On October 28, Dr. Edgar Cheng, JP, Member of The Greater Pearl River Delta Business Council, and Mrs. Fanny Law, JP, the former Permanent Secretary for Education and Manpower of Hong Kong, paid a visit to UIC and cut the ribbon at the UIC Whole Person Education Project 2006/07 Voluntary Service Launching Ceremony.
In the morning of 28 October, Dr. Edgar Cheng and Mrs. Fanny Law, accompanied by Prof. S.T. Kwok, the Executive Vice-President of UIC, and Dr. Vincent Kwan, arrived at the new campus of UIC. They visited the teaching buildings and then the Experiential Development Base. Students were having EDP classes at that time, and the scene visibly impressed the two guests. They noted that there is no similar course for students in Hong Kong. Mrs. Fanny Law later stated at the discussion with UIC teaching staff that experiential training should be introduced into Hong Kong universities too.
After visiting the campus, our guests came to the International Centre to have a meeting with the teaching and executive representatives. The meeting started with a wonderful introduction to UIC by Prof. Kwok. He described the difficulties and hard work in the early stages when establishing UIC. He then pointed out some features of UIC, not only academic ones but also concerning the overall management and the educational ideal. He emphasized the interactive teaching mode at UIC and our goal of being a real international university in mainland China. Both guests agreed with and appreciated Prof. Kwok's insights.
The UIC Whole Person Education Project 2006/07 Voluntary Service Launching Ceremony was held just after lunch. It began with a speech by Prof. Kwok introducing UIC’s Whole Person Education approach. He explained the meaning of a whole person --- someone who is true and authentic, responsible towards himself, his family and also the society at large. Dr. Haipeng Guo, together with three UIC students, made a report afterwards to further state what the voluntary service programme has done this year in sharing the experience of volunteer work in Yunnan Province. Then the two distinguished guests gave speeches: Dr. Edgar Cheng congratulated everyone on the voluntary service launching ceremony and expressed his appreciation for what UIC has done for education and the society in China. In a speech by Mrs. Fanny Law, she shared a sentence with all the students: "Attitude is more important than aptitude in determining your altitude", which is really meaningful to everyone.
The ribbon-cutting of the ceremony brought the event to the climax. The guests, together with Prof. Kwok, cut the ribbon, and the master of the ceremony, Mr. Johnston, announced that the 2006/07 voluntary service was thereby launched.
The whole ceremony went smoothly and the visit of our guests ended with a casual talk with some student representatives. Mrs. Fanny Law shared her impression about the students' strong ability to express themselves several times and stated she believes that the future for UIC will only be better and better.
