CUHK: Five Decades in Pictures

97 The Fifth Decade: 2003–2012 to support relief work. In addition to donations, our staff drew upon their expertise to provide medical and counseling services to those in need. Some of these relief efforts continue to this day. The University community’s response to the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the northeastern part of Japan in March 2011 was equally swift and effective. In October 2009, Professor Charles K. Kao, a former Vice-Chancellor of CUHK, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics, a spectacular testimony to Professor Kao’s epoch-making discovery of optical fibre, which has revolutionized how telecommunications technology developed and the way human beings connect with one another. Professor and Mrs. Kao later personally bestowed the Nobel medal to the University. In the same year, the School of Architecture and the School of Biomedical Sciences were established. In 2010, with the retirement of Professor Lawrence J. Lau, Professor Joseph J. Y. Sung became the seventh incumbent of the top post of the University, leading the University towards a new era of educational and academic endeavours. The year 2011 marked a new chapter in Hong Kong’s hotel and tourism management education with the grand opening of the teaching hotel of the Chinese University. The ambitious teaching hotel project comprises the capabilities of Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, ShaTin, and the Cheng Yu Tung Building. Together they provide state-of-the-art internship, teaching and research facilities for the School of Hotel and Tourism Management and the Faculty of Business Administration. The University launched the I • CARE Programme in 2012 as an umbrella facility to coordinate and support the efforts of CUHK members in rendering services to the needy both locally and elsewhere in the world. By offering direct services or partnering with social enterprises to do so, the programme aims at nurturing social consciousness and a service culture among staff and students. In September, 2012, Hong Kong’s education system completed its sea-change when all the universities adopted a four-year undergraduate programme. For CUHK it was more than just a reversion to the time-honoured tradition that had been in place from its inception till 1994. The enriched curriculum emphasizes the fostering of a humanistic outlook and value as well as developing core competencies in a fast-changing world. On the physical side, the campus landscape had been modified with a careful balancing of utilitarian and environmental considerations. The new buildings and facilities erected for the enlarged student population were completed as planned and in time for the inauguration of the new era of university education. A decade ago, as the University plunged into combat with SARS, its 40th anniversary activities were put on hold, resuming only in late 2003 after the epidemic had subsided and recuperation had begun. In retrospect it can be safely said that the Chinese University had emerged from the trial and tribulation wiser, healthier and more brilliant than ever. It is, therefore, appropriate that such a decade closes with a colour that denotes triumph, success and achievement, paving the way to a full year of celebratory events and happenings in 2013 through which members of the University reunite and rejoice.