Newsletter No. 365

No. 365, 19.10.2010 3 Professor Ho says if there is an over-emphasis on the importance of Putonghua in our society, Cantonese may become a minority language. This will pose a threat to the conservation of Cantonese, Guangdong culture, Hong Kong customs and rituals, and the ancient Chinese language. Cantonese earned formal language status from the UNESCO and is defined as one of the five leading languages in daily use by Chinese. Hong Kong culture is attractive to many foreigners. The Yale-China Chinese Language Centre of CUHK offers a variety of Cantonese courses for non-locals and the public. Dr. Wu Weiping, director of the centre, says that there are around 500 to 600 students taking their Cantonese courses each year. In the past, most students were businessmen, diplomats and government officials. Now more and more young people from overseas come here to learn Cantonese in order to communicate with the locals. In fact, multilingualism and multiculturalism are global trends. A right balance between promoting Putonghua and facilitating the development of Cantonese will be conducive to both education and cultural development. 悠久綿遠的粵語 A Language with a Long History 廣東話又稱粵語,歷史悠久綿遠,為中國七大方言之一,主要分布於廣東省,廣西壯族自治區西南部、香港、澳門 等地。公元前,秦始皇先後兩次平定南方的百越(按記載,當時長江以南土著部族統稱為南蠻,又稱百越),中原 漢人開始南移,民族雜居,語言交流,開始形成古粵語。 在唐朝,南方原居民逐步被漢化,到宋朝後,北方多次落入外族手中,令中原漢人持續向南遷徙,語言進一步被 同化,演變成今天的粵語。 語言具生命力,會隨着社會環境不斷改變及演化。現時香港的廣東話,已兼收並蓄外來語,又新創更多名詞,發 展出自己一套本土特色。 Widely spoken in Guangdong Province, the southeast of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Hong Kong and Macau, etc., Cantonese is one of the seven major dialects of China. Its origin dates from as early as the Qin Dynasty (221 to 206 BC). During the Song Dynasty (960 to 1279 AD), the occupation of northern China by foreign invaders caused an exodus of the Han Chinese to southern China, where the Cantonese dialect took shape. Language is a living organism that evolves with changes in society. Nowadays, the Cantonese in Hong Kong distinguishes itself from the Cantonese spoken in other places by its inclusion of words borrowed from other languages and phrases coined by locals. 霍 英東遙感科學館於9月28日舉行開幕典禮,主禮嘉 賓包括:霍英東基金會董事霍震霆先生( 左四 )、 霍震寰先生( 左三 )及霍震宇先生( 左二 );中國人民政治 協商會議全國委員會副主席董建華博士( 右五 );中央人 民政府駐港聯絡辦公室副主任李剛先生( 右四 );外交部 駐港特派員公署特派員呂新華先生( 右三 );中國科學院對 地觀測與數字地球科學中心主任郭華東教授( 右二 );以 及沈祖堯校長( 左一 )和中大太空與地球信息科學研究所 (太空所)所長林琿教授( 右一 )。 2005年,中大蒙霍英東基金會慨捐四千萬港元,支持成立 衞星遙感地面接收站第二期工程的科研大樓,以與同年 落成的衞星遙感地面接收站相連接。為答謝已故霍英東 博士對中大的鼎力支持,大學特將該大樓命名為霍英東遙 感科學館,並於開幕禮上為霍英東博士銅像揭幕,以表達 對霍英東博士及基金會的由衷感謝。 霍英東遙感科學館位於校園頂峰,佔地二千餘平方米,設 有衞星遙感地面接收站控制室,收集實時衞星圖像及環境 數據,為重點區域編製即時環境監測分析報告。館內設有 多個研究實驗室,供不同的地球信息及地球系統科學研 究計劃之用,另有一個多功能廳及展覽廳,是各種學術交 流活動的理想場地。 開幕典禮翌日,太空所隨即舉行為期兩天的全球農業監 測暨數字地球技術農業應用國際研討會,廣邀來自內地、 澳洲、比利時、加拿大、印度、日本、韓國、荷蘭及美國等地 的專家學者參加。會議獲國際對地觀測組織、國際數字地 球學會和江西師範大學贊助。 T he Fok Ying Tung Remote Sensing Science Building officially opened on 28 September. The ceremony was officiated by Mr. Fok Tsun-ting Timothy (4th left), Mr. Fok Chun-wan Ian (3rd left), and Mr. Fok Chun-yue Benjamin (2nd left), directors of the Fok Ying Tung Foundation; Dr. Tung Chee-hwa (5th right), Vice-Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference; Mr. Li Gang (4th right), deputy director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government, HKSAR; Mr. Lu Xinhua (3rd right), commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, HKSAR; Prof. Guo Huadong (2nd right), director-general of Center for Earth Observation and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Prof. Joseph J.Y. Sung (1st, left), Vice-Chancellor, and Prof. Lin Hui (1st right), director of the Institute of Space and Earth Information Science (ISEIS), CUHK. In 2005, the Fok Ying Tung Foundation made a generous donation of HK$40 million to CUHK in support of the construction of the second-phase building of the Satellite Remote Sensing Ground Receiving Station. The building connects to the existing station established in the same year. To thank the late Dr. Fok Ying-tung Henry and his foundation for their unfailing support, CUHK named the building the Fok Ying Tung Remote Sensing Science Building and unveiled a bust of Dr. Fok at the ceremony. The building marks the apex of the University campus. With a gross floor area of 2,090 m 2 , it houses the control room of the Satellite Remote Sensing Ground Receiving Station, which collects and integrates real-time satellite images and environmental data to compile timely environmental monitoring analysis and reports for focus regions. The building also contains various research laboratories for research programmes on geoinformation and earth system sciences. A multifunction room and an exhibition area are also available to facilitate academic exchange. Following the ceremony, ISEIS held an international conference on global agriculture monitoring- digital earth technologies for agriculture from 29 to 30 September. Participants included experts and scholars from mainland China, Australia, Belgium, Canada, India, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, and the USA. The event was sponsored by the Group on Earth Observations, the International Society of Digital Earth, and Jiangxi Normal University. 校 園 消 息 CAMPUS NEWS 霍英東遙感科學館揭幕 • Fok Ying Tung Remote Sensing Science Building Opens

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