Newsletter No. 397

No. 397, 4.5.2012 5 CAMPUS NEWS 校 園 消 息 Sunset in Sarajevo (an exercise on Shakespearean sonnet) O Sarajevo, I first fell in love When you were a ballerina on ice, Skating in style atop a glacial slope, Dispensing many an Olympic prize. Then darker feuds had all rules swept aside. I lost touch; turned to tend my garden rack. You became concubine of genocide, Brains dashed and skulls spiked on your virgin tracks. I too grew bleary, weak in knees; endured Dreary sunsets, then drearier rises. But to fair Sarajevo will be due My love always, and a thousand roses. A fragile bud that shot through fire and blood Now stands a golden bough in the twilight flood. Tommy Cho Information Services Office www.iso.cuhk.edu.hk/english/features/style-speaks/ 藝 文 風 景 A TOUCH OF CLASS 音樂系畢業生揚威奧地利 • Music Graduate Triumphs in Austria 2 009年中大音樂系畢業生鄺勵齡，在4月17日 於奧地利格拉茨贏得第十八屆「佛路曹 • 塔爾 亞雲尼」國際歌劇大賽三個獎項，包括為紀念著 名女高音鍾 • 修瑟蘭而設的最佳女高音獎、觀眾 獎和全場亞軍。現年二十四歲的她是比賽自舉辦 以來首位獲獎的香港人，亦是一百六十名參賽者 中最年輕的。 勵齡自幼喜愛歌唱，在中大修業時隨陳少君習聲 樂，畢業後，往英國皇家音樂學院深造，再赴荷蘭 阿姆斯特丹音樂學院修讀碩士課程，將於本年夏 季畢業。她近年活躍於本港樂壇，多次在香港聖 樂團、Die Konzertisten的音樂會擔任獨唱。決賽 中，鄺勵齡演唱了選自浦契尼的《杜蘭朵》和威爾 第的《假面舞會》的兩首詠歎調。 T he 24-year-old Kwong Lai-ling Louise, a 2009 music graduate of CUHK, won three prizes at the International Singing Competition ‘Ferruccio Tagliavini’ for Opera Singers held on 17 April in Graz, Austria. Louise took the soprano prize, audience prize and the second prize. She is the youngest finalist among the 160 contestants and the first singer from Hong Kong to win a prize at the competition since its inception in 1995. Louise majored in music at the Chinese University and at the same time studied with soprano Ms. Chan Siu-kwan. Her past concert engagements have included the Hong Kong Oratorio Society and Die Konzertisten. After graduation, she furthered her studies in the Royal College of Music, London; and is going to obtain a Master’s degree from the Amsterdam Conservatory, the Netherlands, this summer. At the final round of competition, Louise sang two opera arias: Signore ascolta from Puccini’s Turandot and Ecco l’orrido campo from Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera . 財金學生奪全國英語演講獎 • Finance Student Wins Public Speaking Contest 計 量金融學四年級生葉浩朗在4月8日 於昆明舉行之第十七屆中國日報社 「21世紀杯」全國英語演講比賽總決賽中獲 得亞軍。比賽於1996年創辦，為中國學界一 年一度盛事。比賽形式包括已備演講、即席 演講和現場問答三部份，浩朗的演講內容和 臨場對答深獲評判讚賞。 鄺勵齡與評判之一、著名指揮家邦寧於賽後合照 Kwong Lai-ling Louise and conductor Richard Bonynge after the competition Y ip Ho-long Ronald (Year 4, Quantitative Finance) was the first runner- up in the Seventeenth ‘21st Century Cup’ National English Speaking Competition Finals held on 8 April in Kunming, China. Founded by the China Daily in 1996, the competition is a reputable event in China’s academic arena and is held annually nationwide. The competition consists of prepared speeches, impromptu speeches and Q&A. Ronald was commended for his captivating content and spontaneous replies to questions. Getting sic right One often comes across sic (traditionally in italics and between parentheses) in a quoted passage like this: The mayor was heard to have said, ‘Italian immigrants have done an artful ( sic ) lot for this city in its early days.’ It might have created in the reader’s mind that sic is employed to signify a mistake in the source but nonetheless preserved in the quote. In this sense, sic confirms the accuracy of the quotation despite its blatant inappropriateness, or factual mistake: ‘The Norman conquest took place in 1072 ( sic ).’ [the year should be 1066] In fact, the word sic means so or thus in Latin. Its appearance after a quoted word or phrase serves as an aside from the writer or reporter that ‘Yes, I do mean it.’ or ‘Yes, he did say that.’ It is not confined to signifying wrong usage and may be used as a device to call attention to the unconventional or idiosyncratic use of a word, as in: The stupidity demonstrated by the public officers in the handling of this matter is very enlightening ( sic ) to the public. The Chicago Manual of Style advises that obvious typographical errors or mis-spelled words may just be corrected silently without the company of sic . Editor