Let the Scientists Take Charge

It is a Friday evening.  Normally the buses are full of people going home after work, or going out for a relaxing night out.  The roads and cross-harbour tunnel are jammed with cars taking people here and there.  

This evening, there are much fewer cars coming and going.  Even more telling, very few people are in the buses.  Very few people are getting off buses, or waiting for buses at the bus stops.  

It is, of course, mainly because of the social distancing caused by the corona virus.  But if you listen to the people talking, it is much more alarming than that.  Many people are talking about emigrating, leaving Hong Kong, for good.  Most profess to continue to love Hong Kong, but despair of the scary and even suffocating political situation.  

When the government officials come our to make announcements, many people, well educated and normally calm and collected, breaks out into curses and angry words.  The government, obviously, has lost all credibility with many of the citizens.  They have demonstrated, again and again, that they are arrogant, disconnected with the reality of life in the street, negligent with their duties to ensure public safety.  

Worse yet.  Some of them have demonstrated cowardice, others ignorance, vengefulness, hatred towards young people, or corruption.  Just when the people need someone whom they can trust to lead the fight agains the virus, they cannot trust the government officials to do so.  

Let me make a proposal here.  Let the government step away from the podium.  Let the doctors and scientists take the leadership in the fight against the virus.  This way, at least the people can trust that the decisions are not made for political expediency.   The people have to rally around someone.  Most people, obviously, find it difficult to rally around government officials that they do not trust, nor respect. There is a general feeling, based on past and current performance, that the doctors and scientists can be trusted to be objective, knowledgeable, and relatively free of political motivations.  Let them help us rebuild trust in our public institutions.  

El fresco dining - Hong Kong style

It has now spawn numerous jokes, satires, lamentations and more.  On Wednesday, the Hong Kong government banned all in-restaurant dining, in a bid to slow down the virus from spreading.  Previously, it had already banned dinner. Now it is banning breakfast and lunch. 

It does make sense - as an attempt to further enforce social distancing.  However, people still have to find a place to eat.  Where are they supposed to go?  At our university, most students do not come to campus anymore.  But many staff still have to.  As are many workers on various construction, maintenance, repair, …, projects.  For example, my door, which was damaged during the occupation last November, has not yet been completely fixed, more than half a year afterwards.   Our own staff can generally eat at their office or some common room.  But not these workers from outside.  Hence our university has set up a covered area, with social distancing and ventilation, for them. Some churches and community organisations have also done something similar.  Lots of people in the community are trying to help. 

That still left many workers having to eat on sidewalks, telephone booths, park benches, under an umbrella when it rains, crowded together because of lack of space, even in public toilets, …, in unsanitary and unhealthy environments.   While lots of properly designed, air-conditioned spaces sit empty.   It does not make a lot of sense.  

Now the government is scrambling to provide lunch areas from their community centers, and is rumoured to be relaxing the ban.  

Why does this scenario sound so familiar.  With so many highly-paid, powerful government officials in our government, why are the policies so often half-baked, full of loopholes and obvious deficiencies?  Not so long ago, the government was claiming that their policies on social distancing were very precise.  This certainly does not look very precise to us.  

Running with mask on

Starting today, we have to wear a mask both inside and outside.  No exemption for exercise.  So I went running this morning with the thinnest mask that I could find.  The sky was clear, the sun was bright, and the temperature was 33 degrees Celsius.  

At the beginning, I was breathing normally, through the nose. 

5 minutes into the run, the mask started to moisten up.  It started to be difficult breathing through my nose.  I started to breathe through my mouth, which made the moisture worst. 

10 minutes into the run, the mask felt wet. I found it difficult to breathe. 

15 minutes in, the mask was drenched with sweat.  I would have suffocated if I did not  pull the sides of the mask out to let the air in.  Then it dawned on me that this is how waterboarding work.  They make you lie face up, put a piece of cloth over your face and then pour water over it.  They are drowning you with just a little water.  That was what I was doing to myself.  No, that was what the government was doing to me - making me waterboard myself.  

I looked around, there were nobody within 10 meters., not even 20 meters  Why did I have to wear a mask?  Except that someone in the government decided that we all have to?  The government might as well say “no exercise”.  

I have a feeling the one who decided to make us wear a mask while exercising does not exercise.  Even if you manage to breathe with a wet mask on, breathing in your own exhaust while exercising cannot be good for you.  And what is the point to wear a mask when there is no one near you?

Our government is full of people who knows little or nothing about the things they are setting policies on.  Such as making us exercise with a mask.  Such as deciding on our education system when they send their children away from Hong Kong.  Such as deciding on our public transport when they do not use public transport themselves.  Such as deciding on public housing when they do not even set foot inside public housing.   The list goes on.  No wonder they do not understand why people are angry. 

Run to Anderson Road 安達臣道

Yesterday (Saturday) I ran up to the quarry on Anderson Road.  

Passing by the old Kowloon City ferry pier, some people were enjoying the breeze on the waterfront.  Out in the harbour the land continues to be reclaimed.  That has been a large part of the story in Hong Kong for a long time.  Our family, like many others, currently lives in a high rise in Hung Hom which was built on reclaimed land, near the old Hung Hom Ferry (not the current one). 

Passing through Sun Po Kong, I passed by Nga Tsin Wai Village 衙前圍村, a village being demolished.  Everybody had already been driven out.  This is also something Hong Kong has been good at - demolishing our own history and heritage.  For now, the evacuated houses are still sitting next to the Kai Tak River 啟德河.  It is called a river, but it looks more like a ditch.  

Running up old Clear Water Bay Road, I was struck by how much living and working space have been carved out of mountains.  

Hong Kong has long been struggling with the land and the sea, to create space for ourselves.  We have learned to do that and we are confident doing that.  Right now, however, we are faced with a virus and a political threat that seem even more intractable.  

Anderson Road has evolved over the years.  It is now broken up in the middle.  Its function as a road has largely been taken up by a new road, On Sau Road 安秀道, which passes through two new housing estates: On Tai Estate 安泰邨 and On Tat Estate 安達邨.  Soon there will be more.  It was a huge quarry around here, and the signs are still everywhere.  Hong Kong has been very successful in building on mountains.  

The view up here is great.  You are at the same level of Fai Ngo Shan.  Here, you are living higher above most other people in Hong Kong.  The air feels clearer and cleaner.  It is less crowded.  The problem is getting in and out.  Last time I came on public transport, and it took a long time.  This time I ran, and it took much longer.  Running up old Clear Water Bay Road is excruciating.  And it is much worse on a hot summer day.  Coming up through Sau May Ping is no better. 

Coming down through Sau May Ping, I had a chance to visit the Temple for the Monkey King again.  The yellow-coloured temple is set in the middle of several others, dedicated to Kwun Yum, etc.  

The Monkey King 美猴王, “Emperor co-equal with Heaven” 齊天大聖,  was, of course, a fictional character, a very interesting one. 

A monkey 石猴 who became human，an officer the court of the Emperor of Heaven taking care of horses 弼馬溫,   a follower of the monk who travelled to the west 孫悟空, and finally a buddha 鬥戰勝佛.  

Coming back down to Kwun Tong, I passed by another small temple sitting under a big tree.  Big rocks and big trees are often considered special, revered as the abode of the local god who takes care of the neighbourhood.  There are probably hundreds of such little temples.  

I was exhausted.  I had to take the MTR home.  I feel entitled to take the rest of the day off, to recover.  

Service-Learning, with virtual STEM

We had planned to send 400 students to service-learning projects in 7 foreign countries this summer.  All are cancelled by the virus, of course.  One of the teams has completely redesigned their project, creating a set of STEM projects for children.  These will be deployed in Hong Kong, for a primary school. 

Several teams have produced different projects, with different kits, each with their own lesson plans.  

They have to produce hundreds of kits that they have designed for their students.  Many thousands of parts have to be cut, using laser cutter machines.  

Using our own machines, machines in the library, machines in the Industrial Center.  We are grateful to have so much help.  

Then they have to be packaged, with instructions, to the students at the school, and sent in a hurray because the lessons are starting.  

Most of the teaching and guidance in assembling and experimentation have to be done online.  

Other teams are going to use these or similar projects for children in a number of foreign countries, tentatively including Vietnam and Rwanda.  Tentative, because the plans are being developed and modified as I write.  

We have amazing students and teachers.  We also have amazing partners inside PolyU, outside in Hong Kong, and in several foreign countries.  Those are reasons we are able to scramble to keep projects going, even though the virus had cancelled all our original projects, not just overseas but also local.  In fact, we have gone to Plan B, C, D, …

We are also trying to help the other service-learning teachers to adapt their projects, find new partners, change the way we teach, …

It is challenging times, but also exciting times.  We are finding that the investment we made in previous years in cultivating long term, mutually beneficial relationships with our numerous partners are paying off in difficult times like these.  

We are learning as much as our students.  

Service-Learning, virtually

We had great plans for our service-learning class for this summer.  One team will go to Cambodia and collaborate with other teams on our community learning centre in Kampong Speu that we have been building up over several years.  A second team will go to Rwanda to work on providing electricity to hundreds of households at a new site, by installing solar panels and wiring up the houses, again collaborating with a number of other teams.  A third team, also collaborating with other teams, will be going to Tanzania to install solar panels - this being our first foray to Tanzania, which I have visited twice to set up.  

The coronavirus, of course, changed everything.  At first we tried to delay the trips until later in summer.  Then perhaps at least one trip in winter.  For many of the students who must finish the course in summer, we scrambled to setup local projects for them.  Send them to develop virtual worlds introducing horseshoe crabs, the stranded dolphins centre at Ocean Park, and more STEM.  Then we will send them to nursing homes, special schools, primary schools, …, to bring these virtual worlds to people and children who cannot visit these places in person.  

Now, with the raging third waves of the coronavirus in Hong Kong, schools and practically all institutions are closed, essentially all human contacts are out of the question.  We can only fall back on the Internet, not only for the teaching, but also for the services themselves.  We will do anything possible to carry on.  With the teaching and the services.  The only thing we refuse to do is to give up. 

In fact, if we are going to deliver our services online, why can’t we do it across countries and even continents?  So we are reaching out to partners in Vietnam, Cambodia and Rwanda.  Our students will develop a variety of virtual worlds, and STEM projects that the children can carry out themselves.  And our students will deliver these services across the oceans through the Internet.  So we will still go to Vietnam, Cambodia, and Rwanda after all, virtually.  The teaching and learning and the service are real.  Just that we will only be there virtually. 

We will not be defeated by a virus.  

This is adaptability in action.  

Running up Tsz Wan Shan (慈雲山)

To be more accurate, I ran from Hung Hom to Tsz Wan Shan, up Shan Tin Pass Road (沙田坳道).  

Along the way, I passed Hau Temple (侯王廟).  This is not a temple honouring the Monkey King, even though some people had made that erroneous association because 侯 (marquis) looks and sounds like 猴 (monkey).  Rather, it is a temple honouring Mr. Yeung (楊亮節).  Yeung was a relative of the emperor of the Southern Sung Dynasty (宋端宗趙昰) when he was pursued by the Mongolian army (元軍) through Hong Kong.  As a reward for his loyalty, Yeung was given the rank of 侯 (marquess). After his death, the local people honoured him as a 王 (king).  Hence the a temple honouring him becomes 侯王廟.

There is a real temple honouring the Monday King, on the north eastern corner of Tsz Wan Shan.  I had been there on one of my other runs. 

Passing through one of the housing estates, I came upon a common sight in Hong Kong - an old lady in a wheel chair, attended by her helper, in a park.  What would we have done without these helpers?  Who would take care of these elderlies?  And the children?  Cook and do the house chores for so many families?   On the other hand, these helpers send a lot of money home to Philippines, and Indonesia.   But it also deprive many families of the mothers.  It is complicated.  

Running up Shatin Pass Road is hard.  The incline can be as steep as 8 to 12 degrees.  I was amazed to see a number of people cycling up and down Shatin Pass Road.  Amazing stamina.  Admirable determination. 

There are many tiny streams of water by the road side along the upper stretches of Shatin Pass Road.  

Many people come here with big and small bottles to collect the water.  Can this be considered mineral water?  Is it safe?  

It is strenuous work running (actually it was mostly walking towards the end) up Shatin Pass Road.  But if you persevere, you will be rewarded by impressive sights.  Imagine the whole Kowloon and even part of the Hong Kong Island opening up under your feet.  

It is worth it.  You can also drive here.  But it would not be so much fun.  It would also much less satisfying.  

I contemplated continuing up to the Lion’s Head.  But I was just too tired.  And I had promised to go home to have lunch with my wife.  So that must wait for another day. 

SLS - Genesis 1a1 - Task Force - Civic Engagement

For the record, the following is the opening statement in the proposal to Senate to establish Service-Learning as a required component in the General University Requirement in the new 4-year Undergraduate Programs, in December 2010, to officially come into effect for the first cohort to enter PolyU in 2012. 

A university empowers its students to realize their potential.  On the other hand, society invests in its citizens through the university.  For both reasons, a university’s students should be engaged with society.  Leading universities offering service learning as academic subjects include Purdue University, Brown University, University of California at Berkeley, Cornell University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Stanford University, etc.  Some universities such as the University of San Francisco require all students to participate in service learning associated with academic subjects.   Campus Compact is a US coalition of more than 1,100 college and university presidents dedicated to promoting community service, civic engagement, and service learning in higher education.  

Our own university is committed to providing a holistic education to our students.   Our current strategic plan states that our core business is to “develop all-round graduates, with … social and national responsibility, and … global outlook … with attributes of responsible citizens …”  In fact, we have done very well in the core areas such as critical thinking, problem solving, professional knowledge, and career development.  We have also realized that we can do better in the more intangible areas such as civic responsibility, social justice and ethics. In the past several years our university has successfully encouraged many students to engage with society through community service, mostly in the form of non-credit bearing, co-curricular activities, both local and offshore.  We are now ready to take the next logical step, to strengthen the learning aspects of social engagement.   

We propose to give academic credits to qualified service learning, to recognize and formalize the learning efforts and outcomes in this form of experiential learning.   To ensure academic quality, these subjects must have proper teaching, practice, and assessment components. To ensure that all our students benefit from this form of learning, it will be made compulsory for all students.  As students have different prior experiences and interests, even though the fundamental learning objectives are similar, students should be provided with ample choices in terms of themes, scales, contexts, target clients, and nature of involvement. 

In time, we believe we can make active and effective social engagement a distinctive hallmark of Polytechnic University’s students – something that we can all be proud of.   

Run to Tsuen Wan 荃灣 via Castle Peak Rd 青山道

There are two ways to run from Kowloon to Tsuen Wan.  One is via Lai King Hill Road 荔景山道, passing by Princess Margaret Hospital 瑪嘉烈醫院.  Another is via Castle Peak Road.  Both require you to run uphill from Lai Chi Kok 荔枝角 and then down to Kwai Fong 葵芳 or Kwai Chung 葵涌.  I have tried to run closer to the water, through the narrow strip between the harbour and the mountain.  But that area is occupied by the Kwai Chung container terminal and the Tsing Kwai Highway.  Both are forbidden to pedestrians on foot.  And the area is really filthy and truly hazardous to your health.  

Yesterday I started from home in Hung Hum and went through Castle Peak Road.  The climb was hard and it was hot.  I was completely soaked in my own sweat.  But I was fairly fresh and did not had too much difficulties.  Coming downhill wasn’t too hard either.  But by the time I reached Kwai Chung I was exhausted, and staggered towards Tsuen Wan West MTR station on the West Rail, from where I took the MTR home.  Both legs were threatening to cramp.  At one point, when I was almost home, the woman walking in front of me stopped suddenly, and I had to stop to avoid bumping into her.  The sudden exertion on my lower legs started severe cramping.  I couldn't move for a couple of minutes.  

Along the way, there were quite a number of interesting sights. In Shum Shui Po 深水埗  on Tai Nam Street 大南街, I passed by a colourful building.  It is rather striking and pleasant to have something beautiful to look at.  Why aren’t there more of these?  It does not seem to be too expensive to paint a building.  And there must be a lot of talented artists who are happy to have such a large canvas to showoff their talents.  

While I was standing at the street corner taking pictures, a piece of clothing dropped from above on to the street.  A woman shouted “Young man!” in Cantonese.  I looked up and couldn’t see who it was.  I don’t think I was being addressed anyway.  But one  South Asian-looking young man in a group chatting at the corner responded, in Cantonese.  It turned out the woman was the owner of said clothing.  She asked the young man to help, to pick up the clothing from the street, and she was coming down.  The young man did accordingly.  

I learned several things from the little episode.  This seems like a friendly neighbourhood.  Some of these South Asians speak very good Cantonese and are as much part of Hong Kong as you and I.  Many Chinese and South Asians live side by side amiably enough.  

A short while later, I was glad to see the Cloths Bazaar (布棚, 棚仔) is still there, under the shadow of the Lai Chi Kok Police Station.  

On the way up Castle Peak Road, I passed by Kai Wah Kang 九華徑 Village below me, at the corner of Mei Foo.  It looks pretty and idyllic, half hidden behind a forest of dense greens.  Much better than when I went there and saw it up close. 

Later, I reached Tsuen Wan, towards the end of my run.  There were many overpasses and criss-crossing highways.   Under many of the overpasses, the government installed rocks, concrete blocks and other impediments to make it difficult for street sleepers.  But it is obvious that when there is a need, people will find a way.   An old mattress or two will overcome the discomfort of sleeping on a bed of rocks.   

It just shows how petty and small minded some government officials can be.   Housing is so expensive and unaffordable for so many.  People have to sleep somewhere.   It is a indictment of our government that given such strong financials, we cannot find a more dignified and healthy solution.  

  

Hong Kong Marine Life Stranding and Education Center 香港海洋生物救護及教育中心

The name is a mouthful.  But the facility is really interesting.  It is also a part of one of our service-learning projects.  

Dozens of dead dolphins wash up on the shores of Hong Kong each year.  Once in a blue moon there might also be a small whale.  Occasional a life one gets stranded somewhere.  This is the team that studies the dead ones and rescues the life ones.  

If this is not interesting enough, consider this.  Many of the dead dolphins die not from old age or other natural causes.  But from poisoning by heavy metals. Increasingly they die young. 

They are mammals and they eat fish.  We humans are also mammal and we, particularly us HongKongers, eat fish - the same fish that the dolphins eat.  

The HKMLSEC is inside Ocean Park.  But it is not open to the regular visitor to Ocean Park.  Once a month there are open tours that the public can join, and those are always full.  

Our team, led by Dr. PN, is collaborating with the centre on a service-learning projects.  Our students are photographing, making videos and otherwise documenting the work at the centre to create online, virtual experiences for the public - students, elderly, …  We are using technology to make science more fun and relevant to people, to students, to the public.  We hope to do something for the dolphins, and for ourselves.  We don’t want to suffer and die young from heavy metals and other pollutants, do we?

Hence we are very interested when their marine biologist explain to us how they scan the dolphins and whales, dead and alive. 

How they dissect the dead dolphins and whales on the operation table.  Sometimes the bodies are too big for the table, and they have to do it on the floor.  And the smell!

How they take samples from the dolphins,

make slides from the samples, and encase them in plastic, for the microscopes.

How they store the samples in refrigerators and freezers.  

And a lot more.   

The HKMLSEC is unique in Hong Kong, unique in Asia, and very rare even globally.  They are doing a fantastic job.  And we are very proud to be working with them. Our students seem to be enjoying it too.