The artificial division into chapters, based on professions, should not mask the pervasiveness, versatility and diversity so conspicuously demonstrated by generations of graduates of the University of Hong Kong. Their footprints are all over the public and private sectors, among officialdom and advocates, entrepreneurs and the populace, and across rival political affiliations. It is also not unusual for a HKU graduate to have gone through several occupations, served a variety of communities and worked across organisations of different cultures. But it is in transcending 'characteristic excellences', again quoting Newman, that HKU graduates have made the most impact at different stages of Hong Kong's economic, social and political developments. And that is what a university is about.

The ceding of the fishing island to Britain in 1842 marked the beginning of the end to the Qing Dynasty in China. It was Sun Yat-sen, an alumnus, who put the final nails to the coffin of the monarchy, coincidentally in 1911 when the University was formally established in the colony, succeeding the College of Medicine (founded as early as 1887). The first and oldest university in Hong Kong was born in paradoxical circumstances, and has lived the past 90 years with a miraculous intertwining of cultures and ideologies.

 

As such, the University has never developed as a pure colonial apparatus. The University, modelled after red-brick autonomous academic institutions, highlights freedom, diversity and integrity. The liberal campus life and the diverse learning experiences have nurtured graduates who carry with them the missions of the time, and have given them the enormous capacity to accommodate new ideas, new challenges and new ventures. They have thus become key actors in the dramatic development of Hong Kong.

 

In the early years until the 1950s, HKU graduates served Hong Kong as professionals, as medical doctors and engineers in particular, but they also emerged as the handful of prominent community leaders with local upbringing. During the economic take-off from the 1960s through to the early 1980s, HKU graduates were the privileged intellectuals. As civil servants, teachers and other professionals, they were instrumental in building the infrastructure for a cosmopolitan city which then became part of the 'East Asian Miracle'.

In recent years, more HKU graduates have risen to the helms in private enterprises that harbinger and champion the knowledge economy. But many are also crucial players, movers and shakers, before, during and after the change of Hong Kong's sovereignty. Together with the people of Hong Kong, and with graduates from other institutions, local and abroad, they now face the daunting task of bringing Hong Kong through the challenges of the new economy and new polity.

What then are the 'characteristic excellences' among HKU graduates? Read through the chapters and a few themes unfold. Commitment stands out as the most prominent characteristic: commitment to the community and commitment to self-fulfilment. With commitment comes the determination many HKU graduates have in navigating the arenas, transcending political regimes and surfing economic fluctuations. With that they dare to lead at difficult times in sophisticated institutions. With that they champion social movements and advocate social justice.

HKU graduates are cosmopolitan. The multicultural nature of the University has made an essential impact on its graduates who, with their privileged positions in society, have in turn shaped the cosmopolitan culture of Hong Kong. Conversely, Hong Kong has provided the fertile soil for HKU graduates to grow in their cosmopolitan orientations. Hong Kong is a place where traditions and philosophies cross, where East and West meet, and this is typified by HKU and its graduates.

HKU graduates have demonstrated unusual comfort and ease in moving across cultures and over the international arena. The liberal education at HKU is reflected among its graduates in their liberal thinking and characteristic openness. They have learnt to accommodate diverse opinions, conflicting interests and even rival ideologies. They enjoy exposing themselves to the unexplored, breaking through the status quo and taking on the risks in pioneering and innovating. As such, HKU graduates are unconventional, at times even controversial. As such, they sail through changes and sometimes herald trends. They are keen in preserving their own cultural heritage, but are equally known for challenging cultural bounds.

HKU graduates are perhaps more individualistic than intellectuals in other Chinese communities. Their confidence could easily be mistaken as arrogance. But in the bosoms of HKU graduates live the ideals of commitment, loyalty and even sacrifice, qualities that have long been expected and respected as virtues among Chinese intellectuals. These are the very qualities HKU graduates treasure.

Such 'characteristic excellences' are also what Hong Kong society cherishes. Growing with Hong Kong, the life-history of HKU graduates has also rendered this monograph a document of Hong Kong's development, not only its up and downs, but also its evolving dreams and values. Indeed, HKU graduates are part of the intellectual mosaic that has made up Hong Kong.

HKU has been privileged, and with this comes a distinct sense of duty and responsibility among its graduates. At this juncture, when Hong Kong is repositioning itself within China and redefining its role in the global community, so are HKU and its graduates. We face a new era where privileges are redistributed, achievements short-lived and confidence challenged. With the tradition of excellences and most of all commitment, the next generations of graduates must now scale new heights in order to brave the new world in front of them.

A monograph like this necessarily indulges in the past. But the past is no guarantee - even though it may serve as guidance, oracle or inspiration - for the future. As a testimony of graduates' impact from the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong, this monograph will serve to illuminate the future, and shed light on the meanings and idea of a university, in particular the University of Hong Kong.