SL 2010-25

n 2010, we did a self-examination (reflection) in all-rounded (whole-person) education at PolyU and found something missing.  We had always put a lot of effort in academic learning, problem solving, professional discipline expertise, and languages.  Yet there wasn’t much in terms of values, ethical thinking, and social responsibility.  We really could not claim to be educating the whole person when such an important chunk was missing. 

Some of us felt service-learning would be an effective pedagogy to begin to fill that gap.  And that gap existed in all undergraduate programs.  We therefore decided to make service-learning a critical component in all undergraduate programs - compulsory and credit-bearing.  

At that point, the challenge was daunting.  We had nothing.  Zero SL courses, and few people who knew anything about SL.  Not to mention how to teach SL.  How do we find projects?  Partners? Fund the projects?  Teach reflection?  When the teachers didn’t know how to do reflection ourselves?  What we had was plenty of doubters.  We had to bootstrap ourselves in everything. Amid all the challenges, step-by-step we learned.  

In 15 years, we have worked very hard, and come a long way.  Today 70+ SL courses are offered to 4,500 undergraduate students each year.  SL has been entrenched as a distinguishing hallmark of a PolyU education.  Close to half of that 4,500 serve outside Hong Kong, in Mainland China and foreign countries. Thus helping PolyU internationalise -  achieving another important objective.  We are conducting research to inform our teaching of SL, to continuously improve ourselves, and to contribute to the global community.  

But we are far from finished.  We want more students to acquire a global mindset, hence more non-local SL.  We are developing a minor in SL, so that students can learn SL to a greater depth.  We are planning to expand SL to the graduate school.  

We have benefited so much from SL we want to promote SL so that more can benefit.  We are training teachers from other universities, in other countries, to teach SL.  We are training K-12 teachers to teach SL.  We are designing a course to train researchers in SL.  We are learning to bring more technology into SL to create more impact.  …

Feathers

Learned a thing or two about feathers while researching for a new piece. 

Feathers on a wing tend to be pointed at the tip. While the barbs on the two sides of the central shaft are asymmetric - barbs on one side are longer than those on the other. 

Feathers on the tail tend to be rounded at the tip.  The barbs tend to be symmetric. 

So I made a wing feather and a tail feather.  And gave them to two of our best friends. They seem to like them. 

#SChanPalmArt

Christmas is Hope

It is often difficult to be in good mood these days.  So many people died, get hurt or lost their homes due to human negligence, greed and corruption.  Millions and millions continued to be exploited by the rich and powerful.  The big bullies bully their neighbours, and even those far away,, with impunity.  People with huge advantage in firepower bombard those with far less, claiming that their own security is threatened.  Millions and millions continue to survive, barely, without water, electricity, and even basic education. While those making billions want to make even more.  

Many of us, of course, live in relative security, stability, plenty, and even prosperity.  We celebrate our holidays with food, drinks, gifts, and entertainment.  Can we, however, truly be completely happy, knowing that so much sadness, suffering, and plain evil are around us? Even though they may be out of sight?  And it appears that these are not going away.  That there does not seem to be much that we can do about them?

Yet Christmas brings a message - that there is still hope.  That there is a way out.  That someone is in charge.  That even in the deepest despair there is hope.  That with God’s help, we can transcend all these and soar high and free.  

Without hope, life can be unbearable.  I am grateful that we have Christmas.  But we also know we are not supposed to wait for things to happen.  That we have an obligation to respond to the message of Christmas.  

Chinese sausage

Winter has announced itself in Hong Kong with the temperature dropping to 14 C.  Hence my wife and I trek to Sai Ying Pun to make our annual purchase of air-dried Chinese sausages at our favourite sausage maker.

Our favourites, among the many kinds, are the lean pork and the goose liver sausages.  

First of all, they are really good tasting. Just the right amount of fat and meat, texture and flavour. 

Perhaps most importantly, we can be sure that they are made locally, in Hong Kong. 

We can literally watch them prepare the pork and other ingredients, stuff the ingredients into the skin, tie them sausages into the right lengths, and then hang them up to dry.  You can see sausages at different stages of drying.  

They start each year in autumn, work until Lunar New Year, and then stop to celebrate the New Year.  The sausages sell very quickly.  If one comes too late, one has to wait until the following year, when they start the cycle again.  

In Chinese culture, everything has its season. Air-dried sausage is a winter food.  It is best to eat it in the right season. Hence our annual trek to Sai Ying Pun. It is an enjoyable experience. 

SULAM

Why am I in Kuala Terengganu?  To speak at a Malaysian national conference on Service-Learning. My message is how technology and research can empower service-learning in community engagement, while service-learning helps the university achieve other objectives such as internationalisation.  All using PolyU’s experience for illustration.  

It is quite encouraging to see such a big and enthusiastic crowd. Supported by a national initiative.  Some of them are friends I have met before, at prior conferences and training courses.  But most of them are new to me, and me to them.  All are friendly and courteous. 

I was surprised to see some of them speaking Chinese.  Some are teachers - Malays who learned Chinese from their school.  Others are foreign students who came from Mainland China to study.  

Many of their projects are really interesting. One team provides testing for the hearing-impaired and training to assist.  

Another is led by a forestry professor, who train her students to develop multi-sensory aids to help those who are visually-impaired to experience nature.  In her words: those who are handicapped should not be deprived of the experience of nature.  How true!  But to act on it takes courage, skill and commitment.  

I have learned a lot coming here.  While many of them say they enjoy my talk.  Some are planning to invite our team to come to Malaysia to run a teacher development course. How exciting!

Terengganu

Here I am, at Kuala Terengganu.  Kuala supposedly means “river mouth”.  I am not here to study the river, nor the city.  I am here to give a talk at a conference. 

When I arrive at the hotel, tI found that my room is right on the waterfront facing east.  It even has a balcony overlooking the beach.  

There is about one hour left before sunset. And the rain has stopped. How can I resist the urge to make a run around the waterfront?  The time and the place is just perfect. The weather forecast is saying 100% rain for the coming 4 days!  If I don’t do it now I may not get another chance. 

There are some but few people around.  It was cool but not cold.  Just perfect. 

I think I am in the right state of mind for the talk tomorrow. 

The art of eating persimmon

Persimmon is popular in China and many East Asian countries.  It is nice looking and sweet tasting.  But it can be tricky to eat.  Some are edible when they are still firm, crisp state.  

Some, however, has a high tannin content. Tannin is astringent, causing you mouth to feel dry, as if you are eating chalk.  

The tannin gradually disappear as the fruit ripens. These types can be eaten when they are fully ripe, dark read, soft and mushy. I like to eat it with a spoon.  

Presumably it is a strategy adopted by the fruit to keep people from eating it before it is fully ripe?  

Circles and Circles

Talk about going around in circles.  

How many circles are there? 

How many ways to traverse the globe by following the circles?

#SChanPalmArt

Brain Mapping Symposium

Today I attended a symposium on brain mapping on campus.  It is a regional conference but many of the presenters are world class scholars, trained at some of the top universities in the world such as Johns Hopkins, California Institute of Technology (CalTech), etc. Many of the the projects are obviously at the leading edge of the science. I don’t fully understand everything that is said.  But enough to get excited. 

There are astounding images of the shrinkage of parts of the brain at different stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers do not yet know why things are happening.  But they know more and more what is happening. 

There are investigations into the impact of the mother’s depression on the development of the baby. The tools that are now available are amazing.  

There are efforts in developing surrogate models of the brain, for study, exploration, simulation of the effect of various types of surgery, etc. It seems still relatively crude and not very fine grained.  But the ideas are very creative.  

Fascinating stuff.  The brain is one amazing organ.  How does it work?  How does it relate to our consciousness?  Mind?  Soul?This is one of the biggest benefits of working in a university, particularly one that is among the top universities in the world.  One have easy access to the cutting edge of research, in so many fields.  I hope I never have to leave. 

Model Boats at Victoria Park

When we (my siblings and I) were small, our family lived in Kennedy Town, on the western-most end of Hong Kong Island.  Occasionally, our father would take us on an outing at Victoria Park.  The one thing that I enjoyed the most was to watch people played with their remote-control model boats at a pond on the western edge of the park.  

The boats would run circles around the pond.  I remember the boats ran on gasoline-powered engines.  People would gun the engines, which would squeal loudly, with smoke trailing behind.  To us, it was great fun, exciting, and free entertainment. In those days, we could not afford something like that.  So we could only watch.  But it was great fun, and left fond memories. 

Six decades later, I went back there today, not knowing exactly what I would find.  It was a weekday afternoon, only two boats were in the water.  Not too many people were watching.  But I was happy enough that some people are still playing with boats there, just like 60 years ago.  It almost feels like time had stood still. 

Of course, my father had passed away.  I was no longer in primary school.  My sister and my mother live in Toronto.  My elder brother and myself are the only ones living in Hong Kong now, neither of us in Kennedy Town. 

Many things have changed drastically.  Much had disappeared, never to return. I am grateful some things remain the same.  It feels like they remain for a purpose, to prove that the past did actually happen. That it was not just a piece of imagination, or a dream.  That we actually lived. But when I am finally gone, who would have known, that we actually lived?  Does it really matter?

Feather(s)

A palm leaf yellowed, dried up, and fell to ground.  It was destined for the garbage dump.  Perhaps it might be burned, or composed, to become fertiliser. 

But it was picked up, and but into pieces.  One piece suffered a thousand cuts. In the end, it became a feather.  It felt happy.  It is now something, standing proudly on someone’s desk. 

After a while, it started to feel lonely.  So it made grumbling noises. 

So the master made another one, it now has company, and is satisfied. 

But the new one is longer., looks slenderer and curvier.  So it is jealous.  

Why it is that we are never completely satisfied? Is there no such thing as “good enough”?

#SChanPalmArt