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Speech by the CS at the Naming Ceremony of Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre (English only) (with photo/video)
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Below is the speech by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Henry Tang, at the Naming Ceremony of Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre, City University, this afternoon (March 17):

Mona (Chariperson of the Shaw Foundation Hong Kong Limited),  Norman (Leung, Pro-Chancellor), CY (Leung, Council Chairman), Professor Way Kuo (President), friends of City University, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen and students,

     I am delighted to join you at the Naming Ceremony of Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre.

     I have known Sir Run Run for quite some time and the name, Sir Run Run Shaw, is synonymous with Hong Kong・s creative media industry. I will not repeat his illustrious career as Norman has so adeptly done so, so I will skip that paragraph. But I must say that without a doubt I agree with Norman that Sir Run Run is a giant, he was a media mogul and he still is a media mogul in many ways.

     No doubt I'm sure many of you are intrigued by the design of the building. Since Sir Run Run has so kindly donated 100 million dollars from the Run Run Shaw Foundation and Norman has let the secret out that I had some influence on the building, let me tell you a little bit about why Daniel Libeskind・s buildings all look so weird with so many sharp angles. I actually had a fairly lengthy conversation with him and his wife who told me the history that Daniel・s designs are all like this because Daniel Libeskind is of Jewish descent and he had family members who were killed in the holocaust. So his inspiration was actually Kristallnacht as many of you remember which was the night when SS soldiers went about Jewish homes and broke all the crystals in their room, in their houses, for some obscure reason. During that period Jewish people in Germany liked to collect crystal, so they went into their homes and broke all the crystals, all the glass in their houses. And what do you have when you break glass and crystal? You have shards - small pieces with a lot of sharp angles - and that was Daniel Libeskind・s inspiration.  He wants the world to remember what happened in the Holocaust.

     But this is a spectacular building. It serves as as the permanent home of CityU・s School of Creative Media. It also houses the Department of Computer Science, the Department of Media and Communication, and the Centre for Applied Computing and Interactive Media.

     In other words, there is a lot of creative talent under one rather unusual roof.

     I am also very pleased that City University has recruited Professor Jeffrey Shaw to head the School of Creative Media since 2009.  Under Professor Shaw・s guidance, I have no doubt the School will build on its success towards higher goals.

     As far as the Government is concerned, we have identified creative industries as one of the six economic areas with great potential to grow.  We have devised strategies to promote Hong Kong as Asia・s creative capital and facilitate the development of our creative industries. The opening of the new Creative Media Centre complements our efforts in nurturing a deep and broad pool of creative talents. I have no doubts these talents from all parts of the world will form the backbone of our creative economy for many, many years to come.

     We already actually have a vibrant creative media culture. We have films, television shows, digital entertainment, advertising, news gathering and computer animation as quite renowned worldwide.  

     I believe you have seen many movies which are quite well-known and actually done by Hong Kong companies in animation. I am sure the students here will find this to be an ideal venue for the pursuit of excellence in your chosen fields.

     It is a state-of-the-art teaching and research facility in this field. It also provides a stimulating environment and excellent meeting point for creative professionals from all around the world.

     The Government has committed $483 million towards the capital costs for construction of the Centre.  Equally important is the contribution from the private sector which is $100 million from The Shaw Foundation Hong Kong Limited.

    My warmest congratulations to the City University on this exciting and happy occasion.

    And I wish the faculty, students, visitors and all of you a very creative and successful time.

    Thank you.

Ends/Thursday, March 17, 2011
Issued at HKT 20:34

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