The Chinese University of Hong Kong has a unique college system in which each of the 8 colleges provides students with a community of their own hostels, canteens, and gyms. I am affiliated with Shaw College, which was founded in 1986 and is names after its patron, Sir Run Run Shaw (entertainment mogul and founder of Shaw Brothers Studio, one of the most influential film production companies of HK – also lived to be 107 years old!).
The motto of Shaw College comes from Book VII of The Analects of Confucius: “It is these things that cause me concern: failure to cultivate virtue; failure to go more deeply into what I have learned; inability, when I am told what is right, to go over to where it is; and inability to reform myself when I have defects.” Thus, our motto is: “Cultivating one’s virtue and going deeply into what one has learned.” The Shaw College slogan is: “Excellence with a soul, leadership with a heart.”
In honor of Shaw’s 33rd Annual Founder’s Day, the college hosted a 1000 People Feast on Friday night. A group of exchange students and I bought tickets ahead of time and reserved a table together in the crowded outdoor area of one of the Shaw hostels. We shared a traditional “poon choi,” which literally translates to “basin food.” As the name suggests, poon choi is a large basin filled up with over a dozen different ingredients (pork, beef, chicken, prawn, mushroom, fish balls, bean-curd, etc.) and has a stew-like consistency. And this was another BYOU (utensil) event.
Local pop stars were invited to perform at the event and I was surprised at how excited local students were about each performer, including one their former professors. For a student-led event, it was well organized and a great experience overall. The festivities started at 6:30pm and lasted until 11:00pm. I’m sure others took it further. Work hard, play hard!
ABC in HK 