Runway Run

The original Kai Tak Airport had one runway as far as I can remember.  The Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok started in 1998 with 2.  Recently a third runway has been added.  To celebrate, a 10 km run was staged this morning (Sunday) on the runway.  Initially I thought we would run on the new runway.  That would make sense, wouldn’t it?  To run on the new runway to celebrate its opening.  

It turns out we ran on the middle runway.  Actually 2 loops of half the runway.  I would have preferred to run one loop of the full runway.  But I can imagine they may need the rest of the runway to keep the airport running.  So I am not complaining.  

There was a lot of lining up.  We reported at the Asia Expo outside the airport, to the east of the usual passenger entrance to the airport.  There we lined up to have our identity checked.  Then lined up again to board the bus, which took us all the way to the western end of the airport, where the run was taking place.  There we got a good view of the bridge which connects Hong Kong with Macau and Zhuhai.  There were similarly long lines taking the bus back.  But it was all very orderly.  Everyone was polite and civil.  Nobody cut the line, as far as I could tell.  

At the staging area one got a sense of the vastness of the airport.  There were thousands and thousands of us.  Yet we occupied only a small corner near the far end of the middle runway.  We did get to see dozens and dozens of parked airplanes, large and small.  And we could see some buildings that are parts of HAECO, Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company, the company that performs maintenance on airplanes.   

The rain has stopped, but puddles remained.  Initially I was a little worried that it would be slippery.  But there were no puddles on the actually route.  And towards the end it was completely dry.  It wasn’t too hot.  Yet it was humid and we sweated a lot.  

It is not everyday that one gets to run on the runway, alongside all the airplanes.  Every couple of minutes, an airplane would land, or take off.  Initially lots of people would stop to take photos.  But soon most concentrated on running.  It was quite obvious that many are fairly serious runners.  But it was also obvious that many are not.  Judging by their shape, and the way many were walking less than half way through he run. 

While we were running on the middle runway, planes were taking off, or landing roughly 1.5 km away from us.  Hence they looked small.  When they were taxiing towards the terminal, however, they were only about 100 meters away.  From a certain angle, one can plausibly convince ourselves that we are racing the plane.  It is rather exhilarating.  

While we were running, on foot, we bumped into some people racing in wheelchairs. I gave one of them a thumbs-up.  Many did something similar.  One passed a cup of water to a lady in a wheelchair.    

When I checked my time at the end, I found, to my surprise, that I had run quite a bit faster than I normally run.  I thought I would run a bit faster, this being an actual race.  But I did not expect to be so much faster.   Even then, today I was quite a bit slower than I was 20 years ago, for the same distance.  

All in all, quite an enjoyable experience.  On a day like this, one can believe that people can actually be kind and civil with each other.  

CEVC-SL - The Project

It has been roughly 15 years since PolyU decided to make service-learning a required, credit-bearing subject for all undergraduate students.  In the process, we have acquired quite a bit of experience in all aspects of service-learning, and particularly in International SL. Based on our experience, ISL can now be understood to be a confluence of cross-cultural, experiential, and value-based learning in a civic context.   Through which are cultivated moral, competent, globally responsible citizens who can apply professional skills to solve practical problems.  How, then, can ISL achieve that?  

From literature, as well as our own experience and research, in order for service-learning to achieve its intended learning outcomes, the service project must be meaningful, challenging, and create real benefits.  If the project is too easy to carry out, the students are not challenged.  It may please lazy students (and professors).  However, consequently they cannot feel the satisfaction of exerting, stretching themselves to overcome a challenge.  And the end result is little or no learning.  No pain, no gain.  

If the duration is too short, these is just not enough time for the experience to make a deep, lasting impression on the student.  Hence the effort in designing and arranging the project goes to waste.  It is a great pity.  Often the effort that goes into preparing for s short project may not be the much different from preparing for a longer project.  For example, a group of university students may design a game-based learning activity for children in an under-resourced school.  For example, 5 university students may spend 20 hours in learning how-to and then actually design a 2-hour workshop, which is run only once, for 20 children.  The duration is much too short to make a big impact.  But it can probably be expanded in a number of ways.  Perhaps by repeating the same workshop for different groups of children; or repeating, with some changes, for the same group of children multiple times, to reinforce and deepen the learning for the same group of children.  The result may be much greater impact, on the students offering the workshop, as well as the children participating.  

If the project does not create real benefits, it cannot create a sense of achievement for the students.  There is also no heart-felt response from the recipient.  And consequently, the students do not derive satisfaction from the gratitude from the recipients.  It happens often to projects in which only a proposal is created, without actual implementation.  Int may be argued that a good proposal can be a satisfying deliverable, hence bringing a sense of achievement. However, a proposal is obviously far less impactful than a successful implementation.  A proposal to install a solar panel system delivers no tangible benefits, unlike a successful installation which delivers usable electrical power, and consequently, actual lighting.  The impact on the community, and the gratitude expressed, in turn, encourages the students, deepens their learning, and strengthens their confidence in themselves.  Many advocacy type of projects involve effortful studies in a social issue, ending in an exhibition, for a limited audience, for a short duration.  It is doubtful whether such projects results in tangible benefits for anyone other than the students themselves.  Research inform us that students may not find such projects very meaningful, being unable to see actual benefits for the target community.  There is often little or no feedback, there being no clear beneficiary.        

To achieve civic learning, the social need addressed must be clearly articulated. And the students guided to understand how the project addresses the need.  The sharper is the need, the clearer is the success (and failure) of the service project.  Some service project aim to benefit the “general public”, perhaps by improving the environment.  Often the  “general public” targeted in the specific project is very vaguely identified, and it is doubtful anyone actually benefit from the effort.  In such cases, it is difficult to ascertain whether significant civic learning has been achieved.  

Most social needs that deserve our attention are complex, and perhaps even “wicked”.  That should be expected. Easy problems have probably been solved already.  What remains are likely to be complex and difficult.  On the other hand, projects that potentially make an impact probably also carry a certain degree of risk, of failure.  Projects that are completely safe are unlikely to make a significant.  The “trick” is to balance the (acceptable) risk against the (high) possibility of success.  

Puffer Fish (mis-)adventure

There are often a number of people fishing at the Hung Hom pier.  

Today, around 2:30 pm, in broad day light, one of them caught a puffer fish.  A pretty big one.  Bigger than an adult man’s palm. The hook was deep inside the fish’s mouth.  

The man who caught it decided to just cut the line instead of trying to recover the hook.  

At first, the fish thrashed around a bit.  Perhaps trying to get back into the water.  

After a couple of minutes, probably realised that it was not getting anywhere.  It suddenly started to inflate.  The man said it was getting angry.  In a matter of seconds, it turned into balloon.  And it turned upside down, because its inflated belly is now lighter than its body.  

The man threw it back into the water.  It floated upside down for a minute or so. 

Suddenly, it decided to deflate.  Again, in a matter of seconds, it was completely deflated, returned to its original shape, righted itself, dived into deep water, and disappeared.  

It hope it survives, with a hook in its tummy. 

This is not the first time something like this happened.  But the first time I witness the complete adventure.  Perhaps misadventure, from the perspective of the puffer fish. 

Neon Advertising Signs of Hong Kong

Big, bright colorful, neon advertising signs used to be a distinguishing characteristic of Hong Kong.  Anchored to the outside walls of commercial building, they extend across the sidewalk, and even across the street, hanging precariously over pedestrians and passing traffic alike.  

They used to advertise famous brands of electronics and appliances, cameras, Chinese restaurants, congee shops, bars, tailors, luxury clothing stores, department stores, jewellery stores, night clubs, massage palours, Chinese medicine practitioners, pharmacies, prawn shops, …, anything and everything.  

They fill every street, big and small. 

Often they stay in place even after the business had already gone out of business.  Perhaps nobody bother to take them down.  Or maintain them even when the business is still in business.  

They can become a nuisance or even safety hazard.  Hence there are legitimate reason for removing them.  

But there must also be ways to keep them, and keep them safe.  It will take some effort. But if there is a will, there is a way.  Multiple ways, perhaps.  

Many people in Hong Kong, and many tourists, would probably feel these signs are worth keeping around.  

Sadly, the people with the authority do not seem to think so. 

Today, you are lucky to find more than a few of them on anyone street.  Even then, practically all of them are small, and do not extend beyond the pedestrian sidewalk.  One of such streets is Portland Street in Mongkok.  

Such is the fate of many distinctive characteristics of Hong Kong.  Many of them have developed organically.  There was always a reason why they have developed.  Perhaps there wasn’t a conscious plan.  But there is always a reason, or multiple reasons.   And gradually, they become a phenomenon.  

Sadly, someone in authority found a reason to not like them.  Hence they have to go.  Perhaps they can use the space for another purpose.  Perhaps the phenomenon has deteriorated.  Instead of fixing the problem, which may require thinking and effort, people with the authority find it easier to just remove the phenomenon.   Soon, they realise that Hong Kong has fewer and fewer attractions to attract the tourists.  Then they frantically create new ones, or make (often) inferior, gaudy copies of what they have destroyed.  

Then repeat, and repeat, …

CEVC ISL

Service-Learning has been practiced often in a university’s own local community, at least in the beginning.  Only after much experience in SL has been gained, then one ventures into international projects.  And even then, only at a relatively small scale. 

At PolyU, however, when SL was beginning to be integrated into the formal academic program, back in 2010, we launched many non-local SL projects into Mainland China, and even foreign countries, while the vast majority of SL projects were conducted in Hong Kong. And the scale of non-local projects has been growing rather rapidly, and becoming a more and more significant portion of the overall program. In 2023-24, non-local SL (away from Hong Kong) represents 32 percent of all SL.  The target is to increase that to 50% by 2027/28 academic year.  

There are many reasons for this emphasis on non-local SL.  The biggest reason is perhaps that much benefit in cross-cultural learning have been noted, which align well with the university’s strategic objectives.  Non-local SL is obviously an effective way to cultivate global citizenship.  To render impactful service non-locally, or even internationally, requires well-planned, extensive preparation prior to the excursion.  Traditional wisdom tells us that, to achieve effective learning in a foreign culture, a long duration of immersion is required.  However, our own experience and rigorous research has also taught us that, even relatively short term (10 days), immersive international SL can achieve desirable learning outcomes - if it is supported by well-designed, extensive preparation prior to the excursion and strong support in the field.  That means short term international service-learning can be used to achieve internationalisation objectives - cultivating global citizens.  A very practical and effective strategy. 

All the original desirable outcomes for SL remain valid, for both local and nonlocal SL.  In fact, much deeper understanding have been acquired through experience. In university education in general, much learning is acquired cognitively, through abstractions, building and analysis of models of all sorts. In a class room, students can learn much about poverty through the study of information.  SL, on the other hand, educate experientially. Standing in the midst of someone’s house made of mud, passing one’s hand over the rough, crumbling wall of mud, soaking up the accumulated smell of human sweat and animal odour, and absorbing the meaning of 4 bare walls of a house, educates a student of the reality of poverty simply impossible on a nice and clean campus.  It can constitute the critical elements of the transformation of an intrepid student into a professional who truly understands the really needs of people, who can then develop practical solutions to those needs.  

Well designed SL identifies a specific social need, and then brings the students into close and extended contact with the service recipients, putting the student “in the other person’s shoes”.  Thereby the student begins to learn about the needs of social groups different from the student’s own.  Through the development and execution of practical solutions, the students leans to be effective, responsible members of a civic society.   Successful execution builds confidence.  Thus a university delivers effective and  “responsible citizens”. 

Choosing a social need to address, devising suitable solutions, and allocating the resources required to address the need are all decisions dependent on one’s values.  SL compels students to examine the priorities and the underlying values that determine these priorities - of the society and the student’s own.  These values are studied not in abstract in a classroom, but rather in the context of real life and real people.  Where the needs and one’s actions have real consequences.  Hence the students learn to examine their own values and how to make moral decisions based on their own values.  

International SL is now understood to be a confluence of cross-cultural, experiential, and value-based learning in a civic context.   Through which are cultivated moral, globally responsible citizens who can apply professional skills to solve practical problems.  

Secondary School Service-Learning

Our team at PolyU has been running a program to equip secondary school teachers to teach Service-Learning, for several years.  As part of the program, we have set up a number of projects, in which secondary school teachers practice supervising secondary school students in SL projects. In the past summer, two projects were run in Hong Kong, one on collecting and writing life stories for the elderly, and another on teaching STEM to primary school students.  A third took 40 teachers and students to install solar panels in villages in Rwanda, in parallel with the PolyU teams.  

On this past, Saturday, the secondary school students and teachers presented their experiences and learnings.  What struck me the most are the students’ excitement in learning about Rwanda, satisfaction in overcoming the challenges, eagerness in sharing their experiences, and pride in doing such a good job.  In Hong Kong as well as in Rwanda. 

The teachers, likewise, seem very happy in the experience.  They seem to have re-discovered their original motivation for wanting to be a teacher.   One described the experience as: “not relaxing, but re-charging”.  It is very gratifying that the teachers find the experience enjoyable and useful.  We are hoping that they will continue to create existing projects for their students.  

I cannot help but think.  Hong Kong students have long been said to be: examination-driven, key word memorising, passive, dis-engaged, not knowing what they are interested in, without passion in learning.   Of course, that is not their fault.  But that of the designers and perpetuators of the education system. 

However, the experience and performance of these students demonstrate that they can also be energetic, eager, creative, and engaged.  Well designed Service-Learning is one way to achieve that.  There are, of course, other ways.  It is up to us, the administrators, the government, and the teachers to provide them with the opportunities and the environment to be like that.  Are we willing?  Can our society afford not to?