I am delighted that we are once again celebrating the achievements of our colleagues together. Our annual University Awards recognize and honor the best in our community. Some have excelled in educating students. Some have scaled new heights in research while others have served the country with distinction. Each of our winners has scaled impressive heights. Your endeavors have helped raise the standing of our university. Your achievements have made a contribution to our country. We take pride in your achievements.
Is there a formula to achieving excellence？ Can excellence be measured by determining one's achievements and contributions？ In this age, we tend to measure things quantitatively. But how do we grade excellence？
If there should be a formula, I would like to mention the two Ps and two Cs here. The two Ps refer to Perspiration and Perseverance. The two Cs are Curiosity and Courage. All these make up the quintessential qualities in our quest for excellence. Today I would like to focus on the quality of curiosity.
Curiosity, or what Einstein called a child-like sense of wonder, makes us question things that others normally do not even notice. The great French novelist Anatole France, Nobel laureate in Literature, had this to say: "The whole art of teaching is only the art of awakening the natural curiosity of your minds..." The teacher's role is to draw our students' curiosity, to inspire them, to make them see the world with fresh perspectives, and to lead them to ask different and interesting questions.
Curiosity is also a powerful force that drives research. The researcher sustains his or her joy in knowledge and creative expression and follows a child-like curiosity, leading him to untrodden paths of discovery. As Einstein put it, "I am neither especially clever nor especially gifted. I am only very, very curious."
Therefore, at the core of the best universities is an intellectual method that encourages questioning. The skepticism towards existing wisdom leads to new ways of thinking, and breakthroughs in knowledge. Deepening this spirit of enquiry is the most important challenge for our universities.