A party with toasts, chatter, and smiles to bid farewell to CCA
After being a proud member of the FLASS family for over a decade, CCA has left us to join the Faculty of Humanities in September due to organisational restructuring. FLASS organised a party on 20 August to bid them a fond farewell.
The Department of Cultural and Creative Arts (CCA) has been a proud member of the FLASS family since 2009, when the faculty was still called the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) before it changed to its current name the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (FLASS) in the 2012/13 academic year. After more than a decade of close cooperation, CCA has had to leave us to join the Faculty of Humanities due to organisational restructuring. The faculty management organised a farewell party to bid a fond goodbye to our dear former CCA colleagues on 20 August.
Professor Li Wai-keung, Dean of FLASS, commenced the party with words of gratitude, best wishes and a toast. “As Dean, I have the privilege of working closely with our CCA colleagues. We are deeply grateful for this partnership. On behalf of the faculty, I extend my heartfelt thanks to every teaching and administrative staff member at CCA for their tireless work and contributions to the faculty. Thank you for your talent and dedication in nurturing students, conducting research, and serving the community,” Professor Li said.
Professor Li Wai-keung, Dean of FLASS, presents a thank-you card signed by faculty management and administrative staff to Dr Matsunobu Koji, Acting Head of CCA.
Dr Matsunobu Koji expresses that he and his colleagues at CCA have been privileged to work with Professor Li and other management and administrative staff of FLASS.
Dr Matsunobu Koji, Acting Head of CCA, represented his department in thanking Professor Li for his kind encouragement and for the unwavering support from FLASS management and administrative team throughout their time at FLASS. “FLASS has been our home, a place where we developed our identities and friendships. We have been privileged to work with you,” Dr Matsunobu said.
Dr Thomas Tam Cheung-on, Associate Professor and former head of CCA preceding Dr Matsunobu, joined the Hong Kong Institute of Education, the predecessor of EdUHK, in 1996. He has worked with several Deans of FLASS since CCA became a department of the faculty in 2009. While he missed his time working under FLASS, Dr Tam expressed his gratitude to the faculty management and said: “Professor Li has managed the faculty very well with wisdom, and along the way, there have been many nice human touches.”
From left to right: Ms Ellen Cheng, Assistant Registrar of FLASS; Professor Li Wai-keung, Dean of FLASS; Dr Thomas Tam Cheung-on, former head of CCA preceding Dr Matsunobu; Ms Winnie Cheung and Mr Wes Yim from faculty’s administrative team. Dr Tam thanks Professor Li for supporting his work at CCA, appreciating that Professor Li has managed the faculty with wisdom and human touches.
Dr Leung Chi-hin, who masterminds many public performances by various CCA ensembles, stated that it is an honour for CCA to be part of FLASS. “Even though the faculty is very diverse in terms of academic disciplines, we find a lot of synergy among different FLASS departments. “There is much room for cross-departmental cooperation; for instance, we have closely cooperated with the Department of Science and Environmental Studies in promoting STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) education,” he said.
From left to right: Dr Philbert Li King-yue, Dr Leung Chi-hin, and Ms Jasman Pang.
Dr Philbert Li King-yue mentioned that he often saw colleagues from other departments of FLASS attending concerts held by CCA. He also thanked the faculty management for coordinating with the university management to provide many opportunities for different musical ensembles at CCA to represent the University to perform and share the joy of music with the public. Ms Jasman Pang, who just completed her Doctor of Education programme at CCA and is now a lecturer in the department, said she will never forget the congeniality and warmth of the FLASS family.
Dr Prudence Lau Leung-kwok thanks the support from FLASS’s administrative team. She poses with Tanya Kwan at the party.
Dr Prudence Lau Leung-kwok served on faculty management as Assistant Dean (Undergraduate Studies and Student Learning) between 2022-2023, and Acting Associate Dean from 2023 to 2024. She stated that since joining the management team, she had the opportunity to forge new friendships with scholars from other disciplines. “I treasure the times in performing executive tasks together with colleagues from HPE, SES, SSPS, and MIT. I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank the faculty’s administrative team for their diligent work and kind support,” Dr Lau said.
Altogether, around 50 faculty management members and administrative staff joined teaching and administrative colleagues from CCA at the party. In the nicely decorated party room, participants shared many memorable moments, exchanged heartfelt words of appreciation and revelled in each other's company. The toasts, chatter, selfies and smiles served as a lasting reminder of the deep connection between CCA and FLASS.
As Professor Li said at the party all good things must come to an end. While we miss working together with colleagues from CCA, we wish them every success in their future endeavours in exploring new knowledge in music and visual arts as well as nurturing some of the best talent for the city.
While we are moving quickly and staying busy during this restructuring period, let us take a moment to look through the following album to recall the fond moments we experienced at the party.
Dr Benny Tang Pan-hang from CCA, right, takes a selfie with Professor Li Wai-keung.
Dr Bill Yeung Chi-ho, Associate Dean (Quality Assurance and Enhancement) of FLASS, recalls fond moments working with Dr Prudence Lau. He says that even though CCA will move to another faculty, the Department of Science and Environmental Studies (SES) will continue to collaborate with CCA to provide minor courses in STEAM education.
From left to right: Dr Matsunobu Koji and Dr Thibeault Matthew Doran from CCA, and Dr Andy Tse Choi-yeung, Acting Head of the Department of Health and Physical Education (HPE). Dr Tse thanks Dr Paulina Wong from CCA for her support in developing New Six Arts courses for the General Education curriculum and for coordinating several courses for a new master’s degree programme of play offered by HPE.
CCA colleagues, from left to right: Ms Fanny Chan Kam-kwan, technician; Miss Joyce Lung Yuet-ching, Lecturer II; Miss Passy Deng Yang, Lecturer II, Dr Luan Luo Ning, Research Assistant Professor.
From left to right: Ms Tanya Kwan and Ms Carina Chan from faculty’s administrative team; Dr Eileen Lam Hau-ling and Dr Leung Chi-hin from CCA; Dr Chan Man-ho, Associate Dean (Undergraduate Studies and Student Learning) of FLASS; Ms Winnie Cheung, and Ms Janice Liu from faculty’s administrative team.
Ms Carina Chan and Mr Wes Yim serve as the MCs of the farewell party.
