We are the world!

Many parents attending the F1/2 Parents Forum on 21 Oct 2006 found the talk by Mr. Matthew Chu, the School Education Psychologist inspiring and beneficial to the boys.

It reminds our boys to reach out to learn more about the 50 things that change the world, and how lucky we are when compared with other people in Africa and China.
Here is one of the photos:

王致中17歲, 在貴州以背煤為生。一筐煤40公斤，從煤坑向上爬100米，然後再走1000米山路，掙1元人民幣...

Despite all the sufferings and problems, Mr. Chu talked about the HOPE that some people like Mother Teresa does to change this world.

At the end, Mr. Chu shared one of his favorite songs: WE ARE THE WORLD, a song written and composed by michael jackson and lionel richie during the USA for africa campaign in 1985.
He asked us to treasure the "Choice" of making...
here is the lyric:

There comes a time when we heed a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
And its time to lend a hand to life
The greatest gift of all

We cant go on pretending day by day
That someone, somewhere will soon make a change
We are all part of gods great big family
And the truth, you know, love is all we need

Chorus:
We are the world, we are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So lets start giving

There’s a choice we’re making
Were saving our own lives

Its true well make a better day
Just you and me

Send them your heart
So they’ll know that someone cares
And their lives will be stronger and free
As God has shown us by turning stones to bread
So we all must lend a helping hand

Chorus:
We are the world, we are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So lets start giving

There’s a choice were making
Were saving our own lives
Its true well make a better day
Just you and me

When you’re down and out, there seems no hope at all
But if you just believe there’s no way we can fall
Well, well, well, well let us realize that a change can only come
When we stand together as one

Chorus:
We are the world, we are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So lets start giving

There’s a choice were making
Were saving our own lives
Its true well make a better day
Just you and me

We are the world, we are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So lets start giving

There’s a choice were making
Were saving our own lives
Its true well make a better day
Just you and me

We are the world......

說話的藝術 The Art of Speech - 最重要的六個字

最近與家人閑談說到說話的藝術，「一言興邦，一言喪邦。」影響人與人之間關係的事物中，沒有什麼比言語更重大的了。故此在此與大家分享一下我的見聞：

最重要的一個字： 請
最重要的二個字： 謝謝
最重要的三個字： 對不起
「請、謝謝、對不起」就是最重要的六個字。

如果你一肚子都是學問，而你卻不會說「請、謝謝、對不起」這三句話，那你的一生就失敗了。

換句話說：「請、謝謝、對不起。」只要你會運用這三句話，你的一生，必定是成功的。

生活上說不定會遇到困難你應該會用到「請」，有人幫你的話你應該會用到「謝謝」，你做錯是應該會說「對不起」，所以你看生活上是多需要說到「請、謝謝、對不起」。

還有四個字的『祝你成功』『祝你喜樂』『祝你平安』；
五個字的：『你的意見呢？』和
最重要的六個字：『你真是了不起。』

以上六句話包含感恩、讚美、祝福等話，真是一生受用、共勉之。

最後求 神幫助我們讓我們有 神的智慧，懂得怎樣運用我們的言語來說造就人的好話。

成功智力 Success Quotient

Long time no see!!

After the summer vacation and our boys are back to school, hope they can settle well in the new classes.

We as parent are concerned about studying and school results of our kids.
But this small story will give you another angle. In the book called "小故事、大智慧—當代世界出版社" as introduced by 李怡 in today's 千禧年代, a study by Yales scholar reveals that few successful people are good academically. Of course, good examination results can forecast the success to some degree.

The key message was to be successful, a new quotient 成功智力 consists of 分析、創意及實踐 is more important than IQ or examination result. A few years back, everybody talks about knowledge is power "知識=力量" but not so. In the new era, creativity 創意 is the key to success.

Educators worldwide are watching a "10th effect" phenomenon where those who are ranked 10th is examination is more successful. These kids are all round with interest in music, art, creativity and many interests. They will not spend all their times in study alone.

So in the start of the academic year, have you plan with your kids what to engage in this year? More time to study, or more time to play?

Essence of a Jesuit

Fr. Robert Ng said in the Thanksgiving mass of the Jesuit Jubilee year on 7 April 06 that the charateristic of a Jesuit as applied also to business world are:

1. 自省 - Self-Awareness: start with knowing ones' strength and weakness
2. 才智 - Ability & Wisdom: besides ability, the wisdom to know white and black
3. 愛心 - Love: the loving care for the colleagues and disadvantaged
4. 豪情 - the daring drive to action

The last one is what St. Francis Xavier demonstrated in this missionary work to the Far East. Once he knew the Japanese culture, he left the Portuguese influence to sail all the way to Japan to preach the good news of the Gospel. And when he knew the Japanese origin is from China he immediately headed his way to China.

Now that I know why the Jesuits are always the pioneers, the independent thinkers and debaters!

Wish all Wahyanites can inherit this noble characters of the Jesuits.

Blessings
Simon

Thank You message at Teachers' Day, 10 Feb 2006

My pleasure to represent the parents to deliver the Thank You message to all the Wah Yan HK teachers on 10 Feb 2006 during the lunch gathering with the teachers:

Thank you for the Knowledge that you share with our boys to make them understand the world;

Thank you for the Inspiration that motivates our boys to perform better to fly higher;

Thank you for the Freedom & Responsibility that cultivates our boys to become a better citizen;

Thank you for the Moral values of Honesty, Self-discipline, Respect, Responsibility, Love and Service that prepares our boys to be a true gentleman. Do onto others as you would wish them to do onto you; and

Thank you for the chance for our boys to grow, and all the patience and loving care for them to correct their mischief and reflect to become a better human person.

Blessings,
Simon Chan
President, PTA

Value Education

Fr. Deignan once said it is amazing to find that no matter of their cultural background, there are some common values across different religion or culture. There are always inner calls to basic values in human nature.

That's why Fr. Deignan with a group of educators found the HK International Institute of Education Leadership (HKIIEL) to promote the basic human values.
These ten values are:
Love 關愛、Service 服務、
Respect 尊重、Responsibility 責任、
Justice 公義、Peace 和平、
Self-Discipline 自律、Co-operation 合作
Honesty 誠實、Simplicity 簡樸

Four schools (MSS, MPS, WYHK and WYK) responded with a fund-raising Vshow yesterday (27.11). The performing team use a theme "I have a dream" to signify such great values to have, followed by a "It is a small world" - Rejoice from all over the world...What a wonderful world if that happens!!

Wish all our younger generations tune in!!

「現代管理人心目中的『理想畢業生』」

Another great presentation by Mr. Raymond Tsang, an old boy and parent today (26.11) to parents and teachers at the 9th Inauguration Ceremony of the PTA executive committee members.
With no exception, all the parents like the talk and want their sons to hear the messages.
Even the MC of the event, the current head prefect, appreciates the working altitude of Raymond's team (who brought a team of three people to prepare the facilities and video shot the event).

This shows the parents are in synch with the School in term of educating the boys in their conducts rather than just academic aspect.

I will post the content of Raymond's talk once available. Stay tuned.

F5/F7 Exam Preparation

Can you believe the F5 and F7 boys are excited about examinations?
Surely they did!!

It was the scene of the Public Examination Preparation sharing session on 18.11.2005 when three graduates now studying in local tertiary institutes, Desmond Wu, Farnder Tan & Philip Chow, joined by two Form 6 students, Ng Tsz-kin & Wong Kam-yiu came back to share their experience with F7 and F5 students.


This is part of the Let's Fly Higher campaign aiming to simulate the students motivation to fly higher...this time in public examinations!
The sharing was well received and the boys felt such warm feeling and supportive motive of their elder brother...that's timeless bonding at work!

As the chairman of the LFH campaign, I am glad to witness such brotherhood and will certainly arrange more of these in future.

Let's Fly Higher Campaign kick-off and Theme Talk by Mr. Michael Suen Ming-Yeung

Today was an exciting moment as we launched the "Let's Fly Higher" Campaign.

At the kick-off ceremony, three banners flew from the bottom of the backdrop across to the top of the far right hand side upper corner, the middle and the left lower corner respectively while the party scraps filled up the air of the stage.
Wah Yan has set out a new journey to excel!

Moreover, the theme talk by Mr. Michael Suen was broadcast live to the 12 classrooms of the junior forms for the first time in Wah Yan history. The delay is only a mere 2-seconds.
This Campus TV will also be reviewed later via the Intranet.

Below is the opening address I delivered as the Chairman of the Steering Committee during the kick-off:

It is my great pleasure to be here today to witness the kick-off of the “Let’s Fly Higher” Campaign. As a parent and old boy, I am delighted and hopeful that this campaign will help Wah Yan to continue as one of the best schools in Hong Kong.

You may have heard about the phrase Altius Volemus in the last Open Day in May. We are using the same words but with a deeper meaning.

In short, the aim of the Let’s Fly Higher Campaign is to motivate our students to do their best to fly higher. Not only academically but also in moral, intellectual, physical, social, aesthetic and spiritual aspect.

So we will have theme talk like the one today to have prominent old boys coming back to share their successful life experience with you. You can learnt from their success and failure and how to overcome obstacles.

There will be many projects organized by the teachers and student organizations with funding support from this campaign. Examples are essay writing, basketball and/or football league, public speaking etc. We will publish these projects in our LFH website so do come and visit regularly.

To do our best is not easy. It takes courage, hard-work, dedication as well as wisdom. My recommendation to you is, if you are in the junior forms, just focus in one or two subjects that you like most and spent your time and energy there. You can learn much more by going in depth on one subject than spending time in too many subjects. Those in the senior forms have to learn how to choose the right things to do, as well as setting their priorities.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the School, teachers, old boys and parents to make this campaign a reality and success.

The “Let’s Fly Higher” campaign is for all of you. So do participate as much as possible.

Let’s fly higher together in Wah Yan. Thank you.

JASER - the big brothers

September 10 (Saturday)

Today we witnessed a group of 48 students pledging to become a big brother to assist their younger brother to enjoy their secondary school life.

The ceremony is simple but solumn.

Here is The JASERs' Pledge
We, the JASERs of Wah Yan College, pledge to do our best to serve the College and our fellow students. We strive to help the junior students in their studies and self-development. In the conduct of duty, we promise to be patient, helpful and responsible.

Besides helping their younger brother, I think the process of the training will help these groups of senior form students to grow, to appreciate how to take care of others, to be patient and helpful, to be responsible for all they do.

Let's pray for their spiritual and mental growth.

Blessings
Simon

Discipline & Care

4 Sept 05
Students of WYHK will find a tight enforcement of punctuality when they returned to School last Friday (2 Sept). In particularly, the boys have to arrive at the new main gate 5 (five) minutes before the first lesson starts (at 7:55 am). There were 27 students registered to be late on the first day of normal school days.

Punctuality is just one of the many guidelines at the school to ensure the smooth running of the College and the harmony of the Wah Yan community. These are in fact rules but are called guidelines as it was felt that the Wahyanites should develop their own self-discipline. This is a good intention as this is a characteristic of Wah Yan to give her students considerable leeway and freedom.

However, increasingly these rules are not observed for one reason or another. Typical examples are cleaniness at the tuck shop area and annoying noise of the boys when moving from one classroom to another.

So it is a good idea to reinforce the discipline and let the boys know what the guidelines mean, particularly for the lower forms.

But that is only the first step.

At the mass today, Fr. Yeung Ming Cheung told us that "Love surpasses all laws" 愛
滿全法律. If you care about the campus as your home, will you continue to flow rubbish on the floor? Or disturb those who wish to study by excessive noice? That is why the Jesuit Fathers of Wah Yan have set good examples of love and care of the boys and other people in need. This tradition is one of the main reasons why Wah Yan boys can contribute so much in the community of Hong Kong today. That is the spirit of Wah Yan.

God bless
Simon

Students' symbol of WYHK

30 August Tuesday:
I had the opportunity today to be the judge on some F6 students' project on "Symbol of WYHK". They were having an orientation in the campus as part of their training on leadership and good Wahyanites.

It is an worthwhile exercise as three group of F6 students were given 3 hours and $100 budget to design, construct and present their thoughts on one thing that can represent WYHK.

I was impressed by the thoughts and creativities of the students. Each of the three entries has their uniqueness and values; and they are:
1. Half-cage home, symbolizing freedom to go out to reach the world while nurturing within the green pasture of WYHK
2. Harmonious campus with red-brick chapel and blossoming flowers on top symbolizing caring and growth under the WYHK cross (badge)
3. Open grass slope picture on chest with torch of freedom on right hand and book on left hand symbolizing freedom and five aspects of campus life under WYHK

This shows how much our students value "freedom". I am also glad that the first group goes further to stress the virtue of "self-discipline" of students.
Finally the red-brick chapel with blossoming flowers got the first place due to better cooperation and teamwork.

One reflection which I share with the students is the importance of presentation skill. Besides the body posture, voice and eye-contact etc., the content of organizing the thoughts are crucial with opening and summary in order to impress the (whatsoever) audiences. It is just like playing football, the last kick into the net is the most important, no matter how good you play in mid-field. Communications and presentation are some of the key skills in modern times, particular when the Liberal Studies become mainstreams in a few years' time.

These young leaders of WY will be leading WYHK throughout this year and I sincerely wish them all the best in their endeavors. In Hoc Signo Vinces - In this sign, you shall conquer.

God bless
Simon

Online Games - Freedom & Control

Many parents allow their kids to play online games as a bonus of their good behaviour. Others even allow them to play everyday on condition that they completed their daily homeworks. I do not think these are good ideas. I have seen many kids lost in their online world of games and virtual reality to the extent that the successful performance of the school kids depends on their ability to control their time in online games and chatting. Afterall, this is basic time management. If they spend more than a few hours online everyday, how much time is left for academic study and services?

However, it is a headache to teach the kids to control the time as they never seems to follow your instruction. Some parents will turn to other methods to cut off the online connections, as the example below.

I met a parent yesterday in a banquet and was chatting about computer softwares. When we touched on online games, he said he has to use a programme to control the online game time of his son. It seems to work for a while until he found from the log that his son can still access the Internet everyday beyond the normal allowable time period. He then found that his son has cracked the password of the Cyber Patrol software and can freely bypass it. So he has to find another software to control the Internet connectivity.

Other parents use even more drastic methods, such as pulling off the cable to the Internet and hide it away. Are you one of the worried parents? How many methods have you used to control the online connection?

My recommendation is to help the kid to develop a habbit to control online game time, the earlier the age the better. This includes strict rule not to run overtime, and restrict the game time in weekends only. The latter is necessary as the kids should not think of the online game during weekdays, therefore, have a better concentration in their book work. This is far better approach then do it later with all the controlling method.

Blessings.

Text Book Sales - Apology and Ways Forwards

Yesterday, the PTA organized an time slot for parents to bring back the text books to sell to other parents of students in lower form. This idea originated last summer to help parents to save money and at the same time reuse the books.

After the opening ceremony of the PTA office, we started the refreshment and chatting among parents and teachers. At the same time, we announced the book selling activity to start.

However, to the disappointment of many parents who came back to take a look what is available to buy, there seems to be no seller and hence books to review. A F2 parent complained that she came all the way from Kowloon back to see if she can purchase some books for his son but only found some refreshment available. At the end, I was lucky enough to find one F3 parent ready to sell the text books and I bridged the two ladies together and glad to see some happy faces at the end.

From this experience, where we can find more than 10 potential buyers but only one seller, we can conclude there is interest in Book Sales but more preparatory work is necessary. Many students or parents are not keen to bring back the books because there is no such habbit and no incentive to sell the books as money is not important to them. Therefore, parents and students have to be educated the value of Book Sale is its environmental protection element and not just the financial aspect. If they want to sell, they should not do the exercise on the books. Instead they can do it in a separate exercise book.

As such, I would like to express my sincere apology to those parents came back for the Book Sale. We will pass the experience so that the PTA can organize a better Text Book Sale next summer.

Blessings.

Mrs. Anson Chan on Learning English

Summary of Mrs. Anson Chan talk on Learning English to F2 students at the F2 English camp on 13.7.2005 at Wu Kai Sha

Need for English

• Increase competitiveness
• English is foundation for communications in workplace and future study in HK as an international city
• Chinese, English and Spanish are the most important languages

Attitude

• Determination to learn is key
• Have to learn it in top-notch manner, no point to do it half-hearted

Ways to improve English:

Reading

• Anything you like
• Read several books in summer vacation
• Paper to drop down new words and study afterwards
• Discuss the book with friends
• Magazines like Times, Economist
• Build up the vocabulary and increase your confidence

Listening

• BBC or other English radio
• When asked what to do if the news commentators are speaking too fast, she advised WYOFF or even herself will find out and recommend some commentators or programmes
• Listen to English songs to learn English. Oldies are recommended because of their better English.
  

Speaking

• Assign one day (or sometime) to speak with each other in English
• Practice makes perfect
• Go to an oversea English study tour if you can afford, as it will also widen your exposure and understand other countries and cultures. WYOFF could sponsor some of these tours.
• Participate in English-Speaking Union (http://www.esuhk.org/) activities

How to become a better person

• Learn to have a sense of duty and service
• Can participate in Federation of Youth, UNICEF youth programme, Police Cadet programme, Scout, Red Cross, etc.