A Week at Bilkent with the President of City University of Hong Kong

BilkentNews: You have been to Turkey before, to İstanbul, in 2004. What brought you to Turkey this time? Was the trip motivated by the history course you are preparing for the curriculum of a new degree program at the City University of Hong Kong?
H.K Chang: One reason is what you have just mentioned. The second reason is I know the importance of Turkey from a historical, geographical and cosmopolitan view. So I wanted to know more about Turkey since my last visit was only five days long and only to İstanbul, which made me want to visit again.

BilkentNews: What are your impressions of our university so far?
H.K Chang: I went to Stanford University as a graduate student as did your rector. I know that Bilkent University has a short history but it is like Stanford was in its early days. Bilkent University has a good campus, the students are very lively and it is certainly well provided for by a strong founder. So I would say that it seems as though it is the Stanford of Turkey.

BilkentNews: After visiting our university, are there any future plans on your university's agenda about forming academic relations with Bilkent?
H.K Chang: I am interested in discovering the Stanford of Turkey. I want to push strongly for collaborations with Bilkent at three different levels. First, start an exchange student program at the undergraduate level; second, begin recruiting some graduate students for our graduate programs and third, encourage faculty members from both universities to visit each, become familiar with one another's work and possibly, collaborate.

BilkentNews: Since Hong Kong had been governed by the United Kingdom for many years and now is tied to the Chinese government, is your educational system affected by the British education system or do you have your own kind of educational system?
H.K Chang: That is a very good question. It is a complicated situation. We are under what is called 'one country under two systems'. The people of Hong Kong govern Hong Kong; using their original laws, so only the flag is Chinese. We are still using the language of English for education so when the students come to the university they use English in the classrooms but the social language is Chinese. The educational system is a hybrid of American and British educational systems.

BilkentNews: Is there a specific reason for you being intensely interested in Middle Eastern (Persian and Ottoman) cultures?
H.K Chang: After I took a trip to Spain and had a chance to see the fascinating Muslim culture in Alhambra, I realized that I lacked knowledge of Middle Eastern cultures. I am quite knowledgeable about North American, European and Chinese cultures but I wanted to know more about the Indian, Egyptian and Turkish cultures. Then, in my spare time, since 1982, on vacations and on airplanes, I have read books about those cultures. For example, to gain insight into Turkey I read "The Portrait of a Turkish Family." I then read "My Name is Red" and I took steps to meet Orhan Pamuk who was kind enough to meet me in Istanbul in January 2004. So that is why, beginning at the age of 42, I tried to learn more about this part of the world.

BilkentNews: What are your impressions of Orhan Pamuk, personally?
H.K Chang: He is a well-known person who is widely debated. So I want to say something honestly and sincerely about him: he is an artist first of all, he is a good novelist, he does not lie and he tells his opinions which sometimes differ from other's opinions but he still tells them. I have invited him to Hong Kong. He has given a formal lecture in my university and an informal talk at my home. I don't know him well but I know that he is a typical artist, full of ideas, full of confidence and his opinions sometimes offend people but I think he is sincere and genuine in expressing his opinions.

BilkentNews: You speak French, English and Chinese fluently. Have you ever thought about learning Turkish?
H.K Chang: If I stayed here longer, I would be tempted. Because I know that Turkish is a very phonetic language, once you learn how to spell it you can read it easily but you have to speak it. I have tried to learn Arabic script but I found it very difficult to read. At my age it is difficult to learn a new language.

BilkentNews: Lastly, is there something that you would like to say to Bilkent students?
H.K Chang: As an experienced person and as a professor who has taught since 1969 and has visited hundreds of universities, I think students at Bilkent are very fortunate and very lucky, in a country in this part of the world, to have the opportunity to learn from not only Turkish professors, but from an international faculty. I know students need to get good grades to get into this university and at the age of 18 you don't realize how lucky you are. I hope that the students at Bilkent realize this and will treasure what they have so that 20 years later when they look back, they wouldn't say "I wish I had treasured." And overall, in terms of facilities and professors, you are very lucky.