Bulletin No. 2, 2020

Installation of the New Vice-Chancellor   27  is not worth living for a human being.’ Today’s education puts more emphasis on information and skill, less on pursuit of truth and creativity. Too much time is spent on retaining facts rather than critiquing concepts. A lack of training in self-reflection and examination leads to unclarity about goals, wavering of opinions and ends up with loss of direction. Training of a critical mind is a crucial role of higher education. It is embraced in our time-honoured tradition in general education, in our belief in college pastoral care and in our openness to all ideologies and beliefs. Jawaharlal Nehru said: ‘Peace is…indivisible, so is freedom, so is prosperity now, and so also is disaster in this One World that can no longer be split into isolated fragments.’ More than ever, we depend on people we have never met and they also depend on us. The problems we need to solve—economic, environmental, religious and political—are global in their scope and nature. We gradually come to realize that we are all citizens of the world. We need to embrace our Chinese culture on the one hand, but also need to know the challenges of different ethnic groups and other nations. The University’s commitment to research and teaching collaborations with other world- renowned institutions, in provision of student and academic exchange, the promotion of social services through our Colleges, will help our faculty and students, as well as others, to cultivate the ability to see ourselves as members of a global village. Our commitment to environmental protec tion is another endeavor to fulfill our global responsibility. We should learn to respond to the need of the world instead of building in our ivory tower. Based on these pillars of preser ving the humanities, cultivating innovation and critical thinking, and realization of world citizenship, we will be educating our students and leading CUHK into the next 50 years and beyond. This mission cannot be accomplished without the dedication of our teachers who are passionate in their teaching and research, not seeing it as a job, but a vocation. These dreams cannot be fulfilled without the support of our government, philanthropists and alumni, in giving their trust and their support to the University. Most importantly, the true spirit of a university education cannot be continued without the hard work of our students to keep their minds inquisitive to knowledge, their thirst for truth unquenched and their desire to excel invincible. Mr Chairman, after I graduated from medical school I joined the Chinese University as a physician, a researcher and a teacher. Working as a medical doctor for 25 years, I have learned that medicine is both a science and an art. Working as an academic researcher for 25 years, I have been trained to think critically while working with my colleagues as a team. Working as a teacher for 25 years, I have come to realize that education requires a heart and a soul. I pledge to give my best skills, my passion and my perseverance to serve this University in the years to come. The Vice-Chancellorship of CUHK is a lofty one. I know that what lies ahead is more challenging than what I have experienced so far. And my responsibilities would be unprecedented. But I am much encouraged by the words of Professor Ch’ien Mu. He said: ‘It is such uncouth environment that prompts me to struggle for excellence, and the state of deprivation only encourages my affections for others to flow. Be it a load of a thousand stones, I bear it upon my own shoulders. Let us, in our youth (I hope there’s still a little bit of it left in me), join together and progress towards the future. Take care! Take care!’ This is the spirit of CUHK !