A hectic day

Saturday began with the Morning Prayer cum breakfast in the McDonald's. This morning, Shung Tak continued to entertain more than 100 primary six students in the region, training them for the 61^st Speech Festival. This was the work of the Publicity and Promotion Committee headed by Emily Ma. She stepped down from the post of English panel head and wanted to focus more on the things she liked doing. However, she could not do it without the support from the other English teachers. Unfortunately, the timing was bad, in the sense that there had been other functions going on. So, the English teachers involved had to come back to Shung Tak for 13 consecutive days without a break! The marking load of the language teachers is heavy, but being an English teacher in Shung Tak is far more demanding. We are working with a high-tension cable without knowing it. A new English teacher, who had taught in another school for many years, resigned after 10 days. John Wong came to substitute. He also felt the stress. He promises to stay until the end of October.

The standard of the primary six students varied. Some were experienced and did very well. Others suffered from stage fright and forgot their lines. These poor little souls needed more practices in front of the whole class in order to overcome their nervousness. One of these little girls happened to be the daughter of Helen who is also an old student of Shung Tak. She is Teresa Chung and she did quite well. Since this was a promotion function, I put on my tie. Probably I had scared some of these little souls. Well, life is tough, girls! I put detailed remarks on a marking scheme which was given back to each participant. So, my group finished last. When I returned to the staff room, an old student Cherry came back to take photos with her teachers in her graduation gown. Shung Tak students have this tradition. Congratulations! Cherry.

The Introduction to Theology lesson this afternoon was very enjoyable. Fr. Stephen Wong explained the transcendental model of Lonergan to us. Traditional scholastic metaphysics takes the existence of being for granted. From the existence of being, it develops other branches of knowledge. Neo-Thomism asks two further questions. How do we know that our knowledge corresponds to reality? Take one more step back. How do we acquire knowledge? So, Fr. Lonergan developed a theory of cognitive knowledge to answer the first question.
After explaining the 4-layer model, Fr. Wong invited us to refute the model. He was trying to show that in order to refute this model, we are actually using this model. Most of us actively put forth our opinions. The quality of this class of classmates is very good. Though transportation takes up nearly 5 hours a day for three days, it is worthwhile.

After the lesson, I rushed to Regal Kowloon Hotel to take part in a Graduation Silver Jubilee Reunion dinner. A good number of old colleagues turned up, including Messrs Henry Lau, "Taipan" Chiu, Shum Mou Kei, Peter Chiu, Ho Ching Hin, Peter Lee, Peter Cheung, YY Kan, Victor Lo, Tong Wun Shing (Vice-Principal) and Peggy Lee. In his opening speech, the headboy also mentioned Chan Chao Mo (the PE teacher) who has recently been transferred from ICU to the general ward. May God bless him. Many students came up to introduce themselves to me. I could immediately recognize their faces and shamefully only remember a few of their names. I was particularly elated when some of my Legionaries showed up. This batch of students were also the guinea pigs of Computer Studies which was introduced in 1982. Those were good old days when my students and I learned computer together. John Kam, who passed away in April, was fondly remembered. During dinner time, our discussion centred on the merits and demerits of La Salle switching to Direct Subsidy. The whole table unanimously agreed that La Salle should not. The headboy summed up very well. La Salle had a mission of providing an opportunity for children from lower-income families to receive quality education. This is a noble mission and should be accomplished at all costs.

Dear Lord, I love these boys. I thank You for putting me in La Salle to receive my education. May I be a handy instrument of Yours, serving You and Your Church. Amen.