Ethics and Religious Studies is offered in the Catholic Diocesan school I am teaching. It is a Band One EMI school, using English as the medium of instruction. But our students are very pragmatic. Academically strong students in Shung Tak drop RS in senior forms if they are given a chance. They think the subject does not give them any advantage in entering the university. Therefore, I teach a bunch of less-motivated students Bible. What is worse, the school made a seriously mistaken decision in switching the medium of instruction of RS to Chinese at the beginning of the new 2000 syllabus. The administration thought that our students would be put in a disadvantaged position to compete in English with those students coming from elite schools, like La Salle, Wah Yan and DGS. Alas! the passing rate of Shung Tak students in this subject has never been high since switching to Chinese. The reasons are many. But my feeling is that the switching to Chinese has a part to blame.
First of all, while the school argues that students can express their thoughts better in their mother-tongue, the administrators forget that these Band One students would think that they don't need to put in extra effort in a subject taught in Chinese. They prefer to spend their energy in more demanding subjects such as physics and economics. Reading the Bible the evening before examinations would be enough. When the passing rate turned out to be unattractive, RS failed to retain stronger students. A vicious cycle crept in.
Secondly, the Catholic Chinese Bible is no doubt the best scholarly translation among the many available versions. However, the language is not quite suitable for worship, nor for secondary students who are non-believers. To quote just one example:
耶穌就向他說：「我實在告訴你：就在今天，這一夜裡，雞叫兩遍以前，你要三次不認我。」(Mark 14:30)
Many of my students, who only read this verse in the examination hall, interpret this as a command given by Jesus to deny him three times, instead of a prediction that Peter would deny him three times! What can I do?
Lastly teaching in Chinese, I tend to be carried away in my rhetoric and forget the needs of my students. Sometimes, my emotions would burst out unrestrained. Eddie, regrettably, is a case in point. I made some casual remarks which turned out to have hurt him. He hates me and the subject to this day.
A beam of hope dawned on me when Ethics & Religious Studies would be offered as an elective in the New Senior Secondary curriculum. Now that students choose the subject voluntarily, they will be more motivated and it will be a golden opportunity to switch back to using English. Unfortunately, the administrators have never taught the subject. They only want to follow the Diocesan policy of using mother-tongue in teaching. I was crestfallen!
Just when I was depressed, God cheered me up today.
I always complain to the administration that they have conceded too much in RS. Repeatedly, they allow stronger students to take other popular subjects at the expense of RS: Computer, Economics and English Literature. Consequently, this year, more than 80 students out of 220 have opted out of RS. Most of them are very strong and capable students. To show that this Catholic school cares very much about the spiritual needs of these students, they attend an E&RE lesson once a week in the ninth period, taken care of by the two vice-principals. But the arrangement is plagued with predators who want to keep the students behind for extra lessons, tests, extra-curricular activities. Luckily, the vice-principals are strong enough to ward them off.
It is Lent. Brenda tried out the Stations of the Cross with these students, in English. I took part today. They are very capable and receptive. Shung Tak students are good enough and interested enough to know more about Christianity in English. God has consoled my bitter soul.
Don't get me wrong. I support evangelization in mother-tongue. The Cardinal has instructed all Diocesan schools to set aside at least two lessons per cycle for Ethics & Religious Education. I will throw my full weight about it. But sitting for examination is another matter. Shung Tak is a Band One English college. The quality of the students is good enough to learn the subject in English. If we do not stretch their potentials, we fail the trust of the parents. Therefore, I am frustrated to see students denied the opportunity because administrators do not consider the opinions of front line teachers.
Technically speaking, English is an offspring of the Bible, while the Chinese language has been happily married to Buddhism since Tang Dynasty. Many Buddhist idioms have been integrated in the language. It will take probably several centuries more for Christianity to become a daily vocabulary in Chinese.
לְכוּ־נָ֛א וְנִוָּֽכְחָ֖ה יֹאמַ֣ר יְהוָ֑ה אִם־יִֽהְי֨וּ חֲטָאֵיכֶ֤ם כַּשָּׁנִים֙ כַּשֶּׁ֣לֶג יַלְבִּ֔ינוּ אִם־יַאְדִּ֥ימוּ כַתּוֹלָ֖ע כַּצֶּ֥מֶר יִֽהְיֽוּ
Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD:though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool
(Isaiah 1:18, RSV).
現在你們來，讓我們互相辯論──上主說：你們的罪雖似朱紅，將變成雪一樣的潔白；雖紅得發紫，仍能變成羊毛一樣的皎潔。【思高】
Very few of us are able to read Hebrew. We have to rely on translations. If you happen to know Hebrew, congratulations. If you know both Chinese and English, which translation do you enjoy more?
Return to the text, does God want to reason, to debate with us in order to convince us?
Of course not. God knows that we are stiff-necked. Logic will not convince us. Authority will not intimidate us. Punishment will not bend us. Rather, God shows us love and invites us to repent so that our sins may be washed away, that our righteousness may be restored.
Dear Lord, I forsake my stance, my stubbornness. May Your will be done. Amen.
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