Thanks to the kind assistance of the Student Affairs Office, our College was very honored to be able to invite a polar researcher Dr. Rebecca Lee Lok Sze, the guest speaker of the UM Distinguished Lecture, to come to share her experience in both work and life at the Master’s Tea at SHEAC on Wednesday 10th September. During the two hours of interaction, the students grew understanding nothing of Dr. Lee to admiration.
Dr. Rebecca Lee is a recipient of the World Outstanding Chinese Award and the founder of the Polar Museum Foundation Limited. Dr. Lee has worked as a professional graphic designer, painter, photographer, and writer. In 1985, she joined the Chinese National Antarctic Expedition and has become a polar science worker. She has used arts to promote polar science, and continuously studied the relationship between the polar and environmental protection from a scientific point of view. She has also become Hong Kong’s first female explorer to set foot on the Earth’s three poles (the Antarctica, Arctic and Tibetan Plateau). She has participated in more than a dozen trips to the north and south poles. In addition, Dr. Lee has published a dozen books about mentality of adventure, and produced a TV documentary about the Earth and organized educational exhibitions about the polar.
Thus far, Dr. Rebecca Lee has delivered numerous talks in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao, reaching hundreds of thousands of students and the public. In 1997, she founded the Polar Museum Foundation, which aims to promote the importance of polar science and foster youth awareness of polar science, in order to help environmental protection.
At the beginning of the Master’s Tea, after our College Master Professor Iu Vai Pan expressed his gratitude to Dr. Lee, she replied “I am still young.” And the atmosphere was suddenly lightened. The old lady responded to the question about her age with humor.
Dr. Lee encouraged students with her own experience that spans. The first 20 years, study hard and train up body and mind; the second 20 years, earn a living and open up minds; the third 20 years, realize dreams and contribute to society. This is Dr. Lee’s original life theory of “three 20 years”. Dr. Lee loves arts, and uses it as a tool to achieve her dreams, coupled science with arts, and persists on to polar expedition for over 30 years. As an art director, Dr. Lee has been deeply impressed by the breath-taking scenery in the poles. Seeing this beauty, Dr. Lee says she would forget the hazard in her expedition. While talking about these, her words were ordinary, like telling a story another person had experienced. She made an observation about life: overlooking the big world in your own small life. “The map of the world is huge, but only a small piece of China, and at the bottom of China, only a grain of Hong Kong. My Hong Kong.” Realizing her tininess, she has learned to cherish every moment. Hence, on the way to pursue her dreams, Dr. Lee has never wasted any time.
Speaking of environmental protection, Dr. Lee told us about global warming from her observation in the polar regions. She used six colors to represent the Earth: minerals, heat, sea and sky, ice and snow, forests, as well as land. If any ring of these six colors deteriorates to a large extent, it will cause a great impact on the Earth.
Finally, Dr. Lee talked about her life and particularly her last dream — to establish a museum which can store her tens of thousands of photos and the enormous amount of data collected from her polar research. At the same time, she would use most of her energy used to raise public enthusiasm for environmental protection to the next generation. Indeed, polar research and environmental monitoring needs persistence, and people’s sustained attention generation after generation. Meanwhile, Dr. Lee’s love for dreams and quest for the meaning of life stimulated every one of us to think deeply about our own path.
Written by: Faculty of Social Sciences Year 1 Student Zhang Tianjiao
院長茶敘：極地科學工作者李樂詩博士
承蒙學生事務處的鼎力相助，何鴻燊東亞書院於9月10日非常榮幸能夠邀請到極地工作者兼探險家李樂詩博士──澳大傑人講壇主講嘉賓──前來參與院長茶聚分享她的工作和生活經歷。短短兩個小時，足以使我們絕大多數參加這次茶叙的學生對李博士從無所瞭解到由衷的敬佩。
李樂詩博士為世界傑出華人、極地博物館基金有限公司創辦人。李博士過去為專業廣告設計師、畫家、攝影師及作家。自1985年加入中國國家南極考察隊後成為極地科學工作者。她以藝術推動極地科學，從科學角度不斷研究、探索極地與環保之關係及重要性。這個改變亦使她成為至今第一位踏足地球三極 (南極、北極及高極──青藏高原) 的香港女探險家。她曾前赴南北極十多次，並於2001年在南極赴冬。先後出版了十多本有關其探險心路歷程的著作，製作過有關地球的電視記錄片及舉辦具教育意義的極地展覽會。
至今，李樂詩在中、港、澳三地演講超過數千場次，數十萬學生及公眾人士出席過她的講座，藉此得到鼓勵，並以積極態度面對人生、學會關注及愛護地球。李博士在1997年創立極地博物館基金，旨在提倡極地科學研究的重要及推動青少年對極地科學的認識，從而實行環保工作。
茶叙剛剛開始，在院長姚偉彬教授表達自己對李博士的敬意後，李博士回應道：「我還很年輕。」現場的氣氛頓時變得輕鬆下來。這位老奶奶用自己的幽默完美的回應了關於她年齡的問題。
李博士以其人生經驗鼓勵同學：第一個20年，努力讀書，鍛煉身體；第二個20年，努力賺錢，開拓眼界；第三個20年就要實現夢想，回饋社會。這是李博士獨創的三個20年理論。李博士熱愛藝術，她用藝術作為工具書寫她的夢想，並且用藝術包裝科學，堅持極地科考30多年。作爲一個藝術指導的李博士，極地別具一格的風光給她以深深的震撼。在這種美麗中，李博士忘記了危險。談到這些，李博士的話語顯得十分平常，就像是在講一個發生在其他人身上的故事。這是一種對追逐夢想怎樣的熱愛。李博士說自己是以小人生俯瞰大世界。「偌大的世界地圖上，只有一小片中國，而一小片中國下，只有一粒香港。我的香港。」體會到了自己的渺小，所以學會了珍惜一分一秒。所以在追逐夢想上的道路上李博士一刻也沒有停留。
談到了環保，李博士向我們講述了她在南北極觀察到得氣候變暖現象，與她眼中的地球六顔色：礦物，熱能，海天，冰雪，綠林，土地。這六個顔色，一環暗淡，就會對地球造成很大的影響。
最後，李博士談到了她的人生，談到了她最後一個夢想──建立一個博物館，在這個博物館裏可以存放她人生剩餘時間無法整理的幾萬張照片與難以計數的珍貴的資料。同時將大部分精力用來培養下一代對環境保護的熱情。的確，極地科考及環境監測需要堅持，需要一代代人的關注。同時，李博士這份對夢想的熱愛，對人生意義的探求值得引起我們每一個人深深的思考。
社會科學院一年級學生 張天嬌 撰稿