Newsletter No. 51

C U HK NEWSLETTER Statistics compiled last November showed that The Chinese University had a staff population of 4,028, inclusive of all full-time employees in academic, administrative and supportive functions. Hong Kong citizens made up the majority of this sizeable workforce, there being 2,752 of them, of various ethnic and provincial backgrounds. Those who were recruited outside Hong Kong hailed from over 30 countries and regions, of whom 735 were from China, 142 from the United States, 114 from Britain, and 75 from Canada. Student enrolment now stands at 11,613, with 9,428 full- time and 2,185 part-time students. To provide meals for this large crowd with diversified culinary preferences is, to put it mildly and with no literary allusion whatsoever intended, a gargantuan task indeed, as the following survey on campus catering services will show. The Food There are all together 17 catering outlets for staff and students, serving different parts of the campus (see list). At most of these places a variety of food is served, encompassing the broad streams of Chinese and Western cuisines. However, Cantonese cooking reigns supreme in most of the campus kitchens for obvious reasons, and dim sum and Cantonese barbecued meats are available at a good number of the canteens. A noted and much appreciated exception is the dining room at the Postgraduate Hall Complex, where the chefs specialize in Peking and Szechuan dishes. Their cinnamon cake has the approval of some very exact connoisseurs among staff and students. The caterers to Shaw College, on the other hand, are known for their Cantonese and Shanghaiese dishes, as well as seafood and snake dinners. The New Asia College Staff Common Room (Yun Chi Hsien) boasts the only home-made noodles, Northern style, that money can buy on campus, while the Staff Common Room at the University Guesthouse is a unique place where an exclusively Western menu is available. Most who have done so call it a treat to dine on the roast beef and lemon chiffon pie at the Basic Medical Sciences Building Canteen. Service at these dining rooms follows the three patterns most commonly seen at places where mass catering is practised: a food item may be ordered through the purchase of a ticket, dished out f r om a buffet counter, or served at table, by a waiter. The D i n i ng Rooms Given the fact that there are some 15,000 people who would use the facilities at the aforementioned 17 outlets, which have a combined seating capacity for only 3,714 customers, it can well be imagined that campus catering service sometimes takes on herculean dimensions, especially during the lunch hour. Fortunately, many members of the University do not eat on campus. For students these would be those without Snacks served at the Postgraduate Hall Canteen The idea of serving Northern style noodle dishes in Yun Chi Hsien came from Dr. Y. T. Lee, a former senior lecturer in history. NO. 51 FEBRUARY 1994 6