That was how I ended my 3-minute speech at the Inauguration Ceremony for New Students at the Grand Hall at Lee Shau Kee Lecture Centre on 26 August 2016. I am going to share with you the speech below, but first, let me briefly report what happened that morning. The Ceremony began with the usual…
It is Book Fair Week in Hong Kong again. Typically, publishers and writers would organize some public meetings for book sale and autographing and I found myself in one of them ostensibly organized to discuss how and what and why writers write. It was a good session and afterwards I found myself in a familiar…
On 23 June 2016, Britain held a referendum on whether to stay or leave the European Union. Many people woke up the following day confused and dumbfounded; and it would probably take a while before the full impact of the referendum results would be felt. In the meantime, Britain is busy looking for a new…
The 2016 Ordinary General Meeting (OGM) was held on 23 June 2016 when I delivered the Annual Report of Convocation before an election took place to fill the eight vacancies. The election results have since been uploaded on the website and I congratulate the eight successful distinguished alumni who have joined or re-joined others to…
Those of you who have been reading this column or who have been following University affairs would recall that the Convocation held an Extraordinary General Meeting on 1 September 2015 during which a motion was passed requiring the Convocation to set up a working party for the implementation of two other resolutions passed at the…
On 7 May 2016, President and Vice Chancellor Professor Peter Mathieson, accompanied by his full Senior Management Team (SMT), met Convocation members in an open forum organised by the Standing Committee and the two major alumni bodies, namely the Hong Kong University Alumni Association (HKUAA) and the Hong Kong University Graduates Association (HKUGA). I said…
I can’t remember the last time I received a proper Hallmark Birthday Card, obviously carefully selected and signed, but tonight I did and accompanied by Lindt Excellence Dark Noir and Supreme Dark 90% Cacao, which can’t be bad. Our favourite ski instructor Jim would be 76 the day before my I/D card birthday, and because…
It may seem obvious, and it actually is – when one’s child reaches the age of the father at which the child was born, one would be twice as old as his child. Let me illustrate with my own case. My son was born when I was 34. Today he reaches that age, so I…
This is our third trip to Whistler this year, and by next Tuesday when we leave here for New York City and then Chicago, we would have stayed in our room at Whistler Hilton for some 45 nights, which by any standard would make us appear to be rather keen skiers or at least keen…
Whistler is actually run by a corporation called Whistler Blackcomb or something similar. It operates the Whistler Blackcomb Snow School and owns many shops and eateries in Whistler and Blackcomb. Most people only know Whistler because of the name and because the Winter Olympics took place on Whistler Mountain. Blackcomb is another mountain just as…
