Professor Woody Chan (fourth from left) visited CUHK (Shenzhen) with Shaw College Staff Association
Professor Woody Chan joined Shaw College in 1988. When he first joined the College, he mainly participated in the activities of Shaw College Staff Association. After working in his academic department for some time, Professor Chan thought he could take other challenges as he likes new things, so he became more actively engaged in college affairs. In 2001, Professor Chan joined the Canteen Management Committee of the College, and served as Chair of the Committee 3 years later. He was the Warden of Kuo Mou Hall for 17 years during 2004-2021. Professor Chan was elected as trustee of the College in 2011, he took up the role of Associate Head in 2012 and just stepped down in June this year.
Professor Chan used “keep looking for novelty” to describe his 17-year journey of Warden. He felt that he also had knowledge increase and growth himself and broadened his horizon as he had to deal with different things of the hostel every day and interacted with students of different backgrounds during the days he served as Warden. Talking about the most unforgettable thing in hostel, Professor Chan said it was COVID-19. At that time, people did not know much about the new virus and everyone was in panic. As a Warden, he had to be involved in formulating various anti-epidemic regulations in hostel. Professor Chan even taught hostel staff about anti-epidemic measures such as how to wear protective clothes to ensure that they were properly protected, so as to provide a clean environment for the resident students.
Professor Chan’s favourite poem is “Thoughts on Reading” by Zhu Xi: “How can a half-acre square pond be as clear as a mirror and reflect the sky and clouds? It is because its original source comes from flowing water.” This poem expresses Professor Chan's belief that we can only stay energetic and have a mind as clear as a mirror by constantly absorbing new knowledge and keeping ourselves curious. "New things" have been Professor Chan's motivation for driving him to actively participate in college life for all these years. He also encouraged colleagues to join more college activities to communicate with co-workers from other departments so as to learn things other than their own academic pursuits.
This article was originally published in the Newsletter of the College, Shaw Link in Oct 2024.