A Helpless and Hopeful Day (4B Tang Cheuk Ting Raymond)

      When it came to the second term of Primary 6, I had to attend an interview at the secondary school I would like to enroll. I’d been preparing for the interview for more than a month. It was a big day. I was anxious but excited when I thought of studying at the school.

       After packing the things for the interview, I headed for the school. As usual, I walked along the street and waited for the bus. All of a sudden, a middle-aged man in front of me fell from his wheelchair. At that moment, I doubted whether I should help him. If I gave him a hand, I must miss the bus. I hence couldn’t attend the interview. However, the man seemed to be injured and I decided to help him eventually. I pulled him up from the ground to sit on his wheelchair and sent him to the hospital nearby. On the way to the hospital, I regretted helping him.
       
      “Hey, little boy, Thank you for your kindness!” the man said.

        “Not at all, sir,” I replied.

        “What’s your name, boy? Where were you going to?”

        “I’m Raymond. I was on my way to a secondary school. I’m attending the enrolment interview in half an hour.”

         “Sorry, Raymond! I’ve held you up. Hope you won’t miss the interview,” the man said with a smile.

          I ran to the school from the hospital immediately and kept feeling regretful. When I reached the interview room at the school, the teachers were tidying up their documents. My heart broke. I’d wasted my efforts on the preparation! “What I’ve been doing is just for today!” I groaned to myself. I knew I had no chance to attend the interview at that school. I dropped my head and walked towards the school gate slowly with tears. I’d never felt as hopeless as this moment. When I was about to step out of the campus, I saw a man sitting on a wheelchair. He was the man I’d helped in the morning!

         “Why don’t you come with me? Don’t you come for the interview?” the man suggested.

         I was shocked and piped up, “What? Interview? I’ve missed it!”

         “Come quickly! I’ve got so many things to do!” he urged me.
 
         Suddenly, I felt hopeful again. I didn’t realize he was the Principal of that school. And now he was going to interview me. It was my pleasure!

         After the interview, I’ve learnt from this encounter. Although I seem to miss an important thing when I do something meaningful, I won’t lose in the end.

 

 

Letter to the Editor about the overuse of online social networking site (Choi On Kiu Liana 5B)

Dear Editor,

 

I am writing to express my point of view of the overuse of online social networking site.

 

Nowadays, having Internet access at home is a very common thing. Many people can own a computer at home. Also, because of the improvement in technology, it brings a lot of convenience and efficiency to users. For example, we can find a lot of different information around the world by searching the Internet. We can find news that happened in different countries. Also, we can talk and share new things to our family member who live in another country by using Skype.

 Because of this, people spend more time on using computer. Some of us will also spend a whole day on using computer without taking a rest. It leads to a problem of the overuse in society. And the number of overuse in network sites is increasing.

In addition, overusing the networking site will waste our time because we spend most of the time on it. On the other hand, we will only have less time on our parents to figure out our problem on study or social life. It will cause direct arguments.

I think parents should have more outdoor activities with their children, to sidetrack their mind.

Finally, school will be a better place to teach students to stop overusing computer, because student learn things there, so I think teachers should ogranise some activities or talks on telling the disadvantages of the overuse of doing other things like homework or projects, etc. So I think we should have a time management to balance the time on using computer and daily work. Having a timetable, we can manage your time on using computer in a more specific way, so that we will not spend too much time on using the network in an uncontrolled way.

In addition, overusing the Internet will destroy your relationship with friends and family members. It is because we spend most of the time using the net, we will have no time on building relationship with them.

In short, we should stop students on overusing networking site, because it will lead a big problem in our society. It is education that we need to foster this belief within our society.

Yours faithfully,

Chris Wong

A letter to editor (5D Choy Hiu Tung Pinky)

Dear Sir,

I am writing to express my opinion about the overuse of online social networking site.

With the aid of the online social networking site, we get a lot of benefits. For example, we can release our pressure, share pictures and work on projects easily. Also, we can communicate with friends and families in a convenient way.  Although there are many advantages about using social networking, it still has disadvantages, such as wasting time, affecting health and having less communication with family or even decreasing the chance for face-to-face communication. Let me explain it in detail.

Firstly, social networking sites have many functions. Most people use it for watching videos, checking status of Facebook friends and chat. Also nowadays, there are so many online social networking, such as Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Each webpage, each of them has different functions. If we need to visit all of them, we need to use more than 2 hours. So it wastes our precious time. And if we overuse of online social networking site, we will become addicted to it. Then we don’t have enough time to study or do homework which will affect our school results.

Secondly, the overuse of online social networking site would affect our vision. We know that sometimes we need to search information in these social webpages. Although we felt tired of our eyes, we wouldn’t take rest and keep on searching. So we will get short sighted easily and we need to wear glasses because we have astigmatism and myopia if overuse the computer, especially the social networking sites.

Thirdly, nowadays we can chat with anyone by social networking, so that we do not need face-to-face communication with anyone, especially our parents. It is because it is too convenient to chat with people by computer or mobile phone through the online social network. People will overuse this method to chat, so we will not always chat with anyone face-to-face. It will affect our communication skills, interpersonal skills. And these skills would affect social development of our future. It erodes our care about our family, weaken our instincts in interacting with others on social occasions.

All in all, online social networking site have its own advantages and disadvantages. If you don’t want to have these disadvantages, try to manage your time and have self-control when using online social networking site.

Yours faithfully,

Pinky Choy

Public speech Overpopulation is becoming a world problem (5A Rebecca Hung)

Good morning, principal, teachers and students.
I am Rebecca Hung. It is my honor to be here today to talk about the problem of overpopulation.

Do you know queuing up is an unavoidable part of our lives? You can see many long queues everywhere in Hong Kong. Last weekend, I went out for lunch with my friend. When we got to the restaurant, there were so many people waiting for tables that we had to wait for an hour before we could finally sit down and enjoy our meal. Sounds familiar to you, right? I am sure some of you have had similar experience. You may wonder: Are there not enough restaurants in Hong Kong? Or are there too many people in Hong Kong? Yes, there are simply too many people in Hong Kong. We are facing the problem of overpopulation, but do you know that overpopulation has also become a world problem?

According to the United Nations, the estimated world population has already exceeded 7 billion and the figure is still growing day by day.

You may ask what the figure means to our world. Can’t the world accommodate 7 billion people, or even another 7 billion people? Let me tell you, 7 billion people are already too much for our world to bear.

First of all, let me ask you a question. Can you live without electricity? I guess most of you will answer no, because all of us use electricity. Electricity is a basic necessity in today’s world. Because of the growing population, the demand for electricity keeps growing. Let’s take a look at China. To generate more electricity to meet the increasing demand, China is building nuclear plants all over the country and is planning to build even more. These nuclear plants may pose unimaginable hazards not only to China, but also to the world. Just take a look at the nuclear plant in Fukushima and you will agree with me. All human lives will finally be in jeopardy if we keep building more nuclear plants. But it seems that some countries, especially China, are still resorting to nuclear energy for its growing population.

Another serious problem caused by overpopulation is food shortage. Thousands, mostly children, die of hunger every day in different parts of the world. According to the United Nations, by 2012 the number of malnourished people in the world had already reached 1020 million. In Africa, already 6 million people died of famine and malnourishment. Although, today, we have advanced agricultural technology, the supply simply cannot meet the demand. Why? Because when the world population becomes bigger, there will be more people desiring more food. At the same time, more agricultural lands have to be used for urban development. That means fewer lands can be used for agricultural production. Then, the supply of food drops.

And, the problem of food shortage is further aggravated by the uneven distribution of the world’s total food. China, with her huge population and wealthier people, is demanding more and more food, and this results in even less food for the already underprivileged and underdeveloped areas.

Let’s go back to agricultural technology. You may ask: if we develop even more advanced technology, will we be able to feed the entire world? Yes, we may be able to feed the entire world if we have very advanced technology. But the food we produce may be harmful to human body. Then, we, humans, will eventually suffer.

Besides food shortage, global warming is another problem worsened by overpopulation. With an increasing population, there are more human activities, and more greenhouse gases are released to the atmosphere, and this worsens the greenhouse effect. Yes, the whole world is trying to cut carbon dioxide emission and we are trying to be less polluting. But we can’t deny the fact that overpopulation aggravates global warming. And global warming causes a whole bunch of environmental problems. Look at the super typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban. At the United Nations climate summit in Warsaw, the lead negotiator of the Philippines, Naderev Sano, said Haiyan was like nothing they had ever experienced before, or perhaps nothing that any country had ever experienced before.

So, to deal with environmental problems, we can’t just look at the environmental factors, we also have to look at the problem of overpopulation.

All in all, the overpopulation problem is affecting the whole world; we cannot turn a blind eye to it.

I sincerely hope that all of you can learn more about overpopulation from my sharing.

Thank you.

Enrolment List - 2nd Exchange with International Christian School (14 Mar 2014)

The following students have been selected to join our school's off-campus English Activity (2nd Exchange with International Christian School) (14 Mar 2014):

4B	2	Chan Tsz Man
1C	16	Sze Wai Man
1C	18	Tsang Ho Yan
2C	14	Ng Sin Yee
2C	21	Chan Cheuk Hei
2C	25	Cheng Tik Man
2C	11	Leung Hei Yuet
2C	27	Choi Kin Ting
4B	12	Ng Hoi Kei
2A	24	Chung Tsz Him
1C	5	Chiang Ching Laam
1C	2	Cheung Hei Tung
1C	23	Lam Ho Yin
3A	16	So Wai Shan
3A	6	Huang Long Yuet
3A	15	Sit Wing Yan
2C	30	Lai Hei Wang
1A	12	Tsui Wing Tung
1C	11	Leung Sin Yiu
1D	21	Leung Cheuk To
1C	7	Fung Hoi Ying

A debate speech ‘Talent’ and ‘effort’, which one is more important for sports achievement? (5E Wong Yin Man, Yonnie)

Adjudicators, Principal, Teachers and fellow opponent,

The motion of today is ‘Athletes’ talent is more important than efforts for sport achievements.’ All beforehand, let me define some key terms in this motion. According to the Oxford Dictionary, ‘talent’ means ‘a natural ability to do something well’ and ‘effort’ means’ the physical or mental energy that you need to do something,’ Also, the word ‘achievement’ is defined as a thing that somebody has done successfully, especially using their own effort and skill. I am undeniably against the motion. I think efforts are not less important than athletes’ talent.

 

First of all, ‘practice makes perfect.’ I believe that most of you have heard about this famous quote. It means we can improve ourselves to perform better and better through hard and unceasing practices. With the same principle, in sports, practice can improve our natural talent and skills, if athletes only rely on their natural talents, it will not be enough surely. It will be very hard to compete with the skillful rivals. Consequently, athletes can only get the sports achievements in a very low possibility. For instance, many prestigious athletes like Yao Ming, Lin Chang, they are talented undoubtedly but they also paid many efforts to improve themselves, so that they can get very terrific achievements in many competitions or even Olympic games and NBA.

Secondly, talent may fade without practices. Everyone agrees that practice makes us familiar with something, doesn’t it? So, without regular and adequate practice, athletes may not be as familiar with the sports skills as the athletes who pay hard to preface. On the contrary, athletes who have paid efforts to practice are easier to achieve the success and good results. For example, athlete who is talented in running, however, if he is lack of practices, he will be very difficult and unskillful to have a brilliant performance. In short, efforts are affirmatively important for sports achievements.

 
The affirmative side claims that if a person is not born with talent, it will be hard to get achievements no matter how hard he strives. Nevertheless, the fact is that everyone has his/her own potential talent and efforts can help us to utilize the talent and let the best performance and reach the achievements more easily. Overall speaking, ‘practice makes perfect’ and talent may not work out and fade without practice. Therefore, I am against ‘Athletes’ talent is more important than efforts for sport achievements’. Thank you.

Enrolment List - Exchange with International Christian School (24 Feb 2014)

The following students have been selected to join our school's off-campus English Activity (Exchange with International Christian School) (24 Feb 2014):

1	1A	26	MENOR EDRIK JAN VALDEZ
2	1D	17	CHAN Chak Lam
3	1C	23	Lam Ho Yin
4	2A	24	Chung Tsz Him
5	1D	21	Leung Cheuk To
6	1C	7	Fung Hoi Ying
7	1C	2	Cheung Hei Tung
8	1C	16	Sze Wai Man Kelly
9	1A	12	Tsui Wing Tung
10	4B	12	Ng Hoi Kei
11	2C	14	Ng Sin Yee
12	4B	2	Chan Tsz Man
13	2C	11	Leung Hei Yuet
14	1C	11	Leung Sin Yiu
15	1C	5	Chiang Ching Laam

A Tough Girl (Lo Wing Yan, F.5D)

I think I’m a bad girl but I’ve been trying my best to be better. In the past, I blew up easily and this could scare you. But everybody has their own story. If people knew my story at that time, they might forgive me and tolerate me more.

My story started with my complex family and twin sister, who has suffered from an disorder since she was born. We grew up together. But as a child, I had to clean up all the mess she made, including her dirty plates after meals and even her poo. I used to be envious of other teenagers who could hang out with friends while I had to stay at home to take care of my sister, who looks like me but can’t understand me. What frustrated me most was that my parents usually told me off but had never scolded her. All these scenes weave my childhood memories, which are unforgettable but I wish I could forget.

       All those childhood experiences have made me a tough girl. I don’t greet others with smiles because I don’t know how to smile. But it’s hard to make me cry. I don’t cry because I’ve told myself not to shed a single tear. I have to be tough because I have no other choices. I don’t believe promises because even my parents have let me down for countless times. As long as I live up to my responsibilities, I don’t care what others say.

Debate speech (5C Chow Ka Hei)

Adjudicators, Principal, Teachers and fellow opponents,

I am against the motion “Hong Kong is a good place to nurture professional athletes”.

In recent years, Hong Kong has held several large-scale international sport competitions. And our athletes got good results in these competitions too. Thus, some people think that Hong Kong is a good place to nurture professional athletes. But I strongly believe that Hong Kong is not a good place to nurture professional athletes because Hong Kong does not have a sporting culture or enough support for athletes.

The Hong Kong education policies are one of the factors. The education system in Hong Kong is examination-oriented. Most of the Hongkongers, especially employers, will only focus on students’ academic results. Many of them think that sport is not important at all. Also, some parents will force their children to focus on academic results even if their children have talents in sports. Our education system ignores the talents of sports players and is unfavourable to sporting development.

Second, Hong Kong does not have enough resources or facilities to develop or nurture professional athletes. Hong Kong only has one organization – Hong Kong Sports Institute – to nurture athletes. Although HKSI provides many elite sports projects like badminton, gymnastics and swimming, they are not enough to provide a good environment for athletes to have comprehensive training. Hong Kong also lacks internationally recognized venues for training. We all know that it is not possible for HKSI to provide all venues and facilities for each type of sports. So, how can we nurture professional athletes successfully in such an inadequate environment?

Moreover, the sports atmosphere in Hong Kong is too weak. Hongkongers focus more on work and business. Not many people are willing to spend time to do sports or have sports training. Hong Kong emphasizes economic development but not sports development. Thus, the sports atmosphere in Hong Kong is not strong enough. Furthermore, the sports development in Hong Kong lacks government support. To obtain qualification to represent Hong Kong in international events, potential athletes have to rely on their own resources and training. This will increase the difficulty for athletes to build up their professionalism in sports.

Critics may argue that there are good and professional athletes, such as Wong Kam Po and Lee Wai Sze, in Hong Kong, and this proves that Hong Kong is a good place to nurture professional athletes. However, the Hong Kong cycling team is training in Guang Zhou and Shenzhen most of the time due to the venue problem – Hong Kong does not have a formal venue for cycling. And this shows that Hong Kong does not have enough resources, facilities or government support to nurture athletes. Therefore, I believe that Hong Kong is not a good place to nurture professional athletes.

To sum up, I strongly believe that Hong Kong is not a good place to nurture professional athletes. Unless the government and the authorities formulate a set of comprehensive and long-term sports development policies to build a perfect platform for our talented players and athletes, it will still be difficult for our players to become professional athletes.

Thank you.

Enrolment List - Struggle for Survival Simulation (20 Dec 2013)

The following students have been selected to join our school's off-campus English Activity (Struggle for Survival Simulation) (20 Dec 2013):

1A	8	Ma Tin Yi
1A	13	Wong Hei Lam
1A	26	Menor Edrlk Tan Valpez
1C	27	Li Chun Yin
1C	3	CHEUNG Sum In
1C	32	Ying Lok Hang
1C	5	Chiang Ching Laam
1C	31	Tsang Lok Him
1C	23	Lam Ho Yin
1C	2	Cheung Hei Tung
2B	23	Cheung Kwan Yeung
2C	14	Ng Sin Yee
3C	28	Lo Tsz Yin
4B	17	Yeung Hoi Ting
4E	10	Lai Ka Yin
5A	38	Yuen Chun Wing