Media

HKU weekly notice (from October 26 to November 1, 2013)

25 Oct 2013

 

Using CEDAW to advocate women’s rights: A workshop on CEDAW shadow report writing
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women will examine the periodic report of the Hong Kong SAR Government between October 20 to and November 7, 2014. This is an important opportunity that NGOs could use to advocate the promotion of women’s human rights in Hong Kong through submitting a shadow report and attending the hearing. Ms. Pramila Patten, Vice Chairperson of the CEDAW Committee, will be the key-note speaker of the workshop jointly organized by the Center for Comparative and Public Law (CCPL) of the University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Women's Coalition on Equal Opportunities and the Women’s Studies Research Centre (WSRC), HKU.

Media representatives are cordially invited to the opening ceremony and attend the session on topical speeches from 9am to 11:10am on October 26 (Saturday).

Details of the workshop are as follows:

Date: October 26, 2013 (Saturday)
Time: 9am to 6pm
Venue: Academic Conference Room, 11/F Cheng Yu Tung Tower, Centennial Campus, University of Hong Kong

(This workshop is conducted in English, with Chinese interpretation)

Welcome Address:
Guest of Honor, Dr Christine Loh Kung-wai, JP, OBE

Key-note Speaker:
Ms. Pramila Patten (Vice Chairperson of CEDAW committee)

Other Speakers:
Ms. Puja Kapai (Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, HKU),
Ms. Rina Bovrisse (Former employee, Prada, Japan)

Main concerns:
- Poverty
- Violence against women
- Political and public life / Political representation
- Foreign domestic helpers (FDH), ethnic minority women, new arrival women

For enquiries, please contact Ms Kitty Hung at tel 6287 7951, or email wcoeo2008b@gmail.com

Symposium on Survive and Thrive: State-of-the-art Therapeutic Intervention for Stress and Trauma
Speakers:
Professor Thanos Karatzias
Professor of Mental Health, Edinburgh Napier University and NHS Lothian

Dr. Zoë Chouliara
Reader in Person Centred Care, Edinburgh Napier University

PANELISTS:
Dr. Celia Chan
Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work and Social Administration
The University of Hong Kong

Dr. Christian Chan
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology
The University of Hong Kong

Dr. Calais Chan
Associate Professor, Department of Psychology
The University of Hong Kong

Dr. Paul Wong
Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work and Social Administration
The University of Hong Kong

Dr. Elsie Yan
Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work and Social Administration
The University of Hong Kong

Date: October 28, 2013 (Monday)
Time: 10am – 1pm
Venue: Social Sciences Chamber,11/F, The Jockey Club Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU
Language: English

Registration required. For further information, please visit: http://foss.hku.hk/ExCEL3/?p=9209

For enquiries, please feel free to contact Alan Tang by email at alantsl@hku.hk or by fax at 2517 0806.

Book Sharing Session by James Hong
50000 Years of Adventure
James Hong is a well-known Hong Kong travel writer and columnist, in addition to heading the Marketing and Corporate Strategy Office of Sony Computer Entertainment Hong Kong. Born in Sichuan, China, he graduated from the University of Hong Kong with a BA in 1992. He speaks several languages, including Japanese and German, has visited over 90 countries, and published 7 travel books.

Date: October 28, 2013 (Monday)
Time: 5:30pm – 7:00pm
Venue: MG07, Main Building
Language: Cantonese

Autograph session to follow

For registration, please visit: http://arts.hku.hk/events/talks-and-forums/jameshong

For enquiries, please contact Cyrus Chan by email at cyrusc@hku.hk

On Family and Gender in Korea: Man Asian Literary Prize Winner Shin Kyung-sook
Acclaimed writer Shin Kyung-sook will discuss her 2011 Man Asian Literary Prize winning novel "Please Look After Mom" and issues of family and gender in South Korean society with Professor Louise Edwards and Dr Su Yun Kim of the School of Modern Languages and Cultures. A Q&A session and book signing will follow.

Shin Kyung-sook (申京淑) made her literary debut in 1985 by winning the Munye Joongang New Author Prize with the novella "Winter’s Fable." Since then, Shin has published numerous works of fiction and non-fiction, becoming one of South Korea's most widely read and acclaimed novelists. Shin has been honored with the Manhae Prize for Literature, the Dong-in Literature Prize, and the Yi Sang Literary Prize, as well as France’s Prix de l’Inaperçu. She won the 2011 Man Asian Literary Prize, the first Korean and woman to do so, for her novel "Please Look After Mom." The book has been translated into several languages and sold in over 30 countries. It featured on the New York Times best seller list and was selected as one of the Best Books of 2011 by the editors of amazon.com. Shin’s works have significantly raised the status of contemporary Korean literature worldwide.

This event is organized by the Korean Studies Programme, School of Modern Languages and Cultures, and supported by the Faculty of Arts, HKU, the Literature Translation Institute of Korea, the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Hong Kong, and Jeju Air.

Date: October 31, 2013 (Thursday)
Time: 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Venue: T3, Meng Wah Complex, HKU
Language: Korean / English

For registration, please visit: http://arts.hku.hk/events/shinkyungsook

For enquiries, please contact Mr Cyrus Chan (Tel: 3917 4984 / email: cyrusc@hku.hk ).

HKUL Book Talk - Stumbling Giant: The Threats to China's Future

About the speaker
Timothy Beardson founded and ran Crosby Financial Holdings, at the time the largest independent investment bank in the Far East.

Since the late 1990s he has been a frequent speaker on economic and strategic issues at such events as the World Economic Forum at Davos and at prominent universities. He is a permanent resident of Hong Kong.

About the book
While dozens of recent books and articles have predicted the near-certainty of China’s rise to global supremacy, this book distinctively counters such widely-held assumptions. Timothy Beardson brings to light the daunting array of challenges that today confront China, as well as the inadequacy of the responses. He presents bold policy prescriptions addressing these challenges and explains why – without substantial reform – China is unlikely to replace America as the next superpower.

Drawing on extensive research and experience living and working in Asia over the last thirty-five years, the author spells out China’s situation: an inexorable demographic future of a shrinking labour force, relentless ageing, extreme gender disparity, and even a falling population. Also, the nation faces social instability, a devastated environment, a predominantly low-tech economy with inadequate innovation, the absence of an effective welfare safety net, an ossified governance structure, and radical Islam lurking at the borders. Beardson’s nuanced, first-hand look at China acknowledges its historic achievements while tempering predictions of its imminent hegemony with a no-nonsense dose of reality.

Moderator: Prof. Zhigang Tao, Associate Dean, Knowledge Exchange & China Development and Director of HKU Institute for China & Global Development.
Date : October 31, 2013 (Thursday)
Time : 7:15pm to 9:00pm
Venue : Special Collection, 1/F, Main Library, The University of Hong Kong
Language : English

For registration, please visit: http://lib.hku.hk/friends/reading_club/bt2013_05.html

For further information, please visit:
http://lib.hku.hk/friends/reading_club/bt2013_05.html

For enquiries, please contact Marina Yeung by email at mstyeung@HKUCC-COM.hku.hk

Overturning Conventions: A Dialogue with Jung Chang
Pioneering author Jung Chang will discuss her new biography of the Empress Dowager Cixi with Professor John Carroll of the Department of History. In her latest work, Jung Chang overturns the conventional view of Cixi as a diehard conservative and cruel despot, and vividly describes how the Empress Dowager fought against monumental obstacles to introduce many of the attributes of a modern state to her ancient country.

Jung Chang is the best-selling author of Wild Swans (1991, which the Asian Wall Street Journal called the most read book about China), and Mao: The Unknown Story (2005, with Jon Halliday), which was described by Time Magazine as ‘an atom bomb of a book’. Her books have been translated into more than 40 languages and sold more than 15 million copies outside mainland China where they are both banned. She was born in China in 1952, and came to Britain in 1978. She lives in London.

Date: November 1, 2013 (Friday)
Time: 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm
Venue: CPD3.04, Run Run Shaw Tower, Centennial Campus
Language: English

For registration, please visit: http://arts.hku.hk/events/jungchang

For enquiries, please contact Mr Cyrus Chan (Tel: 3917 4984 / email: cyrusc@hku.hk ).

Sandro Botticelli’s Venus – An Italian High Renaissance Masterpiece
The Consulate General of Italy in Hong Kong and Macau, the Italian Cultural Institute and the University Museum and Art Gallery (UMAG) of the University of Hong Kong are honoured to present to the public one of Italy’s “national treasures” - Venus (ca. 1482) by Florentine Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli (1445–1510) from October 18 to December 15, 2013 in the University Museum and Art Gallery (UMAG) of the University of Hong Kong.

Exhibition details :
Period: October 18th through December 15th, 2013
Time: 9:30am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday; 1 pm to 6pm on Sunday
Venue: University Museum and Art Gallery (UMAG) of the University of Hong Kong
Enquiry: (852) 2241 5500
Admission: Free admission

For media enquiries, please contact  Miss Elena Cheung (HKU University Museum and Art Gallery) tel.: 2241 5512; email: museum@hku.hk or  Ms Rhea Leung (Manager (Media), Communications and Public Affairs Office) tel: 2857 8555 email: rhea.leung@hku.hk .