Lingnan University to confer honorary doctorates upon four distinguished individuals

Lingnan University will confer honorary doctorates upon four distinguished individuals, namely, Mr Gaston Kaboré, Mrs Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, Ms Ng Wing-mui and Mr Wong Pak-heung, in recognition of their outstanding achievements in their respective professions and valuable contributions to the well-being of society.

One of Africa’s most important film directors, educators and institution builders, Mr Gaston Kaboré has contributed award-winning films to our international cultural heritage, as well as a powerful vision of film’s place within society, as a vehicle for cultural memory and cross-cultural understanding. His vision is one that contrasts starkly with that of industries promoting a conception of film as merely a commercial product and means of entertainment. With the support of his wife, pharmacist and businesswoman Edith Ouédraogo, Mr Kaboré established a truly visionary alternative film school IMAGINE in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in 2003. As a vital site for film training, IMAGINE mounts exhibitions devoted to African visual arts, performances by African dancers and musicians, and academic conferences focusing on film and human rights, on Africa’s contributions to world culture, and on film education, among many other topics. Mr Kaboré will be awarded the degree of Doctor of Humanities honoris causa.

In 33 years of distinguished public service, first as a civil servant and then as a policy-maker, Mrs Carrie Lam has gone through the baptism of multiple challenges in such diverse posts as Deputy Secretary for the Treasury, Director of Social Welfare, Permanent Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands (Planning and Lands), Chairman of the Town Planning Board, Director-General of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London, and Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs. She accepted an appointment as Secretary for Development of the Hong Kong SAR Government in 2007, and was chosen by the newly elected Chief Executive in 2012 as Chief Secretary for Administration. As a top policy-maker, she balances administration by law based on reason and fairness, with a flexible, open-minded approach that pays heed to citizens’ feelings, opposing views, historical contexts and local interests. She will be conferred the degree of Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa.

Aged 88, Ms Ng Wing-mui is an acclaimed singer and successor of Cantonese naamyam, a traditional, narrative folk music performing art of Guangdong province that is now widely adopted in Cantonese opera and operatic singing. At a very young age, she learned naamyam singing from visually impaired masters such as Liu Jiu, Runxin and Yinjiao, capturing its essence. With some 80 years of practice and performance, Ms Ng excels in both naamyam and Cantonese operatic singing, and is now recognised a master of shiniang qiang (vocal style of the blind female singers of naamyam). She is also a talented instrumentalist who specialises in the long-neck plucked lute (qinqin) and the hammered dulcimer (yangqin). In recognition of her outstanding artistry and efforts to promote this traditional art, Ms Ng received the Award of Distinction from the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao Special Administrative Region Government in February 2012. She was recognised by the Chinese Ministry of Culture as one of the Representative Heirs of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage in December 2012. Ms Ng will be conferred the degree of Doctor of Humanities honoris causa. 

An alumnus of Lingnan Primary School and a barrister admitted in the United Kingdom, Mr Peter Wong has dedicated whole-heartedly and selflessly to the cause of education. He regards nurturing young people as his personal mission, which is also the major impetus for his full-time devotion to social services. For over a decade, Mr Wong has been serving the World Union of Jesuit Alumni as their East Asia regional representative, participating in school construction and the provision of teaching support for those in need around the world. Soon after he returned to Hong Kong in 1980 to take care of his invalid parents and ageing grandparents, Mr Wong joined the Lingnan Education Organization as director and was appointed a member of the management committee and supervisor of three secondary schools, Lingnan Primary School and Lingnan Kindergarten. In the early 1990s, he became a member of the Court and Council of Lingnan College, which was later renamed Lingnan University. Mr Wong was also a voluntary legal consultant of the Lingnan University (Hong Kong) Alumni Association in its early years and a director of the Lingnan Club. Mr Wong will be conferred the degree of Doctor of Laws honoris causa.

The honorary doctorates will be conferred at the 44th Congregation of Lingnan University to be held at the Chan Tak Tai Auditorium on campus on Thursday, 21 November 2013.