The Scholar, Mentor and Friend

Writer: Helena Tai

HKBU Humanities 30th Anniversary Feature on Professor Eva Man Kit Wah,

Chair Professor in Humanities

Eva Kit Wah Man is the Emeritus Professor of the Academy of Film and the Chair Professor in Humanities at the Hong Kong Baptist University. She left Hong Kong Baptist University in June 2022. She publishes widely in comparative aesthetics, feminist philosophy, cultural studies, art, and cultural criticism. She was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley (2003-2004) and was named the AMUW Woman Chair by Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA (2009-2010).

Chinese Version

Watching and listening to people talking about Professor Eva Man Kit Wah, Chair Professor in Humanities, is a joy in itself. Their faces lift up as they seem to go back in the time when they first entered university and met Professor Man, a revered academic and cultural icon whose generous spirit, charisma and kindness touched many people who crossed paths with her.

“The first time I saw Professor Man in class, I saw a young and charming woman who looked almost my age, dressed in ethnic fashion and carrying an almost skinhead look. Having just graduated from a regular secondary school, I was in absolute awe of how a professor can be so liberal and outstanding at the same time. It was liberating and reassuring, knowing your university embraces people’s eclectic styles, be it a professor or a student.” said Gloria Lam, a seasoned media professional and currently Manager (Knowledge Exchange & Advancement) at the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong.

“What I respect and admire most about Professor Man is that she treats everyone equally. It comes from her core value that everyone is created equal. She doesn’t even have to preach it because she is living it every day. Moreover, once she knows and trusts you, she won’t hesitate to go the extra mile for you, and she has definitely been there for me in many of my rough patches. Our relationship has evolved over the years to the point where we can confide in each other both the silly and somber things in life. I call Professor Man my mentor and friend, even though I still can’t bring myself to call her Eva!”

It is easy to see why people gravitate towards Professor Man. To Chi Chung Wong, veteran Hong Kong DJ and Head of Education at the Centre of Development and Resources for Students at the University of Hong Kong, even though he wasn’t Professor Man’s student, he was a beneficiary of her generous spirit, from his days as a music researcher at the radio station to becoming an educator himself.

“If I have to describe Eva in one word, it would be ‘exceptional’ – her exceptional compassion, authenticity, wisdom and willingness to help and create opportunities for her students.

I met Eva in 1985 during my first year in Communications at HKBU when I worked as a music researcher for a radio programme, “Breakthrough Moment”《突破時刻》 and Eva was one of the programme hosts. From then on, she took me under her wing and invited me to collaborate with her on many projects, including the celebration of 10th anniversary of “Breakthrough Moment”, where we choreographed a dance to Tat Ming Pair’s first song, 繼續追尋. This was just one of the many eclectic projects we worked on together, not to mention the times she helped me to connect with the academic and cultural world. Eva has this authenticity and child-like innocence that are rare to find. In fact, she reminds me of Simone de Beauvoir and the French classic, “La Vie en Rose”. Eva radiates such warmth and wisdom that’s why I’ve always envied her students!”

Ralph Szeto, Co-Founder of CMRS Group and Chairman of the Hong Kong Association of Interactive Marketing, likens himself and Professor Man to Toto and Alfredo in Cinema Paradiso. “You can’t find a more Humanities person than Professor Man. She does not give you concrete answers but inspires you to find them yourself. Her passion for life, culture and people are contagious and have inspired me in my own creative pursuits. I’m sure this has been said countless times about Professor Man; she has become family to us and a scene to behold each year is when her amazing home is buzzling with students and alumni during the Chinese New Year. We just want to make sure she knows we treasure her and all she stands for.”

What little do her students know is they are also the source of solace and comfort for this elegant (another word students frequently use to describe her) and formidable professor when facing her own down time. In a previous show-and-tell moment, Professor Man unveils two jars full of mini graduation certificates tied with ribbons, each written with a personalized message and blessing from her students. They were gifted to her at the 2003 Humanities graduation dinner, which the students insisted on hosting despite the pervasive gloom in the community due to the SARS pandemic. Much like a child and her jar of candies, Professor Man said whenever she needs encouragement, she would gingerly pick one message from the jar, read it and feel recharged again.

“One particularly moving scene stood out during those tough years. In a class assignment, a student shared a heart-wrenching story about her family, which was in such an impoverished state that her siblings and her were going to draw lots and decide who was going to be sold for money. As she pondered on the value of money, this student tore brand-new one-hundred-dollar bills into half to make her point. We were dumbfounded at first but then some of us started to offer her dollar bills to tear until she finished her presentation. The struggle she shared was numbing and all too real, but so was our resilience and compassion for each other.”

It comes as no surprise that the fond memories shared by Professor Man’s other former students, Anna, Eva, Ka Chun, all echo a common theme of how the professor turned friend and mentor was always there for them, without judgment, without fail, at every trajectory of their life. “At the end of the day, education is all about the relationships, the connections and the trust we build with one another. There are of course students who may be closer and whose values resonate more strongly with yours, but the bonding will always be there. My students are like my children, so I do expect you all to visit me at the elderly home if this day comes,” Professor Man joked.

One of the trickiest expressions to translate and one that has been mentioned by Professor Man and her students often is 緣分. Call it serendipity or fate, people and things that stand the test of time and get to stay in our lives need to be celebrated and cherished. Professor Man’s legacy and her students’ reciprocation of her selfless giving are testament of how we imprint on one another with kindness, humanity and decency. After all, that is the essence of Humanities, n'est ce pas?

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