Centre for Social and Political Development Studies

Outstanding Chinese Businessmen of Hong Kong in the Early Days (早期香港傑出華商)

18:30–20:00   |   6 October 2022   |   HKU Main Library & Online

To celebrate the 90th anniversary of The University of Hong Kong’s Fung Ping Shan Library, Dr Victor Zheng and Prof. Chi-pang Lau gave a talk on outstanding Chinese Businessmen in the early days of Hong Kong.

Historically in China, it was difficult to gain high social status by running a successful business and attaining wealth. It was even rarer for businessmen to become a legend in their own lifetime. When China entered modern times, Chinese merchants managed to break through the social and cultural constraints of a traditional society in which they were viewed as belonging to the lowest rank of the four basic social classes, consisting of government officials, farmers, workers, and merchants. They developed rapidly to become a strong force in creating prosperity and improving people’s livelihoods. Their success has attracted great attention in Chinese and overseas communities. Since the inception of Hong Kong as a port, the business achievements of Chinese merchants in different fields have been nothing short of brilliant, and some merchants became hugely wealthy.

Focusing on this phenomenon, Dr Zheng and Prof. Lau explored the source of strength that drives Chinese merchants into entrepreneurship and the exploration of new opportunities.■

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Lady Margaret Ho Tung’s Sheung Shui Footprints ─ Love and Regrets
(原配憾事 ─ 何東夫人麥秀英的上水足跡)

15:00–17:00   |   8 October 2022   |   Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre & Online

Dr Victor Zheng was invited by the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre of the Antiquities and Monuments Office to speak on the subject of Lady Margaret Ho Tung, who was the principal wife of Hong Kong’s wealthiest man during the 1930s–50s. Apart from handling domestic chores, she spent a great deal of time engaged in horticultural activities in the New Territories, and did much charitable work there to establish good will. Although the story of Lady Margaret is not well known, Lady Margaret and her family have left their mark in Sheung Shui, in the form of the Lady Ho Tung Welfare Centre, the Kam Tsin Village Ho Tung School, and the Hau Mei Fung Ancestral Hall. This talk is about Lady Margaret’s untold story, with a focus on the joys and regrets in her life and times.■

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Biography: From “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men”
(人物傳記：從《讓我們現在讚揚名人吧》談起)

18:30–20:00   |   27 October 2022   |   HKU Main Library & Online

To celebrate the 90th anniversary of The University of Hong Kong’s Fung Ping Shan Library, Dr Victor Zheng and Prof. Chi-pang Lau shared some methods, experiences, and observations based on their years-long research on the biographies of famous people in Hong Kong.

Throughout human history, the chronicles were always about the contributions and achievements of emperors, ministers, generals, and well-known families, while little was recorded about the common people. They left few records of their own, and became lost in the vastness of history due to a lack of research data.

In Hong Kong, whether one wants to conduct research on social elites or on the stories of ordinary families, the problem of a lack of information is equally serious. In spite of this, local information flows and record preservation systems are sufficient
to allow historical discoveries to be made. Dr Zheng and Prof. Lau
believe that by diligently combing through public and private records
and Chinese and Western newspapers, we will always be able to
discover something that can contribute to filling historical gaps, and
make a difference in how Hong Kong’s past is understood. ■

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Centre for Youth Studies

CUHK-Stanford University Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) Partner Fellowship Program

Prof. Wilson W. H. Wong, Associate Director of the Centre for Youth Studies at HKIAPS and Co-Director of the Data Science and Policy Studies Programme at CUHK, was appointed as a CUHK-CASBS Fellow in 2022-2023. Prof. Wong is spending nine months at Stanford University to have intellectual exchange with other 33 distinguished fellows from diverse disciplines in the worldwide.

Stanford University CASBS Partner Fellowship Program selects a group of outstanding and open-minded thinkers and scholars to have academic exchange on societal challenges since 1954. It is the fourth consecutive years for CUHK supporting faculty member from Faculty of Social Sciences to enter this fellowship program. ■

Economic Research Centre

Teaching Case: Balance of Payments for the Kowloon True Light School

21 December 2022   |   Rm 306, Esther Lee Building, CUHK

This is a teaching case that was prepared for 22 students from the Kowloon True Light School. The students are given a macroscopic view of the Balance of Payments Account through a brief introduction to the Balance of Payments Account, then by being provided with a trading game prepared by students from the Department of Economics, which gives them hands-on experience with the relationship between the Current Account and the Capital Account. They learn some basic ideas about surpluses and deficits in the Current Account and the Capital Account, and also about how recent global issues may affect the Balance of Payment Accounts of some countries.■