History of CKYC
With the move to the new Hengqin campus in 2014, the University of Macau instituted the most comprehensive residential college system in the Asia-Pacific region. Choi Kai Yau College was named after the late father of Dr. Jonathan CHOI Koon Shum, Chairman of the Sunwah Group, whose generous donation, on behalf of the family’s Choi Kai Yau Foundation, supported the establishment of the College. Prof. David Pong, a renowned scholar on Modern Chinese History with rich managerial experience and a passion for education, was recruited as Founding Master of Choi Kai Yau College, after a global search by the University. As one of the first eight Colleges to be set up, Choi Kai Yau College moved into its current building (W12) on the northwest corner of the University of Macau Hengqin campus in 2014.
The residential college system is a foundational pillar of the 4-in-1 educational model of the University of Macau, providing a stimulating living-learning environment for community and peer education and strong academic support for discipline-based and general education. Over 800 students and over 50 faculty members are affiliated with the College, hailing from different countries and regions in addition to Macau and with different background and academic disciplines. Through communal living and dining, and the many and varied activities, students and faculty Fellows have opportunities for close interaction, stimulate and challenge each other, and encourage each other to pursue their ideals. Dr. Choi Koon Shum hopes that “students can avail themselves of the wonderful learning and living environment to study diligently and constantly seek self-improvement so that one day they can become movers and shakers of society.” As such, Choi Kai Yau College aims to be a nurturing habitat for the all-round development of its students, as they grow to be responsible citizens and compassionate leaders of their communities, Macau, China and the world.
Founding Masters of the 8 Colleges at the Kick-off Ceremony of UM’s Residential Colleges system in 2014
CKYC Founding College Master – Prof. David Pong
Prof. David Pong served as the first Master of Choi Kai Yau College, when the college was established in 2014, and retired in 2017. Born in Hong Kong, he was educated in China and Hong Kong before attending university in Britain, earning his BA (Hons) and PhD Degrees from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
Before coming to UM, he had taught for 43½ years, mainly at the University of Delaware in the United States, but also in London, Australia (ANU), and at Princeton University, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. An historian of international renown, Prof. Pong also dedicated himself to the promotion of liberal arts education and curriculum reform. He was a consultant in 2009-2010 when UM was planning its first General Education programme, and played a vital role on UM’s General Education Committee in 2014-2015, resulting in a significantly improved programme since 2017.
During his long career in education, Prof. Pong had earned many awards, research fellowships, and honours, including the “Asianist 2013” award given by the Mid-Atlantic Region of the Association for Asian Studies (USA) in recognition of his life-long contribution to scholarship and service to the profession. He has authored three books, edited five volumes, and published more than 40 journal articles and book chapters.
He is also best known as the Editor-in-Chief of the 4-volume Encyclopedia of Modern China, which received the American Library Association’s Dartmouth Medal Honorable Mention for a reference published in 2009.
As the Founding Master of CKYC, Prof. Pong has formulated the CKYC Tripod, consisting of the motto, “Dare to Think; Care to Act”, the cultivation of citizenship with global awareness among students, and the building of a caring community. In the nurturing of global awareness, Prof. Pong is careful that the students should be firmly grounded in the understanding of their own culture and heritage as they explore the world beyond.
In all of this, he has the blessings of Dr. Jonathan Choi Koon Shum, who, he likes to emphasise, shared in the formulation of the College Motto. Much of the ideas are incorporated into the lyrics of the College Anthem, which Prof. Pong wrote and set to the music of “See the Conquering Hero Comes” from George Frederick Handel’s oratorio, Judas Maccabaeus.
In his retirement, Prof. Pong and his wife, Barbara, live in Newark, Delaware, USA, the home town of the University of Delaware. Throughout his entire life, Prof. Pong engages in many sports activities, loves board games, is passionate about music and the arts, and sings in his spare time. He is also an avid gardener and enjoys growing his own vegetables.
Prof. Pong invites all members of the CKYC family to join him on Facebook.
CKYC Founding Master Prof. David Pong
Professor Pong with the CKYC mascots and its latest T-shirt (2021)