Bulletin Number Two 1987

him. Professor Choa's academic record bears out this admirable tra it in his character. MD (Cheloo Univer sity) in 1945, MB BS and MD (Hong Kong University) in 1946 and 1960 respectively, D IM & H (Liverpool University) in 1948 ， MRCP (London) in 1952 and then FRCP in 1968 ， followed yet again by the FRCP o f Edinburgh in 1972 and, two years later, the FFCM in 1974. While he was acquiring this string o f qualifica tions, Professor Choa was also teaching at the Univer sity o f Hong Kong and was, at the same time, serving as a specialist in the Medical and Health Department o f the Hong Kong Government. In this latter position, he rose quickly through the ranks and reached the pinnacle o f the medical officer's career when he became the Director o f Medical and Health in 1970. For his distinguished service to the community, Pro­ fessor Choa received the CBE from Her Majesty the Queen in 1972, having been made a Justice o f the Peace in 1964. As Director, he rationalized and greatly improved the provision o f medical services to the community. In his valedictory for Dr. Gerald Choa in the Legislative Council in 1976 ， the then Governor Sir Murray MacLehose (now Lord MacLehose) had this to say and it is worth quoting at some length: 'He has proved himself a Director o f the highest distinction. His contribution has covered a wide field. . . . the opening o f the Princess Margaret Hospital, . . . the introduction o f a new method o f treatment o f drug addiction in the form o f Methadone detoxication; Govern­ ment's new and decisive role in family planning; the introduction o f geriatric services, the sup­ port by Government o f the community nursing service … We w ill remember him in this Council as a most able and courteous colleague and i f I might say so as a master o f elliptical speech typ i­ cal o f the finest tradition o f the mandarinate.' Mr. Chancellor, might I just add that elliptical speech is also typical o f the finest tradition o f aca- demia. It was no surprise, therefore, that when aca- demia beckoned once again, Dr. Gerald Choa re sponded. Having scaled one peak, he was now ready to take on another. And so in 1977 he became the first Dean o f the Faculty o f Medicine o f the University, and in this role he travelled the world, consulted w ith his peers, selected the Professors o f all major depart ments and charted the Faculty's development from 'conception' to ‘delivery ’， to use the only two medical terms w ith which I have some acquaintance. Last year, o f course, after nine years o f painstaking, some times frustrating, but I am sure to him always exhil arating work, the first medical students graduated from the University and took up their places along­ side the medical men o f our sister university. Pro fessor Choa looked every b it the proud father and not just the obstetrician who took care o f the delivery. Mr. Chancellor, when Professor Choa knew that I was going to write this citation, he said to me that for him two lines would suffice. I am afraid that is a task quite beyond my ability. But two things about him have made a lasting impression on me; once, when asked whether medical ethics would be offered as a course in the Medical Faculty, he replied 'medical students w ill learn their ethics from the teachers who have it ’ ； secondly 一 and this is not generally known — the great satisfaction he takes in having served as a public servant and as an educationist, instead o f becoming a very rich doctor. The return to academia has allowed him the peace o f mind to write about those aspects o f the history o f Hong Kong which is familiar to him or which has a special fascination for him. He is the author o f The Life and Times o f Sir Kai Ho Kai and is writing a history o f the missionary doctors who served in China and Hong Kong in the last century. Mr. Chancellor, for his many outstanding achievements as physician, public servant, academic and historian, for his role in building up a medical and health service o f the highest standard, for the students he taught, for his role in keeping away those who have no medical ethics, I present to you Gerald Hugh Choa, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and first Dean o f the University's Medical Faculty, for the award o f the degree o f Doctor o f Laws, honoris causa. Mr. L ü Shu-xiang Mr. Chancellor, I am reading this citation w ith trepi­ dation,. for the man we are honouring today is an expert on language structure and common errors in writing. In the English speaking world, the authority o f Fowler is often invoked in resolving arguments over the use o f or the structure o f the English language. In the Chinese language, the authority to whom we turn for enlightenment is L ü Shu-xiang. A native o f Danyang xian in Jiangsu Province, Mr. Lü was born in China in 1904. As w ith many linguists and grammarians, his first love was not language but literature, not just contemporary litera­ ture but also classical, and not just Chinese literature but also the literature o f the West. In fact, his first degree which was awarded to him by the Foreign Language Department o f China's Southeast Univer­ sity in 1926 was in Western Literature. Only when 4 NEWS