THE BOOK AND I

Chan Sau Wai, Cora
Government and Laws Year 2

Flipping through the glossy pages of this 2 inch-thick book, I cannot help but admire the great achievements of our graduates. Seeing familiar faces in the book and hearing about this Grand Book Launch, my first question is, as a student, how are all these past glories related to me?

I reflect on the reasons why I chose HKU two years ago and the impression I got from these fourteen months - The University is very international, but at the same time, closely knitted with the HK community. It is always full of colours, sounds and life. These are exactly the characteristic excellences of HKU that this book has portrayed - diversity and liberty.

The book is almost like a history book to me - except that it is unique because it is an interwoven history of the university and the city. The University of Hong Kong is no empty name. She has been through ups and downs with HK. She is an academic world of tradition and culture, and I am in it. I am being molded, just as someday, I will shape the university and community in turn.

As I go through the chapters, I feel the astounding total impact of our past graduates. They are respected NOT because of their status and success, which are up to circumstances and history to judge. Rather, it is their courage, selflessness, integrity and above all, commitment, that drove them to make a difference on the land that nurtured us.

This book is a record of HKU, its people and its bond with the city. Whether our face is in it or not, we are still part of it.

We will face daunting challenges. The past does not necessarily guarantee the future. This thought is especially disturbing when people keep telling us students that we are not as good as our previous generations. But here I assure you, we share the same commitment. The book, embedded with the devotion of graduates of the first 90 years, is certainly NOT a past, but a living tradition, that WE as the next generation is ready to carry on.