Lesson from abroad on giving our students the bigger picture

An increase in scholarships provided for overseas students to study in Hong Kong would help broaden local students' horizons, says a university head.

'Admitting more foreign students from different countries can make our school campuses more multicultural and full of diversity,' said Edward Chen Kwan-yiu, Lingnan University president.

Professor Chen was speaking at the final session of the Business Leaders' Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility organised by the Hong Kong Council of Social Service. The South China Morning Post was a media partner. 'Not all families can afford to send their children to study abroad. Even [though] some students are lucky enough to have the opportunity, their exposure is only confined to one country,' Professor Chen said. 'But if we can invite more overseas students from different countries to study and stay on our school campus, our local students can be exposed to 20 or 30 different cultures. So this kind of exposure is broader and more effective than sending a few local students to study overseas.'

He said such international exposure was important to Hong Kong as young people nowadays needed to be creative to stay competitive in the global market.

'We can no longer rely on being only hardworking and knowledgeable to become successful. We also need to be creative and adaptable to changes - but [this] is not something our young people can study from books unless they can be nurtured in an environment in which they gain different experience and exposure. Their success would also help Hong Kong stay competitive in the global arena.'

But the professor said most Hong Kong people remained conservative with a belief that local scholarships should be provided only to Hong Kong students.