than 10% of studentsvote for the reform, and we have a simplemajority among those 10% of votes, theconstitution will be amended.

Q: What do you think students can gain fromparticipating in the reform process?

A: By setting the rules and agenda together,individual ownership of the SU would increase.We would have anew social contract.Students’ duties andobligations would bejustified. Above all,through the reformprocess, we hopethat people wouldexper ience andunderstand the spiritof democracy.

Q: What is themajor difficulty ofthis reform?

A: F irst ly, wehave to balancethe interests andviews of the vastmembership whichcomprises aroundone hundred sub-organisations andt h o u s a n d s o fmembers. You canunderstand howdifficult it is for somany people toreach a consensus.Secondly, makingchanges to a con-stitution which hasa long history willn o t b e e a s y .Drast ic and im-mediate reformsare not likely to

succeed. Nevertheless, we should make a start;develop a meaningful model and list of mod-ifications and work on it step by step. It mighttake us a few years to complete the wholereform.

Q: Do you have any special/unforgettableexperience or disappointment?

A: My participation in the anti-WTO protestsis most unforgettable. We worked with manyoverseas student communities on the protests.My time was torn between taking examinationsfor my studies and taking part in the proteststhrough assisting the demonstrators to seek justicefor a better society. It was a worthwhile causeto fight for, which gave me great satisfaction. Thedisappointment laid mainly in the apathy of thegeneral student body. Very few of them took part.We were also disappointed with media coverageof the protests and the response of the generalpublic. Nevertheless, we believe that if theseactivities would benefit some ordinary citizens inthe developing world some day, we wouldcontinue to take part.

10

‘Participating inSUactivitieshelps students growasaperson,makenewfriendsandgaingreaterexposure.However,themostimportantreasonforparticipatinginSUactivitiesshouldbe to serveothers.Ofcourse, themoreactiveweare, themorewegain inpersonal growth.But that shouldbeaby-product.’Lau Fong President Hong Kong University Students’ Union Session 2006

“The great leaders are like the best conductors - they reach beyond the notes toreach the magic in the players.”

- Blaine Lee, a founding vice president of FranklinCovey and author of The Power Principle

Students taking part in a tea gathering with Mr Tam Chi-keung, a commentator andVice-Chairperson of Hong Kong Journalists Association

Students joining the Reality Tour to the Philippines

Posing here are Mr Lau Fong (on the left), the President and the Executives of the Students’Union, Session 2006

covered by degreeprogrammes. However,we will not be guided bystudents’ interests alonealthough we make sureworthwhile programmesare aligned to theirlifestyle, their interests andthe popular youth culture.This is how we attractstudents to our coursesand activities which arebasically voluntary.

Besides attract ingparticipants, our otherchallenge is improving ourown knowledge. Since wecannot design courses on something that we donot know ourselves, we have to talk to differentpeople, read more books, etc, to enrich our ownknowledge.

Another of our aspiration is to launch ourprogrammes in a more systematic way.

Q: How do you rate the present efforts of theGeneral Education Unit in providing whole personeducation to all students?

Dr Chu: Education is a fascinating industry.However, you will be quite distressed if you lookfor immediate results. I think the most satisfyingmoment is when students really enjoyed ourprogrammes and became inspired.

Q: Alexander, could you tell me why you tookcourses offered by the General Education Unit?

Alexander: When I was a first-year student, Idid not know what to think or what I should do.But my experience during my exchange to Canadaopened my mind. I have realised that people havedifferent views about life and that there are manyimportant things other than money and career.When I came back I made different attempts toexplore and have found out what I am suitablefor. I also worked at learning how to establishrelationship with others. That is why I attendedGeneral Education courses. They opened a windowfor me and developed my thinking.

What greatly impressed me at the time wasthe course, ‘Road to University’ (大學之道). Itmade me ask myself why I am here, what I wantfrom my university study, and how I should findmy own way.

Q: What have you learnt from the programmesoffered by the General Education Unit?

Alexander: It has made me realise that theworld is big. It broadened my vision generally andadded new perspectives to my daily life. Besides,it has taught me to interpret things from differentperspectives. More importantly, I have met differentpeople through the General Education coursesand learned new things from them.

Q: And Michelle, do you think the Universityhas provided students with opportunities todevelop as a whole person?

Michelle: Yes. But, I think it can work harderto promote the idea of whole person educationamong students and encourage them to developholistically.

Q: What motivated you to take part in GeneralEducation activities?

Michelle: I found them interesting and startedto take part in my first year. I enjoyed particularlythe community services organised by GEU anddecided to take a major in social administrationin my second year as a result.

Q: What have you gained from these activities?

Michelle: The courses and activities offered bythe Unit cover a wide range of topics. Some ofthem, such as sex, language and history, are closelyassociated with our daily life and have helped mesee how much there is to learn from ourenvironment and what we do everyday.

Q: How about you, Charles?

Charles: I agree with Michelle that whole personeducation is not promoted adequately. We donot yet have a lively and enthusiastic holisticdevelopment atmosphere on the campus. Studentsare not active in joining meaningful activities.

Q: How did you get to know the GeneralEducation Unit?

Charles: It was through the GEU prospectusthat I received when I was a first-year student.The content was interesting so I wanted to findout what general education is and started joiningsome of the activities.

Q: What have you got from joining GEUactivities?

Charles: It has broadened my view and givenme new inspirations. I have discovered that peoplelook at things differently and that you have todecide for yourself which viewpoint is moresuitable for you. To do so, you need to understandthe whole picture, make comparison and judgefor yourself. You should do so with the utmostobjectivity.

Q: Finally, do you think there is a danger ofstudents becoming too narrowly focused oncareer success?

Dr Chu: Students in Hong Kong and mainlandChina have to work hard to gain admission intouniversities. Many of them consider degreequalifications as passports to good jobs and spenda lot of their time preparing for their career.These students seldom ask themselves what theylike to do, what are suitable for them, what theyare good at, etc. They tend to be passive and areinfluenced by social expectations. If they adopta narrow careerist mentality, they would miss alot of mind-opening opportunities to develop asa whole person. They would not have a colourfulstudent life and it will be a social tragedy.

Alexander: Career is an important aspect oflife, but definitely it is not the only thing in life.One should also pay attention to the society,local communities, culture, other goals in life, etc.Being an undergraduate at HKU is the best timeto explore, try different things and grow as aperson. The number of compulsory courses isfew. Examination pressure is comparatively low.Institutional restrictions are few. Opportunitiesto try things out are many. We really should usethis high level of flexibility to develop ourselves.During our undergraduate years, I think the mostimportant things for us to do are: develop ourown thinking, learn how to view the world, defineour position in it and play our role well.

Michelle: I agree that nowadays most studentspay too much attention to money and career.Secondary school students choose universitycourses because they think certain subjects willenable them to get a good job and earn highsalaries. They do not seem to have life goalsother than finding a good paying job aftergraduation.

Charles: Personally, I do not think career successis the only thing in life.

The University of Hong Kong established theGeneral Education Unit in 1995 to provide wholeperson education to all students of the University.It aims to cultivate among students: breadth ofknowledge, competencies, and qualities expectedof educated individuals. It also works with otherunits of the University to create an intellectualand humanistic campus climate which is conduciveto student growth, intellectual discussion, culturalinterflow, reading, and art appreciation.

The aim of General Education activities is tostimulate students to critically reflect on themselvesand grow holistically. Through its activities, studentsget a fuller appreciation of life, culture, and thearts. They acquire better understanding of localand global economic and political issues.

Every year, the General Education Unit providesmore than 40 courses and a few summerprogrammes on a variety of topics. Most of itscourses are delivered by outside professionalsand experts in respective areas. Besides didacticcourses, the Unit also employs experiential andservice-based learning to facilitate critical reflection.

In future, additional emphasis will be placed onethics and moral education, life education, culturaldiversity, and character education. It also plansto popularize the concept of general educationto secondary schools and the general public.

The unique feature of General Educationcourses is that they are non-credit bearing.Students do not have to worry about assessmentrequirements but are motivated to learn throughcuriosity and a desire for knowledge.

Q: How does the General Education Unit(GEU) help students grow as a whole person?

Dr Chu: We take the lead to inspire studentsto think about the values that we emphasise,such as human spirit, the continuity andtransformation of history, understanding of currentissues and the pursuit of values. We want toremind them that the world is big; that there isa lot worth learning even in subjects that are notclosely associated with their academic discipline.Our aim is to stimulate students to critically reflecton themselves and grow. However, whendesigning courses and activities we focus on whatthey are interested in and build our messagesaround them. Since our courses are non-creditbearing, students enjoy greater space and canlearn in a more relaxed manner.

Q: Do you have any difficulties attractingstudents since your courses and activities arenon-credit bearing?

Dr Chu: Whether students will come to ourcourses or join the activities is not our greatestconcern. Rather, it is designing and launchingmeaningful courses and activities. In my experience,smart students will come if our courses are fresh,interesting, worthwhile and meaningful.

For example, the ‘GourmetDIY’ course whichwas about food and diet attracted a hundredapplicants. It included actual cooking, a visit to atraditional Chinese restaurant and wine tasting.The aim of the course was to help studentsrealise that food and diet represent a kind oftradition and culture and contain great knowledge.We adopted the experiential learning mode forthis course. Students were given the opportunityto try, experiment and experience. They wereencouraged to discover and ask questions forthemselves.

We try to achieve a balance by developingcourses on topics that are interesting but are not

Interview withDr Donna Chu andstudentsDr Donna Chu General Education OfficerGeneral Education UnitAlexander Leung Year III Bachelor of SocialSciencesMichelle Tsang Year II Bachelor of SocialSciencesCharles Kwok Year II Bachelor of Science

11

GeneralEducation

“Maturity begins to grow when you can sense your concern for others outweighingyour concern for yourself.”

- John MacNaughton, former Director of the Canadian Institute of International Affairs

Students at the Tung Chung Visit learning about life andbeliefs in the New Territories from Dr Patrick H Hase,Honorary Research Fellow of the Centre of Asian Studies

Ms Sammi Cheng (third from the left), a famous Hong Kong singer and movie star, and students at a seminar on thefilm - Everlasting Regret

Posing here are (from left) Michelle, Dr Chu, Alexander and Charles

May‘06

C o m p e t i t i v es p o r t s a r eprovided by 23

sports c lubs and the HKUSU SportsAssociation administered University teams.These activities are supported by the Instituteof Human Performance (IHP) through theprovision of coaching, facilities and subsidies.IHP staff also serve as team managers, advisorsor consultants to the clubs and U teams whichcompete in local, regional and internationalcompetitions such as the Hong Kong Post-Secondary Colleges Athletic Association, Inter-varsity competitions in Hong Kong andmainland China.

The HKU Sports Scholarship Schemeencourages young men and women, who havedemonstrated outstanding sporting prowessand academic ability, to study at the University.

Every month the IHP recognises outstandingsportsmen/women with the Performance ofthe Month Awards. In April, it hosts the HKUSports Awards Presentation to recogniseindividuals and teams for their achievementsand contributions to sports during the year.

Competitive sports are both enjoyable andenriching. There are ample opportunities forstudents to hone their skills and enjoy thecompany of other young people.

The Centennial Campus is anexciting event. It aims to provideuniversity students and staff adramatically enhanced environmentto fulfill the University's ambitionto be among the very best in theworld. Models of the differentdesigns proposed for the CentennialCampus are being exhibited oncampus and around Hong Kong; and students have beenrecruited to explain the concept and the models to thegeneral public.

Over 70 student ambassadors participated in the exercise.They undertook a six-hour training on heritage preservation,ecological environment of the Centennial Campus site andpresentation technique to prepare them for their assignmentwhich was undertaken from early March to end of April.More student ambassadors will be recruited in coming yearsto provide an additional learning experience for students.The training might be developed into a broadening course.

CO-CURRICULAR PROGRAMMES

HKU Sports Team Competitions:

- The AIG Rowing Competition

- The 8th Jackie Chan Challenge Cup

- The AIG Swimming Competition

- The Hong Kong Post-Secondary CollegesAthletic Association

- The 41st HKPSCAA Swimming Competition

- The 18th HKPSCAA Cross Country Race

- The HKPSCAA Ball Games Competitions

- The AIG Athletics Meet

- The AIG Ball Games Competitions

- The 44th HKPSCAA Athletics Meet

Name Website

AIESEC-LC-HKU http://www.hku.hk/aiesec

Animation and Comics Association http://www.hku.hk/acabox/

Art Club http://www.hku.hk/artclub/

Astronomy Club http://www.hku.hk/suastro/

Biology Society http://www.hku.hk/biosoc/

Bridge Club http://www.hku.hk/bridge/

Buddhist Studies Society http://www.hku.hk/buddhist/

Catholics Society http://www.hku.hk/hkukatso

Chess and Boardgames Club http://www.hku.hk/chesssoc/

China Education Association http://www.hku.hk/hkusucec/

China Study Society http://www.hku.hk/css/

Christian Association http://www.hku.hk/casu/

Computer Society http://www.hku.hk/compsoc/

Dancing Club http://www.hku.hk/dance/

Debating Society http://www.hku.hk/debateso/

Drama Society http://www.hku.hk/dramasoc/

Electronics Society http://www.eee.hku.hk/~electsoc/

Film Society http://www.hku.hk/filmsoc

Fishing Club http://web.hku.hk/~fishing/

German Association http://www.hku.hk/deutsch

Greenwoods http://www.hku.hk/~grnwoods/

Hong Kong Award of Young People http://www.hku.hk/hkuayp

Investment Society http://www.hku.hk/ishku

Magic Club http://www.hku.hk/magic/

Music Club http://www.hku.hk/musiclub

Photographic Society http://www.hku.hk/photosoc/

Ramblers’ Club http://web.hku.hk/~ramblers/

Rotaract Club http://www.hku.hk/rotaract/

Social Service Group http://www.hku.hk/hkusussg/

Weapons & Tactics Association http://web.hku.hk/~wtahkusu/

World University Service http://www.hku.hk/wushk/

Writing Workshop http://www.hku.hk/writing

Youth Literary Awards Association http://web.hku.hk/~ylaa

The Green Gown Guides programme providesstudents with opportunities to practisecommunication skills. Student Ambassadors aregiven the responsibility of introducing the historyof the University to visitors. During campus toursthey also share with the guests their experiencesat HKU.

The Buddy Programme provides incomingexchange students with local students as guidesto help them settle down and integrate into the

Th e H K U M e n t o r s h i pProgramme was established in1997. Not only was it the firstprogramme of its kind, it hasbecome the exemplar of similarprogrammes.

Second-year undergraduatestudents are paired with friendsand alumni of the University whoare professionals and expertsfrom an academic disciplinedifferent from their own. Theone-to-one relationship or partnership betweenthe Mentor and Mentee gives students the chanceto look beyond the classroom and learn from asenior member of the society through mutualrespect, support, trust, sharing and understanding.

As HKU becomes more internationalised andmore foreign students study on our campus, theProgramme has been extended, since 2003-4,to incoming students admitted through the HKUWorldwide Exchange Programme.

Sports HKU Sports Teams:

- Swimming (Men & Women)

- Cross Country (Men & Women)

- Badminton (Men & Women)

- Basketball (Men & Women)

- Football (Men)

- Squash (Men & Women)

- Table Tennis (Men & Women)

- Tennis (Men & Women)

- Volleyball (Men & Women)

Students participating in the 18th HKPSCAA CrossCountry Race

ICA clubs and websites:

Student Ambassadorsfor the CentennialCampus

Mentorship Scheme

Professor Amy Chan and Mr Peter M K Wong (Mentorssince 1997) and Mr Gary Ho and Mrs Agnes Ho (Mentees1997) sharing their experience

BuddiesGreenGownGuides

12

A prize-giving moment at the 25th AIG SwimmingCompetition

Independent ClubsNumerous clubs are open to students to hone their communication and organisation skills andenjoy each other’s company. They are overseen by the Independent Club Association.

May‘06

The inauguration ceremony 2005-06

Student Ambassadors at the Centennial Campus site

Student Ambassadors and a delegation from Minnesota, USA

local community. On the other hand, it enableslocal students to learn about caring for otherpeople, being more resourceful in solving practicalproblems; and of course, learning about thecultures of his foreign buddies.

Student Ambassadors participating in thetraining session

China Programmes

Among its many activities, the ChinaAffairs Office organises the HKUWorldwide China Programme 2006 forstudents to learn about life and work inthe mainland. This Programme comprisesthe Summer Exchange Programme andChina VacTrain Programme. In collaborationwith key point universities, such as Peking,Tsinghua, andFudan, theSummerExchangeProgramme offers three to four-weeksummer courses on history, law, medicine,culture and business management. ChinaVacTrain Programme, on the other hand,provides two-month internship placementsin Beijing and Shanghai.

were awarded the scholarship.

The Young Leaders are invitedto assist in University events,organised by the Development andAlumni Affairs Office as occasionsrequired. This year, present andprevious Young Leaders plan to

organise community services together. Besides, ascheme for the adoption of children is beingconsidered.

The In tens i f i edLearning OpportunityProgramme aims to

develop a crop of outstanding graduates for the21st Century, in consonance with the University’svision for undergraduate education, which states,amongst other things, “to produce graduates ofdistinction committed to lifelong learning, integrityand professionalism, capable of being responsiveleaders and communicators in their fields”.

The Programme is designed for students whoaspire and are committed to becoming visionary,responsible, and responsive leaders with a strongintegrity and commitment to society and life.ILOPers should have a high degree of socialawareness and social commitment, a broadinternational outlook and acceptance of andappreciation for cultural diversity. They shouldaim at working towards global goals such assustainable development, and ethical values suchas equality and human rights. They should be ableto create wealth and opportunities for other

The Personal Development and CounsellingCentre offers individual counselling and groupactivities to support students’ personal growth.Through individual and group activities, studentslearn to deal with problems and develop socialand leadership skills.

Services available include:

- Individual counselling

- Lunch time information sessions and drop-in hours for urgent issues

Interview withDr Gracemary LeungActing Director PDCC

Q: What kind of personal developmentprogrammes does the PDCC run?

A: We provide different kinds of training likeEQ, communication and relationship skills, etc. Ouraim is to encourage students to accept themselvesand others, be prepared to learn from othercultures, develop different kinds of interests, andpay attention to both body and mind; in short, toattain holistic wellness.

Q: What are the difficulties in helping studentsdevelop as a whole person?

A: Breaking the traditional mode of learning isone of our greatest challenges. Learning traditionallytakes place in the classroom; but now we emphasiseproblem-based learning. We should also learnfrom socialising with other people. The idea of‘mix and mingle’ encourages students to makecontact with society or local communities toexperience how organisations function, be exposedto different situations of human interaction, observerules of social etiquette, and learn appropriatemanners in different situations and cultures.However, finding the time to liaise with otherparties and organise such events can be a challenge.The pressure that students face from parentalexpectation is another challenge that we are facedwith. Most parents have high, and maybe unrealistic,expectations of what their children should earnwith a university degree.

Q: How do you rate the present efforts ofhelping students develop as a whole person?

A: Each workshop can take only 20 students;but there are thousands of students on campus.In this sense, we are not able to meet the needsof all students. On the other hand, some studentsdo not realise they have needs. They think theycome to university just to study, attend lecturesand hand in assignments. This culture should betransformed. The University should promote theidea of ‘whole person’ development. Self-development, self-growth, interacting with others,facing issues with a positive mindset, etc, will reapbeneficial results. About 50% of students needsuch training but they lack motivation to do so.

The University of Hong Kong was founded in1911 to ‘serve as a focal point of intellectual andacademic endeavour in Hong Kong, China andAsia and act as a gateway and forum forscholarship with the rest of the world’.

Following this heritage, the China Affairs Officeof the Academic Liaison Section of the Registryworks closely with mainland universities on studentexchange, academic collaboration, cultural activities,updating information on China affairs; andpromoting HKU in mainland China.

One of the missions of the Careers Educationand Placement Centre (CePc) is to facilitatestudents to enter personally rewarding careers.It believes that as part and parcel of whole persondevelopment, students should have a clear ideaof what they are interested in, what they valueand are good at. They should be able to describethemselves adequately to other people. Theyshould also be aware of what people do in theworld of work and how real business problemsare solved in different sectors of the community.

ILOP

Young Leadersof TomorrowCareers

EducationA web-based occupational interest questionnaire

and database of career information, ProspectPlanners, is available at <http://www.hku.hk/cepc/NEW/forstudent/choosing.html>.Guidance materials and graduate employmentstatistics are posted on the CePc website <http://www.hku.hk/cepc/survey/ges/index.html> for self-learning. Graduate sharing sessions and applicationand interview workshops are conducted frequentlyto augment published material, while honorarycareer advisers are available for one-on-oneconsultation by appointment.

Besides careers education, the CePc alsoorganises internship programmes, hostsrecruitment talks, runs pre-employment trainingprogrammes and conducts graduate employmentsurveys.

- Assistance for students with disabilities

- Coaching for application for scholarships orexchange programmes

- Peer support groups

- Evening support groups for both postgraduatestudents and mainland students

- Evening therapeutic groups on eating problems,stress management, internet addiction andcontrol and sexual orientation

13

The “Young Leaders of Tomorrow” CommunityLeaders Scholarship Scheme is open to first-yearundergraduate students who have demonstratedexcellence and leadership potential through activeparticipation in arts, sports, community service,responsible positions, or other extra-curricularactivities during secondary school.

This Scholarship Scheme was first launched in1998 as the Young Leaders of Tomorrow ScholarshipProgramme. With the support of the Home AffairsDepartment, 90 local community leaders contributedto an endowment fund to support the scholarshipsand celebrate the University’s 90th Anniversary in2001. Since its inception, over 450 Young Leaders

people. Theyalways operateaccording to thehighest ethicalstandards.

To w o r ktowards theseg o a l s , t h eP r o g r a m m eseeks to helpeach participantdiscover his/herown strengthsand aspirations,o v e r c o m eb l o c k s t op e r s o n a ldevelopment, gain experience, acquirecompetence and confidence in mastering newsituations and functioning creatively in an ever-changing world.

The Programme encompasses co-curricularlearning activities over a period of fourteenmonths. These activities can be broadly classifiedinto the following areas:

- Personal Growth & Leadership Development

- Cultural Awareness

- General Education

- Corporate Values and Business Ethics

- Internship at Non-Local CommercialOrganizations or NGOs

- Mentorship

PersonalDevelopmentandCounsellingCentre

Q: How could thisproblem be solved?

A: I think someun ivers i t y -widecultural campaignsshould be organised.We have to developa culture of everyonebeing eager andactive in listening andg r a s p i n g n e wknowledge. If peoplearound you are doing so and believe it is importantto do so, you will soon follow suit. Alternatively,moral and leadership training might be madecompulsory. We should also promote a culturethat emphasises ‘you must come forward; otherwise,you will lose out’. However, finding the staff towork on these issues is a problem. When resourcesare reduced, one has to prioritise.

Q: In what ways do the PDCC support academicprogrammes?

A:Weprovideextracurricular training for personaldevelopment. With academic general educationas the groundwork, we pay attention to humanrelations, philosophy of life, self-restraint and self-control. Our clinical psychologists also help studentscope with problems when they are going throughhard times. Our goal is to release students’ potentialand empower them to achieve great things.

Q: Do you agree that students should be waryof becoming narrow careerists and neglecting aholistic development?

A: Yes. Most people in Hong Kong arematerialistic. They look for good jobs with highremuneration. The vision of seeking a goodjob, earning a fat salary, and working forpromotion is too narrow. Rather, they shouldreflect on the purpose of life, truth and morality.They should aim to be leaders who work toachieve and contribute to the well-being oftheir families and society. If they do so, theywill eventually develop self-discipline and goodmoral and ethical standards. I do hope studentswill broaden their vision beyond material careersuccess. The world will be a happier place.Maybe a four-year degree programme will giveus the time to provide students with acomprehensive education which is one of themissions of universities.

Posing here is Dr GracemaryLeung, Acting Director of thePersonal Development andCounselling Centre Students of the Summer Exchange Programme

An intern in Shanghai

ILOP students visiting a migrant worker

ILOP students taking part in a three-day adventure camp

Young Leaders at the awards presentation ceremony inMarch 2006

Tan Veng YenBBA (Finance andMarketing) 2006Financial Analyst at a prominent investmentbank

I became interested in finance since Year Twobecause, firstly, my instinct tells me I will enjoyit. Secondly, I like its professionalism and growthpotentials.

What helped me secure the analyst position,apart from fate or luck, I would say, are timemanagement and forward planning. The year Ispent in Australia on work holiday doing differentjobs also helped. I was a waitress in Sydney, aclerk in Brisbane, and a farm worker in smalltowns. During that time, I became more matureand open-minded and was better atcommunicating and working with foreigners. Theexperience definitely enriched my life experience.

Besides the work holiday experience which Itook after my first year of study, I also learnedPutonghua and Spanish, for future travel purposes.I took part in summer exchange tours, participatedin overseas competition, took painting lessonsand learned history. I wanted to enjoy life andbe both street-smart and book-smart.

While I was happy experimenting on my own,I think it would be helpful if the University wouldrequire students to take compulsory courses inthe arts, humanities, IT and foreign languages tohelp us get started. Besides, more flexibility for

PLACEMENT

Students should be cautious againstbecoming narrow careerists. Is acareerist’s interest antithesis to the ‘wholeperson’ development? Successful jobhunters seem to be able to do both,developing employability and growingholistically.

Flora TsuiBECON&FIN 2005Customer Development Management Traineewith Johnson and Johnson

I am interested in FMCG (Fast Moving ConsumerGoods) industry as it is a highly dynamic andcompetitive sector. My long-term careeraspiration is to be a well-respected BusinessDevelopment Director in a leading FMCG firm.My current job in Johnson and Johnson hashelped me explore the SWOT of differentretailers and the distinct ways to team up withthem. An acute sense to business and marketchange are of vital importance to my job. Ibelieve that people network will be an addedasset for further career development.

I succeeded in getting my job in JnJ, I reckon,because of my strong logical sense, problem-solving skills and abilities to identify businessopportunities. The soft skills that I developedthrough hall life, extra-curricular activities(say, debat ing) and one-year-exchangeprogramme in Canada are undoubtedlyadvantageous to me.

Quick thinking, fast acting, being proactivewith a flexible mindset for turning problemsinto opportunities are essential attributes forworking in JnJ. The technical skills that I haveto possess for my job may not be directly

Sharon PangBBA (Law)to graduate in 2007

I hope to be a PR person. My interest wasdeveloped during the 2 years in HKU. Thereputation of a company is vital. One can buildup his/her company’s image through branding,advertising, and communications. I believe theworld is becoming more a people’s industry, andI can see the importance of public relations isgrowing. Moreover, I really like to interact withpeople. It would be ideal to turn my interestinto a future career.

To be successful, I reckon, one must be open-minded, friendly and hard-working. Working ina people-oriented industry, one must be ableto accept new people and new things. On topof that, one must be extremely friendly to makepeople feel welcome even when they meet forthe first time. I think hard-working is one of thesuccess factors because one might have to workround the clock. There are a lot of graduateswho refuse to work over-time or complainabout long hours of work. However, I believein ‘no pain, no gain’. You can never benefit orget anything without putting in your own effort.

I lived in St John’s College last semester and

students to take courses from different facultiesand providing more affordable opportunities forstudents to go abroad would certainly help ourdevelopment. More business competitions andinternship positions should be organised toprepare students for life after graduation.However, participating in all these activities takestime. Ways have to be found to make best useof limited time. Maybe the University couldconsider integrating different forms of learningactivities, be they course work or extracurricularactivities, into a meaningful whole, balancing timespent on independent study, group work, andgoal-specific activities.

I do believe HKU provides students with abroad spectrum of opportunities to learn in aholistic manner. How much individual studentsget out of the University depends on how wellthey are prepared for challenges; how good theyare at grasping learning opportunities and howfar they are willing to stretch themselves toachieve excellence.

had loads ofe x p e r i e n c elearning to relateto people. This isas important tome as learningthe subjects formy degree. Itwould be great ifI could also learnother knowledgethat I cannotgrasp on my own

such as philosophy. Another example is foreignlanguages. My sister and I are planning to takeeither German or Spanish lessons together thissummer so that we can practise together.

Meeting new friends and creating a socialnetwork are the other important aspects ofmy university life. I do so through the publicrelations role that I hold with the Hong KongFederation of Business Students. This hastrained me into an all-round person and at thesame time a person fit for career advancement.Every opportunity the university providesstudents with, be it an exchange programme,internship, a member of an executivecommittee, is an invaluable chance to grow,become presentable and be able tocommunicate with others.

Vivian ZhangBECON&FIN 2006I became interested in solving macro problemssince reading books on economics when I wasin high school. Hence, in 2002, I enrolled oneconomics courses in Tsinghua University, fromwhich I hoped to learn conceptual frameworksfor solving such problems. In 2003, I was awardeda scholarship to study at HKU and came here tocontinue my study.

My long term career aspiration is to bring someenlightenment to the world. One day I might goback to graduate studies after I have gatheredsome real life experience and identified significantand worthwhile problems to study. For the timebeing I shall take up a Financial Analyst positionwith an investment bank after graduation.

As part of the scholarship, I went for anexchange programme at the University ofCalifornia, Davis, where I spent the first andsecond quarters before proceeding to anotherexchange programme at the University ofWashington, DC. While abroad, I took the initiativeto approach employers for internship positionsand was fortunate enough to be given suchopportunities by the Private Wealth Divisions ofboth Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch and theAmerican Enterprise Institute. By the time I cameback to Hong Kong in 2005, I developed enoughconfidence to feel that I was in charge of my owndestiny. I knew where I wanted to go and I tookadvantage of resources at HKU to grow andcontinued to work as an intern. This time it wasat JP Morgan in Hong Kong. I am now completelyfluent in Cantonese and am comfortable workingwith Hong Kong people, Americans and othernationals.

My experience has convinced me that a goodfinancial services industry is of paramountimportance to the economic wellbeing of China.Hence, in August, before my final year, I startedfinding out more about the industry and tooksteps to prepare myself for job hunting. Besidesreading, I talked to my supervisors at work andother interns. I asked them about their work tounderstand how an investment bank works. I

14

May‘06

related to the subjects I studied at theUniversity; however, the analytical and problem-solving skills are similar to those I learnt inHKU. Since one can learn these skills from anydegree, I think students should be encouragedto follow their interests, rather than markettrends , when they choose academicprogrammes. Learning to solve diverseproblems independently and studying a subjectthat interests you wholeheartedly are moreimportant than learning specific subject mattersthat you are not really interested in.

University life has been a very enjoyable andfruitful experience to me. Treasure your time inHKU and seize every opportunity to broadenyour horizon. I wish that all of you are able tofind the right subject to study and the rightindustry to develop your career.

studied all the websites of the banks that I wasinterested in. This helped me decide the aspectof finance I am best suited for, which is sales anddebt capital analysis. The next thing I did was totry it out. I expanded my reading from generalinformation about the industry to investmentissues. I also chatted about market situations withlike-minded students, to find out whether I reallylike it. I also used the reference materials in theCareers Education and Placement Centre andpractised technical discussions with Mr HermanChan, the Placement Consultant.

Although I have a clear idea about what I wantto do as a career and did spend a lot of time oninternship and job hunting, I believe I havedeveloped beyond a narrow careerist’s interests.General Education Courses and High TableDinners opened my eyes. I remembered beingshocked by some of the speakers. For example,one of them admitted in public that he was gay.He even talked about how he tried to attract theattention of other gay men when he was inLondon. I have also met leaders of political partiesthat I used to be wary of. These experienceschallenged my concepts of right and wrong. Theyalso introduced me to value systems that aredifferent from mine. The Arts All Scheme nurturedmy love of classical music and the exemplaryfairness of the professors of my Departmentshowed me how to be fair and respect individualsirrespective of their ability.

Tan Veng Yen with Lord Wilson at the 173rd CongregationCeremony

experienced in solvingproblems and adapting tochanges. I became good atthinking spontaneously andlogically. Interviewers wereoften interested in my ideasand the way I think.

While logical thinking,engineering knowledge, and studying abroadwere very important to my development, Ithink general education, history, multipleperspectives, and lateral thinking are equallyimportant to my personal growth. They alsohelped me secure job offers from internationalaccounting firms.

Commonsense and problem solvingability are important attributes todevelop.

Students who have wide exposure, a goodtrack record of accomplishments and clearcareer objective are more likely to wininterviews than uninitiated applicants. However,once past the application stage, commonsenseand problem solving ability are of paramountimportance besides fundamental communicationskills, as you can see from the following samplesituational questions that students experienceat employment interviews.

Sample questions:

(1) You are an analyst with a managementconsulting firm. What advice would yougive a client, an office furniture distributor,who is considering the following optionsfor expanding into the mainland market?

Options:

(a) direct entry on its own,

(b) appointing a sole national distributor, or

Ng Kiu SumBSS 2005Trainee (Marketing) with Nestlé Hong KongLimited

I enjoy marketing particularly. It is very gratifyingwhen my promotion ideas are adopted by mysupervisor and are successful with customers. Ialso enjoy the opportunity to challenge mycommunication skills and interact with differentpeople. It helps me become more sensitive, tactfuland thoughtful at work and in life.

I reckon I succeeded in getting the job at Nestlébecause of my ability to communicate easily withpeople from different background and in differentsituations.

The ability to argue with reason, evaluateobjectives, and weigh up different approaches totasks, which I learned from courses in Politics, PublicAdministration, Journalism and Translation, werevery helpful too. The ability to identify positiveaspects from negative situations also helped sincein sales and marketing one has to deal with manyconflicts and pressures.

University is a good place to test self-discipline.I think most fellow students would agree thatwithout teachers and parents watching over us,we have to rely on ourselves to manage our timeand complete assignments. The self-disciplinethat I acquired at university is a great help for mycareer. Meeting deadline with others in a teamis even more challenging. The experience at HKUhas prepared me for getting things done withcolleagues now.

Jacky ChungBENG (CivE) Year IIII attended interviews for the graduate traineeposition in civil engineering and other industriesbut became more and more interested inaccounting from the discussions I had with theinterviewers.

I reckon what helped me secure job offerswith the accounting firms is the logical reasoningability that I acquired from my engineering degree.This was very apparent during interviews. Theyear that I spent studying at Colorado Schoolof Mines in the US entirely transformed my wayof thinking. I became more independent, more

From Mr Herman ChanPlacement ConsultantCareers Education and Placement Centre

(c) setting up a network of regionaldistributorships.

(2) You are a management trainee with aproperty developer and are shown thefloor plan of a new shopping centre. Howwould you market and promote it? Whatstrategy would you recommend?

(3) You are a capital market analyst with aninvestment bank and are given thevaluation of three specific bonds. Whatcomments do you have? Where do youthink the Asian bond market is moving?

(4) You are an audit trainee with aninternational accounting firm. What impactdo you think the Sarbanes-Oxley Acthave on the financial reporting of USlisted companies? What impact do youthink recent changes in tax legislation inmainland China, or new internationalaccounting standards, have on your work?

For demanding interviews, such as thosegiven by management consulting firms, generallyonly one in five students could cope. What is

Raymond Chan(not his real name)Final Year Master’sdegree student

When I started attending recruitment talksto find out what I would be interested indoing for a career, I came to realise that themanagement consulting industry suited mycareer objective best of all. Firstly, it exposesme to many different industries and I willlearn how the business world functions.Secondly, management consultants work ona global basis; this is what I would like to do.Thirdly, business prospects for the industryare huge given the market potentials ofmainland China.

I know what personal qualities I possess,but I reckon I have to acquire the confidenceto present these qualities in an attractivemanner to people who do not know me. Ibenefited from the assistance of the CareersEducation and Placement Centre (CePc),where I also learned about the managementconsulting industry and the business problemsthat management consultants have to solve.

It is undeniable that the job seeking processwas very exhaust ing, and demanded asurprisingly large amount of time and effort.I spent almost 80% of my time on job huntinguntil I secured a job offer. It was really difficultbalancing job hunting and study.

This is so because the interview processfor management consulting is very demanding.General ly there are several rounds ofcompetence-based interviews and caseinterviews. Competence-based interviewsare relatively easy, covering questions like

required is the ability to size up the situationquickly, ask intelligent questions, discuss theproblem with the interviewer in an interactivemanner, and propose strategic solutions. Acommonsensical approach, and not high levelprofessional standard, is adequate since it ispotential, and not experience, that interviewersare looking for.

This can be acquired throughobservation and reflection.

The answer is: reflect on what you see aroundyou. Take an interest in situations around you.Analyse how things are done, and reflect onthe result. Collect information, identify problems,find out what people think, and devise solutions.Chat with your friends and mentors about yourthoughts. Over time you would develop a sense

about life around you that is commonknowledge to people in that walk of life.

Now that you know how things work aroundyou, you are in a good position to ‘think onyour feet’ and discuss solutions to problemswith interviewers. Try hanging your ideas ona structured, strategic and logical frameworksuch as the SWOT analysis (Strengths,Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats), BCGMatrix, Michael Porter’s Five Forces Model andthe 4P concepts of Philip Kotler. These areexplained in management books.

Original ideas are important.

As important as presenting your knowledgein a structured manner is having your ownideas. Even when you are asked a straightforward question such as ‘What are fixedincome products?’, you are expected to gobeyond surface information, picked up frompublished material, to discuss your personalinsight on the significance of bonds to theissuer, the investment bank and the capitalmarket, etc. Practise doing so by synthesisingwhat you learned from books with the realworld. For example, how would you apply theprinciples and theories about valuation thatyou learned on an investment course to valuatethe worth of a real company?

“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”

- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965), a British politician and author, best known as PrimeMinister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War

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s t reng ths and weaknes ses , p rev iousexperience and reason for choosing thecompany etc. There are no right and wronganswers. The trick is to present what youhave achieved in the past as a whole personin an interesting manner and to answerprobing questions that delve into what youdid to develop yourself as a person and whatyou plan to do in future. To do well needsa lot of practices. The CePc definitely helpedme reflect on my past, formulate plans forthe future and align them with the job I wasapplying for. The process was harsh, but ithas to be done and the experience wasinvaluable.

On the other hand, the case interviewswere much more challenging. I was givenquite a handful of complex information andwas asked to digest, analyse, pick up keyissues, solve a real life business problem andpresent the solution within a very shortperiod of time. Apart from attempting thequestions with concise and descript iveanswers to show your critical thinking, I alsotried to demonstrate my interpersonal skillsby interact ing with the interviewers . Imanaged to do so through the numerouspractices I had and the useful materials I readat the CePc.

Besides interviewing skills, what helped mesecure the job with a management consultingf i rm were : genera l knowledge , w ideperspective of current local and global affairs,understanding of what the industry is likeand how it suits me, keen interest in theindustry, knowledge about its performance,intellectual curiosity, a strong analytical mind,and the ability to learn very quickly.

Professor Adam Lui Yuen-chung HonoraryProfessor Department of Chinese; HKUHonorary Adviser on Qing Archives HKULibraries; former Head of Department ofHistory HKU

It is with great pleasure for me to learn fromdraft articles for this issue of Dialogue thatstudents learn from their university life at HKUknowledge and experience beyond the prescribedsyllabi and courses. I must also applaud the ViceChancellor’s intention to improve teaching andlearning, which will no doubt enhance students’holistic development. The Dean of Student Affairs,and former Warden of University Hall, on theother hand, exalted the benefits of hall residence,which I can easily subscribe to. Nevertheless,several questions came to my mind. In the spiritof ‘Dialogue’, I venture to offer my humblecomments here, as a long serving but retiredmember of the HKU family, to generate discussion.

The first point I wish to make relates to theapproach to general education. I reckon generaleducation should focus on methodology ratherthan content. It should help students acquire theability to assess and analyse people and issues.This, I believe, is the aim of the General EducationUnit. However, I would suggest that studentsshould also learn to express their views on varioustopics interestingly both to themselves and tothe subjects being assessed. They should assessissues from viewpoints of the past, the presentand, possibly the future; from Western andEastern perspectives; and from science-orientedand humanistic angles. When assessing people,students should employ empathy as far as possible.Placing oneself in the position of the persondescribed, one would understand why such aperson does this or that. This is what I wouldcall ‘general education approach’ to life. It drawspeople together; makes them open, civil andunderstanding. I will discuss this concept of generaleducation approach in a more substantial wayin a future essay.

The other point I wish to make is the updatingof syllabi. Some departments are quite slow tochange their syllabi, despite the heavy demandmade by students. Departments which are notunder pressure from lack of funds or teachers arelikely to resist change because they are afraid of

Continued from page 1

In closing, I would like to conclude with thefollowing thoughts:

- HKU provides students with opportunitiesto learn; but never in the form of spoon-feeding. Having collected information, studentsmust be able to digest it to make it part ofthem and ensure that the information istransformed into some useful knowledge.

- Under its fine tradition, HKU continues topay great emphasis on the training of leaders.Changing from a 3 to 4-year curriculum willprovide more flexibility to the design oflearning experiences. Teachers will have moretime to work with students in guiding, advisingand counselling them.

- HKU will look at teaching techniques ofits teachers head-on. However specialised,teachers should pay attention to teachingtechniques, the aim of which is to teachstudents how to think; to develop theirl i fe - long learn ing sk i l l s and corecompetence; and to prepare leaders whocan adapt to changes and move with thetimes. Faculties could help the developmentof pedagogy by giving it higher priority intheir development plans. Together, we candevelop career development opportunitiesto empower lecturers to teach studentshow to think.

Editorial Board Careers Education and Placement Centre: Louisa Li Susan Leung Irene Chen Wendy Chan

Comments

troubles that change might bring. For example,arts subjects, particularly History, have becomeunpopular among students because practicalapplication of arts subjects is not apparent, andarts graduates think they are disadvantaged in thejob market. Would the University consider creatingan “Applied Arts Centre” to relate the humanisticside of arts courses to practical social needs? Thiswould definitely make arts subjects more attractiveto students; at the same time, retaining the valueof the humanities. In this contemporary world, theEast and the West are having closer and morefrequent contacts; so should the Centre of AsianStudies be changed to the Centre of East-WestStudies? Or, should a new centre be set up topromote East -West Cultures? Should departmentschange their syllabi to include emerging issues suchas the Middle East, Africa or South America? Ireckon, in considering curriculum reforms,departments should not over-worry about whetheror not the new subjects are in line with in-houseexpertise. Lecturers, being versatile scholars, coulduse their research skills to reach out beyond theirareas of expertise to embrace new subjects.

What has been suggested above are merelymy own vision, and what I hope is that it willattract more concrete and useful suggestionsfrom administrators, teachers and students. Asthe role of Dialogue is to engender mutual sharingof ideas and brain-storming, I venture to put inmy own analyses of what our University mightconsider. The University, under the auspiciousguidance of the Vice-Chancellor, has been movingup to the level of first class universities in theworld. Its contributions to medicine and sciencehave been acknowledged by the world. Myhumble suggestions, I hope, will go some way tobalance science and arts, theories and practice.

Interview with theVice-Chancellor

- What I would like to see in the next academicyear and in future is more studentsparticipating in University functions. Students,for example, are invited to give theircomments and suggestions on the HKUCentennial Campus project, which is a majormilestone in the University’s history. Manystudents have already participated in theforums for this project and given us theirviews which will be most valuable in ourplanning as the new campus will be forstudents and we need to understand theirneed. I am expecting suggestions andcomments from more students in the comingmonths. Our students have been asking formore participation in university governance.I welcome such interest and would like tosee more of them attending seminars andevents, do their research on the issues, andcontribute their thoughts at public meetings,committee meetings, or Council and Senatemeetings; either directly or through theirrepresentatives. I hope through Dialogue wecan air issues and voice opinions from allsides. I also wish to stress that my doors arealways open for students. I look forward tounderstanding what students value and strikea few sparks with them.

- Finally, it is my sincere wish to see the HKUfamily joining forces to contribute to thesociety.

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May‘06

1. Algeria 2. Argentina 3. Austria 4. Australia 5. Bangladesh 6. Brazil 7. Bulgaria 8. Canada 9. Chile 10. China 11. Colombia 12. Costa Rica

13. Czech Republic 14. Denmark 15. Egypt 16. Ethiopia 17. Fiji 18. Finland 19. France 20. Germany 21. Ghana 22. Greece 23. Grenada 24. Haiti

25. Hong Kong, 26. India 27. Indonesia 28. Iran 29. Ireland 30. Italy 31. Japan 32. Korea, South 33. Laos 34. Lebanon 35. Macau, 36. MalaysiaSAR of PRC SAR of PRC

37. Mali 38. Mexico 39. Mongolia 40. Myanmar 41. Nepal 42. Netherlands 43. New Zealand 44. Nigeria 45. Norway 46. Pakistan 47. Peru 48. Philippines

49. Poland 50. Portugal 51. Qatar 52. Romania 53. Russia 54. Singapore 55. South Africa 56. Spain 57. Sri Lanka 58. Suriname 59. Sweden 60. Switzerland

61. Thailand 62. Taiwan 63. Tanzania 64. United 65.United States 66. Venezuela 67. Vietnam 68. Yemen 69. ZimbabweKingdom

Answers to Flags of Nations/Regions:

“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the placesyou can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”

- John Wesley (1703-1791), an 18th-century Anglican clergyman and Christian theologian whowas an early leader in the Methodist Movement