香港浸會大學基金年報2018-19

President’s Message 校長獻辭 6 2019 was a watershed year for Hong Kong and our University. What started off as a peaceful protest rally with a record turnout in June soon escalated into violent confrontations spreading across Hong Kong. As I sit down to write this review, universities in Hong Kong – ours included – were engulfed by the political turmoil, with many student protesters arrested, campuses besieged and facilities trashed. Some sister institutions even went into complete lockdown. What role should universities play in such a tumultuous period? The turmoil offered many sobering thoughts to us as educators. Universities are institutions with a long history and rich traditions. But as a primary source of new knowledge and new thoughts, we are also a change agent, at times triggering disruptive changes. We cherish our history and time-honoured traditions, yet we disrupt them in the interest of scientific advances and social progress. The discovery of DNA in a university laboratory disrupted life science research and created the global biotech industry. The invention of a digital social media platform in a university dormitory changed the way the world communicates. Universities are always at the forefront of such changes. But as I look back, I am amazed not by what has changed but by what has not changed. And it is these “unchanged” aspects at a time of change that have stood the test of time and continue to guide us. 在 2019 年，香港和浸大都經歷一連串的動盪和 轉變。六月一場和平的大型示威遊行，迅速演 變成為蔓延全港的暴力衝突，執筆之際，香港 的多所大學，包括浸大，均被捲入這場政治亂 局中。香港的學生被拘捕，校園被圍堵，設施 受破壞，部分大學甚至要關閉校園。在動盪不 安的時局中，大學應該如何自處？這場運動猶 如當頭棒喝，我們作為教育工作者，必須深切 思考這問題。 大學是一個尊重歷史傳統，卻又鼓勵推陳出 新的地方。大學培育新知識、鼓勵新思維， 卻又堅持要破舊立新，有時更會觸發顛覆性的 改變。我們一方面珍視歷史承傳，尊重傳統 智慧，卻又會勇於推翻舊思維，以推動科學 發展和社會進步。例如大學實驗室發現的微 小 DNA ，顛覆了生命科學，造就了生物科技工 業的誕生；在大學宿舍裡開發的互聯網社交平 台，顛覆了人類的溝通模式。大學永遠走在改 變的最前線。 然而，今時今日，香港正處於一個風雲變局的 年代，社會動盪，人心不穩。此刻，最鑄刻我 心的，不是甚麼東西改變了，而是一連串的「不 變」。在充滿變數的時代，正正是這些經得起時 間考驗、穩如磐石的「不變」，讓浸大能夠無懼 風雨，穩步前行。 President‘s Message 校長獻辭