Lingnan to establish new Chinese culture research programme

Lingnan University is setting up a new research programme on Chinese culture and expanding a learning scheme that focuses on community services with a $2 million donation from the Kwan Fong Charitable Foundation.

Cantonese opera, Chinese customs and food culture will be covered by the Kwan Fong Cultural Research and Development Programme, to be launched next month.

Professor Stephen Chan Ching-kiu, director of the university's Master of Cultural Studies programme, said he hoped the new programme would help the institution take up a leading role in urban Chinese and East Asian cultural studies.

'The programme would not only focus on the preservation of Chinese culture, but also examine its impact on cultural and education policies, both in local, East Asian regional, and international contexts,' said Professor Chan.

'We hope this programme would help us establish an international research network, and seek funding for cultural research from both local and overseas organisations.'

Half of the $2 million donation will be spent on expanding the university's Service Learning and Research Scheme, under which students will engage in community projects related to their field of studies, in order to build up their professional knowledge, communication and organisation skills, and cultural understanding. Elderly people, new immigrants, South Asian children and ethnic minorities in the New Territories will be the scheme's target communities.