Beijing is going to impose a National Security Law on Hong Kong, and possibly set up agencies in Hong Kong to enforce the law. It is, of course, deeply worrying.It has been said 99.9% of the people do not have to worry - that still leaves 7,000+ people who have to worry. That “99.9%” is, presumably, rhetorical - it still means quite a number of people are vulnerable.So, who? why? and how? Some pro-establishment types have already pointed fingers at some pro-democracy activists and said “you should worry!” How can people not?
Many have thus been crying: “One Country Two Systems is dead!” “Hong Kong is doomed!” “We might as well give up and move away from Hong Kong!”
I do not agree.
Yes, 1C2S is heavily eroded by the new law. In fact, it has been eroding alarmingly in the past several years. The Hong Kong government have been increasingly draconian. The pro-establishment have been increasingly strident. The police have been increasingly brutal and arbitrary. The hands from Beijing have been increasingly heavy.
Yet it is not completely dead yet. There is still some significant freedom that we enjoy that is not available on the Mainland. The police is not completely arbitrary nor always excessive. They do have a duty to carry out. We have to be honest with that. There are still room for some honest elections at the district and legislative levels, even though some are closed or heavily manipulated. The courts are still functioning reasonably well. There are still lawyers who are doing their best to ensure due process. And more.
Things have turned worse. But they can still turn better. Barricades that went up may still go down. Prejudice, privilege, blindness, evil do not always win. In the mean time, we should also examine ourselves and remove the prejudice, blindness and evil among ourselves. We have no right to criticise others when we are committing the same sins.
In 2010, PolyU had a new Vice-President for Academic Development, VP(AD), Prof. Walter Yuen, who had come over from University of California at Santa Barbara in the USA. He inherited the task to prepare for a major transition to take place formally in 2012 - the change from 3-years undergraduate programs to 4-years across Hong Kong, by cutting one year (Form 7) from secondary school.PolyU had decided to use that extra room in the curriculum to strengthen the General Education. The question then was: How?
The preparation for the transition had actually started a couple of years earlier. By early 2010, the university had already designed a system that some informally referred to as the “cafeteria” approach. Basically the students are offered a number of options, with a lot of subjects in a variety of areas, and the students have the freedom to choose what subjects they wish to study. The new VP(AD) wished to put in some core subjects to give the General Education program a more distinctive character and focus.
VP(AD) started a dialog with experts on general education from overseas who happened to be in Hong Kong, as well as internal PolyU academics. After much soul searching, focus was narrowed down to leadership development and service-learning - the former, presumably, for personal development and the later for the social development of the student. He then convened a crucial brainstorming session on the possibility of incorporating service-learning into the academic program in July 2010, with participation from the Dean of Students, Director of Student Affairs, Director of General Education Center, and several other people with relevant expertise and experience, such as Prof. Daniel Shek, a well-recognised expert in youth development, and Dr. K P Kwan, an expert on education development.
By 2020, PolyU had already had many years of experience in organising community service projects as extra-curricula activities, mainly by the Student Affairs Office. For several years, there have actually been a Community Service Learning Program (CSLP) which encouraged student projects, often advised by academics voluntarily, with hundreds of participants each year. Awards given to the best projects each year were well appreciated. There were even some intensive projects which demanded student efforts on a par with regular 3-credit academic subjects. Perhaps because of these developments, members at the brainstorming session were positive towards the idea. Nevertheless there were some concerns, such as funding, the lack of experience teachers, whether it should be compulsory, etc. After much discussion, at the brainstorming session, it was felt that it was possible to make service-learning a separate credit-bearing subject, and even compulsory for all undergraduate students. The first step would be to define the vision, objectives, key elements and intended learning outcomes, with suitable quality assurance.
In that very same summer, a team of 3 academics (Dr. Grace Ngai, Dr. Stephen Chan and Dr. Vincent Ng) from Department of Computing took a group of ~25 students to Cambodia to carry out an ambitious community service project. They sent small teams of ~4 students each to different locations around Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.
These were community centres for youths in slums run by an NGO set up by someone from the USA. The PolyU teams set up computer networks and run workshops on information technology, focusing on storytelling enhanced with computer technology.
The team also spent 2 days running workshops at a primary school for children living in the slums next to the city’s infamous garbage dump. Many of the kids scavenged for plastics, metals, glasses, etc., for recycling, alongside their parents. One team went to run workshops at an orphanage outside the city, run by missionaries from Hong Kong.
There we taught the kids to use a camera and to tell stories with their own photographs.
Yet another team worked at a shelter for girls trafficked for sex, run by two lady American missionaries, to improve their computer facilities. We ended up becoming close friends. When two of our students got sick on a 6-hour long long bus journey coming back to Phnom Penh from Siem Reap, the missionaries point us to an excellently run clinic where our students were well-taken care of by local Cambodian doctors.
We rewarded our students with a day trip to the world famous, 1,000 year old ruins of Ankor Wat. This project opened our eyes to what is possible when students are properly motivated and suitably trained, passionate academic staff with the right expertise are engaged to guide and supervise, good relations are built up with responsible partners, and projects with significant impact are realistically designed. This experience gave us much needed confidence to take on the challenge of making service-learning a core component of general education at PolyU.
The CSLP, the team that carried out the Cambodian project and others, and other related activities gave the VP(AD) and other concerned people the confidence that perhaps PolyU was ready to make service-learning a core component of our general education. A task force was subsequently formed to take the planning forward. The task force consisted of VP(AD), representatives from each of the 6 faculties and 2 schools, Education Development Center, the student union, and the Director of Student Affairs, with Ms. Jeice Cheung from Student Affairs Office as secretary. At that point, there was a little hiccup. The Task Force was chaired by a professor, the Director of General Education Center, who, somehow, could not be reached for quite some time. To take things forward, VP(AD) asked Dr. Stephen Chan, one of the leaders of the Cambodia venture in that summer, to take the initiative to move things forward. The Task Force was directed by VP(AD) to propose (1) the definition and scope of Service-Learning, (2) the mechanism of course approval and expected deliverables, and (3) the supporting administrative structure to support the implementation. The proposal would then be discussed at the upcoming Senate meeting in early December 2010.
While the proposal was being drafted, it was also decided to pilot run some service-learning courses before formally launching the program with the first cohort of students for the 4-year undergraduate students entering PolyU in 2020. The pilot courses will be offered as elective subjects for the current 3-year undergraduate programs. One of the first ones being designed was a subject to be offered by the Department of Computing, based on their past experience running technology-based community service projects in Hong Kong, Mainland China, as well as Cambodia. The pilot subjects will be offered in summer 2011.
Throughout the discussions, a consensus was building. The Task Force produced a proposal which, after a number of iterations with input from VP(AD), was finalised just in time for the Senate in early December. All undergraduates are required to take at least one 3-credit subject in service-learning, through which,
Students will be required to participate in substantial community service or civic engagement activities (40 hours) that will benefit the service users or the community in a meaningful way.
Apple the knowledge and skills acquired from their Major or other learning experiences at the university to the community service activities, and
Reflect on their service learning experience in order to link theory with practice, and to develop an enhanced sense of ethical, social and national responsibility.
These service-learning subjects will be offered by academic departments. A SL subject can be discipline-specific, designed for students who major in the discipline or otherwise having acquired the required discipline-specific knowledge and skills. Or it can be generic, having some content specific to the discipline, but nevertheless at a level suitable for students from other disciplines.
A central office will be set up to support the support the implementation of the service-learning initiative. It will assist departments in course development and liaison with community partners, staff development and training, risk management, acting as a resource center, conduct research and development, solicit donations, and otherwise promote the development of service-learning.
At the Senate, the proposal attracted rigorous discussions. Many issues were brought up. Some were concerned that PolyU was granting academic credit to volunteering - it was clarified that service-learning is much more than volunteer work and is in fact a legitimate academic learning pedagogy. Some were concerned that academics in hard sciences and engineering were not familiar with teaching “soft” skills such as reflection - it was pointed out that reflection is a common skill taught in social science and the university has plenty of academics who can train others to do so. Some were concerned that community service should be voluntary, rewarding the students with credit and even making it compulsory distorts their motivation in “doing good” - it was well noted as a possible issue, but it was also pointed out that many students have never had a chance to truly experience serving the community, taking one SL subject out of 40 subjects required for graduation is a suitable “trial” for the student such can subsequently decided whether to continue serving the community voluntarily. A long debate ensured. Finally, when most of major concerns seemed to have been considered, President Tong called for a vote. The proposal passed with the votes roughly in a four (for) to one (against) ratio. Voting at the Senate was not a common occurrence. Usually, by the time a proposal gets to the Senate, it had already gone through many level of deliberation and scrutinised by various stake holders such that most concerns had been dealt with. The vigorous debate indicated that there remained a diversity of opinion. On the other hand, the very large ratio of plurality also signified that the university community was highly in favour of the proposal.
That was the beginning of the era of rigorous, academic credit-bearing at PolyU.
The coronavirus have been causing tremendous suffering in the whole world, Hong Kong included. Our situation is far from the worse in the world. Still, more than a thousand have been infected, some people have died, and many are depressed because of the isolation. Many businesses have been forced to close, and a lot of people have lost their jobs. At least the situation is gradually improving and we can look forward to easing of the suffering.
Even more worrying is the renewed social conflict and the threatened National Security Law soon to be imposed.
Some people are going on the street to protest again. Many seem peaceful. But some are throwing things again, with face covered - we cannot tell whether they are truly protesters or agent provocateurs employed to induce other people to break the law so that they can be arrested. We cannot but worry that the violence would escalate.
Some police, again, are using seemingly excessive force to arrest people, apparently beating people and choking people even when they are down on the ground. They seem to continue to harass the reporters. We cannot but worry that our personal security and freedom is being threatened.
Many pro-establishment people are continuing to call dissenters cockroaches - the same dehumanising terms used by murderers in the Rwandan Genocide. They are firing people, disqualifying people, insulting people, cursing people, and in general abusing people simply for holding differing opinions. There is such hatred and vitriol that we cannot but worry that Hong Kong might depend into similar horror.
Some have tried to convince Hong Kong people that the vast majority do not have to fear the National Security Law. But how can people not worry when, on the Mainland, people looking into corruption have been put in jail, when lawyers defending dissidents have been put in jai, when Christians have been put in jail, when people criticising government actions and policies have been put in jail, when people protesting injustice have been put in jail? In the past we trust in the barrier under “One Country Two Systems”. Now Mainland laws are going to be imposed on Hong Kong, with Mainland agencies setting up in Hong Kong to execute Mainland laws. While there may be some excesses, Hong Kong people by and large trust in the justice system in Hong Kong. Now One Country Two Systems seems more and more like a slogan. How can people not be worried?
We know there are places elsewhere in the world that are suffering a much worse fate, economically, politically, personally. But we cannot but worry that what we have been enjoying are eroding rapidly. We are worried not so much for ourselves, but for our children, our young people. Our generation have been fortunate to live in a Hong Kong which has generally been growing, moving up, hopeful, opening up and confident in that our hard work will bring a better future.
Our children, however, seems to be living in a Hong Kong that is diminishing and shrinking in political freedom, economic vitality, and hope for the future.
We know we should not put our trust in political institutions, economic prosperity, and ultimately corrupted humans. We should put our trust in you, God of Heaven and Earth. But we are people of little faith. We cannot but worry when the prospects are bleak and getting bleaker.
God, have mercy on us, on Hong Kong, on all suffering people on earth! Help us to have faith in you. Help us repent on our wrong doings, return to You, and be kind to each other.
The perspective from Hong Kong is not promising. The coronavirus itself is actually reasonably under control - people have generally returned to work; schools are gingerly planning to re-open.But the virus is still raging in many countries and the extend of the aftermath is still not clear.Most worrying, however, is the political situation.The yellow-blue conflict sees no sign of abating, the establishment is increasingly strident and taking more and more draconian actions to suppress dissent.Granted, as many people are saying, that we are still enjoying much physical comfort, economical prosperity and relative personal freedom compared to many other places in the world. But we have lost much of what we used to enjoy and more importantly, the signs are that the worse is yet to come.
Stepping back to take in the bigger picture - the Holocaust happened 80 years ago but it is still raw for the Jewish people. We don’t hear much of it in Hong Kong but when I was in the USA, anti-Semitism has never been far from the consciousness. Hostility against the Jewish people seems to be spearheaded by more extreme factions of Muslims these days; but for thousands of years Christians were the chief persecutors of the Jews. Currently, the contest between the Israelis and the Palestinians for the same piece of land sees no promising resolution.
My own venture into service-learning in a foreign country started in Cambodia. The genocide there happened 40+ years ago but it has never seen proper closure. Different from the Jewish case and many others, it was perpetuated by Cambodians against Cambodians. I don’t know whether that makes it worse. But it does make it more difficult to comprehend.
Service-Learning also brought me to Rwanda, whose own version of genocide took place 20+ years ago - meaning that many of the killers are still active in society, living next to what is left of the families of their victims. It was Hutus against Tutsis - but it is generally believed that the two are essentially the same race. So this cannot be explained simply in racial terms either. A cold-sweat-inducing connection for us HongKongers is the use of the term “cockroaches” to dehumanise the victim, both in Rwanda and in Hong Kong. Will Hong Kong descend into Rwanda 1994? I shudder to think what might happen down the road when I hear some of my “friends” screeching the term with such vitriol.
But Rwanda also brings hope. Reconciliation is the emphasis now. The whole country is clean, hard working, vibrant, confident and hopeful. And the Christian churches are playing a key role in the very difficult process of reconciliation. Many people who have personally suffered, and lost many many family members are leaders in the effort to forgive and rebuild.
Similarly in South Africa. The genius and immense courage of Nelson Mandela, supported by many including the Christian churches, have prevented the bloodbath predicted by many, when the Apartheid regime was dismantled. Today South Africa continue to face many problems. But the country is one of the most prosperous in Africa, enjoys relative freedom, and is looking optimistic.
The Christian churches have also played a positive role in Eastern Europe, when the Soviet Union collapsed. Many Eastern European countries continue to face challenges. But there is no mass exodus from these countries even though their citizens are not fenced in like before.
Church churches have a history as long as the colonial one in Hong Kong. They built schools, hospitals, and may charities. They continue to be respected and enjoy much freedom to preach and practice. An estimated 10-20 % of the population are Christians, depending on whose numbers you believe. Unfortunately, mainline churches seem to be concerned more about when worship service can resume, rather than ministering to those who are deeply troubled, hurt, or agonising over the social injustices and conflicts. If anything, many stand with the establishment rather than the oppressed, due presumably to the desire to “obey the authorities”.
Churches could and perhaps should show us a way out. But sadly, it appears that they aren’t, so far.
Earlier this year, Hong Kong people scoured the world for masks to protect ourselves from the coronavirus. At that point the government claimed that we should not wear masks. And the world laughed at us scrambling for masks. Fortunately we did not listen to our government, and ignored the derision - considering our safely to be more important than looking silly or disobedient.
One of our foreign students helped us source 25,000 masks from overseas. Most of that went to our colleagues and friends.
A few months later, the coronavirus is seemingly under control for now in Hong Kong. And masks of all sorts are expensive but at least available. In early May, we decided to ship the remaining 1,500 masks to our friends in Rwanda, where masks are scarce as well as expensive relatively to local wages.
We repacked the masks to reduce the volume and the total weight, and sent them away without too much trouble. We tracked the package to London and then it got stuck. The shipping company cannot find a plane to fly the package to Rwanda. Similar to many countries, Rwanda is still in lockdown. Rwandans are allowed to return, but otherwise no one is coming into Rwanda.
Despite all our efforts, our masks have not yet reached our friends in Rwanda. We can do nothing else but pray for the restrictions to be lifted. In the mean time, we pray that our friends stay safe.
In a normal year, I will be seeing them sometime in June, on yet another service-learning project, mostly likely installation of solar panels and indoor wiring for lighting for another hundred of households, somewhere to the southeast of Kigali. Right now, however, I have no idea when I will be able to see them again.
The government, the police, the pro-establishment politicians and sympathisers have been droning on the violence and advocacy of independence on the part of the anti-establishment protesters. That is not very reasonable because the violent faction is relatively small; the majority 和理非 (peaceful-rational-nonviolent, peaceful) faction is in general opposed to the violence and only refuse to cut their ties with the violent faction reluctantly. Same situation with the independence faction.
A small violent faction is no threat to the establishment - since the police holds the overwhelming advantage in terms of weapons and training. A small pro-independence faction is similarly no threat because they have no popular support, and no venue into the power structure - including the government, the district councils and the legislature.
Hence a logical tactic from the establishment would be to isolate the violent/independent factions by appealing to the peaceful faction. Instead, by lumping the peaceful faction with the violent faction, the establishment is exaggerating the size of the violent faction and pushing the peaceful faction towards more violence.
Unless that is really the purpose. Come to think of it, lumping the peaceful with the violent makes it easier to justify the draconian police action against the protesters. Otherwise how do you justify cracking the skulls of and suffocating the people singing in the shopping mall?
The district elections in November 2019 taught everyone, including the establishment, the potential power of the peaceful faction. When they are suitable mobilized, they can exhibit tremendous power, even under the present highly manipulated political structures. The establishment would not admit it, but it is the size and potential of the peaceful and rational faction that they are most fearful of. Many of peaceful are in the middle class, professionals, with the knowledge, education, experience, connections, resources, to make use of legal means to make their voices heard. They are the ones who are capable of standing for election, forming unions, getting into the functional constituencies, mobilising their colleagues and friends, to fight within the system, to force changes in the system.
The aim of the establishment is not so much to fight the violent faction. The real, larger, objective is to neutralise, vilify the peaceful faction so that the establishment can retain their control over the political system.
The violence is just a red herring.
Let us not fall into the trap. Those of us who are truly opposed to the violence should make it clear where we stand. We advocate peaceful, rational and non-violent means to fight for social justice. This is what I believe our faith would compel us to do. Here we stand.; we cannot do otherwise.
Recently my wife has been having some problems with her teeth. The dentist, Dr. T, couldn’t find anything physically wrong with her teeth. But he thought she might be having 熱氣 (re qi, literally “hot air”). The concept of "qi" is quite unique to Chinese medicine and is really difficult to translate, even though the word is the same as the one for “air”, “vapour”, etc. He suggested she eat something 涼（“cool”）, such as watermelon.
Initially we were sceptical, but saw no harm in trying. And it worked. So we have been eating and learning more about watermelons lately. But we also have to be careful to not eat too much, otherwise we might become too “cool” - that might lead to other problems. Our preferences so far are watermelons from Malaysia and Taiwan. They are not cheap, at roughly 8 Hong Kong dollars a pound, but good quality.
The concept of food as medicine is deeply ingrained in Chinese culture, even though I know very little of it. For example, I just learned that tamarind can be good for upset stomach, constipation, and other ailments.
I do know that crocodile meat is good for certain kinds of coughs, but not all kinds. But I do not know which kinds.
The whole thing is very complicated. But the general concept of “hot” and “cool” as applied to the body and the food you eat is evidently quite practically useful. Our parents are much more knowledgeable about these things than we do. It will be a pity if we do not carry it on. Fortunately, at least one of our daughters seems quite interested in it, and probably knows more than we do already.
A large bag of paper, mostly old newspapers, weighting roughly 6 kilograms, is worth 3 Hong Kong dollars, at the recycling depot. For many old people, mostly ladies as far as I can tell, this is a hard way to make a living.For many others, such as my wife, the money is not an issue; people just want to help.
I understand the paper is not actually processed in Hong Kong. Rather, they are pressed, packed and then shipped to Mainland China for processing. This really reflects poorly on Hong Kong’s efforts in recycling. But such is our government. What can one say?
On the other hand, there are people in Hong Kong running a small business recycling paper beverage carton boxes. They require you to cut open the boxes, cut off the plastic parts, clean the boxes and then deposit them at the collection bins.
There are few collection bins and they are not easy to find. I know because I tried, upon instructions from my wife. You get no money back. It is not required by the government. And people still do it. It is quite amazing. Some even mail the boxes to the company. Such are Hong Kong people. I have nothing but admiration for them.
I am sure we can do a lot more recycling in Hong Kong, if only the government does a little more organization, and gives the people a little more help. Is that too much to expect from your government?
I have seen tamarind in Cambodia, and in fact all over South East Asia. Finally I tasted it in Laos in September 2019, on an exploring trip looking for a potential site as well as partner for service-learning. I also got to see tall tamarind trees bearing thousands of pods. It was my friend Sam who showed me the trees, and also how to eat it.
When I saw it in a supermarket in Hong Kong today, I got some for my wife to taste. The flesh inside the shell is dark brown, slightly sweet and a bit sour.
Then I look it up online, and realized that it is very useful. It can be used for food and also medicine. For example, a version of Tom Yum soup (冬蔭功) derive its sourness from tamarind.
I have heard of 羅望子 before, and I heard that it can be used to add sourness to food. I have also known tamarind for many years, from my trips to South East Asia. But I hadn’t connected the two until today.
On the one hand, you truly learn something new everyday. On the other hand, so many things that so not seem related may turn out to be surprisingly connected. The world can seem big, but also small, at the same time.
While the coronavirus forces the world to cancel traditional classes and turn to e-learning, it also turns many traditional examinations into e-examinations. We have even less experience with e-exams than e-learning. Hence it is not surprising that it is now throwing up a set of new issues. But it also illuminates a set of long-existing, deep-seated issues.
First things first. Some teachers are asking students to take the examination on line at a prescribed time, using a specified software. Many people immediately cry “zoombombing”, presumably referring to the unwanted intrusion into a video conference by unauthorised persons. In reality, zoombombing is possible only when the host of the video conference neglects to implement basic precautions such as password, waiting room, etc. Many such worries can be addressed by proper, easy procedures.
Some scream “invasion of privacy” when the students are asked to prove their identity - perhaps with their HKID card and/or student ID card. Such are actually standard procedure at the regular examinations at most universities. Students may not wish anyone beyond the invigilator to see their ID. But such can be arranged, e.g., by having a virtual private room with restricted access for identity verification. There is additional risk when this process is conducted online. But such risks are not that much different from what happens when you have to supply credit card, phone number, email address, or other kinds of personal information for the purpose of purchasing, submitting an application, etc. Such is the risk we have to take, in order to reap the benefits of online transactions. Hopefully balance can be struck somewhere that can be satisfactory to the largest number of stake-holders. It may not be easy to satisfy all. But such as life.
It is quite educating to observe that those who scream the loudest, are most agitated, and urging most aggressive actions do not seem to be the actual students involved, but bystanders. Is it because they understand the threats better than the students themselves? I doubt it, based on what I can understand from some of the online chatrooms. Rather, I suspect, it is because the bystanders are not the ones who have to take the action, to protest, to organise, to confront, hence having to bear the consequences of the action. In most cases. the bystanders are anonymous. They do not have to bear the consequences of the action they are urging.
Let me back off a little from the nitty-gritty to see the bigger picture. The targets of attention seem to be a small number of classes from different universities which are taking relatively strong action to ensure the integrity of the e-examinations - by checking identify, asking the students to take the e-exam at the same time, turning on the camera so that the invigilator can see the student, etc. It seems that many lecturers are letting the students take the e-exam at home, without any effort to ensure it is the intended student who is taking the examination without help. It seems some lecturers have a lot faith in their students performing honourably.
If I were a honest student, I would be quite upset. In a regular examination in an examination hall, everyone is taking the exam under the same conditions. But such is not the same with e-exams. While I am taking the e-exam by myself, my fellow classmates may be working on the exam together through social media, or receiving help somewhere. All the time the subject lecturer does nothing to prevent this from happening. Is that fair? Is this not dereliction of duty? Who do I sue? Perhaps I should seek some help as well? Is it assumed that everyone seeks help? So if I don’t, I am being foolish? Can we discuss this? Is this discussed somewhere? What kind of education system is this?
Actually this is an old and well-known problem. At the universities, there are many professors who do not want to spend a lot of time on the mundane matter of teaching. They would rather spend their time doing research, which is a much surer way to achieve fame and fortune in the academic world these days. Hence the minimal effort to conduct e-exams when it is needed. When questioned, they might say that there is no evidence that the students are cheating. They may even say no one has told them what to do in such situations. Surely, when one is not checking, there will not be evidence. Just like the tests for the coronavirus - when one is not (or doing very little) testing, there will be no (or very little) confirmed cases of infection. Ignorance is bliss.
So, the new reality of e-examination is throwing up some new phenomenon as well as some old ones.
But all is not to despair - yet. There are plenty of honourable students as well as professors. Right at this moment, I know many professors are spending a lot of time setting interesting and challenging examination questions, and designing the examination protocols to ensure the integrity and fairness of the examinations. All the time knowing that they may actually attract questions and challenges from students as well as colleagues. But they still do it because they believe this is what professors do. There are also many many students studying hard, determined to do their best in a honourable way. I just pray that the honourable way can be as infectious as the virus.
Why am I so keen on making things that balance, particularly those that seem precarious? First of all it is fun. Because it surprises.Things that, at first glance, appears that it should fall.And yet it doesn’t.Even when you disturb it, it may sway back and forth.Yet it soon sways less and less, and sits still again. Even though I have watched them so many times, I never get tired.
When you understand the principle, it seems so reasonable. And so elegant. It is gravity. That seems to explain everything. However, when I think deeper, I realise that I do not understand gravity at all. What exactly is it? What causes it? How does it actually work - even in a vacuum? Why does it have to be this way? I understand, yet I do not fully understand.
Above all, it is simply beautiful.
And it happens not only with physical things. The same happens with my job - teaching, service-learning.
Just this afternoon, I listened to a great presentation by Prof. Emily Chan, a professor from the Chinese University. She teaches students to go to places to help people who suffer from disasters and other problems. She is very good at it, teaching, researching, organising, and a lot more. It is very impressive. For that she was given a University Grants Committee Outstanding Teaching Award. She does not use the term service-learning. But what she does is very similar to what we do.
She made a point that resonates with me. She said you have to treat the people that you serve as equal. You are sending your students there to learn - you are using the people, the local environment and their problem as training ground to teach your students. You have to really give them help with their problems, to be fair to them. I cannot remember her exact words, so I am trying to paraphrase here. That resonates because it is also what I believe - you have to balance the benefits to us (our students) with the benefits to them (the people you are helping). If our students are not learning, we cannot justify it to the university. If the local people are not benefiting, we cannot justify bothering them.
If the relationship is not balanced it is not sustainable. The side that is not receiving a real benefit despite the effort put in tends to drop out. Hence if it is a well-structured project lasting many years, the relationship tends to be healthily balanced and stable. It is just like my bird that is properly balanced. It may swing back and forth for a while. But if it is properly designed, it will settle into a balanced and stable position.
The need for balance is more important if it is a hefty project, requiring significant effort and making a meaningful impact. When a hefty project is properly balanced, it can be very stable, not easily disturbed by problems and challenges, and lasting a long time. Interestingly, the same applies to my bird and other balancing installations. Light weight installations can be easily blown off balance by a small breeze. A weighty installation, on the other hand, tend to be much more stable.
When there is real learning for our students, and real benefits for our friends in Mainland China, Cambodia, Rwanda, Myanmar, Vietnam, Indonesia, …, it is beautiful.
Balancing seems to pop up everywhere. It is certainly also extremely important in life, but this post is running long enough.
