Newsletter No. 441

8 441 • 19.8.2014 advice to the University on its academic development, especially that of the Department of Physics, and was conferred the degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causa , by CUHK in 1997. In 1999, Professor Yang donated his medals, including the Nobel Prize medal, together with his papers, correspondence, manuscripts, publications to CUHK. Later CUHK set up ‘The CN Yang Archive’ to preserve, collate and organize the material, and to promote scholarship and publications based on the collection. Professor Yang’s Nobel Prize medal and diploma are now on display at the University Gallery. 楊振寧教授因其「宇稱不守恆」理論對基本粒子物理學的 重大貢獻，於1957年獲得諾貝爾物理學獎，為該獎首位華人 得主。 楊教授與中文大學淵源深厚。自1964年應邀為中大演講後， 經常到訪中大並擔任教研工作，歷任物理學榮譽講座教授、 博文講座教授、數學科學研究所所長、理論物理研究所所長 等職，對中大尤其是物理系之科研與教育發展，勳勞卓著。 楊教授於1997年獲中大頒授榮譽理學博士學位。1999年， 楊教授將包括諾貝爾獎在內的許多獎項、文章、信札、手稿 慷慨捐贈予中大。中大其後成立「楊振寧學 術資料館」，妥加保存整理，進一步推動學術 研究及有關出版。 楊教授的諾貝爾獎牌及證書現於大學展覽廳 展出。 Prof. Yang Chen-ning was the first Chinese scientist to win the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1957, for his discovery of parity nonconservation, which was instrumental to the development of elementary particle physics in the following decades. Professor Yang has long been associated with the Chinese University. Since his public lecture at the invitation of CUHK in 1964, he has visited and lectured at the University frequently. He was appointed by CUHK as Honorary Professor in Physics, Distinguished Professor-at-Large, co-director of the Institute for Mathematical Sciences, as well as director of the Institute of Theoretical Physics. Professor Yang has given valuable Letter 1: Committee English 12 August 2014 Dear K., I am so happy to hear that you have joined the University as an executive officer. The news has brought back many fond memories of that verdant and sun-filled campus, to me more arcadia than academy. I envy you for the hours ahead of strolling down its roads and conversing with the highly capable and unfailingly friendly people thereon. Despite the note of excitement in your letter I seem to discern a whiff of hesitation. You did admit you wanted to become a writer, an always admirable aspiration but one that is destined for disappointment and desperation. Writing is a vocation that fills you up so fully inside to prepare you for privation on the outside. But I think you would discover new heaven and new earth within the cubicle of your office. You would find yourself pushing pen, or rather, punching the keyboard nowadays, for a substantial period of your working life. You would be practising what is probably the most neglected genre of English writing: Committee English. Contrary to what most treatises on writing say, Committee English abhors the active voice. By embracing the passive construction and withholding the subjectivity of the writer, the draftsman of circulars, papers and minutes stakes out the entire terrain for deliberation, no more and no less, while remaining neutral and focused throughout. This is no mean feat of composition. The creative and expressive streak in you, as evidenced in your letter which made it such a delight to read, may go through some turbulence when you adapt to the writing style required of you at work. But believe me, you will adapt and emerge a more assured writer from the experience. In my times I wouldn’t have gone through a day in the office panic- free without knowing a few books are within reach. The hideous progeny of Dr. Frankenstein has his Paradise Lost , Plutarch’s Lives and The Sorrows of Young Werther . I had my dictionary (actually three: one English, one Chinese, one English–Chinese), The Elements of Style and a set of writing manuals ( 《 政府公文寫作手 冊 》 ) issued by the branch of the government now known as the Official Languages Division. The Elements of Style is not just a book. It is a first-aid kit whose contents can treat your bruises in diction or stop your bleeding in grammar. Not sure what the difference between compared to and compared with ? Go to it. Not sure if a singular or plural verb form is required in, say, ‘The president, together with his cabinet, meets/meet the press’? Go to it. The little book must be in its umpteenth edition? Grab the latest if you can, but any edition would do you just as much good. Be prepared to court it life-long. The Elements is like a Tang poem–short, rhythmic and reassuring. H. W. Fowler’s A Dictionary of Modern English Usage , on the other hand, is like Shakespeare’s sonnets (please indulge me a little; the sonnets are good companion for a retiree like myself)–encyclopedic, approachable but unfathomable. You browse through The Elements looking for answers. But before you start to turn the pages of Fowler you don’t even know what the questions are. I can assure you’d get addicted to it in no time. I don't know what young executives today keep handy by their side. Do they bookmark Wikipedia on their computers? There is no escape from technology, is there, even for an old trade like writing? (I recently installed a Merriam- Webster on my mobile.) But exercise discretion when using Wikipedia (which is not always correct) or Google (which has more irrelevant stuff than the opposite). I would say being discreet is probably the most important attribute of an executive. Oh, don’t ever confuse discreet with discrete ! But I must stop babbling on for fear I turn your cordiality and thoughtfulness into scorn and scare. Let me congratulate you once again for embarking on a career in a university, one in which you will succeed with dedication and temperance. Sincerely yours, H. P.S.: Please do not address me with ‘Mr’. That is, if you would be so kind as to write again. Such designations as ‘Dr’ or ‘Professor’, however, must of course not be lightly dispensed with in your daily dealings with your superiors or members of the academic staff. 博文貫珍 The Galleria 一封家書 Letters to a Young Executive Getty Images