Bulletin Number Four 1984

Chinese Arts Festival The open ing o f the Chinese A rts Festiva l happened to be on the 2 7 th O ctober, a day a fte r China and G reat B rita in in itia lle d the D ra ft Ag reem en t on H ong Kong 's fu tu re . D r. Ma L in spoke on this h is to ric event in his open ing address. A Chinese Arts Festival, which presents Chinese arts in traditional as well as modem perspective, is being held from 27th September to 26th October. Organized by the University Student Union in collaboration w ith the Office o f Student Affairs and Sir Run Run Shaw Hall, the Festival has a diverse programme featuring recitals, film shows, drama, dance performances, Cantonese opera ， folk music concerts and a variety show, mostly performed by local artists and troupes from China. Officiating at the opening ceremony, which was attended by over 200 guests and took place at the University Mali ， were Mr. K.S. Lo ， CBE, JP, and Dr. Ma Lin , the Vice-Chancellor. Mr. Lo praised the students for their efforts in staging the Festival, and said that the seminars to be held after several major presentations would provide opportunities for students to meet w ith artists and professionals in the various fields and to explore the future direction for Chinese performing arts. Dr. Ma spoke on the Sino- British Draft Agreement on Hong Kong's future. Below is the fu ll text o f Dr. Ma's speech. Address by the Vice-Chancellor Mr. Lo, Ladies and Gentlemen, We are most happy to have Mr. Lo here w ith us today at the Opening Ceremony o f this Chinese Arts Festival. A prominent public figure and a successful industrialist, Mr. Lo is also a most enthusiastic connoisseur and collector o f Chinese ceremic art, who has furthermore worked for the improvement o f the modem Chinese industry in ceremic artefacts. It is therefore a great honour and pleasure indeed that Mr. Lo has kindly agreed to cut the ribbons for this Arts Festival, which is being held for popularizing the folk and traditional arts o f China. That the University Student Union has chosen this particular day for the opening o f this Arts Festival is a memorable coincidence, for this is a historic moment for Hong Kong as well as for China. As we all know, China and Great Britain have just initialled a Draft Agreement on the future o f Hong Kong, in which it was announced that China would resume the exercise o f sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997 ， and would establish Hong Kong as a Special Administrative Region having its own highly autonomous Government composed o f local Hong Kong people and w ith a commitment to maintaining the present socio-political system o f Hong Kong basically unchanged for fifty years. An Annex o f the Agreement also set out in detail the policies and arrangements that China would make for the reali zation o f such aims. Mr. K.S. Lo (second from right) and Dr. Ma Lin cutting the ribbons 4 NEWS