Bulletin Winter 1977

International Recognition Comes to CUHK (Summary o f a speech given by Professor Ma Lin, Professor o f Biochemistry and Vice-chancellor-Designate o f the University, at aRotary Club Luncheon on 9th December, 1977) The character o f the Chinese University, as has been pointed out by Vice-Chancellor Dr. C. M. L i, ever since its inception, is to be international. To be an international university, the Chinese University must have a profound concern for Chinese learning and culture. This concern enables the interflow and integration o f Chinese and Western intellectual and cultural traditions. The University expects its staff and students to be well versed in both cultures and contribute to them. This specific objective is now bearing fru it. Recently, following previous grants the World Health Organization (WHO) gave The Chinese Univer sity o f Hong Kong a grant o f US$140,000 for two years to do research on "the isolation o f active prin ciples from plants for fe rtility regulation". This further grant is made primarily because WHO has now chosen 6 centres from research centres all over the world to form a "Task Force on Indigenous Hants for Fertility Regulation", namely: London, Chicago, Seoul, Brazil, Sri Lanka and HongKong. The Research Unit on Chinese Medicinal Material in the Institute o f Science and Technology o f CUHK has been named to represent Hong Kong. It is the first time in the history o f medicinal plant research that there has been such systematic and methodological experimentation. Not only is it a great honour to CUHK, but it has also put Hong Kong on the map o f international scientific research. The second grant came from Rockefeller Brothers Fund and The Asia Foundation, who have jo in tly pledged a sum o f US$70,000 for the next two years to the Centre for Translation Projects o f CUHK for research, translation, publication and teaching o f translation. They have indicated that they would only take into serious consideration aid to the development o f translation projects in Japan and Hong Kong. Be cause o f its past performance, the Centre for Trans lation Projects has been chosen to represent Hong Kong. Since 1973 the Centre has published Renditions, a biannual journal devoted to the translation o f the best and most enduring in Chinese writings into readable English. Being the first and perhaps the only one o f its kind, Renditions has achieved international distinction w ith a world-wide circulation among students o f Chinese language and literature. Another undisclosed institute has granted US$50,000 to the Centre in the next three years for the compilation o f a "New Dictionary o f Chinese Idiomatic Usage". These grants represent the many and various on-going re search projects in CUHK which have received similar financial aids and won recognition outside o f Hong Kong. The latest g ift received by CUHK was a photo- repeater for the production o f industrial-quality masks used in integrated circuit fabrication. This equipment, donated by Fairchild Semiconductor (H.K.) Ltd., is capable o f reproducing continuously and automatically up to 2,000 patterns in a photomask and its total cost is around US$140,000. This is the first and the only photorepeater in Hong Kong. Prior to this donation, the Department o f Electronics and Hong Kong elec tronics industry used to produce photomasks which had to be sent to U.K. or U.S.A. for the final step o f 18