Engineering Service-Learning in the Philippines

First I spoke at the School of Engineering at University of Santo Tomas.  Then I spoke at the International Conference on Engineering Education, also held at the University of Santo Tomas.  Both times I spoke about Engineering Service-Learning, but the talks are actually quite different.  In the first talk, I was speaking to the teachers in the Faculty of Engineering.  I focused on the subject itself: how are the objectives, what the students are supposed to learn to do, what we teach them, what projects do they do, how we grade them, how to teach them to reflect on their experience, etc.  

In the second talk, I was speaking to administrators of Schools of Engineering from 50+ universities across the Philippines.  I spoke about the rationale and design of the service-learning program for the university, how we develop the subjects from across the university, train the teachers, make service-learning general education for all, link teaching with research, etc.  

The universities in Philippines is doing a lot of community service.  Perhaps it is because of the strong Catholic heritage which stress service to the community as integral to their faith.  What they want to do is to strengthen the learning aspect and integrate service-learning more into the academic program.  This is what we have done and also what I wish to encourage them to do.  My talks seem well-received.  There were a lot of questions and I tried to answer them as well as I could. I may yet come back to do more.  

I was impressed by some of their projects, and people.  There is this lady professor J at the University of Philippines - Diliman.  She was interested in humanitarian engineering but there apparently is no such program at her university.  Nor is there such as thing at other local universities.  So she went to the USA to learn about it, and single-mindedly start to build such a program.  She gathered a number of like-minded people and sent out a proposal for funding - to develop a communication system for remote areas under threat of disasters such as the famous typhoons.  

One of the messages in my talks is that engineering exists to solve problems. Yet engineering has not been big players in service-learning, with a few notable exceptions.  Why is that and what can be done to address that?  There is also many cultural, political and otherwise significant differences between the American society and ours.  For example, advocacy, even to the extent that it disrupts lives, is considered positively in the USA and western society in general. Yet advocacy is not always encouraged and can be downright dangerous in many Asian countries. I believe strongly that in Asia, and in specific countries and universities, we may have to develop own own way to do service-learning.  

I learned a lot and see a lot of potential from my first visit to the Philippines.  

Flower Selling at the Traffic Light

Your car stops at the traffic light.  While you wait for the light to change, a young girl, may be 10 years old, knocks on your window, wanting to sell you a small ring or string of small flowers.  Typically jasmine or some small, white, fragrant flowers.  

Sometimes, there is a even younger child tugging at the clothes of the young girl.  You are in the middle of the road, the light will change at any minute.  There are cars on your left, on your right, in front of you and behind you.  Everyone is rearing to go, stepping on the gas as soon as the light changes.  In fact, they are going to step on it just before the light changes.  

It is dangerous for the girl, even more so for the even younger one.  Yet this scene plays out many times in Manila each day.  And in other cities in South East Asia.  It tucks at your heart.  What what can you do?  Yet if we do not do something, what does it say about us as people?

University of Santo Tomas

UST is a 400 year old, Catholic University in Manila, one of the top 4 universities in the Philippines.  I was invited here to talk about service-learning for engineering.  I gave a talk on the design and implementation of a service-learning subject in engineering to the Faculty of Engineering this morning.  On Friday, I will speak about a service-learning program for a university to a conference of engineering educators from across different universities in the Philippines. 

The campus is quite small.  Its perimeter is almost exactly 2 kilometres long, as I measured by foot yesterday. It is basically a square, surrounded by fences, inside the huge city that is Manila.  

It is almost unbelievable that you can cramp 40,000 students in such a small space.  Yet they have managed to keep a big, green, grassed soccer field in the middle of the campus, surrounded by big old trees.  There are students on the field, around the field, everywhere.  It reminded my of my days in Aberdeen Technical School.  In late afternoon, more than 100 students would be involved in 7 different soccer matches on the same concrete soccer field, with 7 balls flying around.  I don’t know how we knew which ball to chase and kick.  

Some buildings look old and elegant.  The students wear uniforms, with different uniforms for different disciplines.  One of the teachers said it is so that they can easily identify their students, and which discipline they are in.  

I was surprised to find a tombstone, engraved in Chinese, in the middle of the campus. 

Right underneath a statue of St. Thomas Aquinas, after whom the university was named. 

There is a church in one of the elegant buildings, where masses are celebrated in the morning, and then again in the evening. 

They kicked off the workshop this morning with a prayer, and closed the workshop in late afternoon with another. And they are keen to learn about service-learning. I was told they might want to apply for some funding to bring me back to provide training for the staff on service-learning.  I like this school.  

Dao and Christ (道 與 基督)

At our Spring (Church) Book Club (泉福書社), we are discussing the topic “When Dao meets Christ”, a dialogue between Daoism (the philosophy 道家 and religion 道教) and Christianity (基督教).  We started by studying 3 quotations.  One is from the Bible, specifically the first verse of the  first chapter of The Gospel according to John (約翰福音), in the Chinese language, specifically - the Chinese Union Version (和合本).  Another is the first verse from Dao De Jing (道德經), the classic text of Daoism the philosophy.   Yet another is a verse from one of the main texts (太上老君虛無自然本起經) of Daoism the religion.  

The three verses are from different texts.  Yet they use very similar words: 道, 太初, 萬物.  And say very similar things.  The Bible verse equates Dao with God; it says Dao/God created everything.  Dao De Jing also says that Dao is the source and mother of everything.  Hence Daoism and Christianity has similar views of the origin of the universe.  Except that Daoism calls the source Dao/道, while Christianity calls the source 道/神/God. 

Regarding the wordings, the word “道” has been in use in Chinese culture for at least 2,500 years.  The Gospel of John was written ~2,000 years ago.  The word that was translated into “道” in the Chinese Union Version ～100 years ago was “logos” in Greek and “word” in English.  Why was it translated as “道” rather than “言”, “語”, “智慧”, …?  The translator certainly would have been aware of the meaning associated with the word accumulated from the 2,000+ years of usage.  

The advantage of using such a word with its rich heritage is that the Chinese people would have grasped its meaning instantly.  The disadvantage is also precisely because of the rich heritage - that the word conjures up the beliefs behind Daoism the religion as well as the philosophy.  Daoism the religion believes that Lao Tsz (老子, 太上老君) is actually a manifestation of Dao.  

Daoism the philosophy teaches that in nature is the truth, and that the universe has an origin. Much of Daoism philosophy is not incompatible with the belief of Christianity.  On the other hand, Daoism the religion believes in many fantastic gods, which is obviously quite incompatible with Christianity.   When Christianity is introduced to the Chinese, it does not into a vacuum, where there are no preconceived ideas about the universe and the “truth”.  It is worth making the distinction between what is compatible with the Christian faith and what is not.  

From the point of view of the Christian faith, it should not be surprising that this is the case.  The ancient Chinese sages, without the advantage of direct connections to God through the Old Testament prophets, nevertheless searched tirelessly for the truth through diligent observations of the universe.  The universe, having been created by God Himself, reveals much about God.  Hence the Chinese sages did discover quite a bit about God, although not the whole truth.  Now is the chance to complete that knowledge through Christianity. 

Just to put in my two cents worth.  

Confucius Day (it is about education)

At the Confucius Institute Day opening ceremony just now, I was reminded of something very relevant to what is happening at the universities in Hong Kong these days. 

One major theme of Confucius Teaching is that the seniors set good examples for the juniors to follow.  If those who occupy higher ranks are moral, than those at the lower ranks would follow.  That is something parents and teachers should all be aware of.  Children and students don’t just do what they are told.  More often, they watch how we behave; and they would do the same, both consciously and unconsciously.  

Are some of our university management, such as Mr. L at HKU, setting good examples then?  Some of them have demonstrated that they are vindictive and mean spirited, treating some of the staff and students as enemies rather than someone they have to set good examples for.  These “leaders” of the university are setting bad examples for the students.  But I suspect that they do not care.  They are there for the power, not to educate.  

Confucius also teaches that when the seniors are generous, the juniors would also learn to be magnanimous. It is something we can use in service-learning.  

I picked up a free book on learning Pinyin, an ink brush, and the proper way to put our hands together to great each other.  

I didn’t realise that the men and the women put their hands together differently.  You learn something every day.  

Cambodia pre-trip

I am in Cambodia for the third time this year, to prepare for the project in summer 2018.  This year the project has a new dimension.  We will have 3 groups of students, one from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, another from University of Maryland, and a third from the Royal University of Phnom Penh.  In 2016, our team and the Maryland team held joint classes via video conferencing in the Spring of 2016, and the teams worked together in Rwanda in June.  This year we added the RUPP team, and the 3 teams will have joint classes in Spring and then work tougher in Kampong Speu in Cambodia in June 2018.  Hence we are here to scout the sites.  

We are also checking out the projects that were done earlier.  Our first used cargo container-turned-into-community learning centre, set up in 2015 in San Mok looks and functions well.  I would love to be able to claim that it was my idea, but it was the students’ and the staff’s idea.  At least I can be proud of them.  

Here in San Sok, it is sitting on the grounds of the leader of our partner NGO Kong People Do.  Hence it is well attended to. The books, computers, etc., are used quite extensively.  The solar panels are humming along, generating electrical power to run the lights and computers. 

I heard that the one set up in 2016 on Silk Island is also running well.  There it is sitting on the grounds of a primary school and is supported by the teachers.  But I heard that the teachers cannot use the computers well.  Perhaps we have to either provide more training, or make the computers easier to use. 

In Kampong Speu, the centre set up only this past summer in 2017 is also maintained well.  The water collection system is working.  The facilities are maintained well.  Young People Do cannot send people here too often because it is an hour and a half away from the city.  But they are planning an overnight camp here for a new group of university student volunteers.  The boys will be sleeping in tents while the girls sleep inside the centre. It is a great idea and we wish them well.  

When I stepped inside, I was pleasantly surprised that it felt reasonably cool - I could stay inside for quite some time, while it is 33 C outside.  The fans powered by the batteries charged by the solar panels are really working well!  I was skeptical in the beginning but am now quite convinced.  

The solar panel-battery charging stations are also working well, mostly.  There is a bit of wear and tear, mainly with the cables rusting and breaking.  Some many have experienced some damage due to short-circuiting and need to be replaced.  

Perhaps we have to provide more training to the local students so that they can carry out more maintenance and even installation on their own, as we have discussed with RUPP already. 

We are very happy to see that the systems we have installed are still working, that our partners are thriving, and that we have more challenging and exciting projects coming up.  God has been graciously guiding us step by step.  We know, because we certainly did not plan it this way in the beginning.  

  

Prospective University Students

Yesterday our campus was jam packed with young people when we held an Information Day for prospective students.  Many of them looked really young.  Perhaps that should not be too surprising.  The majority of them should be 18 when they enter university next year.  Now they may be barely 17.  

I could be predisposed. But it did appear to me that more females inquired at the health science booths, and they tend to be more vivacious.  At the engineering booths, on the other hand, many of the mostly male clientele seemed content to just hover on the periphery, hoping to snatch a pamphlet or souvenir without having to talk to someone.  I also noticed that many of the engineering booths had only one entrance/exit, which was often obstructed by people or exhibits. So that didn’t help either. 

What kind of student are we going to get next year?  It is well known that the secondary school system and the public examinations in Hong Kong favour students who are obedient, have a good memory, quick, and can optimise for the specific question and answer styles.  These are not exactly the type of students that we look for, but that is what we are going to get.  The fact that their scores at the open examinations do not correlate strongly with their performance in university is revealing, and damning.  

What kind of campus are they coming into?  I pray that people would leave us (teachers and students) alone.  A university is where you ask questions, discuss, learn and grow.  If the university administration is hostile to the students (such as exemplified by the infamous Mr. Li), if the establishment sets too-strict boundaries on what can and cannot be even discussed, if the professors are not allowed to teach and correct the students without undue interference, then I am afraid it is not conducive to learning and growing up.  

Many of the university students turn out to be mature and responsible - in spite of the obstacles posed by the system, not because of them.  This is testimony to the human spirit embodied by the students themselves and the efforts of many of their teachers.  We should applaud them.  Many of the adults in responsible positions certainly have not behaved in honourably ways.