talk 519

In August 2003, I attended Ching Zai's (1960) reunion in Pacific Grove, CA. Professor Siu Yum Tong of Harvard was one of the keynote speakers. His talk was centered on the current situation of our beloved high school, Hong Kong Pui Ching. Although Professor Siu teaches in the United States, he is a frequent lecturer to university students in Hong Kong. Because of his background as a Pui Ching alumnus and broad acquaintance with the educators in Hong Kong, he has a unique knowledge of our school and the difficulties that it is facing today and likely to face in the future. As alumni, we often talked among ourselves about the past and present of our school. From the school magazine that we received from time to time, we have some notion about the school. However, nothing definitive is known about the school, its teacher or its students. Professor Siu's lecture generated so much interest that evening, it was extended from 20 minutes to over an hour by popular demand.

Even before Professor Siu's lecture, I have often thought about our school, its current situation and its future. Few of our alumni would dispute the claim that we have greatly benefited from our school experience. If possible, I would like to do something for our school in return. A few years earlier, I mentioned this desire to a few of my Pui Ching classmates. Specifically, I mentioned the creation of an endowment fund for the school. At that time, I was assured that this would not be necessary because, they said, Pui Ching is government supported. Everything the school needs is provided by the Hong Kong government. Is this really so? From what I learned from Professor Siu's lecture, I do not believe that any concerned Pui Ching alumni can agree with that assessment. Not unless one is happy being a second class school or perhaps, third class.

As many of us are well aware that Pui Ching alumni had in the recent years established a well deserved reputation in science, engineering and mathematics all over the world. What is less well known is the fact that the Pui Ching alumni who had earned this reputation were graduates of the 50's, 60's and early 70's. Many of these alumni attended different colleges and universities in the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia. After earning their degrees, most, like Professor Siu, had settled in the respective countries and made their marks while working in those countries. Since the 70's, much change had taken place. Pui Ching Elementary School remained private but Pui Ching Middle School became government subsidized. Today, few of its graduates attend universities overseas. Most choose to attend one of the seven universities in Hong Kong. From classmates who still live in Hong Kong, words came that the quality of today's Pui Ching graduates are no longer the best of Hong Kong. During Professor Siu's lecture, he confirmed these findings. The implication is that the best Hong Kong students do not attend Pui Ching Middle School these days. That is true even for students from Pui Ching Elementary School. True, back in the fifties and sixties, many of the best Hong Kong students attended English schools but Pui Ching students were able to hold their own. Although few of our alumni were accepted by Hong Kong University but we did well in colleges in US, Canada and Australia and many excelled. Today, few of Pui Ching students shine in any discipline and it has fewer students in foreign land.

Although long had I suspected this to be so, Professor Siu's words were still very disturbing. Personally, I think the goal of the Pui Ching should be to educate the best of students to be leaders of the future. Not just in physical sciences, mathematics and engineering but also in literature, arts and the social sciences. I am sure that my personal feeling is not unique among Pui Ching alumni. Quite the contrary, with almost no exception, every one of my Pui Ching friends that I had talked to would like to see our beloved school flourish and its current students attain greater achievements than my generation.

The political and economic situation in Hong Kong is changing. It is time for our schools, both the Middle and the Elementary, to re-examine their goals, set their priorities and take concrete action to improve their reputation. It is also the time for all alumni who feel as I do to come forward and help the schools to reach those goals.

Here are my suggestions that the school administrators, board of directors and alumni may consider:

The schools will seek the best teachers and educate the best students to be leaders of our society in science, mathematics, engineering, arts, literature and social sciences.

The school will become private before 2010 like it was in the 50's and 60's. It will have full power to select and dismiss teachers, students and administrators.

To make privatization possible, the school shall establish an endowment fund with a goal of raising 250 million USD in the next five years. This fund will be invested and management by a board of directors. Part of proceeds will be used for school operations to supplement teacher's salary and their retirement.

After the first five years, an annual fund drive will be implemented to grow the endowment fund among its alumni, friends and parents of students.

The school will urge its students to seek further education in foreign land and it will organize alumni in foreign locations to give support to its students attending schools in those locations.

In additions, here are some issues that must also be addressed:

Hong Kong Pui Ching is just one of a number of Pui Chings in China. The different schools are administratively independent of each other. As a Hong Kong Pui Ching alumnus, my suggestions are uniquely directed toward that school and do not apply to any other Pui Chings.

Pui Ching is an education institute and its main objective is educating the youths. However, it is also a business, albeit non-profit oriented. It has income and expense. It has employees and must deal with their welfare such as wage, health and retirement. If the school does not have an administrator and a full time staff, it certainly needs one.

In its alumni, Hong Kong Pui Ching has in invaluable resource, well established and highly educated. I suggest that the school tap this resource for financial support. It should probably tap this source for administrative, business and teaching support as well.

It has been said that Chinese people do not have a giving tradition like the Americans. My own experience says 'giving' is a matter of school tradition and not a matter of being Chinese or American. As an example, I attended the University of Delaware and Princeton University. Princeton's biggest donor was Gordon Wu. He is from Hong Kong. On the other hand, I discovered that the individual contributions from Delaware alumni were sometimes as little as five dollars. Let us find out what is the true meaning of Red and Blue Spirit when it comes to helping the school.

I don't know what would be a realistic figure but I think US alumni should be able to make a contribution of $20,000 initially and $250 annually after the first five years.

On investing the endowment fund, I would think US stocks and bonds should be the principle vehicles because of its relative stability and the regulations governing the stock exchanges. Of course, no vehicle is perfect but the US stock market is better understood than most.

For teacher's retirement, something akin to TIAA ought to be considered. TIAA is the retirement vehicle used in US for teachers and universities. It is effectively a mutual fund created for teachers. In recent years, TIAA is opened to any one who wishes to invest.