The Review 2005

2 4 T HE R E V I EW 2 0 0 5 The Mentorship Programme pairs second-year undergraduates with alumni, such as law student Natasha Khan and Hong Kong Legislative Councillor Martin Lee Chu-ming. We put our skills to unexpected uses following the devastating tsunami that struck off the coast of Indonesia in December 2004 and created a demand for knowledge about tsunamis. The Department of Earth Sciences organised talks attended by thousands of people and provided advice to the government on the risk of a major tsunami in Hong Kong. Individual academics also made significant contributions to relief efforts. A hydrology expert in the Department of Civil Engineering delivered 15,000 water purification tablets to Sri Lanka and an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering arranged for a desalination system to be provided in Indonesia. Naturally, as an educator, the University also takes a keen interest in the educational needs of the community beyond our campus. There is growing demand for lifelong learning as people seek to keep up with changes in knowledge, upgrade qualifications or pursue new interests. This can start at a young age – our Department of English organises summer courses for children aged 10 to 14 to encourage them to write poetry – but mostly it applies to adults. The HKU School of Professional and Continuing Education admits more than 100,000 students each year into programmes ranging from general interest to doctoral degree. One of these is an anti-corruption course attended by police and investigators from around the world. A slightly different form of facilitation involves student groups who bring aid and labour to remote areas of Mainland China. Their aims are to promote better education prospects, particularly in rural areas in Mainland China, and improve students’ understanding of rural conditions on the Mainland. The China Education Association of the HKU Students’ Union, for example, operates a programme to subsidise the school fees of Mainland children. EastHope , an off-shoot of the student volunteer group Pleasure in Charity , is raising money to subsidise primary schools in Anhui province and is sending books to poorer rural areas to promote literacy. And St John’s College students have raised money and provided their labour to build three primary schools in Harbin province, with a Cultural and Education Centre now being planned to teach mainly English. Locally, the Sparkling Smarties student project takes underprivileged children and young new immigrants on outings to help them improve their self-respect and communication and teamwork skills. Another form of community service involves sharing knowledge in useful ways. Our academics are keen to bring their specialist knowledge out of scholarly circles and into the wider community. In 2004 the Department of Ecology and Biodiversity published a book on Hong Kong’s natural environment to raise awareness among the general public. Our Hong Kong Jockey Club Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention joined forces with three major frontline support organisations to take joint action to address the problem of suicide in Hong Kong.