Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 2004

edited five books and published more than 160 refereed papers. I n 1966 he developed one of the first econometric models of China, wh i ch he has continued to revise and update ever since. He is one of the first economists to analyse and to understand the so-called East Asian economic miracle of the late twentieth century. I n the few short months since he joined The Chinese University of Ho ng Kong, Prof. Lau has taken every oppo r t un i ty to outline his educational philosophy and his vision for the future. Of fundamental importance to Prof. L au is a belief that a great university is not simply a place that produces and transmits knowledge to its students, crucial as these functions are. A great un i v e r s i ty mu st teach its students to ask questions, to formulate and to solve problems, to take an inquiring and critical attitude towards received ideas—in short, it must be a place w h e r e s t u d e n ts l e a r n to t h i n k f o r themselves. As he said to our freshmen at the I n a u g u r a t i on C e r e m o ny o n 1st September of this year: ‘This is the best thing the University can offer y ou — not just a degree or a diploma, but a capacity for life-long self-learning.' What lies behind this belief is Prof. Lau's understanding of the rapidly changing wo r ld into wh i ch our graduates w i l l be moving. It w i l l be a w o r l d i n wh i ch knowledge w i l l be the basis of the economy, yet the skills and knowledge students acquire at university may become q u i c k ly o ut of date. Those w h o flourish i n this wo r ld of accelerating change w i l l be those wh o can adapt and renew their k n ow l e d g e—in other words, those who have been taught to teach themselves. The effective, versatile and employable people of the future w i ll be those who have learned h ow to think —critically, independently, and creatively. For these reasons, Prof. Lau also strongly supports the broadening of the Ho ng Kong secondary education system which will stimulate students to become active and independent learners before they enter university. For Prof. Lau, a great university must do more than produce employable graduates f or the local, n a t i o n al a nd i n t e r n a t i o n al economies. Its edu c a t i on s h o u ld offer to t r an s f o rm the wh o le person, h e l p i ng each student to realize his or her potential. Here P r o f. L a u sees t he c r i t i c al r o le of o u r distinctive collegiate system, wh i ch nurtures the g r ow th of character, a sense of standards a nd values, a nd i mp o r t a nt social skills. L i k e w i s e he is c o n s c i o us of t he v i t a l potential of our long-established general education programme, wh i ch should enable s t u d e n ts t o d e v e l op b r o a d i n t e r e s t s, passions a nd k n o w l e d ge o u t s i de t h e ir specialized areas of study. A great university is d i s t i n g u i s h ed b y its w e l l - e d u c a t ed graduates — people w i t h lively interests and w h o are w e l l i n f o r m e d — those w i t h breadth as we ll as depth of understanding. A t the heart of Prof. Lau's vision for the future is internationalization, what he calls ‘education w i t h o ut borders'. The Chinese U n i v e r s i t y c an o n l y b e c o me t r u l y i n t e r n a t i o n a l, he believes, if t w o t h i ngs happen. The first is that it s h o u ld attract m a n y mo r e q u a l i t y s t u d e n ts f r o m t he mainland and beyond. He w o u l d like to see ours as a t r u l y mu l t i n a t i o n al and multicultural campus w i t h eventually 20 or 25 per cent of the s t u d e nt b o d y c o m i ng f r om outside H o n g Kong. This w o u l d bring great i n t e l l e c t u a l s t i m u l u s a n d c u l t u r a l …Prof. Lau sees the critical role of our distinctive collegiate system, which nurtures the growth of character, a sense of standards and values, and important social skills. Likewise he is conscious of the vital potential of our long-established general education programme, which should enable students to develop broad interests, passions and knowledge outside their specialized areas of study. A great university is distinguished by its well- educated graduates — people with lively interests and who are well informed — those with breadth as well as depth of understanding. The 61st Congregation 13