The BUddy Post – HKBU Alumni Affairs Office

The power of words can touch people’s heart and possibly alter someone’s life. Alumnus Dr Stuart Lau Wai-shing (Humanities; Chinese Language and Literature) once felt lost when he chose the science stream at secondary school. When he had a chance to get in touch with literature later on, he decided to switch his studies to the arts stream. As a renowned writer, Assistant Editorial Director of Oxford University Press (China) Ltd and Part-time Lecturer of the Department of Humanities and Creative Writing of HKBU, and named Artist of the Year (Literary Arts) of 15th Hong Kong Arts Development Awards in 2021, alumnus Dr Lau shared with us how he changed his studies from science to arts, and embarked on his journey in the creation of literary arts.

A Daring Transformation from Science to Arts

Alumnus Dr Lau studied in a traditional top-notch secondary school. He chose the more popular science stream in form three but unfortunately felt out of tune with the studies as he needed to spend extra efforts to understand the subjects while his classmates could master easily. One day, he found himself immersed in the sea of words when he coincidently read The Anthology of Youth Literary Awards (《青年文學獎得獎作品集》) at the school library, and he wanted to collect a set for his own. He even browsed the office address of Youth Literary Awards Association and made a visit there, where the committee members were astonished to see alumnus Lau who was a form four student back then. At that time, the Association was preparing for an exhibition week, and Dr Lau was enthusiastic enough to offer his hand. Since then, he had established a close relationship with them, and the committee even gave a set of The Anthology of Youth Literary Awards to Dr Lau after the exhibition. Fulfilling his hope, Dr Lau was eager to read the pieces of writing at that time, and he was deeply moved by the tidal waves of words, urging him to study arts subjects instead after the HKCEE.

Learning from Great Teachers of HKBU

Upon graduation from secondary school, alumnus Dr Lau was already the winner of the 18th Youth Literary Awards in the category of prose and new poetry, and he studied the Humanities programme at HKBU with his outstanding writing skills. According to Dr Lau, he was grateful for meeting great teachers at HKBU, namely Professor Peter Stambler, the then Programme Director of Humanities, who opened his eyes to the world. In Dr Lau’s memory, Prof Stambler did pick several pieces composed by overseas writers and teach him to appreciate, with the foresight that they were going to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, and they eventually became Nobel laureates one after another. Dr Lau was absolutely fascinated by the global perspective of Prof Stambler. He also mentioned the former HKBU Head of the Department of Chinese Language and Literature Professor Chan Wing-ming, who exerted a great influence on him. He recalled, “Prof Chan told us in the class that he would name his own shuzhai (a study room) as a mixed shuzhai, as he believed that we should pursue knowledge in multiple aspects. Prof Chan also conveyed to us the concept of the “meridian”. He said that there was a meridian in every academic subject, and if we were able to get hold of its position, we could then master various academic aspects readily.” The unique insight of Prof Chan had inspired Dr Lau to find the right way to study humanities.

Passing on his Wisdom

Alumnus Dr Lau returned to alma mater to be Part-time Lecturer in the Department of Humanities and Creative Writing after graduation, and this year marks the 11th anniversary of his service in teaching the subject of editing and publishing. He said, “I share with students that the art of editing is like weaving a beautiful silk, demonstrating the unique life experience of every individual.” Apart from reading, he emphasised that face-to-face communication is essential during the process of knowledge seeking. Although a sea of information is readily accessible on the internet, Dr Lau made a remark, “There are limitations on the internet, for instance, infographic information cannot be displayed properly due to the limitation on presentation. I hope students do visit the University Library more in order not to miss some valuable collection of books.” Moreover, Dr Lau expressed his concern that the distance between him and students has increased due to the online classes during the pandemic, as he treasured the interaction with students. He is willing to write over a thousand words to give feedback to every student’s work, which demonstrates his passion for educating the next generation.

Inspiration Originates from Heart

Throughout his journey in the creation of literary arts, alumnus Dr Lau shared with us two books which have far-reaching impact on him as they are the sources of inspiration for some of his publications. The first one is The Chinese Fairy Tales Series (《中國童話》系列), of which the editing concept has laid a solid foundation for his editorial work. Another one is To the Lighthouse written by Virginia Woolf, an English writer and one of the most important modernist 20^th century authors. The book has unveiled his interest in lighthouse-related literature, inspiring him to incorporate this concept into his writing, and leading to the recent publication of his poetry book Lamp Monkey (《燈猴》). When talking about the meaning of writing, Dr Lau stressed the significance of digging into one’s heart and expressing oneself through the art of words. Last but not least, he mentioned that Digging composed by Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney is a portrayal of himself: although his path is not in line with the expectation of his family, he endeavours to explore his way through the pen. Likewise, even though we may not be able to satisfy others’ expectation, we can still follow suit of Dr Lau to stay true to ourselves and live our own life.