Various cultures in the University of Hong Kong

There are many kinds of culutres existing in HKU, such as society culture , hall culture, high table dinner, orientation camp, democracy wall, workshops for career plan or research, independent publication, promotion and election of student union etc. Among them, halls are the closest to students’ life and  about 32% of the total student population is in halls(Data source: Hall Education Report ), so halls are usually paid more attention than others.

High Table Dinner

Super Pass Chop Pig

Morrison Hall

Demonocracy Wall

Colorful Posters

Orientation Camp

What are halls?

The origin of Halls in the University of Hong Kong  

At the opening of the University of Hong Kong, on 11th March 1912, Frederick Lugard stated his concept of a partnership between university instruction and residential life which would address the whole person: 

Photo is cited from Electronic Gallery of HKU

The graduates of this University will go forth into China with standards of life, with conceptions of duty, with characters and ideals formed during their training within these walls and the affiliated hostels. ..... This University, as I understand, has been founded to promote two distinct objects. On the one hand its secular teaching is intended to be eminently practical, in order to fit its graduates for spheres of utility, whether in engineering, medicine, commerce or administration. On the other hand this secular teaching is to be imparted under such safeguards and conditions of residence, of association, and of collateral influence as to ensure that the higher requirements of man's nature are neither neglected nor placed in the background.....

There are thirteen residential halls in HKU: Lady Ho Tung Hall (for women only), Starr Hall, Ricci Hall , Morrison Hall, Suen Chi Sun Hall, Lee Shau Kee Hall, Lee Hysan Hall, R. C. Lee Hall, Wei Lun Hall  Simon K. Y. Lee Hall, Swire Hall, St. John’s College, University Hall(for men only). Besides, there are three non residential halls: Lee Chi Hung Hall,  Hornell Hall(for men only) , Duchess of Kent Hall (for women only).  Usually hall members consist of local(majority), non-local, foreign students .Except Morrison Hall, UG and PG have half undergraduates and half postgraduates, most hall mates are undergraduate. The location of all the thirteen residential halls has been marked with the Sunshine Icons in the Google Maps as below:

Life in Halls

Students living in halls may have roomates, floormates and hallmates who are from different department, different faculty, or even different countries. They have the opportunities to know customs outside Hong Kong and get their social skills well trained. There are many culture and sports teams in halls.  Usually halls  provide some music instruments like piano, sports facilities, and small library or reading room. Each floor in halls have one pantry where hallmates can cook, watch TV, play games etc. Life in halls can be colorful!

Benny, a year 3 student,from Kunming, Yunan province, China, majors in economy and finance. She lives in Swire Hall for three years. She said that she can fully adopt the hall life since there is facility designed for hall mates. Unlike the dorm in mainland, the hall in the universities of HK provides advanced system of enrolling newcomer and managing students' daily life. During the three years, Benny made a lot of friends from different majors and in various culture backgrounds. This is a great opportunity to acquaint themselves with other students residing in Swire hall. She mentioned: "Living in hall gives you a kind of experience that you will never forget., though I seldom attend the activity, however, this atmosphere influences me in some way, I feel I am more tolerant and open-minded than before."

Residence is as the basic function of halls which do provide retlatively convienent environment for student living while provinding a platform to socialize. The following are some extracts of their daily hall life.

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What else?

It is mentioned different halls have different characteristics, atmosphere and traditions. The term "hall culture" is also just raised in HKU rather than other universities in Hong Kong. Among all the sixteen halls, there are still three non residential halls. It seems they are called halls no matter whether they have the residential function. Now we may raise one question: what on earth is crucial to halls?

The soundslide may give us some hints.

Different Voices and discussion about hall culture and its value

As about 90% of hall residents is UG among which 94% is local, 10% is PG.(Data source: Hall Education Report ) Some disputes of culture conflicts is always put on stage. It is complained that halls are full of local cultur which is difficult for non local hallmates to really involve in. Some international students found them hard to adjust to "hall culture" due to culture gap. Especially for the exchange students. They think it's childish to do everything together. But some think that they like this kind of atmosphere.

Cheng Xiaoyi, a local student, She said there are special occasions for local students and non locals to introduce themselves to each other as to promote friendship across cultures and cultural understanding of foreign universities. "Living in hall can develop your sense of belonging here. Maybe Due to language communication , culture differences ,Non-local students sometimes feel less engage in hall activity, these days our Wardens is so good that he facilitates communications like competition and language training program to encourage more participatio."

Language Problem

Leo, year 2 student, from Beijing, China, for him, Cantonese is the language of communication, as the majority of the residents are Hong Kongners and speak the native dialect. Sometimes it will set a barrier for mainland and international students. However, the hall-mates are encouraging and helpful to guide the non-local students to adopt the traditional hall activities. “Language is a major problem in joining the hall activities.”

Joseph, a loca student, as a former SA member (2007~2008) in Morrison Hall, said, "what we want to promote is that they try to concern each other, they don’t need to spend too much time on activity, treat floor mates like family member. Having dinner, watching TV together, they’ll develop their relationship from that benefit." Now he is about to graduate, he said the most unforgettable thing is hall life during the college years which gives him the good memory and opportunity to develop interpersonal skills.

About Hall Activities 

About Regulation

Jarrod, exchange student from Johannesburg of South Africa, “The hall for me is a place of eating and sleeping, not for socializing. University is the place for teaching people of the real world and experiencing more. looking after people seems to be childish."

Too many activities? Little time on studying? Low GPA on some hallmates? However, they do have precious merits.

Li Xiaoyang, now living in St' John's College, "Living in hall like living in a small society, after 3 year of living, you will gain a lot from it. What else the hall emphasis is the core value, which including the open-mindedness towards the critical opinions of others, show your respect and understanding to different cultures etc, to encourage. all around development is the key notion in hall. You will know a lot of people from different majors, while in mainland China, the students in same major are usually arranged together, to my point of view, it’s lack of diversity."

Alice, a tutor of Lee Shau Kee Hall, 3 phd candidate, in IT education, "Local and non-local languages issue always put on stage. I don’t see it’s a problem, no matter who you’re where you come from ,the purpose of the hall  is to bring us together, the more we talk, the better understanding we will get."

Besides, some universities in Singapore are importing hall model from HKU. Like NUS, it also has the similar hall system and strict hall regulations. However, hall system in Hong Kong is unique, though it's still controversial to some degree.

Halls provide an outstanding opportunity for students to learn how to balance their priorities, their obligations and opportunities. As one Warden summed up his submission:

If we cannot maintain the traditions of Halls, we will loose a great asset of HKU, and indeed of Hong Kong. If a Hall cannot renew its traditions, it is irresponsible and will loose its cause for existence.