2020年5月25日 星期一

畢業寄語
The end of study, the beginning of lifelong quest for knowledge and experience


今年畢業的同學,也許都會感到遺憾。從農曆新年後,就只能跟老師同學在網上見面,考試過後,這最後一個學期就結束,大學的學業也終結了。再次聚首,也許是在秋天的畢業典禮?或者在畢業宴會上?

中文大學第一次畢業宴會在1964年10月16日舉行,大學檔案存有相關的文獻,包括邀請卡和菜單。宴會設於中環告羅士打大酒家1,筵開三十席,每席十二道菜。今天大家畢業在即,讓我們重溫當年校長和畢業生代表的致詞內容:
李卓敏校長:「我國人之『畢業』兩字,在文字上,其直接涵義為『某一學科終結』。但事實上,並非如此。反之,却只是為其一生對某一種知識或經騐奮鬥的開始。」
余婉慧同學代表畢業生致辭,建議大學在强調國際化的同時,也培養本地特色,並期待大學學生會及校友會的成立。

七年後,中大第一屆學生會誕生;而由三所原成員書院校友會--即崇基學院校友會、新亞書院校友會及聯合書院校友會--連同教育學院校友會及研究院校友會聯合組成的「香港中文大學校友會聯會」也在1978年成立。

1現置地廣場

This academic year is coming to the end. If you are final year students, you might probably miss your classmates and your teachers especially during these trying times when face-to-face teaching has been suspended. Any idea when you will meet all of them again after this semester? Would it be during the congregation ceremony or at the graduation dinner when the group gatherings restriction is lifted?

The University Archives has kept documents about the first graduate dinner held on 16 October 1964. The invitation card and menu showed that the dinner was held at the Gloucester Restaurant in Central.

Vice-Chancellor Dr. Choh-ming Li, delivered a speech to more than 300 guests and students. He told the graduates that “Graduation in Chinese is ‘pi-yeh’, literally the ‘end of a course or study’ but it is by no means the end of anything but the beginning of a life-long quest for knowledge and experience. “ He said the feeling of being unlearned became stronger as one progressed in his pursuit of knowledge. “The more you learn the more you feel unlearned.”

Miss Yu Yuen Wai, representative of graduates suggested the University to cultivate the local characters of the University along with its international emphasis. She also expressed the hope of the organization of the University Student Union and the immediate establishment of a University Alumni Association.

Years later, the first CUHK Student Union was established in 1971., Then in 1978, the alumni associations of three founding colleges were joined by the School of Education Alumni Association and the Graduate School Alumni Association to form the Federation of Alumni Associations of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUFAA).

參考:
酒樓的手寫菜單,菜單上印有昔日告羅士打大廈貌及酒家常見的龍圖案 
The restaurant menu in Chinese calligraphy style, with the drawing of the Gloucester Building,
typical symbol of Dragon and Phoenix printed on the menu

英文菜單 Menu in English

畢業宴會邀請咭 Invitation Card of the Graduation Dinner