Prof. Joseph J.Y. Sung Vice-Chancellor of CUHK (2010–2017)

33 中文大學校刊 Chinese University Bulletin | 特刊 Special Supplement What would you consider the best and unique quality of CUHK? I would say it’s the humanistic spirit. We dare to uphold our vision and be different. This quality can be found in our current teachers and students, and also in our veteran alumni. They are persistent in their pursuit of preserving and promoting Chinese culture, the culture of Hong Kong and the Chinese language. The CUHK community is a coherent entity, loving and caring. Our alumni always show genuine concern for university affairs. I have been greeted by alumni from all parts of the world during my overseas visits, making me feel warmly at home on foreign soils. How would you describe your leadership style? I like to mingle with the crowd, to understand the thoughts and needs of students and staff through direct contact. That is why I have been keeping part of my teaching load during my vice-chancellorship. Not long ago I went hiking with the staff association members again. I love the feeling of being on the same boat, in the same bus and sharing the same meal with my fellow colleagues. Back in my first year of service, I initiated the Mid-Autumn Festival Celebration, meeting staff in a two-hour gathering with entertainment, food and games, which everybody enjoyed. I have been ‘hunted’ for selfies by numerous people, the majority of whom I cannot name. But I am most willing to entertain their requests if that makes them happy. I think I’m also a listening leader who would take action to address people’s concerns and make improvement to the best of my ability. The implementation of the mid-term ‘reading week’ and the enhancement of the appraisal system were my responses to requests from students and staff, respectively. 中大最優秀、最獨特的是甚麼? 中大最優秀是其人文精神，有理想，敢 於堅持自己的想法，不隨波逐流。不單是 現在的師生，不少畢業多年的校友也仍 然保持這種精神，對中國文化、香港的文 化、中國語文，都有執着。還有，中大人凝 聚力強，重感情，無論哪個年份畢業的校 友，都對大學事務殷切關注。我到海外訪 問，天南地北，總有大批校友來會面，令 我嚐到四海一家的親切感覺。 你會怎樣形容自己的領導作風？ 我比較喜歡接近群眾，透過接觸，了解學 生和員工的想法和需要，所以到現在我還 保留一些教學工作。最近我又和職員協會 的同事一起行山，很喜歡這種大家同舟 共車、同桌吃飯的感覺。上任首年我便舉 辦教職員中秋節聯歡會，短短的兩小時， 大家都很享受。每次有人走過來跟我拍 照，雖然我多半不知道對方是誰，仍然很 樂意奉陪，那怕他只是「集郵」也無妨。 我也相信自己是一個頗樂意聆聽群眾的 領袖，而且會因應他們的要求，在能力範 圍內，加以改進。同學渴望學期中的溫習 週和員工要求的改良評審準則便是一些 例子。