The disc, which sells for about $60, is available through a number of commercial outlets.
Miss Lam Lai Miu, president of the 10th Chinese Singing Contest organizing committee, said it was the right time to make a breakthrough.
"Last year, the organizing committee introduced a television wall to the show. We also wanted to do something special to make it a memorable 10th anniversary," she said.
"We then decided to do something for the participants of the creative section. We just thought it would be a waste if the original songs were performed only once in the contest. It (the CD) would let more people recognise our schoolmates' musical talents," she explained.
Her view was echoed by the owners of the Nanjing Studio Company of Hong Kong, which took the intiative in offering help.
Mr. Tam Chin Fai, executive producer of the disc and a past participant of the contest, said.
"I remember that when I was a participant, I never thought of putting my songs on a disc. Now, I just want to provide a chance for the new comers. Besides, I am looking for students who are enthusiastic about the creative world of music," he said.
Mr. Tsang Kin Lam, publisher of the compact disc, said, "I think university students lack chances in music production. Coinciding with the 10th anniversary of the contest, we offered to produce a compact disc for the contest. It was accepted by the organizing committee."
However, neither the pre-production nor the actual production could be regarded as smooth.
For instance, they took about one and a half months to settle all terms of the agreement. Besides, the studio and the organizing committee both encountered their own difficulties.
The first one was quite unpredictable _ no one was willing to have their songs recorded.
Miss Lam said, "Immediately after the contractual agreement in mid-November, we started to persuade participants to have their songs recorded in the studio. However, their responses were rather discouraging.
"Many were not willing to record before the preliminary contest, as they were not sure whether they could pass muster or not. As they had to pay for using the studio, they risked a waste of money if their songs could not be the top 12 so as to be put in the disc,' she said.
"Another reason was that they were not prepared to do so since they were not informed during applications. It was because the whole matter was not confirmed at the beginning," she added.
The studio's Mr. Tam said, "No one came to record until January. Actually, the participants were not clear about the whole project at first. There may have been some misunderstandings in how the messages were sent and received.
"So, we arranged a briefing for all participants in late December to clarify details of the project.
"Another problem was that most participants did not start writing their songs until final examinations ended in mid-December," he added.
Much time was needed, as it was the first time a disc of this kind had been created, but only very limited time was allowed for actual production.
The final list of participants was announced on January 23. From that point, the studio was crowded with people night and day. With little rest and sleep, all recording was done on January 30.
However, while participants were catching up on their much needed rest over the Chinese New Year holiday, Nanjin Studio's Mr. Tam still had to do the mastering and mixing processes. They had to select the best versions of the songs, rearrange their order and balance the sound on the tape. Finally, the master tape was ready on February 2.
"Having finished all the production work, we still had to work on packaging and promotion," said he.
As publisher of the disc, Mr. Tsang said it was quite unexpected that they could finish producing it in such a short period.
A second difficulty was the limited manpower and resources of the studio.
Explained Mr. Tsang: "Promotions require tremendous capital. As we have limited amount for promotions, we strive to get the greatest effect at the least cost. Besides, finding promotion channels is not an easy task.
"The whole project cost us more than $90,000. It is really difficult for us to give out such an amount. Although we charged the participants, those charges don't cover the cost," he said.
Eventually surmounting the difficulties, the performers were able to enjoy the fruit: The disc was ready on competition day.
Public response to the disc have been satisfactory. About 500 of the initial run of 1,000 copies have been sold, and the producers are considering a second run.
Miss Lam said, "Our compact disc has become a point of discussion among institutions.
"The quality of the disc and feedback from our classmates have been better than what was expected, while sales on campus have already reached our target," she said.
"We are satisfied with the sales. We have already sold half of our stock on campus as well as in a number of public record stores," she added.
Mr. Tam was also satisfied with the result, but he claimed that it could have been done better. However, the participants benefited from the experience. Their singing and their skills at writing lyrics were improved under the guidance of the producers throughout the production process and competition with other participants.
Mr. Chan Chun Pong, the Best Performer of the creative section, said, "When I first stepped into the studio, I felt rather excited and found that live performance and recording in studio are very different."
Another participant, Miss Chan Hoi Shuen, said, "After participating in the contest and production of the compact disc, I met with more people and have gained much knowledge about music."
Apart from these results, the producers have more to say about the musical creations of today's students.
Mr. Tam said, "The songs by the Chinese University students were quite meaningful and sophisticated. This trend should be further developed.
"I would like to encourage tertiary students to do more creative work for the local music industry, as educated people can create songs with deeper insights.
"However, the creative atmosphere on campuses has changed. It is no longer like the days when I was still a student. Students nowadays are more egocentric. There are fewer bands. Most participants in the contest are individuals.
"The contents of their songs are greatly influenced by popular commercial songs. They seldom write about politics and social issues. Most songs are love songs.
"As a university student, one is actually standing in the front of the society. So, we have to speak out.
"The reason why I write about politics is that I want to show my concern about our society. However, I find students nowadays lack sense of obligation to their status.
"We have to control our own style of creation but not the other way round," he concluded.
According to Mr. Tsang, tertiary students are not exposed to a wide enough range of music. Besides, they have limited background information for lyric writing.
Participant Miss Chan agreed: "In order to improve my creative skills, I will listen to more varieties of music.
"The creative atmosphere on our campus is better than it is at other institutions already. We usually have more participants in the creative section (of the singing contest).
"However, we do not have any organized body to bring together students who are devoted to creative music.
"I am now organizing one on our campus, the Chinese University Music Society, with some other students who are also interested in it.
"We are also planning to set up a joint institution music association, so that students interested in it from different institutions can have more communication," she said.