CUHK Council to stick with current downsizing plan
The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Council on Tuesday said it is sticking with a reform proposal floated by a special task force to downsize and increase the number of outside members, largely in line with a controversial plan proposed by three lawmakers.  The task force, led by former central bank chief Norman Chan, proposed to reduce the seats on the council from 55 to between 25 and 34 - and lower the ratio of internal to external members from half-half to between 1:1.6 and more than one to two. The report released by the task force also suggested the current arrangement of having three lawmakers sitting on the board should be reviewed “in the interest of achieving a more optimal downsizing”.  It was proposed as a middle ground after many alumni expressed opposition to the lawmakers' proposal to drastically cut the percentage of staff members on the council. Speaking after a closed-door meeting, John Chai who chairs the council thanked the three lawmakers for contributing to the reform, but said it is keeping its stance on the special task force's plan.  "Our position remains unchanged since we published the report on April 17. The CUHK Council welcomes the three lawmakers' efforts to push for long overdue reform. The work has been dragging on for more than 10 years. In the future, we will actively cooperate with the Legislative Council to push for reform in the university council," Chai said.  "We do not favour any person or organisation. We use a result-oriented approach and do not prioritise one proposal over another."  The three legislators, Tommy Cheung, Bill Tang and Edward Lau, suggested cutting the council's size from 55 seats to 34, and reducing the number of alumni from three to one, while drastically raising the proportion of external members. But more than a thousand people petitioned against their plan.  Lau told reporters after the meeting that the atmosphere had been okay despite the divergence.  "Everyone wants the Chinese University to move forward. Nobody wants the Chinese University to become a battlefield. Everyone wants to be united for the good of the Chinese University."  Last month, CUHK alumnus Kelvin Yeung put forward an alternate proposal to keep a higher ratio of alumni members and a lower proportion of lawmakers in the council, as well as lowering the threshold for hiring the vice-chancellor and provost.