Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 2004

a n d p e r s o n al l i f e i n an i n c r e a s i n g ly g l o b a l i z e d w o r l d a n d a g l o b a l i z ed e m p l o y m e nt ma r k e t, a nd especially i n a d y n am i c, i n t e r n a t i o n al g a t eway c i ty s u ch as H o n g Ko n g. By s end i ng our students t h r o u gh the challenge of l i v i n g ab r oad as exchange s t u d e n t s , w h e r e t h e y c an i mm e r s e t h ems e l v es c omp l e t e ly i n a d i f f e r e nt culture and acquire the perspectives and s k i l l s t o o p e r a t e e f f i c i e n t l y a n d i n d e p e n d e n t ly i n a n e w e n v i r o nme n t, they w i l l become m u c h better e q u i p p ed w i t h the k i n d of v e r s a t i l i t y, confidence, p e r s p e c t i v e, a n d e x p o s u re n e e d ed to r e s p o n d c r e a t i v e l y t o u n e x p e c t ed challenges a nd o p p o r t u n i t i e s. For t he s t u d e n t , t h e s e m e s t e r o r y e ar a b r o ad is o f t e n l i f e - t r a n s f o r m i n g. A n d b y b e i n g a b le t o o f f e r a b e t t e r e d u c a t i o n, t he U n i v e r s i ty can a t t r a c t b e t t e r s t u d e n t s . B y b e i n g a b le t o a t t r a c t b e t t e r s t u d e n t s, t he U n i v e r s i t y can i n t u r n attract better teachers. By b e i ng able to attract better teachers, the Un i v e r s i ty can i n t u r n attract even better students, b o th l o c a l l y a n d a r o u n d t he w o r l d , t h u s s e t t i ng the U n i v e r s i ty o n to a v i r t u o us c y c l e o f c o n t i n u a l e n d o g e n o u s i mp r o v eme n t. Moreover, our non-local students w i l l become p a rt of our intangible capital. If they choose to remain i n H o n g K o ng after g r a d u a t i o n, t hey a u gme nt t he p o o l of t a l e n ts h e r e. If t h e y r e t u r n t o t h e i r respective home countries or regions, they become p a rt of o ur d u r a b le n e t w o rk of f r i e n ds a nd g o o d w i l l ambassadors. By open i ng u p opportunities here for others, we i n t u r n also open up opportunities for ourselves elsewhere. H o w e v e r , t h e d e g r e e of internationalization of o ur Un i v e r s i ty is n ot e n o u g h at p r e s e n t. A m o n g undergraduates, non-local students c u r r en t ly c o n s t i t u t e l e ss t h a n s i x p e r c e n t, c ompa r ed to 90 per cent non - Be i j i ng for Pe k i ng Un i v e r s i t y, a nd 35 per cent non- M i c h i g an for the Un i v e r s i ty of M i c h i g an ( bo th public universities like the Chinese Un i v e r s i t y ). M o r e o v e r , t h e t i m e s a re n o w d i f f e r e n t . T w o m a j o r c h a n g e s , o n e t e c h n o l o g i c a l a n d g l o b a l, a n d t h e o t h e r geopolitical a n d l o c a l , h a v e s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e s h a p e d t h e e n v i r o n m e n t f a c ed b y H o n g K o n g . F i r s t, o v er t he last decade, t he i n f o r m a t i o n a n d c o m m u n i c a t i o n r e v o l u t i on has g r e a t ly f a c i l i t a t ed a nd accelerated g l o b a l i z a t i on e v e r ywh e r e. S u p p l y c h a i ns are n o w m o r e international, m o r e d y n a m i c , a n d m o r e f i n e l y d i v i d e d t h an ever. C o m p e t i t i on is n o w mo r e g l o b a l t h a n l o c al — f o r example, I n d i an and F i l i p i no call centres c omp e te f or t he business of US f i r m s ; a nd H o n g K o n g a nd Japan w i l l compete for Asia's Disney Wo r l d customers. The And by being able to offer a better education, the University can attract better students. By being able to attract better students, the University can in turn attract better teachers. By being able to attract better teachers, the University can in turn attract even better students, both locally and around the world, thus setting the University on to a virtuous cycle of continual endogenous improvement. The 61st Congregation 17