HKU Bulletin November 2009 (Vol. 11 No .1)

30 The University of Hong Kong Bulletin 31 November 2009 Solomon Bard’s life reads like a novel, which is perhaps appropriate given that he has now committed his adventures to paper. Born in Siberia in 1916, he and his family moved to Harbin, China, in 1924 after their house was appropriated by the Soviet State. There his musical talent, which was to play a prominent role in his life and career, first blossomed. However, he chose to pursue a more practical career and, in the 1930s, followed the well-trodden Russian émigré’s road to Shanghai where he studied English for entry to the University of Hong Kong, arriving here in 1934. A cholera outbreak and one of the worst typhoons ever to hit the territory, in 1937, read like omens of the traumas to come. In 1939 War was declared and Mr Bard joined the Hong Kong Volunteers Field Ambulance Unit. When the colony fell to the Japanese in 1941, he was interned as a Prisoner of War at the Sham Shui Po camp, where he employed his medical skills to secretly treat fellow prisoners. After the war, and a few years in the UK, he returned to Hong Kong and his alma mater to found the University’s medical service. Retirement, in 1976, provided an opportunity to follow his twin passions of music and archaeology. From 1976 to 1983 he served as executive officer of the Antiquities and Monuments Office and in his spare time he conducted the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and, from 1983 to 1987, served as assistant music director of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra. Mr Bard’s life and experiences are vividly recounted in a series of essays that make such entertaining reading one wonders why writing hasn’t played a more prominent role in his life. Earlier this year, the remarkably youthful Mr Bard, now 91, returned to Hong Kong to share his memories with an audience at HKU’s Main Library. The University in the 1930s appears to have resembled a holiday camp rather than an educational institution. “When I arrived at my hostel, in 1934 as a first-year medical student, there were quite a number of students sitting around, playing cards, not attending lectures,” he recalls. “The atmosphere was very casual, the attitude was that you didn’t have to attend lectures, they weren’t compulsory, you didn’t even have to pass exams for that matter. “The overseas students – Russians, Chinese, Sri Lankans, Malaysians – would stay on and on. Daddy would send the money and they would just stay here. It was a lot of fun and everybody tried to enjoy themselves very well. “At that time there were only three faculties – Medicine, Engineering and Arts – and about 450 students. Out of the 45 students who started first-year medicine with me, only 15 passed on to the second year, and only five graduated. The record at the time was ten years spent on a three-year course!” Light and Shade: Sketches from an Uncommon Life by Solomon Matthew Bard, published by Hong Kong University Press. TALES FROM A well-travelled life Meanwhile, students are being given a say on the indoor design of the project. A mock-up of proposed student rooms was posted at Haking Wong podium in September and students are invited to give feedback. An underlying theme in the construction of the hostel is integration with the neighbourhood and students living in the hostel will be encouraged to participate in outreach programmes that provide voluntary social service to the community. The Dean of Student Affairs, Dr Albert Chau, said the Lung Wah Street hostel would meet the current shortfall in places, but future demand would be a problem. “It is going to help with accommodation problems by giving us what we need now. But by the time it is completed there will still be a shortage of about 1,700 places because of the 3-3-4 reform [in which undergraduate education will extend to four years from 2012] and the expansion of international places,” he said. The University is seeking additional solutions to meet this shortage. It recently introduced an option for non-local full-time degree students to receive a $20,000 grant to live off-campus and has acquired Hon Wa School on Pokfield Road, which will be modified into a residential block for about 150 postgraduate students. Construction has already started on the Lung Wah Street student hostel, but there are continued opportunities for local residents and students to have input on its design and operation. The hostel will provide about 1,800 places by 2012 and consist of four blocks of 22 to 25 storeys. An old banyan tree on the site has been preserved and incorporated into the design. The hostel’s location in a dense urban area is a sensitive one, though, given the number of people who will be affected by its construction and use. Recognizing that, the University has held on-going consultations with District Councillors and residents, who have been able to air their views and provide input on refining the design of the hostel. A community engagement workshop was also held in March 2007, in which views from residents were incorporated into the design such as enhancing air flow, reducing the height of the buildings and further enhancing greenery and landscape design on the podium. Residents were also consulted in August this year on the design and management of a small park on the site that will be open to the community. A liaison group has also been established with representatives from HKU, the District Councillors, contractors and residents to allow for on-going communication during the construction and operation of the project. FITTING INTO THE community The new student hostel is being built on Lung Wah Street will meet two needs: to provide more residential places for students and to integrate the University more closely with the local neighbourhood. A new book from HKU Press traces the passions and the sorrows of a remarkable journey. Books Campus Development