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The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is pleased to receive a generous donation of HK$1.3 billion from The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) Charities Trust for the development of the territory’s first not-for-profit and self-financed teaching hospital, which aims to serve the public and enhance the quality of teaching and research. The pioneering initiative will offer a new healthcare model in Hong Kong. This is the largest single donation ever made by HKJC to a medical project in Hong Kong, and is also the greatest single donation ever received by CUHK. In sincere appreciation of HKJC’s support, the University will name one of the clinical blocks of the hospital as The Hong Kong Jockey Club Clinical Tower. In addition, HKJC will further donate HK$12 million to support the establishment of the CUHK Jockey Club Institute of Ageing. A donation ceremony was held today (21 August), officiated by Mr. T. Brian STEVENSON, Chairman of HKJC; Mr. Winfried ENGELBRECHT-BRESGES, Chief Executive Officer of HKJC; Mr. Douglas SO, Executive Director, Charities of HKJC; Dr. Vincent H.C. CHENG, Chairman of the Council of CUHK; Prof. Joseph J.Y. SUNG, Vice-Chancellor and President of CUHK; and Mr. Chien LEE, Chairman of CUHK Medical Centre Governing Board.

Innovative healthcare enterprise driven by social mission
CUHK has been actively planning the development of a CUHK owned, professionally managed, not-for-profit Teaching Hospital on a campus site adjacent to the University MTR station. The project reflects CUHK’s commitment to the Government’s policy to increase the diversity of healthcare provision in Hong Kong in order to alleviate the increasing burden of healthcare falling on the Hospital Authority as Hong Kong’s population ages. Driven by this social mission, the new Teaching Hospital will offer innovative and patient-centered quality healthcare services to local citizens, setting a new milestone in the health system of Hong Kong.

Prof. Joseph J.Y. SUNG, Vice-Chancellor and President of CUHK, said, ‘The Teaching Hospital project is a pioneering initiative to the humble purpose of serving the people of Hong Kong. The new Teaching Hospital is Hong Kong’s first not-for-profit, self-financing university hospital that is wholly-owned by CUHK. The Hospital makes wide use of straight-forward package pricing so that the costs of treatment become transparent and affordable to local middle-class families.’

Mr. T. Brian STEVENSON, Chairman of HKJC, said, 'The teaching hospital will be of particular benefit to the city’s sandwich class, as it will be the first hospital in Hong Kong to offer package prices, helping to bridge the gap between expensive private healthcare and the excellent but overburdened public services.' He added, 'Such packages will offer good quality one-stop healthcare services at affordable prices covering all costs, so that patients can be better informed of the actual expenses to be incurred before receiving treatment. We believe it will be a welcome addition to Hong Kong’s medical and health arena and a major milestone to local medical development.'

Mr. Stevenson told the audience that another key function of the teaching hospital was its senior-friendly facilities, including an Elderly Day Centre to treat those suffering from chronic diseases, dementia and commonplace ailments like eye cataracts. Complemented by the Trust-funded Institute of Ageing, the hospital would help mitigate the challenges brought by an ageing population in the city.

Dr. Vincent H.C. CHENG, Chairman of the Council of CUHK, expressed his gratitude to HKJC for its long-standing support to CUHK, ‘The Jockey Club first donated towards CUHK in 1969. Since then, the Club has donated through its Trust to support close to 40 projects on education and healthcare promotion, campus development and community services. All these demonstrate the Club’s strong commitment to the welfare of the local community.’

Quality healthcare services with patient-centred principles
The Teaching Hospital will operate a new healthcare model that promotes long term sustainability of medical and health services in Hong Kong. It bridges the service gap between private and public healthcare sectors by providing high-quality medical services with transparent and affordable pricing to the middle-class families, alleviating the pressure on the public system. It will provide a full range of inpatient, outpatient, ambulatory diagnostic and treatment services, as well as age-friendly facilities like an elderly day centre for elderly suffering from chronic diseases and cognitive impairment. The hospital will provide integrated clinical services in Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Chinese Medicine, General Medicine and Surgery, Orthopaedics, Gynaecology, Paediatrics, Neonatology and Obstetrics. It differs from other private hospitals by serving as a key base for clinical research, healthcare education and training, providing first-class teaching venues and facilities for students, doctors, nurses, pharmacists and allied health workers. This will enable transfer of research and innovation and raise the teaching standards of CUHK Medical Faculty.

Wholly-owned by CUHK without participation of commercial corporations
The Teaching Hospital will cover a total construction floor area of 78,000 m² and will provide around 600 beds, with a number of beds set aside for public patients. The hospital will be wholly-owned by CUHK without the participation of any commercial corporation. Financing consists of donations, the undesignated private fund reserve of the University, and loans. The hospital will be self-financed and financially independent. Any surplus from the Teaching Hospital will be used to support its future development, meet the teaching and research needs of the CUHK Faculty of Medicine and the University.

The CUHK Jockey Club Institute of Ageing
It is expected that in 2030, a quarter of Hong Kong’s population will be aged 65 or above, and the number of people aged 85 or above is projected to increase more rapidly than those aged 65-80. In support of CUHK’s aspiration to overcome the challenges brought by the ageing population to society, HKJC has generously donated HK$12 million to CUHK to establish The CUHK Jockey Club Institute of Ageing, which aims to make Hong Kong an age-friendly city in the world. The institute will synergize the research personnel and efforts across disciplines to promote and implement holistic strategies for active ageing, through research, policy advice, community outreach and knowledge transfer. The Club’s CADENZA Project Director Prof. Jean Woo will serve as the Director of the Institute.

Source: Communications and Public Relations Office, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

To recognize the outstanding academic achievements of students from the Faculty of Arts, the 'Sin Wai Kin CUHK Golden Jubilee Scholarship in Arts, History and Philosophy' was established by Dr. Sin Wai-kin, David, Chairman of Sin Wai Kin Foundation and Myer Jewelry Manufacturer Limited, in 2013 in the midst of the Golden Jubilee year of The Chinese University of Hong Kong. The first Scholarship Presentation Ceremony was held on 21 July 2014 at the Chung Chi College Staff Club. The Ceremony was officiated by Professor Fok Tai-fai, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President, Professor Leung Yuen-sang, Dean of Faculty of Arts, and Dr. and Mrs. Sin Wai-kin. Dr. Sin's family was also invited to attend the Ceremony and meet with the scholarship recipients.

In his welcoming speech, Professor Fok Tai-fai thanked Dr. Sin and his family for their long-standing support to the University. Mr. Sin Nga-yan, Benedict, son of Dr. Sin and Director and General Manager of Myer Jewelry Manufacturer Limited, encouraged the scholarship recipients to aim higher and strive hard to overcome the challenges they may encounter when pursuing their goals. Mr. Sin also inspired students to pursue virtues and actively take part in community services.

Eleven students from the Department of Chinese Language and Literature, English, Translation, History and Philosophy have been selected by the Faculty of Arts to be the recipients of this distinguished award. The awardees carry the prestigious title of 'Sin Wai Kin CUHK Golden Jubilee Outstanding Students in Arts, History and Philosophy'. Awardee Mr. Chau Chun-yin, Dennis represented the scholarship recipients to express their gratitude to Dr. Sin for his generosity in setting up this meaningful award for students of the Faculty of Arts. A thank you card made by the scholarship recipients was presented to Dr. Sin and his family at the end of the Ceremony.

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is truly grateful to have recently received a most generous bequest of HK$27,651,001.36 from Mr. Yao Ling Sun to set up two Yao Ling Sun professorships, one in Architecture and one in Surgery.

CUHK has chosen amongst the most distinguished faculty members, and has appointed Professor NG Yan Yung Edward and Professor LAU Yun Wong James to be the first incumbent of Yao Ling Sun Professor of Architecture and Yao Ling Sun Professor of Surgery respectively. The interest generated from the endowment funds will be able to provide additional and stable annual funding to the incumbent professors’ related research activities in perpetuity.

A Cheque Presentation Ceremony was held on 23 June 2014 to acknowledge the generous support from the Yao family. "The Yao family extended Mr Yao Ling Sun’s philanthropy and selfless devotion in education. The donation has made possible two endowed professorships in the School of Architecture and the Department of Surgery. The gift will foster academic excellence and enhance the strategic development of the University. It will go a long way towards enhancing the research in Architecture and Surgery at CUHK, thus contributing to the well-being of the people of Hong Kong and the wider world community," said Professor Joseph Sung, Vice-Chancellor and President of CUHK.

Professor NG Yan Yung Edward
Yao Ling Sun Professor of Architecture

Professor NG Yan Yung Edward is the Professor of Architecture in the School of Architecture, CUHK. He obtained his PhD from Cambridge University. He had worked as an architect before becoming a professor. His specialty is in Green Building, Environmental and Sustainable Design and in Urban Climatology for City Planning. At CUHK, he is the Director of the M.Sc. Sustainable and Environmental Design Programme, the Associate Director of the Institute of Future Cities (IOFC) and the Team Leader of Urban Sustainability and Public Health in the Institute of Energy, Environment and Sustainability (IEES).

As an environmental consultant to the Hong Kong SAR Government, Edward developed the performance based daylight design practice note; the Air Ventilation Assessment (AVA) Technical Guidelines; and the Urban Climatic Maps for City Planning for the HKSAR Govt. He is now working with governments and agencies in Singapore, Macau, as well as a number of Chinese cities on the same. Among many of his research interests, he is collaborating with public health colleagues to investigate the impact of city design and climate change on urban living.

In 2005, Professor Ng pioneered the idea of "Wu Zhi Qiao" and successfully built the 1st bridge in Gansu with CUHK and other university students, and professionals. Later in 2007, he found the Wu Zhi Qiao (Bridge to China) Charitable Foundation and was its Founding Chairman until 2013. In 2006, while still building bridges, Professor Ng led his architecture students and initiated the "A School To Learn" to build school facilities and to start an education assistant programme in Guangxi in South West China. In early 2014, noting the cultural and socio-economical needs of remote villagers in South West China, he established the One University One Village (www.1U1V.org) Project Initiative to continue his humanitarian work with his students. He believes that knowledge creates future. And it is the responsibility of the university academics to chart this future.

Professor Ng has published over 400 papers and reports, including 3 books. He has twice received the International Award from of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), he has also twice been given the UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage Jury Commendation for Innovation Award. He was the recipient of the Red Cross Humanitarian 2010 Award. He was named one of the Asian of the Year by Reader's Digest in 2011.

Professor LAU Yun Wong James
Yao Ling Sun Professor of Surgery

Dr. James Lau joined the Department of Surgery at the Prince of Wales Hospital in 1991, first as a Medical Officer and then he advanced to the position of Senior Medical Officer and later Consultant in 1998. In 2006, Dr. James Lau joined The Chinese University of Hong Kong and in the following year advanced to the position of Professor of Surgery.

As an accomplished general surgeon, Professor James Lau has initiated and taken part in many valuable studies in collaboration with Professor Joseph Sung and the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology of the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics. The quality and impact of his academic work were of world-class. He has settled the controversy on whether open surgery or endoscopic therapy would be a better treatment for recurrent bleeding peptic ulcers. He has also started the use of intravenous proton pump inhibitor for peptic ulcer bleeding, which is now a common practice around the world. He has published three landmark papers in New England Journal of Medicine (2012 impact factor 51.658) as first author in 1999, 2000 and 2007 respectively and another three as co-author. Professor James Lau has become widely cited and gained an exceptional international reputation in his field.

Dr. James Lau was appointed the Director of Endoscopy in Prince of Wales Hospital in 2003 in succession to Professor Sydney Chung, the former Dean of Medicine. The yearly-held International Endoscopy Symposium is extremely popular in the endoscopy community. Surgeons and physicians working in the gastrointestinal tract from different countries regard the symposium as the "must attend" category and this symposium has put CUHK and Hong Kong in the world map of endoscopy. Under his academic leadership, both the quality and quantity of research output from the centre has been outstanding, his contribution has been instrumental to the continuous success of the Department and the Endoscopy Centre.
 

In 2000, Dr. James Lau went to Edinburgh for further training in Vascular Surgery. This decision was made in order to establish the service of Vascular Surgery at the Prince of Wales Hospital. At that time, vascular surgery service was provided by general surgeons. As a Hospital Authority consultant and a trained upper GI surgeon, Dr. Lau took up the job and successfully established a vascular surgery team at the Department of Surgery on his return to serve the public patients. Currently, the Team is covering the service of the New Territories East Cluster and accepting referrals across the territory and the quality of the service is highly regarded in the community. In recent years, endovascular treatment has become a possibility for patients who are too sick to undergo open surgery. The vascular surgery service, under the leadership of Professor James Lau, has been using their private fund to support some of the cost of the stents used on public patients. He has also solicited financial support from charity organizations in the community to help support some of the programs that are not funded by the Hospital Authority. These initiatives are solid proof to demonstrate his determination to service the public through his work as a surgeon in the public sector.

All in all, Professor James Lau has a remarkable track record in basic science and clinical research in GI surgery and GI endoscopy, clinical standing as a local expert in vascular surgery and gastro-intestinal endoscopy, as well as record of publishing in high impact international journals.