The Real Seawise Giant: C.Y. Tung Diary and The World
of C.Y. Tung
¡@¡@It has been two decades since C.Y. Tung's death. Much has been written about his legendary life: the shipping magnate who owned 150 ships totalling more than 11 million tons, his role and advocacy for shipboard education, the purchase of the largest passenger ship Queen Elizabeth to turn it into the Seawise University in 1971, the building of the largest ship in the world, the 564,763-ton Seawise Giant, in 1979. ¡@¡@Interest in C.Y. Tung was again aroused when his eldest son, C.H. Tung, became the first Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR in 1997. The family then decided that it was time to do a proper biography of C.Y. Tung. After much deliberation, they felt that the publication of the diary would be the best source for a thorough understanding of C.Y. Tung. ¡@¡@The 4-volume set comprising the C.Y. Tung Diary and The World of C. Y. Tung, is published by The Chinese University Press. It is edited by Dr. Cheng Hwei Shing. Dr. Cheng, a historian well-versed in the socio-economics in Republican China, is currently Researcher at the Institute of Chinese Studies at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Supplemented with scholarly annotations and precious photos, the diaries reveal the inner world of C.Y. Tung. ¡@¡@Spanning 34 years, the diary's first entry, dated March 1948, recorded that the writer, as one of the three representatives of the Ministry of Communication, was on his way to the United States to take delivery of old ships as payment for privately-owned ships destroyed during the Second World War. The last entry was dated 13 April 1982, just two days before his untimely death in Hong Kong. ¡@¡@The 4th volume, The World of C.Y. Tung, contains an anthology of articles, letters, reports and speeches by C.Y. Tung. It also features various interviews with C.Y. Tung's friends and counterparts by Alice King, C.Y.'s eldest daughter, in the last four years. They are themselves valuable verbal history records. Commentaries on C.Y. from around the world are included to complement the collection. ¡@¡@The 4-volume set is priced at HK$600, available in bookstores 20 November 2004 onwards. The "C.Y. Tung, Larger Than Life" Exhibition, hosted by The Chinese University Press and the Tung Foundation, takes place at The Rotunda, Exchange Square I & II, Central, Hong Kong from 22 November to 4 December 2004. ¡@¡@For details, please contact The Chinese University Press (Tel. No.: 2609 6076). Attachments:
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