HKU rebels bank on people power
A group of doctors plans to resort to 'people power' on Friday in its fight against the renaming of the University of Hong Kong's medical faculty after tycoon Li Ka-shing.
The Concern Group to Preserve the Name of the Faculty yesterday urged the public to join it in pushing the cause at the annual July 1 rally.
The group also launched a 'one e-mail, one doctor' campaign addressed to Mr Li through his foundation, the Li Ka Shing Foundation.
Mr Li, who has pledged to donate $1 billion to the university, said recently that he was deeply hurt by 'rude remarks' made in the wake of the renaming offer, saying his acceptance of the honour was not an act of vanity but arose from his deep affiliation and dedication to Hong Kong.
The concern group yesterday appealed to members of the public, not only doctors and alumni, to join its members at Friday's rally.
Tse Hung-hing, one of the conveners, said: 'People power has previously been shown to be invincible and we are hoping that it will be like that [after July 1].'
Another convener, Lau Man-yam, said the e-mail campaign could hopefully persuade Mr Li to decline the offer.
Medical graduates can download the letter from medical sector legislator Kwok Ka-ki's website, www.kkkwok.org and e-mail it to Mr Li's foundation, said Dr Lau. 'We would like to appeal to Mr Li to hear our voices.
'If he can decline the naming himself, he can unite the whole medical profession once again,' said Dr Lau.
Dr Kwok, a prime mover of the anti-renaming crusade, said they would not raise the issue with Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen.
'I think we are working under the domain of the University of Hong Kong,' he said.
'We do not agree that the government should impinge on academic independence.'
Another convener, Martin Wong Kwok-tin, said a faculty was 'much more than a building, much more than a campus'. 'It carries a lot of tradition, hard work from the teachers, students and researchers which go back more than 100 years ago. I do not think naming a faculty after a donor is appropriate,' he said.
Meanwhile, it emerged yesterday that Mr Li's donation could trigger a $250 million government grant to the university under a new donation-matching scheme set up to encourage private philanthropy.
The terms of the scheme require private donations to be both pledged and paid between August and February.
Doubts had been raised over whether Mr Li's donation would qualify for the scheme as it was pledged before this period.
But a University Grants Committee spokeswoman yesterday said it was proposing to delete the word 'pledge' from the requirement, as the word 'pay' was more important.
The proposed change could make Mr Li's donation eligible to attract the $250 million maximum matching grant under the scheme.