Newsletter No. 160

CUHK Newsletter No. 160 19th March 2000 3 New Publications Chinese University Press The following book is available to University staff at a 20 per cent discount at the University Bookshop, John Fulton Centre. The Life and Times of Sir Kai Ho Kai (second edition) In the early years of British colonial rule, Hong Kong went through an interesting and difficult phase of development, while a second generation of local Chinese were born as British subjects. Having received aWestern education, this new breed acted as spokesmen and intermediaries between the government and the people. Perhaps the most distinguished and certainly the most versatile of them was Sir Kai Ho Kai (1859-1914) — barrister, physician, reformist, revolutionary, and essayist. Written by G.H. Choa, this book traces the life of Sir Kai Ho Kai and his family, and contains descriptions of notable social events in Hong Kong, such as the Bubonic Epidemic, the establishment of the Alice Memorial Hospital, the Hong Kong College of Medicine, and the Po Leung Kuk. Also included are sketches and anecdotes of prominent citizens and government officials at that time. Political developments in China during the period, seen as the background of Sir Kai's reformist and revolutionary activities, are briefly discussed, as well as his relationship with his student, Dr. Sun Yat-sen. This second edition is an improvement with the addition of new materials gathered since the publication of the first edition in 1981. G.H. Choa was a lecturer in medicine at the University of Hong Kong in 1949—1956, consultant physician at Queen Mary Hospital in 1956-1967, then deputy director and director of Medical and Health Services at the Hong Kong Government in 1967-1977. He is also the founding dean of the Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, in 1978-1986. ISBN 962-201-873-4, hardcover, 342 pages, HK$165 Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies Occasional PaperNo.104 Earnings Divergence of Immigrants From 1981 to 1991, the mean earnings of immigrants fell further behind natives in Hong Kong, w i th the gap w i den i ng f r om 11.3 per cent to 25.5 per cent. Earnings divergence of this magnitude, as documented in this paper, is rather unusual among major recipient countries of immigration. Written by Lara Kit-chun and Liu Pak-wai, this paper shows that earnings divergence in Hong Kong is due mainly to divergence in skill prices for education between immigrants and natives. Inter-temporal shift in the demand for skills caused by economic restructuring in Hong Kong does not only have a differential impact on prices of different levels of skill, but also on prices of skills from different sources. ISBN 962-441-104-2, paperback, 38 pages, HK$30 Hong Kong Institute of Educational Research Canadian and International Education Volume 26 Number 2 This journal is the official publication of the Comparative and International Education Society of Canada. It encourages articles covering a wide range of topics related to education, including philosophical discussion, curricular changes, educational policy analysis, adm i n i s t r a t i ve reorganization, and comparative analysis. ISSN 0315-1409, paperback, 217 pages, HK$50 Asian Journal of Counselling Volume 6 Number 2 This is ajournal devoted to the extension of knowledge and promotion of communication in the very broad field of counselling. It is dedicated to publishing manuscripts concerned with research, theory development, current professional and scientific issues, new techniques or innovative programmes and practices. Volume 6 Number 2 is aspecial issue on the topic The Development of Counselling in Four Chinese Communities.' ISSN 1560-8255, paperback, 148 pages, HK$50 For enquiries, please contact Miss Audrey Ma at 2609 6754. e x a m p l e , w h o h a d s p e nt m o n t h s searching for data on the mainland to no avail, only to f i nd it w i t h i n a few hours at the USC. ' T h e ir f i r st r e a c t i on o n f i n d i ng the materials was they wa n t ed to cry,' she said w i t h a laugh. What Is Unique? A m a i n f a c t or f o r t he c e n t r e 's uniqueness lies i n its acquisition. Unlike ordinary libraries, it does not b u y f r om r un - o f - t he -m i ll agents b ut has its o w n acquisition channels. Because of this, it has material i n its collection that cannot be f o u nd elsewhere i n the w o r l d. 'We have 840 titles of statistical yearbooks at the n a t i o n al a nd l o c al levels i n o ur holding, for example. Even the National Library of China i n Beijing doesn't have such a complete collection. We also have entire runs of ma ny national and local newspapers, e.g. the People's Daily f r om its f i r st e d i t i on to the p r e s en t, a nd provincial newspapers wh i ch were first pub l i s hed i n the early 50s. We are the only library that has t hem all under one r o of a nd t h at a l l ows easy access to them,' Ms. H u n g remarked. She likens c o l l e c t i ng p u b l i c a t i o ns to c o l l e c t i ng antiques. Both involve a lot of hard wo rk and can be equally rewarding. New Features The e n h a n c eme nt of the USC 's services has been designated an Area of E x c e l l e n ce b y t he U n i v e r s i t y. A s censuses, surveys, and other quantitative m e t h o d s h a v e b e e n i n c r e a s i n g ly emp l o y ed to generate socio-economic i n f o r ma t i on i n today's China, and the electronic format has become a universal tool i n archiving and sharing data, the USC, w i t h RGC support, established i n 1996 a USC Databank for China Studies. The da t abank has over 20 large- a nd medium-sized datasets including 'Urban Household Survey 1986-1992', 'Women Status i n Contemporary China (1991)。 a n d ' S u r v e y o n t he R e f o r m a n d Efficiency of State-owned Enterprises 1980-1994', all of wh i ch have been made a v a i l a b le to t he p u b l i c . I t is n o w a c q u i r i ng c omp a ct discs of Chinese newspapers and periodicals compiled by Renda University of China, of indices to journals and newspapers c omp i l ed by T s i n g h ua U n i v e r s i ty a n d Sh a n g h ai National Library. I n the coming years, it w i l l c on t i nue to acquire a nd archive machine-readable datasets, establish a stable n e t wo rk j o i n t ly w i t h ma i n l a nd institutions to ensure regular data f l ow f r om the ma i n l a nd to the USC, install r emo t e n e t w o r k i n g c a p a b i l i ty whereby users can consult online a c omp l e te a n d i n t e r a c t i ve d a ta catalogue, and enjoy direct access to the data via the Internet. Another ongoing project of the centre is r e n d e r i ng its research- topic-oriented searching system so as to facilitate review of the research literature and the c omp i l a t i on of bibliographies. The centre has also set u p i ts o w n w e b s i te w h i c h c o n t a i ns l i n k s to o t h er u s e f u l websites, i n c l u d i ng those of the government and civil organizations on the mainland. An Ongoing Headache The v i r t ual w o r l d definitely has its merits but it cannot always take the place of hard copies. 'It was thought before that electronic versions cou ld replace h a rd copies but reality has proven otherwise. Wh e n a researcher has to go t h r o u gh large amounts of data intensively, he / she definitely needs to do so w i t h ha rd copies,' Ms. H u n g observed. Ha rd copies need storage space and for the USC, w i t h its 400 Chinese-language newspapers, 2,000 p e r i o d i c a l s, o v er 80 E n g l i s h- language academic journals, and about 50,000 Chinese and 7,000 English monographs, this has been the p r i ma ry source of headache. A n d given the trend of decentralization i n China, more and more research has begun to focus on the provinces or counties. ' I n the past we m i g h t n e ed o n l y a s i n g le j o u r n a l published by the People's Bank of China. N o w the branches of that bank i n each province publishes their own. That's a ten-fold increase. Each county, besides the c o u n ty gazeteer, has s pe c i a l i st gazeteers on education, irrigation, and other topics. Th ey are h i g h l y w o r t h c o l l e c t i ng, a nd no o t her l i b r a ry has collected t h em all or can a f f o rd to do so,' Ms. H u n g pointed out. A n d although the centre was recently allocated some a d d i t i o n al storage space i n the l ower g r o u nd floor of the Un i v e r s i ty library, the space was only large enough for its newspaper collection. Compliments Abound T h e USC has a l o n g - s t a n d i ng tradition of h o l d i ng luncheon seminars several times a mo n t h, d u r i ng w h i c h local a nd v i s i t i ng scholars share a nd d i s cuss t h e ir research f i n d i n g s. To encourage attendance, the seminars are held d u r i ng lunch time to save time and are open to the public. T h e U S C w e l c o m e s a l l undergraduate and graduate students and scholars to use its services and take part i n its functions. Ms. H u n g believes that each user is a 'living source w i t h his / her o wn unique background and views'. M a n y users of the USC have left the centre w i t h a whistle on their lips and a lighter step. This is no rma l ly more than wh at reading and xeroxing can do to a person. The fact is that the USC is an exceptionally user-friendly place, a very homely place. Each day at 12.45 p.m., old and new users of the centre — w h om Ms. H u n g calls 'classmates' regardless of t h e i r age a n d p r o f e s s i on — g a t h er outside the T in Ka Ping Bu i l d i ng to go to lunch at wh at she calls the 'Sunshine Cafe', i.e. the poolside cafeteria. F r om October to M a y each year, the centre arranges h i k i ng t r i ps every Saturday a f t e r noon to Taipo or Saikung. M a n y users, especially those f r om overseas, have been impressed by the centre's staff 一 e q u a l l y b y t h e i r h a r d - w o r k i ng a t t i t u d e as b y t h e i r w a r m t h a n d devotion. Ma ny have sent the USC thank y ou e-mails after returning to their home country. A scholar f r om mainland China wrote, i n an article published i n Xinhua Digest, that he wishes to see a library like t he USC i n m a i n l a n d C h i n a , a n d a c a d e m i cs f r o m S i n g a p o re h a v e approached t hem to enquire about h ow the centre is run. It is not surprising therefore that the centre's staff are t o ld almost every day that the USC is the best centre i n the world, 'best' i n many senses of the word. ' I always tell people that librarians are like cooks. We are happiest wh en others enjoy eating wh at we have made. This m a k e s o u r j o b m e a n i n g f u l a n d rewarding,' Ms. H u n g said. Piera Chen A hike in Ma On Shan organized by the USC