Bulletin Vol. 6 No. 7 Jul–Aug 1970

speech by the Hon. D. C. C. Luddington I am privileged to be here to-day to sign on behalf of the Government the documents which convey to The Chinese University of Hong Kong the title to over three hundred and thirty acres of land. This grant, one of the largest ever made in the New Territories, was finally authorized by the Governor-in-Council in 1969. 1 say finally because from the time this site was first proposed as appropriate for The Chinese University in 1963 a great deal of work had to be done. At that time most of the site was being used as a borrow area from which fill for the Plover Cove Reservoir dam was being extracted. Unfortunately there proved to be more rock on the site than at first envisaged and amendment of development plans and an extensive site formation contract were required after the Plover Cove contractors had finished with the site in 1967. The various transactions necessary to deal with the many issues have taken many man hours to settle. A succession of no less than five different District Commissioners and four District Officers, to say nothing of the legal advisers, estate surveyors, land assistants, demarcators, draughtsmen, and many others have been involved in the preparations and negotiations on Government's side alone. As the last in this line of District Commissioners, I should like to pay tribute to the hard work of all those who have been involved whether they be University staff and officials, civil servants or village representatives. After signing these documents, 1 look forward to seeing the University's plans coming to life on this magnificent site. I hope all those who come to work here in the future will admire their surroundings. I trust that future students will learn to appreciate the needs of the New Territories and play a part in the solution of the many problems involved in a rapid transition from little more than subsistence farming to close involvement with a dynamic commercial and industrial complex. May I on behalf of Government wish you, Mr. Vice-Chancellor, and The Chinese University of Hong Kong a long and successful tenure of the land granted to you to-day. D r . Choh-Ming Li's Remarks Today marks another very important milestone in the history of this young University. The transfer of title to these 330 acres, identified legally as Lot No. 725, completes a long series of complicated negotiations with Government, and enables the University to be assured of its permanent home. This transfer may appear to many as nothing more than a legal procedure. But its significance goes far and deep. For this will enable us to bring all the component parts of the University together as no other arrangements could. As you all know, Chung Chi College is already here and we expect that United College will be here in the summer of 1971 and New Asia College in the summer of 1972. Mr. Luddington has just expressed his thanks to many groups of people who have helped him in making this transfer possible. It is my pleasant duty now to express thanks to those who have acted on behalf of the University. The list of people would be so long that 1 would be forgiven if I mention only three. You may recall that the first site allocated to the University was located in the valley four miles from here at Shatin. If I am not mistaken, the ones who initiated the shift to this current site—a site that could accommodate the whole University together without leaving one of the Colleges miles away—were Chung Chi College, the President of which, Dr. C.T. Yung, unfortunately is overseas at the moment and cannot be with us today. Among the University staff who have done the most work is Mrs. Ethel Fehl. But, above everybody else, the one to whom the University stands in everlasting debt is Sir Cho-Yiu Kwan, Chairman of the University Council, who has long been working on the site and its title transfer since he became Chairman of the Provisional Council of the University. He has handled all the negotiations practically single-handed. On behalf of the University, I would like to take this occasion to pay him a special tribute. Ladies and gentlemen, let me thank all of you for coming to this little ceremony. You have witnessed the turning of a new page in the University history. I am very happy that you could come to join us. (see also picture in Chinese section) E x t e r n a l E x am i n e rs i n H o n g K o n g Fourteen External Examiners for this year's Degree Examinations of the University came to Hong Kong during the past few months. They were Prof. Chen Shih-hsiang, University of California, Berkeley; Prof. A.L. Cullen, University of London; — 6 —