Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 2005

N o n e o f t h i s w o u l d have been possible w i t h o ut f u n d i n g . Prof. W o n g said, ‘Every year, the a m o u n t o f f u n d s w e r a i s e is m o r e t h a n t h e t o t a l a l l o c a t i o n f r o m t h e U n i v e r s i t y , b u t m i n u s e x p e n d i t u r e s f o r s c h o l a r s h i p s a n d c o l l e ge activities, there is v e r y little l e ft over. A s w e d o n o t h a v e a n i mp r e s s i ve college e n d o w m e n t f u n d , it w o u l d be v e r y d i f f i c u lt to e x p a nd o u r activities further. W e w o u l d h a v e to w o r k e v e n harder.' Prof. Wo n g is a graduate o f the Ch em i s t r y D e p a r t me n t o f U n i t e d College, does he h a v e t h e c o l l e g e 's p r a g m a t ic s p i r i t? H e r e p l i e s w i t h a sm i l e, ' W h e n I w a s a s t u d e n t , there w a s n o general e d u c a t i o n at Un i t e d, so I j u s t w e n t a h e ad a n d s t u d i e d c h em i s t r y . I n those d a ys n o o ne t a l k e d a b o u t U n i t e d s t u d e n t s b e i n g p r a g m a t i c; b u t w i t h t h e passage o f t i me , the speech a n d actions o f its graduates h a v e s h a p e d w h a t is r e f e r r e d t o as t h e " c o l l e ge p e r s o n a l i t y " a n d t h is has b e c ome w i d e l y r e c o g n i z ed i n society. Be i n g the f i r s t college to h a ve been f o u n d e d, N e w A s i a has the greatest n u m b e r o f w e l l - k n o w n a l u m n i New Asia College: A Brief History New Asia College began life as the Asia Evening College of Arts and Commerce. In its early days, it was very small, holding evening classes in three classrooms rented from Wah Nam Middle School which was then in Waiching Street. The school was formally opened on the evening of 10th October 1949, and the entire school — staff and students — consisted of no more than 40 persons. By the fo llowing spring, with financial assistance from Mr. Wang Yueh-feng, the school rented six units on Kweilin Street, registered with the Government, switched to offering daytime classes, and changed its name to New Asia College. The Kweilin Street Period During this period, with financial assistance from the Taiwan Presidential Office, the Yale-China Association in the US, and the Ford Foundation, the college built new premises in Farm Road and occupied the new building in July 1956. Farm Road Days In 1963, the second and third phase of school buildings were completed. On 17th October of that year, The Chinese University of Hong Kong was founded and New Asia College became one of its constituent colleges. 12 Chinese University Bulletin Autumn • Winter 2005