Mid-Autumn (中秋)

I do not particularly like the modern style mooncakes - those “iced skin”, “runny heart”, etc.  Not that they do not taste good.  Just that they do not feel like “real” moon cakes.  

My wife bought me some real ones: “ham with 5 kinds of nuts (火腿五仁月餅)”.  I remember that I did not quite like it when I was small, but my father did.  And now I do.  How did it happen?  Is it because the aroma that I experienced in childhood became associated with memories of my father?  Or simply that as I grow older my tastes became more like my father’s?  In any case my wife confirms with me that it does taste good.  

She also bought and boiled some mini taros （芋頭）, another food that we ate once a year at Mid-Autumn Festival.  

Just this afternoon I got a pomelo （柚子）from our Staff Association.  It is bright yellow, and from a certain angle, from a distance one can mistake it for the moon.  

It is raining tonight.  Chances are that we won’t be able to see the moon from Hong Kong.  Fortunately, my colleagues have created a replacement using our office’s logo.   

One of our three daughters came home for dinner, and we ate a lot of fruits and mooncakes afterwards.  Knowing that our other two daughters are safe and sound, even though they are away from Hong Kong, my Mid-Autumn festival is complete.  

A University President

Joseph Sung (沈祖堯), formerly vice-chancellor and president of the Chinese University of Hong Kong,  is quite well-known among university students. He tried hard to interact with the students, to understand them, and to guide them in the way that he believes university students should behave. As far as I can tell, from his writings and speeches, he wants them to love learning, to be curious, to follow their own hearts, to be humble and respectful towards their teachers as well as others, and be responsible.  There are many things in his new book that I find quite agreeable.  And I would like to think that service-learning is an excellent way to achieve some of the qualities that he has been promoting.  

One incident involving him stuck in my mind.  In 2016 we were organising a conference on service-learning to be held on our campus.  Because of his popularity among students and what we knew about his views towards community engagement, we decided to invite him to be a keynote speaker for the conference.  We didn’t quite know how he would respond, given that there is certainly an atmosphere of friendly competition among the universities in Hong Kong.   It turned out he accepted very quickly.  I remember going over to his office to brief him on the conference, and he was very kind and courteous, even though he was very busy.  

We were all very excited.  When he actually came to speak at the conference, he talked about his own experience, particularly in going with the students to carry out community service projects in China.  It was quite touching and very well received.  

People may not realise it is not common for the president of a university in Hong Kong to speak at another university in Hong Kong.  You are more likely to see the president of a university from the Mainland, or some foreign country, speaking at your university, rather than one from another university in Hong Kong.  I leave it to you to explain why. 

Children with special need

My wife and I were eating at a food court in Hung Hom.  I noticed there was a family of 4 sitting on the opposite side of the table.  There was a boy of roughly 10 years old and a girl perhaps 2 years younger.  The parents were feeding the children.  I thought it was a bit indulgent since the children seemed to be of an age when they should be able to eat by themselves.  But I didn’t want to pry or to stare. 

Suddenly, a hand reached across the table to grab my water cup, spilling some of the water.  I was startled and instinctively reached out to steady the cup.  The parents reached out to stop the boy, and started to apologise.  

It was only then that I realised that the boy seemed mentally handicapped.  He was not able to speak and only made occasional single syllable sounds.  He could not hold a spoon or fork properly.  Apparently he had finished his cup of water; that was why he reached for mine.  He did not seem to have a clear sense of private property.  The father, on the far left, seemed to be responsible for feeding the girl, sitting in the near left; while the mother, on the far right, was responsible for the boy, on the near right.  More than once, the boy grabbed the girl’s food and tried to stuff it in his mouth, but ended up spilling the food.  The father got a bit upset and scolded the boy, saying that he did not deserve to eat because he spilled the food.  The boy did not show any sign that he felt guilty.  I suspected that the boy had the mental age of only 1-2.  The girl seemed to be similar, although she seemed to be in better self control, or perhaps she was just more timid.  

The father watched his watch several times.  Then he said the time was almost up and they’d better get going.  And they left.  

I suspect it is rather unusual to have 2 children with special needs in the same family.  Was it hereditary?  Something in the genes, perhaps?

Even though the father scolded the boy for grabbing and spilling the food, I got a feeling that the parents do love the children.  They wore clean clothes.  They looked healthy, neither too thin nor too fat.  The parents fed the children with care.  They seemed to be taking the children to some kind of program, perhaps at a community centre nearby.  I felt there is a loving relationship in the family.  

But the parents must be hard pressed to take care of their children.  They must always be on the alert when the children are prone to cause a disturbance whenever there are other people around.  The situation will get worse when the children continue to grow physically but not mentally.  I have a cousin who is now in his 50s with a mental age of around 5; I do have some understanding of what the situation is like.  

We don’t know the family.  We have never met them before and we have not met them again since.  But we feel for them, and we have been praying for them.  On the other hand, who does not have demons to deal with?  It is just that some demons are more visible and obvious.  Perhaps the invisible ones are actually more insidious.  

Broken Window Theory (Hong Kong version)

Why are so many broken windows in this group of buildings in Hung Hom?  

They include a hotel, office and residential buildings.  

All built by the same developer, in similar styles.

There are other hotels, office and residential buildings in the same area.  

None suffer such extensive damage.  

One obvious possible explanation is the (poor) quality of the glass used.   

These images have already become an icon of the (shoddy) business practices of some of the real estate developers in Hong Kong.  

Super-typhoon watching

The typhoon did not hit Hong Kong directly, passing by within 100 kilometers.  Yet it was felt keenly.   Several big panes of glass were blown off the office building opposite our window.  

The bus station next to the Hung Hom MTR station was completely empty. A rare sight. 

At the entrance to the cross harbour tunnel at Hung Hom, occasionally a taxi would drive through.  Otherwise it was devoid of vehicles.  It was so "quiet" it was eerily. A few people were bracing the wind and rain on the pedestrian walkway.  

At the Hotel ICON, guests watched the gusting wind, flapping advertising canvases, wild rain, and occasional ambulance flashing by, …, and the hotel staff straining to secure the glass door.  The staff worry about not being able to go home after finishing their shifts.  

Everyone seemed to be safe. 

I realised we were the fortunate ones.  We didn’t dare go near the water.  And we did pray for safety for everyone.  Now we have one more day to recover from the typhoon.  

Super-typhoon

On the morning (on Saturday) before the once-in-a-lifetime super-typhoon hits Hong Kong, I went running, as usual.  It allowed me to see how people go around with their lives in anticipation of the typhoon.  

I passed by the old temple in Kowloon city which sits there as it has been doing for decades.  I remember being confused because it uses the words “上帝”, which many Chinese Christians use to refer to the Christian God, while 廟 usually refers to a  temple in the Chinese tradition.  It turned out that it refers to one of the Chinese god (北極玄天上帝, 北帝, 上帝),  rather than the Christian God.  It does not care much about the typhoon, apparently. 

At Wong Tai Sin (黃大仙下邨), a bunch of seniors sat in the park, as usual.  They also do not seem to be worried about the typhoon. 

Near Diamond Hill, I passed through a peaceful cluster of schools around a shared sports ground, where several kids were giggling something.  Only 100 meters away is the crematorium (鑽石山火葬場).  I wonder what kind of ghost stories the students tell each other.  

Downhill from the crematorium, at Ngau Chi Wan village (牛池灣鄉), a road side restaurant serving inexpensive dim sum was full.  

People there did not seem too worried. 

The Ngau Chi Wan market nearby was very crowded.  People seemed to be stocking up.  Here people are buying even less expensive take-away dim sum.  

At the King of Three Mountains Temple (三山國王廟) next to Ping Shek Estate (坪石邨), there were few worshippers.  Perhaps they think this is not the right god to protect them against typhoons?

In the evening, when my wife and I went to the supermarket after church service to buy some apples, many racks were completely empty.  

A nearby bakery’s welcome mat still said “welcome”, but there were almost nothing to buy.  

It is reported that people are buying so much plastic tape to tape up their windows that the price was driven up 10 times at some shops.  People seem worried. 

As I am typing (on Sunday morning), typhoon signal number 9 is raised.  Typhoon Mangkhut is roughly 250 km to our East-South-East, with wind at its centre around 185 kmh.  Winds in Hong Kong is up to 100 kmh already.  I suppose we should pay attention. 

Faith and Education

Each year the University Grant Committee hands our three Teaching Awards to the academic staff in the universities in Hong Kong.  Sometimes the award is given to an individual, sometimes it is given to a team, represented by its leader.  This year, all three awardees are Christians.  One of the three is a Protestant while a second is a Catholic.  Among the three, two explicitly acknowledged God in their short acceptance speech.  

It is said that only 5% of the general population in Hong Kong are Christians. But it is believed that the percentage among academics is much higher.   In this case, among the UGC teaching awardees, it is 100%.  

Why are so many Christians teachers?  And why are so many good teachers Christians?  Is it possible that this is much in common between faith and education?  I suppose, to be a teacher, to be involved in education, one has to have faith in human nature.  At least, one has to believe in the potential of a person to be educated.  And faith in God can be a strong reason for faith in human beings.  

On the other hand, education can be a way to inform and nurture faith.  Some might even go so far to say that education provides the solid foundation for a strong, educated  faith.  

East Timor and Indonesia

I went to listen to Jose Ramos-Horta last Friday at the University of Hong Kong.  The title of his talk was Peace and World Security: Building a New International Dialogue. I wasn’t sure what he was going to talk about.  But I was curious about East Timor.  It fought a long war against Indonesia and is now independent.  Indonesia happens to be roughly 200 times the size of East Timor in terms of population, which happens to be roughly the same ratio between China and Hong Kong.  

East Timor is the eastern half of the island of Timor, on the southern edge of the Indonesia archipelago.  It had been occupied by Portugal since the 1500s.  In 1975, it declared independence from Portugal.  Indonesia invaded immediately, and occupied East Timor for 20+ years.  During this time, Indonesia ruled East Timor brutally, and some foreign observers described it as genocide.   The East Timorese never gave up. 

Ramos-Horta was a key person campaigning for a just and peaceful solution to the conflict.  He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996, together with the Roman Catholic priest Carlos-Belo.  

In 2002, under pressure from the United Nation and other countries, Indonesia relinquished control, and East Timor became independent. Ramos-Horta became president of East Timor from 2007 to 2012.  He has been working for the United Nations in various capacities since then.  

The two countries maintain cordial relationships.  I learned from Ramos-Horta that East Timor students are allowed to attend Indonesian universities, paying the same fees as Indonesians.  It is amazing that such a small country as East Timor can win against an enemy 200 times bigger than itself, and eventually achieve a peaceful solution.  What can we learn from their experience?  

Running on Nathan Road in the morning

There are many advantages of coming out to run in the morning.  There are hardly anybody on Nathan Road.  

So you don’t need to worry about avoiding people on the sidewalk, not even cars on the road.  You can run on the road if you wish.  I ran in the middle of Nathan Road many times during the days of the Occupy Movement.  But not since then.  In the early morning you can, if you dare. 

Passing through Yau Ma Tei, there is another of the 2,000+ elderlies trying to earn a few dollars by picking up cardboard.  We have probably seen them too often to think too much about it.  But if we really think about it, how sad it is that they have to do this in their old age?  What if they happen to be our parents?  Relatives?  Will we care more?

As I turned around in Cheung Sha Wan, near some of the industrial buildings, I passed by a food stall which was offering relatively inexpensive meals.  

I poked my head in.  The place looked decent.  I can eat here, I thought.  But not now.  I still had a run to finish.  

Near the end of my run, I passed by an elegant old building which has been preserved.  That is quite a pleasant surprise considering this is Hong Kong, where we have a habit of tearing down old buildings - say they are not old enough or not well-preserved enough to be preserved!  It is now run as a medicine shop and sort of small museum.  

Exactly at the end of my run in Yau Ma Tei, I passed by old Duck Yue (德如).  It seems to have been mothballed for years.  Yet it is still there.  I wonder what is going to happen to it.  It is so sad to see these old establishments disappearing one by one.  

I am glad I made myself go out to run this morning.  I am now working in the office, pleasantly tired physically, but mentally more relaxed and actually feeling fresh.  For the record, I ran 4 times this week, for a total of 50 kilometers.  I am happy.  

Leadership and Service-Learning as General Education

In 2010, PolyU decided to make leadership and service-learning core elements of the general education section of all our undergraduate programs.  All undergraduates are required to take one subject in leadership and another one in service-learning.  The policy was developed under the leadership of the then Vice-President for Academic Development Professor Walter Yuen, and came into effect in 2012.  The policy has been implemented successfully with the hard work of many people.  The first cohort of students admitted under this policy graduated in 2016.  Currently roughly 4,000 students take leadership and service-learning subjects each year.  

In 2016, the team that spear-headed the service-learning effort was given the University Grants Committee Teaching Award.  I am very honoured to have been part of the team.  

In 2018, the team that spear-headed the leadership effort is given the same UGC Teaching Award.  

It is strong vindication of the design of the general education program at PolyU, particularly the leadership and service-learning elements.  We can all be very proud.  We have already started the process of integrating leadership education with service-learning, to take both to the next level and achieve broader and deeper impact.  These continue to be challenging and exciting times.