Bulletin Special Supplement Oct 1971

E n g l is h V e r s io n o f D r . S in -H a n g HO' s A dd r ess I t is a great h o n o u r fo r me to be here to receive the h o n o ra ry d o c to r degree toge the r w ith P ro f. Ph ilips, and a greater pleasure s till to have the o p p o rtu n ity to say a few w o rds to a ll o f yo u . H ong Kong , a w o rld -fam ous e n tre p o t o f the Far East b e fo re the war, has seen rap id in d u s tria l g row th in these past tw e n ty years o r so. C u ltu ra lly speaking, H ong K ong has become a venue where East and West meet, such in te r flo w o f cu ltu re being the o u tg ro w th o f the estab lishm en t o f the tw o lo ca l universities and countless edu ca tiona l in s titu tio n s a t d iffe re n t levels. A t th is p o in t, a famous saying o f a renow ned Chinese scholar Kuan Tze comes to m y m in d : “ I t takes a year to g row cereal, ten years a tree and a h und red years fo r the fr u it o f edu ca tion to rip e n .” In th is ind u s tria l- o rien te d c om m u n ity o f ours, o u r p rim a ry concerns shou ld be developing commerce and in d u s try , p rom o tin g trade and the b u ild in g o f the c ity . In fa c t, H ong K ong has a lready been progressing in a ll fie ld s : in d u s tria l and comm e rcia l, c u ltu ra l and edu ca tiona l, s c ie n tific and techno log ica l. I am deeply convinced th a t ‘m an ' is s till the unchallenged d riv in g fo rce o f socie ty, even in th is space age w hen e ve ry th in g tends to become mechanized and au tom a tic . The tra in in g o f m ore people is the re fo re a p re -requ isite to any social and econom ic progress ， and i t is o n ly w ith over-all p la nn ing fo r such tra in in g and b y ca rry ing o u t lo n g -te rm plans co n s is te n tly th a t good results co u ld come abou t. U n d o u b te d ly b o th lo ca l un ive rsities and o the r edu ca tiona l in s titu tio n s have fu lfille d th e ir duties in th is respect and the several hund red graduands n ow in fr o n t o f me are e xce llen t p r o o f o f this. I t also occurs to me th a t n o t o n ly schools, b u t also in d u s tria l and comm e rc ia l organ izations sh ou ld shou lder the re s p o n s ib ility o f tra in in g people. I t is obvious th a t tra in in g o ffe re d b y the tw o w ill be com p lem en ta ry , one teach ing the basic concepts o f know ledge , the o the r o ffe rin g p ra c tica l and p ro fessiona l tra in in g . T o mee t th e ir many p ra c tica l needs, industries, banks and o th e r professions have to tra in th e ir ow n men to acquire p ro fic ie n c y and s k ill in th e ir specific fie lds. Th is is w h y I have always th o u g h t o f socie ty as a u n ive rs ity . I t is o n ly b y pe rpe tua l lea rn ing th a t we can keep pace w ith the advancing wheels o f the m o d em w o rld . H ong Kong people are k n ow n fo r th e ir conscientiousness, in q u irin g s p irit and asp ira tion fo r se lf-im p rovem en t ； such v irtue s are a p tly re fle c ted in the active p a rtic ip a tio n o f adults in the hundreds o f e x tra -m u ra l courses organized b y b o th U n ive rsities, attendance a t p u b lic lectures and e n ro lm e n t in the various evening in s titu te s . I m ust say th a t the achievement o f H ong Kong 's a du lt e du ca tion programmes is p a rtic u la rly g ra tify in g . - 7 -