Bulletin Supplement Aug 1969

A l l discussions will not be rigidly structured, but rather be left to the inclinations of the participants. III. The Opening Ceremony More than 100 scholars and administrators from 20 universities and colleges from 10 Asian countries attended the Workshop. Besides the two universities in Hong Kong, the participating universities and colleges were from India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, The Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. These institutions include: Bangalore University, Fergusson College, Isabella Thoburn College, Madras Christian College and Wilson College, India; Satya Watjana Christian University and Universit y of Indonesia, Indonesia; Yonsei University, Korea ; University of Malaya, Malaysia; Silliman Universit y and University of the Philippines. The Philippines; University of the Ryukyus, The Ryukyus; Nanyang University and University of Singapore, Singapore; Tunghai University, Taiwan; Chulalongkorn University , Thailand; University of Saigon and Van Hanh University, Vietnam; University of Hong Kong, The Chinese University of Hong Kong and Baptist College, Hong Kong. The Workshop was officially opened on 18th August by Hi s Excellency the Governor Sir David Trench. The opening ceremony began at 10.00 a.m. at Benjamin Franklin Centre, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin. Sir David Trench addressed the scholars and administrators from various Asian universities and colleges after Dr. Choh-Ming L i had delivered his opening statement. Dr. Choh-Ming Us Opening Statement The institutions of higher education in Asia are now facing two sources of tremendous pressure from without. Any solution that is extreme in nature will change the entire outlook and character of these institutions. With the population explosion, the pressure of student numbers is mounting and will continue to mount. A large class is not by definition worse than a small class. It depends on the teacher, the students and the subject taught. However, it can be safely said that increased student numbers will debase the quality of teaching unless careful provision is made. Another source of pressure is the clamour for more technical education than liberal education. Facing a fast-expanding and developing economy, community leaders often ask the institutions of higher education to turn out more doctors, engineers, architects and accountants so that they can be readily absorbed by various sectors of the society to relieve the acute shortage of manpower. That we need more highly trained people to run a sophisticated economy o f a formidable dimension, there can be no doubt. Following this urgent need, the community tends to look at liberal education with reservation. Liberal education, so the argument goes, is a luxury we can ill afford. The present and primary task of a university is to train specialists and not to flounder in the residue of Western elitism. The answer to this type of reasoning, therefore, is not simply that we should strike a delicate balance between liberal education and technical education, because it attacks the very foundation of liberal education. The crux of the problem is whether the technocrats alone can fulfill the role of our future leaders. To leave the leadership entirely to technocrats is too narrow a view which will eventually create detachment instead of concern. The scientists and technicians tend to remain in a state of incommunicad and the effects on the society will be more divisive than cohesive. In view of recent developments in regiona l and global affairs, it is obvious that our future leaders must possess the capability to make quick and important decisions in a highly volatile society. Further than that, these new leaders must possess vision, flexibility, a harder realism and a greater compassion for his fellow human beings. If the institutions of higher education fail to continuously produce leaders well steeped in liberal education, we shall find ourselves caught short in the crucial issues in the near future. Liberal education calls fo r the understanding of human values and the universities must not be entrenched in a programme which over-emphasizes "intellectual competence and microscopic specialization at the expense of humanistic excellence and the skills of being a human being". Instead, we should have a small core programme in the curriculum and leave ample room fo r the students to make selection so that the students may become more all-round and preoccupied with the quality of life. We need also a new conception of an all-round man, or a new Renaissance man, who prefers to be morally involved with local and global affairs rather than to know everything under the sun. The core and selective courses might, for example, include:— Computers Mass Communication Behavioural Sciences International Finance Public and Business Administration Urban Development Contemporary Fine Arts — 3 —