Bulletin Spring‧Summer 1996

Tian Shan Wooltex Ltd. is one of Mr. Tang's investments. The business got off to a rough start owing to its remote location and a general lack of efficiency. Undaunted, the ever practical and efficient Tang Hsiang Chien tackled an overhaul of the management system, developed international markets, and set about continually improving the quality of the plant's products. Excellent results were achieved within a short time. After over a decade of hard work, Tian Shan Wooltex Ltd. is among the best performing industrial joint ventures in China and has four times been named as one of China's top 10 joint ventures. In the book Journey to Xinjiang, there appears a couplet by Mr. Tang: The vast land Northwest is always in my mind, Xinjiang 's growth is ever in my heart. This reflects explicitly Mr. Tang's lofty aspirations in developing new zones. An industrial empire has indeed been built o n the boundless prairie at the foot of Tian Shan. Mr. Tang has continued to forge ahead, unperturbed by the fact that many of his dreams have already been realized. In the late eighties, realizing that the electronics industry would have a bright future here, he started the mega-firm, Meadville Ltd. Even now, Mr. Tang is up at dawn and does not rest until midnight, giving his best as always. That his spirit strives ever forward, reaching out for new ideas ， is certainly proven by Meadville's exceptional performance. As chairman of Soco Knitters (Hong Kong) Ltd., and a director of various companies such as Uni-Shanghai Wooltex Ltd., the Xinjiang Tian Shan Wooltex Ltd. and Meadville Ltd., Mr. Tang is very heavily engaged in the world of business and industry. He has still managed though to give time to public service, for he chaired the Federation of Hong Kong Industries. He has also served as chairman of the Hong Kong Cotton Spinners Association and as a member of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, a member of the Vocational Training Council, a member of the Industry Advisory Board, and a member of the Industrial Development Board. His concern for health issues is manifested i n his work as director of the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals and director of the Yan Chai Hospital. He was also an executive member of the Basic Law Consultative Committee. He is currently the honorary president of the Federation of Hong Kong Industries. In our own university, he is at once chairman of the New Asia College Board of Trustees, a member of the United College Board of Trustees and until last April, a member of the University Council. As chairman of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Economic Development Association , he is also a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a Hong Kong Affairs Adviser and a member of the Preparatory Committee for Special Administrative Region appointed by the Chinese Government. Mr. Tang is an ardent promoter of education and has generously supported various academic activities. He has established the Tang's Education Fund, sponsored our own New Asia College's commemoration of the Dr. Ch'ien Mu centenary, helped to establish the United Library of Shanghai University, and assisted with funding for the students and teaching staff there and in Xinjiang University to participate in academic exchange programmes with the universities in Hong Kong. Adept at reading people and putting his staff's abilities to the best use, Mr. Tang appreciates the fact that aside from equipment and raw materials, skilled and talented staff are essential for business success. He believes that education is fundamental to the development of talented people. Mr. Tang's firm goal in life is to promote education and contribute to the building of a strong China with the gains from industrial success. Mr. Chancellor, as the preeminent magnate of Hong Kong's textile and electronic industries and as a distinguished philanthropist, Tang Hsian Chien has been a model of assiduity for Hong Kong's industrialists in the past few decades. Mr. Tang's beneficiaries include even the people of remote Xinjiang where life has improved through his development there. His contribution to prosperity and education deserves our deepest respect and recognition. Accordingly, in 1982, Mr. Tang was appointed Justice of the Peace, and in 1983 he was made anOfficer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. It is now the turn of this university to honour him ， Mr. Chancellor, for his outstanding achievements and momentous contribution to our society and its universities. I t is my pleasure and honour to present Mr. Tang Hsiang Chien for the award of the degree of Doctor of Social Science, honoris causa. • 9