我在輪椅上挑戰命運 / 胡慕嫺
Speaker: Dr Ming-gon John Lian (連明剛博士)
Moderator: Mr Andrew Tse (謝宗義先生)
Date: 24 April 2008 (Thursday)
Time: 7:15 pm - 9:00 pm
Venue: Special Collections, 1/F, Main Library, The University of Hong Kong
Language: Cantonese
About the book
我在輪椅上挑戰命運 (The challenge of life in a wheelchair)
HKU Libraries Reading Club would like to invite you to a booktalk by Dr Ming-gon John Lian on 24 April 2008 (Thursday), 7:15pm. He will talk about Catherine Woo's "我在輪椅上挑戰命運" (The challenge of life in a wheelchair). The talk will be conducted in Cantonese.
Catherine suffered from polio when she was young. The book is a biography of her wheelchair life and how her strong mind and positive attitude made her overcome the disabilities and become a successful business woman. In the book, she also records some episodes of the history of Hong Kong from Japanese Occupation Era in 1940s, 1953’s Shek Kip Mei Fire, 1967's Riot, to June-Fourth Movement etc.
《我在輪椅上挑戰命運》
見證香港的滄桑變遷──胡慕嫻
本書乃作者根據自身經歷改篇而成。作者以細膩的筆觸、真切的感受，將她的經歷與1941至1989年香港所發生的重要事件糅合在一起。
日本侵佔香港，作者與家人逃到家鄉，有幸避過一劫。戰爭不能擊倒她，但突如其來的疾病卻徹底地打敗了她，使她終生與輪椅為伴。
為了醫治疾病，她隻身遠赴美國接受治療，無邊的世界，開闊了她的眼界與心胸。先後經歷了兩段畢生難忘的情緣，克服身有缺陷的自卑，排除萬難，創出一番事業，成為獨當一面的女強人。
「我慶幸我終於長成了，能夠無怨無悔地接受命運的安排。於我是心智成熟的標誌，我成長得堅強而理智。當我有機會挑戰世界時，必須勇往直前，積極參與。」
在此書中，我們可以看到作者那堅強不屈、永不言敗、充滿毅力的性格，這不也正正反映出香港那永垂不朽的精神？
About the Speaker
Dr. Ming-Gon John Lian, Honorary Director of Centre for Advancement in Special Education (CASE). Dr. Lian is the core academic staff in special education in the Faculty of Education on the bachelor, master and doctoral degree programmes. He is also a leading teacher on "Teaching Students with Moderate to Severe Multiple Disabilities" in the Faculty and takes an initiative to work with postgraduate students (who also are full time field practitioners, i.e., administrators, teachers, educational psychologists and therapists) in developing curriculum and assessment systems appropriate for the context of Hong Kong. Dr. Lian has published extensively on curriculum and assessment and some of them have been the main sources of reference for local special education practitioners. Dr. Lian is an incumbent appointed members of the Committee of Special Educational Needs of the Curriculum Development Council, a position he has served for several years.
連明剛自2000年開始在香港大學課程與教育學系教授特殊教育。連博士早期受教於台灣師範大學及美國德克薩斯州理工大學，主修科目包括健康教育、體育、休閒活動、與(嚴重弱智)特殊教育。其後他任教的對象包括一般中學、弱智、及重度殘障學生。自1983年起至2000年，連博士任教依利諾州州立(師範)大學特殊教育系並統籌博、碩士生課程。連博士的專長為肢體和多種殘障、嚴重弱智課程、評估與教材教法、融合教育理論與實際、輔助科技、及相關行動研究。目前連博士亦為香港教育局擔任新高中(智障)課程咨商委員、暨特殊教育需要項目卓越教學評審團主席。
About the Moderator
Mr. Andrew Tse, Administrative Director of Centre for Advancement in Special Education (CASE), is a retired principal of a special school and an active leader in the special education profession being the Chairman of the Special Education of Hong Kong and the Chief Editor of its official journal. Trained as a speech therapist and a language teacher, he accumulated many years of experience as a teacher trainer in special education both at a former college of the Hong Kong Institute of Education and at the University of Hong Kong. His special research interest in Chinese Linguistics and extensive expertise in special education have led to his involvement as a consultant to several major language curriculum development projects in Hong Kong and Mainland China.
謝宗義早年畢業柏立基教育學院、香港大學及英國列玆大學教育學院，歷任本港官立小學、中學及教育學院英語教師及講師。76年赴英國倫敦攻讀言語治療；其後回港擔任教育署言語治療師；85年派調柏立基教育學院任教特殊教育，專責訓練言語治療教師及統籌各類身體弱能課程。1991年離任政府職位，轉任為香港紅十字會甘迺迪中心校長，至2003年退休。謝校長從事特殊教育工作三十多年，對研究幼童及特殊兒童語言發展及學習方法甚有興趣；91年完成了一份粵語語音發展追蹤研究，獲香港大學頒發哲學碩士。年來亦曾任一些特殊兒童語言訓練課程發展組的顧問。謝宗義現為香港大學特殊教育研究發展中心行政主任。