An Editorial (4E Jenny Te)

School authority has recently banned students from bringing MP3 players to school.  They believe that the ban will help improve student life.  However, I do not agree with the decision to ban students from bringing MP3 players to school.  The arguments I would like to make are as follows.

 

First of all, many students do not enjoy their lessons because they may feel bored.  When they feel bored, they can listen to some English songs if they have MP3 players under the supervision of teachers.  With such practice, students can take initiative in learning and enjoy the lessons.  They can then find it interesting to learn English.  Therefore, MP3 players help students learn actively.

 

Secondly, student’s pressure can be released by listening to MP3 players especially when they listen to some classical and soft music which can, ultimately, help relax themselves emotionally.  Furthermore, using MP3 players can let students concentrate on their work as they can’t hear the others.  Then they will not be disturbed even the environment around is very noisy.  They can still focus on their tasks. 

 

Bringing MP3 players to school can help students improve their social life and mental health.  According to a research, listening to music can make people happier and more confident.  Therefore, students will be more positive and they become optimistic eventually.

 

Schools ban students from bringing MP3 players to school because they believe it will disturb students to study.  I believe the policy will be more effective if it is implemented fairly and consistently without offering any privilege to some people.  It helps not only improve student life, but also relax themselves by releasing the stress in a more interesting way and they will love English more.

Should teenagers be forced to do voluntary work? (5E Tse Ying Yin, Sunny)

In my opinion, I prefer teenagers to do more voluntary work because it is a great experience for students and teenagers.

Moreover, doing voluntary work can let us discover and understand ourselves more. It inspires our sense of belongingness and responsibility. Furthermore, voluntary work can generate teenagers’ awareness of the underprivileged. They would know more about the situations of the grassroot class. Teenagers can show more concern about the social problems.

Apart from this, voluntary work should not be forced. Because ‘forced’ and ‘voluntary’ contradict with each other. If teenagers do not do this from their true heart, it is meaningless. Schools can’t ‘forced’ students to do voluntary work, yet schools should advocate students to do so.

To me, everyone, not only students, should do voluntary work. Voluntary work experience could make us be kind and mature. To sum up, schools should provide more chances to students to join these voluntary work but not force them to do so.

Enrolment List - SCOLAR's English Activity (Create Our Own Reading Records) (23 April 2013)

The following students have been selected to join the SCOLAR's English Activity (Create Our Own Reading Records) on 23 April 2013:

Enrolment List (Updated on 17 Jan 2013)

1D 19 Chan chun yin

1D 23 Cheung kwan Yeung

1A 29 Leung Chin Hei

1C 14 Ng Sin Yee

1B 28 leung Tsz Lok

4A 14 Chan Pok Him

1A 28 Lee Kevin

3E 15 Wong Hoi Che

1B 14 Yim Sze Wan

Enrolment List - SCOLAR's English Activity (Around the World through Puppet Theatre) (14 February 2013)

The following students have been selected to join the SCOLAR's English Activity (Around the World through Puppet Theatre) on 14 February 2013:

Enrolment List (Updated on 17 Jan 2013)

1A 28 Lee Kevin

3B 5 Lai Ka Yin

3B 14 Yeung Hoi Ting

3B 1 Chan Ho Yan

3B 9 LUK Wing Yan

3B 11 Ng Yuen Ki

A letter from Jesus

It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are taking My name out of the season.

How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own.  I don’t care what you call the day.

If you want to celebrate My birth, just GET ALONG AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

Now, having said that let Me go on. If it bothers you that the town in which you live doesn’t allow a scene depicting My birth, then just get rid of a couple of Santas and snowmen and put in a small Nativity scene on your own front lawn If all My followers did that there wouldn’t be any need for such a scene on the town square because there would be many of them all around town.

Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a holiday tree, instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made all trees. You can remember Me anytime you see any tree. Decorate a grape vine if you wish: I actually spoke of that one in a teaching, explaining who I am in relation to you and what each of our tasks were. If you have forgotten that one, look up John 15: 1 – 8.

If you want to give Me a present in remembrance of My birth here is my wish list. Choose something from it:

My Wish List :-

1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way My birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year.  I know, they tell Me all the time.

2.   Visit someone in a nursing home. You don’t have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.

3.   Instead of writing the President complaining about the wording on the cards his staff sent out this year, why don’t you write and tell him that you’ll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow up… It will be nice hearing from you again.

4.   Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can’t afford and they don’t need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of My birth, and why I came to live with you down here. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them.

5.   Pick someone that has hurt you in the past and forgive him or her.

6.   Did you know that someone in your town will attempt to take their own life this season because they feel so alone and hopeless?  Since you don’t know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a warm smile; it could make the difference.

7.   Instead of nit picking about what the retailer in your town calls the holiday, be patient with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren’t allowed to wish you a “Merry Christmas” that doesn’t keep you from wishing them one.

8.   If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary–especially one who takes My love and Good News to those who have never heard My name.

9.   Here’s a good one. There are individuals and whole families in your town who not only will have no “Christmas” tree, but neither will they have any presents to give or receive. If you don’t know them, buy some food and a few gifts and give them to the Salvation Army or some other charity which believes in Me and they will make the delivery for you.

10. Finally, if you want to make a statement about your belief in and loyalty to Me, then behave like a Christian. Don’t do things in secret that you wouldn’t do in My presence. Let people know by your actions that you are one of mine. Don’t forget; I am God and can take care of Myself. Just love Me and do what I have told you to do. I’ll take care of all the rest.

Check out the list above and get to work; time is short. I’ll help you, but the ball is now in your court. And do have a most blessed Christmas with all those whom you love and remember.

I LOVE YOU,

JESUS

 

Should people be encouraged to cycle instead of driving or taking public transport in Hong Kong? (5C Li Lok Sze)

Walking on the street, you can smell a strong stink of gases from the vehicles. The air pollution index has increased significantly over the past few years. The problem is alarming. Do we need to bring an end to these problems? Encouraging to cycle instead of driving or taking public transport in Hong Kong has a number of possible advantages and disadvantages.

One advantage of cycling is cyclists are less exposed to air pollution. A survey from Civic Exchange, ‘Hong Kong Air Quality’ found that air pollutant concentrations are now two hundred percent higher than the World Health Organization’s guideline in 2006. And vehicles are the second-largest source of air pollution in Hong Kong. Therefore, people cycling instead of driving or taking public transport would help to solve the air pollution problem.

The second advantage of cycling is to avoid the traffic jams. The traffic jams in Hong Kong is a grave problem especially at the busy period. People usually spend a lot of time to wait in traffic jams. As Hong Kong people are very busy and they even cannot waste a minute, driving or taking public transport is neither a choice. As a result, people cycling instead of driving or taking public transport would help to avoid the traffic jams.

Another advantage of cycling is to facilitate people to exercise. A survey found that cycling can burn the kilojoules in our body. Hong Kong people are very busy. They often eat unhealthy food and lack exercise. Cycling can help them to have better health. And the survey has found that, if we cycling for about sixteen to eighteen kilometres per hour, one thousand six hundred kilojoules can be burnt in our body. Therefore, people cycling instead of driving or taking public transport can let us have better health.

There are advantages of promoting cycling in Hong Kong, but we should not overlook the disadvantages of it.

One disadvantage of cycling is driving or taking public transport spends less time and brings more convenience for us. Cycling may take time, as Hong Kong people have lots of work to do, cycling may not be a suitable choice for them. And for most of the Hong Kong people, cycling may be a hard exercise for them as it will consume a lot of physical strength. Consequently, more Hong Kong people would prefer driving or taking public transport instead of cycling.

The second disadvantage of cycling is it may constitute a danger on the road. A survey from clear the air, ‘Quick Stats’ has found that Hong Kong has about five hundred and fifty thousand vehicles with a total road length of only two thousand and nine kilometres. On average, there are two hundred and seventy-five vehicles per kilmetre on the road. It shows that Hong Kong has the highest road traffic density in the world. And many Hong Kong people don’t have the knowledge of cycling. As a result, more Hong Kong people would prefer driving or taking public transport for safety.

Another disadvantage of cycling is Hong Kong does not have enough facility to coordinate it. There are just a few parking facilities and there are no cycle parks in Hong Kong. There are only a few cycling lanes in the quiet roads in New Territories, and there are some cycle tracks in the country parks. Most of the Hong Kong people have their activities in the town but not the countryside. It is inconvenient for them to cycle. There are also no parking facilities in the shopping mall. So cycling is troublesome for Hong Kong people. Consequently, more Hong Kong people would prefer driving or taking public-transport.

It can be clearly seen that there are both advantages and disadvantages to encourage cycling instead of driving or taking transport. On balance, however, I believe that protecting our environment is the most important consideration. I therefore favour encouraging to promote cycling and look forward to the day when air pollution is no longer a grave environmental issue in Hong Kong.

Newspaper Cutting – Doing Good by Texting (5D Alice Au)

A.     Summary

Nowadays, text message is a powerful tool for community organizations because it is personal and almost completely spam-free.

Jed Alpert created one application named ‘Mobile Commons’. The community organizations can use it to raise money for the charitable funds. They can also use this application to advocate political and social change. For example, The Red Cross received $32 million dollars donated by people through texting messages after the 2010 Haiti earthquake. In addition, ‘Mobile Commons’ can help the organizations to arrange on-going conversation with the clients. As mentioned, the things about ‘Mobile Commons’ is just that cool.

B.     Comments

I think that ‘Mobile Commons’ is a very good and great thing. Jed Alpert is a creative person and he can use the application to distribute the text message to people and achieve effective donations.

Some people like the application which has many graphics or multimedia. However, text message is still welcomed as it is spam-free, no virus, personal and easy to read. It is more effective to use text message than other multimedia applications for distributing the simple information. Also, it is particularly effective to deliver messages to mass clients for charitable or political purposes.

C.     Personal Reflection

How often do you text? How far do you agree that texting is a convenient and effective way to communicate with others?

I totally agree that texting is a convenient and effective way to communicate with others. I always text since smart phone and computer is widely used nowadays. We text with others more than face-to-face communication.

There are many advantages of using text messages. For example, we can use emotional symbols to show our feelings at that moment. I can also send my idea to my friend and receive the reply within a short period of time.

How do you feel about the different function generated by ‘Mobile Commons’ through texting?

I love it! It has different functions that I can use. For example, I can send mass text messages to my friends at the same time. It is very convenient. Moreover, I can use mobile phone to receive information no matter where I am. Location is no longer a limitation!

My Musical Dream (Wilson Chau, 2010 MKP Graduate)

 

      Nine years ago when I was in primary 2, I started my journey in music through learning Clarinet. The learning experience was vital as it really helped me build up a positive attitude to Western Classical Music. Two years later there was an indispensable turning point when I went to one of the concert of The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra with my parents. I have changed the instrument I was learning from Clarinet to French Horn. There were two reasons. First, the sound and the shape of French Horn (what I am playing now) was doubtlessly attractive. Secondly, the most miraculous part was the French Horn player Mark Vines in the Orchestra sat next to me and he said ‘hi’ to me, a little kid. Later on, Mark became my French Horn teacher.

     After that, I really fell in love with playing French Horn. I practiced days and nights. From the age of 13 until now, I keep practicing attentively, playing in Orchestra countlessly and joining master classes as many as I could. Some friends asked me why I keep sticking to it. I think the reason is I find my dream of becoming a professional French Horn player in the Orchestra with playing with all fantastic orchestral pieces. And most importantly, I want to have my dream comes true. Now, I have already made a little progress on it as I am studying  in The Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU). I am sure that without being attentive, I won’t be qualified to get the Music degree program.

 

     It is very important for us to treasure every learning experience. Just three months ago, I was informed that there will be an Europe concert tour conducted by the HKBU orchestra. Unfortunately, only string players were needed for that repertoire (the music the orchestra are going to play). It means that the tour is none of my business. At that moment, I didn’t think like’’ Oh! What a pity!’’. Instead of sighing, I decided to figure out whether there are chances for me. Later on, I talked to my Department Head and suggested some repertoires which include French Horn.  Amazingly, the repertoire of the tour was changed and French Horn part was included. And I was invited to come.  After the tour, I’ve learnt and gained valuable knowledge and experiences that I can’t learn in Hong Kong. It tells me and you that initiative is vital for everyone in acquiring knowledge and experience. 

     Just a few weeks ago, I was doing an Orchestra Audition.  I thought the audition requirement was easy for me and it did not even take a day for me to work on. But things are not always the case that we have imagined. When I was practicing those required pieces, I was afraid as I recognized that those pieces should be a whole week work for me. Eventually, I gave up the audition because of lacking preparation. Obviously, I had made a big mistake, but it is not the most important part. What we should focus on is the reflection part. This experience tell me exactly I must focus on every single work seriously in order to enhance my musical path and make sure that I would not leave any chances around.

 

     To be honest, we are the same, the human being, and we make mistakes.  We all have our own dream. Throughout your life, people will keep telling you that if you want to be successful, you have to work hard. I totally say yes to it. However, ONLY working hard is not efficient at all as it is time consuming. Rather than that, I would suggest all of you to become a smart learner, who is attentive, initiative and reflective.

     Wish you all a fruitful and cheerful secondary school life.