Newsletter No. 399

12 No. 399, 4.6.2012 …… 如是說 Thus Spake… 物理系系主任夏克青教授 Prof. Xia Keqing, Chairman, Department of Physics 下期預告 Coming 伍宜孫書院院長李沛良教授 Prof. Rance P.L. Lee Master, Wu Yee Sun College 是甚麼驅使你2009年退休後還擔負起書院院長的 重任？ 2007年中，我獲大學委任為伍宜孫書院籌劃委員會的委 員，翌年劉遵義校長提出由我出任創院院長，我婉拒了，他 仍多番囑我考慮。2009年暑假前夕，他舊事重提。我鄭重 審度：本身是中大校友，也在此任教多年，體察到書院制於 大學的重要。2012年學生驟增，成立新書院事在必行，若 辦得不好，將嚴重破壞書院制，大傷中大元氣。正如劉教授 所說，善用我當崇基學院院長十年的寶貴經驗、以及在中 大四十多年建立的廣闊人脈，憑親和力凝聚同儕，為大學 辦好一所新書院，是義不容辭的。得到太太和家人的支持， 我終於在暑假後答應了劉校長。 給2012年的第一批學生準備了甚麼？ 由於整固斜坡和遷移樹木額外需時，校園工程須延期完 成。第一批學生是艱苦的，三百一十八人，一半在國際生舍 堂「寄人籬下」，另一半則「流離失所」，既無宿舍也無校 園。但年輕人先苦後甜是好事。崇基創校之初借教堂在地 庫上課，新亞「手空空，無一物」，何嘗不苦？但他們的校友 每提及當年的苦，卻滿是自豪。現在的困頓會是將來的美 好回憶。創院學生的體驗有助我們改進，模塑書院日後的 面貌，身分可是獨一無二的。在缺乏校園設施的一年，書院 將籌劃多種活動，包括創意工作坊、高桌講座、研討會和論 壇、海外及本地的服務學習計劃，海外學術交流活動，藉此 凝聚學生。他們的書院生活絕不會枯燥。 你期望伍宜孫書院的學生有甚麼特質？ 我希望他們不但好學，還刻苦堅毅；有從實求知的科學態 度，批判性思考；勇於創新，有熱誠，有前瞻的眼光；關心社 會，秉持公義，扶持弱勢社群；熱心保護環境，對文化藝術 有興趣和品味。 新書院成立對中大書院制有何影響？ 首先是令中大書院的規模、形式和理念更多元化。舊書院 校園面積大，人數起碼兩三千。新書院小型的只三百或六百 人，中型如和聲跟我們是一千二、三百人，部分更新添了同宿 共膳的生活模式。崇基本於基督博愛精神，新亞扎根儒家 倫理，聯合強調務實風氣，逸夫心懷社會服務。新書院也各 自精彩：善衡提出「家」的概念，和聲重視和諧關係，晨興 突出國際化，敬文崇尚「求知利他」，我們是創新志業和社 會責任。書院多元化豐富了學生的選擇，畢業生有不同的 氣質，可在社會廣大範疇發揮影響。 新書院的成立無可避免會加強書院之間的競爭，但也將激 發新意，甚或促成各種前所未有的協同效應，一同進步。 你出任公職無數，對當院長有甚麼影響？ 四十多年來在醫療健康、社會福利、治安懲教和教育政策 與發展四方面的社會服務，令我深覺社會問題之多和複 雜，作為老師，實有需要好好教導學生多認識、多關心和 多參與社會，也要拋掉陳套，靠創意和熱誠協助社會解決 和處理種種問題。多項公職也給我認識社會各界人士的機 會，邀請他們和學生分享其寶貴閱歷，最好不過。 若非要統領新書院，這些日子你該是怎樣過的？ 退休之初，整個人輕鬆了，神采飛揚，穿起顏色鮮明的休閒 服，步履輕盈，無拘無束。我本該趁健康還好，多跟老朋友 旅行，多運動，開展閱讀小說、散文和歷史書籍的大計， 完成幾篇已研究資料卻還沒時間寫的論文，還有一本社會 學研究法的書，作為學術生涯的總結篇章。若崇基學院 或社會學系有用得着之處，則隨時效命。現在，恐怕得待 2016年退任後才可遂願了。 What lulled you from retirement in 2009 to become master of a new College? In mid-2007, the University appointed me as a member of the Planning Committee for Wu Yee Sun College. The following year, Prof. Lawrence J. Lau, then Vice-Chancellor, proposed that I be the Founding Master of the College but I declined. Just before the summer holidays in 2009, he brought it up again. I thought, I am an alumnus of CUHK and have taught here for many years. I am fully aware of the importance of the collegiate system to the University. Establishing the new Colleges is a necessity as the student population will surge in 2012. If not done properly, it would do serious damage to the collegiate system and to CUHK. As Professor Lau said, I should capitalize on my 10 years of experience as the Head of Chung Chi College, my extensive network built over some 40 years here, and use my personal assets to attract people who would join me in running a new College for the University. I had the support of my wife and my family. After that summer, I agreed to take up the job. What will Wu Yee Sun College do to welcome its first cohort of students in 2012? Due to slope stabilization and tree transplantation, works on the College campus have to take a little longer. Things are going to be tough for the first batch of 318 students. Half would need to take temporary shelter at International House, the remaining would have neither hostel nor campus for a while. But a little suffering is good for young people. When Chung Chi was founded, it held classes in the basement of a church, while New Asia College had almost nothing. But when their alumni talk about the experience, they are always filled with pride. The present setbacks are the stuff of good memories. The experience of the first students will help us to improve and define the future of the College. Their role is irreplaceable. In the year when facilities are inadequate, the College will organize different activities to help students bond, including creative workshops, high-table lectures, seminars, forums, overseas and local schemes on service- learning, and exchange opportunities. Their College lives will not be boring. What do you expect to see in the students of Wu Yee Sun College? I hope they will be keen on learning, hardy and persistent; possess the scientific spirit of acquiring knowledge through practice and thinking critically; eager to innovate; sincere and visionary; caring towards society, striving to maintain justice, helping the weak and the needy in society; passionate about protecting the environment; possess interest and taste in art and culture. How do you see the impact of the new Colleges on the collegiate tradition of CUHK? It will add diversity to the scale, form and concept of the University’s collegiate system. The old Colleges are larger in physical size and accommodate at least 2,000 or 3,000 students. The smaller of the new Colleges can only house 300 or 600 students. The medium-sized ones such as Lee Woo Sing and us, 1,200 or 1,300. Some adopt communal dining. Chung Chi is rooted in the love of God; New Asia in Confucian ethics; United in pragmatism; and Shaw in service to society. The new Colleges also have different orientations. S.H. Ho College emphasizes the concept of ‘home’; Lee Woo Sing College, harmonious relations; Morningside, internationalism; and CW Chu, the pursuit of knowledge and an altruistic spirit. We attach importance to innovation and an entrepreneurial spirit with social responsibility. Diversity enriches the choices available to students, imparting to graduates different skills and flair that will enable them to make their influences felt in more areas of society. The establishment of new Colleges would inevitably heighten competition among the Colleges, but it would also stimulate creativity and foster unprecedented synergy, allowing us to progress together. How will your reputable profile in community services impact on your work as College Master? My 40-plus years of experience developing social services in medicine and health, social welfare, public order and correctional services, and education policy and development have made me realize the prevalence and complexity of social problems. As a teacher, I have a duty to guide students to understand, care about, and participate in society; to steer clear of clichés, and tap into their creativity and passion to solve different problems. My work in the public sector has also allowed me to get to know people from different walks and invite them to share with the students their unique views and experiences. What would you have done if you didn’t need to lead the new College? At the beginning of my retirement, I was relaxed and revitalized. My step was light and I felt free in my brightly- coloured casual outfits. I should have travelled more with my buddies while my health was still good, played sports, launched my plan to read novels, essays and books on history, and finished the research for several theses that I haven’t had time to write, and a book on the research methods of sociology to wrap up my academic life. And if Chung Chi College or the Department of Sociology needed my service, I should have readily responded. Now, I’m afraid I’ll have to wait till my retirement in 2016 to fulfill these wishes.