HKU Bulletin February 2013 (Vol. 14 No. 2)

News in Brief In November last year, the General Education Unit recognised the importance of experiential learning by organising a week-long festival where students were given the chance to meet different artists in a series of cultural activities. To kick off the General Education Week on November 12, 2012, the talented musician Peter Moser staged his spectacular ‘24 Hours in a Tower’, locking himself in at the top of the Run Run Shaw Tower on the Centennial Campus to compose a song every hour, for 24 hours. Having a new song broadcasted live to the world every hour, Peter Moser amazed the audience with his music by performing stunning pieces with various musical instruments. He was also joined by alumni of the Music Department, music groups and HKU students for live jamming sessions. This was followed on November 13, 2012 by a dialogue with the renowned director Chen Kaige – the director of Farewell my Concubine, Caught in the Web and many more classics – in the Rayson Huang Theatre which was filled with hundreds of film-lovers. In ‘Browsing for Happiness – Meeting Director Chen Kaige’, Mr Chen discussed the implications of the film and the relationship between cyber culture and humanity. After the world of music and movies, students were treated to an exciting contest between the Chio-Tian Folk Drum & Arts Troupe from Taiwan and local dance groups on November 15, 2012. ‘Celestial Street Dance vs Local Dance Groups’ organised by the Kwang Hwa Information and Culture Center and co-organised by General Education Unit, brought together outstanding dancers, in particular the Chio-Tian Folk Drum & Arts Troupe which the audience loved for their blend of street dance, percussion and electronic music. The extraordinary dance performances added an energetic blast to the cultural week. The General Education Week was rounded up by a performance by Peter Yarrow, of the legendary folk trio ‘Peter, Paul and Mary’. To his throngs of fans packing Sun Yat-sen Place, he sang his classic songs such as Puff, the Magic Dragon and The Great Mandala . Between songs, Mr Yarrow talked about how he thought the world was connected by a global language: music. He also explained why he founded ‘Operation Respect’ – to provide children a respectful and safe climate of learning for academic and social development and to protect each child from bullying, ridicule and violence. M # $ % & ' & & ( & ) & * + + & , & & Experiential Learning in Action General EducationWeek Brings a Range of Talent to Campus Professor Anthony Yeh, Head and Professor of the Department of Urban Planning and Design, has received yet another international award. In recognition of his global leadership as a scholar and an educator, and his contributions in the advancement of humanistic globalisation, Professor Yeh was honoured with the 2012 Dr Gill-Chin Lim Global Award. Professor Yeh is the Director of Centre of Urban Studies and Urban Planning, Director of the Geographical/Land Information System (GIS) Research Centre, an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences, for the advancement of science in developing countries (TWAS). The Consortium on Development Studies was founded by Dr Gill-Chin Lim in 1982, and the Award first introduced in 2009, in memory of Dr Lim and in honour of his work. The recipient of the Award was selected by the Dr Gill- Chin Lim Global Award Committee, which comprises international scholars and experts from the US, Canada, Switzerland, Singapore, Korea, Egypt, and the World Bank. Professor Yeh was presented with the Award at the 53 rd Annual Conference of Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning held in Cincinnati, US, in November 2012. M Renowned HKU Academic Achieves Further Recognition Professor Paul Tam Elected Honorary Fellow of the American Surgical Association Professor Paul Tam, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Research) and Chair of Paediatric Surgery, has been elected as an Honorary Fellow of the American Surgical Association (ASA), the oldest surgical association in the United States, with members consisting of the nation’s most prominent surgeons as well as leading surgeons from around the globe. Professor Tam’s research interests include genomics and developmental biology, immunology and paediatric surgery. He was the President of Pacific Association of Pediatric Surgeons in 2008–2009 and is the recipient of numerous awards including the British Association of Pediatric Surgery Prize (1984), and the International Outstanding Leadership Award in Endoscopy from the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China (2010). The ASA’s Honorary Fellowship is a mark of international recognition and awarded to outstanding non-US surgeons for their contributions in the field of surgery throughout the years. Professor Tam will be conferred the Honorary Fellowship at the 133 rd ASA Annual Meeting in Indianapolis to be held in April, where the new Honorary Fellows will be introduced. M 03 The University of Hong Kong Bulletin February 2013