CW Chu College The Chinese University of Hong Kong eNewsletter

It was a sunny day with glorious sunshine on 13 March 2014. Around 300 guests, CUHK staff, benefactors, friends, mentors, Chu Scholars, College Fellows and Teachers, and two cohorts of students attended the opening ceremony of the newly established College Campus.

Officiating guests at the Grand Opening Ceremony included Mr David Chu, Chairman of the College Committee of Overseers; Dr Stanley Ho and Dr Ina Chan Ho, Chairman of the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals; Dr Edgar WK Cheng, Senior Adviser to the Council of CUHK; Professor Joseph JY Sung, Vice-Chancellor and President, CUHK; and Professor Kenneth Young, Master of the College. They officiated at the ribbon-cutting ceremony that marked the grand opening of the College. To express gratitude for the generosity of benefactors who had sponsored the construction of the College premises and relevant facilities, two naming ceremonies were held on that day: the naming of the Ina Ho Chan Un Chan Building, and the naming of the Lanson Mini-Library and Reading Room, and the Lanson Terrace.

In his speech, Mr David Chu applauded the education philosophy of CUHK and its collegiate system. He encouraged members of CW Chu College to fulfill its vision and mission, so as to provide quality education for the new generation.

Prof Joseph JY Sung said that CW Chu College, as one of the two smallest colleges in the University, has the advantage of being able to foster a close-knit community where students from different cultures and disciplines learn and grow together.

In his address, Professor Kenneth Young, the College Master, elaborated on the four elements of the College's vision — intimate, international, intellectual, involved — and how the collective support and effort of the benefactors, teachers and friends had helped the College to realize its goals.

Four members of Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra were invited to give a performance at the College's piazza after the ceremony. A piece of ceremonial music, namely 'A moment of Joy', was specifically arranged with a powerful opening by the gongs and drums, followed by excerpts from traditional Chinese music such as 'Dream of the Red Chamber' and 'Song of Sifting for Gold'. The fanfare-like joyful melodies filled the College with a festive mood.

To learn more about the students' College life, the guests, guided by the student ambassadors, visited the College facilities and the student hostel. They appreciated the enthusiasm of College students and praised the beautiful college campus as a nice place for students to learn and grow. All the guests enjoyed a pleasant afternoon on the College campus.

That evening, a High Table Dinner was held in the College's Multi-Purpose Hall, to entertain around 300 guests and College students. Professor Victor Li, Chair Professor of Information Engineering, the University of Hong Kong and a member of Committee of Overseers, delivered a speech entitled 'Pursuing Your Dreams'. As a recipient of the CW Chu Scholarship, he pursued studies in the USA and realized his dream of becoming a scientist. With Dr Chu's support, encouragement and care, he studied hard and was eventually admitted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), majoring in electrical engineering and computer science, and obtained a PhD in 1981. After graduation, he joined the University of Southern California (USC), the USA, and became a Professor of Electrical Engineering and the Director of the USC Communication Sciences Institute.

Bearing in mind Dr Chu's spirit of cultivating oneself and benefitting others, Professor Li was determined to make contributions to the Hong Kong community. In the hope of nurturing the next generation in Hong Kong, he returned to Hong Kong in 1997. In recent years, he has been contributing to the establishment of CW Chu College, so as to cultivate more talents. He expected students of CW Chu College to pursue their dreams and carry forward Dr Chu's spirit one generation after another.

Thanks to the joint efforts of several parties, the College premises were completed on schedule. The College especially thanked Mr Philip Liao, the Design Architect, and his team, for designing a beautiful campus for the College; Mr Fung Siu Man, Director of Campus Development of CUHK, and his team, for the management and supervision of the construction work of the College campus; Mr Benny Tam, Director of Estates Management Office, and his team, for their help in venue set-up for the College Grand Opening. Members of College Student Union presented thank-you cards to the three parties for their contributions to the College.

To commemorate the College's grand opening, Professor Kenneth Young and members of the College Student Union contributed four mementoes, to be sealed in a time capsule: a USB which contained the College videos: the Founding Year @ CW Chu College and the First Orientation Camp of CW Chu College, a Certificate signed by members of the Student Honour Code Committee and the two CW Chu College T-shirts with signatures from the first two cohorts of students.

As the High Table Dinner drew to a close, Miss Chang Ho Ting, a College student from Taiwan, gave a brilliant violin performance. She played Estrelita, which means 'Little Star', by the Mexican composer Manuel Ponce, to convey her wishes that students of CW Chu College will one day become bright stars to shine in the community.