Xiao Hua Issue 21

Xiao Hua 校 話

Issue 21 | Youth Through the Looking Glass | January 2020

Global Protests: HK, Sudan, Russia

何為少年國何為少年家 The Beauty of Sports and Camaraderie

The Insidious Danger of 13 Reasons Why

不應存在的肥胖歧視

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ISSUE 21

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UNITED SOURCE INT’L CO., LIMITED

Specializing in Supply Chain for High Voltage Passive Components.

CONTACT US Address: 3/F, Blk F, Qujiang Exhibition International Plaza, Yanzhan Road, Xi’An China 71006 Sales: sales@shv.hk Tel: 86-29-85325592 Fax: 86-29-85325755 ext 8001 Website: http://www.shv.hk/index.php 校話

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XIAO Hua 校 話

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ethan Lau HEAD OF BUSINESS AND ADMINISTRATION Alysa Wong Business Staff Deborah Chen, Felice Cheng, Gustav Yang, Illeana Li, Maxwell Ji, Toby Chan, Vasco Tricoire HEAD OF MEDIA MARKETING Haley Hsu Marketing Staff Jessica Hu, Kate Cheong, Meagan Hsu, Mia Cheng, Veda Lee FEATURES EDITOR Karen Lee Writers Allyson Ye, Chih-Rong Kuo, Elizabeth Yee, Francisca Lam, Jaspar Chan, Jonathan Ng, Klara Greyvensteyn, Mirjana Vujovich, Toby Chan NEWS EDITOR Evelyn Howe Writers Philip Meng, Eric Wu,Megan Hsu, Illeana Li, Esther Lynch, Tim He, Angela Li, Audrina Wong, Ashley Leong, Chloe Wong, Cindy Shum CHINESE EDITOR Bernice Tse Writers Airla Fan, Deborah Chen, Fung Ting Chiu, Grace Ma, Hyning Gan, Isabelle Hui, Jodie Fei, Josephine Yip, Karin Wang, Leo Li, Tanya Wan, Trinity Chan SPORTS EDITOR Denise Ng Writers Doddy Tullis, Kian Chan, Felice Cheng, Jacqueline Lo, Justin Yen DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Kalysha Wong Photographers Amber Liao, Cheryl Ting, Finn Peterson, Hyning Gan, Jacqueline Lo, Julian Lau, Kate Cheong, Kimberly Lai, Michael Cheung, Miriam Chasnov, Natalie So, Sanya Hui, Shanting Hou, Stephen Chen DIRECTOR OF ILLUSTRATIONS Jessica Hu Illustrators Airla Fan, Amelia Chao, Angella Ma, Brooke Ye, Catherine Liu, Ce Mi Lee, Felisha Wang, Hyning Gan, Iris Zhao, Karissa Poon, Meagan Hsu, Mia Cheng, Reina Lim, Theresa Hu,Veda Lee DIRECTOR OF LAYOUT Natalie So Layout Designers Lea Cheng, Haley Hsu, Ingrid Hsu, Iris Zhao, Joanna Wu, Jocelyn Cheng, Mathew Guo, Olivia Sun, Sanya Hui, Shanting Hou, Stephanie Li, Stephanie Ma, Veda Lee, Weelee Tan 4

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Head of Business and Communications

Alysa Wong

Xiao Hua 21 revolves around the amplification of youth opinion and development of the personal voice that a lot of us unintentionally withhold. I am truly glad to have seen such influential, imaginative, and talented creators!

It has been an incredible experience and a pleasure to have worked with such an amazing team of individuals who came through despite all the challenges posed. Seeing everything unfold, I can say that Xiao Hua 21 is most definitely a smashing success!

News Editor

Evelyn Howe

This issue of Xiao Hua was really inspired by the powerful young individuals around the world who have been working to raise awareness and garner change of important issues. I think that it has become increasingly important to give young people an outlet to express their opinions, because their beliefs and ideas deserve to be shared, recognized and heard - which is what Xiao Hua aims to do. It has been a pleasure to work with the talented Xiao Hua team and all my writers, who have written skillfully about relevant, interesting and thought-provoking topics. Hope you enjoy!

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EDITORIAL 6

Sports Editor

Denise Ng Xiao Hua Issue 21 aims to shed light upon the significance of youth, especially in the rising popularity of sports amongst the CIS community. It was a delight to be able to work with the Xiao Hua team and the writers in my department who were able to give us an insight to their personal experiences.

I hope you all gain some inspiration from these incredible articles and enjoy!

Features Editor

Karen Lee

I hope that both readers and writers alike can find inspiration in this issue and perhaps see the complex world around us under a different light than before. It was a great pleasure to have worked with the XH team and writers, and eye opening to see the diversity of opinions explored, as well as the creativity in the ways that these ideas were conveyed. Great job to all the writers for pulling through and I hope everyone gains something from this experience!

Head of Media Marketing

Haley Hsu

Social media has become such an important place for youths to share their beliefs and ideas, by combining this issue of Xiaohua with a social media project “Faces”, readers are not only able to read such prevalent and interesting topics but also get to know everyone who contributed to Xiaohua. All of which contribute to the importance of youth voice. Make sure to follow all of our social media accounts to see more! I had a lot of fun working on this issue and hope you guys have just as much fun reading it!

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Bernice Tse 我很榮幸可以和一班很有才華的團隊共同創作今期的校話。 這期的主題是想鼓勵大家勇於發聲，而中文部的同學們充分 表現出他們的創意力和發揮了各自的才華，通過文字去表達 他們對不同事件的獨特見解和感受。我很感恩他們選擇了在 校話這個平台去發表文章，希望學生們在閱讀文章時可以產 生共鳴吧！

Director of Photography

Kalysha Wong

BOARD

Chinese Editor

Xiao Hua Issue 21 revolves around the prominence of youth and power that stems from our adolescence. It has been an absolute privilege to work with all the incredibly talented members of XH 21, especially those in the photography department. I hope everyone who reads this issue is inspired to take action for things they believe in. I am incredibly proud of the work we have done, and I hope you enjoy this issue!

Director of Illustrations

Jessica Hu

Thank you for reading the 21st issue of Xiao Hua! It was a pleasure working alongside such talented and creative a, writers, and organisers this semester. I hope reading this issue is as much of a joy as it was to participate in creating it, and that it inspires you to speak up, make a difference, and view the world from a different perspective!

Director of Layout

Natalie So

Xiao Hua’s 21st issue hopes to showcase the power of the youth’s limitless creativity. To the person reading this, I would like to thank you for taking the time out of your day to appreciate the hard work the team put towards this magazine!

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EDITOR’S

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Dear CIS,

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n a blink, 2019 already seems like a distant past.

Writing this, I reminisce about all the events that have made the front covers of newspapers and magazines in the past turbulent year. Like in the past, there were faces of world leaders and renowned politicians, however, there also emerged a surge of global uprisings undertaken by millennials. Examples of which include revolts against gun violence in the US by students, young activists continuing to lead and participate in movements like climate change, LGBTQ+, and Black Lives Matter, and most notably here in our home, Hong Kong. Inspired by these events and the more that will come in 2020, the theme of Xiao Hua Issue 21: Youth Through the Looking Glass.

The first question which may come to mind is, why “Through the Looking Glass”? For those, including myself at first, who do not know what the phrase “Through the Looking Glass” means, it is a metaphorical expression referring to being in a stranger or parallel version of reality. While this abstract term may cause initial confusion, it does reflect the society we live in if further pondered.

Never before have we, the younger population, been bestowed with greater responsibility and power; to create change and be active in facing unforeseen changes that require an urgent response. With the resources that are available to us, the question will not be if changes will occur, but instead when. We chose this theme, not because of the prevalence of young people in power, but more so the power young people possess today.

example is a student-led group inspired to create a more environmentally friendly community here at school but also in other areas of Hong Kong. The student leaders of DITO reflected and discussed their successes in the “Tetra Pack Campaign” and plans in the school. GSA (Gender and Sexuality Alliance) and the SAE (Students Art Executive) similarly are creating positive changes, benefiting the school community through inspiring and uplifting ways.

A frequent piece of advice we gave our writers this issue was to have a point of view, to be unafraid to share their stances or views when writing. As a result, many great articles were written regarding the wider context around us. Tim He (’26), Deborah Chen (’21) and Esther Lynch (’21), all comment, from different standpoints and perspectives, on Hong Kong’s political climate and the actions that were taken against the proposed extradition bill. A great emphasis was placed on this sensitive topic as we believe the students of CIS should at least be aware and have a basic understanding of what is occurring in the place we call home, perhaps more resonating through a fellow student’s words.

But now here we are in 2020, a year that will undoubtedly be filled with surprises and excitement.

We are proud to have officially included the primary sector of CIS in the section we call “Xiao Xiao Hua” and look forward to the more additions in store.

Thank you to everyone who contributed photographs, wrote articles, created illustrations, did the layout and helped us obtain the financial funding needed for this issue. Before this year passes in another blink of Evidence of the youth taking charge can already be an eye, may everyone achieve and succeed with that seen within our tight-knit community at CIS. In this perfect 20/20 vision. issue, we highlighted the student-led groups at CIS that are taking initiatives to spread awareness and create changes that exceed beyond the bubble we live Ethan Lau, in on Braemar Hill. DITO (Drop In The Ocean) for Editor-in-Chief

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FACULTY

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Dear Readers, “How did you do?” That’s the first question we tend to ask of someone when they walk off the netball court, football pitch, or out of a music competition. Often, this automatically translates to “Did you win?”

the time. Most people have a competitive edge, and it is difficult to ignore the achievements and abilities of those around us. We look on, enviously at times, wishing we could play the piano like ‘Sophie’, or juggle those five pins like ‘Ethan’, with such seemingly The same applies when we get an English essay, or effortless ease. However, comparing ourselves to Chinese test, or Mathematics assessment back. “How others is like comparing apples and oranges. It’s easy to did you do?” is almost always instinctively interpreted do, but it’s not going to bear much fruit (sorry...). If we to mean, “What did you get? Did you get a 7?” But is want to shed light on how to improve the appearance, this what “How did you do?” really means? taste, or succulence of an apple, then it doesn’t make much sense to compare it to an orange.

Chuck, a friend of mine, and tennis coach by profession, always explains to his students, that, in his In his book “12 Rules For Life”, Jordan Peterson, a opinion, there are “two ways to win” every time they clinical psychologist and psychology professor writes, go on the court. The first and most obvious way to “Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to win is the simple matter of the result of the match, the who someone else is today.” If we want to get better at score. It’s there. Unavoidable. And sometimes, it’s the anything, we need to recognise, assess, and articulate only thing that seems to matter. our own strengths and areas for improvement. We should set goals that we are yet able to attain, and However, what is of much greater significance to Chuck practise purposefully, employing related and specific is the “second way to win”, which is often disregarded, strategies, until we can achieve those goals. And then, sadly, and sometimes overlooked entirely. “How was we should do the same thing all over again. your performance?” he asks his students. “How well did you move your feet? How well did you execute When asked what we need to do to improve in terms of your game plan? What have you learned?” These are any skill or activity, we have all probably replied along the types of questions he asks when attempting to the lines of, “Well, I need to try harder.” This in itself measure and gauge the success of his charges. is obviously a virtuous and commendable response.

However, is it not incumbent upon us to ask ourselves Wayne Gretzky, or “The Great One” as he’s called in the more challenging question of, “Try harder at what North America, is peerless in the world of ice hockey. exactly?” One can exert time, effort, and expense into Gretzky played in the NHL for 20 years from 1979- anything to try to improve, but if the focus of our 1999 and holds 61 records within the sport, including; efforts does not have a clearly related and specific goal, most assists in a season, most assists of all time, most with appropriate strategies employed, “trying harder” goals in a season and most goals of all time. He was is unlikely to have the beneficial impact we are hoping voted MVP in the NHL nine times in his career, he for. won the Stanley Cup four times, and his shirt, number 99, has been retired from the League altogether in his Therefore, when someone next asks you how you did honour. in your netball game, debating competition or latest assessment, consider explaining to them just that; And yet, despite all of these accolades, awards and how you did, not what you got. trophies, Gretzky was renowned for stating, “The highest compliment you can pay me, is to say that I Happy reading everyone and thank you to the work hard every day.” Gretzky valued the process he remarkable Xiao Hua team for their unfailing efforts embraced, i.e. his work ethic of training for five hours in making cumulative improvements issue upon issue. a day, and his meticulous preparation and purposeful practice, more than any award, trophy or outcome.

Chris Caves We have a tendency to compare ourselves to others all Director of Academic Affairs 校話

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TABLE OF

COMMUNITY 社區

EDITORIALS 社論

16|Get to Know Ms Codrington

42|最後的地址

18|A Brief History of Mr Nguyen

44|何為少年國何為少年家

20|Changes to CIS

46|From Outrage to Revolution: The Summer of Discontent in Hong Kong

22|Drop in the Ocean 26|Gender Sexuality Alliance 28|Q&A with Students Arts Executive 30|Faces: Rachael Lee & Ben Tang

WORLD AFFAIRS

國際新聞 58|US College Admission Scandals

HONG KONG 香港

62|Hashtag Activism: #prayforsudan, #savetheamazon

34|做水吧，朋友！

64|不該存在的肥胖歧視

36|Global Protests: HK, Sudan, Russia

66| Affirmative Action: Blessing or Curse for Asian-Americans

38|籠（香港的籠屋）

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60|Anti-Vax Movement

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CONTENTS

YOUTH 青年

ENVIRONMENT 環境

XXH 小校話

72|Building a Path to Wellbeing

88|Ivory Trade: A History Drenched in Blood

115|First Light

74|The Insidious Danger of 13 Reasons Why

92|Animal Testing Debate

78|雲的啟發

94|Climate Change

80| 從《那些年》和《我的少女 時代》看青春

96|更牛的選擇（非乳製品）

82|社交媒體如何影響我們新一 代 84|白紙上的分數

114|Le Solis

116|Falling for Love 118|How Gibberish Changed the World 119|The Sun Rose for the Final Time

COLOR 色彩

SPORTS 體育

100|Thanos and the Rise of Ecofascism

122|CIS Football Team 126|Dealing with Sports Injury

103|Ed Sheeran’s No.6 collaborations album

130|Why I Play Netball

106|Author Tribute (Toni Morrison)

134|The Beauty of Sports and Camaraderie

110|再來一碗紅豆沙 (小說)

136|Basketball and the NBA

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社區 COMMUNITY Photography by Natalie So

COMMUNITY

Get to Know Ms. Codrington

By Ethan Lau Photography by Kate Cheong Layout by Matthew Guo

2. Why did you choose to become a teacher?

I’ve done a number of different jobs in my life, I haven’t always taught, or I’ve taught and then I’ve done something else and then I’ve come back to it. And it is funny that I always come back to it, as there is something that definitely draws me to teaching. I think it initially had to do with that there is a challenge everyday, that you never know what’s in your day and it is unlikely you will be bored.This is just something I need in my work life as I think it is a part of my personality that if I am bored I need to find something else to do.

But the other thing that I have found really important to me is to work with adolescents, young people in particular and I think that is what brings me back invariably even if I go to another job. I’ve met some extraordinary young people in my life and I’ve been so graced to have.

1. Could you introduce yourself to the reader?

My name is Janelle Codrington, I’m from Australia but I have worked in a few different places now. I’ve worked in Vietnam, England and now in Hong Kong. I have a long history of working in Australian education and it makes me happy to be here in Hong Kong. I am the DP Coordinator at CIS, which essentially means I know the rules and regulations the DP has quite well.

So most scenarios students will come to me asking whether they can do something and I either say “Of course the IB would definitely let you do that.” or “I’m sorry the IB will not let you do that but let me help you find a way around what you need to achieve.” So I think I am here for information but I am also here for support, I’d like to think I can definitely help support students through tough and challenging times.

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3. What are some of your hobbies and passions outside of school?

I love to read, I read everyday of my life, there isn’t a day that goes by that I do not read something, I love netball, I love to watch it, I loved to play it up to a couple years ago I played netball. Some of my favorite places to be are invariably places with water or a beach where I can just sit and watch the world for a long period of time. I sometimes create stories or make narratives for people as they walk past me which explains how I like to dabble and write as well. Additionally, I also like to read poetry, and one of my favorite poems is a poem by Thomas Hardy named He Never Expected Much.

4. What do you think of the youth in the world and do you think they are important in society today?

Absolutely, I think that the generation of children that should be seen and not heard is long gone, and if you look at some of the most powerful and young adolescents that have changed in the world in the last ten years and it takes my breath away. And I often think of when I was 15, there would be no way I would have been able to do that. The thinking and the depth of concern for

COMMUNITY

Xiao Hua sat down with Ms. Codrington, a passionate reader, educator, and netball fan, to ask her some questions about her past teaching experiences and personal interests.

the issues in the world when I was an adolescence was shallow compared to that of today. So do I think that your generation is different than ours? Yes, and thank goodness you are.

5. What is the thing you like most about working at CIS at this moment?

The spectacular view for one. But even more so is how CIS is so enomoursly welcoming, there is a strong sense of community which was evident since the first day I got here.The people that I started new at CIS with probably felt the same. But to refer back to my previous answers, it would be the students. It’s always about the student at the end that make the school and the community special.

6. Do you have a strong stance on a certain issue in the world?

That’s hard because there are a lot of movements going on in the world today, many of which are being led by young people. Some that resonate with me and have had long term effects with how we think include the #metoo movement, which has changed gender relationships and the dynamics that exist there, continuing to change how the world sees gender. Despite it being a deep and uncomfortable movement on all sorts of fronts, but I think it is incredibly important. The sustainability movement, and the belief that we might be running out of time to make the changes we need to make and whether we have the strength and bravery to do what needs to be done. But as I said, a lot of these movements are being led by young people and I think it is inspiring to see these young people that do stand up and say I do have the strength and I do have the bravery.

7. Do you have a role model or hero and why them?

Yes,Amal Clooney of all people. She is incredible, she is a powerhouse of a woman, she’s a lawyer, she works with the UN, she works with charity for young people and I just think she is extraordinary. Extraordinary enough for George Clooney to marry her, so he must have thought there was some about her as I do. I really do admire her.

8. What has been your proudest achievement?

I would say what I think I am most proud of is having shown my children what it is to be brave, what it is to not fit the stereotype, and what it is to step outside of what expectations might be of you. Which is why I am and enjoy being in an international teaching setting and travel to so many places in the world. I would like to think that I have taught my children what it is to be brave.

9. If there’s one thing you could tell your younger self or the younger population of the world today, what would it be?

I think I would give them the advice I gave my daughter 5 years ago, which is to take your life one step at a time. And for what seems to be insurmountable often isn’t, and you just need to put one foot in front of the other. And the other advice I would give is try to walk in someone else’s shoes for some time so you can see the world beyond who you are.

10. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Maybe on a beach somewhere watching the world go by? But 10 years? I don’t know if I would like to think that wherever I am and whatever I am doing I would still see the world as a place that there is hope and that there are better things for us to achieve and do and I hope to live my life in that same way. That is where I see myself in 10 years I guess?

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COMMUNITY

A Brief History of Mr. Nguyen

By Evelyn Howe and Meagan Hsu Photography by Kate Cheong Layout by Matthew Guo

2. What brought you to CIS/why did you decide to work at CIS? I think the biggest reason is that I want to improve as a teacher. At my last school, I felt like for the last four, five years I was doing the same things I have been always been doing. I wanted to learn new things and work together. The things where I worked with people and produce something I’m way more proud of than doing it on my own.

3. What’s your favourite/surprising thing that you have discovered about HK? My favourite is definitely food, for sure. I’ll say this - it’s surprising and what I really love is that Hong Kong island is a lot smaller than I imagined. You can walk from MTR station to station quite quickly and because of that, you get to see more and do a lot more easier. The second aspect is that even though it is a densely populated city, there are a lot of things to do and you are never far from a hike.

4. We’ve heard you liked ramen and that you’ve been to 15 Ramen shops in Hong Kong, which shop has been your favourite?

The Kamitora Tonkotsu Ramen place is definitely one of my favourites. They basically have an enormous full-blown pork belly in it. Luckily, I live right across the street from it, or maybe not so lucky because I go there way too often.

5. We know that you like cooking, can you name a few of your best dishes?

I like to be experimental when I am cooking. One of the weirdest things that I made was guacamole.

I have a typical recipe that most people like, but one time I tried to use grapefruit. I brought it to a pot-luck party, I don’t think people loved it but they appreciated to see a different take on it and it was edible, of course.

1. Can you give us a little introduction about yourself?

I would say I am an American but ethnically half Japanese and Vietnamese which makes for a very interesting upbringing.

I was raised in the South West which is in Arizona, heavy Hispanic culture, I think it fits how I became a teacher internationally. I first taught in Brazil, India, Netherlands and now I am here. Even though I was born and raised in the United States, I can easily connect to other transient international students that are stuck in between different cultures from different backgrounds.

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6. What are your hobbies?

I grew up playing baseball, I like all sports of any competition. I will probably say sports is still something I connect to and watch a lot back home.

COMMUNITY

Xiao Hua sat down with Mr. Nguyen, a passionate history teacher, ramen connoisseur, and international traveller, to ask him some questions about his past teaching experiences and personal interests.

7. We know that you’ve lived in several countries around the world (Brazil, US, HK), which place has been your favourite and why?

It’s a hard question because I love all the places for different reasons. But I do have an answer to that, it’s Brazil. I think that’s my first abroad place so that has the connection of my first time leaving the U.S.. Brazilians are stereotypically really friendly but it’s a true thing. I just have a lot of fond memories of making friends very easily there.You will meet somebody that you talk to for 10 minutes at a place, and they are already inviting you to their home for a barbecue. To my mind, Brazillians’s first priority is that you are happy, socializing and that you feel welcomed. I even get that sense at school.

When my principal was asking how I was doing, the questions about school and class always came later or not at all. It was more like - How is your life going?

What are you doing? I think that translated to how I interacted with students and how they interacted with me. It was just nice not thinking about me as a teacher or think of students as just a grade or percentage.

8. We know that you’ve worked with Teach with America, what was your biggest takeaway or most memorable experience from that experience?

I have a lot of crazy stories. The craziest thing that has probably happened was a student named Charlie overreacted behaviorally and ended up throwing a book at me. It all worked out eventually, he didn’t mean it and I didn’t it take it badly. But it was probably one of the more hardcore moments that happened.

I actually never planned to be a teacher, I was originally going to law school. Despite Teaching For America being millions of horror stories, I felt like I was doing good work and I fell in love with teaching.

(There is a concept called “Ikigai” which states that the job you have should fulfill you in many ways, you should love it, it should fulfill a world need, you should be compensated for it, and you should also be good at it. If you have all these aspects then you found your inner “Ikigai” and I felt that teaching fulfilled it.)

9. If you weren’t a teacher what would you be?

If you asked this question 10 years ago, I would have said something like finance or law, but now I would say two things. My dream job is being a food critic - but that’s not realistic.

So I think that something I would like to pursue is being an educational consultant and not the ways I think lots of schools use them. I think sometimes a lot of schools bring in speakers, they say a speech and leave, I want to be a consultant that would help build a full workshop around your idea. I like to think of activities and ways to make learning engaging. But I got to get good at what I am doing first before I tell people how to do it.

10. What is your most prized possession?

The typical answer is my passport because it allows me to travel around. But I’m going to go with the watch I’m wearing. I’m really into watches. When I bought this one, I had been working to save, it is just the time in life when I was compensated quite well.When I look at this watch, it makes me think about my teaching journey and how much effort I put into my work in order to buy this. I wear this 365 days a year and most times I actually sleep with this on. I got this watch because I was into James Bond 007 and this was the watch he wears in Skyfall.At the time, this was what I wanted and I still really like it.

11. What are you most afraid of?

A few things, but I would probably say complacency.

I always believed that even if I became the greatest teacher in the world, I don’t want to just rest on that and be complacent about it. That also applies to my relationships and places, and that’s maybe why I move around so much.

12. What is a dream you have yet to achieve?

I would probably say having a family, it’s a dream I’ve had probably since high school. I’ve just always envisioned raising kids, putting them in sports and coaching them.

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COMMUNITY

CHANGES TO CIS

By Cindy Shum Photography by Stephen Chen Layout by Natalie So and Stephanie Ma

C

hinese International School has changed dramatically over the last couple of years, ranging from the installation of the Atrium Cafe, the creation of Middle and Upper school forums, to the implementation of Flexi time.What does the CIS community really think about these changes? Have they improved student life at CIS? This article hopes to explore the several changes CIS has made to it’s curriculum and services, and delve into the opinions about such changes held by CIS students themselves.

do homework so [he] don't have to worry over the weekend.”

However, there’s also been criticisms towards the effectiveness of Flexi-time. A common concern is that the length of Flexi-time is too long. Students have mentioned that many of the activities during Flexi time can be finished in a shorter amount of time than allocated. They would rather have longer break, lunch or class time than having Flexi. “I have heard many students groaning about the cut in recess and lunch One of the most significant changes that have been because of flexitime”, a student pointed out. Most made are the changes to the school schedule, most students agree that if Flexi time was shortened, they significantly, Flexi time. Head of Secondary, Ms. Doleman, would not only be able to have adequate time for snack mentioned that one of the main reasons Flexi time and lunch, but still be able to engage in the activities was implemented was to enrich student’s well-being that Flexi-time offers. In summary, Flexi time has been at CIS. Students have previously voiced their concerns beneficial towards improving student wellbeing, but the about not having enough time to relax and participate main objection towards it is that it may be too long. in activities that benefit their mental and physical wellbeing, and Flexi time was designed to help solve In regards to the architecture of CIS, the biggest this issue. Ms. Doleman also mentioned than some of changes are the new offices, the Atrium cafe and the the outcomes she hopes Flexi-time will produce are tap in tap out system. Out of those changes, the Atrium not only more time for students to engage in a range Cafe in particular has gotten an overwhelming amount of activities, but also to include more time for teachers of appreciation and support. “The new Atrium café is a to do common planning, and find more productive new installation that, in my opinion, benefits the students and engaging ways to teach students. In terms of the the most”, a student from Year 9 mentioned. Students student’s point of view, students generally appreciate enjoy the food in the Atrium Cafe, and for those who Flexi-time as it allows them to engage in fun activities have lockers on higher floors, the Atrium Cafe is an easy and complete homework and “opens many doors of way to access food without having to run up and down opportunities to students”. One student remarked, “I the school between classes. A majority of students think the initial idea is amazing, to have more time for agree that their school lives (and their appetites!) are us students to engage with each other and do activities definitely improved because of the new cafe. However, that we ourselves are passionate about.” Another many of the students find the lines in the Atrium Cafe facet of Flexi-time that is popular among students is a too long and the prices too high. A widespread view extended Learning, is a period of time that is allocated among students is that they find the long lines at the for students to study every Friday. Most students Atrium Cafe inconvenient, especially for those that are have found this Extended learning beneficial, like this in a hurry to get to meetings or who want to enjoy one student who states he “ likes extended learning their breaks or lunch times instead of waiting in a line because extended learning gives [him] more time to the whole time. Another concern is that the portions

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that are served are quite small compared to the amount paid. Even though there are a lot of students getting food and sometimes the food may not be enough for all, students still need a nutritional lunch. Despite this, the Atrium Cafe is certainly an improvement in student’s lives.

I think the initial idea is amazing... to engage with each other and do activities that we ourselves are passionate about

Another big change is the new tap in tap out system.

Students and caretakers are required to bring their CIS ID cards to school in order to enter the building. Ms. Doleman mentioned that this was solely due to the safety, stating, “We need to know who is in CIS at all times.

People can’t get onto the campus without being part of CIS.” While most students understand the necessity of security regulations, some students mention that it is quite a tedious system. “It makes CIS feel even safer to students, albeit seeming to be tedious at first - for some, the system takes some getting used to,” one student Due to this, students are starting to take initiative and commented. organizing many fundraising activities such as bake sales or atrium showcases to support causes they believe in, CIS has always been a student-centered school, and this or starting clubs and leading student leadership initiatives year, the school has taken even more steps to encourgae such as the SAE. Many believe that student initiative is student leadership and promote student voice. New increasing, and are glad that CIS creates an environment middle and upper school forums have implemented, an in which students are encouraged to take leadership in increased amount of student leadership opportunities their communites and support different causes. and ways to contact teachers are being created, which all has made a beneficial impact on student life. The CIS mission statement states that CIS aim to “to Ms.Doleman mentioned, “Students need to know that inspire students to a lifelong love of learning.” With the their voices are listened to and they can make a change,” new schedule and physical changes that are happening emphasizing the importance of student voice in the CIS around the school, CIS strives to enpower student community. Most students agree that student voice is voices and encourage student initiative. Ms. Doleman essential to improving the school and are glad that CIS mentioned that with the recent accreditation survey, CIS is taking steps to giving students more opportunities to is self reflecting to create more plans for the future. CIS voice their opinions. “I think CIS has done so much has made many changes this year, and although its not to encourage the student's voices and I think student perfect, there has definetely been a huge improvement voice at CIS has been heard and put into effect”, stated in school spirit, services and satisfaction of students and one student in approval. In addition to student voice, Ms. staff. It is a positive outcome that the school is trying to Doleman notes that she hopes to see that “students are make improvements that benefit student's wellbeing. As impacting change and taking initiative”.

Ms. Doleman says, “We’re building our community.”

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Dr op in t he O C E A N Who Are We? Drop in the Ocean is a student-led group, passionate about environmental protection.

Other than advocating for sustainable thinking and action, there is also a component of service in the work we do. DITO has three strands, Beach Clean-Up, Urban Farming and CIS Footprint, each of which is uniquely focused on environmental sustainability.

Beach Cleanup hosts regular sessions to remove plastic debris from Hong Kong’s beaches. By planting organic produce in the school’s community farm and educating others on the topic, Urban Farming seeks to highlight the importance of farming in an urban environment. Footprint is the newest strand under DITO. It is a sustainability audit aiming to collect valuable data which will guide and encourage Chinese International School’s journey to becoming a zero carbon school.

What Have We Done?

Last year, DITO asked Chartwells to introduce more environmentally-friendly operations, especially concerning the packaging of food and drinks. From this, came the tetra pack campaign to remove all tetra packs from CIS. DITO presented Chartwells with several types of eco-friendly packaging to replace the tetra packs, as well as educated CIS about why the campaign would be beneficial to the school and environment. DITO collected over 600 signatures and convinced Chartwells to make the change to eco-friendly

packaging. We are so happy and proud of the CIS community for coming together to support this movement!

DITO also annually holds fun events, activities and talks for Green Week, Vegan Day and other days devoted to raising awareness about the environment. Last year on World Vegan Day, DITO organized 500 Impossible meat burgers for students.

A vegetarian diet is more environmentally friendly than a meat-eating diet, as meat production contributes 18% of total human greenhouse gas emissions. This was a great chance to introduce this meat-free option to the community to promote a vegetarian/ vegan diet!

Why our cause?

There are enough private cars in the city to wrap around Hong Kong island more than 43 times, and throughout the course of a year these cars release CO2 equivalent to about 80 percent of their weight. That’s a lot of carbon with a one way ticket to our biosphere! Facts like these are definitely not to be disputed, but often times can desensitise audiences and end up achieving the opposite of their intended purpose. The doom and gloom they bring does not foster a positive atmosphere to affect change. DITO is focused on advocating for our environment in a positive way in close connection with the CIS community, taking care of our environment for future generations to enjoy it the same way we have.

By Matthew Guo & James Eyre | Photography by Matthew Guo | Layout by Matthew Guo

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B e ac h C L E A N U P B

each Cleanup is a CIS student-led service group striving to clean up Hong Kong’s spectacular beaches.

It is another branch of DITO that was founded in 2017 by a group of enthusiastic and forward-thinking students. The first visionary students Beach Cleanup founders, Adam Wang and Mahan Malhotra, went to Chung Hom Kok beach in 2017 and were in dismay at the sheer amount of garbage that was on the beach.

Some of the piles were so deep that the sand beneath was no longer visible. We can now proudly say that as of November 2019 the beach which we have been cleaning up over the past two years is now restored to its former beauty.

For our first cleanup of 2019, 24 passionate CIS students took to the beach under the beating sun. We spent multiple

hours heaving plastic and debris. Our efforts to clean up this beach were not without reward, the satisfaction of seeing the 30 bags of plastic, cans and waste all neatly piled up was an experience we all cherished. Besides the physical cleanups, we aim to educate the population of CIS and Hong Kong of the damages plastic usage and littering does to the ocean and beaches.

Beach Cleanup aims to treat the wounds of the climate crisis whilst simultaneously doing our best to change individuals mindsets all over Hong Kong. We have collaborated with many organisations to help spread this message including the French Embassy, Harry Chan (Hong Kong-based environmentalist) and we are currently planning a cleanup with Ocean 3C (Hong Kong-based NGO).

By Clancy Steains | Photography by Beach Cleanup | Layout by Matthew Guo 校話

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U rban F A R M I N G

F

resh back from Hangzhou in Y11, two passionate students, Kaitlyn Wells and Rachael Kong (Class of 20’) knew they cared about environmental issues, but they just didn’t know how they could make a difference. As an environmental group was in the works of becoming what is now DITO, Kaitlyn and Rachael, both having had some gardening experience, decided that they would try to launch a studentled urban farming group at CIS. After conducting tons of research and learning about what urban farming is and why it is important through conversations with their peers Sofia Chon and Ben Chan (Class of 18’) and representatives from Rooftop Republic, a social enterprise that promotes urban farming and sustainable living in Hong Kong, they knew they were ready to get the ball rolling.

Now, you might be thinking, “What even is Urban Farming?”, and that common

unawareness is part of the problem that the CIS Urban Farming group is trying to fix. By definition, urban farming is the practice of cultivating, growing, and distributing food in urban areas. It is growing food locally, and trying to reduce carbon-footprint. But it is also so much more than that. In the words of one of the founders of Urban Farming at CIS, Kaitlyn, “Urban Farming it is about unlocking the untapped potential in urban spaces, and is an essential aspect to building sustainable cities,”. It is about physical and mental health, sustainability, creativity, and so much more.

Now, the CIS student-led service group can be seen every Tuesday lunchtime, either planting produce like carrots, lettuce and tomatoes, helping out at the CIS community farm, or coming up with creative ways to promote and teach the CIS community about Urban Farming.

By Malin Leven | Photography by Urban Farming | Layout by Matthew Guo 24

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Footprint “Our planet is in crisis. But until we call it a crisis, no one will listen.”

-Greta Thunberg We all know to turn off the lights, recycle, and stop using plastic straws. Whilst small actions do add up, bold changes must be made to tackle the root of this dire problem. We live in a world where the conveniences of our everyday lives come at the expense of the environment. With the rapidly changing climate, it is no longer enough to act on an individual level. This is a crisis, and it calls for systematic change!

What better way is there than to make these changes at CIS, where we spend the majority of our time? As such, Drop in The Ocean is proud to introduce a new initiative - CIS Footprint!

This project is the perfect opportunity for us to fundamentally reconsider how our school operates; where systemic change can make environmental sustainability a habit, instead of a choice. The plan is to collect comprehensive data about our school’s environmental impact to provide suggestions for tangible changes at school leading up to our 50th anniversary in 2033! We are working with Metanoia, a company that promotes sustainability in schools, to achieve our goal of sustainability in CIS. What does Metanoia do?

beyond.”

What have we done so far?

After the launch of CIS Footrpint in late September, our team interviewed various members of the school community to gather different viewpoints regarding sustainability at CIS. Following the interviews, we set out to target the biggest concerns the stakeholders identified — high levels of energy usage and food waste on campus. With Metanoia’s help, we have compiled a detailed data sheet that documents the amount of water, electricity and gas used at CIS over three years. This will allow us to figure out our habits and see where we can make the greatest changes. Next, we collected data on the amount of food waste on campus during lunchtime, which allowed us to identify what is being thrown out the most and how we can improve.

This is just the beginning. We have a lot more research and analysis to do over the course of the school year. We all have the power to change, let’s make our future count!

The word Metanoia - from the Greek - means “a transformation of heart and mind leading to change of behaviour.”

“We strive to deliver informed recommendations so that schools can adjust habits, policies and planning to reduce their environmental footprint, rather than focusing on specific equipment and individual actions. By working closely with students and modelling what is really possible, we hope to catalyse a chain reaction of many small metanoias in the school community and

By Jade Tong, Doddy Tullis & Gloria Poon| Photography by DITO | Layout by Matthew Guo

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Gender Sexuality Alliance` Alliance

Gender Sexuality Alliance` Alliance

By Laetitia Loo Illustration by Theresa Hu Layout by Natalie So

By Laetitia Loo Illustration by Theresa Hu Layout by Natalie So

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Founded in 2016, the GSA is a small but lively group working to create awareness and change within the CIS community. Our main goal is to provide a safe space and network for LGBTQIA+ individuals and allies alike to learn and flourish openly. GSA has a very unique group of students who have united to improve the community of CIS and to inspire more people to help make our school a safer environment for everyone. After 3 years, we’ve created a new program to allow more students and teachers to get involved with our club. We call it the Open Sessions. The open sessions aim to create informal discussions that busy students and staff can choose to join if they have time. In order to make the conversations more interesting and attractive to students, we’ve had screenings of TV shows and cartoons featuring prominent LGBTQIA+ characters or celebrities and organized fun games and events to prompt conversations and encourage attendance. All participants are encouraged to bring friends who are interested, as another goal is to spread conversations beyond our circle to allow everyone to learn more about the LGBTQIA+ community and how we can work towards a more supportive community here at CIS. We are in the process of developing several new systems including a monthly newsletter to all interested students containing outlines for the next month’s meetings. Students who are looking to contact representatives of GSA can easily reach us by our email gsa@cis.edu.hk or our website: https://gsa921.wixsite.com/welcometothegsa. Our website features posts regarding new upcoming events and recaps for previous sessions to allow newcomers to get a taste of what potential sessions could be like. Future plans for our website include a weekly or bi-weekly Q&A as well as a gallery for the art that our students create. We’re excited for the next few years and to be able to work with more of the student body in the future!

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COMMUNITY The arts

at CIS has most definitely expanded within the span of a

year. Every Thursday, students are able to experience a plethora of art forms, whether that takes place as a bullet journaling workshop, postermaking, a Just Dance battle among the teachers, and the list simply goes on! Such prominent expansion of the arts has been fostered by the Student Arts Executive (SAE): a group of passionate students who provide a voice and leadership opportunities to the arts at CIS. As the growth of SAE has had such a great impact on the student body, I have decided to interview the core members of the team to understand what has been going on behind the curtains of success.

Q & AW i t h

JACQUELINE LO MARKETING DIRECTOR

How has the use of social media helped SAE to grow?

When we first started, SAE didn’t actively use social media. However, after I had started posting more consistently, there was an increase in school spirit towards the arts. By using social media to strengthen one’s understanding of certain events, more people would be willing to join and take part in the activity.

How do you organize your feed?

Most of the posts on our social media are photos and videos from events, as well as posters of upcoming workshops. Not only do we advertise events held by SAE, but since we strive to foster the arts at CIS, we also advertise other art-related events occurring at school, such as the production: Daisy Pulls It Off. Throughout the year I’ve learned that the feed should always be bursting with color to draw the attention of students and accentuate the spirit of our community.

Tell us something you love about your role.

Being able to cultivate spirit towards the arts through social media is definitely my favorite aspect. Often times, it is quite easy to see a divide between year groups

written by Amy

Shin

illustrations and layout by

as we don’t have any classes together. But because social media is so prominent

Shanting Hou

in our daily lives, it creates a community.

STUDENT ARTS EXECUTIVE SHANTING HOU ARTS DIRECTOR

EVELYN HOWE PRESIDENT OF SAE How has your journey in the SAE been so far?

My journey in the SAE has been so meaningful. When I look back at my secondary years, it would probably be one of the highlights. Being able to have a lunchbox every single week, seeing higher turnouts, and more students eager to lead

What was it like working with the SAE to host Letters to the Future?

lunchboxes just makes it really fulfilling because the hard work

Amazing. We had finished this project in such a short amount of

hand over my role, SAE will continue to be a group that will be

time yet had successfully shared it with the community. Although

passionate and continues cultivating the arts in our student body.

has definitely paid off. I know that when the time comes to

we had to sacrifice a lot of time and faced challenges, it was really worthwhile working with the group members. We were all driven with a passion, making the project just as meaningful.

How has SAE helped you cultivate your passion for art?

SAE has taught me how to express art by helping the community in interactive ways. Students can learn and experiment with untaught realms of art, such as Manga drawing, which we will be holding soon. I have definitely cultivated my artistic vision by helping brainstorm workshops and thinking of ways to help the community.

What aspect of SAE is really meaningful to you?

It is how genuine you are in wanting to bring the arts to CIS. SAE allowed me to use my vision and delve into various activities. To me, creating a community within is what makes SAE really meaningful. Being able to explore my passion with others is what drives me to continue my initiative with art, to just relax and delve into a therapeutic process.

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Describe your experience in a single word.

FULFILLING. How has SAE nurtured the arts at CIS? From the start, SAE strived to be an organization that provides students with an opportunity to have leadership roles and engage in the arts with bite-sized lunch boxes. No matter how much a student may be passionate about the arts, we hope to share more awareness and experiment with various art forms so that they can find clarity in their interests. Additionally, we sought to help students with their art projects, such as Shanting’s ‘Letters to the future’ and ultimately nurture the arts through whatever form it may take.

What aspect of SAE is really meaningful to you?

The community that it has built. This is on two levels. Firstly, I have built a family with the people in the SAE. Their passion has fueled my passion to further the arts at CIS, and having the privilege to work with other likeminded individuals to create this platform has been really meaningful. Secondly, art is a great medium for our school to create a sense of community.

It can be anything: performing, doodling, or anything related to the arts, that can allow individuals to create meaningful relationships with one another. This is what I love about the arts, and is what we hope, as the SAE, to bring to CIS.

COMMUNITY MS. WONG FACULTY ADVISOR OF SAE How did the SAE start?

The seed for SAE was planted back in 2017 when a number of students began to create service and leadership opportunities through the arts -- the CIS Commercial Productions Group (CPG), the Art Symposium -- these are such great examples of student agency that have become firmly embedded in the school. So when I became Head of Arts three years ago, I created the committee with a group of rising Year 12’s helping to coordinate and publicize arts events under one umbrella.

What was the purpose of starting SAE? To bring student agency to the arts. That was, and continues to be the main driving force. There were other aspects as well, for instance, wanting to make sure that the many events and artwork made by the individual art subjects gets maximum exposure, and giving leadership opportunities to those students who excel in the Arts. . We wanted to give students the space and place to showcase and engage in the Arts on a regular basis -- that’s where the Arts Lunchbox comes in. Every Thursday–no matter what happens–there will always be an art event going on at the atrium; in the very heart of the school. My primary purpose has always been to give students a voice because what they are saying plays a pivotal role in shaping the future of our society. Innovation is crucial, and by creating SAE, these students would have a platform to express their artistic vision, and by extension, their vision of what they want their world to be.

Do you think it is living up to your expectations?

It gives me great pleasure to say that the SAE has completely exceeded my expectations. However, the funny thing about human nature is that achieving any measure of success pushes you to do better, to try harder. I had no idea coming in that we were going to have such an amazing, creative schedule of Lunchbox events or that they would be so hugely popular. I thought we would just have some performances here and there, but today, what we have are student-led workshops in areas as diverse as manga drawing and k-pop dancing.

By carving out dedicated time in the week for the arts, the SAE has in turn made students more aware of the importance of the Arts in a balanced life.

Where do you plan to head in the future?

I want us to bring more student agency to lower secondary students. At the moment, we have workshops run by the upper year levels, but I would love to see the genesis of that come from younger students as well. I always wonder what Year 7’s want to lead, what experiences do they want in the arts? Do we have a budding photographer in Year 8 who we could exhibit for? There are also many artistic parents, teachers and alumni -- I would love to to delve into the fabric of the CIS community to share and celebrate our talents with one another!

FREDDIE FAWCETT DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS What is your favorite moment being in SAE? My favorite moment in the SAE would have to be seeing the results of the workshops and how many people turn up. For instance, in Hyning’s bullet journaling workshop, we had so many people sign up that we had to split it into two separate workshops. The excitement and turnout of each and every workshop is visual evidence reminding you of how necessary incorporating the arts into other disciplines at the school is. It is always the subtle joys in the process of crafting workshops for the community and to weave together the tapestry of such a passionate group of students.

Do you have any advice for anyone who wants to apply?

Anyone can apply! If you have an idea and are passionate about incorporating the arts into CIS, then definitely get your voice heard! Either join by coming up with an idea for a lunchbox or sign up for the team where you can get hands-on experience organizing and spreading awareness about the diverse artistic talents that our school embodies. We welcome you!

How does SAE work with other groups/individuals?

Everything starts off with a single idea. We either receive an email from a student or come up with an idea ourselves, ranging from the dramatic to visual arts. From that, we work with the different leadership teams to get the idea heard. And by Thursday, whether it be a week or month away, a community is brought together to enjoy a gratifying 45 minutes at lunchtime.

How would you describe your experience in the SAE in 10 words?

Best way to spend my Monday and Thursday lunch times.

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FACES: RACHAEL LEE (class of 2019)

By Rachael Lee | Layout by Natalie So and Haley Hsu My name is Rachael Lee, but everyone calls me Rae. I graduated in 2019 and had been a student at CIS since reception.

1. Which university are you in and what courses are you studying?

I’m currently studying Psychology at the University of Warwick, which is located near Coventry.

2. Are you enjoying university?

My university experience so far has been an absolute joy! I would say I’ve settled in very well, meeting people from all different walks of life. On top of that, I am really enjoying my studying psychology. My favourite part of university has been being a part of the dance team and ultimate frisbee team. Initially, I was super worried about meeting people, but sports clubs and societies have made it a breeze. I love being around people who share similar interests with me.

3. What advice would you give students entering who are entering IB or enjoying their last few years at CIS? Don’t stress out schoolwork! It may seem like getting the IB diploma is the most important thing in the universe but trust me when I say after graduation, no one really cares what score you’ve received. Year 12 and 13 mark the final years you’ll have at CIS, spend that time with your friends and years group.

4. What do you remember most about your experience at CIS? Having been at CIS since reception, I’ve been a part of so much change. From new students to new teachers, new timetabling systems and even new building. Among all that, the CIS community is what I remember the most.

5. How has your experience at CIS shaped you/ helped you as you enter college?

I think having gone through such a rigorous program such as the IB, it has made my transition into university easier from an academic perspective. All the collaborative work done over the two years has taught me many organisational skills which I can say has already come in handy during my first term.

6. What do you miss most about your secondary years?

I definitely miss the people I used to see everyday, students, teachers and other staff members. All of them have impacted my life in some way, shape or form.

7. What are your plans for the future?

In the future, I hope to work in the education sector or in the performing arts industry.

8. Anything else you want to say to the CIS community?

Enjoy your time at CIS! Time goes by in the blink of an eye. Before you know it, you’ll be in my shoes giving other students advice about university.

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BENJAMIN TANG (class of 2019)

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By Benjamin Tang | Layout by Natalie So and Haley Hsu Hi, I’m Benjamin Tang. I graduated from CIS in 2019 and I’m currently studying computer science and management at St Andrews in Scotland. I’ve been at St Andrews for about 5 months now.

1. Are you enjoying university? What has surprised you about the experience/ what is your favourite part of uni so far?

I’m loving university as a first year since there is so much less pressure compared to high school, which is what surprised me the most coming in.While I’m still striving to reach academic excellence, the lecturers and tutors around me are constantly reminding me (and everyone) that first year the time to adjust to how universities work. (Also grades from my first year don’t carry onto my final degree grade!) What has surprised me the most about Studying in a relatively small uni is how much there is to do despite living in such a small town.

2. What advice would you give students entering who are entering IB\enjoying their last few years at CIS? IB is going to be tough. Alumni and current IB students often joke about how the IB program is impossible unless you’re working 24/7. I promise you that’s not true. While the workload is high, you will always have time to do things that you love. Academically, I found doing a lot of past papers helpful in my understanding of content.

3. What do you remember most about your experience at CIS? There were quite a few things that I regarded as memorable during my time and experience at CIS. The ones off the top of my head are the common room bants, Ms. Lau roasting my whole Econ class and the ultimate frisbee club!

4. How has your experience at CIS shaped you/ helped you as you enter college?

Coming from a competitive high school into a competitive university, I am able to carry a similar mindset with grades, deadlines and just the “stress culture” in my courses. I feel like compared to others, I’m much more relaxed and confident during deadline week.

5. What do you miss most about your secondary years?

Our year was comparatively smaller to other years during my time at CIS. That is something that I definitely miss as our year was quite close because of that.You don’t get that same sense of camaraderie in university.

6. What are your plans for the future?

To make frisbee an olympic sport, make the GB national team, then win the olympics for GB. I’d also like to get a girlfriend sooner or later but that can wait. Otherwise nothing much, just to enjoy university while I still can and hopefully contribute to society in a positive way.

7. Anything else you want to say to the CIS community?

Thank you for making CIS the way it is! I’ve been very fortunate to be part of such a diverse community.

8. Any words you live by?

“This stuff [Calculus] doesn’t impress girls!!! Trust me, I’ve tried at your age.” - Mr Mumm “Do what you do when you feel like it, when you don’t” - Kris Vallotton

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香港 HONG KONG Photography by Kalysha Wong

HONG KONG

做水吧，朋友！

By Deborah Chen | Photography by Cheryl Ting | Layout by Ingrid Hsu

香港反送中行動從六月九日開始，至 今仍未能平息。雖然只是短短的四個 月，卻已成為每一位香港人生命中最 難忘的一段時間。 本來被視為安全 和自由的香港，為何發展到變成「逃 犯天堂」？ 從反送中行動的發起點開始説起，原 先觸發市民的不滿是基於香港特別行 政區政府提交給香港立法會審議的一 個法律草案- 《2019年逃犯及刑事事 宜相互法律協助法例（修訂）條例草 案》（Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019） 。由於政府推動修改條例過於急切， 罔顧民意，導致香港市民與國際媒體 擔憂和質疑香港的司法獨立是否受到 壓制。如《逃犯條例》的修改通過， 香港嚴重罪行的嫌疑犯能夠合法被引 渡到中國內地受審，有著破壞一國兩 制原則的風險。大部分香港人對中國 的司法制度沒信心，所以得知事情後 立即發動大規模的遊行與示威去表達 對政府不滿。縱使多次大型的遊行集 會，政府仍莫視民意，一意孤行，使 民眾的不滿慢慢演變成憤怒與憎恨的 情緒。不少市民控制不了心中的怒 火，就選擇以暴力的行為向政府發 洩，這表達訴求的方法也被視為策 略，希望能夠引起國際關注。因為如 此，社會的治安變得混亂。為了控制 暴力的情況，政府採用警察去維持跌 序，驅散群眾。

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！ 市民一向對警察的印象是一班能被信 任、有原則和能夠保護市民的精英部 隊。反送中一連串的集會和遊行使警察 每時每刻都需要集中精神去應變突發事 件，呈現出作為警察所需的耐力與專業 精神。但隨著日子的過去和種種事件的 發生，市民對警察的印象徹徹底底地轉 變了。其中一件很關鍵使香港市民對警 察失去信心和尊重的事件，就是七月二 十一日的元朗襲擊事件。當日大批穿著 白衫和手繫紅繩，疑似有黑社會背景的 人在港鐵元朗站持械無差別襲擊途人和 列車乘客。市民報案後，警方卻未有即 時制止襲擊，使市民懷疑警察與黑社會 有勾連，對警方的信心大幅降低。到現 在，不少民眾對警察的態度變成一種強 烈的憎恨。 這些情緒激發了市民去發揮各自的才 華，透過不同的渠道去表達想法和抒發 自己的情緒，充分展示出獨特的香港人 精神。不少學生領袖寫信申請發起人鏈 活動，在校外與不同學校的學生和校友 連成一條很長的人鏈，充分展示出團隊 精神和領導能力。市民在各區的天橋道 路街上參考捷克連儂牆整的壁報牆，在 便利貼寫上激勵語與訴求並貼上牆上。 每當走過連儂牆，那種團結一心的氛圍 特別使人感動。除了激勵話，牆上也展 示出一幅又一幅充滿美術感和創意的 海報，又展示充滿文學味道的自創詩 句。一班有創意的市民把英文流行音樂 Chandelier by Sia 重新填詞，令它成為 一首諷刺警察與政府的歌曲。雖然歌曲 有踐踏別人的意味，但成功讓市民產生 共鳴，把陌生人連結起來，營造出充滿 親切感的風氣。 儘管在連串行動中反映了香港人百折不 饒的精神，社會的紛亂卻導致年輕人的 心裡受到極大的打擊和影響。有些年輕 人與家庭的政治立場對立，帶來不少爭

執，甚至與家人分裂，離家出走。他們 與擁有比較保守思想的老一輩不時發生 衝突，處於矛盾之中，不少人內心變得 不平衡，甚至因親身經歷了不幸的事情 而心靈受到創傷。

「堅如冰，流如水, 聚如露，散如霧」 這十二個字形容參與這場運動中的香港 人是特別的適合。這段時間是辛苦的， 充滿淚汗與血，這個水的隱喻便用來鼓 勵市民要保留著頑強的精神。意思說人 們的意志必需堅如冰，一日不撤，一日 不散；行動時要流如水，隨機應變；解 散時要快如霧，敵進我退。水的隱喻不 但能夠套用在今次的行動中，也是一個 做人的哲理。李小龍曾說過 - “Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless, like water. You put water into a cup. It becomes the cup. Put water into a teapot. It becomes the teapot. Water can flow or it can crash.

Be water my friend.” 水具有獨特的柔順 性、適應性、協作性，而不會一味蠻力 對抗。做人也一樣，在不同處境中要能 夠適應，不該有硬性或單一的期望，而 應該有多樣的可能性。像水靜止時的澄 清，遇上難關時我們都該冷靜思考反 思，因為當我們心靈寧靜時，我們的思 想是最清晰的，便能夠做到自我控制。 讓每一位香港市民在這艱難的時期，能 夠像水一樣堅如冰，流如水，聚如露， 散如霧。在艱難的人生路上擁有著水的 心態面對一切。

做水吧，朋友！

校話

期刊 21

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HONG KONGKONG HONG HONG KONG t of the 20th century

By Esther

by Mia Cheng Layout| by Jocelyn ByLynch Esther| Illustrations Lynch | Illustrations

by Mia|Cheng Layout

by Cheng Jocelyn Cheng social unrest in East the Berlin Wall in s just marked the 30th nt). The Alexanderplatz er 4, 1989, where d members of the the end of Communist rmans, an 2019, 2019, In November a search for theforkeyword Inwas November a search the keyword Wall fell 5 days after “protests” on Google or TheorNew bringsbrings The defining protest movement of theof20th “protests” on Google TheYork NewTimes York Times The defining protest movement thecentury 20th century nification of East andpages up pages and pages of content about about Hong Hong Kong. The is widely acknowledged as theassocial unrestunrest in Eastin East up pages and of content Kong. The is widely acknowledged the social ncity separated by its thecurrent and current social social unrest,unrest, in its 22nd that led toled thetofallthe of fall theofBerlin Wall inWall in cityitsand in its week 22nd week Germany Germany that the Berlin WWII. as I write, are practically synonymous these days.

November 1989 (Germany has just marked the 30th as I write, are practically synonymous these days.

November 1989 (Germany has just marked the 30th Yet, for issues both big andbigsmall, in countries of all of all anniversary of thisofhistoric event).event).

The Alexanderplatz Yet, for issues both and small, in countries anniversary this historic The Alexanderplatz ntries today, however, sizes and persuasions, protests and calls EastinBerlin on November 4, 1989, wherewhere sizespolitical and political persuasions, protests andfor calls forrally inrally East Berlin on November 4, 1989, change but economic protests are reverberating aroundaround the world.

This This German artists,artists, intellectuals and members of theof the protests are reverberating the world.

German intellectuals and members ement that began in wildfire of unrest is undoubtedly aided aided by thebyease opposition demanded the end Communist wildfire of unrest is undoubtedly the ease political political opposition demanded theofend of Communist daily life to a standstill in which social media can spread a message and a rule before 1.5 million East Germans, was an in which social media can spread a message and a rule before 1.5 million East Germans, was an ncall increase in gas tocall action, but the discontent is driven success.

The Berlin Wall fell 5 days to action, butlevel theof level of discontent is driven undisputed undisputed success.

The Berlin Wall fell 5after days after sby very reliant on cars, three conditions unseenunseen at suchatasuch chronic level level that protest, leadingleading to thetoreunification of Eastofand by three conditions a chronic that protest, the reunification East and areas, sparked a gapinggaping in modern memory: social social and economic Germany, whichwhich had been by theby the init modern memory: and economic West West Germany, had separated been separated economic inequality, ainsecurity frightening turn to authoritarianism Potsdam TreatyTreaty at theatclose WWII. inequality, a frightening turn to authoritarianism Potsdam the of close of WWII. dinworking classes. many democracies and a boiling frustration in many democracies and a boiling frustration rotests havegovernments’ also unwillingness with governments’ to address these these The protests roilingroiling many many countries today,today, however, with unwillingness to address The protests countries however, Lebanon and Saudia problems. are motivated not bynot political changechange but economic problems. are motivated by political but economic sic services or goods. justice.justice.

The “Yellow est” movement that began in The “Yellow est” movement that began in what economists call November 2018 and daily life to life a standstill November 2018brought and brought daily to a standstill ” speak to enormous in France, was spurred by an increase in gas in France, was spurred by an increase in gas conomic inequality. The prices.prices.

As French societysociety is veryisreliant on cars, As French very reliant on cars, government movement especially in poorer, rural areas, it sparked a especially in poorer, rural areas, it sparked a ith precisely such national outcryoutcry over the insecurity national overeconomic the economic insecurity s the Occupy Wall of theofFrench middlemiddle and working classes. the French and working classes. that took over a park in In theInlast few months, protests have also the last few months, protests have also n in 2011, that brought brokebroke out inout Chile, India, Lebanon and Saudia in Chile, India, Lebanon and Saudia elite class that holds ArabiaArabia over taxes on basic services or goods. over taxes on basic services or goods. he wealth in a country, TheseThese protests over what call call protests over economists what economists us “1 ” of society, into “pocketbook items”items” speak speak to enormous “pocketbook to enormous ncerns in countries discontent over economic inequality.

The The discontent over economic inequality.

Arab Spring anti-government movement Arab Spring anti-government movement in 2010 began with precisely such in 2010 began with precisely such issues,issues, but it but wasitthe Wall Wall wasOccupy the Occupy StreetStreet protests that took parkainpark in protests that over tookaover lower lower Manhattan in 2011, that brought Manhattan in 2011, that brought the notion of an elite the notion of anclass elite that classholds that holds the majority of the wealth in a country, the majority of the wealth in a country, Mia|Cheng Layout

by Cheng Jocelyn Cheng eng sther Layout Lynch ||by Illustrations Jocelyn

by Mia Cheng | Layout by Jocelyn Cheng the now “1 ” of into into thenotorious now notorious “1 society, ” of society, the forefront of concerns in countries the forefront of concerns in countries aroundaround the world. the world.

Global Protests: Global Protests:

HK, HK,Sudan, Sudan,Russia Russia

ia , Russia

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The protests in Hong Kong are not a movement for economic justice.

Sparked by the Fugitive Offenders extradition bill proposed by Chief Executive Carrie Lam in June, and withdrawn in October, the movement’s continued momentum is fueled by four remaining demands for political reforms and the legal rights of protestors. Yet, economic inequality in Hong Kong seems also to be driving concern for many of the protesters, as the sentiment that the political class and elite are insensitive to the daily concerns of Hongkongers pervades the middle and lower class. Another concern is that the gap between the city’s political and economic powerhouses and that everyday Hongkongers will not be bridged without a more democratic political system.

sufficiently vulnerable in his community discussions to diffuse people’s anger. At the same time, people were also fed up with disruptions to transportation and a climate of violence caused by the Yellow Vest Movement. A call for a Yellow Vest rally in September mobilized little public attendance and only upset citizens more, due to the disruption the protestors caused to the Métro service yet again in Paris.

What makes a successful protest movement? The subject has been in public forums a great deal recently.

According to L.A. Kauffman, author of Direct Action: Protest and the Reinvention of American Radicalism, “Protests work when All protests All protests demand a response groups are willing to be bold in demand a from their governments, especially their tactics and persistent in response when the consequences of ongoing their approach within the broad civil unrest affect people’s everyday discipline of nonviolent action.” If from their lives, with the erosion of services, peaceful actions, such as the US governments, economic worries and even just Civil Rights Movement and the East especially the stress of daily uncertainties and Berlin protests, realize their goals concerns for ones safety.The Yellow more effectively than the violent when the Vest movement initially enjoyed approaches taken by movements consequences the support of a wide swath of like the Yellow Vests, it is a lesson to of ongoing the French public, eager to show meditate in Hong Kong today. One their discontent with the policies thing is clear, however; as Matthew civil unrest of President Emmanuel Macron, Yglesias wrote recently in Vox, just affect people’s which targeted labor unions and the fact that people take time from everyday lives... threatened social benefits that all their lives to show up to a march French people have. Macron did is a very big deal that governments not let the movement drag on, he should notice. “When a bunch of G KONG HONG met KONG people throughout France in people do that,” Yglesias writes, town hall meetings and eventually “it |serves as byaLynch powerful signal to

By Esther Lynch Illustrations Mia | Lynch Layout Jocelyn Cheng

By Esther ByCheng |Esther Illustrations by | by Illustrations Mia Cheng by | Layout Mia Cheng

by Jocelyn | Layout Cheng

by Jocelyn Cheng repealed the gas tax. Although the the rest of society that something fundamental conditions leading extraordinary is happening.” to the Yellow Vest movement remain, Macron made himself

”

”

alGlobal Protests: Global Protests: Protests:

HK, Sudan, Russia HK,HK, Sudan, Sudan, Russia Russia

search the akeyword vember In for November 2019, search 2019, for a search the keyword for the keyword

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HONG KONG

By Karin Wang | Illustration by Jessica Hu | Layout by Stephanie Li

香港－又被稱為東方之珠－是世界上人口最密集的城市之一，有超過740 萬人住在這個極小的地方裡面。香港也是一個無比美麗與繁華的城市， 到處高樓聳立，燈光閃閃。可是，在香港繁華的背後，卻有被遺忘的另一 面。 隱藏在香港舊區破舊的建築物裡面，是一個個疊著的籠子，這就是所謂的 籠屋。籠屋，又被稱為「棺材房」，是劏房的一種。業主把一個單位分成 超過二十個小單位，租給一些沒有經濟能力的人。住戶住在一個與棺材一 樣大的空間裡，被鐵架和木頭包圍著，空間狹小，身體無法伸展。 籠屋起源於五十年代，它的出現是為了應付中國內戰後湧入香港的大陸移 民，但由於香港的可用土地有限，人口與土地之間的不平衡導致租金暴 漲。香港已被譽為全球最貴的住房市場，住房價格幾乎是平均年收入的20 倍，因此令到這些籠屋的租金都非常昂貴。 籠屋的平均大小約為一張單人床，其大小約為 90cm x 90cm x 180cm。 在這些籠屋中，居民必須在約40平方米的公寓中與20多個陌生人住在一 起，共用一個廁所。由於潮濕的香港天氣會令鐵製成的籠子生鏽，加上長 期的污垢積存，是蟑螂和老鼠的理想繁殖地，可想言之籠屋的居住環境極 其惡劣。 因為地少人多，加上籠屋的空氣流通不良，使裡面的溫度十分酷熱，更被 居民們稱為「人肉蒸籠」。社會底層的居民無法支付電費和購買空調，籠 屋裡的溫度比室外的溫度高得多。政府的一個案例研究顯示，其中一個籠 屋公寓的溫度竟升到38.5°C，達到了一個無可接受的地步。 除了居住環境問題之外，籠屋的安全問題也被受關注。由於籠屋居住環境 狹窄，且缺乏防火措施，一旦發生火警便逃生無路。本港以往曾發生多宗 籠屋火警慘劇，造成多人傷亡。 38

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即使籠屋有如此惡劣的生活環境，租金還 是非常的昂貴。就一個小小的籠子，租金 竟可以超過1900港幣。這個不合理的價 錢震驚了許多居民，但他們無能為力，只 能僅僅負擔籠屋的租金。生活在如此狹窄 的地方，許多居民的心理健康受到嚴重損 害。

籠屋的出現揭露了香港很多隱藏的社會問 題。多年來，香港的貧富懸殊日漸嚴重， 有研究顯示香港收入最高的10％人口平 均每月收入是收入最低10％的人口的44 倍，最貧窮的人平均必須工作三年零八個 月才能賺到最富有的人一個月的收入。另 一個問題就是香港房屋政策的管理不善。 香港政府雖然提供公共房屋給低收入人 群，但是因為香港政府未能準確預測未來 的人口增長和住房需求，公屋的數量遠遠 追不上城市發展。現時輪候公屋的人數超 過了25.8萬人，申請人要花5年以上的時 間才能申請到一個單位。香港還有76%的 土地未經發展，而政府每年只能蓋5萬個 公屋單位，這徹徹底底的反映出房屋遠遠 求過於供的問題。

此視而不見。在目前的情況下，籠屋的供 應是不會減少的。公屋的輪候人數正在增 加，尤其是老年人，長期的等待會導致老 人在籠子裡度過餘生。 因為以上種種的原因，香港的籠屋得到了 國際性的關注。聯合國稱這些籠屋為「對 人類尊嚴的侮辱」。可幸，香港仍有很多 的組織正在積極地為籠屋居民爭取更好的 待遇，而且會定期為他們提供一些物資資 助和上門服務。身為學生的我們，又怎能 袖手旁觀呢？香港政府又如何可以更有效 的解決這問題呢？ 首先，政府若能夠真正了解基層市民的需 要，若能夠撥出大量資源研究並解決這些 深層次的社會問題，或許香港的住屋惡況 能夠得到改善。在知悉問題所在的同時， 再針對不同的問題從各階層對症下藥，如 提供更多老年人的退休保障、照顧及安 老服務；提出政策去減輕成年人住屋、醫 療及家庭開支壓力；創造更多青少年的就 業機會；提升兒童及幼兒的培育及教育水 平；增加新移民和本地人的文化交流；改 善社會居住環境和建設更多康樂休憩措施 等等。 然而，我們每個人都有能力去幫助身邊有 需要的人。若果我們能夠做好自己，又 伸出援手幫助他人，利用社會資源及不同 渠道，滿足籠屋居民的基本生理及心理需 要，加上政府若果能大刀闊斧針對貧富不 均及人口的問題來解決，我相信香港未來 20年之內一定能夠繼續繁榮和穩定，籠屋 必會永遠消失在香港當中。

雖然籠屋在香港是一個很普遍的現象，但 大部分籠屋是非法的，由於拆除這些籠屋 會導致超過28萬人流離失所。政府就對 校話

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社論 EDITORIALS Photography by Natalie So

EDITORIALS

最後

的地址 Article and Illustration by Airla Fan | Layout by Olivia Sun

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EDITORIALS

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EDITORIALS

何為少年國 何為少年國 何為少年家 何為少年家

By Grace Ma Illustration by Felicia Wang and Iris Zhao Layout by Natalie So and Iris Zhao

引子：香港如今的事態使我反思了自己 中國人的這個身份；既然這次的主題鼓 勵我們去從少年的角度創作，拋開一些 傳統的嚴謹，那我就主觀感性一點，從 一個年輕人的角度講一講中國，講一講 我的這個“家”。 小時候我是在上海長大的，上的是公立 學校。六十週年的國慶時，我上小學 一年級，學校廣播裡的學生在朗誦詩 歌：“我驕傲，我是中國人！”當時 我聽得可振奮了，由衷地為這個“中國 人”的身份感到自豪。 但是作為一個中國人，免不了要為自己 的國家感到焦慮。我成長的過程中，社 會上多少會有連小孩子也很難不去關注 的問題。比如當時的食品問題令人堪 憂：先是三氯氰胺奶粉事件，又是各種 假食品。 08年汶川地震，每天看到的都 是目前有多少死亡、多少重傷、多少輕 傷……我聽著廣告：“為你把眼淚擦乾” ，不自覺地哭了。之後許多豆腐渣工程 曝光，於是許多人也開始注意樓房的質 量。當時中央台有一個節目叫《焦點訪 談》，記者潛入一個施工工地，發現鋼 筋都是劣質的，樓遲早會塌，看得我印 象特別深。後來來了香港，雖說大陸 的媒體我沒少接觸，但是這些問題卻聽 到得越來越少了。它們真的就不存在了 嗎？上次我回老家看外婆，還沒入公寓 樓大門，赫然發現，一棟一年左右的新 樓，地基與門口之間居然裂了一條縫， 整個樓盤下沉了好幾公分，教人如何放 心。 我的老家算是中國基督教的發源地，基 督教已經成為了它文化的一部分。上次 我回去的時候還參觀了堂妹每週去的教 會，卻得知政府正在限制這些教會的行 動，連學生們在學校談論宗教都要控 制。 一轉眼到了七十年國慶，我變了，中國

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EDITORIALS

也變了。我之前在微信上面讀過一篇文章， 作者批判中國人缺乏理性溝通的能力，總是 想著以一個道德的至高點去醜化對方，而不 是聆聽對方的觀點，比如當她對於一些思想 表示質疑，便會被扣上“不愛國”或者“崇 日”的帽子，導致話題沒有討論的餘地。我 生活中也遇到過許多這種情況——哪怕是毫 無侮辱性的論點，只因人們不願討論，便去 給它“扣帽子”。諷刺的是，這篇文章的評 論區“叫罵聲”一片，指她在傳播有毒的西 化思想，沒過多久它就被封了。 今年八月左右，微信上冒出了一篇文章，揭 露Coco奶茶的發票上寫著“香港人加油” ，呼籲抵制Coco奶茶，連我的一位表姐也 轉發了。這篇文章隨後便被輕易揭穿，不過 是有人拿了一張兩個月前的發票“看圖說 話”，挑撥人心。可是這麼多人卻是聽信了 這種所謂的愛國言論，喪失了判斷能力。 我發現自己現在常常對中國政府的各種做法 感到排斥。就比如它在新疆的壓制、亦或者 對於宗教的控制，反感它對於言論與新聞 流通的限制等等。我貌似對於這個國家的感 情越來越淡了，我很難理解人們口中的“愛 國”，這樣也讓我感覺和以前要好的朋友和 親人漸漸疏離了。我想，我可能早就不愛國 了。 但是真的如此嗎？小時候大家都說，“有國 才有家”。我當時卻在想：要是一家人吵架 了，大家來勸架會說，看在都是家人的份 上，不要吵了。要是同城的人吵架了，大家 可能會說，都是老鄉，就不要那麼計較了。 要是兩個中國人吵架，有多少人會說，大家 都是中國人，不要再吵了？如果國人是家 人，那麼為什麼還要相互傷害？那麼如果那 是兩個來自不同國家的人吵架，為什麼人們 不會說，大家都是地球人呢？為什麼還要有 戰爭和仇恨？難道地球就不是家了嗎？ 雖說這世界上許多國家都有著相似的社會話 題，比如貧富差距，性別平權，還是家庭暴 力等等，但是每當我看到這些問題發生在中

國，就更加痛心，更加迫切地想改變現狀， 但同時也對中國人更加失望。今年暑假我在 夏校做有關人權的項目時，本來打算做一個 我了解得比較充分的話題，但是想來想去， 我覺得應該利用這次機會研究中國的那些被 隱藏起來的問題，所以最後選擇了“中國醫 療機構下的’性向治療’”：通過電擊、藥 物等方式“治療”同性戀。說實話，整個做 課題的過程中我都有一些“慫”，總覺得挑 戰公立醫療機構和執法系統還是有點走鋼絲 的感覺。但是，作為一個中國人，我希望看 到我的國家是一個包容的國家；最最起碼， 是一個不會縱容迫害的國家。 作為一個中國人，我鍾愛中國特有的這種多 元豐富的文化——有遊蕩在草原上的游牧民 族，也有水墨畫般的江南水鄉。很神奇地， 這片土地的風景就是更靚麗，食物就是更親 切。所以我特別希望看到中國文化在國際上 受到越來越多人的認可，可能是因為我心裡 還是住著這麼一個“家”吧。但是我不希望 看到盲目的民族自豪感、專制的政府、或是 排外和統一性。我希望中國人都能像愛家人 一樣相互扶持，並且理智地對待自己的國家 和政府，接納不同的聲音，努力地讓這個國 家變得越來越美好，而不是越來越“無腦” 。當然，中國不是唯一一個被所謂的“愛國 主義”所束縛的一個國家。我想說的是， 愛國明明是一種身份認同，是將不同的人連 接起來的一個共同點，不應該成為排外的工 具，也不應該限制人們的思想。

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HKPROTESTS A TIMELINE:

writer

photographer

Tim He

Michael Cheung

layout

Shanting Hou

PROLOGUE

The protests in Hong Kong started on the 9th of June 2019 and show no sign of stopping.

The protests started when the Chief Executive of Hong Kong wanted to impose an extradition bill which would allow for the Hong Kong government to consider requests from any jurisdiction for the extradition of criminal suspects, even those which don’t have an extradition treaty, such as mainland China, Taiwan and Macau. The proposal came after a 19-year-old Hong Kong man allegedly murdered his pregnant girlfriend when travelling in Taiwan in February 2018. When Taiwan officials sought help from Hong Kong to extradite the man, Hong Kong officials could not help due to lack of extradition agreement with Taiwan.

Many Hong Kongers oppose the bill because they believe the extradition bill may allow Mainland China to extract the so-called criminal suspects from Hong Kong to China.

As Human Rights Watch’s Sophie Richardson asserts, “The proposed changes to the extradition laws will put anyone in Hong Kong doing work related to the mainland at risk. No one will be safe, including activists, human rights lawyers, journalists, and social workers.”

First Large Protest On the 9th of June, protesters flooded the streets peacefully, clad in black, in objection towards the extradition bill. According to the police, 240,000 citizens were present at the protest. However, organizers of the protests state that here were more than a million people. While the protests started off peaceful, skirmishes later broke out between the police and the protestors. The police stood outside the government headquarters and fired volleys of teargas and rubber bullets at the charging protesters. The protesters said that the police were “too violent” and that they should apologise immediately.

The

five demands

On June 15th, Carrie Lam announced she would indefinitely delay the

extradition bill. However, many were still dissatisfied and on the following day, an estimated 2 million people took to the streets, urging for the bill to be completely withdrawn and calling for Carrie Lam’s resignation.

There was a legislative debate about the extradition bill scheduled a few days later, which was delayed because of the violent clashes the police had with the protesters soon after the peaceful protest on 9 June. They were protesting because if the debate came to a vote, the bill was likely to pass since proBeijing lawmakers held 43 out of the 70 seats of the Hong Kong legislature.

Due to the violent clashes, Chief executive Carrie Lam suspended the bill on the 4th of September.

Soon after, protesters issued the “Five Demands, Not One Less”, a series of requests that represented the protesters demands to the government, which includes the withdrawal of the extradition bill, the release of arrested protesters without charges, the withdrawal of characterisation of some of the protests as “riot”, the independent investigation into police brutality, and universal suffrage for the Chief Executive and the legislators. As of November 2019, only the withdrawal of the extradition bill has been completed. Carrie Lam also told the protesters that she never characterised the protests as “riot” and said that the use of force by the police is “reasonable”.

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EDITORIALS During the protests in August, protestors paralyzed the Hong Kong International Airport in an effort to make Carrie Lam approve of their list of demands. They swarmed the airport, triggering massive airline cancellations. The protesters apologized to the passengers and foreigners inconvenienced by their acts, stating they were “fighting for their freedom”.

Break-in at the Legislative Council On the 1st of July, a group of protesters broke into

the legislative council. Starting from 1:30 pm onwards, the group of protestors used a trolley to smash the side door of the building. At 5 pm, they moved to the main entrance and started to smash the glass door and remove barricades. The police inside responded with pepper spray, but a protester in the mob threw an object containing unknown liquid at the police, injuring 13 officers. The police suspected the liquid to be a drain cleaner.

At 7 pm, when the protesters successfully broke into the legislative council and the police inside retreated. The protestors smashed windows, defaced portraits, and vandalised the area using spray paint and graffiti. They sprayed a Hong Kong SAR symbol in the legislative council.

Someone wrote, “No mobs, only violent government” in graffiti.

Mob Attacks Protesters On July 21st, a mob of white shirt men attacked

protesters who were returning home from protests in Yuen Long. The police were slow to respond (40 minutes), as they thought that the protesters were cooperating with criminal gangs. The protesters accused the police of not coming to their rescue and fulfilling their duties.

The First Live Round Shooting at Protester

REACTIONS Carrie Lam reacted to the protests with multiple town hall meetings, in which she received little sympathy from audience members. She also enforced a ban on wearing masks on October 4th. This ban was met with a fresh wave of protests.

The Beijing government has accused other countries of supporting the Hong Kong protests, most noticeably the United States. Tam Yiu-chung, a pro-Beijing politician in the legislative council states, “The liaison office officials recognised the Hong Kong government’s intention to pass the extradition bill to plug legal loopholes. But it’s a shame that many foreign forces keep interfering and smearing the bill,” he said.

On the 7th of September 2019, protesters raised American flags around the US Consulate and held posters that wrote “Donald Trump, please liberate Hong Kong”, among many others appealing for American support. The protesters wanted the US to impose a bill which allows US to put sanctions on Hong Kong if the Mainland is not giving Hong Kong enough autonomy.

China has attempted to use soft power to sway the support of peoples and other countries to oppose the Hong Kong protesters that they deem have to “put the city in peril”.

Companies and celebrities all supported China since they were afraid that China would impose laws that may not let them sell their products or show movies in China and will lose customers.

Protests have not only divided and strained international ties but has also caused division within HK citizens. While some believe that the protesters did wrong by using too much violence, others think that the violence is necessary. “The unrest was caused by Hong Kong’s own internal problems.

But its nature started to change over time. As with any mass movement, it is emotional in nature and is sustained largely by emotional forces,” said Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the Global Times.

As the violence continued, on the 1st of October 2019, an 18-year-old student was shot in the chest by a live round, marking the first time a police officer shot a protester since the protests began. The police who fired a live bullet later stated that his actions were necessary as he was protecting his colleague, who had fallen onto the ground and was beaten by a group of protesters. He said that there was no time to react and the protesters were using metal hammers, sharpened hiking sticks, and spanners to hit his colleague, and therefore he fired it in defence. The protesters retorted again that police were using brutal force.

The 18-year-old was immediately rescued and was in a stable condition in a hospital. He was later arrested, and was banned from leaving the country. 53-year-old Cecilia Ng from Reuters comments, "Yes, [the protestors] destroy things. But it was not necessary to shoot them. The point is that the government taught us that peaceful protest can never work. Now, the government pushes another evil law.

Our city is on edge. Our teenagers are also on edge."

EpiLOGUE The HK protests is a complex and controversial issue that has evolved dramatically since the first peaceful protest earlier this summer. While the future of HK remains uncertain, one thing is for sure: the fate of Hong Kong has been irreversibly changed. 校話

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國際新聞 WORLD AFFAIRS Photography by Natalie So

WORLD AFFAIRS

US College Admissions

Scandals By

Illeana

Li

|

Illustration

by

Wee

Tan

|

Layout

by

Wee

Lee

Tan

In March of 2019, the largest US College Admissions Scandals to date materialised after it was uncovered that parents were conspiring to influence undergraduate admissions at elite American universities. Waves of shock and rage rippled across the internet as every news broadcasting station perused the abhorrent and deplorable details. The investigation into the scheme was nicknamed Operation Varsity Blues and United States federal prosecutors publicised the investigation on the 12th of March. 51 alleged people were indicted, amongst these wealthy parents, actresses, and CEOs, including the famed Primetime Emmy Award winner and Golden Globe Award winner Felicity Huffman. Some of the thirty-three accused parents paid sums greater than USD 25 million.

Singer could also falsify student’s final academic reports. In other cases, professional stand-in testtakers posed as the high schoolers taking the standardised tests. A notable example is Harvard alumnus and IMG Academy’s director of exam preparation, Mark Riddell, who was paid $10,000 per exam that he took for a student. Bribes were paid by Singer to college athletic faculty or coaches in order to counterfeit athletic credentials or the photoshop faces of candidates onto photographs of other athletes. For example, Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli paid $500, 000 for their daughters to be enrolled in USC as members of the rowing team, in which neither daughter has had any prior experience. Having pleaded guilty, Singer currently faces imprisonment of 65 years and a $1.25 million fine.

So ultimately, how exactly did a high school girl, who had never had prior experience playing football get recruited to Yale as a football recruit?

Or how did a teenage boy feign a learning disability to score the right score on his standardised testing for a spot at USC? One would turn to the ringleader of this operation, William Rick Singer, for answers.

As US Attorney Andrew Lelling commented, these parents representative of “a catalogue of wealth and privilege” disbursed gargantuan sums of money, some reaching $6.5 million as revealed by authorities, for their children’s admission. It is compelling to unravel where this bribery scandal all began. In 2011, the FBI uncovered that 33 parents were to be involved in illegal arrangements of bribery, fraud and other fraudulent behavior in order for their high school teenagers to be enrolled at top universities such as Stanford, UCLA and Northwestern University. The person that led authorities to uncover this admissions scam was businessman Morrie Tobin, who in 2018 revealed that Rudolph Meredith, head coach of the Yale women’s soccer, asked for $450,000 in return for the admission of Tobin’s daughter. Meredith then cooperated with the FBI which piloted them to Singer. On March 12th, 2019, federal prosecutors revealed the criminal complaint which charged 50 parents of conspiring and committing mail fraud, violating Title 18 United States Code, Section

William Rick Singer was the key organiser for the bribery scandal as the creator of the Key Worldwide Foundation and founder of The Edge College & Career Network. Singer’s fraudulent methods were primarily fabricating standardised testing results in various forms or manipulating the credentials for a college athlete application.

Examples include detailed paperwork written by paid psychologists to forge learning disabilities of applicants taking the SAT or ACTs, which resulted in extra test-taking time or private testing locations where candidates could take the tests are under the direct supervision of Singer. For $4000-$5000,

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1349. The maximum charges for these crimes is a 20year term in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.

Many feel that the entire system of higher education is fabricated for wealthy and affluent families to manipulate, almost intentionally leaving loopholes for these families cheat their way up the top. Aside from the illegal methods of scandal described above, there are plenty of ways the well-connected and wealthy students can benefit in the admissions process. These methods are nicknamed the “back door” methods, which are legal in the status quo. For example, the schools wealthier or more privileged students attend often offer a greater number of higher level or AP classes, the students have a greater ability to pay for tutors, and are more able to pay for taking the standardized tests more than once. It is reported that the top one percent have a higher chance of admittance to Ivy League schools, 77 times to be exact. This is demonstrative of the reality that the system is designed to allow for richer people to exploit. On the same note, another completely legal method is charitable donations to the school or being a legacy of a school, which puts these students at a huge advantage compared to applicants from lower or middle class families.

There is also the “side door”, which are illegal and unethical methods such as fake test taking and bribery. These loopholes largely disadvantage low-income students, who may be hardworking and have top scores, but are stripped of the opportunity to have a higher education or get a degree as wealthy or more privileged students take their spots.

Studies illustrate that only 0.5% of the poorest fifth of American children are educated or have been enrolled in top universities.

Another perspective is to question the reasons for why students and their parents feel the need to engage in fraudulent and criminal action in regards to college admissions. It can be argued that as a student, especially in the current decade, the societal pressuring revolving grades, university destinations, and careers are more compelling than ever. In some cases, tiger parenting and high expectations are to blame, but to what degree? Often, the case is that there is a lack of trust in these parent-

children relationships. Arguably, this is harmed by the pressures of an elite college acceptance and a future which is “bright” and “promising”, but only in the parents’ eyes. This can lead to further damaging familial relationships and deepening tensions, as their children may feel that they are betrayed or not involved enough in the decision making process of their own lives. Furthermore, there are undoubtedly countless loopholes in the college system, including the role of legacies and its impact on acceptance towards the kin of the college’s graduates, or rejections to those who are the first generation to receive a higher education. In other cases, specifically, those involved in the scandals, parents are mentally and financially prepared to risk not only their integrity but the rectitude and freedom of their children for university admissions.

The 2019 College Admissions scandal is a wake up call to institutions of higher education in America, which demands for them to reconsider their admissions processes and the loopholes that it entails. By highlighting the ways in which this system can be manipulated, the entire educational community, including students, teachers and parents

are also forced to consider what actions can be taken to prevent future scandalous occurrences, and what they can do to change the damaging mentality of “Yale or jail”.

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WORLD AFFAIRS

Anti-Vax Movement

By Chloe Wong | Illustration by Theresa Hu | Layout by Stephanie Li

T

he first traces of an Anti-Vax movement dates all the way back to France in 1763, but most recently fears of vaccinations have been triggered by the publication of a scientific paper by physician Andrew Wakefield in 1997 that claimed that there was a link between the measles vaccine and autism. Although many scientific publications have since been published disproving the conspiracy theory and supporting the use of vaccines, in this day and age, many still refuse to vaccinate themselves or their children. This is particularly dangerous as large unvaccinated populations can bring back diseases that were once eradicated in those areas, endanger everyone in those communities, but especially individuals who cannot be vaccinated due to being too young or old, or suffering from terminal illnesses.

People who are opposed to vaccinations are commonly referred to as Anti-Vaxxers.

The first resemblance of an Anti-Vax movement started around 1795, when people refuse to be inoculated with smallpox vaccines because they believed the procedure would be unhygienic. Another reason the people refused to become vaccinated was because multiple clergymen declared that smallpox is a punishment from God, and therefore should not be cured. In 1926, large numbers of people once again refused the vaccines for tuberculosis, tetanus, diphtheria, smallpox polio, typhoid, influenza and whooping cough despite the widespread success of the vaccines. According to historyofvaccines.org, in Delaware, a group of health officers were driven out of a town by a retired army lieutenant because they refused to get vaccinated in 1919.

These fears of vaccination stemmed from a vaccine incident in which 5 children in Dallas died from a contaminated TAP vaccine, a vaccine commonly given to children under the age of 7 to combat against diphtheria, tetanus, and whooping cough.

The Anti-Vax movement, has once again gained traction and is supported by many communities. Even after decades of scientific findings that have proven efficiency 60

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and safety of vaccines, many anti-vaxxers continue to fear the effects of vaccines andy also uphold the belief that they know their own children better than doctors do. Some also restrain from taking vaccines due to religious beliefs. Business Insider said that one of the main arguments used against the measles vaccines is “we’d all be healthier today if we continued to get measles.” As microbiologist, Brian Poole says “The [vaccines] are so effective that most people have no experience with vaccine preventable diseases. We need to reacquaint people with the dangers of those diseases.”

measures were taken to prevent the disease from spreading, including mandatory vaccinations in certain zip codes, and ordering parents to pay a fine if their child wasn’t vaccinated. In Rockland County, NY, unvaccinated children were banned from public areas for 30 days. A lot of these cases occured in Orthdox Jewish communities, in which parents refused to have their children vaccinated due to personal beliefs. In response to this crisis, the New York government made it mandatory for all children to become vaccinated starting from June of 2019.

By refusing to vaccinate their children, the antivaxxers are endangering “herd immunity” that have been established in most societies. Herd immunity is a form of indirect protection from infectious diseases that occurs when large parts of the population are immunized and vaccinated, therefore providing protection to even the unimmunized minority in such populations. It also helps to ensure that infectious diseases have a lower chance of appearing in communities once they have been long eradicated. Therefore, other than endangering themselves of being infected by diseases, Anti-vaxxers also endangers those who cannot be vaccinated, including pregnant women, young infants, terminally ill patients or the elderly. Although it is rare, some people might also be allergic to the components inside vaccines and therefore are also vulnerable to diseases when herd immunity is compromised.

Measles outbreaks are becoming more frequent, despite the steady decline of measles diseases for the past decade. The World Health Organization named vaccine hesitancy as one of the 10 biggest threats to health in 2019, and stated that measles outbreak have increased by 30% this year.

In order to ensure a safe environment and world, it should be in everyone’s interest to get vaccines to stop the measles outbreak, and to prevent other outbreaks in the world. Vaccines are one of the most cost-effective ways of avoiding disease – it prevents 2-3 million deaths a year. Getting inoculated and protected from some of the deadliest diseases to plague mankind is important and has been proven numerous times to work.

If children are not vaccinated, they become a vessel for the disease to latch onto and spread to others. In the 2013 measles outbreak in New York, 58 people with a median age of 3 were diagnosed with measles, a disease that was previously eradicated in America. According to the US National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health 45 out of the 58 people (78% ) who had contracted measles were unvaccinated due to parental refusal or intentional delay. After this incident, not much action was taken by the government, which led to the huge measles outbreak from 2018-2019 in New York. By May, 2019, 423 cases of measles were confirmed. Many

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WORLD AFFAIRS

Hashtag Activism #prayforsudan, #savetheamazon How is hashtag activism changing democracy? This is an important question raised being as the simple act of using a hashtag when tweeting or posting on social media that has garnered attention in recent years. From #metoo of 2017 to the most recent #prayforsudan and #savetheamazon of 2019, the trendy and viral hashtag movement aims to achieve a common goal that supports a social and political cause. Due to its accessibility and simplicity, hashtag activism has attracted participation from individuals of all backgrounds, but is most widely used by young activists in an effort to share their opinions on important global conversations. The growing reach of hashtag activism is breaking through to become one of the most important platforms for change, impact, and transformation.

By Megan HSu | Illustration & Layout by Veda Lee

The term “Hashtag activism” was first coined by the newspaper outlet the Guardian in 2011, initiated by the hashtag #OccupyWallStreet during the Occupy Wall Street Protests that occurred during September of 2011. Hashtag activism circled globally with widespread engagement and awareness, and became the new trendsetter that turned cause into movement. This is due to the fact that social media is an accessible medium that allows anyone to take part in hashtag activism. The tap and reply of a hashtag is easy to use and understand, creating lower barriers to participation compared to other forms of advocacy.

Hashtag Activism has also allowed individuals to raise and gain awareness of issues like never before, due to the virality of social media that allows hashtags to reach millions around the globe in a matter of seconds.

Social media captures the attention of the youth with ingenuity, making them aware of pressing issues and inspiring them to solve problems.

A prominent example of hashtag activism that brought great effects is the #MeToo movement. The flood of #MeToo posts gave an awakened awareness to the prevalence of sexual harassment, molestation and rape of women around the world. Not only did the #MeToo movement shed light on the issue of sexual abuse, but it also allowed for women to find solidarity with millions of others and gain a sense of closure. #MeToo unleashed a wave that fortified online movement with the support of institutions, governing bodies and celebrities due to raised awareness. Other hashtags such as #BelieveWomen, #BelieveSurvivors, and #WhyDidn’tIReport skyrocketed after the hearings of the emotional accounts by victims. Significantly, the #MeToo movement also held perpetrators responsible for their crimes, an example being the Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Weinstien is currently

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WORLD AFFAIRS facing criminal trials for predatory sexual assault charges after a deluge of acccusations from 80 women that was brought to the forefront by #MeToo. In fact, the #MeToo movement was kick-started by two women who exposed cases of Weinstein’s sexual predation and farreaching efforts to silence his victims.. Among them are actress Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow, who made allegations against Weinstein for his exploitation and abuse of power in the industry. The #MeToo movement became so influential that Time Magazine even named #MeToo activists as their 2017 Persons of the Year.

Although the #MeToo movement predominantly focused on sexual harrassment issues in the United States, the hashtag also attracted attention from social media users other countries such South Korea, India, Argentina.

Evidently, the #MeToo movement has brought the promeneinet issue of sexual harrassment to the forefront of people’s attention, bringing about a meaningful and lasting impact.

However, with fake news stories discrediting social media coverage, many have questioned the reliability and skepticism of hashtag activism. Messages posted on social media often get exaggerated and twisted from person to person or are based on false premises.

An example is #BlueForSudan, which brought misinformation due to social media users carelessly reposting posts without understanding the causes or effects of the issue they were advocating for. Specifically, the account @SudanMealProject recorded a boost of 400,000 followers in less than a day after posting: “for every story repost this post gets, we will provide one meal to Sudanese children”. Without explicit reference to the aid agency, or proof that the account actually helped the Sudanese, this account preyed on innocent naive people to obtain followers and exposure through hastag activism.

Ironically, many may be willing to tweet about an issue yet unwilling to actually move a finger to help those they are tweeting about. Although digital activism may create awareness of the surrounding issue, critics believe the setback of social media reform is that it doesn’t create long-standing change.

Skeptics refer to the drawback of hashtag activism as slacktivism. Even though hashtag activism can motivate

Most recently, hashtag activism has been an important tool in furthering the aims of environmentalists. With politicians ignoring the alarming environmental impact, many have taken social media to voice their concern, posting and tweeting #savetheamazon, #strikeforclimate, #banthebead and more. In fact, Twitter users collectively hopped on these viral hashtags to urge Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon to help the Amazon rainforest crisis, appealing Bezos to use his fortune to prevent further harm to the rainforest.

Making the invisible visible, the raised awareness built up public support to help exhort pressure on government officials to initiate change. The shriek for action was heard all over social media that transcended into motivation to tackle climate change.

or inspire, it often results in the mindset of “I’ve done my part” or “It’s none of my business now” after using tweeting or posting with a hashtag, preventing individuals from making actual concrete impact. Some argue that hashtag activism has allowed for posts and tweets to take precedence over action, preventing tangible benefits from materializing.

It is undeniable that hashtag activism has played an important role in modern activism movements by raising awareness of certain issues and encouraging individuals to voice their opinion. Although the future of hashtag activism remains unknown, recent #prayforsudan, #savetheamazon has been paving the way for upcoming hashtags to advance into global movements. The virality and accessibility of hashtag activism is effective in widening the scope for change and calling for support globally, but if you want truly want to help a cause, go beyond the hashtag.

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不該存在的 肥胖歧視 性別歧視、種族歧視，大家都聽得多，「肥胖 歧視」則可能較少聽到。我們根本不會談到的 話題其實是一件我自己本人親生經歷過的事 件。然而，得到了身邊最關心我的人的支持之 後，我學會了愛惜自己的身體。現在我想與你 們分享和探討一個關於我小時後被譴責但無法 開放地告訴別人的社會問題。 因體重而受到歧視的一些統計數據真的令人觸 目驚心，兒童通常會因為肥胖而受到欺凌。 2010年，美國的一項全國調查顯示，超重的 6年級兒童中分別有24%的男孩和30%的女 孩，直接因為體重而受到日常的捉弄、拒絕或 者欺凌。到了中學，這兩項數字分別升高到 58%和63%。目前美國已經有大約17%的兒 童被診斷為超重或肥胖，算下來有數百萬兒童 因為體重而受到欺凌。 這種欺凌行為有時被稱作「捉弄」，因此人們 低估了它的危害性。「捉弄」通常有戲謔和幽 默的意味，所以如果被捉弄的一方對此有抱 怨，會顯得沒有幽默感。想像一下，如果這樣 的事情不停地發生，事態發展到一定程度，孩 子們再也無法忍受也就不足為奇了。十年前， 有個小姑娘因為體重而不斷受到嘲諷和欺凌開 始曠課。父母告知了學校她逃學的原因，並向 學校尋求幫助，然而不幸的是，學校並沒有採 取什麼舉措來保護她，反而給小姑娘打電話 說，如果她不馬上到校就會報告給學校的逃課 委員會，面臨青少年管教。結果，她在自己的 臥室裡自殺，享年13歲。最令人心痛的是這 並不是單一個案，類似的悲劇每天都在重演。 人們可能認為醫護人員對於肥胖狀態的瞭解會 更全面。然而，真相遠非如此。一個接一個的 研究證明，醫生對肥胖的病人持有極其負面的 態度，通常認為他們笨拙、醜陋，而且對治療 方案依從性差。法國一項對600名全科醫生的 研究發現，他們認為超重和肥胖病人們比較懶 惰，比正常體重的病人更加自我放縱，而且在 治療中普遍存在自我意志低的問題。在一項

By

Fung Ting Chiu Natalie So Layout By Natalie So and Lea Cheng Illustration By

研究中，醫生們報告說診療肥胖病人是浪費時 間。 英國有一位名叫菲爾·漢蒙的喜劇演員，曾經 做過全科醫生，有一次在電視上披露，在英 國的國家健康服務系統中尋求治療的極度肥 胖的病人，他們病例前面會被用大寫字母寫 上“D.T.S.”，他說那是“Danger to Shipping”（運輸危險）。2007年，一項包括了 54名醫學院學生的研究揭示，嚴重肥胖的病 人是醫師最經常打趣譏笑的對象。一項調查 超重和肥胖女性被體重污名化的經歷研究發 現，53%的受訪者說她們曾經從醫生那裡得到 關於自己體重的不適當的評價。 喜劇演員比利·康納利曾經說：「胖子沒有新 陳代謝問題，他們有吃餡餅問題。」不肥胖的 人都相信，自己不胖是因為自控力好，選擇了 更健康的生活方式。這種道德優越感讓他們覺 得自己可以評判和捉弄肥胖的人。從喜劇演員 到僱主再到醫務人員，都持這樣的觀點。那些 醫務人員的觀點與社會對肥胖者的成見是一致 的，即胖人懶惰、缺乏自律、情緒不穩定、馬 虎大意等等。但這些並沒有證據支持。另外， 醫務人員還通常認為肥胖人士缺乏積極性，不 依從治療，但數據顯示肥胖人群都非常積極主 動地尋求對他們的健康問題的治療。遺憾的 是，由於從醫務人員那裡得到的負面評價，他 們很可能會延遲治療，這種延遲有可能是致命 的。醫生的言行其實是在傷害肥胖症患者。 非常慚愧，醫療界的教育並沒有跟上研究的發 展，這些研究在過去二十多年間徹底轉變了我 們對肥胖這種複雜病症的理解。也許，當這個 問題解決的時候，我們將會開始真正反思「運 輸危險」這種心態。無論是在當眾、學校或辦 公室裡，如果你傾向於嘲笑或欺負胖人，請三 思 一下如果換著是你，你的反應會怎樣？你 的心情會如何？因為說出去的話就像潑出去的 水，覆水難收。

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Affirmative Action:

Blessing or Curse to Asian Americans?

Written by Allyson Ye and Chih-Rong Kuo | Photography by Michael Cheung | Layout by Natalie So and Stephanie Ma

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you’ve kept up with the news lately, you might have witnessed a pivotal point in the AsianAmerican lawsuit against affirmative action this October, when federal judge Allison Burroughs ruled in favour of Harvard, the world-renowned university emerging victorious from its first battle in the war over affirmative action. The lawsuit was filed to dismantle the disfavoring of Asians through affirmative action by Harvard. The plaintiff is a group called Students for Fair Admissions, primarily composed of Asian-Americans, spearheaded by conservative activist Edward Blum. The defendant is Harvard University, under fire for alleged discrimination against Asian-Americans. The judge’s verdict decreed that Harvard was not intentionally disfavouring AsianAmericans as a product of this controversial admissions program. Rather, it was suggested that in order to be more inclusive of the Asian-American community, the university should undergo implicit bias training, instead of through eradicating affirmative action. It is noteworthy to mention here that Harvard is not the only university being condemned for its alleged treatment of AsianAmerican students; Princeton, Cornell and others are also facing pressure.

Many people today still believe that affirmative action employs a hard quota system, when in fact, it was demolished more than forty years ago. Most people have a vague misconception of what affirmative action really is.

Affirmative action is broadly defined as a series of policies that aim to provide equal opportunities for races that have been historically disadvantaged. Within the context of university applications, this pronounces race as a factor that would weigh in during holistic application review, which seek to boost disadvantaged students after taking into account the injustices they may face due to their racial background. When the practice was first introduced during the 1960’s, its initial motivations were to remedy past injustices by setting aside specific quotas for different races within the select university’s student body, which placed disproportionate and unfair emphasis on race when considering a student for the school. However, in 1978, Allan Bakke- a white male who had been rejected twice from the University of Southern California and claimed it

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was due to “reverse discrimination” by affirmative actiontook his case to the Supreme Court and won. A series of significant changes then befell affirmative action. Hard quotas were deemed unconstitutional, as the Supreme Court declared they violated the equal protection clause through rendering college admissions a mechanical process by reducing comprehensive profiles of applicants into merely their races, potentially catalyzing “reverse discrimination”. After abolishing the quota system, universities underwent a shift from purely race-based admissions to a holistic application process with race as a factor. The motivation for affirmative action was since established as diversifying the student body, rather than offering more opportunities to disadvantaged groups.

How specifically, then, do schools monitor racial diversity without using hard quotas? Most prestigious universities employ a holistic admissions system, which takes the context, background, interests, and other non-numerical information of the applicant into consideration along with the numerical information, such as grades and standardised test scores. Universities also take the personality of the applicant into account; which in Harvard’s case is a scoring system from 1 to 6. Though many may argue that this is a fairer demonstration of a student’s fit with the school, the personality test is actually scored by one single alumnus and is greatly affected by the alumnus’ personal bias. Even if race is supposedly not a factor in this process, in the lawsuit, Harvard was accused of discriminating against Asian-American students by labelling them as stereotypically “boring” to control the number of AsianAmerican students at the school.

While affirmative action is admittedly flawed, the practice is ultimately a force for progress in society, due to its constructive effects on social mobility, promotion of racial inclusivity, and assistance for underprivileged races. Yes, the focus on race can trigger unintended consequences, such as reverse discrimination and stereotyping, particularly of Asians. However, true injustice resides not in affirmative action. This article will begin by highlighting the faults of affirmative action. Then, it will explore the program’s benefits, as well as pinpoint the roots of inequality, legacy

WORLD AFFAIRS admissions and implicit biases, and finally suggest methods of addressing them.

Although affirmative action is generally beneficial, the flaws in its focus on racial background instead of economic background could pose a risk to damaging the racially peaceful system America is trying to create. Even with affirmative action, historically disadvantaged racial groups such as blacks and Hispanics are still underrepresented, hinting at the implicit bias still pervasive in society. Asia is an incredibly diverse and geographically expansive region; in China alone, there are 55 minority groups. If a university’s goal is to diversify the student body and give equal opportunities to more disadvantaged races, Asians should be aiding this goal. Unfortunately, the generalisation of all Asians as stereotypical model citizens is doing more harm than good. Ultimately, the underlying issue is the stereotyping of all Asians as highly educated, overachieving members of society.

Affirmative action protects those that are historically disadvantaged, but on what basis? More than half of the Asian-American population have a bachelor’s degree, and subsequently, the discrimination they face by college admissions manifests itself in higher standards set for Asian applicants, due to their perceived academic prowess.

Historically, Asian-American academic expertise is often credited as a combination of Confucianism virtues and positive stereotyping, while there seems to be no correlation with natural intelligence levels. Part of the bigger problem for Asians is their success is often invoked by the positive stereotyping of them being “smarter”, and not because they may be genetically or historically more advantaged. Furthermore, the generalization of all Asians as “model citizens” can prove risky.

Many Asians come from educated families, but that does not justify discrimination against refugees and

the vast number of Asians who come from non-English speaking families.

Perhaps, Asian-American academic aptitude should not be countered by implementing disadvantage. Instead, SFFA’s proposed solution takes race completely out of the picture.

SFFFA’s stance defends the diverse backgrounds of Asians, in theory, but its proposal may be just as threatening. According to Washington Post reporter Moriah Balingit, “[the plaintiff] wants an injunction that would bar Harvard admissions officers from learning the race of applicants”, because, they argue, Harvard “lump[s] all Asian Americans together”. However, to Asians who do not fit the typical stereotype of highlyeducated Asians, their race becomes the distinguishing aspect of their application process. Balingit brings up an example of a school made up of mostly Hmong people, an ethnic group from Southeast Asia. To this community with a childhood poverty rate of 40%, their concerns are far from a perfect score on the ACTs, but center on getting through high school.

She argues that the elimination of their race may be detrimental to these students, as racial identity are large parts of their lives. Ironically, it seems that Asian minorities actually benefit from affirmative action, while the Asian majority remain skeptical.

So indeed, Harvard is doing an injustice by lumping all Asians into one stereotype, but when race is taken out of the question, what will befall Asian refugees and minorities?

Both sides seem to be arguing an impossible case for all Asians, and that may be the key; perhaps not all Asians can ever benefit equally, because at the end of the day, the term “Asian”does not stand for one race, and it’s important for universities to look beyond implicit bias to realize this. Only then can racial nuances be fully considered, addressed, and implemented accordingly. To minority Asians, race is a key aspect of their identity; to others, race proves a catalyst for extra obstacles on the

academic battlefield. This raises the fundamental question: should race be included in university admissions processes?

In response, it’s important to address that affirmative action is still a necessary and positive driving force.

Not only does it promote social mobility, it also allows disadvantaged students a leg-up on the educational playing field. Evidence gathered

by Century Foundation indicated that racially integrated learning environments can enhance critical thinking, amplify intellectual confidence, as well as promote leadership abilities, equipping students with life skills that will benefit them long beyond graduation.

Critics argue that affirmative action is sticking a bandage on a broken bone- in other words, it’s a naive, not to mention poorly attempted remedy for a larger, more inherent problem: inequality due to social class. They assert that the even playing field should be scaffolded from birth, so all students, no matter what race or background, will have equal chance of getting into the university. This scaffolding can be achieved through higher subsidies allocated to public schools of disadvantaged races, and more government funds directed towards pre-college education.

Ultimately, it is not the role of a board of admissions officers to fix the education gap between races, but the role of society to even out the playing field instead of taking a huge leap on the college admissions level.

However, the deep-rooted inequality in society will take decades, possibly centuries to fully erode, so this solution is not feasible for students in the present day applying for college. While a society that is more fundamentally equal will benefit all -a tree cannot flourish unless its roots are intact-, affirmative action is suggested to stand for the time being, in order to continue doing what it can, because slow progress is better than no progress.

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The common perception of AsianAmericans, especially Chinese and Indians, as overachieving and try-hard Logically, the alternative to affirmative action would be a pure meritocracy, but this is impossible to establish because societies have yet to discover a way to fully eradicate rich and poor divides, rendering it inevitable that the wealthy will have access to more resources, will pursue highertier education, and capitalize on their academic head start.

Caltech does not employ affirmative action. Accordingly, its student body in 2010 consisted of 967 students, with only 9 of them being black. This is a prime example of how the idea of a merit-based and race-blind application process was ineffective in terms of equality, because the students that were accepted into this college were primarily the wealthier ones, which continued to disadvantage the generally less wealthy black race. Without affirmative action, this lack of diversity propagates a vicious cycle of racial inequity: the disadvantaged race is not accepted into the college, leaving their race at an educational disadvantage, which will further undermine the chances of their successors getting into that college, and so on.

The remaining question is whether affirmative action is effective, and whether it can benefit the disadvantaged minorities in the future. The answer to that depends on the individual. According to the New York Times, Colombia University’s class of ‘73 boasts many success stories as a product of affirmative action, including “Mr. Gonzalez, whose factory-worker parents had grade-school educations, got an M.B.A. from Harvard and became a financial officer in energy ventures abroad. [...] Gary Friday, son of a beer distributor in Philadelphia, became a neurologist.

Eric Coleman, whose widowed mother straightened and curled hair in her kitchen and took in laundry, is a state judge in Connecticut.” Research shows that poor students who attend top colleges do almost as well as their wealthy peers in general. Affirmative action can’t guarantee a phenomenal rise from rags to riches, but it allows them the chance and the resources to do so, which is already an extremely valuable opportunity. Thus, despite its flaws, affirmative action’s positives outweigh the negatives.

The real problem that should be targeted is legacy admissions, which is a preference given to the descendants of alumni when they apply to college, often encouraged by hefty sums donated to the school by the alumni student.

Legacy students were 15.5% of Harvard’s class of 2019.

Research affirms that being a legacy applicant can double or even quadruple the chances of them getting into the college.

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If this cycle of “privileging the privileged” continues, inequality will continue being bred. Most legacy students come from wealthy white families, as it’s likely that their parents were of a predominantly white graduating class, which continues to perpetuate racial disparity. Since the white population is generally wealthier, their descendants wouldn’t need an educational boost through legacy admissions, as they would have more access to academic scaffolding in their earlier lives. Rather, disadvantaged races deserve more support in the battle for education. In short, a key problem right now is the pie of regular college slots is too small, with minorities being forced to battle over slices of the pie. But, after reducing the portion of educational opportunity reserved for legacy students and students blessed solely by monetary agreements, the pie will be enlarged, with fairer opportunities available for everyone.

Ultimately, the solution for Asian-American discrimination is to eradicate implicit biases. Asians, primarily EastAsians and Indians, suffer from a unique stereotype as a so-called “model minority”, and are often known to be relatively “bland”, “not exciting”, and monotonous. While this stereotype is argued to be a “positive stereotype” that pressurises Asians to do better in school, evidence shows that Harvard admissions rate Asian-Americans lower on personal scores such as courage, likability, positive personality, and how “widely respected” they are. Heartbreakingly, many Asian applicants have resorted to taking courses on how to present themselves as “less Asian” on their college applications. The common perception of Asian-Americans, especially Chinese and Indians, as overachieving and try-hard, both of which are admirable traits can ironically skew the university’s review of the applicant’s profile, especially the personality score.

As Davidson College graduate Kenny Xu articulated: “In singling out Asian-Americans for exclusion, Harvard panders to the worst stereotypes about us: that we are math geniuses with no personality.” Many Asians argue that the design of the personality score considers criteria that inherently disadvantages the Chinese, namely “likability”, “selflessness”, and “courage in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles.” These subjective criteria can be volatile once placed in the hands of a single alumnus, made worse if distorted by bias. What constitutes a “brave” person, and how can this quality be demonstrated solely through a series of files or a few short interviews, mere snippets of the applicant’s entirety? Moreover, how does implicit bias play a part in the generalization of all Asians as “model students”?

Holistic review isn’t going anywhere, and it shouldn’t, because applications measured only by numerical scores simply cannot convey the full potential of minority students. Getting rid of implicit biases does not entail dismantling holistic review and affirmative action, systems

WORLD AFFAIRS that do benefit countless disadvantaged social groups.

How, then, can universities leech the diversifying benefits of personality scores, while warding against implicit bias?

Instead of being considered by one alumnus, the personal rating of applicants should be discussed by a group panel, where members can hold each other accountable in the event of potential prejudice. Evidence to support the personality score given shouldn’t rely on interviews conducted between applicant and admissions officer, for these are fragmentary and in most cases cannot provide a truly precise understanding of the applicant’s character.

Instead, the evidence should be extracted from the applicant’s file, such as from their college essay, or from letters of recommendation written by teachers who knew them well and can accurately gauge their character. Judge Allison Burroughs advised Harvard admission officers to undergo “implicit bias training”, in order to ensure a professional approach when reviewing applicants. She also explicitly stated that they “should not take an applicant’s race or ethnicity into account in making any of the ratings other than the overall rating”, asserting that apart from the overall score, racial identity shall not play a part in any of the criteria considered. Once the lens of admissions officers are wiped anew and implicit biases are explicitly grappled with, Asians will have a better shot at getting into university.

An attractive third approach to affirmative action could be finance-based affirmative action. Many white Americans -especially rural ones- do live in poverty, and wealthy Hispanics and blacks exist as well. If finance-based affirmative action is set in motion, the disproportionate number of blacks living in poverty will ensure the program promotes racial diversity as well. Some contend that more students accepted from lower socio-economic backgrounds would lower the academic standards of prestigious universities. Since students at a disadvantage from birth have less educational resources when growing up, it can be argued that they’re less likely to achieve intellectual success. However, as long as this tightrope is walked carefully, it’s possible to be inclusive of economically disadvantaged communities whilst upholding the school’s academic prowess. A simulation conducted by Richard Kahlenberg, scholar and SFFA v. Harvard expert witness, proposed a model that fulfills both these requirements: after removing legacy admissions from the equation, he replaced race-based preference with socioeconomic preference around half the magnitude of the boost Harvard gives star athlete applicants. Kahlenberg discovered that underrepresented minority students constituted 30% of the student body, instead of the 28% that affirmative action brings. Yet, the students still averaged 98th percentile in their SAT scores and demonstrated excellent high school grade point averages. Could this simulation pose as a potential first step towards a new, rewarding direction?

A Gallup poll conducted in 2016 found that 61% of Americans are in favour of finance-based affirmative

action, while 63% oppose race-based affirmative action.

It’s evident this new route holds wide appeal nationwide, and deserves further exploration.

To conclude, affirmative action, while flawed, should continue to stand. Instead, real problems that should be focused on are implicit biases and legacy admissions. “[T] he court will not dismantle a very fine admissions program . . . solely because it could do better,” wrote Burroughs.

Her ruling debunked the plaintiffs’ claims in favour of evidence supplied by Harvard, while highlighting the flaws of affirmative action. For example, the plaintiffs argued that Asian-American stereotypes had appeared in their admissions files, but the judge countered the claim by pointing out African-American and Hispanic applicants had also been described as “shy”, “quiet”, and “understated”.

However, she did acknowledge the conceivability of implicit bias in the holistic review process, and has recommended reform, as detailed already.

As relatively well-endowed Chinese-Americans soon applying to college, the problem can take a personal turn.

The battle for university is fierce and daunting even without racial preference offered to other minority groups, and at the end of the day, everyone is trying to secure themselves -and not others- a position of advantage in this dog eat dog power struggle. It’s easy to disregard the needs of less fortunate applicants in the face of personal advancement by downplaying the importance of affirmative action.

Legacy students won’t feel inclined to give up their head start in favour of a level playing field, and that’s natural.

However, it’s important to remember that the effects of racially integrated learning environments are far-reaching, and in the future, if every race receives equal education, the socioeconomic framework can undergo radical overhaul, perhaps to the extent where affirmative action will not be needed anymore, and inherent educational equality between races can level the playing field instead.

Affirmative action’s long-term effects are monumental, while its short-term ones demand tailoring in order to be more inclusive of every community, as well as more conscious of the nuances within each community, such as Asians. This cannot be achieved through race-blind admissions, for meritocracies immediately put minorities at a disadvantage in a society that is still fundamentally unequal. Ultimately, race-conscious admissions are the optimal solution, provided legacy admissions and implicit biases are quashed.

Fatima Shahbaz of Harvard’s class of 2021 expressed this eloquently: “I in no way want to make it seem that Harvard’s admissions system or treatment of AsianAmericans is perfect [...] But the solution to this issue is to not ignore the racial and financial barriers of access that continue to plague our country, or to reduce the nuance within an already limited application — it’s to pay more attention to race.”

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Photography by Natalie So

YOUTH

Building a Path to

Wellbeing

By Angela Li | Photography by Amber Liao | Layout by Natalie So and Joanna Wu

M

ental Health. Wellbeing. Why has CIS chosen these words to emphasise, and what do they mean? Why is it important for teenagers to obtain mental wellbeing, and how do they do so?

CIS offers a supportive and compassionate counseling team in order to aid students in achieving wellbeing. Ms. Monica Chang, an accomplished counselor, and leader of the newly introduced Peer Mentorship Programme, shared her insights and her advice regarding mental health from her profound knowledge and experience.

“Wellbeing and positive psychology have always been models of what every school wants to attain,” states Ms. Chang when I asked her about why CIS is putting in an extra effort in introducing new wellbeing programs this year. She revealed that after the counsellors observed that it’s not just getting good grades that students essentially need to be happy or healthy, they came to the conclusion that a permanent counselling resource during school time is necessary to improve the wellbeing of the general community.Ms. Chang notes that CIS is currently attempting to approach mental health holistically: preparing students to facing an eclectic range of challenges, and aiding them to gain resilience to overcome barriers and cope with stress.

Metaphorically speaking, when “a bottle is at risk of falling from a table”, you can either prevent it from falling by putting the lid back on or catching it before it falls. This is important because a huge part of establishing mental wellbeing is preventing emotional breakdowns and immense stress. When things do go awry or if someone is in an “emotional hijack”, the counselors are a haven with open arms. The counsellors have also tried to promote this behavior during choices sessions, in which students are given an opportunity to talk and share their worries and thoughts with peers and teachers - allowing them to secure their bottle before it falls. “When you break your leg, But when it’s not physical and the wound is in the heart, people are more reluctant to be open to support and perceive it instead as ‘special treatment‘,” states Ms. Chang, who uses this analogy to describe the prejudice and stigma held towards mental health issues. As an attempt to resolve such mindsets, the counselors at CIS have tried to be closer connected to students through being more involved in school events, interacting with students on a day-to-day basis, encouraging students to visit them whenever they have an issue, or just being someone the students

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“Everyone carries around an invisible backpack of stress constantly,” Ms. Chang points out when I mentioned that there are a lot of stressors for students these days. She believes that the perfectionist mindset of wanting the best score and being frequently under a competitive environment can make students think that their identities are tethered to numbers.

Ms.Chang observes that students have a tendency to neglect the fact that grades are not the only way of showing that they have worth, leading them to believe that they are a disappointment if they do not achieve “good” grades, and that they don’t deserve the education they are receiving.

Ms. Chang reveals that the stress of assignments is often the surface reason for why students approach support, but once one digs deeper, there is often an underlying issues tying in with identity or selfesteem, which stress from school work only further exacerbates. Ms. Chang commented that an issue relating to identities is labelling. For example, some individuals are known for either being the smart one, the athletic one, the shy one, the funny ones, the list

“ students have

a tendency to neglect the fact that grades are not the only way of showing that they have worth

“

can talk to. Ms. Chang hopes that students realize that It is 100% all right to seek help in regards to mental health, just as it is normal to seek help when you break a leg. Although the process of mending a broken leg takes time, eventually it will heal - it’s all about the willingness to begin the process.

goes on. While labels can make us feel a sense of belonging and give us a sense of identity, they can also be burdening when individuals feel confined to such labels. Often this causes students to disguise their emotions in an attempt to create a facade and fit in with the titles, despite suffering from internal struggles.

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Content warning: This article discusses self-harm, suicide, and sexual assault.

“Welcome to your tape”, four words popularized by

the Netflix original 13 Reasons Why, quickly became the punchline to Internet memes after the show’s release. The phrase originally appeared as Hannah Baker, the deceased protagonist, introduces listeners to her explanation for why they’ve earned the special spot as “one of the reasons [her life ended]”. The show’s premise is simple, taken from the novel of the same name, though it has since capitalized on its success in 2017 (as it stands, there should now be thirtynine reasons). Drawn-out plotlines aside, the first season and the jokes that ensued have unsurprisingly caused the issue of suicide to enter the public consciousness. With the words of a girl on her metaphorical deathbed rendered comedic material for failed Instagram comedians, one must ask if the near-instant popularity of 13 Reasons Why has done more harm than good.

The show has, undoubtedly, broached the eversensitive topic of suicide to a perhaps uninformed audience, yet when ninteen-year-old Emily Bragg imitated Hannah’s on-screen suicide, complete with her distraught mother’s reaction, it seems difficult to justify the merits of “raising awareness”. Though younger viewers arguably have little exposure to mental illness and suicide, they aren’t clueless - jokes are widespread enough to prove that. Setting aside morals for a second, the critical reception to 13 Reasons

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Why was initially favorable, with the first season earning a 79% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes; though subsequent seasons have been torn to shreds by critics. Its score on Metacritic, which weighs reviews from critics across the web, dropped from 76 to 23, with reviewers describing how the writers had resorted to exploitative, illogical plotlines in an attempt to prolong the lifespan of a show that should have only lasted a single season. Audiences still tuned in, though, as with televisation comes the inevitable drama, perfectly crafted to keep audiences hooked.

Take the character of Alex Strandall, whose attempted suicide never occured in the novel, yet was written roughly halfway into the season.

This is certainly not the furthest the writers have strayed from the source material (remember the twenty-six extra reasons), yet 13 Reasons Why’s depiction of sexual assault, substance abuse, and of course, suicide, has time and time again proved to glamorize dangerous experiences, creating torture porn for teenagers that turns a suicidal girl’s confessions into a melodramatic soap opera.

Studies and even an article published by the United States National Institute of Health have stated that media portrayals of suicidal behavior have “potentially negative influences and facilitate suicidal acts” to viewers; if that enough has such an effect, the image of Hannah bleeding out into her bathtub is more than likely to have a less-than-desirable impact. Though the scene has since been removed and trigger

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warnings added, it has been deemed “too little, too late” by those like Bragg’s mother, who dealt firsthand with the aftermath. In a world where the issues discussed in the show have been deemed taboo, credit must be given for the detail given to such topics; but the youth that frequent Netflix and jumped on the Selena Gomez-endorsed (and produced!) show should never have been a target demographic.

13 Reasons Why’s primary audience is largely young and female, and though Netflix doesn’t release detailed statistics on viewership, threequarters of those who streamed the series are below the age of thirty-five.

Even after the first season had run its course, the premiere of the second season garnered over six million views within the first three days. Its influence was shown to stretch further than just its juvenile demographic, though, as parents and educators quickly became aware of the show and its impact. The aforementioned story of Emily Bragg, wherein even someone well past her volatile high school years took the wrong kind of inspiration from the show, may be a part of the reason for 13 Reasons Why’s later measures to ensure viewers’ safety- the warnings and dedicated website advertising helplines.

Originally, however, the content was presented without deterrents, easily accessible on Netflix or any other piracy site. Though accompanied with a TV-MA (or its equivalent) rating, it’s common knowledge that those labels are rarely noticed, much less taken seriously by the teenage demographic.

On Common Sense Media, a website where mainstream media is reviewed based on its quality and appropriateness to different age groups, one allegedly twelve-year-old reviewer described the show as suitable for those aged sixteen and above. Even with this

acknowledgement, the child themself was willing to, presumably, watch all thirteen episodes and emerged with a glowing, albeit strangely hypocritical, review.

It still seems unfair to hurl criticisms without directly analyzing the source material, however, so what is actually wrong with 13 Reasons Why? If its powerhouse of a first season was so well-received (The Daily Record’s Garry McConnachie said that it “could be Netflix’s best creation yet”), then the storytelling can’t be at fault. The “unflinching portrayals” of high school life and teenage bullying are simply there to enlighten viewers, to expose the dark underbelly of seemingly innocent youth, but likening it to a red pill may be going too far. As a thirteen-episode series created for the masses, its primary purpose is to entertain, so that as many people as possible would watch it.

Despite the all too often-mentioned importance of the show’s message, Netflix would have almost certainly pulled the plug if it didn’t do a good enough job of amassing attention and viewers.

So, what made 13 Reasons Why compelling enough to gain such popularity? The reason is simpleit’s a good show. But since “good” is subjective, what that really means is it appealed to many people.

Teenagers and critics alike have tuned in for the story and how it’s told. Tragedies have always played well, from Shakespeare to Good Will Hunting, and the accessibility of 13 Reasons Why has rendered it a tale for the masses. The writers, directors, and most notably the cast have executed many aspects

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without without issue; issue; Katherine Katherine Langford’s Langford’sperformance performance head-on. of the show However, and itsthe willingness quality ofto the address showsensitive and its as Hannah as Hannah waswas considered considered “stunning”, “stunning”, and and lead lead willingness topics does to not address necessarily sensitive meantopics it does does so innot a actoractor Dylan Minnette andand actress Kate Walsh (who it does in a productive Dylan Minnette actress Kate Walsh (who necessarily productivemean manner.

It’ssoalarming that themanner. stigma playsplays Hannah’s mother) were alsoalso lauded forfor their alarming mental that the stigma mental Hannah’s mother) were lauded their It’ssurrounding illness is stillsurrounding so severe, so at least portrayals of “tenderly crafted characters”.

The raw is still so severe, so to at raise least public 13 Reasons Why portrayals of “tenderly crafted characters”.

The illness 13 Reasons Why is able awareness, emotion raw emotion behind the behind storythe is story difficult is difficult to contest, to contest, too, is though able towhether raise public it actually awareness, has destigmatized though whether these with too, the chemistry between Langford Minette actually destigmatized issues oradding not is with the chemistry between and Langford and it issues or has not is debatable. Inthese retroactively heavily referenced. debatable.

In retroactively adding trigger Minette heavily referenced. trigger warnings and encouraging viewerswarnings to reach In a In more a important more important vein, the show’s vein, the message show’s and outencouraging for help, it does viewers provide toareach platform outforfor legitimate help, it is inherently message positive. is inherently Therepositive. is nothing There intrinsically is nothing does awareness provide a toplatform be raised, for legitimate or at least awareness to support to wrong with the wrong (admittedly hackneyed) adage, “do bethose raised, or actually at least to supportwith those intrinsically with the (admittedly hackneyed) who struggle thewho veryactually topics untoadage, others as would have do unto you,” withthe theshow’s very topics that guide the show’s “doyou unto others as them you would have them struggle that guide first season.

The uninformed, a message wovena into eachwoven episode, alongepisode, with first season. uninformed, canbubble ventureofoutside do unto you,” message into each too, can The venture outside too, of a prior the gruesome bullying as an extra of ignorance a bubbleand of experience prior ignorance and experience along withconsequences the gruesome of consequences of bullying the discomfort of gritty warning. as an Extremely extra warning. explicit Extremely statements explicit don’t statements make thereality. discomfort The World of gritty Health reality.

Organization The World estimates Health for good thetelevision, characterbut Bryce estimates that between don’t television, make for but good the Walker, character Organization that somewhere between tensomewhere to twenty percent of resident Bryce rapist, Walker, is clearly resident depicted rapist, as is an clearly antagonist, depictedtenteenagers to twenty experience percent mental of teenagers health issues, experience so it’s a small as an blessing antagonist, in a cinematic a small blessing universeinofa morally cinematicmental not ashealth if these issues, issues soare it’s purely not as fictional. if these issues They are dubious universe characters. of morally It’sdubious showncharacters. that viewers It’s shown are purely achingly fictional. real toThey millions are ofachingly adolescents real worldwide, to millions (naturally) expected feel sympathy for Hannah, adolescents worldwide, and therein main that viewers areto (naturally) expected to feel of and therein lies the main issue with lies 13 the Reasons through the backstories that depict her the torn backstories between issue withHowever 13 Reasons Why. However itwell-intentioned sympathy for Hannah, through Why. well-intentioned may be, its conflict thatand depict at theher mercy tornofbetween her classmates. conflictHopefully, and at the it may portrayal be, itsofportrayal the topicsofthat themake topicsit that so provocative make it so aftermercy watching of herthirteen classmates. episodes Hopefully, of theafter emotional watching provocative is disappointing is disappointing and even harmful. and even harmful. torture endured

by Hannah, compasses be Take thirteen episodes of the moral emotional torture will endured Takethe theexample example ofof one one specific specific glaring recalibrated and moral empathy will be deepened among factual misstep.

Before the the scene was removed from

by Hannah, compasses will be recalibrated factual misstep.

Before scene was removed viewers. and empathy will be deepened among viewers. Netflix from (the Netflix uncut (theepisode uncut episode can stillcan be found still beonline, found Though Though therethere is clearly is clearly oneone “wrong” “wrong” eventevent- complete online, complete with in-flight with entertainment-esque in-flight entertainment-esque warning), the eventual, inevitable, suicide thatthat viewers dreadwasHannah shown committing in the final the eventual, inevitable, suicide viewers dread- Hannah warning), was shown suicide committing suicide incidents leading up to thethe season are of the first season. didn’t incidents leading upittothroughout it throughout season are episode in the final episode of the The first original season. scene The original shown shown through through different different characters’ characters’ perspectives, perspectives, thus leave scene much didn’t to the leave imagination; much to the viewer imagination; is privythe to fostering thus a fostering sort of moral a sortgray of moral area. This grayambiguity area. ThisHannah’s viewer isfinal privymoments, to Hannah’s watching final moments, as she watching digs into playsambiguity a positiveplays role ainpositive forcing role viewers to examine blades, voyeur to her death in forcing viewers herasarms she with digs razor into her arms awith razor blades, a the nuances of treacherous scenarios where people’s the blood flow death slows, as dissolving into flow the bathtub to examine the nuances of treacherous scenarios asvoyeur to her the blood slows, lives where end up people’s being at lives stake. end The up being brutal at honesty stake. of The asdissolving she bleeds into out. theAside bathtub from as copious she bleeds grunting out. Aside and messy brutal reality honesty deserves of messy respect; reality where deserves other shows respect; semi-loud from copious cries of grunting pain, the andprocess semi-loud seems criespeaceful of pain, may where shy away, Reasons Why faces issues In a couple of minutes, her parents figureof it other 13 shows may shy away, 13these Reasons Why enough. the process seems peaceful enough.

In a couple faces these issues head-on. However, the quality minutes, her parents figure it all out and react as

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YOUTH expected. Even without context and to those who might usually call themselves squeamish, Hannah’s death is heartbreaking and painful to watch, but its feasibility has to be questioned. Relatively reliable sources (in this case, the engineer-run blog Numerickly) have said that when cuts are made along the arm, death by exsanguination would likely take over an hour. In most instances, it would actually never even occur as it’s extremely difficult for a person to physically cut deep enough into their own arm to induce deadly blood loss.

Showrunner Brian Yorkey said that he aimed to portray suicide as “painful and horrific… certainly never an easy way out,” and yet the surreal peace of Hannah’s silent death directly contradicts that sentiment.

It does seem cruel to reduce a tragic death to number-crunching and its technical difficulty, but with the aforementioned “copycat” death of Emily Bragg, 13 Reasons Why’s impact on impressionable, vulnerable, audiences is undeniable. Data proves this to be more than just a single anecdote; a study conducted by the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry found that “the overall suicide rate among 10- to 17-year-olds increased significantly in the month immediately following the release of 13 Reasons Why”. Although, of course, correlation does not equal causation, the fact that this unusual uptick and the corresponding correlation exists is worrying enough.

More important than the viability of Hannah’s suicide methods, though, is how her death is spoken of. The show attempts to steer clear of romanticization through the sheer (and obvious) tragedy as Hannah’s life ends before the viewer’s eyes. However, Clay’s words soon afterwards bring the respectful illusion to a halt.

He tells the school counselor, who he is recalling the tale to, “you could have stopped it. And I could have,” continuing onwards to list those who he believes are responsible for Hannah’s death. He finishes his speech with a line for the books, “I cost a girl her life because I was afraid to love her”.

As romantic as this may sound, it is so frustratingly subtle in its grandiosity (not to mention cliché) that many young viewers may see as the conclusion to a tale of star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet but with Walkmans. Yet the idea that Clay, an average teenage boy with no remarkable traits except, perhaps, his kindness, would have been able to somehow “save” Hannah is almost laughable.

The long-lasting effects of the trauma Hannah endured, as well as her underlying mental illness, are not within the realm of Clay’s magical healing

abilities, no matter his endearing charisma. And there lies the crux of why 13 Reasons Why, even in novel form is so harmful: the way its premise tackles the issue of suicide is inherently flawed and damaging and made-for-television drama has made everything worse. By assuming the love of one person- namely, Clay- could have simply made Hannah happy, 13 Reasons Why perpetuates misinformation regarding mental illness while simultaneously creating the expectation for ordinary people to save the lives of others whose suffering is never that simple.

If the message that 13 Reasons Why is putting forward with regards to suicide and mental illness is that kind words and actions will destroy the notion of suicide, then it’s painful to wonder how this idea is internalized in its young audience.

When Clay says, “you can’t love someone back to life,” he wasn’t wrong; but you can’t love someone to keep them alive either. Depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, and suicidal ideation is a symptom of multiple conditions that cannot be alleviated by simply kissing them better.

It’s clear that the trauma Hannah endured played a part in this, but her characterization certainly doesn’t lend its way to what would be expected.

For someone suffering enough to consciously end her life, painting her as vengeful and petty even on her deathbed didn’t do much to destigmatize depression- that’s for sure.

To those lacking prior exposure to scientific truths and unglamorous reality, 13 Reasons Why is a poor introduction and will skew their perceptions, not to mention the graphic content if viewed before the eventual censorship. And to those struggling with such issues themselves? The suicide scene wasn’t the only example of gratuitous quasi-gore; the rape scenes mentioned earlier have caused less controversy but are nonetheless damaging. Triggers are often joked about, but their repercussions for unaware viewers (especially before the addition of warnings before episodes) can be severe. In the end, it’s clear that the issue isn’t with 13 Reasons Why’s artistic quality- many a bad movie or show have been made without severe repercussions, it’s the premise and how that informs the show’s depiction of suicide, among other sensitive issues; and when topics that should be taken incredibly seriously become fodder for memes, something must have gone wrong. Though 13 Reasons Why has undeniably raised awareness surrounding mental health, the negative impact that it has had (and will continue to have) among those from the uninitiated to the far too well-initiated cannot be ignored.

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雲的 啟發

By Leo Li Photography by Sanya Hui & Jacqueline Lo Layout by Sanya Hui

夏日的微風吹過 蔚藍的天空和棉花般的雲朵似一幅畫舖在學校上空 烏 雲卻籠罩著我的心頭 心事重重的我被對未來的無知的壓力壓得喘不過氣 來——在走廊上邁出的每一步都是在茫茫濃霧中探索 一片雲彩悄悄地漂進 了我的視野 倏然 我肩膀上的負擔化為烏有 而那朵雲 像一把陳舊不堪 的鑰匙 打開了我童年最天真爛漫的回憶寶箱...... 媽媽 天上白色的東西是什麼 媽的耳朵 寶貝

那是雲

那麼......

童稚的聲音伴隨著輕柔的風聲傳進了媽

她淡淡地微笑道

我若有所思地思考到

白白胖胖的雲是怎麼來的

嗯...... 我知道了 哦

它們是天上的棉花糖

媽媽回答道

媽媽話音未落

那麼

我像發現了宇宙秘密的人般驚叫到

你說那些

棉花糖

是怎麼漂到天上的

我已經沈浸在了自己無限的幻想裡

漫步在無邊無際的天空 踏著又甜蜜又柔軟的雲朵 瀟灑地向著落日餘暉踏 去 累了 就乾脆癱在雲朵上休息 嘴裡含著無窮無盡的棉花糖 所謂的天 堂也不過如此吧....... 兒子 該回家了 向了回家的路 78

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如夢初醒的我瞬間被拉回了地面上

牽著媽媽的手走

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晚上

爸媽在收拾餐桌

飽餐一頓的我就坐在方塊型的電視前面

聚精會神地看著西遊記

在去西天取經的路程上 身懷絕技的孫悟空用七十二變把妖怪消滅得魂飛湮滅 但是一旦遇 到了與自己能力相干的對手牛魔王的時候 便撒手不管 召喚觔斗雲 眨眼間回到自己的花 果山 不知不覺地 我身邊突然也多了一朵雲 我不管三七二十就跳上了白茫茫的交通工具 奔出 家門 在車水馬龍的大街上遊蕩 一路上來來往往的路人紛紛向我投射著既詭異又羨慕的目 光 最後 我用思想控制著雲朵 像飛機起飛般衝上雲霄 飛向無邊無際的海闊天空...... 進入夢鄉前

我的腦海中還幻想著長大以後踏著雲朵走遍天下

在掀開眼簾的那一刻

探索世界的奧秘

我已經十一年級了

長大 了 在中學的科學課上學到雲的來源——雲只不過是水蒸氣在天上合成的冰晶集合 體而已 我不禁感到失望和掃興 童年時的夢想忽地被一個基本的化學反應破滅 童真無存 的我不再沈浸在自己的世界裡 而是深入知識的海洋 一邊開始為未來做出計畫 想到此刻 在眼前的那朵雲已不知飄去何處了 又陷入了沈思

天空已經換了一系列的雲彩

我不知不覺地

雲隨風而飄 無論飄到何處 都會有屬於它的一片天空 飄的過程中 也許對自己的終點毫 無把握 但是只要內心有起點 最後還是能隨性間發現自己始終追求的目標 難道人生就如 此簡單嗎 可以隨者任何方向飄泊 只要不停留 最終還是能達到屬於自己的的那片天地 我的嘴角微微上翹 踏著穩重的步伐 雲 襯托著我向前的每一步

向課堂昂然邁去

那忽然而至的夏風和那千姿百態的 校話

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By Isabelle Hui Illustrations by Reina Lim Layout by Natalie So and Joanna Wu

當電影《我的少女時代》的主題曲「原來你是我 最想留住的幸運.......」響起時，就把我們帶到了 九十年代的台灣，回到少男少女的青春歲月。 這部電影及另一部《那些年，我們一起追的女孩》在千禧年初走紅，很多人都把兩者相提 並論，因為它們有一個共同的主題：高中時的初戀。 我認為這兩部電影這麼紅的原因是他 們成功的帶領讀者回到他們的荳蔻年華，回到了朦朧的初戀，似懂又非懂，情竇初開的日 子。這兩部電影並不是什麼新鮮的題材，但為何那麼受大眾歡迎，而兩部電影又有什麼相 似和不同之處？

《那些年》 「或許就是因為沒有在一起過，才能永遠 保存那份單純的美好。」 《那些年》除了是個青春的愛情故事，也 是一個成長的故事。男主角柯景騰原來是 一個不務正業的少年，在電影中與校花沈 佳宜結交。沈佳宜鼓勵他發奮圖強，努力 讀書，但這並不是一個完美的愛情故事， 最後他們並沒有在一起，並沒有得到他們 的童話故事。這反映了現實生活中的初 戀，無論當時多麼的痴戀，人總會長大， 人生總會變的道理。觀眾因此可以與電影 產生共鳴，令他們回想起昔日的美好時 光。儘管你不喜歡愛情電影，你也能在柯 景騰身上看到自己。人生或許是這樣，有 時候就是會與機會擦肩而過，因為柯景騰 當時的幼稚，留不下沈佳宜的結局，很難 說是好是壞。 80

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《我的少女時代》 「偶爾你是不是會懷念當時那個單純，勇敢 做夢的自己呢？」 整部電影，也許是關於這吧。從痴戀劉德 華，到暗戀學校里的萬人迷，「平凡」的林 真心是我們都熟悉的角色。她傻裏傻氣的性 格喚醒了我們的「少女心」：從前對生活的 一種期待，對愛情不切實際的幻想。她並不 漂亮，並不文雅，並不聰明，是名副其實的 「平凡」的少女。電影以誇張搞笑的模式敘 述了這平凡少女的故事，打動了無數觀眾的 心。再次重訪這電影，我也不禁被徐太宇與 林真心的愛情故事感動流淚。他們的故事不 是什麼新鮮愛情故事，但就因此，因它的平 凡，讓觀眾輕易地能代入他們的情緒。電影 最成功的地方就是它對感情的真誠刻畫，從 細節中流露出來。

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與我們的青春有何聯繫？ 你可能問，這與我們的生活有什麼關係？90年代的少男少女與我們有很 大的差距啊！沒錯，我們從不騎自行車上學，從不去復古溜冰場擴課， 從不去火車站約會，從不在暗戀對象的窗外扔石子，但我們的青蔥也有 自己的美。人生就是這樣，我們的回憶是最美的，因為距離就是一種 美。我們現在的時光可能是我們以後不停留念的歲月，但十年、二十年 後我們很可能就像柯景騰和林真心一樣，情不自禁地回想起我們16、17 歲的時光，所以，就讓我們懵懵懂懂的渡過高中時光，讓我們繼續傻下 去吧！ 校話

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社交媒體如何影 Article by Hyning Gan

Illustration by Hyning Gan Layout by Natalie So

全世界有三分之一的人使用社交媒 體平台。這數字非常龐大-世界上有 77億人，其中有35億人在互聯網上 活躍。最受歡迎的社交媒體平台—— Facebook，擁有24億用戶，而 Youtube和Whatsapp僅次於10億 用戶。在過去的十年中，社交媒體佔 領了我們的世界，並成為我們日常生 活中不可或缺的一部分。做為現在新 一代的“Gen Z”, 我們從來沒經歷 過一個沒有社交媒體的世界，而我們 正在成長於一個社交媒體蓬勃發展的 社會。由於網絡的即時性和快速性， 我們自然認為即時的滿足，溝通和通 知是理所當然的。但是，隨著社交媒 體的進步和科技的發展，我們如何知 道它是如何塑造了我們今時的社會， 而會怎樣繼續影響我們的未來？ 作為青少年，我們總是被警告社交媒 體所潛在的危機。在一定程度上，社 交媒體肯定存有缺陷，例如大幅減少 了現實生活中人與人之間的互動，成 癮和網絡欺凌。但是擔心社交媒體的 的使用會“破壞您的生活”而積極避 免使用它並不是有效的解決方案，尤 其是在現今社會，這些網絡工具在我 們的生活中實在是太普遍了，我們幾 乎不可能完全避免它。實際上，避免 使用社交媒體會為您的生活帶來多種 不便。其實我們需要做的，就是要學 會怎麼與社交媒體建立一種健康的關 係。

到目前為止，我們一直廣泛地討論社 交媒體帶來的影響，但是我們不可以 一概而論。現在網上有數百種不同的 社交媒體平台，它們每個對於用戶而 言都有不同的目的，而區分這些社交 媒體平台的目的可以讓我們在健康的 心理狀態下使用它們。比如，在年 輕一代中最受歡迎的社交媒體平台 之一——Snapchat，一個交談和共 享“故事”（僅持續24小時的實時照 片或視頻紀錄）的平台。它的特點就 是用戶能快速的發送照片和訊息，這 些照片和訊息將在查看後自動刪除。 無需擔心再次看到這些照片，用戶可 以更自由和放心地與朋友交流，平台 的環境更加休閒和快速。 社交媒體使我們能夠真實地表達我們 自己的想法，這絕對是它主要的好 處和創造目的。這能使普羅大眾有能 力擁有一個平台的機會，並能夠將他 們的想法傳播給個觀眾。通過這些平 台，人們可以直接彼此聯繫，而不再 需要以傳統主流媒體的方式與觀眾互 動。這種互動方式可以控制交易雙 方：內容創建和提供者可以選擇公開 任何他們想分享的內容，無需獲得任 何老闆的批准。這給了他們更多創作 的自由，展現他們更加真實的一面； 對社交媒體的觀眾來說，他們有權去 選擇他們想在媒體看到的“名人”和 跟隨那個帳戶。由於帳戶的關注者人 數能夠直接反映出該帳戶的受歡迎程

社交媒體如何影響

社交媒體如何 影響我們新一代

度，這能激勵內容創建者去提供更多新穎和符合觀眾口味的內容。

媒體如何影響我

影響我們新一代 有了這種新的“真實”媒體形式，為我們社會帶來了許多改善生活的機會。例 如，廣告商可以利用社交媒體上內容創建者和受眾之間的關係去推銷自己品牌。 在傳統媒體，我們可以清楚地看到一個品牌在宣傳其產品； 可是現在，我們在網 上看到這些“影響者”推薦產品時讓觀眾感到好像一個“朋友”推薦個產品。因 為這些“影響者”和關注者之間建立了信任。如果“影響者”向受眾推薦產品， 他們將會開始信任品牌併購買產品，這隱式營銷非常有效。許多公司已經看到了 社交媒體的力量，並轉移了他們的推銷策略，開始在此上做廣告。營銷廣告只是 在社交媒體世界上的一小轉變，它正在改變我們所熟悉的世界，而我們必須準備 好面對未來的更多改變。 曾經是一個細小的用戶社區，如今已成為了為經濟做出貢獻，塑造社會標準的全 球動力。我們不應該與以前的做事方法做比較，我們應該順應時代的發展改變思 維，了解怎麼可以利用這強大技術網絡為我們生活減輕負擔和增添色彩。我們無 可否認社會媒體的副作用，但我們需要學會適應著個新現實，接受社交媒體正在 確定通往未來的道路。

資料來源： https://ourworldindata.org/rise-of-social-media#targetText=These%20numbers%20 are%20huge%20 %E2%80%93%20there,media%20has%20 changed%20the%20 world. https://umidigital.co.uk/ blog/affect-social-media-society/

我們如何 到目前

知道

為止社會

媒體

如何影響 我們的

未來

By Trinity Chan | Photography by Miriam Chasnov | Layout by Ingrid Hsu

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自小媽媽、爸爸和老師們就叮囑我要好 好讀書，對我不厭其煩地說:「以琳， 你要多看一點書，多做一點作業，多溫 習一下課本，就能拿到好成績，長大後 就能成為一個擁有光輝未來的成功人。 」 自從我六歲時的第一次考試後，白 紙上的分數，就漸漸成為了我的生命。 小時候拿到好成績時，媽媽會誇我、疼 我；爸爸會走進我的房間，把一手零錢 塞給我，說：「你做得很好，我為你感 到驕傲！」老師把試題卷遞給我的時 候，臉上會露出一絲微笑。 我喜歡看到他們臉上的笑容，自豪的表 情。六歲的我曾經天真地想：「我一輩 子讀什麼書都沒關係，只要他們高興就 好了。」 還記得我小學一年級的那一年，做我第 一份常識試卷。六歲的我在肅靜的教室 裏，只聽到同學們瘋狂寫字的刷刷聲， 自己卻只能呆呆地盯著密密麻麻的試 卷，盯著我唯一不會答的問題，拼命地 想著想著。唉！誰才是香港的行政長官 呢？我短短的雙腳不自覺地晃來晃去， 手掌被汗水濕透了，眼睛大大的，開始 著急起來。腦子裡忘光了辛苦背下來的

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書，眼前突然浮現了白紙上豔紅色的九 十九分。我慌張地抬起頭來，把木椅子 悄悄地挪近靠我旁邊的同學，瞥了一眼 她的卷子。啊，原來是曾蔭權。我鬆了 一口氣，立刻把答案抄到卷上，還以為 這一次我真的碰到了好運， 又可以把 完美無瑕的滿分卷子拿回家了。 哈，我小時候真的太無知了，人生哪會 有免費的午餐呢？我把答案抄完的那一 瞬間， 老師刺耳的聲音便在我的耳邊 響起：「以琳，作弊是是不允許的。請 你下課後到教員室見我。」她的話猶如 靜夜裏的雷聲，在課室裏迴盪著，迴盪 著...... 我從沒見過媽媽如此失望，如此低落。 老師跟她說我作弊後，她輕輕地問我： 「是真的嗎？」我說：「是，是，對不 起，我不會再這樣做了。」爸爸沒說什 麼，但他失落的表情已經說出了一切。 我心裡很委屈，我所做的一切只想令他 們快樂，想讓他們驕傲，他們為何現在 卻如此失望呢？我會不會常識又如何， 總之，我最後拿到滿分，一切不就好了 嗎？

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慢慢地長大，漸漸的，這些分數成為了 一種負累，一個枷鎖，把我整個人牢牢 地鎖上。大考前的我日以继夜，夜以继 日地坐在空空的補習班課室裡，只懂低 頭無聲地為那完美的分數废寝忘食，撇 下一切。我上癮了，那紙上的數字是毒 品，控制著我的思想。在我整個小學的 生涯裏，成績就是我的依靠，是我的生 命，是我的一切。就這樣，這些分數便 把我的童年狠狠地吞沒了，消失得無影 無蹤。 但我能責備誰呢？我自己、父母、老 師，還是這個太看重分數的社會？看著

童年時天真爛漫的我，被分數侵蝕的 我，被分數壓到喘不過氣來的我，我好 想輕輕地拍一下「她」的肩膀，告訴她 週末放假時要去跑、去跳、去盡情玩 耍，去體驗這個世界，不要為這沒代表 性，呆呆地躺在白紙上的一組數字，拋 棄年輕無知的快樂。 可是，童年是一縷從我手中溜去的輕 煙，一去不復返。就這麼樣，我便截然 地錯過了一段美好的光陰，只留下一份 又一份畫滿豔紅數字的測卷，作為我六 年來拼命讀書溫習唯一的痕迹。我太遲 了。

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環境 ENVIRONMENT Illustration by Hyning Gan

ENVIRONMENT

Ivory Trade: A History Drenched in Blood

By: Klara Greyvensteyn

Illustration by: Meagan Hsu

Have you ever thought about how pearly white ivory might not be as pristine and untainted as it seems? From ivory necklaces to combs to household decor, people commonly take this luxury item for granted, but it’s backstory is seldom questioned. If we look more closely at its origins, we come to realize that it is, in fact, drenched in blood, not just animal blood, but also human blood. Ivory trade is an issue with heavy global significance, and its impacts extend to wildlife, endangered species, and ecosystems. With the shocking commonality of animal poaching in today’s world, it won’t be long until the elephant, an integral player in the African ecosystem, will become forever extinct.

Layout by: Haley Hsu

ivory trading, unfortunately, is still widely prevalent in the modern world. Although its relative, animal poaching, is a commonly discussed issue, ivory trade, on the other hand, is seldom talked about. A fact that seems to be neglected is that ivory trade and animal poaching go hand in hand, dating all the way back to the Roman Empire. Ivory trade is a problem that has been persistent for centuries, but it is yet to be seriously considered or solved. We can see from the history of ivory trade to how it impacts animals, and how it is relevant in Hong Kong. While ivory trading is an issue that’s normally pushed aside in current media, its severity cannot and should not be downplayed. This article will seek to clarify the issue, establish its significance and Elephants play an integral role in maintaining suggest possible solutions to counteract it. the ecosystem in Africa, and without them, forests would overtake the grasslands. They Ivory trade, in its simplest form, is the dig watering holes in the dry season, without which many animals would die of thirst.

They are also highly intelligent and have a remarkable memory, in fact, their brains are very similar to humans. They are the only animal that mourns their dead, and can even suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

This means animal poaching doesn’t just impact elephant numbers but it also impacts elephants on an emotional level. When elephants see their own kind massacred, and they react the same way a human would to seeing others murdered.

There have been numerous attempts to combt the ivory trading issue, but their indirect approach and lack of support means that 88

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poaching of animals, commonly rhinos and elephants but other animals as well, to obtain their ivory tusks. This is followed by the selling and trading of those tusks to make a profit.

In actuality, poaching is highly illegal; ivory trade, however, is much more complicated. In short, ivory trade is illegal. More specifically, the international trading of ivory is banned but in some places, it is legal to buy ivory under certain exceptions. If the ivory is an antique and was carved before the international ban, it is still legal to sell it. If the ivory comes from legal stockpiles, it can still be sold. Here in Hong Kong, selling ivory will be illegal after 2021. The ban was announced in 2016 and people who sell ivory were given a five year grace period to get rid of all their ivory before the ban goes into effect. If one considers the ivory trade and animal poaching, the matter seems very simple at first, but if one really looks into the history of ivory trade and the effects of animal poaching, it’s a very complicated subject. Ivory trade has been in our history for years; the sell of ivory goes back to the Roman Empire, as well as the belief that ivory had healing properties. If one also looks at the ivory trade and animal poaching, we can see these are two very different things that are linked together. To better understand the issue, we need to see what ivory trade and animal poaching exactly is.

How did the history of ivory Trade lead us down towards the dire situation we face today? For hundreds of years, ivory had been sought after for its ease of carving and pearly white appearance. Ivory can be used for necklaces and combs and is often used in household decor from bowls to centerpieces.

Ivory trade can be traced way back to the Roman Empire when the Romans imported ivory from Africa for statutes and sometimes furniture. The Romans even imported elephants for spectacles, but then eventually used them for combat later. The ivory that

was imported to the Romans mainly came from the North African elephants, but when the species went extinct, ivory trade stopped for many centuries. (It’s still not fully agreed upon as to whether the North African elephants were a subspecies of African bush elephants or a separate species). Ivory trade then started again in the 800’s when traders in West Africa brought ivory along the transSaharan trade routes to the North African coast. Traders also brought ivory from the East in boats up the coastline to the Middle East as well as the markets and cities of northeast Africa. From there the ivory was taken to Europe or to Central and East Asia. But later Central and East Asia would start to get their ivory from Asian Elephants. In the 14001800 century, Portuguese navigators landed on the shore of West Africa and soon started participating in the ivory trade. Hunting on the west coast of Africa made the population of elephants decline, forcing people to move inland. Inland hunters and traders needed a way to move the ivory but because of the lack of rivers they could use and diseases, it was impossible to have livestock move the ivory, therefore the primary movers of ivory were people. So, while the demand for ivory went up, so did the demand for slaves. It may not be outwardly obvious, but the inhumane act of slavery is actually connected to ivory trade. Traders would go inland and hunt or purchase ivory along with slaves. They would make them carry the ivory down to the coast and then would sell the ivory and slaves to make a profit. During the 1800s and 1900s, European hunters started hunting elephants more and more as the demand for ivory went up. The number of elephants was declining and in 1900, many African colonies passed a law that limited hunting. In the 1960s, most African countries passed a law that had hunting completely banned or only allowed with a permit. But even with these laws in place, poaching of animals continued.The 校話

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international trading of ivory was banned in 1975 for Asain elephant ivory and in 1990 for African elephant ivory. But even with all these laws in place, the poaching of elephants still blatantly continues on. But even with all these laws in place, the poaching of elephants still blatantly continues on.

More elephants are killed in the world than born. In 1979-1987 the elephant population went from 1.3 million to 600,000, that’s roughly 700,000 elephants killed. After people saw how damaging ivory trade was, the national ban on ivory was made and the result was strongly positive. People stopped selling ivory, markets dried up, poaching decreased and the elephant population began to stabilize. But this didn’t last, and soon the demand for ivory picked up again, mainly in Asia, and elephant poaching started increasing again. A study shows that since January 2012, roughly 103,000 elephants have been poached for their tusks. Elephants are being hunted every day for their ivory, and die very painful deaths, with poachers normally shooting the elephants then while the wounded elephant is on the ground, gouge the tusks out of the elephants head leaving them to die. While numbers vary from source to source the estimated amount of elephants killed every day is 55-100 and the amount killed every year is 20,000-35,000 (and these numbers are not solid because they really depend on many variables but these are rough estimates) while these numbers are not solid and can vary from source to source,they still give you a pretty accurate idea of just how many elephants are killed. Ivory trade does not just affect African elephants but also Indian elephants as well.

going into a game reserve, tracking, killing, then harvesting the animal’s tusks. Animal poaching is highly illegal and has decimated an incomprehensible number of elephants in Africa. Although their horns are not made of ivory, rhinos are still sought after mainly in Asia because of a belief that they have healing properties. People in an attempt to stop rhinos being poached have started removing the horns from rhinos so they wouldn’t be of value to poachers. Some people have also considered doing this with elephant tusks as well but because of many reasons, people are unable to do so, mainly because removing the tusks is dangerous both for the people involved and the elephant. There are too many elephants, not enough people and not enough money. Another reason is that one-third of an elephant’s tusk inside the elephant’s head as a tusk is a really big tooth, so the poachers would most likely kill the elephant in the attempt of removing its tusk. Removing rhino horns also has its downsides. Elephants and rhinos are big animals, but they still manage to avoid being seen and take a long time to track down, so the process is hard work and takes a lot of time. Additionally, when poachers are tracking down rhinos and they finally find one just to see it had no horn, they still kill the animal anyway, so if people start cutting of elephant tusks it would likely end the same way for the elephant. Another reason people can’t remove the elephant’s tusk is because it is crucial for survival. For a while now, people have been trying to find another way to prevent people from poaching elephants, but none so far have really seemed to work. The question comes to this: Does there exist a tangible and effective solution to ivory poaching?

The most common animal poached for ivory is African Elephants, although other animals are poached as well. Poaching an animal for its ivory mainly consists of

The most straightforward answer to how we can put an end to this problem is to simply stop ivory trading. Though this answer may seem anticlimactic, it’s true. People

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often talk about saving the elephants and how volunteers are making huge impacts in Africa. People all over Africa are helping to save the elephants by raising awareness for charities, opening game reserves and trying to catch elephant poachers. But if ivory trade continues at its current rate, elephants are expected to go extinct in at least 10 years.

This is not to discount the crucial work that volunteers do in Africa for the Elephants, but if we don’t stop the problem at its source all that work might amount to no tangible results.

The problem can be likened to the case of a running tap. Imagine you came home to find that your tap was left running and your house was flooded. The work that people are doing to save elephants is like trying to clean up the water, whereas the smartest thing to do would be to shut the tap off first: to solve the source of the problem, which is ivory trade.

Think about future generations only being able to reminisce back to the hypothetical

existence of the elephant the way we can only imagine what dinosaurs or dodo birds look like. The elephant, one of the integral parts of the African ecosystem, part of the big five (the big five are some of the most iconic African animals, including the elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo, and rhino) might become a distant memory, never able to be fully appreciated by generations to come.

Just try and picture an Africa devoid of elephants. As someone who has visited South Africa, the severity of the problem can be clearly seen. South Africa is filled with multitudes of elephants and rhinos, among a plethora of other types of wildlife. It is heartbreaking to think that future generations might never be able to see the spectacular animals that exist there today. It is not uncommon in Africa to stumble upon big elephant herds, where young elephants and their mothers can be seen. The young elephant often runs around, playing and interacting with other elephants in its herd. They appear so carefree and innocent, not knowing what could happen to them or their family. With the threat of ivory poaching, one can’t help but think how the young elephant could lose its mother, or possibly its entire herd. There are also elephants whose tusks almost reach the ground, and it is devastating to think that this animal could be killed for something that they need to keep them safe.

Ivory trade might seem like a distant problem that none of us could ever solve, but in reality, it’s as simple as not buying ivory, or donating to help save elephants. This pressing problem is imminent and potentially dooming yet people still ignorantly refuse to act on it, despite having the power to act and knowing exactly what needs to be done. We simply cannot continue to stand idle and watch as an entire species is slaughtered. 校話

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ANIMAL TESTING DEBATE

By Audrina Wong and aSHLEY lEONG | Photography by Shanting Hou | Layout by Stephanie Ma & Natalie So

A

nimal testing is the use of animals in experiments for scientific and biomedical research. In these experiments, animals are used as models to help advance understanding of the living body and how disease works.

Procedures are performed on animals to assess the effectiveness and safety of medical products, cosmetics, household cleaners, food additives, etc. For many years, people have been debating about the ethics of animal testing and whether or not animal testing should be used for research and development of products.

On the one hand, some may argue in favour of animal testing : Study of animals has dramatically affected the understanding of human and animal anatomy and health, and disease development. Due to the fact that the basic cell processes of most animals are nearly homogenous, and the bodies of animals are similar to humans in the way that they perform many vital functions, including breathing, digestion, movement, sight, hearing, and reproduction, animal testing helps researchers test drugs and treatments more effectively and efficiently compared to other research methods.

Human clinical trials are lengthy, and initial study on animals will give an early indication of the safety of drugs. Therefore, animal testing drastically shortens the testing period and drugs development process, creating a quicker cure to illnesses and diseases and produces results that are applicable to humans.

Animal testing plays a vital role in the medical research field. It helps save lives and improve human health.

Many treatments have been enabled thanks to animal testing, including cancer and HIV drugs, insulin, antibiotics, and vaccines.

Animal testing helps reduce human harm and ensure the safety and efficacy of medical drugs and other products for human use. Although medicines are tested using tissues and isolated organs in labs in early

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stages, legally and ethically, they must also be tested in animal trials before clinical trials in humans can occur.

Through animal testing, scientists were able to ensure that the risk of a drug are minimalized and will not cause harm in human trials, which is beneficial to the health and safety of human volunteers.

Under the circumstances that researchers try to minimize the suffering of animals and use animal testing only if it is the only form of testing that can obtain results, it can be argued that in most cases, animal testing is morally acceptable as the great benefits to humanity outweigh the suffering of a few animals.

Moreover, to stop the use of animals in medical research would be unethical, as that means humans will have to be used instead. That would dramatically affect the development of new drugs and treatments for those who are ill and in need.

On the other hand, some argue that animal testing is cruel, unethical and an expensive way of producing results that are incompatible, ineffective and sometimes even potentially dangerous to human health : The amount of suffering and pain that animals experience during animal testing are so high, that the benefits to humans cannot provide a moral justification for performing those tests in the first place. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, animals are often forced into tests that cause them to suffer from vomiting, diarrhea, paralysis,

ENVIRONMENT convulsion, internal bleeding and other long-term side effects that scar them for life. Throughout this process, animals suffer painfully and in most cases, blindness, scarring, and death are generally the end results. In fact, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has said that in the process, “U.S. law allows animals to be burned, shocked, poisoned, isolated, starved, drowned, addicted to drugs, and braindamaged.”

Reduction, Refinement, Replacement - launched by two English scientists, William Russell and Rex Burch, back in 1959:

It can also be argued that animal testing often does not produce reliable or accurate results. PETA recently wrote that The National Institutes of Health has reported 95% of the drugs proved to be safe in animal tests fail in human trials. Cruelty-free international also reported that “Vioxx, a drug used to treat arthritis, was found to be safe when tested in monkeys, but has been estimated to have caused around 320,000 heart attacks and strokes and 140,000 deaths worldwide.”

They also stated that: “A clinical trial of Hepatitis B drug fialuridine had to be stopped because it caused severe liver damage in seven patients, five of whom died. It had been tested on animals first.”

Refinement: Refine experimental techniques (for example, by using less invasive procedures and applying appropriate anesthesia and analgesia), and providing better welfare and care to the animals that are being experimented on,to reduce their pain and suffering.

Moreover, the results of animal testing may not be compatible on humans, as the anatomy and bodily functions of humans and animals are different in many ways, including the fact that many animals are not affected by the diseases and viruses humans are affected by, and may have reactions dissimilar from humans responses when drugs are administered. For example, “The most commonly used species of monkey to test drug safety (Cynomolgus macaque monkeys), are resistant to doses of paracetamol (acetaminophen) that would be deadly in humans.”

In the end, due to inaccuracy of testing and incompatibility of results, the suffering that animals experience due to testing may not even benefit humans at all. Animal rights supporters further question why researchers often still subject animals to testing when there are other workable non-animal methods to test their drugs.

While it is acknowledged that animal testing in many cases is inhumane and unethical, in other cases animal testing is described as a “necessary evil”, as stated by The Guardian and research institutions such as Humane Research Australia Inc., because it remains a valuable tool to save and improve human and animal lives. In order to garner the benefits of animal testing while trying to prevent acquiring its detriments, scientists are encouraged to follow the principles of the 3Rs -

Reduction: Minimize the number of animals used in each research by improving experimental and data gathering techniques (e.g. to maximize the information obtained per animal) and participating in information and resources sharing with other researchers;

Replacement: Find alternative methods that avoid or replace the use of animals in experiments. Instead of animal testing, scientists have developed other ways to test drugs or cosmetic products. Researchers are using an artificial “skin”, to test the potential damage that a product can do to the skin instead of testing on animals. They also can test drugs in tubes, instead of inserting them in animals. Computers have also proven successful in estimating the damage a drug or chemical will cause.

Many companies have become more aware of the detriments of animal testing and have aimed to become or stay 100% cruelty-free. On June 1st, 2007, Lush, a cosmetics brand best known for selling bath bombs, no longer purchase raw materials from suppliers that have conducted animal tests on their products, and have also encouraged suppliers to test for safety using nonanimal testing methods and to fund the development of non-animal test methods. The Body Shop, the first global cosmetics, skincare and fragrance brand to fight against animal testing, has also been using natural ingredients such as banana and basil nut oil, to ensure the safety of their products in human usage instead of testing on animals.

While animal testing can bring many benefits, including development of life-saving medicines, it can also bring detriments, including animals experiencing an inordinate amount of suffering. While there is no definitive right or wrong answer to this debate, it is important that individuals are aware of these issues and support companies that are cruelty-free, encourage companies to use testing methods other than animal testing, and in the case in which animal testing must be used, that the suffering of animals is minimized as much as possible.

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PHILIP MENG , ERIC WU photographers

JULIAN LAU , SHANTING HOU layout

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ur generation’s largest upcoming challenge is that of Climate Change, an issue that has virtually no borders and requires the cooperation of all countries to combat. Unfortunately, misinformation on this topic, has led many to believe false facts and theories about climate change. This article aims to give readers an unbiased, scientific explanation of the main causes and consequences of climate change, and shine light on the actions we all can and should do to save our planet.

First of all, climate change and global warming are two different concepts that are often mistaken for the same thing, which they are not. The important difference is that global warming only refers to the Earth’s rising temperature, whilst climate change refers to the shifts in Earth’s climate and weather patterns. In a simple explanation, global warming is only a piece of the much larger problem of human-caused Climate Change.

Throughout its 4.54 billion year history, Earth’s temperature has fluctuated dramatically many times and these extreme changes in temperature and climate happen around every 100,000 years.. Earth has had colder periods, for example, the major ice age from 2.6 million years ago until around 11,700

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years ago, and warmer periods, including the Holocene interglacial period that we are currently in.

Most recently the Earth’s temperature has increased at a rate that is unprecedented in the past 1,300 years. The main causes for the sudden increase of Earth’s temperature include the extensive destruction of marine ecosystems, deforestation, overpopulation, but most importantly the burning of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels contain a huge amounts of carbon, and therefore when they are burnt, they release excessive amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. This contributes largely to the greenhouse effect, a natural process that warms the Earth’s surface. This process works similarly to a greenhouse in which the glass walls of a greenhouse trap the sun’s heat, increasing the temperature inside the greenhouse. In the earth’s case, an array of greenhouse gases in the including methane and carbon dioxide, trap heat in the earth’s atmosphere, increasing the temperature of the earth.

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As the earth’s temperature becomes increasingly hotter, we are seeing worse and more extreme impacts on our climate and weather. Some of the expected and observed environmental effects include extreme changes in weather and climate, changes in ecosystems, desertification, acidification of the oceans, extinction of species, rising sea levels, melting glaciers, etc. These drastic changes in the environment can cause and have already caused extremely detrimental effects to the human population, including deadly heat waves that have caused 36 deaths and counting, wildfires that have destroyed hundreds of homes in California, a severe food crisis caused from the 2011 East Africa drought and more. These consequences are irreparable, and immediate change is needed to prevent such detrimental effects.

As governments and companies have deemed largely unresponsive to this pressing issue, young individuals decided to take this issue into their own hands, most significantly, a 16-year-old Swedish environmental activist, Greta Thunberg.

Thunberg’s famous words are, “The eyes of all future generations are upon you.”

Representing that the future generations need the United Nations to work together.

As the leading figure in the modern fight against climate change, Greta Thunberg

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has started many school strikes globally and was recently invited to the United Nations to give a speech about climate change. She has gained the attention of millions of children and adults, many of whom have joined in on these environmental strikes. Recently, the prestigious Harvard-Yale football game was delayed after students and alumni stormed the football field to protest climate change. A banner held by the students read, “Nobody wins. Yale & Harvard are complicit in climate injustice,”.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a democratic New York Representative has also been pushing for social change in the U.S, she aims to mitigate the effects of climate change by sponsoring the Green New Deal. The Green New Deal is a proposed legislation that pushes for transitioning the United States to use 100% renewable, zero-emission energy sources and tackling poverty and mitigating the effects of this massive transition. Though theoretically sound, the Green New Deal failed to advance in the U.S. Senate.

As established, climate change is a world-threatening issue, but still, world leaders and large companies in the status quo are barely doing anything. Though small advancements that aim to promote sustainability like the Carbon Tax in several European countries such as Sweden, the Netherlands and Norway are underway, many politicians and power figures are still ignoring the pressing issue that is climate change.

An example would be the United States, who under the Trump administration has grown less environmentally friendly. Since President Trump took office in 2017, the government has rescinded dozens of environmental rules, saying the regulations were burdensome to the fossil fuel industry and other businesses.

An example of the Trump administration’s dismissal towards climate change is their withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, an agreement within the United Nations on Climate Change, dealing with greenhouse-gas-emissions mitigation, adaptation, and finance signed in 2016. This action sent a strong signal to the world that President Trump, who has scoffed at climate science, is willing to reverse climate policies created during the Obama administration, and that he does not deem climate change an important or pressing issue.

Mitigating Climate change isn’t an issue that just lies in the hand of the rich and powerful, all citizens of this earth can strive to make a change. For example, substituting of beef and lamb with chicken in your diet could reduce your carbon emission of each meal by 10 times. Just checking that your lights and any unused electronic device are switched off each time you step out the door can increase energy efficiency. Or try flying on airplanes less - an airplane round-trip usually results in 1.6 tonnes of C02. Another change could be utilizing renewable energy in your everyday life, including electric cars, solar panels, etc. It is important that we all make changes to become environmentally friendly, studies have shown that when someone becomes more eco-friendly, others follow suit. These acts may seem small, but the change it will create will be immeasurable and crucial to saving our environment.

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Thanos and the Rise of Ecofascism

By Elizabeth Yee Illustrations by Catherine Liu and Angella Ma Layout by Natalie So

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hat does a fictional villain have to do with the two most devastating mass shootings this year?

The battle between ‘good and evil’ in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ and ‘Avengers: Endgame’ is not as black and white as it presents itself to be. Thanos, the antagonist in the film, seeks to attain 5 infinity stones - but instead of taking a traditional world domination path, Thanos makes it his mission to gain the power to solve overpopulation and resource scarcity by ridding the half the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s population with his infamous ‘Snap’- in turn becoming the ‘neo-Malthusian’ savior from complete annihilation.

Thanos’s rhetoric is not the only trace of the extreme form of neo-Malthusianism that has made its way into public conscience. Inferno, 2013 mystery thriller and subsequent 2016 film adaptation by Dan Brown portrays fictional villain Bertrand Zobrist, who sacrifices his life to wipe out half the planet’s population. Zobrist likens the end of the world as we know it to a clock striking the monumental hour of 12:00. He states that if the 12:00 represents the time the Earth will reach its maximum carrying capacity for human life, the clock is currently at 11:59. A bioengineer with millions of dollars on his hands, Zobrist creates supervirus that would wipe out half of the earth’s population.

There is a reason why in both narratives, the seemingly noble ‘saviours of the earth’ have been portrayed as villians. And while a purple god-like being travelling from planet to planet, or the intentional release of deadly viruses to kill half the population seems implausible, the relevance of their extremist neoMalthusian ideologies is one that should be followed closely in this day and age.

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COLOR Thanos’ rhetoric and ecofascism both find their roots in Garrett Hardin’s Lifeboat Ethics published in a 1974 edition of Psychology Today.

In his article, Hardin discusses a metaphorical lifeboat that is at capacity, with 100 swimmers surrounding the boat. He writes that the ‘moral’ thing to do would be to let more swimmers aboard, but that doing so would result in “the boat swamp[ing],” and “everyone drown[ing]”.

Now, if we take that example and apply it our worlds population, we might realise that fictional villain Bertrand Zobrist’s notion of the clock being at 11:59 is not as much of an exaggeration as we may think. Population growth over the last few decades has slowed since that of the 20th century. Even so, by 2050, the world is projected to hit 9.7 billion - a number which challenges the resources and lifestyles that we live out today.

Inspired by the Malthusian theory stating that finite resources on earth will reach a point where they cannot sustain human life, the manifestos of the El Paso and Christ church mass shooters state that the earth is close to it’s tipping point and has exceeded its capacity for people to continue living in the way that they do. They, much like Thanos and Zobrist, propose that, instead of ‘sinking the lifeboat’, by throwing people off, the people onboard can live out their lives comfortably.

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label these characters as villains to know that their actions, even if genuinely inspired by a noble cause, are incredibly extremist and lack consideration. However, what makes the notion of ecofascism in today’s world even more dangerous than the portrayal of it in apocalyptic movies like Infinity War, is the bonding of the idea to white supremacism and subjectivism.

Unlike the fictional villains Thanos and Zobrist, the perpetrators of these real life eco-fascist inspired shootings chose to target certain ethnicities over others.

There is no doubt that the Christchurch and El Paso mass shootings earlier this year wreaked havoc upon the world. The Christchurch shooting occurred between 1:40-1:55 p.m on the 15 March 2019. Livestreamed on Facebook, the suspect - Brenton Tarrant targeted the New Zealand Muslim population and began his attack at Al Noor Mosque, moving to Linwood Islamic Centre later in the day. He brutally murdered 51 innocent civilians during their Friday Prayer, on what is now known as, “one of New Zealand’s darkest days”. Fast forward 5 months to August 3rd, Patrick Wood Crusius, a 21-year-old from Allen Texas, opens fire with a WASR-10 rifle in El Paso, a Hispanic and Latino dominated community, killing 22 and further injuring 26.

no way ignores the blatantly white supremacist narratives present, but aims to highlight a strange and disturbing trope buried in both manifestos. Very possibly, their motivations are not as multifaceted as their manifestos suggest, and while their environmentalism could be artificial, simply dismissing the existence of ecofascism is a dangerous road to go down. The Christchurch suspect identified as an ‘Ethno-nationalist Eco-fascist with a focus on the preservation of nature’, while the El Paso Walmart shooter rails against American consumerism, the ‘decimation of the environment’ and cites, oddly enough, The Lorax.

Not to be lumped with ‘Ecoterrorism’, Eco-fascism is an ideology that connects environmentalism with far-right principles. It is best described by Tarrant, who claims that the ‘issues’ of immigrant birth rates and climate change are one and the same. In ‘The Great Replacement’ he writes, “there is no nationalism without environmentalism,” going on to say that the earth is being crippled by birth rates, and that, “the invaders are the ones overpopulating the world.”. He concludes with the harrowing message, “Kill the invaders, kill the overpopulation and by doing so save the environment.”.

The El Paso perpetrator takes a similar turn but instead The devastating premeditated discusses consumerism and overattacks were followed by manifestos consumption. Using the classic (titled ‘The Great Replacement’ tale of The Lorax, he discusses and ‘The Inconvenient Truth’ the environmental detriment of respectively), crediting their violence corporations “overharvesting” to fulfilling the fascist agendas of the resources, lack of government alt-right. Less reported, however, regulation, and the “stubborn” was how their acts of violence American lifestyle on the natural were masked under the facade of world and generations to come. Yet ‘environmental activism’. again, he reconciles this stating, “If we can get rid of enough people, Before the article continues, it must then our way of life can become be made known that this article in more sustainable.” As the earth’s

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COLOR population continues to grow, the issue of preserving the environment and controlling overpopulation grows more and more pressing.

But is ridding the earth of so-called ‘invaders’ the way to save humanity?

To any reasonable person, the clear answer is no.

curtailed.” Similarly, Numbers USA (an NPO against immigration), warns that immigration “means more stress on the environment. More roads, more cars, [and] more oil.” Both groups have claimed to be invited to testify before congressional committees, and have played key roles in blocking legislation in favour of The key word here is invaders. giving legal status to undocumented Both shootings have targeted workers. And the man behind both selective groups of people. Who organisations? John Tanton. A key is anyone to say that ‘Muslims’ and ‘puppeteer’ of sorts who drove the ‘Hispanics’ should take the brunt of American Nativist movement (he the earth’s issues? This is where the once said that maintaining American ‘facist’ aspect steps in. As quoted culture required a ‘Europeanin The Guardian, Michelle Chan, American majority’) and had close the vice president for Friends of ties with both neo-nazis and Ku Klux the Earth (A Washington based Klan members. environmental NGO), states that “ecofascism is more an expression And yet, just a few years of white supremacy than it is an ago, environmentalism in the expression of environmentalism.” conservative party was unheard of The environmental aspect is no (indeed, President Trump still denies more than a cover-up for the racism the existence of Climate Change). that lies underneath.

Graham Lawton, a writer for ‘The New Scientist’, states that the two And while these two perpetrators reasons ecofascism in the right: The represent extreme examples of first - to further demonise immigrants ecofascism, the ‘greening of hate’ of sullying the environment, and the (coined by Hampshire College second - to “absolve the “native professor Betsy Hartmann) is a population” – for which read those growing phenomenon. Mainstream of white European ancestry – from far-right politicians such as Marie Le blame.”

Pen and parties such as The Danish According to the Washington Post’s People’s Party Program (nativists) article, it is important to stop people blame overpopulation on nonwhite from their “apocalyptic discourse”. immigrants, state that they don’t have Let’s stop pretending - ecofascism the same appreciation for another is simply put, facism. Blaming other country’s nature, and, against all races for environmental destruction, scientific data, make ludicrous claims restricting immigration, and killing that environmental degradation is minorities, will not save directly linked with immigrants. the environment, In the US, Anti-immigrant groups have but push a white adopted environmental sustainability n a t i o n a l i s t in their policies. A report by the a g e n d a . notoriously conservative Federation P r o v i d e d for American Immigration Reform the facts, (FAIR) writes,“The United States will e c o f a s c i s m not be able to achieve any meaningful doesn’t check reductions in CO2 emissions out. Take out without serious economic and the ‘Eco’, and the social consequences for American acts mentioned above f a l l citizens unless immigration is sharply right under the category of ‘facist’.

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A director in the Union of Concerned Scientists states that, “Under no circumstances (should the environmental community) buy into this kind of philosophy.”

With the wrong mindset however, ecofascism’s arguments can seem dangerously rational.

So how does one go about stopping people from falling into the trap of ecofascism? Followers of ecofascism’s ideology are multiplying at chilling rates. And as we have seen, it’s growth is certain to result in devastation and threaten the wellbeing of vulnerable communities and individuals.

But the El Paso and Christchurch shooters didn’t just pull their ideas from thin air. To stop ecofascism from spiralling out of control, power hungry corporations have to assume responsibility and stop prioritising their greed over our futures, and far-right leaders need to stop capitalising on the distress felt by many and stop masking their policies with eco-activism and smearing environmentalism’s name.

Until then, let’s stop using the term ‘ecofascism’, and start calling it what it actually is: Facism.

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Ed Sheeran’s no.6 Collaborations As the album title suggests, Ed Sheeran has sure assembled the arsenal of artists for his plans of a superstar featuring album. A world renowned virtuoso of songwriting, Sheeren had first established his reputation and fan-base in mainstream pop culture in 2011 when his debut album “+” (read as plus) topped the charts, and went on to be nominated for a Grammy in 2013. Perhaps the quintessential pop star of the era, Sheeran has garnered the most followers out of any artist on spotify. Following his success with his album “Plus”, a polished, aspirational and vibrant “Divide” took 2017 by storm. Needless to say, Sheeran has chosen “creative” approaches with his records and releases. And now, his latest creation comes with a legendary and unprecedented list of name-cramming; everybody from the dexterous tough-talking maestros like Eminem, to the new and soulful faces like Yebba.While this audacious name-dropping album is an experimental gamble, Sheeran has capitalized on his support, proving to be a versatile pop star, like a fish in water, fluent in the genres of R&B, hip hop and dancehall. The skillful marriage of such genres is paralleled only by the complexity in his new narrative, emphasizing the struggle of fame and stardom, and his newfound

By Toby Chan and Jonathan Ng Illustrations by Brooke Ye and Natalie So Layout by Jocelyn Cheng

fulfillment in his marriage to his wife, Cherry.

In the album, Sheeran focuses majorly on displaying cultural interaction and diversity, as can be seen through the different racial backgrounds of the collaborating artists in his song releases.

This is first demonstrated through Sheeran’s second track South of the Border, a savvy crossover into latin-pop territory. The track features Cuban-American singer Camila Cabello, as well as Cardi B, an American rapper with Dominican roots. Due to the high status and strong personalities of all three figures in the track, Sheeran is forced to share the spotlight with his two wingwomen, limiting each artist to just one verse, before combining for the chorus, where Camila and Ed sing and Cardi B ad-libs. One highlight of the track can be heard when Sheeran throws in a bit of Spanish during the pre-chorus, mentioning the phrase “te amo mami” twice, which translates to “I love you, mama”. While this is evidence that he is testing new horizons, he is simultaneously lost in the foreign nature of his LatinPop fantasy, singing about “Caramel thighs” and “curly hair”, deviating heavily from his British roots and his standard style of lyric composition. Therefore, perhaps his most promising collaboration has been soured by his

disingenuous approach, through talking excessively about hispanic culture instead of focusing on the beauty within this intersection of cultures. Ultimately, there is a shallowness to “South of the Border”, as the message doesn’t seem to go deeper than taking a vacation, and Sheeran’s love for hispanic music.

Nothing on You is another song which highlights the crossing of cultures Sheeran’s album. The track features Argentine rapper/singer Paulo Londra, and native British rapper Dave. The track is structured so that each artist has a verse to themselves, balancing the artists’ respective languages of English and Spanish throughout the track.While the track itself is not the most outstanding of the album (its lyrics also not the most appropriate for younger listeners), it is nice to see Sheeran tap into the culture of Latin-pop once again, allowing his music to appeal to the larger hispanic audience. Additionally, the collaboration on this track demonstrates Sheeran’s generosity: by collaborating with these young artists (both Londra and Dave are 21), it offers them a platform to grow their reputation and recognition in the music industry.

A significant difference in this album is the huge range of genres and styles that Sheeran crosses over and experiments with through collaborating with other artists.

Not known for excessive indulgence in a luxurious and frivolous characteristic ‘Hollywood life’, Sheeran dedicates a substantial amount of lyrics to explain his distance from the parties and ‘wild-life’ in Beautiful People. A R&B styled hard

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drum beat coupled with panned out repetitive vocals in “we are, we are, we are” delivers a powerful hook to start this soulful ballad.After this, both Sheeran and Khalid share exchanging verses to explain their awkwardness in an uncomfortable setting, from “Lamborghinis and rented hummers” to “Champagne and rolled up notes” contrasting glamour to dark pleasures. The focused R&B is also a parallel to his personality. While everyone is vapid and superfluous, Sheeran tends to be lively and minimalistic, staying comfortable in his own territory. This lifestyle contrastingly parallels to his lyrics and the sudden shift in tone is Sheeran’s way of distinguishing himself, as “that’s not who we are” shows that he lives a simplistic down-to-earth’ lifestyle.

and aspirational tone that he usually delivers. Yet at the same time, one could ask whether there is a need to overcomplicate. Not every song in his collection has to be romanticized to have inherent beauty. Sheeran may need to exert this playful and nonchalant side to truly experiment with the boundaries of his style.

Sheeran’s No.6 Collaborations is all about experimenting different genres, therefore Hip Hop should no doubtedly feature in this album.

Antisocial is the track which sees Sheeran completely isolated from his comfort zone, and thrown into the realm of hip hop. The track also features influential American rapper/singer Travis Scott. While both artists have reached the peak of the music careers, the shared feeling of insecurity and anxiety It is clear by now that all this travelling over trusting the media, as well as has made Sheeran a little homesick; their loved ones, inspires the two to oscillating between the antipodes of come together for this record. Scott, chronic party rockers and hispanic due to Sheeran’s unfamiliarity with culture must be taxing. No better the genre, dominates most of the place to relocate than one’s home, track’s production and arrangement, as Sheeran and Stormzy take it back while Sheeran appears briefly for his to the old school roots and streets verse and the chorus.This is evident of London as they get their “grime from the beginning, as Scott begins on”. One of No.6 Collaboration the piece with abstract sounds Album’s most prominent features is and elements in the background, the incorporation of Hip Hop styles surrounding a voice which states into his music. While his experience “This is about to happen”. The in grime is limited, Sheeran tries to repeated tune of the song is then combine those elements smoothly fully unleashed, containing a fluteinto his music. He adopts their like melody line, a heavy drum beat language (“Big Michael”), he puts on (containing a snare, kick and hi-hats), their tough talk (“back in bits with and bass notes. Scott also colors the my guy”), he even compromises and song with his signature ad-libs (such relates to their extravagances (“I as “Yea!” and “It’s lit!”), causing it rock a 5970 on daily”) to show he is to sound more like his own. While not lacklustre in any way.Aside from this is a very promising attempt at this, the song has simply jeopardized hip-hop by Sheeran, Sheeran seems its authenticity by losing depth. The to be overshadowed by Scott for lyrics are implistic and awkward at most of the track, relying on his times, a far cry from the eloquence expertise to carry him to the end.

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Otherwise, the song itself is very hyped up and makes a very good track that fulfills a purpose of giving the listener energy and motivation.

Although it is clear that Sheeran wants the hip hop impression to be strong and perennial, the album’s most evocative and picturesque moments manifests when he is the most distant from the genre. There is a brief sliver of reminiscence, when we are reminded about chord strings and acoustic flings on Best Part of Me as Sheeran revisits his folk singer-songwriter fundamentals, impacting listeners’ core emotions of innocence and nostalgia. It is comforting to see Sheeran salvaging the doctrines of his earlier self, one who would pour out his own soul into the big dipper, and fill the empty pot with a beautiful deluge of emotion. Immediately, we see that this is the type of collaboration where Sheeran can project his strengths, as his voice is coherent and steady, harmlessly flirting with Yebba’s southern charm, strengthening a secular and melodic backbone to the ballad. At the same time, the distaff side has also unlocked the keys to portray something harmonic, omitting the ambitious yearnings of a super team-up for just an instant, and allowing us to enjoy the peace and tranquility.

Despite getting married recently, WayTo Break My Heart sees Sheeran write a song revolving around the theme of heartbreak, as well as tap into the realms of electronic music. The theme however, is fairly unusual, given the fact that he is married. Sheeran pairs up with popular American DJ and producer

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Skrillex for this track. This can be considered a perfect match, as Skrillex also attempts to discover a laid back sound which deviates from his usual clamorous dubstep.

The track begins with a soft, 4 note electric guitar riff, which is looped throughout the entire song, setting a melancholic mood for the listener.

An echoing effect is then applied on Sheeran’s vocals, creating a hollow atmosphere to augment the sense of heartbreak and sadness. While the track already contrasts Skrillex’s typical music approach, he manages to keep an aspect of his style in the composition. This is first noticeable in the percussion, as Skrillex sticks to his typical drum kit that packages a bass note with each beat of the drum. This enables the drums to serve a rhythmic bass while, at the same time, keep the tempo of the song flowing. Furthermore, Skrillex manipulates Sheeran’s vocals (once again) to sing notes on the “A major” scale, to serve as the melody of the chorus. While the song may seem a bit choppy during its transitions, Sheeran has managed to nail the electronic genre with the help of Skrillex, conveying a very strong message for anyone who is feeling the reminiscence that Sheeran illustrates in the song.

formulating the song, keeping his lines limited to establish a more concise delivery about wild dames and ardent babes. Surely, Ed Sheeran is no Ozzy Osbourne or Mick Jagger when he climaxes about “You make me wanna make a baby, baby”, but his 3 octave vocal range is no pushover. Furthermore, no pop rock crossover would be complete without Bruno Mars and his all around unrivalled virtuosity as an entertainer. Although a guitar screeching metal rock track with loud chaotic beats is surely no humble approach to end this album, we knew from the beginning that Sheeran was planning to release an album of a great level of diversity, championing artists like no other has before.

showing his well honed, friendly persona. Consequently, it has also resulted in an abyss of substantial and relatable feelings, leaving listeners to hanker for something new to fill the empty emotional void. All in all, to truly grade this project would be to grade its diversity- which can be glimpsed through Sheeran’s musical experimentation.

It seems No.6 collaborations is an intriguing album. It is an eclectic mixture of songs, some that will be forgotten in the wayward hinterlands of mediocrity, and some that will become defining staples of this decade’s pop music. Some would say it is less of an album, but more of a vibrant compilation of the individual talents of different music stars.

While the project was a sophomoric If Ed Sheeran is renowned as the attempt to establish range and depth, biggest pop star since Michael there is no dispute that Sheeran Jackson, it is surprising to see that takes a refreshing approach to pop until now, Rock & Roll is uncharted music creation. Hence, listeners and and untouched territory. On avid fans should not expect the big BLOW, Sheeran seems to be most rain of emotional torrent like “Plus, compromising, by morphing his Multiply and Divide”, as this project sound to coalesce with the stylings focuses on blending different colors of his collaborators, especially Chris and shades in an unselfconscious Stapleton. Similar to Antisocial, manner. It seems Sheeran has truly Sheeran has taken a backseat to boasted a little of every artist,

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Our Beloved,

Toni Morrison

By Francisca Lam 1 Photography by William R. Ferris Layout by Natalie So

The first time I picked up Toni Morrison’s work was when I was fourteen. Back then, I had barely developed healthy reading habits. I stumbled upon Song of Solomon in an attempt to cultivate better literary habits, yet I admittedly wasn’t able to comprehend the sheer beauty, pain and authenticity in her works.

Toni Morrison (1931-2019) was an American essayist and novelist, amongst many other titles. Morrison attended Howard University and received her master’s degree in English from Cornell University. Later, she returned to Howard University to teach Literature. In 1958, she wed Harold Morrison and divorced him within 6 years. During this period, she changed her name from Chloe to Toni; more notably, this period spawned The Bluest Eye, a novel about a black girl who develops an inferiority complex because she is regarded as “ugly”, fuelling her desire to have blue eyes.

Morrison never stopped writing, later penning the works Song of Solomon and Beloved, for which she won a Pulitzer Prize in 1988. She was successful, garnering many accolades such as the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012. Regardless of her awards and recognition, for nearly half a century, Toni Morrison’s works have been looked up to for guidance—helping us think through literature, as we find our bearings in the world. She rendered and embodied the complexity and beauty of the black experience through grace and wisdom. Her works are crucial to breaking the routine, easy colourism that becomes the cultural norm—the black subject being seen irrespective of white perspectives.

Upon rereading Song of Solomon, an insurmountable wave of emotion washed over me. I couldn’t personally relate to these books—after all, I’m not black nor American—but I could feel the glory in Morrison’s career didn’t take off instantly— the joy of her language. albeit praised, the novel failed to garner large success. She became an editor at As a reader, I trusted in the lucidity of her Random House, where she was largely writing, even when she dared to invent credited for introducing black literature her own syntax. Her lucidity translated in her capacity to the mainstream. She into her thinking, demonstrating fostered a new generation of African- thoughtfulness in her works. Song of American writers, such as the likes of Solomon, like her other works, cannot be Angela Davis and Toni Cade Bambara. categorised as a black or a woman’s novel 1 William R. Ferris Collection #20367, Southern Folklife Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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because it simply transcends any expectation. The novel weaves the magic of history, language and myth and encompasses the spirit of Morrison’s beliefs.

was the first book I read that truly shook me to my core. I had a general understanding of the civil war and slavery, yet I never fully comprehended the magnitude of continuous abuse and its emotional consequences. Beloved tells the story of Sethe, a slave who was tortured under her sadistic owner.

Ironically, despite being released from ownership, Great novels, however, she is relentlessly tormented by flashback of her kindle a fire that urge earlier life that continue to haunt her present us to take flight, to take life. Her memories of killing Beloved, her third child, serves as one of the most grappling scenes action—to merge with in the book. Killing Beloved would spare the girl something created by from living a life of a slave, perceived by Sethe the novelist, and to act and perhaps Morrison to be worse than death.

Readers are left pondering whether or not there as a proxy of the work, is an actual spirit interfering with Sethe’s life, or or often the novelist if her sanity is collapsing because of carrying the themselves. trauma. Although lead to believe that the spirit haunting Sethe is Beloved’s, there is an aura of mystery around the malevolence of the spirit.

Redefining the limits of language, she defied those to transform the landscape of the English In her fiction, I discovered the compassion language in order to show the yearning of how in her writing, even when she discusses the Sethe wanted to be set free. contradictory quality in humans. Her writing was difficult, but often necessary in giving redemption Beloved is not only shocking in its intricacy for the people who needed it the most. I admired of language, but the topics of slavery that her candour in her works, never failing to look Morrison tackles head on. She candidly retells pain in its face. Her works discussed what was the dehumanisation of slaves and the atrocities important, and what needed to be discussed. committed against them. Her versatility in She never apologised for her culture, for her technical and emotional ability knows no being black, and never simmered the painful and boundaries; as seen from her other works, it often harsh truth about being black in America. The ventures into difficult themes. In Beloved and her beauty of her language truly functions to expose other works, elements that concern slavery and its and destroy sexism and racism. I recognise the everlasting effects and legacy often discuss how empowerment that her works give readers to the past can manifest into a harrowing present, claim their agency to recognise how literature a not so fictious world plagued by the diseases of needs to switch focus from the racial object to alcoholism, sexual abuse and murder. The past, the racial subject. Morrison did exactly this— as presented by Morrison, manifests in strong her works chose to focus on black characters and bonds of family, community and race that allow black lives as the key focus, demonstrating her identities and sense of belonging to be transferred commitment to revealing their inner lives. from generation to generation. Generational links, as displayed from Beloved form salutary I began reading Beloved a short while ago. Since chains, arguably the only ones, in our human developing regular reading habits, I was drawn into experience. Her writing in all her works include American Literature—the likes of John Steinbeck, intricate narrative layers that weave the voices of William Faulkner and Don DeLillo. Yet, Beloved men, women, children and even the supernatural

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together. In Morrison’s work, the supernatural to transcend boundaries to deliver insight. The inexplicably seems normal in its intertwining consolation I find in the wake of her death is the with regular lives. paramount of works that her legacy leaves. Her works grappled with notions of race inspired Despite not fully comprehending the magnitude by selfhood and nationhood. I commend her of her work, I know the impact of a great novel. bravery—in her home where the fallacies of Good novels are transfixing—they reconfigure a dominion versus enslavement and superiority person’s mind and impact the way they feel and versus inferiority reverberate through aspects of perceive the world. Great novels, however, kindle daily life even in this era. There is no conversation a fire that urge us to take flight, to take action— that needs to be had any more urgently than this, to merge with something created by the novelist, and no topic more pressingly relevant. Despite the and to act as a proxy of the work, or often the urgency, said topic continues to be mishandled novelist themselves. Often, great literature allows and contested. us to feel accompanied and recognised. Her works eliminated the white definition of black Morrison was not only a great novelist, but she Americans, and showed that they can encapsulate was an opener of doors. She swung open doors a plethora of innate qualities that ranged from sealed so tight that they were once thought to not good to sadistic. Through her lens, humans are be able to be opened. Her confidence in her work wholly unapologetic. and her activism allowed her to succeed not just in our minds, but in reality. Her being and legacy As months slowly pass, I find myself distraught will not be looked through a prism of her being a with the realisation that there will no longer be black female author. essays, novels and occasions for Morrison’s voice 校話

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再來一碗紅豆沙

By Tanya Wan | Photography by Hyning Gan | Layout by Ingrid Hsu

「紅豆沙呀， 紅豆 沙！十元一碗紅豆沙！」一 位衣服破舊、雙腳光禿的小 女孩站在甜品店外聲音沙啞 地叫著。今天的生意很差， 連一碗紅豆沙也沒賣，她知 道，待會兒一定會被老闆罵 得狗血淋頭了，於是她只好 繼續一個人扯著嗓子，在炎 熱的陽光下喊賣著。 過了一會兒，一位帶 著墨鏡的老爺爺停在店口， 好奇地往裡面張望了一下， 又瞄了瞄那拼命地喊買著的 小女孩。「嘿，小孩子，」 他說道，「我要來碗紅豆 沙，十元，對不？」小女孩 停下喊買，驚訝地怔住，回 過神來時才急忙點頭，請老 爺爺入店。她跑進店的廚 房，手忙腳亂地倒了一碗香 濃的紅豆沙，小心翼翼地把 它端到老爺爺面前。 老爺爺笑了，提起那 碗紅豆沙，試了一小口。接 著，他抬起頭，打量了一下 小女孩，輕輕地問道：「你 今年幾歲？」 小女孩的臉紅了起 來，羞澀地小聲答道：「十 110

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二歲，先生。」 「今天星期一了，你 怎麼不上學？」 「嗯......」小女孩低下 頭，眼神帶點逃避，不想回 應。 老爺爺又笑了，慢慢 地呷了一口紅豆沙，耐心地 等待著她的回答。 「我...我家沒錢買學校 的課本...先生...」小女孩口吃 道。 「學費呢？」 「公立學校是免費 的，先生。」她挺直脊背， 想保持自己的自尊。 「嗯，真不錯--再來 一碗紅豆沙吧！」 小女孩不禁感到很奇 怪--難道老爺爺真的喝得那 麼津津有味嗎？她只好默默 地回廚房，又端出一碗紅豆 沙。 老爺爺不見了，桌上 放著二十元和一個空碗。 小女孩東張西望了一 下，可是甜品店是空蕩的， 只有她捧著一碗香噴噴、 熱騰騰的紅豆沙。她實在好 渴，好渴，紅豆沙又不可以

倒回去，不喝也不就是浪費 嗎？於是她把老爺爺的碗子 洗乾淨，收去桌上的那二十 元，悄悄地喝完了那碗香甜 可口的紅豆沙。那碗紅豆 沙，真讓她感到好溫暖，好 溫暖。她暗自欣喜著：每賣 一碗紅豆沙都可以賺三元， 現在她有六元，可以存下去 買課本。只要有課本上學， 她光著腳去上學也完全無所 謂。 翌日，小女孩正在店 外叫賣著，忽然看到一個熟 悉的身影浮現在來來往往的 人海中，這次還帶了六個朋 友來。他們對她打了個招 呼，似乎把她當成老朋友 了。「來七碗紅豆沙！」老 爺爺向她喊道。小女孩端出 那七碗紅豆沙後，他們一口 接一口地喝了下去，再來了 一碗紅豆沙。小女孩把那一 碗端出時，發現他們都莫名 其妙地消失了，而且在桌上 留下了八十元。她抓了抓 頭，只好收下錢，自己喝掉 手中的紅豆沙。 從那天開始，老爺爺 每天中午都來喝紅豆沙--有

COLOR 時帶著朋友，有時獨自來享受。可是無論如 何，他喝完後會再來一碗，等小女孩把它端出 來時，他會消失得無影無蹤，在桌上留下要付 的錢。 有一天，來了一陣狂風暴雨，街道上的 樹都倒塌了。小女孩想，這颱風刮得太嚴重 了，應該沒人會故意冒著這種天氣來喝紅豆沙 吧！沒想到，中午時，一個舉著報紙擋著傾盆 而下的雨，一步一步地向甜品店蹣跚著的老爺 爺出現在小女孩的眼前。他滿身濕淋淋的，看 到小女孩時，氣喘吁吁道：「啊，你好，我要 來碗紅豆沙，好不？」小女孩想：這人倒是瘋 子，天氣這麼差還想著喝紅豆沙？ 老爺爺看到她那半信半疑的樣子，嘻嘻 地笑了，解釋道：「這裡的紅豆沙太好喝了， 唉，我人老了，非喝不可！」接著慢吞吞地把 報紙墊在椅子上，以免把它弄濕，才坐下來。 「哦，是的，先生，」小女孩把紅豆沙 端給他後裝著明白地說道。老爺爺一口喝下紅 豆沙，閉上眼睛心滿意足地「嗯...」了一聲，開 口叫道： 「再來一碗紅豆沙！」 小女孩端出時，老爺爺已消失了。 ……

幾個月過去後，小女孩已積攢了足夠的 錢買課本和一對新鞋子，終於能上學了。 兩年後，在回家的道路上，她看見一個 熟悉的影子，拿著掃帚，弓著要，行動緩慢地 掃著街頭。「先生？」她懷疑道，眼眶裡含著 滾燙的淚水。 那個老爺爺轉過頭來，眼睛亮了，臉上 露出比太陽還燦爛的笑容。 「先生，是您嗎？」穿著潔白的校服的 小女孩又問道，一珠淚水緊追著另一珠淚水流 下臉頰：難道一個卑微、窮困的清道夫是拯救 她生命軌跡的人嗎？ 老爺爺慈愛地笑了。「對，是我。」 小女孩跑上前，差點把心愛的課本掉到 地上，緊緊地抱住老爺爺。 在太陽溫的照射下，他們擁抱著，那個 擁抱，讓小女孩感到好溫暖，好溫暖。 這就是我母親童年時刻骨銘心的故事， 三十年後，她還是幕幕記得一清二楚。

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Le Solis

By Lilly Larard(6B) and Sonia Ng (6A) I was doodling in my French book, drawing flowers along the edges and a sun in the middle.

French classes were so boring.

My name is Solis, the Latin word for the sun. Fine. It’s a weird name, I’ll admit it. But it’s not my problem. I didn’t name myself.

“Solis! Are you paying attention?

What does this mean, le soleil s’est levé pour la dernière fois?” Mrs Brown snapped.

I dropped my pencil and stammered, “I- uh- I dunno.” My classmates snickered. Shannon, the loudest. My sweaty palms gripped my dirt-covered shirt.

“Class?” Mrs Brown turned to the other students. While everyone else was stretching their hands high in the high trying to get Mrs Brown’s attention, I saw her glance disappointingly my way.

I sighed. I was definitely having a bad hair day. How I wished father was here. He would help me out with French. I remembered the warm smile he gave me all the time, his serious expression and furious dark blue eyes when I told him someone gave me a hard time and the scent of his favourite Christmas sweater. Most of all, I remembered that every morning, he would hug me tight and ask me, “did my little sun rise high today?”

That’s when it struck me.

The next day, I woke up even before my alarm went off. The sky outside looked dim. Maybe it was

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going to rain soon.

“Wow, what an early bird we have today. Alright, honey?” mother asked, but immediately went back to preparing breakfast.

I looked at my watch. 5:15. Way too early. But still, I was amped up and ready to go. I grabbed a sandwich, some seaweed from the fridge and bolted out the door.

I could hear mother shouting from behind me, “Come back, Solis! You’ve still got hot cross buns waiting for you!” Usually, I would run straight back if I heard that, I mean, who could resist a nice, warm hot cross bun? But this time, I ignored it. I didn’t even stop to pick up acorns like I usually did. I could see the school right ahead of me, and I was completely out of breath. Beads of sweat rolled down my forehead.

I checked my watch. 5:45. School didn’t start till 8:00. My stomach growled and I wolfed down my sandwich and seaweed.

The next two hours and fifteen minutes, everything was a blur. I sat by the benches, hoping sooner the bell would ring and class could start. Time passed quickly, probably because I accidentally snoozed for a while.

As soon as the bell rang, I started up the steps to my classroom.

A few other girls smirked and whispered to each other. I didn’t care.

The moment I’ve been waiting for was finally here.

“Class, do you still remember what le soleil s’est levé pour la dernière fois means?” Mrs Brown asked.

Before Mrs Brown could even finish the sentence, my hand shot up in the air. I knew everybody wanted to snicker and make fun of me, but I didn’t give them a chance to do that. I knew what the answer was and I was going to answer it. Dad would know I was trying, he would be proud.

Mrs Brown scanned the class, her eyes landed on me. This was my chance, I was going to answer it right.

“Go ahead, Solis.” She announced and I felt everyone’s eyes on me.

I can do this, I can do this, I repeated to myself. I took a deep breath and answered.

“It means the sun rose for the final time.” I declared with hesitation.

I knew my answer was correct and awarded myself to see Mrs. Brown’s doubtful face slide off and be replaced with a relieved smile. My classmates gazed at me surprisingly and Shannon even mouthed good job to me. I felt a rush of joy, inside I was jumping up and down doing my happy dance, but outside I just smiled back at Shannon, glad she wasn’t snickering at me anymore.

Dad, are you watching? I have learnt an important lesson. To just be myself and follow my heart. I have to tell you something. Your little sun did rise up high. Very high. But one thing’s for sure, your little sun will keep rising high, until the final time.

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First Light

By Hanyi Zhou (6A)

One day left…

Another tear escaped the corner of my eye as I glared at the medical form, wishing it could disappear. I listened to the grave voices coming from the lobby. As words floated by, I caught the occasional phrase. Such a short life. What can we do? How devastating. I buried a pillow on top of my head. Even though I couldn’t hear the voices anymore, they still echoed through my head. I looked out the window at the dock, memories flashing in my mind. Memories of watching sunsets, sunrises, telling stories, fishing, memories that I would never forget.

I remember sitting on the dock, watching the sunset. I swing my feet, feeling the familiar, cold sensation of water splashing onto my toes.

I close my eyes, feeling the warm breeze on my face. I recall a memory, sweet and stored away in my mind.

The fishing line sprang about, the silver scales of a plump fish writhing above the water.

Honey, Dad said, isn’t this the finest day ever?

Mm-hm, I replied, through a mouthful of marshmallows, couldn’t this day last forever?

And my dad replied with a small smile on his face, Honey, look, we’re just in time for sunrise!

Together, shoulder against shoulder, we leaned against each other and watched the sun rise.

When we had a bucket full of fish, dad said to me, You know, there are people out there who can’t ever have this kind of day.

I was mystified. How? I asked.

Some people out there can’t even see, he said.

They’ll never be able to see, let alone enjoy a sunrise.

Layout by Natalie So Dad explained to me that after a person dies, doctors can remove the cornea and use it to help blind people see.

Daddy, I said determinedly, I’m going to give blind people my cornea after I die!

My dad smiled. Good for you.

I opened my eyes. I knew what I had to do.

It was the last day. The last day of my whole life.

I looked around, at the white curtains, at the white beds, at the white blankets. Tubes ran in and out of my nostrils, blankets covering everywhere but my face. Pain coursed through my body. It became harder and harder for me to breathe. I looked out the window. I could see the dock, where I went almost everyday of my life. I thought of my sixth birthday, when I had rescued a sea turtle. I thought of the July fourth barbeques by the dock, eating crisp fish and roasting marshmallows. I closed my eyes, savoring all those fond memories. I glanced at the horizon. A small curve appeared where the sea met the sky. The water sparkled, seagulls squawked and flapped their wings, fishermen rode their boats to the harbour, casting their nets into the clear water…… To them, this was just the start of another ordinary day. And as the sky turned from pink and purple to orange and red, the sun rose for the final time.

2 days later, in another city…

Blurry faces appeared in front of a pair of brown eyes, then became clearer. The world was no longer dark. The boy surveyed his parent’s faces carefully, then started crying. He cried tears until they ran out, because finally, he could see.

He could finally see the world. He could finally see colors. All because of a kind-hearted person out there, who donated a pair of cornea to him.

Rays of sunlight shone into his eyes. To him, the sun rose for the first time.

But there has to be another way! I exclaimed.

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Falling for Love

By Lily Liang (6C) Illustration by Arabella Chong (6B) Layout by Natalie So

Liz

trudged into her room, and threw herself onto her bed, simultaneously opening a packet of doritos and taking a book from under the pillow. Sighing, began to read her favourite book, “Each Little Bird That Sings” the ninety-nineth time.

Munch. Munch, munch. Gradually, the pack of doritos disappeared, and Liz, somehow, disappeared with it. When Liz flipped a page of the book, the page wouldn’t move. Then she peered closer to see why. And she froze.

Her hand was not there.

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Nor was her arm, and when she looked down at her legs, they immediately melted into thin air, along with the rest of her body. No matter how hard she struggled, her body kept disappearing into nothingness.

“W-w-what?! HELP!” Yet her desperate, broken shriek was ignored, and the ghost of her was pulled away by a swirling, invisible tornado.

COLOR “H-huh?”

***

Liz’s muffled, confused mumble broke the palpable silence. Looking down at herself, she realized she was no longer a ghost; she was herself again! As inspected her surroundings, a blinding spotlight tore through the blackness of the area, shining on her.

Liz Z’ One, will thee manage to do it before the sun rises a final time? Prove yourself worthy.

A deep, commanding voice boomed, sounding merciless. What in the world are you talking about?

Even though she was tempted to ask, Liz wouldn’t dare speak back to such a threatening voice. So she kept it to herself. And waited. For instructions.

Before Liz even had a chance to think, she was thrown to the ground, yet instead of falling onto the ground, she fell through it. Falling, falling, falling.

Liz screamed...

And landed, on cold, slippery ice, falling on her bruised body, and stumbling over icicles, still screaming. She fell face-flat onto the ice. But it wasn’t the coldness of the ice that gave her the creeps; it was the images that appeared on the ice that haunted her. *** There was her beloved mother, weeping and searching for her, at five in the morning. Meanwhile, her father was trying his best to make both Liz and her mother suffer. He had her hand-cuffed, gagged, and tightly chained to the rock near a cliff, as her mother went searching for her. After 3 continuous days and nights, Liz’s father got bored, and decided to just abandon his own daughter. So he did. He left his only child in hand-cuffs, chained to a rock, calling after him, which he completely ignored, and stalked away, amused and chuckling to himself.

All her life, Liz had believed her parents loved her.

But she was wrong. From the very start, her father had despised her, and tried his best to make his wife and child suffer. But Liz had been forgiving, therefore her father never succeeded in torturing her. Until now. That night, Liz’ mother eventually sat on the rock to rest, but it was the other side of the rock. Liz, knowing her mother was so close, only

too far to save her, screamed for her mother. But that was the last curse her father had given to them. Liz’s mother would never be able to hear again, for she had been made deaf.

So no matter how loud Liz whimpered or yelled, her mother would not hear her. The next morning, her mother had simply walked away without a backward glance at Liz. And she had trudged to the side of the cliff, and gazed down with a longing look on her face.

Anything, anything to get her out of this misery. So as the sun rose for the final time, Liz’s mother took a step into thin air, and fell. *** Inhaling sharply, Liz, used all that was left of her strength to pull herself up. The ice had, surprisingly, not melted yet, and she panted heavily. That was the memory which haunted her the most, and she almost died, but ambulance rescued her in time.

Staring up at the sky, she remembered the entire view of the sunset when her mother had suicided.

Without a warning, the ghostly figure of her mother appeared, walking towards her, calling her. I am imagining this, Liz told herself repeatedly, urging herself to stay in the real world. But then again, what good did it do, to stay in this world? Perhaps it was better to give up.

Suddenly, everything seemed so real. Liz felt as if she had been back at that moment, before her mother had jumped off the cliff, only she wasn’t tied to the rock this time. Determined to save her mother this time, Liz ran after her mother, and was a second too late, as her mother already jumped off the cliff.

So Liz went after her.

And jumped off the cliff, too.

Before she fell to her death, her favourite memories flashed before her eyes. Her dear mother, who was now gone, singing and chatting with her; her beloved mother and her, walking on the beach together; her kind mother, who assisted her on her homework...

And, as the sun rose for the final time, the memories disappeared, and Liz was left alone, falling to her death, regretting the foolish mistake she made, wishing she didn’t run after her mother.

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“When “When pandas eat pasta…, COLORpandas eat pasta…, and turn back into caterpillars“When pandas andbutterflies people turn back How Gibberish Changed The World dinto butterflies turn andback people intoturn caterpillars back into and butterflies monkeys…, Angela Dufour (5D) and Allison Yip (5d) Natalie So and people turn back into and people turn back into monkeys…, When people and butterflies turn back into caterpillars…”, By

Layout By

I

t was midnight in the orphanage.

The curtains were drawn, the room was pitch black, but everyone was awake, all because of one person.

She was the weirdest person in the orphanage, and even had a weird name: Luna Nightshade. Luna had inky black hair, brown eyes so dark that they seemed black and very pale skin.

getting up, another pillow flew across the room and hit Luna in the face.

“Pillows will turn into rocks…” She muttered and then went to shower.

Every night at midnight, she would wake up, and start speaking gibberish.

She would say things like: “When pandas eat pasta…, and people turn back into monkeys…, and butterflies turn back into caterpillars…”, and then no one could sleep. Most of the time, she’d stop and fall asleep at around two a.m. Sometimes, she went on like that until six a.m.!

Hearing this, Luna filled up with rage.

Those insults were the final straw.

She yelled, and… all those gibberish words came true! No one noticed yet, though. They were all out on their weekly visit to the zoo, including Luna, who smiled to herself, knowing what was going to happen next.

That night… “Would you be quiet?!!” a pillow flew across the room and bonked Luna in the head. The pillow thrower was the orphanage bully called Scarlet Fever. She had dyed fiery red hair, fair skin and an even fiery temper. “Some people here are trying to sleep!” Scarlet yelled.

Luna’s only reaction was “When bullies turn into pears…” then, she suddenly collapsed on her bed and started snoring. Everybody cheered, and hoisted Scarlet onto their shoulders. “Scarlet! Scarlet!” they cheered. Then they seemed to remember that they were cheering for the most hateful person in the orphanage, so they dropped her and went to sleep. “Hey!” Scarlet shouted, but everybody was snoring away and couldn’t hear her. Scarlet sighed and trudged back to bed.

The next morning, when Luna was

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“What is up with Luna and her gibberish???” One kid asked.

“I know, right?! Her and her nonsense.” people replied.

“I dibs this seat! No, not that one. The one in the front, yes, that one.” Scarlet pushed everyone away and plopped down on the front row seat- the only clean one. She always took that seat, and nobody dared to stop her. Except for today. “Excuse me,” Luna said, pushing Scarlet aside. “I think I’ll sit here today.” “What- but-how-?”

Scarlet stuttered. Finally, she managed to say “You’re not speaking gibberish!

And you’re challenging me!” everyone stared at Luna. They were totally feeling the same as Scarlet- a feeling they had never had before.

Suddenly, something happened. They watched as Scarlet, the big bad bully of the orphanage, slowly shrank and morphed into a pear. Luna’s gibberish words were true!

“We’re here!” The bus driver announced. He was a short man with bushy eyebrows, a bushy moustache, and a bushy beard. When he spoke, it sounded like a donkey with asthma.

At the zoo, everybody went to see the pandas first, as usual. They were the cutest! At the panda exhibit, everybody saw an amazing thing.

Again, Luna’s gibberish had come true! The pandas were eating pasta.

And loving it too! It was the weirdest day of everyone’s lives (except for Luna’s)!

“HAHAHAHAHA! I RULE THE WORLD! EVERYBODY, DANCE WITH ME! I LIKE TO MOVE IT…” Luna was standing on a cliff and watching everybody dance with her.

People had turned into monkeys, butterflies into caterpillars, and pillows into rocks. It was the best day of her life! Suddenly, Luna felt exhausted. It had been an exhausting day, after all. So she went to bed, unaware that the world was getting smaller and smaller at an alarming rate.

The next morning, the sun rose for the final time as the world was now as big as Luna’s house (she had taken over a mansion while the owner turned into a monkey). “Aaaaaah, what a wonderful-” she got swallowed by the earth, fell out of it, and fell into a black hole, where she had to be a slave for the alien king (because she trespassed).

Mother Earth now sensed that Luna was gone. She regrew with joy, making the world just as it was before, only better, because there was no Luna Nightshade. After this, everyone was amazed at what just a little bit of gibberish could do.

XIAO COLOR XIAO HUA

as s to …”,

Story and Illustration By Jennifer Fei (5D) Layout by Natalie So The scene outside the window was pitch black, but slowly, as the sun brightened our world, it began to have a radiant shine. It stroked the trees, leaving new spring leaves in its wake, as rays of sunshine wandered through delicate blades of grass, and wove itself into the softness of the wind. As they passed quiet brooks, the sunlight seemed to blend with the water, giving it a golden aura. The voice of a nightingale echoes across the land, and the new day has begun.

The sun blooms on the horizon, its golden petals stretching outwards into the blue sky. It is the brilliant flower of the sky that warms our days. It is an invitation to a new day, that sunrise was so ordinary extraordinary.

The sun rose like a flower opening, gifting its petals onto the world. Sunrise was a breathtaking display of radiant colors. Bright streaks of red, pink, and orange slowly overcame the dark blue and purple of the twilight sky.

The yellow shining sun started rising from the ground.

It filled the sky with mighty colors of red and splashed the clouds with endless rays of pink. Golden light dribbled over the land like syrup on oatmeal. The leaves shimmered like a brand new mirror and the morning dew sparkled on the cobwebs and grass. *Cough Cough* A girl named Casey Lee coughed and coughed while going down the stairs. Casey was an only child with no siblings but has both cancer and asthma.

It was her favorite day, December 23rd, that was her birthday. This year Casey’s turning 16, she was getting reading before her friends come. It was her birthday and a party with her friends.

She wore a sky-dye shirt and skinny jeans with high heeled boots, then she was ready. Ding!!!!!!!!!!!! The doorbell rang. Casey ran over to open the door. All she saw was a present, she bent her knees and touched it slowly. Suddenly she felt somebody jumping across her, Casey was sure someone was there. As Casey slowly turned around she saw... her friends, Hayley, Kyra, Katie, Charlotte, Lily, and her best friend Annabella!

Not long after the party started Casey’s asthma came.

It was hard for her to breathe, her face became pale white, and she tried to breathe as hard as she could.

Her mom called the ambulance in a rush. It was quiet, her friends stop singing, dancing and chatting, instead, they gathered next to Casey, wanting to make her calm down.

But no one realized (except for Casey) that it wasn’t her asthma that came it was her... cancer! Casey got scared and tried to talk. “M-my... cancer.... C-came...” Casey mumbled the words out of her mouth slowly. Everyone was shocked! They could not believe what they just heard!

The ambulance finally came, but... it was too late. It didn’t help Casey at all. Casey had died 7 seconds before the ambulance had made it to their house. Every day brings Casey further from the low of her last cancer relapse, but every day also brings her closer to the next cancer recurrence. Every second was important for someone’s life, even ours.

Tears rolled down her mom’s chin, as she sat on the floor next to her daughter. The had a nice funeral for Casey and decorated it together. Now that Casey is gone her mother was alone, lonely, that was the day that the sun rose for the last and final time for Casey Lee.

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FOOTBALL: FOOTBALL:

Live it and Love it Live it and Love it

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By Kian Chan | Photography by Stephen Chen | Layout by Natalie So

CIS

offers a plethora of co-curricular activities. In regards to sports, some are organized into school teams that compete against other schools, whilst some are the amalgamation of individual athletes with a common sport linking everybody together.

A school team is formed with multiple students and are led by coaches. School teams tend to have training once or twice every week (after school), in which they do drills and play games to better enhance their sports abilities. This article will introduce the CIS football school team, as well as talk about the different competitions they participate in, with the addition of including personal experiences from players who currently play for the CIS football team. The CIS football team compete in different interschool competitions to allow players to gain more experience and exposure to players of different levels from HKSSF, ISSFHK and ESF tournaments. In primary, football training sessions allow young players to expand their football skills just by kicking the ball and doing a few challenging drills.

Towards the end of primary, some players are already competing in friendly matches.

In secondary, football training sessions allow players to learn new tactical strategies for real matches as there will be more opportunities for players to attend more competitive tournaments.

Personal Experiences As I was part of the school team in primary and secondary, I think that it’s a great team to be a part of because everyone is supportive and saying encouraging words to one another.

Throughout the years, I have learned that winning isn’t the most important, but having a positive mindset is. This means that the school team doesn’t only cultivate your football skills, it even stresses upon the importance of attitude and perseverance. Football can be an enjoyable sport, but I believe the beauty of this sport is to understand and accept failure, and to weather through all weaknesses and losses. 校話

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“I really enjoy being a part of the team, because I am having fun, enjoying the sport, and most of all learning how to accept failure and how to correct them.”

- Kenneth Fu (Year 9) Kenneth states that he enjoys playing football because he can appreciate the sport by playing with his friends during team training. Every player has their ups and downs, and he shows his willingness to explore his strengths and weaknesses by learning from his shortcomings.

“It is not about the overall game, it is about how you play the game.”

- James Wang (Year 9) James says that the “overall game” isn’t the most important, the way you think and how you play the game is. This means that football really is mind over matter. The result of a game doesn’t reflect upon one’s skills, rather, it is determined by the type of attitude they possess.

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I also interviewed members of the senior football team to gain more insight from some of the older players. I was fortunate enough to be able to interview Caleb Wong and Ric Tse from Year 12.

Q: How does it feel being part of the school team?

C: “It's really great to be a part of a team that is so supportive where we all work together to improve and be better. I really enjoy playing football with my friends and it is such a nice feeling to see such a tight-knit group.”

R: “It feels great to be part of the school team.

When you go out to play against other schools, you feel a sense of pride when you have the chance to represent your own school. There is a real sense of community in CIS Football. Whether it be training sessions or matches, everyone is always giving their 100% on the pitch, and we really do strive towards bettering our football skills and teamwork. We are lucky enough to have coaches like Mr. Allan Fraser and Mr. Jamie Hooper. They are both experienced, hardworking and optimistic coaches that are constantly encouraging us to work harder in order to reach our fullest potentials. Our team certainly would not be where we are now without these important figures in our community.”

Q: Why did you want to join?

C: “I was originally into basketball until I started to play playground football and Brazallian soccer. This ultimately led me to school football and now I love it. Joining the CIS football team has allowed me to develop communicative skills, teamwork and overall improve myself as a person. Being part of the team helps me alleviate stress from the IB, as well as gives me an opportunity to bond with my friends and magnify our inter year community.”

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R: “I am fortunate enough to have been able to push myself up the ranks since Year 5, playing from D grade all the way up to A grade - which is where I am now. I have always enjoyed being part of a team sport as I am put in a position where I am not only playing for myself, but also playing for my teammates. Because of this, my passion for football has only grown. I am motivated to win games for our school, and I try to push myself and my team to improve as we go through the final years of our CIS Football lives before we go off into our future endeavours.”

Q: How often are you included in competitive matches?

R: “For school football, we are involved in two major tournaments: The HKSSF, consisting of 6 games given we qualify to the finals; and the ISSFHK. I am included in all the games I am eligible for and I try my best to make sure I am available for every single game. Matches are held almost every single week when the tournament itself starts, so it is fundamental that all players keep fit.”

Q: Do you enjoy training? What is the quality of facilitators?

C: “We have 2 training sessions a week and it’s great. We are fortunate enough to have a school field to minimise our travel time. We also are so lucky to have supportive, approachable, committed and dedicated coaches that care about our progress and well being.”

From this interview with Ric and Caleb, it shows that they both feel relished to be a part of this team, not only because they are able to play this sport, but because of the experiences and lessons they learn. It is evidently clear that they have a strong passion for football and have always been a team player. The best part of this interview is when they mention their coaches Mr. Fraser and Mr. Hooper, on how they always push and support them to better ameliorate their skills physically, and mentally. With CIS giving students the opportunity to join such a wide array of sports, it is undeniably clear that students should attempt at the sports that interests them. The football team is merely a prime example of the one in a million hobbies that one can delve into, and I think that at any age and at any time, learning a new sport will not only better ourselves, but also improve our lives with the skills that were attained during the process. 校話

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Dealing With Sport Injury: !"#$%&'()(*+&,)"-,..)/

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When it comes to recovering from a sports injury, most people only acknowledge physical rehabilitation and don’t consider the emotional ramifications and psychological responses that play a role in the road to recovery. Traditionally, sports medicine professionals and physicians have focused the majority of their attention on the physical aspects of injuries, spurring continuous improvements in physiotherapy through developments in training, equipment, and a range of other treatment types. Although these therapy methods are highly beneficial, they only address the physical aspect of the human body.

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For many individuals, injury that prohibits continued athletic participation can cause emotional impacts and a significant impact on their vulnerability and resilience post-injury.

These emotional reactions to injury, such as ineffective coping mechanisms and high pressures, can affect how well one may adhere to rehabilitation regimens and their chance of a successful recovery. Despite this, patients are not given enough guidance on when and how to address the psychological consequences of an injury throughout rehabilitation. As a result, athletes often find themselves in positions where they are unable to cope with the physiological stresses following an injury.

As a dancer who has dealt with more than 3 consecutive injuries within the span of one year, I can say from experience that dealing with the mental trauma that comes with an injury was a huge obstacle I was not prepared to face, and had to learn to overcome alone throughout the process of recovering. In my experience, I made many mistakes and faced huge setbacks because of false conceptions and a lack of knowledge about how to properly deal with an injury. Here are some key lessons I learnt during my road to recovery - they may seem simple and obvious, but they are things I wish I had been aware of prior to recovery. It all started off with a minor discomfort in my foot. The throbbing and aching pain that started to bother me during training wasn’t enough to worry me. My mindset was: “no pain, no gain.” In order to improve, I had to work hard and train everyday for large amounts of time. In my head, if the pain wasn’t affecting my daily activities, I was fine. Eventually, the pain became unbearable; I finally visited the

1. Posterior Tibial Tendon: A tendon that inserts into the navicular bone.

2. Navicular Bone: A tarsal bone on the medial side of the foot.

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doctor and was diagnosed with tendonitis of the posterior tibial tendon (1) which was what was causing the pain surrounding my navicular bone (2). I was told to take 6 weeks off.

Lesson 1: Listen to your body I used to think that injuries only result from direct and immediate impact caused by a specific event, such as breaking a bone or tearing a muscle. However, injuries can also be caused by overuse: repetitive stress and repeated microtrauma. Many athletes don’t have history of a direct injury and feel any sort of aching pain, tenderness, or swelling, they ignore these symptoms as insignificant issues that will “resolve” on their own. But these signs and symptoms should be taken seriously.

Moreover, in many cases, injured athletes often have a fear of appearing weak, hence develop an unwillingness to seek medical treatment.

misinterpretations of this phrase and a lack of self awareness, can be detrimental. Many athletes think that having a “no pain no gain” mentality is an important mindset to have when striving to achieve success in their activity of sport.

Although achieving a high level of physical fitness requires pain, endurance, perseverance, and self discipline, this mentality, especially with younger individuals, can increase the risk of injury or cause one to avoid addressing an injury. Over-exercising and the inability to recognize the difference between discomfort (e.g. muscle soreness) and pain (pain that causes instability, extreme muscle weakness, and limits mobility), which can potentially lead to a serious injury.

A key lesson I learnt is that any sort of pain is a warning signal from our bodies that something is damaged. As athletes, we want our bodies to be healthy, but if we don’t listen to the instrument that gives us the ability to perform “No pain, no gain” is a phrase used by sports our sport, the instrument will become damaged. coaches and athletes to prompt improvements And if something is damaged, it won’t get better in athletic performance.

However, if we leave it alone: we must take time to tune 3. Hip Labrum: The hip labrum is a ring of cartilage that rims the outer edge of the hip socket. It helps to make the hip socket deeper and more stable and allows the femoral head to move smoothly within the socket. (A torn labrum can cause pain, clicking, and instability.)

4. Iliopsoas: The inner hip muscle whose function is to flex the thigh at the hip joint

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it or get it repaired. As such, it is important to Lesson 2: Self Responsibility listen to those signals, be conscious and aware of our own bodies, acknowledge our limitations, and get something checked up before it becomes At the beginning of my recovery, I put significant trust into any doctor I visited and would listen a long term issue. to any instructions given to me. However, this A couple months later, I started to feel a mislead me to make inappropriate choices that sharp pain in my hip when I was dancing. My slowed down my recovery. physiotherapist assured me that my hip pain was a minor issue resulting from misalignments and However, I eventually realised that a muscle tightness and so I continued training. medical professional’s diagnosis is purely a However two months later, the pain just got recommendation based upon the knowledge worse. After getting an MRI, we discovered that they know. Although doctors are educated I had torn my labrum (3) in my hip, partially tore professionals, it does not mean that they won’t my gluteus minibus, and strained my iliopsoas have limited knowledge and perceptions to a (4). An orthopaedic surgeon informed me that at certain type of injury. Hence they can make my age, labrum repair surgery was not an option. diagnostic errors. Due to these reasons, it is Instead, he recommended me to take 8 weeks off, important for one to consider a second opinion as and so I did. Another two months went by. I had well as approach various types of rehabilitation not only lost a significant level of athleticism, regimens in order to make the most informed but felt no sign of improvement. I was confused, decision on what’s the next best steps in their frustrated, and angry at myself and at my doctor; treatment. why did my hip feel exactly the same even after taking such a long break? I struggled to While dealing with my hip injury, I was landing find a solution. Months later, I finally found a from a jump during rehearsal and my foot slipped physiotherapist who experienced a very similar from under me. Within seconds, I was on the injury that I had; she informed me that staying ground. Although I didn’t feel pain, I had a jolt active (moderately) and consistent conditioning of fear. I had twisted my ankle many times in the was key to relieve my hip pain. I realised that past, but this time it felt different - I had partially taking so much time off, had done more harm tore my lisfranc ligament and was instructed to take another 12 weeks off. than good.

Facing another huge set back while feeling like I was just starting to make progress with my prior injuries, was devastating; I felt uncertain that I would ever be able to return back to my sport.

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Lesson 3: Acceptance Many athletes may find themselves despondent after sitting out for a prolonged time as their involvement in sport is strongly attached to their identity. In other words, they identify themselves with their athletic role. Hence when they are faced with an injury and are consequently restricted or stopped, they don’t know what to do - even temporarily - without their activity. This threatens their sense of self worth as an athlete, which can lead to a state of confusion, fear, depression, and frustration.

In my experience, I found that when I constantly felt sorry for myself; my perception of my injury was frequently clouded with a sense of negativity. This lead me to have long term feelings of hopelessness. Although it was extremely frustrating to be immobilized for such a long period of time, I learnt, however, that it is very important to accept an injury or else recovery will be slow and incomplete.

It was only until I accepted my injury that I was able to forget about its negative implications, alleviate overall stress, and fight unhealthy thoughts. This is because adapting to a mindset where an individual is able to recognize the process that must follow an injury, without attempting to change or bargain with it, will allow them to develop a sense of peace that encourages healing. Additionally, excess muscle tension caused by anxiety and negative thoughts can suppress the immune function and further delay the time it takes for an athlete to recovery.

My thoughts looking back…

Although recovery was a painful and stressful process, I have come back to my sport with a stronger and healthier mentality. As athletes, it is easy for us to take our bodies for granted and forget why we take part in a sport when it becomes part of our daily routine. However, being away from my sport for such a significant amount of time not only lead me to develop a newfound respect for my body, but has made me realise the importance of approaching every practice with gratitude, presence, and purpose in order to minimize the risk of injury and optimize long term success.

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All

How i learnt to love netball Felice Cheng PHOTOGRAPHY BY Amber Liao LAYOUT BY Natalie So & Olivia Sun BY

athletes strive to be the best of the best, whether it be basketball players, swimmers or volleyball players. As student athletes, being the best of the best can often be perceived as unachievable due to the copious amounts of school work that must also be dealt with. Yet if we look around at the community around us, we are surrounded by amazingly skilled and talented athletes.

For me, netball was not the sport that I willingly invested my time in. At a young age, I participated in many sports such as volleyball, swimming, football and basketball. I only decided to undertake netball when I was 11 under the persuasion of my parents. Out of all the sports I played, I seemed to progress extremely quickly in netball, and unknowingly, it slowly became my favourite sport. A few years ago, I decided to drop all my other sports and devote all my time and energy on netball, trying to focus on advancements in this one sport. Because of this, netball has slowly become the center of my attention.

Every year, I was able to achieve my goal of joining the school team and attending as many tournaments as possible to increase my exposure to people of different skills. Last year’s South East Asia Netball Tournament held in Singapore was especially compelling to me. It was the first time I had felt such a strong urge to win a game, the first time I had experienced such ambition within me. I still remember the game we were playing for 2nd or 3rd place. We had played all 4 quarters and ended up at a draw.

Within the last 2 extra minutes, with adrenaline running throughout our body, we scored the last point and prevailed to win silver. The anxiety built up throughout the game was suddenly mitigated at that last second, causing the whole team to erupt in overjoyed cries. Because of this experience, I have shed even more positive light to playing the game of netball. To most people, netball is just a competitive game, but to me, I see it as another social place, where people can come together and feel their sense of belonging.

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When I mention the word “netball”, people often refer to it as being the sport for “basketball dropouts”. However, individuals who make such statements often don’t realise the substantial amount of skill that is needed to excel in this sport. Netball is Australia’s national sport and is most popular among commonwealth nations. According to the International Netball Federation, netball is played by more than 20 million people in over 80 countries. Though netball has not been able to make it into the Olympics yet, it became an International Olympic Committee recognised sport in 1995 and has surely made itself popular within the Hong Kong community and the CIS community. Hong Kong has an extensive community for netballers, providing each and every one of us with a myriad of opportunities to advance and prosper as a netball player.

A good netball team is always made up of a group of hardworking and talented players and the CIS netball team is certainly astounding. Zenia Wong, one of CIS’s star players and a member of the Hong Kong Cricket Club Demons and Hong Kong National team, agreed to answer some questions to bring more recognition to the netball community.

Your advanced netball skills must have taken a lot of time and effort, when did you begin playing netball and what actually got you started?

“I started when I first joined Glenealy School in Year 5. All my friends played it so I decided to give it a try! Ever since I picked up that ball I fell in love with the sport. I started playing competitively when I joined HKCC (Hong Kong Cricket Club) Netball and CIS netball in Year 7, and I have been trialing for the Hong Kong Academy programmes and teams ever since.”

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Why do you think netball is beginning to gain more recognition within Hong Kong?

“Netball itself is also expanding internationally and in Hong Kong, such as the introduction of more teams and leagues.

There are now more opportunities for younger kids to play netball and with more leagues and programmes being introduced, kids are able to play netball outside of school. HKNA (Hong Kong Netball Association) has built a players pathway which not only helps netball gain more popularity, but also nurtures young girls to play from academy programmes up to national and competitive levels. It’s also

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come to my attention that more international and local schools are also joining interschool HKSSF and ISSFHK netball competitions, introducing a great way to have fun with friends and learn a new sport, therefore also attracting more people to netball.”

Being both a CIS student and a member of the Hong Kong National Youth team, how are you able to be fully committed to both roles and manage your time effectively?

“The training process for the Asian Youth Netball Championships during the summer of 2019 was very tough, especially balancing school and club netball as well. In terms of managing my time, I had to make sure I was organized (doing my work and preparing for tests as soon as possible), as well as fitting in the training and recovery time required. I usually try to make use of every minute, even if it is on the way to netball training, however, I make sure that when I step on the court, my mind is only on netball, the team and nothing else! The most important thing for me was

rest, knowing that I had to take breaks and sleep when I was tired rather than pushing myself too hard to finish work.”

What are some tips you have for younger players who are looking to improve or are aiming to join the Hong Kong netball team in the future?

“Take the first step: if netball is something you love and something you want to be better at, you have to make the first move. You’ll encounter challenges along the way, may it be injuries, not making the team, or being disappointed with your own performance, but picking yourself back up and putting in the effort behind the scenes is so important!

Do some extra training, set goals, trial for a new programme, challenge yourself because you’ll never know what you’re truly capable of until you try! Just remember that you have a wonderful group of teammates who are always there for you, the netball community is so friendly and welcoming!”

Hearing Zenia’s journey and experience with netball has really deepened my thinking within this sport. My relationship with netball has been increasingly integral in my daily life and will without a doubt be something that extends past my highschool career. I realize that sport is such an empowering source - something that should be part of everyone’s stage of youth, the journey of growing up. Just like every other player, netball has brought me both highs and lows, but the process of my growth as a netball player is what makes it so incredibly gratifying.

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The Beauty of Camaraderie in Sports

By Doddy Tullis | Photography by Kimberly Lai & Sanya Hui | Layout by Sanya Hui & Natalie So

T

and friendship with somebody else. There is a great importance in trust; it’s what allows our society to function without hindrance. However, camaraderie creates a more personal trust - an intimate trust between people that in some cases can turn into brotherhood. So how do we attain camaraderie with someone else? There are many ways to do so, but one of the most successful methods, a method that has existed since the inception of the human race, is sports. Sports is one of the most successful methods of attaining camaraderie with someone else because it requires determination, teamwork, and effort. And when everyone is working towards the same goal, pouring in their own blood, sweat and tears for the good of others, the fruits of that labour are often the sweetest.

hearts were touched that day by Japan’s unlikely win do not really have any personal connection to any members of the Japanese rugby team. They’ve never met the members of the team, they don’t know much at all about their personal lives, they’ve never done anything for each other personally, so why did millions of people feel such great joy when Japan beat Ireland? The connection lies in the fact that not only are they of the same country, but because those 15 men who stepped onto that noble field, put their bodies on the line to bring glory to not only their country, but to their people. The connection between the normal men and women of Japan and the Japan rugby team is in essence, sport. There lies the true power of sport, being able to bring a nation together in triumph and joy, which is something that I and many others consider truly awe-inspiring.

One excellent example of sports camaraderie are team sports.

The sport that I would most like to highlight is rugby. During this 2019 Rugby World Cup, Japan managed to beat Ireland 19-12, which was a huge upset. Ireland is one of the top rugby nations, and is currently ranked 8th in the world. Ireland, as part of the United Kingdom, has had a very long history of playing rugby; it’s in their blood, yet somehow they were beaten by a small island nation that up until recently was not heavily involved in the sport. In a sense, Ireland is Goliath, and Japan is David. Japan’s win is one of the highlights of this year’s rugby world cup, and the joy that it brought to the members of the tiny nation was immense. There are videos that show the joyous cheering of Japan when their David beat Goliath. Images of grown men crying tears of sheer joy for their beloved nation and the beloved team that represents it.

That’s the kind of camaraderie that playing sports will bring.

I think that the most amazing thing about the camaraderie that sports brings is that almost all of the people whose

Aside from the bigger picture, the power of sport in creating camaraderie is seen primarily in the members of the team itself. One of the reasons I chose rugby as a sport to demonstrate camaraderie is because beautiful rugby comes from teamwork, trust, and coordination. The majority of people are most likely unfamiliar with how rugby works and may not be able to appreciate the sport to its full extent, but the gist of it is that the players practice coordinated plays that will help them break through, or to gain metres on the field.

These moves take countless hours of effort and coordination training to be able to complete smoothly, and when a move is executed perfectly, it is a truly amazing sight to behold. A good move will fool the enemy and allow a player to break through, which is how tries are scored. However, not only do these moves require immense effort and coordination, they require something more personal between the players.

Trust. Trust that the other players on your team will fulfill their roles, trust that the ball will be delivered to whoever at

oo have camaraderie means to have mutual trust

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Trust is often found in tandem with friendship; these two values help each other to strengthen a team. the exact right time, trust that everyone will be in the exact place that they are meant to be at any given moment. Trust is gained through hours and hours of time spent together, working towards the same goal. Trust is often found in tandem with friendship; these two values help each other to strengthen a team. That is what it means to have camaraderie.

Not only do the backs need camaraderie, the forwards need it just as much. They trust each other to put every ounce of effort that they can offer when in a scrum, they trust each other to be there to protect the ball when they are tackled.

Personally, the part of rugby that brings me most joy is being in one of these moves. My favourite position is 13, outside centre. When merely practicing these plays during training, I feel a rush of exhilaration, caused by the perfectly run lines.

As each player fulfills their role and runs their lines, I feel a sense of strength not available to me elsewhere. And when a play gets pulled off flawlessly in a real game, the sense of accomplishment felt by the other players involved and I is immense. Finally, camaraderie is also required between the whole team. The most important aspect of rugby is tackling, not letting them through your defense. It requires a lot of trust in your teammates to know that they will put their bodies on the line for the good of the team. That is why playing sports creates camaraderie. Camaraderie creates a well oiled machine, and in almost all cases, it feels good to be part of that machine, to be part of a team where everybody trusts in each other to uphold the values of the game and each other.

Not only can camaraderie be found in team sports, camaraderie can indeed be found in individual sports. A great

example of this is martial arts. In a gym, people are training to compete in a fight, and they train their damned hardest to come out victorious. Therefore, just like team sports, everyone is working towards the same goal. This causes people to want to help each other. In a gym, you’ll often find people discussing strategies, tactics, moves and combinations. You’ll see people coaching each other on how to strengthen their weaknesses and reinforce their strengths. I feel immense pride for the gym that I attend, and that is purely due to the people that I train with. I think that it is imperative to note that for camaraderie to transcend the individual, it requires a community. That is why it is so beautiful. It brings together people from all backgrounds, from all races, from all ages.

It is so very wonderful because it does not discern between any fickle boundaries. It will always be there, given that the people put in the time and effort for their fellow teammates, or fellow athletes. That is why sports has existed within the human race for so long. One can argue that sport has existed for so long because it’s fun, and keeps us fit and in shape.

But I believe that is just the surface of the matter. I believe that sports creates camaraderie, and camaraderie is desired by all people. In the end, humans are social animals, and we like it when we are needed, and when we have people to rely on and trust. Sports bestows upon us that beautiful gift of camaraderie, and I believe that we should try our hardest to appreciate it and our teammates more. Next time in a game, try to encourage your teammates if they’ve made a mistake instead of berating them. Try your hardest to create a sense of camaraderie within your team, because I guarantee you that you will only feel more fulfilled because of it.

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SPORTS

NBA

By Justin Yen

The Ultimate Dream?

Illustration by Karissa Poon

What is the NBA and why is it every basketball player’s wish to be a part of the team? The National Basketball Association, abbreviated NBA is a league of teams from many different cities in the United States and one from Canada (the Toronto Raptors). Needless to say, the organization cherry-picks each and every player from American colleges, ensuring that only the cream of the crop makes the cut. Such is the extent of prestige associated with the NBA that it has become a well-known fact that NBA players are the world’s highest-paid athletes, as seen by the mean annual salary per player. To give you an idea of how profitable it is to be an NBA player, statistics have shown that the average NBA player in the 2018 season pocketed an impressive USD $5 million per year! However, the actual salary would be highly dependent on the specific player’s popularity, skills and demand in the league.

One of the main reasons why NBA players are paid so well is partially due to the extensive viewership that NBA games have not only in America but also across the globe.The appeal of basketball to audiences can be attributed to several key reasons. Firstly, the audience tends to be drawn into the intense rivalry between certain teams whose strengths parallel each other, making it difficult to predict the eventual winner. The most exhilarating games often conclude with the smallest possible winning margin of a solitary point. This makes it difficult to predict the outcome of crucial playoffs, raising the spectators’ suspense.

In addition, the match duration is much shorter than football, lasting just over 2 hours. Every single minute is packed with adrenaline and nail-biting moments, especially when particularly ambitious shots are made.

It is incredibly difficult to purchase NBA tickets, given that they are in such high demand. Ticket prices range from USD$10 to $3000 per match. Although prices can be exorbitant, many die-hard fans are more than willing to splurge to secure an opportunity to catch their favourite teams play live. It would be a dream come true if I ever had the chance of watching an NBA match live!

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ISSUE 21

XIAO HUA

Layout by Natalie So

My Basketball Journey When I was in Year 2, I considered myself to be a soccer player. It seemed to be the most popular sport among students and definitely the most commonly played sport during recess. One day, my dad said, “Hey Justin, your brother Arthur is playing basketball and he really enjoys it. You should try it out too!” However, basketball had not yet intrigued me at that point. Thus, I politely rejected my dad’s suggestion. However, as time went on, I found myself beginning to be subconsciously influenced by my elder brother. Initially, my dad was the one who had to convince me to play. Unsurprisingly, I was fearful of the ball initially as I was not equipped with knowledge about how basketball should be played. However, as I developed my skills over time, I started to appreciate the beauty of the game and became more enthusiastic about playing. My dad also introduced me to the NBA matches that were broadcasted on television, in the hope that I would be inspired by professional basketball players, and perhaps even pick up some of their legendary skills. Slowly but surely, I began to perceive basketball in a much more positive light as my horizons broadened over time. The NBA games demonstrated to me how amazing and captivating basketball could be when played at the highest level. Towards the end of Year 2, I pondered over whether I should join the school’s basketball team to pursue my interest in the sport.

When my mom was in the process of signing up for CCAs, she asked me if I wanted to join the school team. I felt apprehensive at that moment, as I still had some concerns about switching from soccer to basketball. I did not know if I was passionate enough about basketball to give up soccer completely. I decided to take a leap of faith and made the switch.A day before the tryouts were due to take place, I was so nervous that I could hardly stand straight and breathe evenly. I understood the importance of the audition and was worried about not being good enough to be selected. Thankfully, the coaches must have thought that I had the potential to become a good basketball player, as I was eventually selected. I came home that night with my head held high, for all my training efforts had paid off.

SPORTS After I joined the school team, I got better with every training I participated in. As I learned more about the sport, my knowledge deepened and my skills improved gradually. After every match, my dad pointed out my mistakes and provided me with advice on how to improve. He would then take me to the public park near my house the next day, reminding me to put into practice what he had taught me the day before. After spending considerable time and effort developing my skills, I am proud to claim that my skills - be it lay-ups, shot quality, defensive stands or shot-blocking - have become more polished.

As I continued watching more NBA games, I started to learn more about the current players’ style of play.

It was interesting to see how the sport has developed over time, although audiences will always remember famous legends, or perhaps better dubbed ‘the greatest of all time’ - Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant. While I have incredible respect for these stars, my personal favourite NBA player is Stephen Curry. I remembered that I was completely speechless when I watched him play for the first time. Known as one of the most accurate shooters of all time, he is capable of making even the seemingly impossible shots. From the games I watched, Curry’s shooting form never failed to impress me, with almost every single shot going into the hoop. His speed, agility and ball-handling skills are also top-notch and arguably one of the best among the current NBA players. I grew fond of him very quickly, and he is no doubt a player I hope to emulate in the near future.

In 2015, CIS’s U10 basketball school team had won every single match except one, which was the match against HKIS. Everyone in the team knew that HKIS was one of the strongest teams in the league. Even though we were up against formidable opponents, all of us had high hopes of winning.The reason for that was because our previous head-to-head encounter with HKIS was a very close call, with CIS losing only by the closest margin of 1 or 2 points. Although we lost, we had given a good account of ourselves and demonstrated that we had what it took to challenge the best of the best. We managed to turn the tables on HKIS, exacted sweet revenge in 2015 finals and lifted the championship trophy. We continued our winning streak into the second season of that same year, beating the same old foe (HKIS) in the final, successfully bagging yet another title.

What Basketball Means to Me To me, basketball is a sport I love playing for leisure. It is one of my favourite pastimes, but I do not currently have any ambitious dreams of pursuing the sport

professionally. However, beyond providing mere joy and entertainment, basketball has taught me many invaluable principles about life. It has inculcated in me the importance of teamwork, sportsmanship, resilience and hard work. In sports, winning is not everything.

Rather, it is often the process that teaches us priceless lessons. For example, we should never give up in the face of imminent defeat, even if we are lagging behind a huge point deficit. Every point counts and we should always strive to give nothing less than our best on the court. Furthermore, I have forged meaningful friendships with my fellow teammates, who have grown to become my close circle of friends. I cherish the camaraderie we share both on and off-court. It is truly amazing to see how much I have learnt and matured over time, as well as how my skills have evolved and improved. I look forward to becoming an even better basketball player in the near future.

As much as I have seen improvements in my game, there is always room for further improvement. Having the right attitude is also essential not only in basketball but everything else in life. Every time I lose a game or make a mistake, I take it in stride and learn from those mistakes. In fact, I do my best to transform my disappointment into motivation to push myself harder in training. It might be easier said than done, but I believe that when I place less emphasis on winning and more emphasis on the process, I will enjoy the game a lot more. Michael Jordan once said, “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” If a wise man like Michael Jordan does not fear failure, why should we? We should instead fear not trying.

As long as we know that we have invested our maximal efforts, it will leave no room for regret.

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