44th Congregation of Lingnan University and Installation of President

Today Lingnan University held the 44th Congregation and installation ceremony of President Prof Leonard K Cheng.

The Hon Bernard Charnwut Chan, GBS, JP, Chairman of the University Council, conferred honorary doctorates on four distinguished individuals in recognition of their outstanding contributions to education and society. The four recipients are:

• Mr Gaston Kaboré, Doctor of Humanities, honoris causa
• Mrs Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, Doctor of Social Sciences, honoris causa
• Ms Ng Wing-mui, Doctor of Humanities, honoris causa
• Mr Peter Wong Pak-heung, Doctor of Laws, honoris causa

Speaking on behalf of the honorary graduates, Dr Gaston Kaboré said the African continent is far behind when it comes to representing herself both to Africans and to the rest of the world. He believed that African youth should develop critical minds in order to build up their legacy, to be very participative in their present and to successfully plan their future. Talking about the training of professionals in cinema, television and multi-media at his IMAGINE Institute, he said, “Teaching them only technical skills is not enough, it is important as well to strengthen their capacity to develop new desires, new reflections, new aesthetics and new ways of self-representation.” He called on people of different countries to find ways to strengthen their exchanges, cooperation and mutual cultural enrichment.

Before the degree conferment, Prof Leonard K Cheng was installed as President of the University. In his address to the Congregation, President Cheng said he had learnt the value of attentive listening and genuine dialogue in the first three months of his presidency. He also shared his belief that university is a place for personal discovery and transformation, for discovering and defining our dream. He said, “Here at Lingnan, examples of these abound: from a young lady who came here without a sense of direction in life, but who has since found her calling as an art historian, to a Year-3 student who took a course in cultural studies, and decided to work for world peace in the United Nations.” He also advised students to maintain a global perspective in their future endeavours, “Whole-person education in the global era includes a global orientation. We live in a shrinking world. There should be no distance separating locals from non-locals, no division into Hong Kong, Mainland and overseas students. Some of you may one day work in Singapore, Beijing, London or New York. Your domain is bigger than Hong Kong.”

A total of 1,072 students were awarded bachelor’s degrees, postgraduate diplomas, master’s degrees and doctoral degrees at the 44th Congregation.