P R E S S   R E L E A S E

      The Honourable Tung Chee Hwa, The Chief Executive of The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and The Chancellor of The Chinese University of Hong Kong today officiated at the Dedication Ceremony of Mong Man Wai Building on campus.

      Next to the Choh-Ming Li Building for Basic Medical Sciences and the Science Centre on the central campus of the Chinese University, Mong Man Wai Building provides purpose-designed and state-of-the-art facilities for the Departments of Biochemistry and Mechanical and Automation Engineering, and the Institute of Mathematical Sciences as well as lecture theatres and classrooms.

     Inspired by the Chief Executive's strong policy emphasis on the development of science and technology as the means to maintain Hong Kong's long-term competitiveness, the Chinese University has launched excellent research programmes in information technology, automation and robotics, internet exchange technology, genomics and bioinformatics, geoinformation science, biotechnology and molecular genetics.  The Mong Man-wai Building will greatly facilitate the university's further enhancing the development in science and technology.  The new facilities in this building will enable the Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering to conduct pioneer research in advanced microsystems, robotics, computer-aided design, computer vision, computational intelligence, control systems, instrumentation, robot control, smart material and structure, and system theory.  They will also enable the Department of Biochemistry to improve teaching quality and carry out advanced research in genetic engineering and cell technology. The Institute of Mathematical Sciences on the other hand is given a base to do the research in pure mathematics, scientific computation, image processing, mathematical and theoretical physics, and statistics.

     This new science centre of the University is named after Dr William Mong Man-wai, founder of Shun Hing Group and a distinguished entrepreneur, in appreciation of his magnanimous donations to the Chinese University in support of its efforts towards the promotion of high quality research and developments in science and engineering.

     At the Ceremony, Dr Mong stressed his dedication to support academic and research development of local institutions. "I would like to call on leaders from all sectors of our community to make concerted efforts to help enhance the teaching of science and technology, and to urge our younger generation to pursue new knowledge and technological innovation.  Only through these efforts can we further improve our quality of life," said Dr Mong.

     Dr Mong established the Shun Hing Education and Charity Fund in 1984, and over the years, the Fund has donated more than HK$200 million to promote education, healthcare, recreation, sports and environmental protection.  The Fund is particularly active in enhancing education development, setting up research centres, scholarships, research grants in both local and mainland tertiary institutions, and helping them to upgrade campus facilities.

     The Chinese University has been a major beneficiary of Dr Mong's generosity for many years.  Dr Mong's donation to the University has made possible the establishment of the Monk Kwok Ping Computer Communication Laboratory, the United Nations Fellows Training Programmes and a number of scholarship funds.  In 1993, through the Shun Hing Education and Charity Fund, Dr Mong made a further donation of HK$18 million in support of the University's academic and research development.