| This
is the biweekly bulletin of the Rotary Club of Kingspark Hong Kong Club Website: http://www.rotary3450.org/kingspark-hongkong | ||||
 | Kingspark News Rotary
Club of Kingspark | | ||
| Tsunami toll continues to climb. Have you called President Thomas with your pledges? | ||||
| Chief
Editor : Francis Wann Club Webmaster : John Wan | ||||
Editorial
(The Finishing Touch) - By Francis Wann | ||||
District Website | RI Website | RI President | TRF | News Room | Global History Fellowship | ||||
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The Finishing Touch
Indeed how would you acknowledge a good student in our classroom? Would it be that boy who speaks impeccable English? Or the one who is always busily taking notes during the lesson? Or the one who was the English champion in the School Music and Speech Festival and has won scores of medals for the school? Of course no one is talking about those who lurk behind their desks wondering how to pass another meaningless school day, or those who still cannot manage one structurally and grammatically correct sentence while at certificate level. They are the untouchables of our education system, and naturally are too hot to handle by the Education Commission. Hong Kong has not been given a more respectable profile in recent world studies. One in five of our children live below poverty line, and we top the list when it comes to the glaring gap between the rich and the poor. And as reported in Pisa (Programme for International Student Assessment) in successive studies, our students score almost bottom in self esteem and interpersonal skills but rank top in maths. Put bluntly, they are an unhappy lot. With so much going into our education reforms, and with all our laudable targets and objectives of raising language standards, our education officials must have forgotten how they struggled with their English in their school days. Yes, those were the days when computer or IT-learning or remedial teaching was unheard of. Presumably there were not a lot of reports and administrative measures. Teachers were their own masters in the classrooms, and no one would ever doubt their qualifications and expertise. Communicative approach? Activity teaching? Or chalk and talk. The ayes have it. Well we can always argue times have changed, and suddenly the term "accountability" creeps up everywhere. The reforms on secondary and university education hasn't begun, yet it has already generated enough voice of discontent in and out of the classromms - and lecture theatres. Katherine Forestier mentioned in her column in South China Morning Post (Feb 26, 2005) why people look to Finland for a sense of direction, and why with its relatively relaxed structures, its students manage to excel in reading and almost all aspects of academic performance and personal development. There is so much passion in learning among students, and naturally students love school. Would that be our ultimate model for tomorrow? Our education meanwhile is restrictive and self-deceptive. and our system guarantees failure, and our kids learn not out of love, but fear. | ||||
President's
Column
In the Rotary calendar, Week of 13 March (i.e. from 7 to 11 of March) is the World Rotaract Week. Being our close service partner, our Rotaractors need your support and guidance. Apart from your participation on their events, I would appeal to you to play the role of Rotaract Advisor to lead, train and share your experience with them like Rotarian Patrick Wong who has done a great job this year. Time flies and its time for our future leaders to prepare for their year. As scheduled, our PETS (Presidents Elect Training Seminar) will be organized on Saturday 5 March. Although I understand that you are now striving for your business or career development, I would still suggest you to start your planning by attending our coming Centennial District Conference to be held on 19 - 20 of March because it is a golden opportunity for you to obtain more update information of Rotary and make new friends especially on the areas you are interested in. Being the potential leader of our Club, your foresight and guidance are vital to us. Please start your planning as early as possible so that you will have a full picture of Rotary when you become our President in the future! See you in our Centennial District Conference!! | ||||
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The Centenary
Our Club cancelled the regular meeting of the week to encourage attendance of the District function, but alas, each club was allocated only one table because of the limited seats available, so that even if each and every member of the Club had wanted to be there, there would not be sufficient seats, which creates a dubious situation and raises questions regarding the propriety of the decision to so do. Granted that horse racing is a way of life in Hong Kong and a serious matter across all classes and granted that it was a talking point and an agenda on the Sino British negotiations for the Reunification of Hong Kong with China, it remains to be seen whether a racing night at Happy Valley featuring a Rotary Centenary Cup would be an adequate or the most appropriate reflection of the work of the Rotarians in the District or in Hong Kong and whether the event itself would send a mixed if not a wrong signal to the general public and the man in the street most of whom could not tell between Rotary clubs and Lions club. At least Lions Clubs International are having their next International Convention in May in Hong Kong, while we are kept being asked by everybody including senior leaders in Rotary from abroad why Hong Kong has yet to host an RI Convention. I came back from a Rotary club meeting during which I was told why the club had found it difficult to promote attendance at the next District Conference - the District Centenary Conference - amongst its members. The dates crash with the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens. My heart sank and quietly I prayed for the Rotary movement in our District in general and our leadership or the apparent lack of it in particular. Something could be amiss. | ||||
Views in any article in Kingspark News reflect those of the authors. They are not necessarily the views of the Rotary Club of Kingspark or of District 3450. You are welcome to write to Chief Editor Francis Wann or Club Webmaster John Wan on any topic, particularly in response to articles published in Kingspark News. We would publish all contributions as long as the authors identify themselves, the contents are not offensive or abusive, and would not offend common decency or common sense. You need not be a Rotarian to write to us and you have a choice to withhold your name in the published version. Where the contents make reference to statements or policies of individuals or organizations, we would try to obtain a response fro the latter for publication in the same issue if possible. | ||||
Chief
Editor : Francis Wann The Board of Directors President
: Thomas Chan | ||||
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