When Stephen Hawking visited Hong Kong in 2006, famed scientist had a rock-star welcome at the airport
- The world-famous physicist was in town to give a lecture at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in March 2006
- Hawking was mobbed by fans at Hong Kong International Airport, with police fighting back a ‘rugby scrum’
“Renowned scientist Stephen Hawking will visit Hong Kong for the first time to deliver a lecture on the origins of the universe at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology,” the South China Morning Post reported on March 24, 2006.
“Dean of Science Cheng Shiu-yuen said Professor Hawking’s visit on June 15 was a coup for the city. He said there was an immense interest in Professor Hawking’s theories on how the universe began, time travel and black holes.
“‘Everyone knows his name – he is the most famous scientist of our time – it will be a fascinating lecture,’ Professor Cheng said. ‘The university is proud and already very excited that he has accepted our invitation to come.’”
On June 13, the Post reported Hawking had received a “rock-star welcome”, with police fighting back a “rugby scrum” as the scientist arrived at the airport.
“Tom Grundy, 23, who was returning to Britain after a year at Kiangsu-Chekiang College, Sha Tin, said: ‘I’ve never seen anything like it before. It was extraordinary. People were getting shoved around everywhere. They were virtually pushing him over.”
Post writer Steve Cray wrote the next day that “you could hear a quantum particle drop as academics and journalists waited in eager anticipation […] The questions, submitted by members of the audience ahead of the meeting, dealt with science and economics, life on other planets, Professor Hawking’s children […]
“Hawking said that although research often led to commercial developments, ‘science has to be directed by scientific considerations, not economic ones’.
“Asked what message he would send students interested in science and cosmology, he said there was ‘nothing like the thrill of discovery, when you find something that no one knew before.’”
