Me=ex-DoS CWC in CUHK

終於把這個專頁的標題改了，變成了ex。現在我是敬文書院的"義工"，專責收生與獎助學金的事務。

Finally I have modified the title of this page , I become an ex. Now, I am volunteering at CW Chu College. My responsibility is to manage Admission, Scholarships and Financial Aid.

是回顧的時候了
It’s Time to Look Back (Please scroll to bottom)

我擔任了敬文書院輔導長多久呢？是6或7年吧！只記得創院院長Prof Young卸任前任命我，到如今第二任院長Prof Chan也快要落任了。幾年以來，我的貢獻可說乏善足陳。實際上，只是我學習怎樣承擔這職能的初階。我懷疑書院許多學生，都不怎樣知道我是誰和究竟輔導長做甚麼。我的性格並不適合作輔導長，多數學生只會看見一個離學生很遠說話硬繃繃的老師，除了少數有機會與我詳談的才發現我坦誠的一面！

當上輔導長不久，我就要與妻子的癌魔搏鬥，之後要面對一個沒有心理準備的人生。在那十多個月，我根本沒有盡過輔導長的責任。尚幸敬文是個細小書院，院長和舍監本來就連繫和關懷所有的學生，院務室同事在背後支撐著大小的事務。

實際上我到了任期的第三年，才開始摸索和學習怎樣做個輔導長！書院的各項政策，若得不到學生的認同和合作，往往事倍功半，甚至白費功夫。同時，學生日常在書院生活的經驗，十分影響他們對書院管理的印象。當時書院的重點，就是增強與學生溝通和解決學生最關切的問題。除了面對全體學生，我必須多與學生代表溝通。可是，敬文學生會那年卻開始難產了。於是，輔助學生會成了我的重點工作。要積極幫忙卻又不干預是很難拿捏的，敬文學生會與宿生會的合作和人力重疊又很複雜，然後2019至今又浪費了兩年。今年有個較具規模的代表會，希望9月重回校園有個好開始。

我與學生的溝通往往以事務帶動，慣常事務包括籌劃O-camp、敬文節、收生、宿費等，也有特別事情如安裝CCTV、院歌、膳食等。在這些事情上，師生未必能尋求意見統一，重點是對等及互相尊重的交流。雖然我並非學生心目中最親切的老師，但我自小是個頑皮學生，比較容易掌握各類學生的想法。遇到學生的詰問，我也算能夠平心靜氣的解說。其實，學生從來沒有頂撞我，意見雖有分歧，雙方都有互相了解和體諒。綜觀我與學生的溝通，還算合格。
我若有更頻密的與學生會面，也許能達到更好的溝通和合作。可惜沒有甚麼事故，我就好像不懂得怎樣向學生伸手。進入2019學年，本來很多事情要與學生面對面傾談的，但疫情卻成了嚴重阻礙。不經不覺，這樣就總結了我過去幾年的「貢獻」！

How long have I been the Dean of Students of CW Chu College? It is about 6 or 7 years. I still remember Prof Young, our founding Master, appointed me shortly before he stepped down. Now, Prof Chan is ending his term of the second Master. In these years, it is difficult for me to say any contribution. Indeed, it has been the beginning stage of my lessons for the position. Perhaps there are quite a number of CWC students, who do not recognize me; or do not know what a DoS is doing. I do not have a personality fit for being DoS. Students would mostly see a teacher who is not good at words and is remote from students; except a few who had experienced my frank and open attitude.

Shortly after I took up the position, I had to fight the battle of my late wife’s cancer and then an unprepared life ahead. For many months, I had not fulfilled my responsibility as DoS. The small and intimate setting of CW Chu College had reduced my absence. That our Master and Warden had good connection with students, and the College Office had taken care of a lot of issues.

It was until the third year of my term that I started to explore and learn how to be a Dean of Students! The operations of the College must have the understanding and cooperation from students. Otherwise, effort will be largely or totally wasted. At the same time, students establish their impression of College administration through their daily experiences in the college. Thus, an important focus at the time was to strengthen communication with students and handle the concerns of them. While I am facing the whole student community, it is also essential for me to build up dialog with student representatives. Unfortunately, starting that year, Student Union of CW Chu had faced various difficulties. A major task for me is to maintain a stable SU. It requires a delicate skill not to intruding too much while providing support. It also involves complicated issues about the overlap of work and resources between SU and Resident Association. Then, everything was halted during the year of 2019 and the following pandemic. I am happy to see a new Representative Council this year so that a good restart will be seen when we resume our campus life in September.

My interaction with students usually hinges on work. For example, routine works include organization of O-camp or CWC Festival, admission exercise, and setting hostel fee. There were also special issues such as installation of CCTV, college anthem, and catering. Staff and students may not agree on everything. The most important is communication on an equal and respectful basis. Though I am not the most likeable teacher, my naughty background helps me to understand students of different types. When I was confronted by students, I was able to patiently explain the rationale. Actually, students never had conflict against me. There was a mutual respect and understanding between us. Overall, I got a pass in my effort of communication with students.

It certainly will be more helpful if I could meet students more frequently. However, I really do not know how to reach out without anything to work on. Going into 2019, there are things that I wish to discuss with students in a face-to-face manner. Yet, this is impossible in the pandemic. This puts a full stop to my review of my service.

員生共取錄
Staff-Student Collaboration in Admission (Please scroll to bottom for English)

從敬文創辦以來，書院收生是一個「員生共治」的實驗模式。現在仍不能說十全十美，但卻建立了一個有效的機制。讓我詳細描述一下，可使未曾積極參予的同學多了解。

書院從2012-13起有了首屆的學生，就開始邀請學生參予招收第二屆的新生，當年主要是幫忙宣傳和擔任親善大使。自從2013-14，就加入了學生與jupas新生的小組面試，由學生會主持。緣起是學生常誤會書院主要取錄成績優異的新生，並沒有考慮新生能否對書院氣氛帶來正面貢獻。無疑老師比較欣賞智性顯著的新生，但收生面試的標準確實非學業。一來為了尊重學生的意願，二來多費唇舌解說不如讓學生親身體驗，書院因此加入學生會面試。這樣一方面取錄過程加入了學生眼光，平衡一下老師的「偏見」，另外也讓學生經過實際執行，了解取錄新生的關鍵因素。

多年以來，基本的模式大致相同，都是學生先與新生進行小組面試，兩三個學生與三四個新生會面，然後老師與新生單對單的會面。學生會主持的面試完全獨立，書院管理只在運作上給予引導和支援。而兩個面試的結果，同等重要。某種意義上有個計分制度，但由於每年聯招的競爭激烈，Jupas取錄男女新生大約各佔18-20個，重點其實只是排名位於15至25的新生。

在任何一方的面試表現極差的新生，絕不取錄；而兩個面試表現極好的則盡量吸納，具體安排和執行上卻每年有改進。每次收生完結，我還與學生代表開會，交代一些特殊個案，和檢討可改進之處。幾年下來，學生越來越明白，師生兩個面試的取向雖然不盡相同，但結果大同小異。有些學生的意願顧及不周，也只是欠缺溝通，通常在下一年就修正了。

新生的取錄並非完全由面試表現決定！原因是敬文不希望學生完全被「神科」佔據，多元的學生群體對學生的內涵培養非常重要。可是，不論學生或老師，都發現學業成績良好與面試表現有正面關聯。因此，我們儘量平衡各學院(Faculty)的新生人數。可是，這不能以硬性的人數來處理，否則就做成對「神科」的新生的不公。籠統來說，當「神科」生的面試只是稍微優勝，我們會選擇取錄另一個學院的新生，但若「神科」生的面試表現實在超卓，就不應因限額而拒之門外。此外，一些家庭背景稍差的學生，面試表現可能不夠大體，敬文仍樂於給他們機會在書院裡成長並貢獻。

這個收生過程是「共治」嗎？按最狹隘的標準，不算是。由於各種私隱緣故，學生不能觸及所有資料，很難做出全面的判斷。因此，敬文這個模式只是書院尊重學生的做法。到了最後，有了師生兩重的面試結果，還是由老師去綜合所有資料，去作出最終決定。雖然最後這步很大程度是按資料處理，但總有一些邊緣的情況須由老師做出取捨。在客觀的限制下，我們取錄聯招新生的過程，算是不錯的「員生協作」了。

由於大學的非聯招（包括本地生、國際生、國內生）程序並非一次過處理，很難找到一個統一收生安排讓學生參予。敬文在這方面還要動動腦筋，怎樣引入學生的參與。

Ever since the beginning, college admission of CW Chu has been a “Staff-student Collaboration” project. It is far from perfect now, yet there has been a workable system. Let me explain further so that students who had never engaged in the process will understand more.

Once we had our first cohort of students in 2012-13, the College started involving our students in the admission of the second cohort. In that year, students mainly assisted in promotion activities and served as student ambassador. From 2013-14, interviews in charge by CWC Student Union was introduced. Our students tended to think that College admission selection relied largely on the academic excellence, and so the contribution of a new student to the college life was neglected. Undoubtedly, teachers might incline to appreciate new students with strong intellectual qualities, yet we deliberately looked for non-academic ability in the interview. Action is always better than words to bring forth respect and understanding. College decided to add an interview in charge by students. In this way, the preference of students is included in the admission process. Moreover, our students will discern the crucial elements in admission.

The jupas admission process has been more or less the same in years. A group of 3 or 4 new students will first meet a panel of 2-3 CW Chu students. Then each new student will meet individually with a teacher. The interview run by Student Union is completely autonomous. The College Administration only provides coordination and support. The assessments of the two interviews are equally important. In a way, there is some sort of a ranking system. However, since the competition of getting into a full residential college is very heated and we only admit 18-20 new jupas students in either gender, what really matters is the selection of new students ranked at 15-25.

If a new student performs bad in either interview, he/she will not be admitted. On the contrary, we try our best to admit those impressed both our students and our teacher. Nevertheless, each year we discovered something in the operation should be adjusted. Each year after the admission exercise, there is a meeting between myself and Student Union. We would talk about some special cases and discuss places that need improvement. In these years, our students have seen that the views of teacher and students are not very diverse. If some expectations of our students were not met, it was usually out of miscommunication. It usually was rectified in the next year.

Indeed, the admission is not totally determined by the two interviews. A multi-dimensional college environment is best for our students in the long run. Thus, we do not want to fill up the College with students from a few “prestigious majors”. Yet, both teachers and our students realize that interview performance is highly correlated with academic abilities. For this reason, we try to balance the number students admitted to the different faculties. However, this cannot be done by hard quotas for each faculty; otherwise it will be unfair to some excellent candidates from those “prestigious majors”. Roughly speaking, if a candidate from a “prestigious major” is only slightly better, then we would prefer another one. But, if he/she indeed performed excellently in interviews, we should not reject him/her simply because of over-quota. Besides, we understand that candidates from under privileged families may not be so presentable in interviews. Sometimes, CW Chu is a good environment for these students to grow and contribute.

Does this admission process satisfy “Staff-Student Co-governance” advocated by some students? In a narrow sense, it does not. Due to the restriction of privacy issues, our students cannot access all information of the new students and thus an overall assessment is impossible. This admission process is only a way to respect the preference of our students. With the results of the two interviews, at the end, it is the teachers to gather all the information and make a decision. While this last step is most procedural, there are always a few borderline cases that teachers have to make a choice. Under such constraints, our jupas admission can be consider a good “Staff-Student Collaboration”.

Finally, besides the jupas admission, there are non-jupas admission (some local, international, and mainland). The process is not arranged in one go by the University. Therefore, it is quite difficult to find a unified way for our students to engage. This is an area that we still need to find a solution for the future.

我們約定在宿舍
Our Date at the Hostel (Please scroll to the bottom for English)

十八個月了，宿舍沒有正常運作年多了。不可以這樣繼續下去了，不能再自欺欺人地說甚麼新常態了。一年級的同學，大概不怎樣覺得上了大學，過去一年更像失業人士在家進修！二年級也好不了多少，從2019學年至今，他們經歷的校園，一言以蔽之，就是烽煙！三四年級的，只感到大學生涯提早完結了！

人生不如意事十常八九，進入了低潮，唯一的辦法就是盡快脫離。對敬文而言，就是找方法重開宿舍、恢復共膳，讓大家享受親切融和的書院生活。大學剛剛頒布了新學年健康建議，其中關於宿舍有明確指示，「未接種疫苗的宿生在入宿前需要進行新冠病毒檢測，其後每隔兩星期亦要自費接受病毒檢測。至於已經完成接種疫苗超過14天的學生則可獲豁免定期檢測」。敬文只要達到這個標準，就可讓每個學生回來住宿。因此，我們會盡快制訂具體安排，並考慮共膳如何執行。這些資訊亦會陸續公布（也許有點像擠牙膏式，因為我們難以一下子決定所有詳情）。

目前社會的疫苗接種比率不高，背後有很多因素，敬文書院只關注的，是疫苗對我們的正反效應。正面效應就是宿舍內感染的機會大幅降低，造就重開宿舍的環境，和連帶的多方面校園生活能夠漸趨正常。反面的效應多數是個人因素，我們尊重每個人的選擇，但作為一個機構，我們總有一些行政標準，以適合大部分學生為主。至於個別的特殊因素，我們只能逐一考慮。

各位同學，九月份重開宿舍，還有很多細節要討論。疫苗和定期檢測不是萬靈藥，只是提供一個良好基礎，宿舍內使用共用設施和生活習慣，仍須比平常額外謹慎。這不是書院管理從上而下一錘定音可成的，最必要是學生共同支持和自願遵守的準則。我懇請大家，多點討論或交流，讓我們達到成文或不成文的共識。

我約定大家，九月見。

It has been 18 months, for which the hostel has not been normally operated. How can this situation be discontinued? How can we stop the deceitful euphemism of “new normal”. All students of Year 1 never felt the fact of advancing into university. They mostly have kept up themselves at home like unemployed people. Don’t think that Year 2 students are better off. From the academic year of 2019 till now, the most impressive campus to them is fire and smoke. To students of Year 3 and 4, they just found that their university life ended earlier.

Life is full of trials. Once we are in a trough, the only way is to get out as soon as possible. To CW Chu College, the most pressing direction is to reopen hostel, resume communal dining, and let us enjoy the intimate college life. The University has just announced Latest Health Advisories for New Academic Year. Pertinent to hostel, it says “Student residents who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 will be required to undergo an entry test before admission to a hostel and a COVID-19 test every two weeks afterwards at their own expense, while those who have been fully vaccinated for more than 14 days can be exempted from regular testing”. As long as CW Chu College meets this policy standard, every student is able to come back to hostel. For this, we will promptly devise the details, and also consider how to operate communal dining. These information will be announced in due course.

There are many background factors which make the vaccination rate in Hong Kong below expectation. To CW Chu College, we only care about the pros and cons of vaccination. The pros is obviously a great reduction of cross infection possibility inside the hostel. This enables a suitable environment for reopening the hostel and paving all paths for campus activities to gradually become normal. The negative side is mostly due to a personal factor and individual situation. We would try our best to respect the individual decision of everybody. However, there must be a workable administrative standard for an organization, which copes with most of the students. Then the individual special cases will be dealt with one by one.

Dear students, there will be many tedious details for the reopening of hostel in September. Vaccination and periodic COVID-19 test are not perfect potion. They only provide a safe foundation. Residents still need to exercise extra and specific attention to living style and using shared facilities. Rules will not be effective if they are just coming from the administrators. It would be successful only if they come from a common and voluntary support of residents. I sincerely wish you all communicate and discuss these aspect with each other, so that we come to a consensus and acceptable regulations.

Here I am making an appointment with you. See you in September.

員生共治
(English Translation in Contemplation)

這不是第一次同學提出「員生共治」的建議，同樣的說法也在校園的其他地方聽到。簡單來看，是學生希望在書院事務上有更大參予，但實行起來，具體是怎樣的呢？學生提出了一個反面的意義：「意見接受，政策依舊」。但反面的反面，「意見接受，政策將就」就是正面嗎？

在社會法例和大學機制下，許多資料基於私隱或其他法規，只能讓某些教職員知悉。加上教職員的各方面經驗，工作時間的投放等因素，在各種事務上，不論程序或決定，教職員和學生自然的處於不對等地位。在這情況下，學生常常感到，就是教職煮好了，才讓學生加點配菜。學生本來想辣一些，意見表達了，但煮出來還是酸甜的！這種感受我是理解的，但現實未必能改變（豈有此理，就是這個態度叫人討厭）。

「員（教職）生（學生）共治」明顯是個理念，實際上有許多細節，在敬文書院應該怎樣發揮，怎樣執行呢？共治的真諦，也許不在於派個學生代表，而需要在具體執行上找出途徑，讓學生合適的參予，從而了解以致影響運作。當教職員與學生在事情的大方向一致，分歧主要在於一些做法或枝末，就會較容易達到某程度的共治。在書院收生上，過去幾年員生的共同努力，合作算是不錯的（我也許另外寫一篇，讓少參予收生的同學明瞭）。但是，總有些事情，員生的方向上有分歧，就較難處理了。我記得幾年前要安裝CCTV，對宿生的生活自由少不免帶來限制，宿生感到不能無拘無束了。當年諮詢學生時，學生提出了不少問題，即使有指引和規範去限制管理層，但似乎未能令學生受落，歸根究柢是學生對管理者缺乏信心。那次，我們只能在「依舊或遷就」中間落墨，承諾不以CCTV打蛇來爭取學生支持！幾年下來，學生看見管理者確實自我約束，現在反而埋怨我們不在雪櫃附近設CCTV。

我絕不敢說敬文已經達到「員生共治」，相信同學可以舉出不少失敗例子。其實，我們可能還未搞清楚甚麼或怎樣才是共治。我認為一個先決條件是互相的信任。員生站在不同立場，有些不信任是合理的，要排除的是不合理的不信任，這就靠坦誠的溝通，亦需要有效的學生組織（學生會及宿生會等）。這就牽涉到同學提的另一個議題，書院管理與學生組織的恆常交流，要另外再談了。

Cultus et Beneficentia Award (敬文獎)

Students ask why it is done by student voting on a few students nominated by teachers. Behind the query, I can sense a feeling that this process allows favouritism of the teachers. This is understandable. On the contrary, the selection process weighs heavily on the endorsement of the students.

I have been in charge of College Scholarships for many years. The design of the Cultus et Beneficentia Award is based on the principle of the 4I’s. There must be a way to practically evaluate the related qualities of a student. Indeed, the design of the selection process is aiming at this purpose.

The College Office has records of course grades and other engagement of every student, including achievement of academic nature, participation of international events and activities, services to the College, the University, and the society at large. Therefore, the qualities of a student about “Intellectual, International, Involved” may largely be observed from these records. It is unnecessary and inappropriate to expose the records of all students to every other student. For this reason, the first step of selection, which is largely based on factual records, should be done by some experienced teachers who also know most of the students. It is true that some judgment on the borderline is needed, but the margin is small with all the given facts.

The “Intimate” factor is usually not seen in hard records; but more in the interaction among students. Moreover, some “Involvement” in student activities may also be unseen in College records. It is the students who know whether a candidate has demonstrated these qualities in his/ her years in the College. Therefore, it is important that the recipient must be accepted by students. This is why a public vote among students is in place. Students who have best performance in factual records are presented to all students for final selection. Not only students have the final say about who is best in “Intimate” and “Involved”; there are strict rules on the minimum number of votes. In a way, students are able to “veto” all the nominations by the teachers.

I hope that this explanation will clear you doubts about the award selection. Even more, with this clarification, you will be proud of the process because your decision is essential to a prestigious award of the College.

(Please scroll down for the English version)
幾天前與新院長侯選人會面的會議中，同學提出的問題中，有一些與我的職分有關。雖然同學關注的是新院長侯選人的未來政策，但亦反映一些值得今日討論和溝通的。

那天談到的話題不少，與我關係密切的有3個，分別為「敬文獎」、「員生共治」、「與學生會及宿生會的溝通」。讓我在未來一段時間先在這裏與大家聊聊，看看能否打開大家討論之門。除了這3個議題外，歡迎同學提議。不過，我不方便討論我職分之外的事。

這個場合其實不太適合討論，主要會是我單向表述，大家充其量留言反應。我會視乎需要，找機會與各敬文學生直接對話。

In the recent meeting with the candidate for New College Master, a number of questions raised by students were related to my responsibility. Though students were interested in the future policy of the candidate, there are things that would be good to discuss and communicate at this moment.

Among the many topics covered, there were 3 essential to me. They are “Cultus et Beneficentia Awars”, “Students voice in College operation”, “Communication with SU and RA”. In the near future, I would like to use this page to talk about these matters with you. It is hoped that a door of dialogue is open. Besides these 3 topics, others are also welcome. Please note that it would be inappropriate for me to discuss matters beyond my capacity.

I understand that this is not a perfect place for discussion. It will be mostly myself who presents the views; and you can only leave your comments. I will consider the need and find other opportunities to directly discuss with all students of CWC.

悼痛
Sorry for English readers, I may not be able to write this in English.

一個年輕人失去一同上路的友伴，或一個老年人失去親自提攜的後輩，究竟那一種更叫人傷痛？

那年我們結伴出發，沒有過去、歷史、包袱，只有將來、盼望、承擔。我有我的崗位，你有你的參與。我們不算親密，大家都在摸索自己的前路，但我們曾走在一起，追隨夢想。我的路不容易，你的更崎嶇。你曾勇敢的面對艱難，把不可能的變成事實。我欽佩你的每個腳印，也一直擔憂你的下一步。你走完了，我和其他同伴當然要繼續走下去，只是我們已不再完全！

我還記得你那稚嫩的臉，你看來比你更年輕，令我這個所謂長輩感到安心一點。初時，你對周遭的環境還未習慣，而且頭一段時間我們還轉換了地方，不過你也很快適應了。你也不用我的提點，相當自主的學習並成長，還結交了好幾個好友。每次我們舉辦甚麼，我都看見你和這幾個好友共同努力。那兩年，你處事和待人都明顯成熟了，雖然你仍然是那張孩子氣的笑臉。後來，你病了，我們沒有機會見面。你終於取得學位那一天，我多麼希望上前擁抱你！每次聽到你怎樣與病魔周旋，和你怎樣渴望再一次回來，我模糊的眼前就影出你那白淨的臉。

敬文書院還年輕，就失去了與我們開創第一屆的你！敬文的老師一把年纪，卻要目送年輕的你走到那遠遠的地方。

敬文的註冊學生已經收到下面的電郵
Current CWC students have received the message at the bottom through email

停筆了。

考試時間完了，學期論文也應提交了。與往年不同了，我們不再熱切期待要來的假期！這將會是怎樣的假期呢—當只有侷限的社交聯繫和沒有規限的人際距離？

回想過去一年，我們經歷了不現實的大學經驗；新常態其實是不正常的代名詞。新同學何等渴望開展從未實現的校園生活，而舊同學忽然領略一份難言的想念校園！

既往沒法改變，來者也難以預測，我們只能提起勇氣，一步一步的走那未知的路，度過這人生裡欠缺華彩的一章，而最終讓我們在陰霾中發出光輝。

敬文書院為了學生探索而成立，可是這一年我們有負這個使命。疫情反覆進入下學期，逼使我們繼續取消給學生的各種待遇。共膳和高桌晚宴不能提供了，而師生同學間的交往也只限於虛擬的平台。
更可惜的，我們必須限制同宿的生活，即使這是書院不可或缺的重要部分。由於宿舍的社區環境和公用設施，傳播病毒的風險特別高。按照醫學衛生的建議，中文大學規定每個房間只能容納一位宿生，而宿舍的房間亦不能全部住滿。這樣，敬文只能收納很少宿生，遠低於學生的需求和期望。因此，書院縱使不情願，也只能暫時放棄提供全宿，改為按學生需要而編配住宿。最主要的考慮就是讓學生能得到起碼的學習環境，可是，有效的學習往往連帶千絲萬縷的其他因素，令判別需要十分困難。

面對這前所未見的情況，老師和管理並不比學生更有經驗，我們只有運用學識、憑真誠和性格處事，而期望我們達到正確的決定。這實在是個巨大的挑戰，但與此同時，疫情也驅使我們更深入和更多面的為學生考慮，叫我們從新審視事情的優次。當我們只有不多的選擇時，甚麼是對學生更重要的呢？我相信大家都或多或少遇上難以決定的情況，這種給你和我的測試，並非一個考試或一份論文可達到的。

願我們美好的一面，在疫情中彰顯。
安全為上、保持健康、勇於面對。

Pens down.

The examination is over or term papers are submitted. Unlike previous years, we may not be enthusiastically looking forward to the holiday. How will it be--a holiday with less social interaction and much physical distance?

Looking back, we had experienced a year without normal university experiences. We could only describe abnormal as new normal. Year 1 students are longing for an unactualized campus life; while continuing students are surprised by how much they miss the campus.

We cannot change the past, nor can we predict the future. Let us courageously walk the path of unknown destination step by step; go through this uneventful chapter of life; and make ourselves still shining in adversities.

CW Chu College set out to be a college for student adventure. Unfortunately, this year, we could not fulfil the promised mission. Due to the epidemic, most of the privileges will continue to be withheld in the coming term. There will not be communal dinners, high table dinners, and interactions will mostly reduce to the online platform.

We also have to restrict residential life, though it is of pivotal importance of our College. The communal environment of the hostel is of high risk in spreading the virus. Based on medical advice, CUHK has implemented the policy that rooms cannot be shared and not all rooms are occupied. Consequently, the number of occupancy is greatly reduced, much less than the need and expectation of students. The College has to reluctantly shift away from full residency provision. Instead, students are assigned hostel accommodation only because there is a need. The most important consideration is to help student maintain essential learning. However, effective learning involves many other complex factors, which makes decision particularly difficult.

Facing this unprecedented pandemic, teachers and administration are as inexperienced as students. We could only apply our knowledge, act according to our personality and sincerity, and hope that we have made the correct decision. This is a huge challenge. Yet, on the other hand, the situation makes us think more about our students from different dimensions. We need to re-examine ourselves about our priority. When we only have very limited options, what is more important to the students? I believe everyone of you have also gone through similar processes. This test about you and me is not achieved by any examination or term paper.

Let the best of us be brought out in the pandemic.
Stay safe, keep healthy, and be positive.