HKU Bulletin May 2004 (Vol. 5 No. 3)

17 16 PEOPLE Forty Years On At the recent annual Long Service Awards presentation ceremony for Terms of Service II and III staff, four members of staff were honoured for 40 years’ service with the University. The Bulletin caught up with them at work and has documented their fascinating lives. C hung Yun Fat is looking forward to visiting his extended family in the US and Mainland China when he takes his final bow at the University Museum and Art Gallery. The Museum Assistant I has been with the gallery since he joined the University in 1963 and well remembers its more humble beginnings. Chung said: “Before it was very small. We only had two rooms but now it is so big. Throughout my career we always seemed to have been moving to bigger premises.” The father-of-three did not come to Hong Kong unt i l the age of 16, following in the footsteps of his mother who had left him behind some eight years earlier. When asked who brought him up Chung repl ied: “No-one! I am very independent and I lived alone, started secondary school and then made my own way here.” This spirit of self-sufficiency came to the fore when his wife died young, leaving him to br ing up thei r three children. They do not seem to have suffered because Chung proudly l ists their achievements: two masters and one bachelor of scien C c h e u . ng said: “I am very poor! I had to borrow money for their postgraduate courses from friends and I have only just paid them off. “But I have finished my duties and will retire this June. After that it will be my children’s turn to support me!” His children might be relieved to hear then that his spirit of independence has its limits. When asked about his future plans Chung said: “Their thinking is more advanced than mine so I will seek their advice before making any decisions.” K o Choo Hing came to work at the University straight from primary school: but do not be alarmed there is no child labour invol H ve e d e . xplained: “We were very poor so I went to school late. My parents rented a single room of 70 – 80 metres and we all had to crowd in: my parents and three children. “My father had to support us working as a gardener for a wealthy family in Kowloon Tong. “When I got my first wage packet – $120 salary and $80 allowance – I almost earned as much as him.” A Works Supervisor II at the Estates Office, Ko came to the University after deciding to follow a friend’s advice to apply here. Now with four children of his own, Ko realizes that it is time to put down new roots of his own. His number one target is to travel round China once he finally hangs up his trowel and spade. But that does not mean the 57- year-old will not miss the University. Ko said: “ I wi l l miss a lot : the people; the env i ronment and just watching the changes.” W ith his father already working in the Estates Office you could say that it was predestined that Lee Wui Yuen ended up working for the University. More than 40 years later the Works Supervisor I has spent nearly his entire working l i fe at the Depar tment of Mechanical Engineering. By strange co-incidence Lee spent a short spel l at the Department of Geography in 1962 before being replaced by fellow long service award recipient Wong Ting Bor. Af ter spending a f i ve-year apprent iceship wi th his cur rent Depar tment , Lee went on to help countless generations of students set up their projects and hone their inventions. In his highly skilled and technical field, Lee has noticed the changes. He said: “There has been a big change with the equipment: a lot of changes in fact. “But it’s my duty to adapt to new technology and it helps keep me on my toes.” Since Lee will not retire for another three years, the father-of- two has plenty of time to still plan out his retirement. He smiled: “Why plan now. I have plenty of time and lots of idea I s n .” the meantime it is business as usual. W orks Supervisor I Wong Ting Bor knows how long he has been in the Department of Geography just by looking at the Professors: he can remember them as undergraduates. Now with 40 years’ service under his belt, Wong joined the University in 1963 – only three years after arriving from Mainland China in search of a new job and a new life. First a messenger, the then teenager was given the chance to become a laboratory assistant in the map unit after just eight months and began to learn the art and science of map drawing. With the Cartographic Unit ever since, Wong has seen colleagues come and go as computers made their work ever quicker but that does not mean a lighter workload. He said: “It is hard work but I enjoy it, not least because I need to learn so much about computers. Once it was al l hand drawing and slow but now I can rely on computers.” Although Wong will not leave until 2005 – when he finally reaches 60 – he is al ready making plans to set up home away f rom the Univ W ers it i h ty. three grown up children and a holiday home in the Mainland, Wong believes it will be time to take it easy and see more of the world. He said: “I want to tour around China, visit my house there and just generally enjoy myself.”