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Marginalia

Life is a never-ending process of consumption. And the most detectable acts of consumption are those that can be measured in monetary terms. In that sense, the 40-year-old Consumer Council is closely related to the lives of the seven million Hong Kong people. The Council is where some CUHK members serve the community indefatigably. We have talked with three of them about their efforts and rewards.

Eating is what human beings do all the times. Food can be said to be the biggest consumer goods. What we eat, how we eat, how we process food, and how we see it are all research topics for anthropologists. Prof. Sidney Cheung talks about 'eating' in this issue's 'In Plain View'.

In the 'CUHK f+b' column you won't find pricey nouvelle or haute cuisine, but some hearty food that warms our stomach and heart. The column serves as archival records of fragments of our campus life, and thank you notes to those who satisfy our appetite with a caring mind. In this issue, the spotlight falls onto an unpretentious baked potato.

Consumerism is seen to be an economic stimulus that facilitates 'development'. It's fortunate that in this University we don't allow ourselves to succumb to consumerism. The Chinese University Press doesn't view sales figures as the only yardstick of success. Let its acquisition editor Ye Minlei brief us on this.

Life can also be a never-ending process of contribution.