I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) on its 80th anniversary.
Started with a humble beginning as the Government Trade School in 1937, PolyU has developed into a leading university worldwide contributing to the advancement of mankind through its excellence in professional education and applied research. Over the past 80 years, it has groomed more than 360,000 graduates who have become valuable asset and backbone of Hong Kong's economic and social development.
PolyU has pioneered numerous world-class research projects which lead to a distinguished achievement of knowledge transfer for the betterment of our society. It has also offered diversified multi-disciplinary programmes to meet the future needs of Hong Kong. The newly introduced Aviation Engineering programme is only one of the examples demonstrating PolyU's dedication in nurturing talented professionals to support technology-driven industries in Hong Kong.
Higher education has a particular role in serving society. In tandem with the "Learn to serve, serve to learn" spirit, PolyU has been a spearhead in making service learning a mandatory credit-bearing component since the commencement of the new four-year undergraduate programme in 2012. By putting more emphasis on holistic and out-of-classroom learning experience, PolyU has been committed to nurturing students to become all-round global citizens with a heart to serve.
Grasping the opportunities brought about by the Belt and Road Initiative, PolyU has launched a number of strategic development projects, such as the "Silk Road International Summer School" in Xi'an, to strengthen education ties and academic collaborations with institutions along the Belt and Road region. With the increasing number of student intake from Belt and Road countries and the expansion of exchange programmes with the partnering institutions, PolyU students will certainly be well-equipped and benefitted most from this important national policy.
On this memorable occasion of the 80th anniversary, I would like to wholeheartedly congratulate PolyU and its members for their outstanding accomplishments and significant contributions to Hong Kong.
Mr Eddie Ng Hak-kim, SBS, JP
Former Secretary for Education
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
(只有英文版本)