Two Birds

In 1997 the new VC boasted that he'll make CUHK the leading university in Asia during his reign.

I went home and painted this picture .

The firebird ( Chinese University emblem ) can not fly very high because it gets tangled by a lot of rules and petty side issues which stifle academic advancement and growth ; furthermore it gets weighted down by budget problems, as depicted by the HK dollar pulling it down .

The other bird, the non-academic staff , is shut in a cage, its beak bound by a ribbon and guarded by a dumb dog .The gate of the cage is also closed by a dollar sign .

This bird is not going anywhere either !