A Talk by Mrs. Fanny Law JP, the Permanent Secretary for Education and Manpower-Not Making Excuses for Ourselves is a Panacea for Success

Mrs Fanny Law, the Permanent Secretary for Education and Manpower, calls for college students to cultivate a positive mentality in a speech given on 6 December, 2005. The Secretary underscores the importance of not looking for excuses; and only when our young people are able to do so can they begin to embark on the path to success. The occasion took place at Chu Hai College of Higher Education. Mrs Law came upon the invitation of the students at the College.

In a symposium on education, Mrs Law carried on an exchange with close to a hundred students and faculties at the College. To start it off, Mrs Law affirms the endeavor put forth by the College in its process of becoming a private university. She points out that seven departments have so far passed the academic accreditation of the HKCAA, and that the first batch of government-approved bachelors will graduate in 2008. Relating her experience studying at Harvard, Mrs Law shares her aspiration that the College will in time widen its discipline base and have more students.

With the advance of technology and all the means of communication at our disposal, the world has now become a global village with an open economy. To compete in the New Economy, we must embrace the changes. Comparing with the days when Mrs Law was herself a student, today's students face both greater challenges and wider opportunities. As Hong Kong has been known for years as one of the freest and most open economies in the world, we have the advantage of accessibility. However, how to make the right decision to select the available information and take hold of opportunities, warns Mrs Law, have become daunting challenges to be won over by today's students.

According to surveys done by Hong Kong University and other institutions, the two areas employers find the most dissatisfied about university students in Hong Kong are: attitude, or the lack of it, and language skills. On attitude, Mrs Law enjoins students to have the spirit of taking responsibilities for their actions. In work, they should always think of giving the best service first, instead of worrying about being taken advantage of; and should never make excuses for their mistakes. Reminiscencing about her own career, Mrs Law confesses that she has had only one job--working for the Hong Kong government. Steady though this job seems, she has to move around to different areas often--on average one new area every three years. She therefore has to keep learning new things, updating and upgrading herself. Study is more than just for the grades, recounting the slogan of the Education and Manpower Bureau, Mrs Law emphasizes that study is for ourselves, building a foundation and an interest for life-long learning.

People often complain about being too busy to do anything, Mrs Law continues. There are three kinds of being busy: too many things to do; being inefficient; and don't know what one is really busying about. However, God is fair as far as time is concerned. Everyone is assigned twenty-four hours a day. Once time passes, it passes. We therefore shouldn't waste time, and should always learn to upgrade ourselves. The simple formula for success, reiterates Mrs Law, is not to make excuses for ourselves.

In the question-and-answer period, one student asked Mrs Law to compare students from the Mainland with those of Hong Kong. Particularly the better ones, Mrs Law said that students from the Mainland are generally more well-read, while Hong Kong students are more energetic, with a more active social life. Students from both areas do and should compliment each other. As present policy allows 10% student population for Mainlanders in tertiary institutions, Mrs Law said she would like to see more mainland students to come to Hong Kong to study.