Dear Colleagues,
The Chief Executive mentioned in his 2024 Policy Address the government's commitment to developing Hong Kong into an International Education Hub for Post-secondary Education (IEH). The Government identified the lack of accommodation for incoming students as one of the critical challenges.
This year, HKMU purchased and renovated a hotel for student accommodation. It was widely suggested that the HKMU model – acquiring and renovating existing hotels for student accommodation – could help alleviate the shortage of accommodation for non-local students.
I do not agree that the lack of university accommodation is critical for Hong Kong to become an IEH. There are many private flats available in Hong Kong. Many non-local students secured accommodation through tried and tested channels, such as WhatsApp and WeChat groups, before their arrival. The rents are comparable to those of hostels converted from commercial hotels.
MU88 can provide a maximum of 480 places, but we have about 5,000 full time non-local students at HKMU. If we consider the higher education sector in Hong Kong as a whole, we can see that other approaches are also needed.
For HKMU, our goal should not be to provide more or enough university-managed accommodation places for non-local students because it is neither possible nor necessary.
Instead, we should provide suitable support for students not staying in university accommodation to help them enjoy “hall life” similar to that of residents of university hostels. One way is to establish “non-residential hostels” like those in some local universities.
Owing to the rapid development of the University in recent years, we have been actively seeking off-campus locations to provide students and staff with more and enhanced spaces, including the establishment of “non-residential hostels' to organise activities for non-local students to enrich their experiences at HKMU.
To this end, we will forgo some rent-earning rooms in MU88 to create space for hall activities and/or establish a non-residential hostel.
The HKMU's strategy of setting up both residential and non-residential hostels may be a viable model for Hong Kong.
Paul LAM Kwan-sing
President
