Honorary University Fellows

Mr John Koon Chung CHAN is a renowned writer, critic and film producer. Born in Shanghai, he was raised and educated in Hong Kong. He graduated from HKU with a BSocSc degree in 1974, and continued to study journalism at Boston University in the US from 1974 to 1975.

In 1976, he founded the groundbreaking lifestyle magazine City, where he was the chief editor for several years and its publisher for 23 years. The magazine would set the standard in ‘cool’ and become the most avant garde cultural publication of its kind in the 1970s and 1980s. 

He started screenwriting in 1981 and went on to be a producer of more than 10 Hong Kong movies and 3 US movies. He is also one of the five founders of the Hong Kong Film Directors Guild.

Mr Chan has published more than a dozen books in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China, including Hong Kong Trilogy, My Hong Kong Generation, Hong Kong’s Unfinished Experiment, Marxism and Literary Criticism and Bohemian China. His most recent novel, The Fat Years, has received critical acclaim worldwide and been translated into 13 languages.

Currently, Mr Chan lives in Beijing, and is the founder and chairman of Minjian International. He is a co-founder of the Hong Kong environmental group Green Power, and has served as a board member of Greenpeace International.

Citation delivered by Professor Kam LOUIE, Dean of Arts

Writer, publisher, critic and film producer, Mr Chan Koon Chung is a cultural pioneer and social activist who has influenced the development of contemporary culture not only in Hong Kong, but also on the Mainland.

Born in Shanghai, Mr Chan was raised and educated in Hong Kong. He graduated from HKU in 1974 with a Bachelor of Social Sciences degree, and continued to study journalism at Boston University in the US from 1974 to 1975.

In 1976, Mr Chan founded the ground-breaking cultural magazine City Magazine (號外), and was its chief editor and publisher for 23 years.

City Magazine would become the most influential publication of its kind in the 1970s and 80s, introducing Western avant-garde trends and movements to Hong Kong. It would become a must-read for cultural commentators, writers, artists and creative types. It would set the standard in ‘cool’ for an entire generation.

Mr Chan’s influence grew as he moved into the film industry, which began in 1981 when he turned his hand to screenwriting. Three years later, three of his scripts were filmed at a time when Hong Kong’s film industry was booming and entered the age of New Wave (新浪潮).

In the same year, Mr Chan had his first opportunity of working as a producer. The film, Hong Kong 1941 (等待黎明), was followed by his producing a further twelve Chinese language movies and a few English ones, including Wayne Wang's hit, Eat a Bowl of Tea (一碗茶).

Always supportive of Hong Kong’s film industry, Mr Chan is one of the five founders of the Hong Kong Film Directors Guild.

But he has also been involved in many media and entertainment businesses in the region, including newspapers, magazines, television, online media, music and book publishing in Greater China.

Mr Chan has also explored questions about what is means to be a contemporary Hongkonger, or to live in modern China, in many of his books.

These include Hong Kong Trilogy (香港三部曲), My Hong Kong Generation (我這一代香港人), Hong Kong\'s Unfinished Experiment (香港未完成的實驗), Marxism and Literary Criticism (馬克 思主義與文學批評), and Bohemian China (波希米亞中國). His most recent novel, The Fat Years (盛世：中国2013), has received critical acclaim worldwide and been translated into 13 languages.

Over the years, Mr Chan has remained in close touch with his alma mater, always willing to lend his support and returning often to campus to talk to students, both for General Education courses or at the invitation of faculties and departments.

Currently, Mr Chan lives in Beijing, and is the founder and chairman of Minjian International. He is a co-founder of the Hong Kong environmental group Green Power, and has served as a board member of Greenpeace International.

It gives me great pleasure, Mr Pro-Chancellor, to present Mr Chan Koon Chung for the Honorary University Fellowship, in recognition of his contributions to Hong Kong and academia.