Newsletter No. 221

Anti-SARS Act ivi t ies A Quick Run-through • Medica l and Health Care • Publicatio n o f an articl e (base d o n 138 SARS cases ) entitled 'Majo r Outbrea k o f Severe Acut e Respirator y Syndrome i n Hong Kong ' b y the Facult y o f Medicine in The New England Journal on Medicine o n 8th April . • Researc h o n epidemiology, mod e of transmission an d outbreak o f SARS by the Centre for Epidemiolog y an d Biostatistics. • Provisio n o f Chinese medicin e prescriptio n fo r SARS prevention an d sal e o f Chinese medicin e packet s to CUHK staf f an d student s b y the School o f Chinese Medicine. • Experienc e sharin g o f recovere d SAR S patient s through th e mass media , arrange d fro m tim e to time by th e Faculty o f Medicine , t o enhance publi c understanding o f the disease . • Contributio n o f articles o n SARS fro m a Chines e medicine perspectiv e t o local medi a by the Schoo l of Chinese Medicine . • Collaboratio n wit h WHO , CD C and other majo r laboratories o n the provision o f expertise an d advic e on SAR S by teachers o f the Departmen t o f Medicine and Therapeutics an d the Department of Microbiology. • Provisio n of a team to support medica l car e for SARS patients a t the Princess Margare t Hospita l b y the Faculty o f Medicine. • identificatio n o f a virus whic h ma y b e related t o the outbreak o f SARS (membe r o f the paramyxovirida e family) b y the Department o f Microbiology o n 18t h March 2003 . • Education • Launc h o f Web-based Suppor t fo r Primary an d Secondary Student s on 7th Apri l 2003 b y the Facult y of Educatio n • Launc h o f 'An Article a Day' —free Chines e comprehension exercises — on the web for Primary 1 to Secondary 3 students from 4th to 30th April 2003 (no w extended t o 15th May ) b y the Faculty o f Educatio n and the Hon g Kon g Institut e of Educational Research . The sit e had a daily hit rate of 2,600,000 to 2,800,000. • Counselling • A hotlin e counsellin g servic e for SARS patients , thei r family member s an d neighbours organize d b y the Evangelical Luthera n Churc h o f Social Servic e wit h the support o f the Department of Social Work until 26t h April 2003 . • Attention called to the psychological reaction s to SARS on 4t h April 200 3 b y Prof. Fann y M.C . Cheung , chairperson o f the Departmen t o f Psychology. • Community Car e and Service • A Million Thank s Campaig n organize d b y the Offic e of Alumn i Affairs : the We Care Foundatio n wa s set up t o support medica l staf f an d a We Car e e-Car e Platform o n the website wa s created. A tota l o f HK$1,105,022.07 wa s raise d a s at 30th Apri l 2003 . • A study o n 'Publi c Response s to Atypical Pneumoni a (Severe Acut e Respirator y Syndrome ) i n Hong Kong ' conducted i n March by Prof. Catherin e S.K . Tang an d Miss Joann e C.Y . Wong o f the Department o f Psychology t o explore publi c understandin g o f and psychological reaction s t o SARS an d t o investigate public adoptio n of preventive measure s agains t SARS . • Exper t Opinion •Newspaper article o n how Hong Kong' s touris m industry ca n sav e itsel f fro m SAR S b y Prof. L i Kam- hon, directo r o f the School o f Hote l an d Tourism Management o n 22n d March . More Suppor t fo r CUH K Research T he following five research projects undertaken by University staf f have succeeded in attracting funding suppor t from different quarters : A Randomized Trial on the Effect s of Rope Skipping in Normal Weight and Overweight Children (HK$230,000) Sponsor: Hon g Kong College of Cardiology Principal investigator: Prof . Rit a Sun g Yn T z (Departmen t o f Paediatrics) Better Health for Better Hong Kong (HK$328,000) Sponsor: Hospita l Authorit y Principal investigator: Prof . Juliana Chan Chung-ngor (Departmen t of Medicine and Therapeutics) Rethinking Ainu Identity : An Ethnographi c Stud y of Ainu Fol k Art i n Lake Akan, Hokkaid o (JP¥750,000 ) Sponsor: Th e Sumitomo Foundatio n Principal investigator: Prof . Sidne y Cheun g Chin-hung (Departmen t o f Anthropology ) A Quality Website for Healthy Ageing in Hong Kon g (HK$450,000 ) Sponsor: Si r Murray MacLehose Trust Fund, Health, Welfare and Food Bureau Principal investigator: Prof . Jean Woo (Departmen t o f Medicine an d Therapeutics ) Global Entrepreneurshi p Monitor , Hon g Kong Nationa l Study, 2002-04 (HK $ 1,305,000) Sponsor: SM E Developmen t Fun d Principal investigator: Prof . Chua Bee-len g (Departmen t o f Management) Li & Fung CEO Shares Hi sExper i ence a sCEO The RTHK radi o programm e 'Talkin g t o CEOs' broadcast on 30th March featured Dr. William Fung, group managing director of Li & Fung Limited, who has helped transform his family business into a multinational trading company with a sourcing network spanning over 30 countrie s an d an annua l turnover o f more tha n US$ 4 billion. Dr. Fung spoke to a packed audience of students, alumni, and teachers of the University's EMBA and MBA Programmes . Dr. Fun g subscribe s t o his father's view tha t management is a two-way street : you look afte r your employees and they will look after you. He believes that it is also important to accept that people are not machines. Dr. Fung is, moreover , confiden t o f Hong Kong' s competitiv e advantages. At the macro level , economie s aroun d the world ar e facing problems with the exception of China, and Hong Kon g i s lucky t o be at the doorste p o f this market, he said. He is also o f the view tha t Hong Kong ca n serve as China's windo w t o the world for newly liste d Chinese corporations , while Shanghai , on the other hand , can hel p foreig n companie s t o market i n China's domestic market . The show was cohosted by Mr . Robert Cho w o f RTHK an d Prof . Andrew Chan , directo r o f the University's EMB A Programme . Management Article Selected as One of the World's Best 50 A n articl e on 'Loyalty to Supervisor an d Trust in Supervisor Worker s in Chinese Join t Ventures: A Test of Two Competing Models' written b y Dr. Yui-ti m Wong, Prof. Chi-Sum Wong, and Prof. Hang-Yue Ngo of the Department of Management wa s selected as one of the best 50 management articles by Emerald Management Reviews. Independent reviewer s evaluate d 20,00 0 journa l articles published in the year 2002 from 400 journals in various area s of management by three criteria: researc h implications, practica l implications , an d originality an d readability. Selecte d articles mus t ge t ful l mark s in all three criteria . Dr. Yui-ti m Won g i s a Ph.D. graduat e fro m the University's Departmen t of Management. The selecte d article is based on his doctoral dissertation . CUHK Accountancy Students Come Second in ACCA Competition F our final-year students of the University's Professional Accountancy Programm e bea t seve n othe r Hon g Kong team s an d one mainland Chines e team to claim second place in the Association of Chartered Certifie d Accountants (ACCA ) Hon g Kong/Guangzho u Fourt h Inter-tertiary Competitio n on 29th March 2003. The other participating universities were Zhongshan University (champion), Jinan University from Guangzhou, and the University o f Hong Kong (third place), the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Polytechnic University, Baptis t University , Cit y University , and Lingnan University . The competitio n aim s a t challenging students ' business acumen , analytica l skills , an d capacit y for innovation by asking them to develop a practical business case that carries the idea of 'Vision and Fusion in the Pearl River Delta' . Contesting teams were required to write an investment proposal to solicit funds to the tune of HK$ 10 million fro m potentia l investor s fo r starting up anew business in the Pearl River Delta Region . The judges found the plans submitted by the CUHK team creativ e an d feasible an d their presentatio n well - written and interesting. No. 221 4th May 2003