Bulletin Vol. 6 No. 4 Jan–Feb 1970

Dr. C. T. Yung's Opening Address I t is indeed a great pleasure for me to welcome you all to our second Pre-Employment Workshop of The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Last year it was held on our Chung Chi campus and I remember how many of you had to brave the cold and the distance to spend a whole day with us. This year we have tried to remedy the distance factor and I hope we are equally successful with the weather. I am exceedingly delighted with the increased enrollment of over 300 students at this Workshop which reflects favourably on their increased awareness and appreciation of the value of a pre-employment programme. By the experience gained f r om the first Workshop held last year we have been able to improve in a number of ways the mechanics of organization and proceedings. We have tried to integrate the dimensional aspects of the problem into a comprehensive syllabus and by constituting combined panels consisting of field experts and leaders, university academics and alumni. We have also tried to provide a more effective time table to permit a greater share of communication. On the one hand we wish to maximize on fellowship, on the other hand we would like to minimize the load of individual participants, especially that of the panelists, as they are all busy men. Y o u may note that all students w i ll be involved in an orientation session where a treatment w i ll be given to basic aspects of individual preparation. I n addition, each student is expected to join one of the professional workshops of his choice where more specific problems of career planning are discussed in depth. Further, to widen an understanding of inter-area relationships, students w i ll have an opportunity to hear the summary reports of all the other workshops in a joint plenary session. A total of 15 workshops will be conducted as f r om tomorrow and continue for two days. I sincerely hope that a spirit of discussion and discovery may prevail. The problem of graduate employment in any developing society has to be examined f r om its many aspects. It is a lesser problem in a traditional society where institutional relationships are more or less established and the ethnic growth of manpower can be gauged. However, once the demand and supply equation is disturbed as it is in a transitional or developing society, problems multiply drastically. I n the United States as early as 40 years ago, the established universities in cooperation with the larger business and public service institutions inaugurated employer visits to the campus to enable a mutual screening between the would-be employers and employees. This became necessary as a competitive element had set in on both sides of demand and supply. To this day, the work has assumed an organized basis under the coordination of a National Placement Council. Practically all universities and colleges have in operation an office for student counselling and placement and the wo rk has become an annual and recurring activity. I n an Eastern society and in our Hong Kong situation, the problem of graduate employment has its unique aspects. The mere transplantation of a Western mode l may not produce the desired results. Our background and social structure are different. The tremendous political changes in Mainland China and the countries of Southeast Asia are reflected in local life and pursuit. Our migrant population has overtaken the ethnic. Mo re than half of our residents are minors. Family formation and home life are no longer what they used to be. University admission is available to the rich and poor alike. We have w i th us a new generation of parents and a new generation of children! When most of our parents are preoccupied with making a livelihood or striving for greater gain, the parent-child relationship suffers and it is often reduced to a minimum. A l l that parents could do would be to entrust their children to the care and supervision of the university. They may pay for their tuition and upkeep but they know little or nothing of what the modern university has to offer yet they are all believing and trusting. Thus the university, like it or not, is expected to assume the dual role of parent and teacher. Is the university responding to this expectation? Four years of study is a long time. For students w i th financial pressures, they are in a hurry to seek jobs and become money earners. Many are already working while carryin g on the academic load. I n this age of so-called academic revolution which may have its repercussions even in Hong Kong, the university finds itself at the crossroad of great decision making. Should it continue to operate on a pattern of prescribed curriculum of courses and requirements and a system of grading and examinations or should it adopt the new and yet undefined policy of freedom and permissiveness? This dissertation may appear unrelated to the work of Appointments Service bu t it does when we are dealing w i th the end product, that is, the graduates. We wan t employable students; we are faced with a quantitative problem of having to match the increasing number of graduates with available posts, which varies according to occupational trends. We are interested to have student candidates who are prepared, happy and willing to step into employment upon their graduation. Their motivation, their possession of communication ability and conceptual skill do concern us. - 6 —