Address by Professor Paul LAM Kwan-sing, President
30 July 2024
Dean Professor Wong, Colleagues and Students, Ladies and Gentlemen.
Welcome to the 2024 graduation ceremony.
My heartiest congratulations to our students on successfully completing your programmes of study.
As this is our 35th anniversary, I would like to highlight some selected moments from our proud history.
The Open Learning Institute (OLI) was established by the Hong Kong government in 1989.
The aim was to offer education programmes for working adults who hadn't had the opportunity to attend one of the two universities in Hong Kong at that time.
Back then, interest in higher education was so high that people used to queue up for OLI application forms.
In 1996, OLI was awarded self-accrediting status, meaning that it had obtained the authority to grant its own degrees.
To date, only nine universities have self-accrediting status in Hong Kong: the eight government-funded universities and Hong Kong Metropolitan University, or HKMU.
In 1997, OLI was renamed The Open University of Hong Kong, or OUHK.
Over the next two decades, OUHK developed into HKMU.
As a self-financed university, HKMU has made use of its flexibility to swiftly build up its capacity to offer high-quality professional programmes that directly meet market trends and industry needs.
Moreover, our programmes are accredited by relevant professional bodies, such as the Nursing Council and the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers.
We are proud that the Physiotherapists Board accredited our Bachelor of Science with Honours in Physiotherapy and that it received final approval from the Supplementary Medical Professions Council in late June this year.
The Government has previously noted that Hong Kong is experiencing an acute shortage of high-calibre talent in many technical and professional sectors. The lack of appropriately qualified professionals poses a challenge to Hong Kong's social and economic development.
To address this shortage of human resources, the Chief Executive announced the establishment of a new category of university, the University of Applied Sciences, or UAS, in his 2023 Policy Address.
We are delighted that HKMU was designated as Hong Kong's first UAS on 21 March 2024.
As a UAS, HKMU offers an extensive range of career-focused degree programmes, such as the BBA in Aviation Services Management, whose graduates have a path to obtain a commercial pilot's licence, in addition to a bachelor's degree.
To provide more facilities to our students, our recently purchased, brand-new hotel, called “MU88” in Hung Hom, will be used for student accommodation. It has 250 rooms for about 500 students.
The construction of our new campus, called the Hub for Community Health and Wellness, will commence in early 2025 and is expected to be completed in 2028 at a cost of about HK$3.1 billion. This new campus will provide the University with an additional gross floor area of about 31,000 square metres, equivalent to about 42% of our existing campus space.
As always, we welcome our graduates back to HKMU to update their knowledge, gain other qualifications, and admire our new facilities.
I would once again like offer you my warmest congratulations, and I hope these exciting new developments will make you proud to be HKMU alumni.
In closing, I would like to thank your parents, family members and teachers for helping you for so many years.
I wish you every success in the future, and I hope to see you again very soon!
