Chairman's Message

Addressing social challenges

It has been a rollercoaster year. While the world around us has completely changed, during the past 12 months the University has stood by its principles and stayed strong in the face of difficult circumstances, and our community spirit and the strength we derive from our Christian heritage have helped us through this tricky time.

As social unrest brewed in Hong Kong last year, we worked hard to support our staff and students to minimise the disruption to learning activities as well as normal operations. As students' wellbeing is always our top priority, we set up a student hotline and offered counselling services to help students who were emotionally affected by the incidents. Regular student forums were also held to address students' concerns, as we clearly identified the need for dialogue and understanding. It has not been an easy time, but we managed to get through it with unity.

With the implementation of the National Security Law in Hong Kong since 1 July 2020, I am pleased to see the year-long social instability dying down. As the new law will help safeguard Hong Kong's prosperity and stability as well as our "One Country, Two Systems." I appeal to all stakeholders of the university community to respect and uphold the law within our campus.

The pandemic hit

Shortly after the Chinese New Year, we encountered another challenge of global scale - a novel coronavirus named COVID-19. With on-campus classes suspended at the end of January, we moved quickly to establish online teaching and learning, and I would like to thank all our staff and students for adapting so well to this new way of working, living and learning. We have also seen exciting new innovations emerge, and our students continue to benefit from our excellent education.

Our care for the community and drive to support those less fortunate than ourselves has always been a core part of HKBU, and I was greatly moved by the generosity and kindness displayed by countless members of the University, as staff, students, donors, supporters and alumni all join hands with those in the community to beat the virus. How we react to hardships can tell you a lot about a place and its people, and I'm delighted to say that we all did the University proud during that time.

New beginnings

As times change, so do parts of the University. Over the past year we have seen some significant alterations to our senior leadership team as we have said goodbye to some old friends and also welcomed new colleagues into the fold.

In July, we announced the appointment of Professor Alexander Wai Ping-kong as the University's sixth President and Vice-Chancellor for a five-year term starting in February 2021. As an eminent leader in Hong Kong's higher education sector with distinguished academic accomplishments, Professor Wai joins us from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, where he has served in various university administration and leadership positions for the past 24 years. I'm delighted to welcome him to the University, and I am confident that he will be able to engage and energise the University community to further our mission, generate new ideas and take the University to the next level of excellence. At the same time, it has been a great honour to work alongside Professor Roland T Chin for these past few years, and I wish him all the best in his future endeavours.

We have also seen some changes to our Council and Court. Mr Paul Poon was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Council and the Court for a three-year term from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2022. We also welcomed six new members to the Council and Court, including Dr Stephen Lai, Mr Victor Pang, Dr Alex Yu, Rev Chan Pui-fai, Professor Ho Kin-chung and Mr Lau Kwok-ming. We greatly appreciate their contributions to HKBU, and I look forward to working with them further throughout their terms.

As I look back over the past year, while it has undoubtedly been full of challenges, I'm both proud and excited about the new developments taking place. After all, the night is darkest just before sunrise, and I am certain that the year ahead will be a promising and fulfilling one.