Enrolment List - NSS English Writing Class for Gifted Students (2016 / 2017)

The following students have been selected to join our school's NSS English Writing Class for Gifted Students (2016 / 2017):

No.	Class	Class No.
1	4A	08
2	4A	09
3	4A	18
4	4B	03
5	4B	05
6	4B	11
7	4C	12
8	4C	22
9	5A	08
10	5B	06
11	5B	21
12	5B	23
13	5B	26
14	5C	07
15	5C	11
16	5D	01

An Inspiring Party

I’m going to tell you one of my genuine experiences in March this year. Perhaps it wasn’t dramatic enough to cause a stir but I reckon it must be so inspirational that it’ll make you reflect on your life.

In March, I went to a party to celebrate the end of a voluntary art project which a group of teenagers including me had cooperated with three disabled artists. They were Christine, a lightly mentally handicapped ballerina, Sing Lee, a vison impaired pianist, and Jason, a hip-hop dancer with speech and hearing disorders. All of them joined the party and Sing even brought along his brother, Hin, who was visually impaired too. The party was held in a studio where the whole project was carried out.

I’m going to share two moments which were so impressive that I’d never forget. The first one was the ‘music time’. Eating some snacks, Sing and Hin were invited to play the piano and this livened the party up. They moved their fingers on the keyboard incredibly skillfully and pleasing melody entered my ears. What surprised me more was that they’re good at not only classical music but also a wide variety of styles from pop music to opera. Listening to somebody humming a song they’d never heard of, they could play it after trying a few pitches for a few seconds. Besides, the pronunciation of the lyrics sung by them was so crystal clear that I could not help dropping tears.

The second moment was the conversation between Sing and Jason. You may ask what was so special. But In my eyes, it was droll and inspirational. Don’t forget their physical constraints. Sing has speech and hearing disorders and Jason’s visually impaired.  Can you imagine how they could express themselves and make the other one understand what they mean? Well, when Sing was speaking, Jason read his lips. When Jason replied to Sing by touching and moving Sing’s body. They kept communicating in this way for a while effectively. It was amazing!

They’re really brilliant. I mean they showed their abilities of breaking through their physical limitations which they couldn’t change. I can’t image how great the efforts they’ve made on learning to play the piano since they have only ten percent of vision. It seems that the piano has become part of their bodies. What was appreciated was that they enjoyed music with cordial smiles. As I’m involved in art as well, I do really understand how our physical confinement restricts our accomplishments in art. I therefore truly admire Sing and Hin.

What’s more, I think we ordinary people can’t have any excuses for being lazy any more. As what I’ve mentioned, the two disabled boys communicated effectively. This has changed my perception of possibility because they made something impossible possible. So I can no long give any excuses like “I haven’t got the time”, “I can’t do it” or “It’s impossible”. Actually, when I “watched” the conversation between Jason and Sing, I noticed their limitations and their greatness at the same time. I felt my limitation because I’d thought they’re limited by their physical constraints. Most people may think the world of the disabled must be very small. Take Sing as an example. You may expect his life boring because he can’t see and this makes him miss a lot of wonderful scenes in his life. But I don’t think so. As he can’t see well, he can listen more and clearer. As he has to rely on sounds, his hearing is so sensitive that he can even notice a mistune of a tiny pitch. I believe his world of music must be larger than those of many ‘normal’ people.

What I want to say is that although the social life of the disabled may not be as versatile as those of ordinary people, their mind can be broader than ours. This is what we should learn from them.

Enrolment List - AIDS Experience & BLIND Experience (7 Feb 2015)

The following students have been selected to join our school's off-campus English Activity (AIDS Experience & BLIND Experience) organised by HK Crossroads and Stewards MKMCF Ma Ko Pan Memorial College (7 Feb 2015):
                                                                
 

	Name	Class
1	CHAN CHAK LAM	1B
2	CHENG HO YIN	1B
3	FAN TSZ CHING	1D
4	TAI MAN YEE	2A
5	MENOR EDRIK JAN VALDEZ	2B
6	CHAN ON KI	2C
7	CHIANG CHING LAAM	2C
8	LI HEI YUI JASMINE	2C
9	SIU WING KEI	2C
10	SZE WAI MAN	2C
11	TSANG LOK HIM	2C
12	SHUM YI MAN	2D
13	NG SIN YEE	3C
14	CHAN TSZ MAN	5B

A letter to editor (6D Shum Lok Hin)

Dear Sir,

I’ve heard that some schools will remove the PE lessons from the curriculum to make students concentrate more on academic subjects. I absolutely disagree with this policy. I understand that if there are no PE lessons, some students may concentrate more on academic subjects but we cannot expect all the students to concentrate more on academic subjects if PE lessons were removed. Besides, PE lessons are very important for students in their school life.

Nowadays, in Hong Kong, almost everyone in Hong Kong has a smartphone or tablet in hand, especially students. They only focus on high technology products and reject going out or doing exercise. Therefore, they need the PE lessons because PE teachers would force them to do exercise to make them stronger. This is good for their health.

From the findings in a survey, it was found that 35% of Americans are obese. One of the causes is they seldom do exercise or sports. Hong Kong’s situation is similar to that of America. Hong Kong is a fast-paced city. Moreover, Hong Kong people always eat fast food for saving time and do not time for exercise. Most of the fast food are sugary and oily. Students need to do more exercise to reduce their calories, and so PE lessons are the time to keep fit and it can help lessen the danger that obesity brings.

Furthermore, PE lessons are not just regular lessons. PE teachers can discover somebody who has potential in sports and suggest them to join the school team. Students can develop their potential. If they play well in sports, they may have some special offers from universities when they apply for a university place in form 6. These students may get in university more easily than others.

All in all, the above reasons support that PE lessons are good for students. I can’t think of any benefits after removing PE lessons.

Yours faithfully,

Chris Wong

Day Camp of 3A, Great! (6C Yau Nga Lai Clara)

My class, S3A went on a day camp last Thursday. The day camp was really interesting and brought back a lot of memories to us. Let me share what we did on that day with you.

There was good weather that day. We all thought that cycling was the most suitable activity to do under the sunshine. The camp site had arranged for 30 bikes for us and there was a ten-kilometre cycle track. We could ride the bicycles together. Peter was the most selfish boy in my class. He tried to pick up some small stones and threw them at others. However, he failed and nearly fell off the bicycle. This scene was so amusing that we all laughed loudly.

 

We spent a morning on the bike and we were really hungry after doing an intense activity. Therefore, we had a barbecue for lunch. The class community had prepared different types of food and drinks for us and we had to wash them and start up the fire before eating. All classmates were divided into several groups and were responsible for different jobs so that we coasted to finish the preparation and started our barbecue lunch.

After that, we played numerous games and I suggested that we go hiking. Everybody said yes so we headed to a field. We enjoyed the fascinating views of the beautiful nature and we sang with birds when walking on the green track. It was full of joy and cheerfulness. It was the last activity of the day camp. We wanted to stay but we had to return, so we got on the coach unwillingly and went home.

A day camp only lasts for one day but it has brought a lot of memories to S3A. These memories will last forever in our hearts. I really hope that the next day camp will be held very soon.

Day camp with 3A (6C Lo Wing Chi)

Last Thursday our class went to Cheung Chau and had a day camp. It was incredible! We had so much fun there.

People from my class were divided into 3 groups; one was barbecuing, one was cycling, and another one was hiking. I was in the barbecue team.

I learnt how to control the time of grilling the chicken, but one of my friends, Paul, had burnt some of the chicken, which was a total waste of food. However, I think it’s the best way for Paul to learn how to control the time of grilling food during a barbecue. One of my favourite food is the grilled corn with some butter on it. It was so sweet and yummy! It also smelled so great!

After a while, Kamy, from our class rode her bicycle to us and said that her legs were aching a lot and that she was tired. Therefore, I used her bike and I rode through Cheung Chau. It was a really sunny day, and I can never forget how fascinating the blue sky was that day with the sea view. It was the greatest day I had ever had!

When I got back to the barbecue area, the hiking team was back. They told us that there were lots of species in the mountains of Cheung Chau. They even walked into the Cheung Po Chai Hole. The boys made fun of the girls since the girls were so afraid of the dark and not brave enough to get inside. It was super funny to listen to their hiking stories

It was a brilliant day camp. I hope we can go to the other islands and have another day camp soon.

Enrolment List - AFS Intercultural Fair 2014 (29 Nov 2014)

The following students have been selected to join our school's off-campus English Activity (AFS Intercultural Fair 2014) organised by AFS Hong Kong (29 Nov 2014):

	Class	Name	Class No.
1	1C	Liu Wing Yin	10
2	1D	Tang Cheuk Lam	13
3	2A	Ma Tin Yi Tiffany	8
4	2A	Lee Tsz Wah	26
5	2C	Cheung Hei Tung	2
6	2C	Tsang Ho Yan	18
7	2D	Tsui Wing Tung	13
8	3A	Chu Cheuk Yin	3
9	3A	Hu Nga Kin	5
10	3B	Chan Gwyneth	2
11	3B	Lee Hiu Yan	9
12	3B	Cheung Kwan Yeung	23
13	3C	Ng Sin Yee	14
14	3D	Lau Suet Ying Suki	7
15	5B	Lung Cheuk Hang	11
16	5B	Yeung Hoi Ting	17
17	5E	Lai Ka Yin	10
18	5E	Leung Cheuk Wing	12
19	5E	Wong Hoi Che	17

Enrolment List - NSS English Enrichment Class (2014 / 2015)

The following students have been selected to join our school's NSS English Enrichment Class (2014 / 2015):

	Class	Name
1	4A	PANG WING TUNG VICTORIA
2	4A	CHEUNG CHUN YIN ALEX
3	4B	WONG CHEUK YIU
4	4C	CHOI SUNG YIU
5	4C	YUEN WAI LAM NOVA
6	4C	LAI SEN YI
7	4D	CHAN HEI MAN
8	4D	CHAU HEI CHING
9	4D	NG WAI CHI
10	4E	NG KING WAH
11	5B	CHAN TSZ MAN
12	5B	CHOW CHO TUNG
13	5D	LIN HOI YING
14	5E	WONG HOI CHE

Enrolment List - English Off-campus Activities (November) Struggle for Survival Simulation (1 Nov 2014)

The following students have been selected to join our school's off-campus English Activity (November) Struggle for Survival Simulation organised by the Crossroads Foundation (1 Nov 2014):

	Class	Class No	Name
1	1B	1	Au Hoi Ching
2	1B	11	Lee Tin Yan
3	1B	22	Cheng Ho Yin
4	1B	30	Tsang Hiu Fung
5	1C	13	Tsui  Ka Yu
6	1D	29	Lee Tsz Hei
7	2D	1	Chan Chi Tung
8	2D	13	Tsui Wing Tung
9	3A	20	Yim Sze Wan
10	4B	33	Lo Tsz Yin
11	5B	2	Chan Tsz Man
12	5B	3	Chow Cho Tung
13	5B	11	Lung Cheuk Hang
14	5E	12	Leung Cheuk Wing
15	5E	17	Wong Hoi Che

Education System (6B Chan Sau Yuen, Bernie)

         Last week, an old classmates of mine came home for a holiday from a boarding school in the US. I asked him what he found most difficult about going to a boarding school. Surprisingly, it was not keeping up with the reading or managing time. It was agreeing to help a friend, sharing notes and lab work, and contributing ideas in his class. In other words, it was learning to work as a team.

Competing with classmates and schoolmates is the culture of Hong Kong. The education system does not allow Hong Kong students to be promoted or get admission in a secondary school or university without competing with classmates by having a better academic result and getting in the ideal school or not. Therefore, I think it is not the Hong Kong students who refuse to learn and help one another; it is the education system which is stopping them.

I also think that teamwork is important. Nowadays, students need to do many projects and carry out division of labour and communicate with other group members. Therefore, leadership skills and communication skills are important for Hong Kong students and should be improved. Most of the Hong Kong students are self-centred and do not know how to communicate with others to come up to a common consensus and many also have poor leadership skills. So, they cannot lead a team successfully.

Therefore, I agree that Hong Kong students need to learn to co-operate with each other instead of competing against one another. So I hope the government can change the education system to help students. In my opinion, Hong Kong students should take part in the uniform team and experience physical training or the foot drill training and take up leadership tasks to be cooperative with other people.

Youth Unemployment (6A Kelvin Lau)

     In recent years, stemming from the increasing number of jobless youngsters, youth unemployment has been a hot issue under much discussion in society. This worsening situation brings a lot of harm to all Hong Kongers. Many people then put the blame on the new generation that they don’t strive to seize the working opportunities. However, it is already proved that there are numerous external factors determining the youth employment rate. In this article, I would like to have a deep insight at the whole issue, hoping to inspire you more about youth unemployment.

     To address a problem comprehensively, looking into the causes of it is an essential process. So, what are the crucial reasons behind why more and more youngsters are not getting any jobs? Needless to say, we can instantly come up with tons of ideas like lower youth competitiveness, poor working conditions, etc. However, I would like to divide them into two different aspects: internal factors and external factors.

     The first internal factor is the deterioration of youth competitiveness. Hong Kong is an international city where many cross-border enterprisers come to operate their businesses. That’s why English is so important. Nonetheless, the English proficiency of Hong Kong students is deteriorating due to less exposure to English. With average language skills, it is challenging for the youth to communicate and co-operate with people who are not Cantonese speakers and their career paths may not coincide. Meanwhile, we notice a new term wisely used in the news “Hong Kong kids”, describing children with low ability of self-care who meet daily life problems. What’s wrong with the new generation? Not only do they lack self-care, but they are also self-centered. They always complain about their working conditions, how badly they are treated by their boss and so on. The above emotions make them give up their career easily and become unemployed.

      On the other hand, there are so many external factors but the most influential is employers’ preferential impressions on youth. Influenced by the local media’s highlights of the negative aspects of the new generation, employers in Hong Kong are more likely to have a feeling that young people are not responsible or capable enough to take the jobs they offer. Thus, they prefer experienced workers instead of the new power.

      Though the problem of youth unemployment seems to involve the new generation and employers only, this is not the true picture. In fact, this is everybody’s business.

      Firstly, the sustainability of Hong Kong will finally go downhill. As the number of unemployed youths is roaring, the unemployment rate of Hong Kong rises simultaneously. What does this imply? Deterioration of labor power? A lack of new blood in the labor market? Not just these! The most serious one is that our city may not be able to keep developing; it may become less competitive than other regions like Singapore which is becoming stronger these days.

      Furthermore, facing the downward movement of competitiveness, Hong Kong citizens will lose their sense of pride. In the past, Hong Kong received glorious honors such as “Food Paradise”, “Shopping Paradise” and “the Pearl of the East”. These kinds of admirations have given Hong Kong citizens a sense of pride. However, once we lose all these positive feelings, our sense of belonging will definitely be weakened and the whole city may be surrounded by a gloomy atmosphere.

      After reading the above, are you more concerned about youth unemployment? If yes, don’t worry! There is always a way out. From my point of view, curing an existing problem from the root is the most effective measure. The government should step up the education reform to improve the education system. It is undeniable that not everyone in the world is born with a brilliant mindset and a hardworking manner. Hence, to encourage less-talented students, the government should offer more occupational courses for them so they can acquire specific working skills to have a higher possibility of being employed. Moreover, there should be further co-operation between schools and parents so as to nurture a correct and positive attitude among the youth. This must definitely help to raise the youth competitiveness.

      Youth unemployment is surely a huge problem in Hong Kong and has become a headache for the HKSAR government. Unless things change for the better, it will only create hurdles and obstacles in the path of Hong Kong development. Therefore, all citizens have to cooperate so as to create a better Hong Kong.

 

Write a short story in approximately 200 words about what happened next and how it ended to your school newspaper. (Matthew Lai Ka Chun 5D)

Your uncle came to Hong Kong from the Mainland last month. One day, you took him out to go sightseeing. On the MTR, he took out a can of coke and started to drink it. The lady sitting next to him told him politely to stop drinking.
 

Write a short story in approximately 200 words about what happened next and how it ended to your school newspaper.

 

On the MTR to Ocean Park, it was so crowded that a tense atmosphere filled in the train. No one stirred around the compartment when my uncle was asked to stop drinking by that elegant lady.

‘You better give me the coke. I’ll help you hold it, uncle.’ I whispered cautiously.

‘Why should I listen to you?’ I can drink freely in Shenzhen!’ uncle roared abruptly.

Everyone in the train stood all amazed. Some were ready to take their phones out. Most of the passengers stared at my uncle.

‘Mainlanders are so outrageous. Do you actually know Hong Kong is a civilised city?’ the lady sighed with arrogance.

My uncle was quickly infuriated. He squeezed the can and splashed it onto the lady’s long dress. I had no idea what to do next. I just heard someone burst into laughter. It was such a horrifying experience with nerve-wracking sensations.

All of a sudden, the lady stood up calmly and showed her staff card.

‘I am an MTR staff member. I am just having my holiday which deserves to be joyful. But now, you will face prosecution!’ the lady warned firmly.

My uncle was completely shocked. His jaw dropped and he broke out in a cold sweat. Some passengers clapped their hands vigorously. Some were still videotaping the whole experience while some were peeking at the dirty long dress of the lady.

After a few minutes, I accompanied my uncle to the MTR customer care centre. My uncle had his head down with guilt because he knew he would be charged.

‘Are you okay, uncle?’ I asked with a gentle voice.

‘Hong Kong is such a humiliating place!’ uncle responded emotionally.

I closed my eyes and let out a deep sigh.