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HKU weekly notice (from Nov 17 to Nov 23, 2012)

16 Nov 2012

Contemporary China Studies Public Lecture:
Paying for China’s Urbanization: Challenges of Municipal Finance in the 21^st Century
Since embarking on its transition to a market economy 30 years ago, China’s urban population has grown by 500 million. This urbanization has proceeded on a scale and pace unprecedented in human history. Meeting the growing demands for services (electricity, water, sewerage, roads, transportation, schools and hospitals, etc.) posed an extraordinary challenge for government.

This lecture examines the structure and evolution of public finance in Chinese cities through this historic transition and finds that the fiscal system had become extremely decentralized and permissive. The decentralized approach has been instrumental in enabling China’s urbanization and growth, but it also produced some adverse outcomes. Going forward, fixing the system of municipal finance is critical to China’s transition from middle-income to high-income status, and to her long term prospects for creating humane and liveable cities, but the transition will be difficult, painful, and protracted.

Date: November 19, 2012 (Monday)
Time: 6:30pm
Venue: Social Sciences Chamber, 11/F, the Jockey Club Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU

Speaker: Professor Christine Wong, Professor of Chinese Public Finance, Director of Chinese Studies, School of Interdisciplinary Area Studies, University of Oxford

Website: http://www.socsc.hku.hk/ccspl/cwong/

Enquiries: Ms. Crystal So (Email:crystalso@hku.hk )

Inter-faith Dialogue: Religion & Human Rights
The Hong Kong representatives of three Monotheistic religions will come together to discuss their religions’ common grounds and differences with respect to Human Rights in an inter-faith dialogue at the University of Hong Kong on November 19 (Monday).

There are many instances where religious values come under conflict with human rights issues in today’s world. Religions influence societies through their cultures and legislation, but Governments also influence religious practices on the basis of their secular understandings of human rights. Where should the border between human rights and religious views lie? Are religions and states transgressing each other’s domains?

Media representatives are cordially invited to the dialogue, details are as follows:

Date: November 19, 2012 (Monday)
Time: 7 pm to 9 pm
Venue: Rayson Huang Theatre, HKU
Language: English

Welcoming remarks: Prof. C. F. Lee, Director, HKU SPACE
Moderator: Venerable SIK Hin Hung (Centre of Buddhist Studies, HKU)

Guest Speakers :

Imam Muhammad ARSHAD (Kowloon Mosque and Islamic Centre)
Dr. John LEMOND (Tao Fong Shan Christian Centre)
Rabbi Asher OSER (Ohel Leah Synagogue)

Panelists :

Dr. Wayne CRISTAUDO (School of Modern Languages and Cultures, HKU)
Sheikh Fadel SOLIMAN (Bridges Foundation, Egypt)
Prof. David ZWEIG (School for Humanities and Social Science, HKUST)

For enquiries, please call tel: 3917 5078, or email: cbsinfo@hku.hk

University Museum and Art Gallery
Full Circle: Paintings by David Lam
The University Museum and Art Gallery will hold an exhibition on the paintings of Hong Kong artist David Lam Chun-fai. An Exhibition preview will be held at the University Museum and Art Gallery on November 20 (Tuesday).

David Lam was an artist and arts administrator in Hong Kong during the development of a distinct Hong Kong art that acknowledged Abstract Expressionism, as well as other western art movements, in a Chinese idiom. He spent his formative years training with the Hong Kong master artist Lee Byng (1903–1994). He also worked as a curator’s assistant at the Hong Kong City Hall Museum and Art Gallery, the precursor to the Hong Kong Museum of Art.

This retrospective exhibition marks David’s eightieth year, and will include paintings from as early as the 1960s when he was a young artist in Hong Kong and a founding member of the influential Circle Art Group. The earlier paintings depict aspects of Hong Kong in detailed watercolours, and contrast with the artist’s mature monumental and expansive landscapes of his adopted home. These works often fill the surface of the canvas in dense opaque colours, suggesting man’s humble place in the world. Many of the works have never been exhibited in Hong Kong before.

Exhibition preview:
Date: November 20, 2012 (Tuesday)
Time: 6:00 pm
Venue: University Museum and Art Gallery
Language: Chinese and English

David Lam will be in Hong Kong for the exhibition preview. Interviews can be arranged through the Museum by contacting Tina Pang on 2241-5503.

The exhibition will continue until 11th March 2013. The Museum opens from Monday to Saturday, 9:30 am to 6:00 pm; Sunday 1:00 to 6:00 pm; and closes on public and University holidays (24–26 December, 31 December pm). Admission is free. All are welcome.

For further information, please visit: http://www.hkumag.hku.hk/exhibition.html

For enquiries, please contact Tina Pang by email at museum@hku.hk

HKU weekly notice is sent to its subscribers on Friday afternoons. If you want to receive the event highlights, please regieter with Ms Ho by email at hmsho@hku.hk.

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