Xiao Hua Issue 11

Xiao Hua 校話 JAN 2015 ISSUE 11

OCCUPY CENTRAL The relationship between

China and Hong Kong

celebrity depression

Robin Williams (1951-2014)

mysteries of life

Malaysian Airlines, Outbreak of Ebola, Vegas Shooting...

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PHOTOGRAPHER: BYRON LEE (Y12)

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CS Logistics Centre (Luen Fat Factory Building), 2-16 Lam Tin Street, Kwai Chung, New Territories, Hong Kong.

Tel No.: (852) 2754 0638 Fax No.: (852) 2754 2234 Website: http://www.cargofe.com

Whatever we do, We do better than others – A Passion for Service

Xiao Hua JAN 2015

CONTENTS

ISSUE 11 XIAO HUA

CITY MOTORS BUS 26 CHANGES IN MYP/IB 28 學校推行一人一電腦 是否對學習有益 30 HK RAIL EXPANSION 32

X.H 校話

MASTHEAD 報頭 7 FACULTY LETTER: CLAIRE YEO 8

WHAT’S COOL 流行文化

EDITOR’S LETTER: SUNWOO NAM 9

ASK DR LINGERS 35 隱藏了的香港 36 DIARY OF A TEACHER: MR GEORGE 38 TOP BOOKS & MOVIES OF THE FIRST HALF OF 2014 40 COFFEE 101- OUR CUP OF TEA 42 必有的音樂與應用程序 44

EDITORIAL BOARD 編輯委員會 10 XIAO HUA ANNOUNCEMENTS 13

HAPPENINGS 簡報 SCHOOL YARD 校園 14

VOICES 心聲

MUSIC 音樂

THE SC 18 THE MANHATTAN PROJECT 20 EBOLA: THE MODERN BUBONIC PLAGUE 22 1600 熊貓 24 中文辯論隊 25

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A PERFORMER 46 INTRODUCTION TO MUSIC GROUPS IN CIS 48 HOW TO PREPARE FOR MUSIC EXAMS AND COMPETITIONS AND OTHER TIPS AND TRICKS 50

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FEATURES 專題文章 OCCUPY CENTRAL 52 WAR OF THE WALLS 56 THE NEW FRONTIER OF SCIENCE: OVERCOMING HUMAN FALLIBILITY 60 老有所依－讓長者活得有尊嚴 64 香港蘋果專賣店內外的買賣風景 65 A MERCILESS FIST 66 DATA VIOLATION 70 TODAY’S MYSTERIES - TOMORROW’S SOLUTIONS? 74 LOL: NO LONGER A LAUGHING MATTER 78 EDUCATION: A POWERFUL WEAPON AGAINST HUMAN SETBACK 82

HANGZHOU FEATURES 杭州專題文章 社區冷暖 86 INTERVIEW: COACH MENTORS 88

EDITORIAL 觀點 2014-16 AMERICAN ELECTIONS 90 TOK- WHAT WE THINK 92 大蕭條 94 水晶人頭骨 96 YES SCOTLAND? OR BETTER TOGETHER? 98 NEW TERRITORIES DEVELOPMENT 100 GUTTER OIL SCANDAL - THE DIRTY TRUTH 102

SPORTS 體育 SPORTS TEAM- NETBALL 104 SPORT IDOLS 106

HOW CIS IS COPING WITHOUT THE GYM 108 FITNESS GUIDE FOR CIS STUDENTS 111 HKSSF VS ISSFHK 114

CREATIVE 創意 青少年憂鬱症 117 A NEW START 118 STREET ART & EXPRESSIONISM 120

HANGZHOU CREATIVE 杭州創意 秋... 121 THE DINNER DANCE 122

ALUMNI CORNER 校友

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ART COURSES in Drawing, Painting,

Printmaking, Sculpture, Mixed-Media.

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• Art Lessons after school and weekends • Christmas, CNY, Easter and Summer Courses • Portfolio and Coursework support for BTEC, GCSE, IB

Classes run by an artist who has over 18 years teaching Art in the International Sector.

We help our students to become creative and experimental individuals.

9 students Max Tel: +852 9722 8353 Email: info@hkarttutoring.com

HongKongArtTutoring www.hkarttutoring.com HKAT_Advert_CIS_14.75x21cm_SEP14.indd 1

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Xiao Hua JAN 2015 ISSUE 11 XIAO HUA

FACULTY ADVISOR 指導教師 Claire Yeo EDITOR-IN-CHIEF 主編 Sunwoo Nam MANAGING EDITOR & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR 設計副總監 Bernetta Li & Nicole Wang NEWS EDITOR 新聞編輯 Jackie Wu & Joshua Hung & Angus Lam FEATURES EDITOR 專題文章編輯 Medha Goyal CHINESE DIRECTOR 中文編輯 Justine Chen SPORTS EDITOR 體育編輯 Konrad Lee HEADS OF PHOTOGRAPHY 攝影主任 Jessica Eu & Andrew Koo BUSINESS & COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR 財務及傳訊總監 Charmaine Lai PRODUCTION & ADMINISTRATION MANAGER 行政主任 Stephanie Leung Special Thanks to CIS Photography Club SENIOR NEWS EDITOR 新聞編輯 Jackie Wu NEWS EDITORS Angus Lam, Joshua Hung Associate Editor Richard Teng Reporters 記者

Kenny Jeong, Francesca Li, Crystal Lau, Raghav Goyal, Florance Wu, Katherine Yang, Richard Ding, Joey Cheng, Stephanie Leung Catherine Ding, Monique Chan, Soo Yeon Kim, Scarlet Au, Brian Lee, Shannon Hu, Evelyn Choi, Shana Li, Kameka Herbst, Alex Tam Cuthbert Chow, Yumi Tang, Justin Ngai, Joey Alam, Sander Kujis, Edgar Yau, Tiffany Chan, Horace Wang, Simon Lam Kaitlyn Wells, Sharon Kuo FEATURES EDITOR 專題文章編輯 Medha Goyal Associate Editor Cordelia Lam Reporters 記者

Catherine Wang, Ryan Lee, Jemima Barr, Jimin Kang, Ethan Lam, Wen Yee Chan, Sam Cheung Hana Davis, Hannah Jones, Hannah Hui, Esther Um, Stephen Liu,Yi Qiao (Rachel) Lau, Sean Meng, Christina Li, Yoon Ah Han CHINESE DIRECTOR 中文編輯 Justine Chen Reporters 記者

Victoria Ngai, Ryan Tse, Nicole Li, Emma Lau, Sean Meng, Curtis Lo, Adrienne Chen, Justin Ngai, Sander Kujis,Tyler Weisberg Leung Yu Hang, JiaJi (Jefferey) Zhang SPORTS EDITOR 體育編輯 Konrad Lee Reporters 記者

Sean Meng, Alisha Tidmarsh, Martin Banson, Joey Cheng, Edward Ha

HANG ZHOU EDITOR 杭州編輯 Victoria Ngai MANAGING EDITOR & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR 設計副總監 Bernetta Li DEPUTY ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Nicole Wang Associate Designers Wihelmina Shih, Michelle Wu Illutrators and Designers 設計師

Nicole Choi, Nicole Li, Cuthbert Chow, Leung Yu Hang, Joseph Kim, Alison Wong, Adam Wang Calvin Cheong, Kelly Luy, Wendy Wang, Sheila Zhang, Shane Yeung, HEAD OF PHOTOGRAPHY 攝影主任 Andrew Koo DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Jessica Eu Associate Editor Byron Lee Photographers 攝影師

Nicole Choi, Yunqing Hu, Britta Lam, Scarlet Au, Mathew Chow, Max Manley, Isabella Chon, Emma Kent Stephanie Wong, Elena Eu, Katherine Wu, Sharon Kuo, Jasmine Brian-Boys Miriam Finnemore BUSINESS & COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR 財務及傳訊總監 Charmaine Lai Advertising Associates

Hannah Guo, Francisca Lam, Kaitlyn Mingyi Wells, Christina Li, Cheryl Ting, Jasmine Liao, Marcus Lee, Alison Wong, Angela Stanton, Jessica Cheng. Bonnie Lee, Sonia Yuen, Hillary Yuen, Audree Wang, Yumi Tang, Wen Yee Chan, Lucida Ng, Justie Mak, Shana Li PRODUCTION & ADMINISTRATION MANAGER 行政主任 Stephanie Leung

Xiao Hua is a registered student organization of the Chinese International School. The magazine published indepedently by students of the Chinese International School, 1 Hau Yuen Path, Braemar Hill, North Point, Hong Kong, Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is strictly prohibited. Xiao Hua magazine. The magazine is published termly. There is no subscription rate to Xiao Hua- the publication is free of charge to all members of the Chinese International School community. For enquiries, please contact the Xiao Hua Communications Department at cis.xiaohua@gmail.com. Xiao Hua is not responsible for loss, damage or any other injury to unsolicited manuscripts, unsolicited artwork, or any unsolicited materials. Those submitting manuscripts, photographs, artwork, or other materials for consideration should not send orginals, unless specifically requested to do so by Xiao Hua in writing. Manuscripts, photographs, and other materials submitted must be accompanied by a self addressed overnight delivery return envelope, postage prepaid. The paper used for this publication is a recyclable and renewable product. It has been produced using wood sourced from sustainably managed forests and elemental or total chlorine- free bleached pulp. The producing mills have third party certified management systems in place. This magazine can be recycled either through your curbside collection, or at a local recycling point. Log onto www.recyclenow.com and enter your postcode to find your nearest sites.

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faculty letter

urrent mainstream culture swarms with fantasies of destruction and apocalypse. From television’s The Walking Dead to The Leftovers; from cinematic blockbuster Interstellar to National Book Awardwinning Station Eleven, our species constantly anticipates its demise and reflects upon it in art and letters. This sense of humanity embattled, vulnerable and debased, is one response to what this issue of Xiao Hua explores: the fragility of human enterprises; our terror of abandonment and loss, and our knowledge of our own precarious hold on life itself.

Global calamities provoke us to contemplate what is valuable, and inspire us to rebuild what is lost. In Station Eleven, a fatal flu swiftly decimates earth’s population.

Doctor Eleven broods upon the apocalypse and writes “I stood looking over my damaged home and tried to forget the sweetness of life on Earth”. For others, however, this is impossible. T.S. Eliot’s poem The Waste Land surveys a postWWI Europe torn to pieces. Of the snatches of culture which litter the poem, the speaker announces: “these fragments I have shored up against my ruins”. In Station Eleven, some survivors perform Shakespeare to makeshift communities crouched in decrepit gas stations and malls, while others patiently assemble a Museum of Civilisation from debris rescued from the doom – ironically stocked with X-boxes and celebrity gossip magazines, and housed in the former Airmiles First Class Lounge.

Our proximity to chaos can lead us to obsess over the ephemeral. We see this in our addictions to technology, speed and fad, and in Station Eleven’s trashy cultural artefacts.

However, it can also lead us to regard even the stuff of dailiness as material for deep contemplation. Virginia Woolf ’s Mrs Dalloway, fragile after illness, emerges into a London redefining itself after WWI. In a whole novel devoted to a single day of this character’s life, she recognizes “that it was very, very dangerous to live even one day”, and responds by living consciously in her every moment. She discovers wonder in “people’s eyes, in the swing, tramp and trudge; in the bellow and the uproar… what she loved: life, London, this moment in June”.

In this issue Xiao Hua examines aspects of human vulnerability; conflict, disease, misunderstanding and dilemma. However, these stories also inspire our hope and purpose as we, like Eliot, search for meaning in a confusing present. Two stories from our own daily life at CIS have inspired my own belief in the dignity and perseverance which our species requires in order to sustain itself.

In November our school was honoured to welcome two distinguished speakers. Martin Lee, scholar, lawmaker and founder of the Hong Kong Democratic Party, impressed us with his passion and intelligence. A lifetime’s commitment to democratic ideals and the rule of law showed us the obverse of human fragility and transience: resilience and unwavering seriousness of purpose. While Dr Jane Goodall, primatologist and UN Ambassador of Peace, entranced us with her with her experiences with chimpanzees in Africa, she also gave us material for sober reflection: “Chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans have been living for hundreds of thousands of years in their forest, living fantastic lives, never overpopulating, never destroying the

forest. I would say that they have been in a way more successful than us as far as being in harmony with the environment.”

Her own perseverance led to the scientific discoveries which overturned the way humans view their place in the world. Her advocacy for those who cannot speak – animals and the ecosystems with which we share our planet – attempts to safeguard our future even as human greed, bent on momentary profit, exhausts it.

In Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, a devastated Earth can’t feed its human population, and NASA sends lone astronauts to scour the galaxy for planets it can colonise. Manning solitary galactic outposts, without certainty or hope, they wait steadfastly for future human generations to join them. Throughout the film a Dylan Thomas poem appears almost as a character in its own right; the spirit which our predicaments require us to embody when what we cherish is threatened: Do not go gentle into that good night.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Happy reading, Claire Yeo.

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editor’s letter

s the world faces some of the most tragic and unforeseen events, we often see people’s lives being so helplessly taken away. Sometimes, we, as humans, seem so vulnerable, fragile and weak that we have very little control over the unknown yet powerful life forces - that our lives are almost like the inevitable fall of autumn leaves. Should their feeble, yet destined fluttering fall to the ground, however, only signify a dark and negative end for all of us? Recently, reading O. Henry’s work made me think, just perhaps and quite possibly, that might not always be the case.

“The Last Leaf ”, a short story by O. Henry, de-

picts a woman named Johnsy, who suffers from pneumonia and believes that her life will cease with the fall of the last ivy leaf on the vine outside her window. An artist named Berhman, however, decides to sustain the last leaf by producing an artwork so real that it makes Johnsy believe the last leaf hasn’t fallen even through days of rain and storms. His creation of the last leaf on his painting, therefore, gives Johnsy hope, strength and a will to live.

Reading this story prompted me to question – despite human’s fallibility, shouldn’t we all possess some form of “last leaf ” in our hearts? Don’t we all need an eternal leaf that stays hanging amidst all disasters and hardships and gives us resilience to carry on and advance further in the future?

In this issue, we set out to explore human’s endeavor to surmount challenges and enigma with hope and determination. Sometimes, these efforts may emerge from people’s fight to win back their rights, as Yoon Ah Han (Y13) and Katy Amos (Y12) present Occupy Central, one of the most momentous events in the history of Hong Kong. Similarly, Ryan Lee (Y11) and Catherine Wang (Y11) investigate how the current scientific developments are allowing people to overcome the weaknesses that we are constrained to bear as humans; yet we desperately wish and try to overcome. As much as people strive, however, there still exist some inexorable misfortunes such as the current outbreak of Ebola, crash of the Malaysian airline and the unfortunate shooting in Vegas. Sean Meng (Y8), Rachel Lau (Y9) and Medha Goyal (Y12) discuss these events and open up another perspective that while it may be difficult to avoid these calamities, our attempts and time spent to prevent them, whether successful or not, spark hope that gives people strength to move on.

I’m quite certain that in the face of some of these events, we might come across our own limits and weaknesses, as we are unable to beat or be the transcendent power of life. We, thus, need to strive for solutions that can be achieved within our own abilities and to me, that solution seems to be the search of our own last leaf, which acts as a belief that there is a path to a promising future. Hence here is my wish that through reading this issue of Xiao Hua, you, readers, will come across an opportunity to find your own leaf of hope that hangs somewhere in your heart.

I wish you all the best of luck in 2015 and enjoy reading this issue!

Sunwoo Nam

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JACKIE WUSENIOR NEWS EDITOR I still remember my first whole staff meeting 4 years ago, being amazed at the artwork on the 9th floor and the shiny pile of past issues, as the clueless new kid who just wanted to dabble in writing. It’s been a pleasure to be a part of the Xiao Hua family, to be inspired by all the talent, and to see the growth of the magazine. A lot of hard work has gone into this issue - I hope you enjoy it CIS!

JOSHUA HUNG- NEWS EDITOR

ANGUS LAM- NEWS EDITOR

“It occurs to me that the peculiarity of most things we think of as fragile is how tough they truly are.” Even dreams, the most delicate and intangible of things, can prove remarkably difficult to kill.

Without the admirable dreams and tenacity of our writers, this issue, and every one before it, would not have been possible. This issue has been a fantastic journey for me, and I can only hope that you will enjoy it just as much as I did.

It never ceases to amaze me how diligent and mature the young writers of Xiao Hua are. This issue – full of colourful and articulate articles demonstrative of their keen and thoughtful minds – is a testament to their hard work and creativity. And it is because of this that I’ve never been prouder of Xiao Hua, and of its many writers, new and old. Hope you enjoy this issue CIS!

KONRAD LEE- SPORTS EDITOR JUSTINE CHENWith each new issue that comes out, CHINESE EDITOR I find it harder and harder to come up with fresh ideas for sports articles. Yet thanks to my brilliant writers and fellow editors, we managed to come up with another amazing issue, and it’s looking to be our best one so far! I’d like to thank my writers for their hard work and my fellow editors’ patience and support, and I hope you enjoy this issue’s articles and will continue to support Xiao Hua. Go Phoenix!

新的一期《校話》出版了。一直以來， 我為能擔任漢基這所雙語學校的雙語刊 物的中文編輯而感到榮幸。一直以來， 我也為刊物撰寫中文文章的同學們的付 出和努力感到欣慰，一直以來，我更為 我們學校有這麼一本既能夠了解學生生 活，又可以增廣見聞的刊物而感到由衷 的自豪。閱讀愉快！ 10

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ANDREW KOOHEAD OF PHOTOGRAPHY My infatuation with the arts has lead to my experiencing some great and wonderful things, and of these experiences, Xiao Hua has been one of the most fulfilling and phenomenal. Being Head of Photography for the last several issues has kept me on my toes.

Not only has it been such a positive developmental experience, teaching me how to be organised, disciplined as well as stern, but it has also taught me a great deal about what it means to be a leader, and how to balance myself mentally and emotionally. The level of competence that has been displayed from my photographers is second to none, and those who have been with me throughout my years have noticeably come so far. The accumulation of all their hard work is what has made this issue, and all the issues before, such a success, I can only hope that everyone else sees what I see: that is that this issue is one of the best we’ve done yet!

JESSICA EUDIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY As the biggest group on campus, it always seems such a miracle that we are able to pull together to create a new issue - yet we somehow do, exploring new themes each time. It is safe to say am constantly impressed and inspired by the hardworking ed board and Xiao Hua team, who are always striving to produce the best content available. I hope you enjoy the newest issue!

STEPHANIE LEUNGPRODUCTION AND ADMINISTRATION MANAGER Even though working on this issue of Xiao Hua has proven to be challenging, it is definitely a much more rewarding experience than the last. As our writers explore more delicate issues, I advise you to reflect upon our society not only as a citizen of Hong Kong, but also as a citizen of the world. It has once again been a delight working with everyone on the team, and I hope that you enjoy this issue! Have fun, CIS!

CHARMAINE LAIBUSINESS & COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR It has been my pleasure and honour working with my cohorts in the Business Department of the Xiao Hua Team. Raising funds for the magazine is definitely a challenge, yet because of the passion and tireless efforts of the team, I’m proud to be a part of the publication process. Although I’m not on the editorial side of the team, I am glad to be a part of something big, and to ensure that the magazine can be published and seen by everyone. Happy reading, CIS!

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D BERNETTA LIMANAGING EDITOR & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR My job in Xiao Hua always gets more challenging as we progress with each issue, and this is because we constantly aim to improve. This issue, the writers challenged themselves with sensitive topics, exploring the fragility of the world that we live in.

Our talented illustrators and photographers successfully captured the voices of these articles by utilizing a diverse range of media. The layout designers once again surprised me with their insurmountable creativity. With the determination and talent of the Xiao Hua team, every issue just gets better and better. I hope this issue that we present you will surpass your expectations. Enjoy CIS!

MEDHA GOYALFEATURES EDITOR This was a rather difficult issue for Features, as a host of sensitive topics were suddenly thrust upon a new cohort of young and rather inexperienced writers. Features has been traditionally dominated by older writers who will soon be too senior to contribute any longer, so this issue marks a transition towards writers from the lower years. Training the new writers and introducing them to this department proved quite a challenge, surmountable only after much effort. So while venerating our familiar and very talented group of older writers, please also take time to also support the new, as what you see today is the result of much time spent writing many revisions. And, of course, do enjoy!

NICOLE WANGDEPUTY ARTISTIC DIRECTOR In the layout department we hope to always raise the standards and keep up with the latest trends in the design industry. We hope this issue will be as much of an eyecandy as it is textually.

BOARD

XIAOHUA ANNOUNCEMENTS

CONTACT US

ADVERTISING

Are you a passionate writer? Are you an aspiring artist?

Do you want to be part of Xiao Hua? Well wait no more!

Xiao Hua Editorial Board is looking for: Editor-in-Chief News Editor Chinese Editor Layout Editor Features Editor Photography Editor & Sports Editor Business & Communications Director for next year!

If you’re interested, please contact: cis.xiaohua@gmail. com. We look forward to hearing from you!

Xiao Hua is a unique high school publication in Hong Kong, being bilingual in Chinese and English. Featuring full colour graphics, it is also the only regular publication covering all aspects of CIS community life. Published twice a year, the magazine provides detailed coverage of school news, sports and arts. Features on student accomplishments, community news and cultural interests round out the editorial package.

With a readership of over 3000 including students, parents, teachers and alumni, Xiao Hua is distributed to a finely targeted audience. Xiao Hua is not just another school publication. It embodies Hong Kong’s unique blend of Chinese and Western culture, as well as the best Chinese and English student work the school as to offer. It offers advertisers access to an affluent community with a wide range of interests.

LET’S HEAR FROM YOU! COMMENTS (EVERYONE): Tell us what you think of Xiao Hua or any of our articles!

We’d love your feedback. Please send comments to: comments.cisxiaohua@gmail.com

CONTRIBUTE: Please submit articles, artwork, short stories, photos or anything that fits our content profiles to cis.xiaohua@ gmail.com. Subject: ‘Attention:Administrator.’ Make sure you put your name and class.

Business & Communications Department Room 1904, Chinese International School, 1 Hau Yuen Oath, Braemar Hill, North Point, Hong Kong.

Tel: 6478 0234 Fax: 2838 9596 Special thanks to 上海達院設計咨詢有限公司, 笨鳥網絡

SCHOO PTA FAIR

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OLYARD 15

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SCHOO SPIRIT

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OLYARD 17

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voices

WRITER: JOSHUA HUNG (Y12) PHOTOGRAPHER: NICOLE CHOI (Y12)

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As we near the halfway point of the school year, what better way is there to celebrate other than to deliver an update from the Student Council leaders themselves! Read on to learn more about the campaign experience, their aims and goals, as well as the difficulties (and subsequent solutions!) that they have encountered so far.

What compelled you to run for Student Council?

We all really wanted to improve the school! The prospect of being involved in the discussions that shape the school was really exciting to all of us, especially since it meant working with both teachers and students, and exchanging ideas between them. Most of us have been here since Reception, and we’ve accumulated a bunch of ideas over the years – so naturally we jumped at the chance to present them when the opportunity came.

What did you learn from the campaign experience?

The long hours spent after school planning the campaign, manning the stalls, editing the film, printing posters, painting the banner, and the number of advisory and cafeteria table visits – it was all quite a handful but it definitely helped us learn to work better together as a team to get things done, to play to each others’ strengths when making a decision, and to communicate our ideas to an audience more effectively.

What are your main objectives?

First and foremost, we want to make this school year the BEST YET – To make student life even more exciting!

We’re trying to do this through the introduction of more varied activities (like Movie Nights and TV lunches), and to improve upon already existing ones (like school dances and sausage sizzles)! Of course, we also want to bring about the changes we promised during our campaign, all of which we are extremely excited to discuss and implement.

How do you plan on achieving your goals?

We mainly plan on achieving our goals by working with our Student Council Representatives – relying on these fantastic individuals to relay any new information to their respective year groups, and to give us feedback on our ideas, and contribute to the discussion. In addition, we believe actually communicating with the students is key, so forming this strong bond with the student body,

and hearing from them will definitely help us make the best out of the coming school year!

What goals have you achieved so far?

We managed to enhance the Lost and Found system as promised in our campaign, working with Mr. May and Mr. Mulcahy to order new, category-based cabinets for the physical system, as well as the creation of an online Lost and Found database (thanks to Ye, Christina and Kelly). Promises of increased environmental awareness and a ‘CIS Got Talent’ were achieved through the Green Mondays initiative and the talent showcasing during the School Fair. The promise of increased transparency was achieved through the Online Suggestion Form and once-per-cycle vlogs. In addition, we’ve had loads of fun with the school dances, and we hope the students are having a great time too! Of course, we’re working to continue fulfilling our campaign promises, and to inform the students of our progress (whether good or bad)!

Have you encountered any difficulties so far?

Naturally, working in a group of six brings out scheduling conflicts. It’s very hard to find time to accommodate every single one of us. Also, there are some obvious conflicts between the desires of students, and the feasibility of their ideas with regards to the framework set by the school administration; school resources (both in terms of manpower and finance), so that disparity is certainly a limitation. When acting as the bridge between the student body and the administration, finding a balance is key, and a great challenge.

Is being a Student Council Executive a demanding task?

Demanding but enjoyable! It’s truly exhilarating to be able to make a difference in this school that we’ve spent the majority of our time at. We hope to make this year at CIS one of the best!

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voices

THE MANHATTAN PROJECT : A GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST

B

y early 1939, German physicists had discovered the secret of splitting a uranium atom, which caused fears over the possibility of Nazi scientists utilizing the resultant energy to produce an atomic bomb. Scientists Albert Einstein and Enrico Fermi, who had fled from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy respectively to the United States, agreed that the President needed to be informed of the level of technology that the Axis possessed. The two of them worked together to inform the government of the technology that the Axis possessed. When Einstein wrote a letter to Roosevelt calling for an atomic research program, Roosevelt gave in despite the fact that he did not view the program as necessary. It wasn’t until after a group of physicists successfully produced the first controlled nuclear chain reaction that led to the project expanding thanks to a significant increase in funds and scientific development.

The bombing of Pearl Harbor forced the United States to participate in the ongoing world war, and war was declared against Japan and Germany the day after the bombing. With it being evidently clear that proper facilities were needed to able to keep up with the full scale development of atomic weapons, in August 1942, the Manhattan Engineer District of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was created as a direct response. General Leslie Groves, the project’s commander, appointed Robert Oppenheimer as the director of development and sciences. Work on the bomb was split into four areas with specific intentions: scientists in Oak Ridge, Tennessee were tasked with separating different isotopes of uranium; scientists in Hanford, Washington worked on synthesizing a fissionable plutonium isotope from uranium; nuclear fission experiments were carried out in an unused football stadium in University of Chicago, and chief assembly of the bomb took place in the main facility at Los Alamos, New Mexico.

By the end of the project, almost 2 billion USD was spent, and more than 120,000 Americans were employed. Secrecy was heavily enforced both internally and externally, with the majority of the employees kept in the dark of what their job was; even Vice

WRITER: HORACE WANG (Y12) ILLUSTRATOR: ALISON WONG (Y11) PHOTOGRAPHER: NICOLE CHOI (Y12) President Truman did not know about it until he became President. Unfortunately, the main goal of the project’s secrecy- keeping it secret from their primary political rival, the Soviet Union- was unsuccessful. A spy was able to infiltrate the project and reported each and every development to Stalin.

On July 16th, at Trinity Site near Alamogordo, New Mexico, Robert Oppenheimer led the testing of the atomic bomb. The device was attached to a tower and discharged before dawn, with the subsequent flash being visible over 200 miles away. A mushroom cloud reaching 40,000 feet formed a crater half a mile, upon the cloud’s returning to the ground. A story about a huge ammunition dump having just blown up in the desert was used to cover up the truth.

When the news of the atomic bomb’s success reached President Truman, he was still dealing with the consequences of Victory in Europe in Potsdam, Germany.

The decision that Truman had to make would personally be the biggest within his life, as well as one of the biggest in all of human history. American soldiers had been fighting in the Pacific for four years with the Japanese refusing to surrender, in addition to the cities of Okinawa and Iwo Jima being occupied by American troops. On the home islands, an army of 2 million were prepared to defend their country. The Allies offered unconditional and immediate surrender to the Japanese government, the refusal of which promised “total destruction”, but did not mention the possession of a new weapon of mass destruction. This promise was eventually delivered on on August 6th, 1945 when the Enola Gay dropped the “Little Boy” on Hiroshima, followed by the “Fat Man” on Nagasaki three days later.

Those who were aware of the bomb’s existenc before the deployment were extremely limited due to the secrecy of the project. As a result, the option of openly expressing their opinions prior to actual deployment was limited to a select few. Opposition to the bomb’s deployment saw the options as being more than just black or white.

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ne of the alternatives that were proposed by opposition was a demonstration of the bomb. While the US and Japan did not have any diplomatic relations after Pearl Harbor, a demonstration could have easily been arranged through a back channel. A demonstration of the bomb could easily be set up for Japanese government officials and scientific experts, ultimately convincing them not to continue their resistance. Supporters for the deployment argued that as the technology was relatively new, there was a chance that it would not properly function during the test, which would bring America nothing but humiliation. Additionally, the US only had two bombs after the Alamos test, meaning that they only had one bomb to force Japan to surrender - as evidenced from the bombings of two cities, bombing Hiroshima alone was not enough to persuade Japan into surrendering. The demonstration would eliminate the element of surprise and give Japan time to make preparations for the attack by evacuating civilians and using American prisoner’s of war as shields.

During the Potsdam conference, Stalin had already promised Truman that he would join in the Pacific War on August 15th. With the Soviet Union joining in the fight against Japan, it was argued that continued usage of conventional weapons would have been sufficient to force Japan to surrender, but the ending of the war was far from certain. At the time, Allied casualties were averaging 7,000 each week. As veteran and author Paul Fussell pointed out, “two weeks more means 14,000 more killed and wounded, three weeks more, 21,000. Those weeks mean the world if you’re one of those thousands or related to one of them.”

Each of America’s enemies was heavily parodied in mass media, but Japanese civilians were portrayed with huge buck teeth, large fangs with saliva, and thick glasses with small eyes were frequently depicted. Almost every media

tapped into the anti-Japanese sentiment, whether it was in pop music such as Carson Robinson’s “Remember Pearl Harbor”, or magazine publications such as Tarzan. It didn’t help that after after Pearl Harbor, Japanese Americans residing in California were rounded up in camps and denied their Constitutional rights. In Truman’s personal diary, Truman described the Japanese as “savage, ruthless, merciless, and fanatic”, and justified the bombing of Hiroshima by saying that “when you deal with a beast you have to treat him as a beast.” It’s difficult to say how much this factored in Truman’s decision, and if this was patriotism in the course of war, or racism against an enemy state. t was evident that America was already contemplating what the world after the war would be like, and how they could contain the Soviet Union’s power after the war.

The deployment of the bomb was also planned to shock the Soviet Union such that post-war negotiations could be conducted more in the favor of the United States, although some worried that it would have the opposite effect of motivating the Soviet Union into developing their own bomb.

It is arguable whether or not the deployment of the atomic bomb was justified, but there is no doubt that the deployment of the bomb had a lasting negative effect on thousands of Japanese citizens. Hundreds of thousands of citizens were instantly vaporized, and many others were trapped under debris, badly burned, and infected with radiation. Those who survived the aftermath would suffer from a lifetime of radiation poisoning. Since the science behind the bomb was not available to the general public, radiation sickness was treated as a contagious disease. The bomb even impacted those who were born after its deployment, as birth deformities among the children delivered by pregnant survivors were increasingly common.

Even today, people who were related to a survivor of the bomb still continue to worry about their future generations.

There was no clear-cut answer as to whether or not the cause justified the means in 1945, and even almost 70 years, later there still is none. With the US, Russia, United Kingdom, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea, and Israel being affiliated with nuclear weapons one way or another, the world we live in still very much has the potential for usage of another atomic weapon. Although an atomic bomb has not been used against a nation for almost 70 years, humanity still has a long way to go before the paranoia regarding nuclear weapons is a thing of the past.

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voices

EBOLA

THE MODERN BUBONIC PLAGUE

WRITERS: RAGHAV GOYAL(Y9)// TIFFANY CHAN (Y9) ILLUSTRATORS: CALVIN CHEONG(Y8)// ADAM WANG(Y8)

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(WHO) started to isolate those who had contracted the disease, and emphasised the sterilization medical equipment used to reduce the further spread of the virus. The recent Ebola outbreak this year was traced to the death of a two year old child who died from the disease on the 28th of December 2013, in Guinea. The outbreak quickly spread to the neighbouring countries of Liberia and Sierra Leone, rapidly developing into the largest outbreak of the Ebola virus since the virus first emerged.

This most recent outbreak of the Ebola virus, the most pervasive in history, is reported by the World Health Organization to have affected numerous countries in West Africa, the most active areas being Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, and Nigeria. The current strain of Ebola is extremely deadly because it has a 50% fatality rate, and is spreading aggressively. On August 8th 2014, World Health Organization announced the Ebola epidemic a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), despite the fact that it hadn’t become a worldwide pandemic yet. Not long after, however, the first Ebola patient in the U.S. was discovered in September, and died one week later. This patient had traveled overseas to an Ebola affected area, evidence that this disease was capable of spreading from country to country. One of the health care

bola has been the subject of many discussions, and rightly so – it could perhaps become the modern bubonic plague if we don’t put a stop to it. What might happen if it becomes a pandemic? With tensions at a high and the public growing increasingly concerned about the rapidly spreading Ebola virus, Xiao Hua aims to go behind the scenes and explain the most pivotal questions: what Ebola is, who it’s affecting, the symptoms, and what’s being done to slow the spread of the disease. So, without further ado, let’s zoom in and take a look at the Ebola virus.

Ebola is a disease of humans and other primates, caused by the infection of the body by the lethal Ebola virus. The first identified case of Ebola was on 26 August 1976, in a village in the Mongala district in the northern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The person who contracted the first signs of Ebola was a school headmaster who toured the area near the Central African Republic border, following a path along the Ebola river. He died almost 2 weeks later, on the 8th September. Slowly other people contracted the Ebola virus and the virus spread throughout the area. From initial observations, Ebola seemed to have originated from bats. Additionally, because of its contagious qualities, the World Health Organization 22

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workers that took care of this patient, at the Texas Presbyterian Hospital, reported a low fever and tested positive for Ebola on October 10th. Shortly after, on October 14th, another health care worker at the same hospital, having looked after the same patient, was also tested positive for Ebola. Because of this, all travellers were advised by the Department of Foreign Affairs not to go on any nonessential trips to the affected areas, for fear that they too would catch the Ebola virus. Thankfully, though, on October 20th, after 42 Ebola free days, the World Health Organization declared Nigeria free of the spread of Ebola virus, proof that this deadly disease can be contained, and providing hope for everyone around the world.

In order to understand the virus, it is crucial to comprehend the way that the virus infects human beings.

After the virus gets inside your body, the disease is asymptomatic, taking up to 3 weeks before symptoms become apparent. The symptoms which emerge from contracting this disease start small and come slowly. It starts out with a light fever, a headache, sore throat and pain in joints. These are general symptoms which occur when someone is sick, not when someone has contracted a disease. As such, because of the rather commonplace symptoms that victims initially exhibit, there aren’t any big indicators that anything is wrong in the first few days of becoming symptomatic. This is what makes preventing diseases from escalating so hard, as we don’t realize it until it’s too late. The symptoms which appear when the disease becomes worse include: vomiting, abdominal pain, rashes, diarrhea and swelling, and can also cause confusion in the patient. At this stage the signs are clear that something is wrong. This is the stage when action is needed, as medication needs to be taken. Unfortunately, because there is no existing cure, treatment or vaccination for Ebola, patients can only be stabilized and their condition monitored. The final stage is the most deadly, as it is hard to cure someone when they reach this stage of symptoms. The symptoms in this stage can lead to death from a great loss of blood. The symptoms include: internal and external bleeding, vomiting blood, coughing up blood, bleeding from mucous membranes, bleeding in the eye and bleeding into skin. Although the symptoms of

this stage might sound revolting at first, we should keep in mind that there are people who work round the clock supporting and doing everything they can to treat patients of this horrifying disease. Once patients reach the last stage, there isn’t much that can be done to cure them, and the majority of patients pass into a coma when they are near death. Those who are lucky to survive longer often experience symptoms which include but aren’t limited to: ongoing muscle pain, liver inflammation and hearing difficulties. The ebola virus can stir up a tsunami of pain and suffering, which is why it’s important do everything in our power to take control and find a cure to the disease before it escalates.

Nigeria is free of Ebola, but that doesn’t mean other affected areas are. This disease still has chances of going worldwide. That is the reason why people are working tirelessly to prevent this disease from spreading any further and potentially causing the deaths of any other people. Having confirmed in September 30th, 2014 that an Ebola patient was diagnosed in the United States, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is taking actions to prevent Ebola from spreading across the U.S. In its efforts, the CDC has helped accommodate technical assistance, working with other U.S. government agencies and activating its Emergency Operations Center. The CDC has also set up teams of health experts in West Africa as well as other countries and regions affected by Ebola.

Meanwhile, the United Nations have also acted to reduce this disease. They have established their emergency UNMEER, the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response, hoping to cure the victims of Ebola, prevent the spread to currently unaffected countries, and stop the spread altogether.

Some of us might not be concerned about the devastation that Ebola is creating, but if we wait until it becomes our problem, it may just be too late to stop it.

Ebola has not yet become an epidemic, thanks to those who work hard to mitigate the disease. However, the outbreaks in countries such as America and Spain are all testament to the penetrability of this deadly disease. If we don’t find a way to completely cure and eradicate this disease soon, it may just be too late to save humanity.

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voices

今年夏天，在中環鴨巴甸街的PMQ元創方，你也 許看到了一個前所未見的情景，有1600隻可愛無比的熊 貓排列著－ 這就是1600隻熊貓遊香港。 這1600隻熊貓曾經風靡全球，在很多個國家和 地區引起很大反響。在它們還未全部到達香港時，在 社交網站Facebook上已有專頁上載多張“熊貓照”坐 滿機艙，並有空姐接待。場面非常壯觀。負責策劃這 次“1600熊貓遊香港”展覽的負責人稱，由於飛機有 限，1600隻熊貓不能全部同時來港，它們將陸續抵達。 它們抵達香港國際機場後，在入境大廳吸引了裡三層外 三層的圍觀人群，人們好奇、詫異，竟然在機場可以看 到如此壯觀的場面。這些“熊貓”來香港的目的是甚麼 呢？ 它們抵達香港後，以遊客身份，遊覽港九、新 界及離島各區。更會乘坐具歷史意義的電車，同大家一 起走遍香港這個亞洲國際都會。在你上班或下班，亦或 是閒暇逛街時，你隨時會遇到熊貓大軍! 熊貓大軍還會 經過美麗無比的馬灣東灣泳灘， 極俱有文化價值的位於 尖沙咀香港文化中心廣場的舊火車站鐘樓和令人心曠神 怡的維多利亞公園，它們的所到之處還包括香港國際機 場、天壇大佛、青馬大橋、沙田馬場、紅館、及到海洋 公園探訪在那裡居住的熊貓老友盈盈、樂樂、安安和佳 佳。熊貓每到一站，都入鄉隨俗，以最親切的姿態， 跟 市民作親密接觸，香港市民還可以與它們近距離拍照， 這場熊貓遊香港的目的是宣揚保育及可持續發展的重要 性。 這些都是真正的熊貓嗎？當然不是。它們是用 紙做的。這批“纸扎”的熊貓都是由回收廢紙手工製成 的，來自自泰国一条村落，製成後，再運到香港來。它 們還是做專機來的呢！專機的名字是国泰“香港精神 号”，熊貓下飛機時浩浩荡荡，场面很是震撼。 這一切都是為了甚麼呢？是為了看可愛的熊 貓？還是為了香港的旅遊業？都不是！其實這1600隻熊 貓，是配合環保材料和環保方式，設計及生產多款時尚 產品，推出並發售。1600隻熊貓是為慶祝世界自然基金 會(WWF) 成立35週年與法國著名藝術家--紙熊貓之父 （Paulo Grangeon) 合作構思，共同創造的。2008年於 巴黎市政廳首次展出，瀕臨危險的熊貓是WWF會徽，象徵 動物受到威脅。此次是一個環球巡迴展，據這位法國藝 術家介紹說，目前全球野生熊貓大約只有1600隻，所以 他就製作了1600只紙熊貓，讓它們在全世界「旅遊」， 以此喚起人們保護瀕危動物的意識。

1600

熊貓 WRITER: CURTIS LO (Y9) ILLUSTRATOR: ALISON WONG (Y11)

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中文辯論隊 WRITER:ADRIENNE CHEN (Y9) PHOTOGRAPHER: EMMA KENT (Y12)

兩年前，陳冰梅老師和李 蘇玲老師組織了漢基國際學校第一 個中文辯論隊，到目前為止已經有 了明顯的突破。在現在的辯論隊 中，已經不只是可以見到十年級以 上同學的身影，還可以目睹低年級 的同學踴躍參加。中文辯論隊每個 星期五放學後活動，同學們一起辯 論和討論不一樣的話題，包括香港 新聞和國際大事。現在，從人數 上看，中文辯論隊已有近二十名學 生。老師鼓勵學生，同時希望能有 更多的同學踴躍參加。因為這的確 是一個學習中文，建立自信的好機 會。 目前，漢基國際學校辯論隊 將參加一個辯論賽。這次辯論比賽 是由《香港基本法推介聯席會議》 舉辦的《第十四屆《基本法》多面 體－全港中學生辯論賽》。今年《 全港中學生辯論賽（基本法盃）》 已經進入十四個年頭了。十四年以 來，來自不同學校的中學生在比賽 中，摩拳擦掌，默契配合，辯論不 同的話題。雖然這是漢基國際學校 中文辯論隊參加的第一個比賽，學 生們已經鼓起勇氣，積極備戰。每 個人都清楚地知道，在生活中，同

學們可以用普通話流利地與他人交 流，但要用普通話這一並不是最熟 悉的語言辯論，這無疑不是一件容 易的事情。辯論隊的學生非常辛苦 地準備，抓緊時間練習。無論結果 如何，對學生來說，這將是一次不 可多得的學習和鍛煉機會。 在這個課外活動中，同學們 學到了甚麼呢？有一個辯論隊員的 家長這樣表達了她的想法：看著孩 子們用中文討論，我感到很欣慰， 其實，比賽固然重要，但在他們活 動和準備比賽過程中所學到的一 切，才是他們得到的真正財富。他 們會把在學校討論的話題，甚至是 所有的疑問帶到家裡來和我一起討 論，我看到了孩子的熱情，也看到 了孩子身上的一種強烈的求知慾。 漢基國際學校是一個英文和 中文（普通話）並重的雙語學校。 中文辯論隊雖然只是課外活動中的 一項活動，但是老師希望通過這一 課外活動，給大家創造一個難得的 學習中文、瞭解時事的環境。同學 們，你們想自己的中文水平更上一 層樓嗎？你們想多用中文思考問題 嗎？你想用中文辯論嗎？快來加入 中文辯論隊這個大家庭吧！ 25

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voices

city

bus

WRITERS: SHARON KUO (Y9), SCALET AU (Y9) PHOTOGRAPHER: BRITTA LAM (Y12) t the beginning of this academic year, City Motors Bus Company replaced our previous bus service, Jackson Bus Company, in providing CIS students with school buses to and from school. However, the introduction of this new bus company has not been the best received among our school community, as many parents and students alike are complaining about various factors related to the new service - price and quality alike. Now, several months into the semester, Xiao Hua has decided to identify the root of this dissatisfaction, whether unfounded or deserved, seeking to understand the differences in the service provided by City Motors and Jackson. Above all, we have sought to discover the opinions of the students, as well as their parents, on this new bus company and the service that they provide.

Lately, it is safe to assume that we have all heard complaints about City Motors. Whether it’s friends ranting about the lengthy and inconvenient bus rides early in the morning and late in the afternoon, or parents complaining about the relative increase in fees, the general attitude towards this new bus company is somewhat negative. And the big question is: Why? Why has City Motors earned this reputation? Is it because we have gotten so attached to the Jackson Bus system, that any change at all is difficult to accept? Is it because City Motors is still new to the school environment, and have not had enough time to adjust to CIS routes? Is it possible that City Motors simply isn’t a suitable fit for our school community?

However, before we delve into comparisons and analysis, let’s discuss the status quo and how the transition between bus companies came about. Last year, Jackson Coach Hire Service Ltd ceased activities with our school after having served our school for a lengthy 26 years. As a result, in order to continue to supply students with an efficient form of transport to and from school, CIS hired another school bus company as a replacement: City School Bus Services Limited. City Motors was first created in 1984, and has since expanded tremendously, currently owning more than 100 buses of various sizes, servicing a number of other international schools in Hong Kong.

Despite the somewhat negative reception that the bus company has received, City Motors has actually been able to improve our bus service in ways that were desired by much of the community. For one, they have been able to accommodate more students by adding new bus routes. By splitting existing bus routes into several smaller routes, City Motors has aimed to inject a surplus of seats for students living in densely populated areas. This should enable students who were previously unable to use the school bus service to do so now, as the addition of more bus routes has allowed for seemingly better accommodation. The splitting of bus routes into numerous smaller ones, in theory, should decrease the travel time, as each bus route is responsible for transporting students in a smaller area of Hong Kong than the bus routes under Jackson Bus Company did.

Additionally, the buses from the City Motors Bus Company seem to be cleaner and newer. Rather than the big 50 seat buses, the new bus company has chosen to use small, more compact buses that will accommodate approximately 20 students so that they can transport students to more locations.

This, however, has stirred up some dissatisfaction regarding the amount of space each person has and the number of available seats. On many buses, there are just enough seats for every student, so spaces are scarce and movement is limited, resulting in some discomfort. With such limited seats, most of the time the school bus is full or only has one or two seats left, and consequently teachers are sometimes unable to take the bus to school.

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n order to gather more empirical evidence, we conducted a survey that was sent out to students to complete. We asked questions about the cost, comfort, and many other factors regarding the bus service.

According to the survey responses, a majority of students preferred Jackson over City Motors, whilst 9% of the users said that they were around the same. As such, it can be observed that the opinion of the students seems to be rather polar. In order to understand the reason why the majority of students preferred Jackson Bus service, we followed up with a few of our respondees to understand their reasons for selecting Jackson Bus Service. The main reasons, according to the students, were the apparent increase in fees as well as the long rides back home. However, it must be noted that the time this survey was completed coincides directly with the Occupy Central with Love and Peace protests, which have severely restricted road movement in many districts on Hong Kong Island as well as Kowloon. These extenuating circumstances, which our previous Bus company did not have to deal with, must be taken into account when considering these figures. The traffic caused by the inconvenient location of the protest may have skewed student opinion against the new bus service.

However, the other reason, the increased fees, has been a major point of disapproval since the introduction of the new bus service. It has caused many parents of the CIS community to be reluctant to pay the bus fees, as the bus fares have increased by approximately 22% from the service provided by Jackson Bus. In fact, in response to the increase in fees, some students have begun taking the public bus instead, as inconvenient as it may be. One of them told us, “The bus prices are so expensive that I can’t even afford to take the bus on the way back home”. Another student says, “If I take the MTR and Bus, it is a lot cheaper, despite being slower and more time consuming”. The signs are clear: if City Motors doesn’t improve, many families may feel encouraged to stop taking the school bus.

Some may question where the additional funds are going. For one, the increase in bus routes has resulted in more buses being hired, which would definitely contribute to rising costs of the bus service. Additionally, some of the fees are being invested in two inventive ideas proposed by City Motors, including the GPS and SMS systems. These plans will help parents locate where students are at any given time on the bus ride, and also aid in notifying parents if there are sudden changes to the bus services during on the day. These helpful and useful systems are hopefully going to be implemented in the near future, as the bus company

aims to ensure the safety of the students who are riding to and from school. Regardless, the sudden increase of fees has made families, especially those with multiple children, hesitant in continuing the use of the school bus system.

Moving on to Co-Curricular Activities, the new policy implemented by school administration this year involved the removal of the previously free after-school activity bus.

Instead, students are now obligated to pay an additional $30 just to take the CCA bus. This has engendered a considerable amount of ranting from a few students. A Year 9 student believes that “It’s stupid that we have to pay extra for CCA buses. It’s not like we’re going to take both of the buses on the same day. We basically have to pay double the bus prices that are already expensive. The school is encouraging us to do more after school activities, but why would we want to do more if by doing so they’ll make us pay more?” The idea that a supplementary $30 has to be paid each trip is seemingly outrageous to some.

Last year students were able to stay after school for another hour or so to study, work on projects, play some basketball, or just hang out with friends, then take the CCA bus home. This year, students are no longer allowed this freedom. In order to take the CCA bus, students must be enrolled in an after-school activity, and have to pay the extra $30.

In conclusion, it can be observed that the transition from Jackson Bus to City Motors has been relatively hard for the CIS community to cope with. The problems of long bus rides, higher costs and cramped seating on the buses have all been causes for alarm, especially for families with more than one child enrolled in CIS. As a result, many students are forsaking the bus service in order to opt for a more economical option.

Now, we all know the City Motors has the best intentions. Their introduction of smaller, more site-specific bus routes has been a decent improvement, satisfying the requests made by CIS families in the past. The appropriation of funds in the name of creating a more secure and safe service, through implementing a GPS and SMS system, is worth the praise and support of our community. After all, City Motors has only been with us for little more than a semester, so we should bear in mind that they are new to our school. We should be forgiving and patient, allowing sufficient time for them to improve their services. They have already begun making an effort by assigning a customer service officer, and hopefully they will listen to our constructive criticism and provide a better service for us all.

voices

HANGES IN

MYP//IB

WRITERs: EVELYN CHOI (Y11), JOEY CHENG (Y11), CRYSTAL LAU (Y12)

The International Baccalaureate Organization prides itself on preparing students for a “rapidly globalizing world”. Obviously, the IB cannot simply remain static if it is supposed to help us adapt to a changing world, so the curriculum for both Diploma subjects and the MYP undergoes shifts every few years.

This school year, there are some interesting changes to the IBDP, including a change in the focus of some Internal Assessments. However, the biggest news is that the MYP is undergoing its most monumental change yet: all new criteria, the replacement of key concepts like the Areas of Interaction, and even a catchy slogan: “MYP: The Next Chapter”.

For the MYP, there have been huge changes across all subjects. Whilst each subject had its own criteria with different scoring systems in the past, all subjects now have a uniform scoring system: four criteria (A-D) with eight points being the highest score for each category, each differing slightly according to subject needs. This change may make it easier for students to attain a ‘7’ on their final report card since they merely need to achieve the highest level across all criteria. For example, based on the scoring system in the past for Science (six points for each six criteria), students could only drop a maximum of three points to achieve the highest grade. This meant that they had to achieve full marks across three criteria. This change has been deemed positive for many students since it is now easier to get a ‘7’.

For language A subjects, what was Criterion A (‘Content’) has been split into two criteria called ‘Analysing’ and ‘Producing text’. The former is more applicable to formal essays, whilst the latter is more suitable to creative writing pieces. The criteria previously called ‘Organisation’ and ‘Style

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and language usage’ have been changed to ‘Organising’ and ‘Using language’. This change could be viewed either way: teachers could look at it positively since it forces them to assess students on all areas of writing, whilst students who are stronger in one area than the other now risk having their grades pulled down.

However, new criteria means additional work for some teachers. The CT (or now called Digital Design) teachers have spent months studying the new criteria and coming up with new handouts and guidelines for Y11 students, who currently take on the Mini Project, which, much like the Personal Project, requires students to create their own product. Although the IBO tried to improve the rubric, the Mini Project still feels inflexible with many limitations. The Personal Project suffers from a similar issue: if students are encouraged to take on a project of their own interest, why all these limitations and guidelines that seem to morph a unique process into something easily gradable?

In addition, the criteria shift in the Humanities subjects, History and Geography is veryminor. With the exception of a few words in the criteria breakdowns, the only difference is that the Thinking Critically and Communication criteria have swapped places– what was once Criterion C is now Criterion D, and vice versa.

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n the other hand, the new “Global Contexts” are definitely better than the old Areas of Interaction. Though some of them also seem like simple rebrandings (Personal and Cultural Expression is eerily similar to Human Ingenuity), the Global Contexts as a whole cover more ground than the Areas of Interaction. For example, Scientific and Technical Innovation was jammed between the AOIs of Human Ingenuity and Environments, but now it is its own Context.

Although the IBO believes this MYP change as ‘the Next Chapter’, there haven’t been many substantial changes when compared to the past. All material learnt in class remains unchanged, and the rubric has not altered assessments in many forms.

Unlike the MYP, the IB Diploma Program actually does not undergo as many significant changes. The IB is designed so that each IBDP student is well balanced in terms of academic capabilities and intercultural understanding.

The changes are more internal, within the subjects that students take. The core parts are still staying unchanged; the Extended Essay, TOK, CAS, and the requisite six subject areas are still intact. However, there will be updated subject guides, more in-depth content topics, and the Internal Assessments (IA) will run in a different way to the previous years.

The Science department will be experiencing the most changes, with the IAs being the most affected area. The subject guides will place more emphasis on the importance of ethics, and will make sure that students develop a thorough understanding of what they are learning. There will still be two IAs, but unlike preceding years,

IBDP students will be able to exercise more creativity by creating their own original labs. The IAs were originally quite restricted as the teachers delegated out the task; the drawback was that it limited students from doing deeper research into one personal area of interest. The IBO realized this and opened up new possibilities in the curriculum so that each student could produce something entirely unique.

The IBO is clearly trying to push students worldwide to be more creative and independent by switching up the IAs. The IAs for DP Visual Arts for the 2014-2015 school year will be the studio work that students produce, which is the exact opposite from what it was previously.

The number of required pieces of artwork has been pushed up, a sure sign that the IBDP is still focused on challenging students academically.

The changes in the IB Diploma Program have all been implemented because the IB Board recognized that some of their requirements did not allow students to challenge themselves creatively, nor did it allow them the chance to delve deeper into what students had a passion for. In this respect, these changes will be beneficial to IB students as this style of teaching is more conducive for learning. However, since these changes are newly implemented, it will still take some time before substantial results will reveal the success of the new curriculum.

For now, it’s still unclear whether the new curriculum changes are effective or not.

Time will tell if the “Next Chapter” of the MYP is more than a renaming process, and if the IBDP changes actually succeed in increasing student creativity.

“THESE CHANGES WILL BE BENEFICIAL TO IB STUDENTS AS THIS STYLE OF TEACHING IS MORE CONDUCIVE FOR LEARNING.” 29

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voices

学校推行一人一电脑 一人一电脑政策,对学生的学习有没有益?

正所谓活到老学到老,一生中占我们时间最多的除了 睡觉就是学习。最近在不同的学校推行着一人一电脑政策,这 到底对学习有没有益? 身處二十一世纪,电脑科技很快变成世 界的主宰,许多日常事务在网上完成操作变得又快又方便。例 如,上网找资料代替去图书馆翻书、翻旧報纸,发邮件代替用 手写信再寄出,在网上利用视频电话和朋友、老师聊天，以這 種互动方式代替约他们出来见面。虽然科技有着许多方便,但 是任何东西都有其反面。那它到底对我们的学习有没有益处 呢?

学校推行一人一电脑政策,主要目的是将运用科技的快 捷、便利融入学校的学习环境。网上提供着前所未有的丰富 资源,而又能以最短的时间达到知识分享与资讯传递的效果。 这种随身携带的小盒子同时也能将我们的学习资源随身携带, 需要时便可使用。此外,这种科技非常环保,电脑上打字、发 邮件等等事件能避免纸张浪费。

这种新型政策好处虽然非常明显,但是大部分家长却 将他们的票投到反对的篮筐里。一些家长觉得没有必要将这 些“冤枉钱”花在这种“风险”极高的投资上。为什么会这

学校推行一人一电脑 是否對学习有益？ WRITER: JUSTIN NGAI (Y10) ILLUSTRATOR: BERNETTA LI (Y12)

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是否對学习有益？ 样说呢? 科技对学习有很大幫助,但学生一旦 走火入魔，后果便不堪设想,这就是所谓的风 险。上网时间过长能导致很多生活形式上的 改变。因为渴望得到更多的上网时间,所以就 逃避重要活动、改变睡眠的规律,身体活动减 少、忽略个人责任等等。香港某报刊的问卷报 告指出,有47%到 90% 长期使用电脑的人受背痛 的困扰。不仅如此,如果当事人继续执迷不悟, 他的身心健康就会急转直下,影响学习,性格也 会变得粗粝暴躁,懒惰,不积极,这就是典型的 学生上网上瘾的徵兆。再者,电脑科技所给予 的独立空间实在是过于庞大,很多网上的陷阱 和诱惑能将一个无知的学生腐蚀掉。这就是为 什么这会叫“冤枉钱”。谁会用钱来买一个潘 多拉魔盒? 又有家长指出:上网寻资料虽然比去图 书馆翻书快又方便,但网上的资料不一定全部 准确;电脑打字发邮件比用手写再寄信快而方 便,但如果长期依靠打字我们手写的技巧就会 生锈;上网或打电话给朋友、老师聊天互动比

找寻真人和约他们出来方便快捷,但你永远不 能百分之百肯定与你谈话的对方就是你要找的 人。 真是可怜天下父母心,他们处处保护孩 子以免他们受到诱惑;用自己传统的思想模式 控制著他们孩子的生活方式。 家长的顾虑是对的,但他们有没有想过, 孩子始终是要走向独立的,而家长不能永远围 绕在孩子的身旁。现在的学生是要与时并进 的。网上的资料虽然会与真实的情况有些出 入,但正因如此学生懂得如何运用多方面的资 料来辨别事实的真伪;电脑里层层诱惑虽然有 机会导致学生误入歧途,但同时也创造了学生 锻炼自我控制能力的良机,让他们学会抵抗诱 惑。 综上所述,一人一电脑政策还是值得推 行的。登山者常说,只有度过崎岖不平的道路, 方能看到美丽的风景。学生的学习生涯不正是 如此吗?

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voices

HK Rail Expansion

WRITER: CATHERINE DING(Y11), HANNAH HUI (Y11), ESTHER UM (Y11) ILLUSTRATOR: ALISON WONG (Y11)

F

or many years now, Hong Kong has been blessed with an impressive rail network that allows people to move around Hong Kong Island and navigate all the way up to the New Territories in a comfortable and convenient fashion, using a combination of trains and light rail vehicles. The network consists of public transport trains operated by MTRC: a corporation that handles the metro and rail network of Hong Kong, linking the Northeastern and Northwestern New Territories within Hong Kong.

The Mass Transit Railway (MTR), something we are all familiar with, is an inherent part of the city we live in today, with the network carrying more than 4.5 million passengers every day. Most notable is the Island Line, which runs from Sheung Wan, in the Central and Western District, to Chai Wan, in the Eastern District, being the busiest. Whether you’re a student, tourist or a domestic helper, the MTR service is a practical and affordable system, conveniently accommodating your needs with just a swipe of your Octopus card.

Therefore, the chance to continue developing and improving the railway service is a breath of fresh air to our city of ever-changing, technological advancement, and it comes as no surprise either. The

government has released a proposal to expand four new lines, more stations and even an extension of the MTR. A blueprint released by the Transport and Housing Bureau shows areas that will strive from the expansion include Kun Tong, Hong Kong Island north of the current line, Southern District, Tung Chung, Tuen Mun, Hung Shui Kui and new towns in planning to be built in the Northeastern New Territories.

In the next decade, the government is aiming the expansion to be directed towards the northern shore of Hong Kong island and the New Territories, network extensions as stated below: The West Island Line: Sai Ying Pun, HKU, Kennedy Town South (east) Island Line: South Horizons to Admiralty Express Rail Link (XRL) Shatin to Central Link Kwun Tong Line Extension 7.8 km Kowloon East Link

If the expansion were to happen, people travelling on the South Island Line (west) would be able to travel to Aberdeen, Wah Fu, Cyberport and Pok Fu Lam separately. The Northern Link in the New Terri32

XIAO HUA ISSUE 11

tories connecting Kam Sheung Road station on the West Rail Line will lead to a new ‘Kwu Tung’ stop.

These distant names are most likely foreign to some ears – we cannot be presumed to know all of those places, or have a kindred familiarity with the many MTR lines and the tight-knit, vast community that it withholds…so what really does this expansion have in store for us?

For starters, the health related benefits are promising. The roadside air pollution is expected to decrease (2-4 percent a year) as there will be fewer cars on the roads if the expansion attracts more people to ride the railway service, and if there are fewer cars, an increasing number of people will more likely opt for MTR option if the routes suit their needs. The deleterious effects of pollution can be cancer, chronic bronchitis and damage to the nervous system; hence it would be to our benefit if the roads in Hong Kong got cleared up due to the railway expansion. Another benefit is shorter durations when travelling on the railway trains. If there are an increasing amount of lines and train stops, chances are our journeys will be a lot more convenient and less complicated.

This all sounds great for busy commuters and people who love Hong Kong’s efficiency, but will such a big project be worth the money? One of the most expensive projects – the 7.8 km East Kowloon Line connecting Diamond Hill on the Kwun Tong Line and Po Lam on the Tseung Kwan O Line is estimated to cost $27.5 billion and the entire expansion project a total of $110b billion. Officials say, ‘the expansion is ambitious and challenging. With a total cost of HK$110, financing is understandably an issue.’ The issue of shortage of workers is also relevant. An industry insider states that there is a shortage of 8,000 to 10,000 workers.

One of the problems is how Chai Wan to Kennedy town passengers will need to change station (either at Quarry Bay, North Point or Central). The first option (deemed “more effective at relieving the crowded trains”) is to have Tseung Kwan O line connect with island line with link between North Point and Tin Hau. Some of the complaints and criticism that was issued is that the Siu Sai Wan (an area that devotes its transport mainly to buses/minibuses) extension evaluated as having ‘considerable technical difficulties facing the plans such as demolishing buildings, reclamation work or buying back properties’ are excuses. They also say that the government has no intentions to help local residents.

The public reaction to the Expansion of the Railway Service has been controversial despite being relatively limited, as it is unclear if the public is aware enough to fully make an informed decision, as they lack details of the plan, which, in itself, lacks publicity. In this article, we have explained the potential benefits of the plan, as it would make life much simpler and convenient for many people living in the Southern Areas of Hong Kong Island, as well as districts in the New Territories.

The MTR is a crucial mode of transport in this metropolitan city, and these developmental plans can only serve to improve the quality of life of our citizens. However, the price tag attached to this project has had much of the public reeling in hesitation, and the innate insecurity among the Hong Kong public seems to be a major instigator of the potential backlash. As such, it is our belief that the expansion will affect things in Hong Kong in both a negative and positive way, and that it should be based on a decision by the public in an evident, prominent manner.

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WHAT’S COOL 34

XIAO HUA ISSUE 11

Ask Dr. Lingers Q A Q A Q A

I’ve been in a relationship for more than a year now but we’ve never clarified whether we love each other or not. Is this normal? - Doubtnut Well Doubtnut, Dr. Lingers can see where you’re coming from. There is always going to be that nagging feeling of anxiety. But Dr. Lingers wants to ask you something: If you have to ask yourself if your significant other loves you, aren’t you answering the question already? Dr Lingers thinks that you need to trust them more and be less insecure.

I had a crush on this guy/girl for almost 6 months now and the past few weeks we’ve been talking regularly. Do you think he/she likes me? How can I get him/her to like me? - Pandora’s Chatterbox Pandora I think it’s safe to assume this person likes you, because talking regularly guarantees romantic interest. You also don’t get someone to like you – they either like you or they don’t. If you have to change yourself, then maybe this isn’t the right person, take it from Dr. Lingers her/himself.

I just broke up with my boyfriend/girlfriend and I am heartbroken. How can I get over him/her? Aortic Monkey I think somebody’s been reading too many inspirational Facebook posters – it’s high school. Don’t be a baby. Although if you insist on being upset, Dr Lingers recommends taking a little alone time to think and look at the big picture.

Q A

I’ve always had crushes but I’ve never been in a relationship. Is there something wrong with me? Why doesn’t anyone like me? - Esteem boat Well the first thing is that you obviously have confidence issues.

Secondly, have you considered that there may actually be something wrong with you?

The first step to getting people to like you, is for you to like yourself! If you don’t like how you look or act, how can you expect others to! This is real advice coming from the bottom of Dr. Linger’s heart. He/she is not saying it just because the XiaoHua editors have decided to put something nice into this article.

Here at Xiao Hua, we care about the student body and anyone is welcome to submit an email regarding anything intheir lives. Write to us - we offer personal advice, answering any and all questions, while remaining completely anonymous. We’d love to hear from you!

Just Ask Dr. Lingers at cis.xiaohua@gmail.com

隱藏了的香港 NOSH餐廳介紹

WRITERS: NICOLE LI (Y10), EMMA LAU (Y10) PHOTOGRAPHY: ISABELLA CHON (Y12), NICOLE LI (Y10) 位於香港上環的太平山上有一個地方雖小但很有氣氛的餐 廳／咖啡廳－Nosh。那裡的食物融合了經典的歐洲風味，再 加上一種‘摩登’的風味。無論你何時跟朋友光顧這家餐 廳，都能夠享受一頓美餐。

‘Nosh’ 字面上的意思是‘熱情地吃東西’。這個 名字非常簡單直接，配合了餐廳本身的風格。Nosh最特別的 就是因為它地方比較僻靜，所以有了一種非常平靜的氣氛， 容易令人放鬆、好好地談天或者享受美食。餐廳內輕輕地播 放著熱門的流行歌曲，餐廳的設計也別具一格，有特別多大 窗戶，非常通風，讓顧客感到很輕快。室內多以黑、白配 色，桌子是用優雅的漢白玉做的，白色的牆上畫上了Nosh餐 廳的圖案，也掛上了一個小黑板，上面用粉筆寫明當日的菜 單。每份食物大約100至200港幣，飲品從20至70港幣不等。

我們試了麵包加花生醬和香蕉，還有荷包蛋鬆餅。前 者味道又甜又暖，香口的麵包襯托著花生醬濃濃的甜味，香 蕉上灑了蜜糖，吃下去後心中立刻充滿了甜蜜的滿足感。荷 包蛋鬆餅有兩塊又暖又軟的鬆餅夾著一個還未完全煮熟的荷 包蛋，帶給顧客一種溫暖的感情。吃下去時，在口中能感受 到鬆餅的嚼勁，還有荷包蛋蛋黃滑滑的感覺。清脆的番茄和 黃瓜跟蛋黃的濃味成了一種美味的平衡，吃完最後一口，心 中會感到依依不捨。 在我們在嘗試過早午餐之後，我們邀請了一些朋友來試試 Nosh的食品。 SM說“雖然這個餐廳看起來十分獨特，但是菜 單中的每一種菜都十分普通，沒有什麼特別的，而且價錢比 其他類似的餐廳貴兩倍!” CS又接著說，“我也同意SM所說 的，但是我還是喜歡Nosh的寧靜舒適的環境，也我被它們的 甜品，比如: 檸檬蛋糕、草莓奶油撻等吸引了! 未來，我會 邀請一些好朋友來這兒吃下午茶。”

總結來說，Nosh的食物簡單美味，地方又非常寧靜， 最適合跟朋友一起去吃吃飯、輕輕鬆鬆地談個天。有空的時 候，記得去上環的11差館上街的Nosh餐廳享受一餐可口的佳 餚！

11 Upper Station Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong Tuesday-Friday 8:30AM - 6PM Weekends 10AM - 6PM Monday closed

Clockenflap WRITERS: CRYSTAL LAU (Y12) PHOTOGRAPHER: EMMA KENT (Y12) hich festival in Hong Kong can accommodate over 30,000 people over the course of 3 days, offering a diverse variety of international bands and a wide range of multi-cuisine food? You guessed it - Clockenflap! A family-friendly event that’s been around since 2008, Clockenflap has evolved into one of Hong Kong’s most successful music and arts ceremonies. Every end of the year, come the breeze of the fall, Hong Kong welcomes a host of universally-acclaimed indie bands to the West Kowloon Cultural District to participate in a ‘magical outdoor festival of music, art, people, food, family, culture and so much more’.

The West Kowloon Promenade is the perfect place to discover and recognize the creativity, talents and passions of a multitude of different artists. Once your bag has been searched and you step inside the gates, the energetic vibe invigorates you and pulls you right in. The strum of the electrical guitar, the beat of the drums, the dull tones of the bass, and the clear notes of the rhythmic keyboard. It all culminates to form a coherent, harmonic symphony of music and art. There are a multitude of separate concerts going on at any one time; you can walk around before settling down on a band you love, or can simply dance and sing along to the first band that you see.

The wide variety of musical styles and genres present at the festivals allows music junkies of any obsession to sit back and enjoy a dazzling experience.

Your Clockenflap experience will be even more enhanced if the band is one that knows how to be interactive with their audience. It doesn’t matter if the bands performing aren’t ones that you normally listen to or are familiar with, as long as you enter the Cultural District with an open mind and an eagerness to discover new

W

music, you will be pleasantly surprised. I was pleasantly surprised by the sheer number of bands and groups that managed to capture my attention during my time at the festival, especially those that specialized in a music genre that I have never listened to before. However, it wouldn’t hurt to Google all of the bands that will be at Clockenflap and familiarize yourself with some of their songs so you know which bands best suit your taste. The bands have a set performance time, so it would be advisable to enter the festival with some idea of the bands that you wish to listen to. I know many people that have found their favorite bands at Clockenflap, and have continued to listen to them months after the festival itself, a testament to the fact that it is a great outlet to find new artists and broaden your music horizons.

The atmosphere at Clockenflap is excellent for having a picnic on the grass or taking a leisurely stroll through the Clockencraft Market, a series of stalls selling a variety of items, in search for items on sale. And although you are not permitted to bring outside food into the venue, there are plenty of caterers inside serving varieties of food that will satisfy the average Hong Kong foodie. From pizza and dim sum to coffee and alcoholic drinks (available to 18+), you won’t have to worry about your stomach growling from hunger when you’re enjoying a 1975 concert.

Clockenflap is the best festival to go to, be it a family event, social event with your friends, or just a chance for you to relax and unwind from your busy schedule. With so many activities to do and so many artists and bands to see, you can safely assume that you will never be bored throughout your time there.

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what’s cool

DIARY OF A TEACHER:

MR. GEORGE

CRITERION A UNIT ASSESSMENT WRITER: YUMI TANG (Y12), SHANA LI (Y12) PHOTOGRAPHER: BYRON LEE (Y12)

PART A: STRAIGHT INFORMATION RECALL (L 1-2) Okay, we’ll give you 15 seconds for each.

1. Mr. George + Advisory = Ukuleles + Awesome Mustache

Song: New York Morning by Elbow

2. Mr. George + Coffee = Morning 3. What are your three laws of life?

You only need one: be excellent to one another.

Book: It’s impossible to choose one. It has to be a tie between The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams and Hyperion by Dan Simmons.

4. Name your favorite song, book, and video game in 15 seconds. GO! Oh crikey. That’s really hard. I need much more than 15 seconds.

Game: Civilization

END OF PART A 38

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PART B: LONG ANSWER QUESTIONS

1 2

What classes do you teach? (L 1-2) This year I have two year 11 science classes, two year 12 higher level physics classes, and one year 13 standard physics class. I also have my lovely year 8 advisory.

What do you most enjoy teaching? (L3-4) Do you mean what subjects? Physics. Maybe philosophy and maths, for different reasons. Topic wise? I would say my favourite part of physics is quantum theory because of its philosophical implications.

3

Describe your average day at school. (L3-4) I don’t think there is such a thing as an average day.

Every day is different - different things, different people. I mean, I could tell you about how I get here at 7 every day and get coffee etc, but that’s boring.

4

What do enjoy doing in your free time? (L3-4) Rugby, obviously. I currently train twice a week, and I coach the school A grade team, which is great fun too. I read a lot. I also play a lot of games, obviously.

The thing that takes most of my time is my family. We do all sorts of stuff. We go to the park, take walks, etc.

10

5

What were you like as a student? (L5-6) Oh. I was a bit of a nightmare, to be honest. I didn’t go to class much. I found most of my classes quite boring, so I just ... didn’t go. My teachers were generally okay with that because I was such an obnoxious toad when I was there. I’m afraid I was quite arrogant. If I had come to CIS it would have been quite different, since the teaching style is significantly more engaging and interesting.

6

Were you always taller than everyone else? (L1-2) Huh, no. I wasn’t. I was very young for my year at school, so when I was in year 7 and 8, I was a year younger than everyone else and was short or average in height. Then, everyone else stopped growing, and I grew. I suddenly shot up when I was 14. I was very skinny for a long time, which no one can believe now.

7 8

When did you come to CIS? (L1-2) A little over a year ago, so August 2013.

Where were you before you came to CIS? (L1-2) I was teaching at Colombo International School in Sri Lanka. Before that, I was at the British School in Kathmandu. Before that, I was in Hong Kong at South Island School for 5 years. Before that, I was teaching with Ms. Lynch in London about 12 years ago.

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a) Compare and contrast life at CIS and life at your old school. (L5-6) Compared to the last two schools, CIS is very, very different because I was working in less developed countries. So, for example, in Kathmandu, we couldn’t do any physics experiments involving electricity since the electricity kept going out. We had a lot more fundamental problems there. Here we have laptops and a reliable electricity supply. b) How about the curriculum?

That was different too. I used to teach A-Levels. So, it was my first time teaching MYP at CIS because I’d normally teach GCSEs. MYP is a lot better. GCSEs are too easy. They make students into exam-passing machines by cramming lots of facts in. So at some point in time they stop learning.

Why did you start teaching and what does teaching mean to you? (L5-6) I started teaching by accident. I finished my degree and didn’t know what to do with it, and I had spent a summer interning for BP (the oil company) and they offered me a place in their management trainee program.

I was basically working for a bunch of money-making machines, and I hated it. I knew I didn’t want to do that, so I thought a teacher training program sounded cool.

It was another year of university, I liked going to university, and so thought to myself: “I don’t have to be a teacher but I’ll hang around at school”. I found out very early that it was quite challenging and that I loved teaching. I just think its great fun. I love my subject, and I love the fact that every single day at some point I will be doubled up with laughter because of something that someone says. It’s just incredibly rewarding when I see people enjoying physics. I love it when the lights come on and people start understanding things.

One day during my first couple of weeks here at CIS, I came out of the cafeteria and saw a student I taught for 5 years a long time ago at South Island School standing outside the door. He’d gone off to Cambridge to study maths and sciences and did a masters in physics. In fact, he just recently started a PhD in atmospheric physics.

He found that I was back in HK, and so snuck into CIS. He brought back some Cambridge cufflinks, and he was just waiting to give them to me.

To know that you’ve had that kind of impact on someones life, and to know that if I hadn’t turned up when I did he might not have done physics... I realised that it is an incredible amount of responsibility to have.

END OF PART B

I have neither given nor recieved unauthorized aid on this piece of work.

what’s cool

TOP BOOKS & MOVIES THE FIRST HALF

2014 Y

OF OF

WRITERS: FLORANCE WU (Y7)// KAMEKA HERBST (Y11), KATHERINEYANG (Y10) ILLUSTRATOR: SHANE YEUNG(Y12)// EMMA KENT (Y12)

ou’re scouring the library bookshelves, or maybe hunting through IMDb lists. You’ve asked librarians, friends, even teachers. But what are some really good books and movies? We’ve curated a list of the most recommended books and movies, along with some just as amazing but lesser known ones, for people who are looking for their next obsession.

BOOKS

1. The Maze Runner — James Dashner Thomas finds himself in a community of boys with no memory of their lives, who live in an ever-changing and dangerous maze.

Then, a girl arrives, bringing an ominous message: they must escape the maze... or die trying. This book, often compared to Lord of the Flies, is suspenseful, action-packed, and a thrilling adventure.

2. The Heroes of Olympus series — Rick Riordan This sequel to the popular Percy Jackson and the Olympians centres around the prophesied seven demigods that will unite to protect the world from the destructive Gaea. Riordan began the books after realising the potential of Roman myths, and they were praised for fascinating storylines, non-stop action, and light humour.

3. Divergent — Veronica Roth Each citizen belongs to one of five factions, each based on a specific personality trait. During the Choosing Ceremony, 16-year-old Beatrice learns she is Divergent: she doesn’t fit anywhere. This is deadly, and when a plot to destroy Divergents is unearthed, Tris finds herself fighting for everything she has ever known.

4. The Fault in Our Stars — John Green 16-year-old cancer patient Hazel joins a support group, where she meets, and slowly falls in love with, Augustus Waters.

Whether you agree with Cassius’ opinion that “The fault […] is […] in ourselves”, or with these star-crossed lovers, this book is

“hilarious, touching, and tragic” and offers a fresh take on sickness, love, and life.

5. Looking for Alaska — John Green Miles Halter’s life is nondescript until he meets the fascinating, intriguing Alaska Young, who turns his life into a great adventure. The book is challenged for controversial subject matter, but more praised for its witty and intelligent approach to suffering, loss, and grief.

MOVIES

1. The Maze Runner (2014) | Wes Ball | Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario The film adaptation of James Dashner’s 2009 book captures perfectly the thrill and darkness of the original story.

2. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) | James Gunn | Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana After stealing a mysterious orb from another part of the galaxy, Peter Quill must join up with a group of space criminals. These “Guardians of the Galaxy” must work together to save the galaxy. “Funniest Marvel movie I’ve ever watched,” said Natalie (Y10).

3. The Fault in Our Stars (2014) | Josh Boone | Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Nat Wolff Film adaptation of John Green’s best-selling novel.

4. Divergent (2014) | Neil Burger | Shailene Woodley, Theo James Film adaptation of Veronica Roth’s best-selling YA novel.

5. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) | Wes Anderson | Ralph Fiennes, Anthony Quinonez These are the unique adventures of a legendary hotel concierge and his lobby boy. The “comic yet serious” style of Anderson is beloved among film lovers everywhere, and CIS students praised the “great mix of artistry and humorous entertainment” in this bold, hilarious story.

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Now here is a list of some books and movies you might not have heard of before!

Movies:

1. Earth to Echo (2014) | Dave Green | Teo Halm, Astro, Reese Hartwig After receiving a strange set of phone signals, a group of children finds a robotic alien. They embark on a journey of adventure and wonder to bring him back home.

2. Looper (2012) | Rian Johnson | Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt In 2074, the mob kills by sending targets back in time where hit-men—“Loopers”—wait to do the job. One day, Joe recognizes the target as being himself, and hesitates, letting the older Joe slips away...

3. Blue Jasmine (2013) | Woody Allen | Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin, Peter Sarsgaard Former New York socialite Jasmine returns to her sister in San Francisco, ruined and troubled. She attempts to create a new life, but her old pretensions and new deceits begin to infect everyone’s lives, especially her own...

Books:

1. On the Jellicoe Road — Melina Marchetta 17-year-old Taylor is the leader of the Jellicoe Road boarding school. Her guardian has disappeared, and through investigating, she starts to learn more about her own story. Angela in Year 13 said, “Surprising, emotional, a bit confusing and beautifully written. […] everything is set up so carefully that it needs a reread for you to notice all the clues/groundwork […]”.

2. The Night Circus — Erin Morgenstern Behind the scenes of the mysterious Le Cirque de Reves, Celia and Marco, two magicians trained to fight each other, are falling head-over-heels in love. But this means danger, for this was meant to be a game with only one winner…

3. Hatchet — Gary Paulsen 13-year-old Brian has just survived a plane crash in the Canadian wilderness, with only a terrible secret, and the hatchet his mother gave him as a gift. He must summon all the determination and courage if he wants to survive…

Indulge yourself! Go hunt for your next obsession!

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OUR CUP OF TEA?

WRITERS: SHANNON HU (Y11)// KAITLYN WELLS (Y8), MONIQUE CHAN (Y10) PHOTOGRAPHER: BRITTA LAM (Y12)

C

offee 101 is a quaint little cafe and bakery that serves western food and beverages. Located just down the hill from CIS, the coffee shop is lodged between other caterers, but provides the ultimate compromise between a full meal at a restaurant and a quick bite at 7-11. Whether you are craving sweet snacks or savory items, Coffee 101 is the perfect place for you to sit back, relax, and satisfy those after-school cravings. Not only that, but free wifi and upbeat music are served along with your order, to create a more comfortable and optimistic atmosphere.

Coffee 101’s exterior design is simple and artistic, with a patio that has alfresco seating, and wonderful greenery right next to the entrance. The little cafe gives off a calm and peaceful vibe that tends to attract many. As your foot steps through the door, a thick aroma of coffee immediately surrounds you. There are antique decorations: old typewriters and small doll figures, among others.

The furniture consists of plain wooden tables and sleek black chairs and stools. Nothing lines the walls, leaving just a simple part-cement, part-brick interface. It looks quite bare yet it blends in with the style of the cafe. There is a large blackboard on the wall which lists all the items on the menu and any daily specials. There is also a refrigerator, which displays almost all food choices and also offers common bottled drinks and juices, allowing you to contemplate which of these mouthwatering delights you want on your plate. You can see the staff preparing dishes and drinks behind the counter in the kitchen - all the hot food is made fresh right before your eyes. The upbeat music which plays softly in the background tempts you to sing or

dance along. The western style of this cafe is attractive and artistic despite its simple design. This warm environment is family-friendly and caters to all ages. Everything from the charismatic vibe to the exceptional decor conveys the atmosphere of home.

Furthermore, the customer service is exceptional at Coffee 101. The employees all give you a warm welcome into the coffee shop. They are very kind and helpful, so don’t hesitate to talk or ask them anything! All your needs will be attended to and the staff will make your stay an enjoyable one. They are always happy to serve, even engaging in small talk with their customers. They really value everyone’s opinion and are eager to make their dining experience as enjoyable as possible.

What’s great for you students out there is that Coffee 101 provides student discounts! Just show them your student ID or student octopus card and for every snack item you purchase, you can enjoy a drink at a reduced price – it’s a fantastic price for such quality food.

Coffee 101’s prices are reasonable and modest, so you won’t need to spend heaps of money on a meal. In addition, Coffee 101 provides free Wi-Fi, making it extra convenient for students to visit, allowing them to go online while drinking a nice cup of coffee - some even like to do their homework there while enjoying a small snack. These assets all contribute to a pleasant finale to an exhausting day at school or work.

Including daily specials and items on the menu, there are so many things to choose from when ordering. There is a refrigerator with pre-made desserts, such as macaroons and cheesecakes, as well as sandwiches and

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pastries. Lattes, Flat Whites, Americanos and many more are made fresh in the kitchen, so if you like coffee or need an extra boost to get you through the day, Coffee 101 is a convenient place for anyone on Braemar hill. If it’s a light snack you prefer, or if you’re scouting a whole meal, the cafe has both options.

Now, here’s the part you’ve been saving your excitement for. As suggested in the name, Coffee 101 makes extraordinary coffee. The cafe also offers many other warm and cold food and beverages. If you are new to Coffee 101 or are making plans to visit, here are some recommended dishes that stand out among the rest:

Recommended dishes 1) Firstly, the Flat White. The barista creates a white heart with soft and silky foam. Underneath the elegant surface lies smooth and velvety coffee, bittersweet with the ultimate taste of coffee and a milky texture.

2) Another appetizing menu item is the signature All Day Breakfast. The dish includes baked beans, toast, bacon, scrambled eggs and various vegetables. Nutritious and bursting with health benefits, the only flaw is that the bacon could be slightly crispier, but everything else is marvelous.

3) Another is one of the most popular food items at Coffee 101: blueberry cheesecake. Simply mouthwatering to look at, it tastes even better. The graham crust on the bottom truly compliments the cheesecake, and although they have increased their stock due to popular demand, it still tends to sell out quite quickly (unsurprisingly). The Coffee 101 cheesecake one of the most satisfying cheesecakes in Hong Kong, and is strongly recommended.

4) Last but not least: ham and cheese croissant (a personal favorite). A large slice of ham perfectly layered in between a soft and fluffy french croissant, accompanied by cheese melted into the bread. It makes a great, scrumptious afternoon snack.

A

fter reading this article, check this place out if you have the time. Students and residents on Braemar Hill are lucky to be near this cozy and extraordinary cafe.

Go buy some tasty food and desserts, relax while sipping a warm cup of coffee, or even visit if you have your mind set on doing schoolwork - it will be much more enjoyable there.

Coffee 101 is definitely a restaurant worth visiting.

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what’s cool

必有的音樂 與應用程序 WRITER: ADRIENNE CHEN (Y9) ILLUSTRATOR: SHANE YEUNG(Y12)// ELENA EU(Y12)

在

現代社會中，演員、歌手越來越受到年 輕人的青睞。而在眾多受追捧的藝術家 中，Apps 的創作者和音樂家也正用他們 獨特的方式與聽眾交流，能夠自由地去創作，分別 通過Apps和創作的歌曲，與世人分享他們的作品。 在音樂產業裡，形式多種多樣：有搖滾 音樂、流行音樂、嘻哈音樂、鄉村音樂、另類 音樂、經典音樂、獨立音樂、電子音樂... 最 近的流行音樂歌手包括 Iggy Azalea、Ariana Grande、Taylor Swift、Ed Sheeran、Sam Smith 等。這些都是最紅的歌手。他們唱的歌都非常地 受歡迎。比如說：Fancy、Shake It Off、Bang Bang、Problem、Break Free、Don’t。這些 是我們 2014年「流行」的音樂，也是大數人 喜歡聽的音樂種類。但是，還有一部分的人喜 歡聽另類和獨立音樂。雖然這些人不是最有 名的，但他們的樂隊如 The 1975、Vampire Weekend、Phoenix、CHVRCHES、The Kooks，也是 非常受歡迎的。

過去，人類到底是怎麼聽音樂的呢？那只能 聽收音機、去演唱會、看電視等。但是，有了現在 的高級科技，聰慧的創作者能製造Apps 使我們聽 音樂舒適方便。 世界上運用智能手機的人在不斷增加。 因此，每年大家可以在手機上下載更多的Apps。 在蘋果的 App Store 裡，有超過一百二十萬個 Apps。最受歡迎的種類就是社交网络的Apps。App Store 裡排名前 5 的免費社交网络应用是 Facebook Messenger，微信，WhatsApp，Skype 和 QQ。Facebook Messenger，微信，Skype， 和 WhatsApp 都是通過網絡免費跟朋友交談聊 天的Apps。QQ 也是，但唯一的不同是語言方面 的分別。雖然QQ在功能上是中英文雙語的，但 是 QQ 的大多數使用者是在中國的客戶。微信 跟 WhatsApp，Line，Viber 非常地相似。這些 Apps 都是用來免費發短信的。但微信為甚麼那麼 突出呢？那當然就是因為它的「Moments」功能 了。Moments 能讓你跟微信上的朋友們分享照片和 44

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文字。分享了後，你的朋友們可以「喜愛」或加上「評 語」。這是一個非常便捷有效的與朋友們溝通的方式。

如果沒有那些優秀的音樂家，美妙的音樂無由產 生；然而，有了音樂，沒有智能通訊的發明創造者，我 們不可能那麼便捷地跟別人在網上溝通與交流，那麼容 易欣賞到那些音樂。使用我的智能手機來聽音樂，這已 經成了我每天必修的功課。但實際上，當然比功課更讓 我鬆馳和享受。一天忙忙碌碌，少有空隙的時候，建議 你不妨打開你的手機，找到你最鐘意的Apps，選一首能 讓你身心放鬆，心曠神怡的樂曲。相信它能夠給你帶來 的歡喜和快樂。

music

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF

A PERFORMER

WRITERS & PHOTOGRAPHERS: SONIA AND HLLARY YUEN (Y12)

A

ngela Chan, born in 1997, Hong Kong, began learning the violin at the age of 3 from her mother.

She joined the Junior Music Programme of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) when she was 5, where she studied with Professor Michael Ma, the Head of the Strings Department. At the age of 10, between 2007 - 2009, she was the appointed as the youngest concertmaster of the Junior Chamber Orchestra of HKAPA. Angela studied at the renowned Middle School affiliated to Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing between September 2009 - December 2012, under the tutelage of Professor Vera Tsu Wei Ling. Since 2013, Angela, with full scholarship granted, has been accepted as a student of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, which has produced many notable alumni, including concert pianist Lang Lang and two-time Grammy winning violin virtuoso Hilary Hahn.

What is a typical day in the life of being a student at the Curtis Institute of Music?

I’m still in highschool, so I only have theory, orchestra and major lessons in Curtis. My day usually starts with 4 high

ANGELA CHAN .1997.

school classes and then I practice as much as I can. Sometimes I don’t get to practice that much because of orchestra rehearsals and different chamber rehearsals.

How do you balance school work with music?

It’s really hard sometimes. I like to finish my homework during class so that I can have more time to practice. I try not to procrastinate, and the studious atmosphere in Curtis encourages vigorous music practice, which I really appreciate.

What activities do you do other than music?

I like to go out and eat Asian food, hang out with my friends and read. I also love reading, and I feel that musicians should experience different activities outside the world of music in order to learn more. This way, we can achieve a more complex and varied emotional range, which can help convey a more interesting and meaningful performance.

What has been the most rewarding experience in your musical career?

Getting into Curtis has probably been my most rewarding experience, because I have been dreaming about getting into this music institute since I was 6. It has been a huge milestone in my musical career so far, and is very 46

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encouraging, telling me that I am doing the right thing. I feel truly honored to be accepted to such a prestigious music conservatory and to be amongst so many amazing young musicians.

If you could only listen to one piece of music for the rest of your life, what would that be and why?

Brahms Piano Trio No.1 would be the piece that I would choose because I have been studying it for so long and it’s a phenomenal piece. It’s truly incredible how a piece of music can affect your life so much.

How do you handle your nerves and mistakes during a performance?

I pray before any performances every time; it helps a lot. I also like to tell myself that I’m sharing my music with other people, so I should enjoy the moment while I’m playing on stage. I just ignore the mistakes that I make and keep playing.

I definitely reflect back on my performances to see what I can improve in the future, but what’s in the past is in the past, so I approach it in a positive light. I find that this is an effective way for me to improve and learn from experiences.

What would your advice be to aspiring performers/ musicians?

Slow practice - practice with brain and enthusiasm. You truly have to approach your art form with passion and purpose, or there isn’t much meaning to it. Learning to love whatever you are doing, whether it be playing technical exercises such as scales and double stops or major pieces such as concertos and sonatas, is extremely important.

Who are your favorite musicians? Have they inspired you in any way?

Janine Jansen is one of my favorite musicians. Her sound is so transparent and touching, and she is such an inspiration to me. I feel that it is very important for musicians and people in general to have a idol to look up to, as it gives you something to aspire to, and motivates you to work hard and chase your dreams.

When did you realize that you want to become a professional violinist? Why? Since I was 13, because I had so much fun practicing, and I love music a billion times more than studying textbooks. My mother is a violinist and my grandmother is a flautist so I’ve grown up around music. I started learning the violin when I was around two to three years old, and fell in love with the instrument instantly.

Where do you see yourself as a violinist in 10 years?

I think I’ll still be learning a lot from my colleagues, improving my musical sense and sharing my music with others. No one can be 100% perfect, and there is always something to improve upon, so I will always be striving for improvement.

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ORCHESTRA BACKTRACK

CADENZA

INTRODUCTION TO MUSIC GROUPS IN CIS WRITERS & PHOTOGRAPHERS: SONIA AND HILLARY YUEN(Y12)

ENHARMONICS

JAZZ BAND

CONCERT CHOIR

CME

T

he CIS Music Department has seen the development of not only the large secondary school music groups such as the CIS Symphony Orchestra, Concert Choir, Jazz Band, and CME, but also the birth of many student-led chamber and music groups, including the CIS Enharmonics, Cadenza, Flute Choir, and the CIS Pops Orchestra.

The CIS Symphony Orchestra The CIS Symphony Orchestra has continued to grow under the baton of Mr. Stephen Rabach and has consistently challenged itself with a variety of difficult repertoire and performance opportunities. After being invited back to Hangzhou in 2013 and 2014, the CIS community will host the Greentown Yuhua School this year and hold a joint concert near the end of 2014. Ever since the inception of the CIS Symphony Leadership Program in 2012, which launched the Music Leadership Program within the Music Department, it has expanded to include the Executive Committee and the Management Committee. As the one of the largest music groups in the CIS community with over 50 members, the Orchestra hopes to perform to an even wider group of audience in the future.

The CIS Concert Choir The CIS Concert Choir is a group of talented and versatile singers who perform different genres of music such as madrigals, musical numbers, pop songs and more. The group is under the guidance of conductor Horace Mui. The Choir performed at the Four Seasons Christmas treelighting ceremony in 2013, and annually performs at the Hong Kong Cricket Club Christmas event. The Choir has also attended the Hangzhou music exchange program, and have received valuable learnings from various teachers at the Greentown Yuhua School and CIS Hangzhou.

The Jazz Band The Jazz Band is a contemporary group that focuses on jazz, funk and other contemporary arrangements. Under the guidance of Mr. Stephen Rabach and student leaders Franklin Gu and Janan Hui, the band is made up of a rhythm section and a brass/saxophone section. This year, they have continued to expand their repertoire, in preparation for future performances. The group hopes that this year they can perform at more out of school gigs, but continue to stay committed to all school concerts.

The CME (Chinese Music Ensemble, 中國音樂合奏團) / ZYZ (Zhong Yue Zu, 中樂組) The Chinese Music Ensemble was founded by Dr. Sam Lau, and currently led by student leaders Samantha Chu and Sean Guo. The ensemble performs a variety of traditional Chinese folk songs, featuring a range of unique Chinese instruments including the guzheng (古箏), pipa (琵琶), yangqin ( 揚琴), and chinese flute (笛子). Whilst CME may consist of western instruments, ZYZ is a music group dedicated to performing Chinese music with purely Chinese instruments.

CME and ZYZ members rehearse on a weekly basis. The CME performs in multiple occasions throughout the academic year. Besides from helping them better themselves as performers, the members also say that joining CME has been a bonding experience for all.

The Year 7 Choir This new CCA is designed to help year 7 singers integrate into the CIS secondary music scene. The encouraging and fun atmosphere helps develop the musicians’ skills and confidence. Led by Ms. Janet Beaver, the students perform fun musical numbers and also start understanding more complex musical techniques to help them transition into the secondary music groups.

Student-led groups: Enharmonics The CIS Enharmonics, also affectionately known as “Enhar”, is a student-led co-ed a cappella group at Chinese International School. The group is now in its 15th year at CIS and mostly perform at school concerts and Charity events hosted by non-profit organizations such as the Hong Kong Cancer Foundation, GENES, Kids4Kids. In April 2014, the Enharmonics sang in Hong Kong’s first inter-school a cappella concert, “ACA” 2014, and donated all proceeds to victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.

Enhar’s repertoire consists of pop songs. Their most recent additions to our repertoire include “Run To You” by Pentatonix, a mashup of “Clarity” by Zedd and “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay, and “Some Nights” by Fun. Cadenza Cadenza is a string quartet founded in 2011 by alumnus Plato So. Current members include Sonia Yuen, Hillary Yuen, Natalie Lin, and Sophia Chan. Rehearsing twice a week, they perform a diverse repertoireS; spanning from classics like Bach and Mozart to more challenging composers such as Shostakovich and Grieg. As winners of the “Chamber Group” category of the Golden Note Competition in 2012, Cadenza was invited to invited to Hangzhou in January 2013, performing Schubert’s Death and the Maiden String Quartet.

The group also regularly takes part in the Annual and Christmas Concert.

Flute Choir The Flute Choir is a choir for students who play flutes. The group was founded in 2013 by student leader Sabrina Chong, and performs music from a broad range of styles. Flute Choir aims to perform at elderly homes at a regularly basis as well as perform at school events.

Pops Orchestra Formed in 2012 by alumnus Darren Chong and Brandon Lin, the CIS Pops Orchestra consists of a group of classical musicians that plays popular music, such as cinematic music and musical numbers. Currently led by May Huang, Hillary Yuen, and Sonia Yuen, the group has grown from being primarily string based to involving a wider range of musical instruments and repertoire.

Backtrack Backtrack is a new a cappella group formed this school year that consists of only year 12’s. The group consists of five members: Joseph Ho, Angus Lam, Janan Hui, Sonia Yuen and Hillary Yuen. Led by Eric Monson, a member of the a cappella group Metro Vocal Group, the group looks forward to performing exciting arrangements from a wide range of repertoire in their upcoming performances.

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music

How to prepare for music exams and competitions and other tips and tricks!

WRITERS & PHOTOGRAPHERS : SONIA AND HILLARYYUEN (Y12) Top tips and tricks to help you with your musical development and performances!

The topic of participating in music exams and competitions can be daunting, frustrating, and frankly, off putting.

However, they are valuable experiences, and with the right attitude and techniques, they can be extremely fun and rewarding. Here are a few tips and tricks that can help with your confidence and musical performance!

Tip #1: Tips on what to do to prepare for exams or competition Practice. Unfortunately, there is no short cut in this area.

However, a very important tip to note would be to think when you are playing. It may sound obvious or simple, but we often doze off and practice for the sake of practicing.

While muscle memory is important, when you understand the music it helps you solidify the music into your memory. You have to set a goal when practicing - something you wish to achieve and it helps to have small goals to improve your playing.

A very important note would be to check the rules and regulations of the exam or competition. Forgetting to present the original music score can result in disqualification, and not bringing student ID cards or the application forms can also cause problems. The advice would be to prepare all the necessary documents and items the night before the competition, so you don’t have to worry about it the next day.

A good night’s rest and a big breakfast helps you gain energy for the performance. Music performances can be as strenuous as physical sports and is also mentally draining, so having enough energy and stamina is crucial for a good performance. Try not to over-practice on the day, as you want to save your energy for the actual performance, however a good warmup is rather helpful.

Tip #2: How to beat stage-fright It helps to take a deep breath and relax your muscles. Remember that this is an opportunity to show how much you have grown as a performer, and be grateful for the chance to share your music with others, as so many other people don’t get this wonderful opportunity. Try to enjoy the experience rather than worrying, and if you believe in the music then the audience will follow along with you.

Try to keep your hands warm (bring a scarf or hand warmers), as some exam rooms or competition venues are rather cold. If you get clammy hands, remember to bring a handkerchief.

A useful tip, if you tend to have shaky hands, would be to lean forward in a plank-like stance and use your fingertips to push against the wall. This helps the blood circulation and keeps your hands and fingers agile and strong. For singers or wind players (brass or woodwinds), sipping water before the performance can also be helpful if you feel parched or if your vocal chords are tight.

Before the performance, try to sit down somewhere quiet and run through the music in your head. This helps you focus, and ensures that you are in the right mindset for the performance. A little anxiety is normal, and the adrenaline actually helps the performance - many musicians have said that they perform even better under some sort of pressure. Also, before you go on stage, it helps to give your hands and body a little shake, just to loosen any tense muscles and help relieve stress.

Tip #3: How to sight-read Sight-reading is the act of playing music for the first time, and is usually off-putting for beginners. However, noticing the patterns in the music can help, and intelligent guessing is also part of the equation to successful sight-reading. Prioritizing is also a big part of this technique, as it helps you get through the piece without many hiccups. Some notes are more important, and this prioritization means that the main shape or big picture is presented.

Tip #4: How to practice (and develop good musical habits) It is really helpful to keep a pencil nearby when you are practicing, so that you can mark certain areas that need more attention or anything to look out for when executing that section.

When practicing, a very useful technique would be to split the piece into small sections. That helps you

practice in detail and focus on the trickier sections.

When encountering problems with techniques, one may come up with several different technical exercises in order to tackle the problem. The metronome is your best friend during practice - a slow and steady tempo during practice will most definitely help with fast and virtuosic passages that many musicians struggle to play.

Useful exercises include playing the passages in different rhythmic patterns such as legato, staccato, dotted rhythm and more, and playing the piece back to front (starting from sections at the end).

Some people encounter a stage in their practice where they get fed up or bored with their piece. This is when it is important to have a different point of view or outlook on the piece. The musical songs or pieces can be approached in infinite ways, hence the different renditions and interpretations. It helps to listen to other recordings or attend concert performances of the piece, as it will inspire and help you to view the piece in a different light.

Sometimes, it doesn’t help to keep playing the piece over and over again (as it becomes dull and wont focus), so just simply look/read at score and run through the piece in your head. This will make you more attentive to details that you might not have spotted before. Music teachers always instruct students to “sing� the melody or the bass line, and the reason is because it helps the performer to play with more flow and direction. So a good technique is to sing the different lines of the piece (the bass line, top line, and the parts in between).

An appropriate time to start running through the whole program would be around a month or two before the performance. This means playing through all the pieces non-stop, and building up your physical and psychological stamina.

Tip #5: Stretching and warm ups are very important For musicians like pianists who use their hands often, it is extremely important to stretch and warmup before and after practicing. Playing scales or other finger exercises help loosen the muscles and prepare them for the performance, practices or rehearsals, and helps prevent any injuries.

For musicians in general but especially violinists, posture is important, not only because it can affect your musical abilities but also because using the wrong kind of muscle energy can be detrimental.

As for singers, the vocal chords are fragile so warm ups are very useful. Throat injuries not desired and can affect the performance hugely, so drinking warm water frequently helps, and inhaling hot steam (water vapor) also helps sooth the throat. Try to abstain from fried foods or cold beverages, as they can irritate the throat.

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features

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occupy central WRITERS: KATY AMOS (Y12),YOONAH HAN (Y13) ILLUSTRATOR: MINA SHIH (Y12)

Y

the 2017 Chief Executive election “may be implemented by the method of universal suffrage”, meaning that every Hong Kong citizen over the age of 18 would be allowed to vote in the election. But in August 2014, when it was revealed that a nominating committee would select two or three candidates for the citizens of Hong Kong to choose from, the Occupy Central movement came out and argued that the public nomination of candidates is fundamental to universal suffrage, citing Article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that “everyone has the right to take part in the government of his/ her country, directly or through freely chosen representatives”. The Central Government in Beijing defended their decision by claiming that they had no obligation to conform to western ideals and standards of democracy.

During the early hours of September 28th, Professor Benny Tai announced that Occupy Central would commence, a few days before it was planned to begin on October 1st, off the back of the week-long student boycott organized by Scholarism and the Hong Kong Federation of Students. This decision was a controversial one, as some of the students claimed that they did not identify with the Occupy Central movement, who they believed were ‘hijacking’ their class-boycott and capitalising on their mass numbers. Many of these students packed up and left, triggering a widespread debate about whether or not the

ellow ribbons are pinned onto the shirts of citizens.

Tents are set up, blocking the busiest roads of Hong Kong. The streets are flooded with a sea of umbrellas. At the heart of the Umbrella Movement lies Occupy Central with Love and Peace, a civil disobedience movement established by Benny Tai, Reverend Chu Yiuming, and Chan Kin-man.

Launched in 2013, this campaign intends to pressure the Beijing Government into granting Hong Kong an electoral system which satisfies international standards of universal suffrage in the 2017 Chief Executive election, as promised under Article 45 of the Basic Law. With the implementation of Deng Xiaoping’s “One Country, Two Systems” constitutional principle came the promise of a “high degree of autonomy” for fifty years. This clause implied that Hong Kong’s judicial, legislative, and executive systems would continue without interference from Beijing for fifty years after the Handover. Although Article 45 of the Basic Law states that, “the ultimate aim is the selection of the Chief Executive by universal suffrage upon nomination by a broadly representative nominating committee in accordance with democratic procedures”, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong is currently elected by a 1200-member election committee, most of whom are deemed “Pro-Beijing”.

In 2007, China’s Standing Committee ruled that

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features aims and motivations of the protesters were aligned, a debate that would last the duration of the occupation.

As protesters spilled onto Harcourt Road outside the Government Complex in Tamar, police blocked roads and bridges leading to Tim Mei Avenue. The police force proceeded to use pepper spray and batons in an attempt to stand their ground, while protest leaders urged more citizens to leave their homes to surround the police. As night fell after a long day of confrontation, riot police marched from Wanchai into Admiralty, holding up red banners that read “Disperse or we fire” and “Stop charging or we use force”. At around 6pm, with the crowd as strong as ever, a round of tear gas was fired, the first of 87 that night. The situation on the streets of Admiralty descended into chaos, and over 34 people were injured. By Monday morning, riot police had been withdrawn, 78 arrests had been made, and the majority of Hong Kong people left aghast at what they had seen unfold on their TV and computer screens. On the same day, September 29, the Hong Kong Bar Association released a press statement condemning “the excessive and disproportionate use of force by the Hong Kong Police.”

On a visit to CIS to talk about Occupy Central, Martin Lee, founder of the Democratic Party of Hong Kong, pointed out that the most distinctive characteristic of the movement is the energy and initiative of the Hong Kong students.

Whereas, historically, the political sphere has widely been considered to be a somewhat exclusive realm of an older generation, the pro-democracy protest, dubbed by many as the “Umbrella Movement”, has seen a widespread mobilisation of the city’s emerging youth.

Notably, the initiative and passion of Hong Kong’s female youth have been core forces driving the pro-democracy protests forward. But while many academics studying the demonstrations believe that young women are playing a greater role in these protests than any other political event since the Handover in 1997, there is still clear underrepresentation of their efforts, as male protest organisers and pro-democracy lawmakers have thoroughly dominated public attention through the media.

However, many are hopeful that the rise in female youth participation will trigger a fundamental change for women in the city’s politics. One such hopeful, seventeen-year-old Agnes Chow, a former Scholarism spokesperson, stated in an interview with Quartz Magazine in November 2014,

that she “believes that one consequence of the Umbrella Movement is that more women will take up leadership roles in Hong Kong’s male-dominated political sphere.”

Many across the world have praised the conduct of the protesters, who have been pictured recycling rubbish, handing out water and food, and doing their homework. Of the focus on organization and discipline, university student Billy Chan commented, “We want to stay clean to show that we are normal citizens fighting for our democracy”. Fellow student Chan Sau-Ching echoed these sentiments, stating, ‘We want to show our citizenship and our will to have a democratic government. Although this cleanup is a small thing, it is something that shows the values that all Hong Kong citizens should have.” The protesters’ ability to defy the expectations that come with any mass protest movement, that is, for chaos to ensue, has impressed the world, leading them to be dubbed as the “world’s most polite protesters”. et many have disparaged the movement, citing economic effects that may hurt Hong Kong’s reputation as an international financial centre. Many have argued that the protests have diminished investor confidence, with HSBC Asia-Pacific Chief Executive Peter Wong asserting, “Some investors who were originally planning to invest in Hong Kong would now say they may wait and see first. This kind of attitude will have a severe

WE WANT TO STAY CLEAN TO SHOW THAT WE ARE NORMAL CITIZENS FIGHTING FOR OUR DEMOCRACY. WE WANT TO SHOW OUR CITIZENSHIP AND OUR WILL TO HAVE A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT.

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IOccupy WISH I COULD SAY Central ultimately boiled down to a class struggleour oligarchic government not sufficiently representing the interests of our people.”

impact on Hong Kong.” In addition, some small business owners have complained that business partners have refused to travel to Hong Kong, while others claim that sales have suffered a major downturn.

Others have argued that the Occupy Central movement has disrupted the day-to-day functioning of the city. Frustrated taxi drivers have staged anti-Occupy protests, holding up signs emphatically stating, “Kick out the road tyrants. It’s my road”, and “Open the roads. Drivers have a legal right to use them.” Their condemnation of the protests lies mainly in the fact that the protest’s disruption of traffic has led to a 40% fall in their business.

Other citizens have argued that emergency vehicles such as firetrucks and ambulances have been forced to find alternative, more time-consuming, roads to access sites of incidents and hospitals.

Discourse regarding Occupy Central has also reached the hallways of the Chinese International School.

Year 10 student Joseph Wan states, “I’m anti-Occupy now after looking at the huge disruption it has caused. The majority of Hong Kong is against it so they should not say that they are doing it based on Hong Kong people’s views.” He continued by saying, “They have blocked several roads in several parts of the city, they have blocked businesses from making money. Furthermore a lot of these little shops are owned by people who live off of the tiny profit the shop makes in a day. Without the business, these people have basically lost the financial pillar that structures their life and family.”

On the other hand, Richard Ding in Year 13 argues, “Here we have a group of people, whom in the face of violence, and at the expense of their own livelihood, have maintained a resilience in opinion and discipline. Regardless of your political stance, the spirit and integrity of the Hong Kong people in protesting is surely commendable, and I wish every yellow ribbon wearer safety and hope, hope that a true democracy can be achieved.”

Addressing the complex nature of the protesters’

motivations, another Year 13 student, Denis Tse reflects, “I wish I could say Occupy Central ultimately boiled down to a class struggle- our oligarchic government not sufficiently representing the interests of our people. However, the reality is that the current situation is much more complex, as it has become a compound of a deep-rooted mistrust in Beijing, a perhaps naive sense of identity- of being more than just another Chinese city- now threatened, and other factors such as the ever increasing socio-economic inequality and the property hegemony, for which democracy cannot act as a miraculous fix.”

On the movement, Chinese teacher Debbie Chan (詹老師) states “I believe that the Occupy Central movement stems from the good intentions of students supporting the ideal of democracy. However, there are flaws in their methods. In pursuing an ideal, one must not hinder the freedom of others. In the Occupy Central period, there were many different people involved, and the scenario descended into chaos. It is a shame.” (“佔中”運 動，我認為學生團體堅持理想，爭取民主，意圖極 好，然而爭取的方法有待商榷。再者，在追求理想 的同時，要以不妨礙他人自由、生活為先要條件， 可惜的是“佔中”時段，參與人士複雜，群龍無 首，場面幾乎失控，實屬可惜。) ong Kong’s pro-democracy protests have commanded the world’s attention, propelling one of its student leaders, Joshua Wong, onto the cover of TIME magazine, and dominating international media headlines. The movement has created an unprecedented rift in Hong Kong society, with colleagues, friends, and family members finding themselves on opposite sides of the debate. Hong Kong people have in the past been criticised for being apolitical, with young people in particular being dismissed for having little interest in current affairs. While the future development of Hong Kong’s political future remains uncertain, we can at least be confident in predicting that this is one criticism which will no longer be heard.

H

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features

WAR OF THE WALLS

WRITERS: STEPHEN LIU (Y12), JEMIMA BARR (Y11) ILLUSTRATOR: MINA SHIH (Y12)

A Commentary on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict

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ver the summer, the Palestinian region erupted once again with conflict between Israel and Gaza. As the story unfolded, your article writers, Stephen Liu (Year 12) and Jemima Barr (Year 11), were horrified by bloody scenes of injured Palestinians in hospital, of the ground rocked in Israeli air-raid shelters and news that rockets were hitting UN-run schools. We were shocked by this most recent outbreak of a long running conflict and wanted to know more about its nature, raising many questions in the process. What really divides the Palestinians and the Israelis?

How do these recent events form a part of the greater narrative of the Israeli-Palestinian struggle? How has the struggle affected the lives and culture of both groups? Finally, what would long-lasting peace look like and is it even achievable?

We were very fortunate to have the opportunity to interview two witnesses of much of the modern day conflict

between Palestine and Israel. Dr Ahron Rosenfeld is an Israeli finance professor living and working in Tel Aviv, Israel’s second most populous city. He was born in 1949, and has seen most of Israel’s modern history and experienced much of the conflict with its neighbours. Mr Raja Shehadeh, is a Palestinian political activist, lawyer and novelist who resides in Ramallah, on the West Bank. Mr Shehadeh is a founder of Al-Haq, a human rights organisation that monitors human rights violations by all parties to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and is also an affiliate of the International Commission of Jurists. He has written several books about international law, human rights and the Middle East, including ‘Palestinian Walks’, for which he was awarded the Orwell Prize for political writing in 2008. The personal insights of Dr Rosenfeld and Mr Shehadeh throw local light on this intractable problem, and give some thoughts on how it may be resolved.

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The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has overshadowed the lives of citizens in the region, not least our interviewees, since 1948.

Mr Shehadeh explains that prior to Zionism (a Jewish nationalist movement that has had as its goal the creation and support of a Jewish national state in Palestine, the ancient homeland of the Jews), people living in Palestine, regardless of religion, called themselves Palestinians and had similar cultures. After the First World War, the Middle East region was divided into “spheres of influence between the British and the French, the two main powers of the day”. A British Mandate was established in Palestine, whose population comprised members of the three monotheistic religions, with Muslims constituting the majority, and Christian and Jewish minorities. The terms of the Mandate were to prepare the region for the establishment of a Jewish homeland.

When the British mandate ended in 1948, the UN voted to divide the area into two states. Dr Rosenfeld states, “The Israeli side accepted it, while the Arab side encouraged its people to flee and join in an all-out war aimed at taking over all the area. Unfortunately, they lost and in the process, many were forced away from their homes by the Israeli army. Many of those who left and those who were driven away have become refugees and kept to these days in refugee camps throughout the Arab countries like Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.” As is still the case, they were never given citizenship in these countries, something Dr Rosenfeld describes as having “no parallel anywhere else in history”. Mr Shehadeh’s family, like hundreds of thousands of other Palestinians, were forced to leave their homes which were located in the state that Israel established on most of the area under the former British Mandate. As Mr Shehadeh remembers: “My father, who was a successful lawyer in Jaffa, lost everything in 1948 and had to build his life from scratch. I spent most of my life under occupation, experiencing wars, military crackdowns, and all sorts of restrictions over the freedoms that are taken for granted in most other countries.” Mr Shehadeh was sixteen when Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967 following the Six Day War. He states this period as “the source of the greatest tension”.

This territory, as well as other parts of the Palestinian region, has remained occupied by Israel, which has prevented many families such as that of Mr Shehadeh from returning to their homes. He reminisces that one of his earliest memories “was looking across the horizon at the Mediterranean coast trying to see the house which my family was forced to leave. This is how I described this in my memoir, Strangers in the House: “We would be walking home in the evening and she [my grandmother] would stop me on the top of the hill before going down the street leading to our house: “Look,” she would say.

“Look at the lights on the horizon.” And she would stand in reverent silence. I stood next to her, holding her soft warm hand, and held my breath as I tried to concentrate all my attention on the lit horizon, imagining what sort of place these lights illuminated…” (p. 4)”. Growing up, Dr Rosenfeld remembers running to shelter during “skirmishes”. He was eighteen and had just completed his high school education in 1967 when he was drafted for compulsory army service. He participated in the Yom Kippur War in 1973 and was an army reservist until 1976, before completing his PhD. After 1948, Palestinian and Israeli culture moved apart even though, as Mr Shehadeh notes, there are still

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some similarities in food, and to an extent, music. The two languages, Arabic and Hebrew are both Semitic, and are therefore very close to each other. Mr Shehadeh describes Israeli culture as being “much more militaristic”, as every member of Israeli society has to spend time with the military: males (three years) and females (two years), after which they are called for a month of annual reserve duty. This is not the case for the Palestinians. Dr Rosenfeld’s view is that any apparent Israeli militarism is a small country’s response to widespread hostility towards it. Dr Rosenfeld believes that a major cultural difference between the Israelis and the Arabs is democratic tradition: “I don’t think that any Muslim countries have any democratic tradition. Israel from its first day has been a democracy”.

It is important not to forget, however, that this conflict is very much still a current event. In the latest stages of the recent outbreak, between 7th July and 4th August, Dr Rosenfeld describes the disruption in the Israeli people’s everyday lives: “anybody living in a range of 40-50 km from the border, which is at least 2 million people, had their lives completely disrupted”. Those living close to Gaza had to go into shelters “sometimes thirty times a day”, he tells us. Ninety kilometres away, in Tel Aviv, “life ground to a halt”. Children had to stay at home, and parents could not go to work. The mood was negative: people were scared and sirens would blare on an average of twice each day, signalling that civilians should go into shelters. The tourist industry was also heavily affected. Theatres and restaurants lost two to three months of income at the busiest time of the year, and factories and electricity were cut off.

Despite much disruption in Israel, Dr Rosenfeld acknowledges that the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were much more adversely affected. Palestinian residents of the crowded eastern district of Shejaiya, near Gaza City, were interviewed by BBC reporter Yolande Knell on the impact of the conflict in their lives, including Suhila Mohamadain, a grandmother and mother of twelve. Suhila Mohamadain describes her family home that took “more than a decade to build… reduced to rubble, and the family’s car, tuk-tuk and fully stocked grocery store have also been crushed”. The majority of the people in the region want peace restored to their lives, as Suhila Mohamadain says, “I don’t want anything but to live in peace”.

Even though the modern conflict has lasted the best part of seventy years, Dr Rosenfeld stresses that this does not mean that the citizens have not, at times, got along as neighbours. He gives the building of a temporary hospital by the Israelis on the border between Israel and Gaza for the treatment of wounded Palestinians, as an example of this. He says: “We have been living together for some time. During this period, there have been long periods of peace, and during these periods, lots of Palestinians lived, studied and visited Israel. We are much closer than we were forty years ago.” Mr Shehadeh differs in this view, stating that “even though the two communities, Arab Palestinian and Jewish Israelis, live in the same small area of the West Bank there is no interaction

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between them except for the Palestinian workers who are given permits to work in the settlements”.

Dr Rosenfeld believes that the main challenges at this point are territorial disputes with the Palestinian Authority. This is essentially a “real estate” issue, he says dryly, and that a negotiated peace with the Palestinian authority would most certainly have to include giving up some land in the West Bank and redrawing the borders there. From Dr Rosenfeld’s tone it does not seem that would be the main issue – a much more sticky problem is the question of Jerusalem. The Palestinian Authority wants to share Jerusalem as a capital city with Israel, something Dr Rosenfeld says is the “unagreeable point” to a large number of Israelis. Jerusalem is considered a holy city both for Jews and for Muslims (and Christians), and it would be very difficult to share Jerusalem in a way that satisfies both populations of differing religions.

Dr Rosenfeld sums up his perspective of the problem, saying that the conflict “begins and ends in religion - and rocks and soil that is considered sacred to both religions.”

Mr Shehadeh touches on the same points as Dr Rosenfeld regarding territory, but adds that Israel also needs to acknowledge the catastrophes inflicted on the Palestinians in 1948, known today as the Nabka, and the “return or compensation for the Palestinians who were forced to flee from Palestine.”

However, Mr Shehadeh also has words for the Palestinians themselves and both populations regarding how peace is to be achieved, adding that “on the part of the Palestinians,” what needs to happen is a “recognition of Israel and its right to exist,” and that for both populations, peace can only be achieved by “forging new relations built on trust, respect for the other and cooperation for the good of both.” This seems to pinpoint the crux of the issue. Israel, a state that was artificially carved out of the then Palestinian Mandate, resulting in a war that displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, may naturally be thought of by the Palestinians as a state that does not deserve to exist. And certainly many more radical groups such as Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad take this view. However, as a more moderate Palestinian, Mr Shehadeh’s words suggest that peace is not about defeating Israel, but rather a question of how both populations can learn to live together harmoniously and with full respect for each other. The Israeli-Palestinian problem is not a problem of who deserves or has the right to exist in the geographical region of Palestine, but a problem of learning how to occupy the same space without conflict.

Could a peaceful resolution to this conflict happen in the near future? We closed the interviews by posing this question to each person. Dr Rosenfeld is quite optimistic, saying that peace has the possibility of happening very soon. He estimates that the Israeli population is roughly split in half, with one side supporting making the necessary sacrifices in negotiations with the Palestinian Authority for peace, while the other half is still resolutely against the terms sought by Palestinians. The current Israeli government’s majority right-wing is opposed to recognising Palestinian historical claims. For example, the Israeli government continues to authorise the building of houses for Israeli settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. However despite all this, Dr Rosenfeld says that peace “could happen overnight, it just takes leaders to make the decisions.” This seems to be one of his main criticisms of the Israeli government, that “we don’t have leadership that is willing to take risks.”

Mr Shehadeh is not as convinced, saying that though he believes peace is inevitable, it won’t happen “in the near future.”

He says that rather than merely local leadership, the international community must to do more to pressure Israel, explaining that, “it [peace] will only come if the civil societies around the world realize that they can help out by taking part in the worldwide campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions which will make Israel realize that continuing with its present policies is too costly and not a possible option.” While the US has exercised its Security Council veto 42 times to protect Israel from condemnation for its actions, mostly in the occupied Palestinian territories, The USA’s most recent intense diplomatic efforts to discuss change with the Israeli government and Sweden’s recent recognition of the state of Palestine may suggest intensifying external pressure for change. If resolution can be brought about, Mr. Shehadeh’s view is broadly optimistic, “once the Palestinians are allowed to exercise their right of self determination and establish a Palestinian state alongside Israel, the similarities between the two people, Palestinians and Israelis, will come to dominate over the differences.” Sadly, the failure of the latest diplomatic efforts suggest that this may be some way off. The UN estimated that in the most recent flare-up, at least 2,104 Palestinians died, including 1,462 civilians, of whom 495 were children and 253 women. 66 Israeli military personnel died, and six Israeli civilians. The Israelis were fortunate to have superior defences, but objectively any loss on either side is too high a price to pay.

What started as a couple of curious questions about a conflict we didn’t know much about, ended with two illuminating discussions and explorations into this region, its people, its history, and its future. These interviews alerted us to both the great need for peace in the world and the hopes and aspirations for peace felt by people on both sides of a divisive conflict.

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this article both by its authors and the interviewees strictly belong to the authors and the interviewees only and do not represent the views of Chinese International School, or the views of all Israelis and Palestinians.

features

The new frontier of science: Overcoming human fallibility WRITERS: CATHERINE WANG (Y11) // RYAN LEE (Y11) ILLUSTRATOR: CHERYL LEE (Y11)

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Let’s face it: As a species, we are weak.

Consider the blunders you make on math tests, the occasional coughs and colds, or the times in P.E when you find it difficult to complete a pushup. The fact is, we’re not as capable as we would like to be. We make mistakes. We get sick, we grow old, we die. We are human, and we are incredibly fallible. But as the frontiers of science advance we are developing ways to overcome these limitations at alarming rates. We must face the question: Can human fallibility be successfully overcome with science? Here we discuss some possibilities.

Exoskeletons - Augmenting human abilities Compared to the lobster, which relies on its natural armor to protect itself from its tough external environment, we are fragile bubbles of flesh. So it’s not surprising that scientists draw the term ‘exoskeleton’ from nature to describe the mechanical muscle suits that humans can wear to augment strength. Exoskeletons are essentially outer frameworks that are mobile machines to be worn by people, and are used primarily to enhance strength or facilitate movement.

Power exoskeletons, as seen in endless sci-fi war movies and video games, refer to the types of exoskeletons that can be used to make the wearer stronger. Though they are not exactly the Mechas of Elysium, powered exoskeletons are capable of enhancing the wearer’s strength and endurance through a system of motors or hydraulics. For instance, US corporation Lockheed Martin’s Hulc, a hydraulic exoskeleton, provides soldiers with the ability to carry loads of about 90kg on the field. Company Raytheon’s XOS 2 exoskeleton is

also capable of performing impressive feats such as punching through three inches of wood and for being flexible enough to allow users to play football.

Apart from their obvious use in combat, exoskeleton technology also has applications for other fields. Health care workers dealing with elderly patients, for example, could help transport them, while manual laborers could use them to help speed up work. Recently, researchers in Tokyo have successfully built an exoskeleton ‘muscle suit’ that can help the wearer lift, quite effortlessly, loads of 40 kg at a time.

Power exoskeletons are augmenting basic human abilities and changing our perceptions of our limits.

Another specific type of exoskeleton are those designed to provide mobility assistance for the infirm and disabled - that is, empowering people to walk again. Take

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the Brain Machine Interface Exoskeleton, for example.

Brain Machine Interfaces are digital platforms that enable the brain to communicate with external devices such as computer programs or machines. The typical Brain Machine Interface exoskeleton suit, as pioneered by Duke University Scientists, relies on a simple sequence of actions. First, as the user imagines the outcome, sensors attached to the machine turn brain activity into a series of electrical signals for the exoskeleton to process. After a quick confirmation with the brain, the exoskeleton completes the movement and provides sensory feedback for the user. The process is very quick, with each movement taking less than 3 seconds to complete. Other basic exoskeletons include the ReWalk, which relies on basic motors to help those with spinal cord injuries stand up straight and walk, and is commercially available for patients. Scientists are aiming to develop exoskeletons which are integrated into clothing and that are more flexible. Maybe in the future, we could all be fitted with an exoskeleton to make us stronger!

Misdiagnosis - the cost of making mistakes To err is human. But when it comes to medical practice, these errors can come at immense costs. At the forefront of human error in the medical field is the prevalent, somewhat unsavoury issue of misdiagnosis. Misdiagnosis is exactly what it sounds like: the incorrect diagnosis of a disease. It can be caused by the error of the clinician in interpreting a patient’s symptoms or pathology tests results, or in the technical procedure of the pathology tests themselves. Misdiagnosis can lead to fatal consequences for the patient - left unchecked, initially benign diseases can quickly spiral out of control. In addition, misdiagnosing can work the other way around; treating conditions that are mistakenly thought to exist can lead to serious effects on the patient.

However, misdiagnosis is being countered with several developments in science and technology. For instance, researchers at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) in the U.S have developed cutting-edge technology that can successfully screen human blood for disease markers. This tool may hold the key to better diagnosing and understanding today’s most pressing and puzzling health conditions, ranging from cancer to autoimmune diseases. The new technology could potentially not only

save time, but also be much more accurate than the original process.

In addition, more novel technologies are being introduced. Take the ‘eNose’, an electronic device capable of telling different chemicals in the air. Researchers have successfully differentiated between prostate cancer and its benign form by analyzing the air above a urine sample.

The team says the results from the eNose are comparable to those from clinical tests and could be used as a fast, easy solution to help clinicians diagnose the correct form of prostate cancer. In another study, a group of researchers used an e-nose to detect particles known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the exhaled breath of 106 children, all of whom had asthma or wheeze. The team was then able to identify the varying symptoms of the children. Things are smelling good.

Robotic surgery - Increasing precision and reducing impacts In surgery, too, medical error can be devastating. According to research done by John Hopkins University and published in the scientific magazine Surgery, surgical errors occur more than 4000 times a year in the United States. In terms of casualties, the overall picture is not much better. Approximately 225,000 people in the US die every year. If not treated or dealt with properly, these mistakes usually lead to temporary and permanent lifelong injuries or even death. Human fallibility in surgery accounts for many deaths worldwide. Although it is difficult to prevent such mistakes, we can reduce the chance of such unfortunate occurrences with new technology.

Vast technological advancements have been made to combat this trend and to reduce the potential impacts of inevitable human fallibility. Since we rely on technology in many aspects of our lives, it is no surprise that methods are now being enhanced via digital means.

The da Vinci robotic surgery system Robotic surgery greatly reduces the time and errors committed by professional medics. These types of systems allow surgeons to operate with just a few small incisions, and also provides a three-dimensional viewing system.

Also, tiny wristed instruments that are capable of bending and rotating at angles greater than a human’s capability increase accuracy when working on the required area.

The system is designed to be an advanced and capable extension of the human hand. So how does that work? Well, comparing it to laparoscopic surgery, which only provides a one-dimensional view of the human body, a larger incision is needed if there are any obstacles preventing a clear view of the structures inside. A 3D system would provide a forwards, backwards, left and right view. The increase of the depth of field allows the surgeon to perform tissue dissection and stitch wounds more accurately and efficiently. In addition, compared to traditional surgery, robotic surgery is less painful, reduces the amount of blood loss and the chances of infection and allows a patient to recover fully faster.

So what does all this mean for the future of medical treatment?

It means that we have more methods of solving a patient’s problems, and that we have opened the gateway to a future of automated surgery. In the future, we could have computer systems for surgical cases: we will need less manpower for managing patient data. Also, computer systems could save time, and would be more accurate than previous models.

By harnessing the power of computer systems and their accuracy, more lives can be saved.

redirected to a healthy muscle in the body. The signals travel to the muscle, initiating a separate action received by the brain (such as a chest muscle contraction). The electrical signals are then detected by the electrode and used to provide control signals for the prosthetic limb.

Powerful, isn’t it? This can change the way people control their prosthetics. By making use of mental activity, one would only need to think about the action for it to be executed. According to a study by Nature Magazine, one patient successfully used brain activity to serve herself coffee after 15 years of paralysis with the Braingate Neural Interface system. This shows us how neural interfacing is critical to restoring independence and mobility by using the human brain to control one’s actions in a three-dimensional space, no matter how old the patient is, or how long the system has been implemented into the patient. It is also a way to train the mind of the patient for future usage of the limb.

So what does this mean for people with lost limbs?

The convenience and capabilities of this technology allows a person to control the power of the prosthetic so that they can perform day-to-day tasks normally. Many people may be looked down upon by the more fortunate, since they are missing a critical body part, and they are constantly misunderstood due to a lack of visual aids. Our hands are a vital form of communication, and they are also an important part of who we are and how we see ourselves. Evolution of prosthetics will allow people to adjust to their new lives even quicker, become more independent and less reliant on other people. Finally, adjustment to mechanical aids also tells us that we have to embrace the reality, and that there is no escape or hiding from it. Prosthetics also allow people to be more happy and productive as a result of the things that they can do once again. They can strive for the goals that they had previously thought unable to achieve and complete, and pursue more of their personal interests and hobbies.

In many ways, exoskeletons, advances in the field of misdiagnosis, new surgery methods, and the developments of prosthetics complement each other. They work in conjunction to help society with overcoming human fallibility. Science has always been about research and development, and has a great ability for healing. With continuous developments in the area of science and technology, we can properly consider the potential uses of these machine in future applications. Who knows what is to come in the future?

Can human fallibility be successfully overcome with science?

Prosthetics - Fusing human and mechanics together Prosthetics are artificial devices which are widely used to replace missing body parts, which may be lost through trauma or abnormalities before birth. They are very valuable due to the ability and capability to restore most functions of the human hand, and increase the tasks that can be done by assisting with movements of major body parts. For example, a person can have his ability for running or feeding himself restored if he has lost limbs or was born without some. It reduces the inconvenience of attempting day-to-day tasks and provides people with a powerful aid for mobility and flexibility.

Modern-day prosthetic limbs Our everyday movements are controlled by our brain, the most powerful part of our human body. The brain sends electrical commands down the spinal cord and through the peripheral nerves to control the muscles. However, how do scientists manage to restore the connection between the brain and the artificial limb to achieve wonders? That is the ultimate question.

A new type of neural-interfacing, TMR (Targeted Muscle Reinnervation), aims to connect those two elements together. It allows the limb to communicate with the brain via nerves. First, the amputated nerves are 63

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features

老有所依讓長者活得有尊嚴 WRITER: RYAN TSE (Y12) ILLUSTRATOR: MICHELLE WU(Y12)

今

年初香港基督教女青年會進行了一個「 公共交通工具讓座文化」調查，結果顯 示在1100位受訪者中，近4成的長者在 過去一星期外出時無人讓座。不止如此，問卷結 果更揭露了幾個現象，包括： 1.長途車較少人讓座 2.貌似年輕的長者較少人讓座 3.大部份長者不知道何為優先座 4.長者時常被拒絕讓座

負責調查的人員表示不少長者因為無人 讓座而放棄遠行，間接限制了他們正常的社交生 活。他們更指出這次調查的結果反映出社會上個 別人士的敬老意識薄弱，不理解及體諒長者日常 生活中的不便及不適。

香港社會正面臨一個嚴峻的人口老化問 題，據香港政府預測，65歲或以上的人口將會在 2041年由現時的百分之13增加至百分之30，扶養 比率也由現時的6:1(即6位在職人士扶養1位退休 長者) 激增至2:1，而人口的壽命更延長3.9歲至 4.1歲不等。不得不承認的是，長者是動用最多 社會資源的一個年齡層。由於他們失去工作能 力，因此他們被迫依靠子女的收入，綜援及養老 金生活。除此之外，他們日漸衰退的身體狀況也 增加了他們的醫療開支及對安老服務的需要。黃 伯伯從前生於大家庭，每天都有7名傭人悉心照 料和14名兄弟姐妹為伴，長大後成家立室，妻子

與子女都對他敬愛有加。可是好景不長，數年前 妻子病逝，子女又相繼移民，只剩下黃伯伯獨自 留居香港。由於所住的大廈已經相當殘舊，大廈 立案法團更不時要求黃伯伯繳交幾萬元的維修費 用。為了應付這筆龐大的支出，黃伯伯只好在其 他方面節省生活開支，包括只乘搭有長者優惠的 交通工具，以及每天都只光顧大家樂、美心等快 餐店。

其實黃伯伯的個案只是冰山一角，社會上 生活比黃伯伯更艱苦的長者大有人在。令人擔憂 的是，漢基的學生似乎對這個社會問題缺乏關心 與認識。當然，某些學生積極參與和熱愛公益運 動，但絕大部份的學生都對這些熱門社會話題不 感興趣，或者參與義工活動時並沒有真正與弱勢 社群溝通，瞭解他們的需要。更令人驚訝的是， 現今的中學生中竟有人認為長者為社會及自己帶 來了不少負擔，卻漠視了長者們年輕時為社會 作出的貢獻，足見這一輩缺乏對長者的關懷與體 諒。不止如此，不少學生認為長者囉嗦，思想與 時代脫節，因此逃避與長者溝通，形成了一個加 深代溝的惡性循環。不幸的是，這個問題已經逐 漸延伸到年輕人與祖父母之間的溝通中。

雖然身為學生的我們暫時無法緩和或解 決人口老化的問題，但我們可以略盡綿力，藉著 給予長者一點關懷與尊重，讓長者能夠“老有所 依”，有尊嚴地度過晚年。 64

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香港蘋果 專賣店內外 的買賣風景

WRITER: JUSTIN NGAI (Y9) ILLUSTRATOR: SIERRA CHIAO (Y11)

现

在这个年代，能召集大量人群聚众的除 了大甩卖，名人表演和什么大型的派对 以外，就只有新鲜东西的亮相了。最近 iPhone 6 在不同的国家和城市首次登场，引起 大量的果粉们来预购和订购。香港也是iPhone 6 首发的城市之一。正因如此，很多在自己国家不 能第一时间拥有最新苹果手机的人便纷纷涌来香 港。于是，香港的苹果手机店门口便出现了一道 奇怪的买卖风景线。 此风景线在香港铜锣湾和国际金融中心的 苹果产品专卖店内外便能看到。店里面是铺天盖 地人山人海，他们争先恐后抢先登记或是领货， 但店里最新苹果手机却寥寥无几。这种常会被认 为是非常正常的供不应求现象，货源跟人们的预 订不成比例。然而店外不到几十米的地摊却有一 堆崭新的iPhone6，机多人少，形成了一种奇怪 的对比。

店里的情况不用多说，发挥一下想像力 就能轻而易举地猜到是什么样子。人群排着长 龙，店里人流已控制不住，每天几十来部进货 便已经算得上是非凡的进度了。店外的情形可 就意想不到了，十几、甚至二十几个人打开行 李箱蹲在路旁边，每个行李箱里都有十几部国 粉们盼星星盼月亮，想盼也盼不到的iPhone 6 。看不懂中文的外国人走过去，以为这群小贩 在助人为乐，免费代购苹果手机。其实他們只 猜对了一半，這些人是小贩，不是替他人免费 代购的。这些“神秘人”有的立了个硬纸板的 牌子，上面写着 “高价收购iPhone 6” 。原 来如此，但他们要这么多iPhone6 手機干什么 呢？ 其实这些人就是俗称的“黄牛”。他们 在苹果专卖店外徘徊着，当一个因没有订到最 新款的iPhone而感到失落的人低着头从苹果专 卖店走出来时，这些“黄牛”就会扑过去满腔 热情地询问是否有购买iPhone 6 的需求。但 是，当你确定向他们购买iPhone 6时，他们报 出的价格会让你却步。他们收购手机时，价钱 会比原机的公開价格多三、四百到七、八百块 不等，但他们卖出时却会高出上千块。就以 64GB版的iPhone 6为例，香港官方网上出售价 码是6388港元，有些黄牛们的报价却是7800港 元，高出整整1400多港元。如果他们一天能售 出十几部手机，一天就会赚一万多港元，而且 是不用交税的。 但是往往人算不如天算。赚钱真的么容 易吗？有些倒卖iPhone 的贩子真的便“I疯” 了。郑州一位男iPhone 贩弄巧成拙，大量收 购新款的iPhone。但因未及时售出，最后因赔 掉了一百多万跳楼身亡。正所谓偷鸡不成蚀把 米，不但本钱没有赚回来，连生命都给赔上去 了！ 真的是有人欢喜有人忧！而引起这些状 况的根源又是什么呢？有人怪罪苹果公司，为 什么没有选中国为首发国家，纵然中国拥有世 界最多的果粉。 但也有人怪罪中国政府，为 什么迟迟不正式宣布苹果iPhone6正式登场中国 的日期？而是让黄牛们猜测，倒腾，增添人间 悲剧呢？ 其实果粉们，“I疯”们，他们又为 什么对新的iPhone6如此执着呢？难道提早握住 iPhone6就能光宗耀祖，成为明星吗？

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features

A

Merciless FIST “You’re only given one little spark of madness. You mustn’t lose it,” Robin Williams once said. Williams’ spark was no mere flame, it was a forest fire spreading and warming the world. Unfortunately, Williams, the man who brought laughter and joy to millions, lost his spark earlier this year after a long battle against his inner demons.

WRITERS: HANA DAVIS (Y12), SAMANTHA CHEUNG (Y13) ILLUSTRATORS: SHEILA ZHANG (Y11), ISABELLA CHON (Y13)

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R

obin Williams accomplished much in his 40 year career: in fact his filmography has its own lengthy Wikipedia page. As an actor and a comedian, Williams was known for his fast-paced, improvisational comedy and for his Academy Award winning performances in films like Dead Poets Society and Good Will Hunting. Williams can rapid fire slip in and out of dozens of characters, as if his mind were filled with a limitless amount of brilliant ideas.

However, Williams spent much of his life fighting his inner demons. He checked in and out of rehab facilities many times. In 2006 Williams told interviewer Terry Gross that he had experienced depressive episodes, but said that he had not been diagnosed with clinical depression or bipolar

disorder. He also discussed his struggles with addiction and substance abuse. “Do I perform sometimes in a manic style? Yes,” Williams said.

“Am I manic all the time? No. Do I get sad? Oh yeah. Does it hit me hard? Oh yeah,” he said at the time.

It’s a melancholy fact that Robin Williams is not the first and will not be the last cherished performer taken from our world by depression and suicide. This begs the question: Why do the hyper creative, celebrity types seem more susceptible to depression and as a result, suicide?

When trying to numb their emotions, many people turn to alcohol or drugs.

They temporarily ease your pain, but also bring about another problem addiction and alcoholism. After Williams’ death everyone wondered: 67

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How could someone with so much - fame, adoration, wealth, a family, plenty of work - fall into a pit? How could someone do that to their family? The answer is simple, no combination of the aforementioned factors lead to insurance. Some suggest that the hectic ups and downs of the lives of people in show business add to the emotional unbalance. Another contribution to the high levels of celebrity depression is the fact that an actor knows how to act, an actor knows how to play happy, whereas someone who isn’t an actor will find it harder to hide their true emotions. Once after coming off stage from a cheering audience, Williams said, “Isn’t it funny how I can bring great happiness to all these people, but not to myself ?”

Depression, which affects

features over 350 million people globally according to the World Health Organization, is thought to be the result of interacting biological, environmental and social factors. The word “depression” is tossed around casually, but in reality the condition can be quite debilitating. People with clinical depression exist beyond the realm of sadness. In fact, they can feel numb to the world and often become lethargic and lose interest in people and activities that formerly brought them joy.

Unfortunately, suicides due to depression are not uncommon, and are the main cause for around two-thirds of reported suicides. A large factor that contributes to this large number is the lack of diagnosis. Only one third of patients receive treatment, as depression is commonly dismissed as temporary sadness.

However, clinical depression is far from simply feeling down from time to time. It affects a person’s daily activities, and impacts their perceptions of themselves and the world, and can be debilitating. For example, Robin Williams, though able to put on fantastic performances, would come off stage deflated, only a shadow of the version of himself that the world saw. Weakness and flaws in character are commonly associated with depression, a social stigma and stereotype that prevents a lot of victims from voicing their illness and from seeking treatment.. In fact, studies show that 43% of patients hide symptoms of mental illness from their doctors due to the fear of having their employers and peers finding out.

A prime example of this stigma prevalent in our society and even in government is the debate of the Purple Heart, which is awarded by the US military to soldiers for their sacrifice in battle, discussed in Michael Sandel’s Justice. The Purple

Heart was only awarded to those who were physically wounded in battle, but not those who were mentally affected, However, if the purple heart was meant to honor the virtue of sacrifice, why is a physical sacrifice rewarded and a mental one not? Though around 300,000 veterans have been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which has the symptoms of severe depression and suicide, it does not qualify for a Purple Heart, despite the fact that psychological disorders can be far more disabling than physical ones. The official reason for this is that mental disorders are not intentionally inflicted by the enemy.

Tyler E Boudreau, a former Marine

Depression doesn’t separate the sheeps from the goats. It is a merciless, looming fist that cannot be bargained with.

Captain explains that this is because the “military culture bears at least a quiet contempt for the psychological wounds of war”. Society’s perception that mental illnesses can be prevented with tough-mindedness fail to see that clinical depression is a serious illness that, like other illnesses, need to be treated and cannot simply be ignored or dismissed as “the blues”.

People living with mental health problems are often portrayed as deranged, uncontrollable and even wild in films and other forms of the media. Regarding the movie A Beauti68

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ful Mind which suggests that patients can go off medication and rely on willpower, Dr. Adelaide Robb of Children’s National Medical Center in Washington states that “people who are highly intelligent cannot just will away psychotic symptoms.”At times, the media portrays the mentally ill as resilient and capable of recovering without help. On the other hand, the media portrays people with mental illnesses as nearly deranged, hearing voices in their heads or imagining doors slamming themselves shut - nearly animalistic. It is intriguing yet saddening to see that characteristics of psychopathy, such as antisocial and merciless behaviour, have been somehow confused with those of mental illness. A major milestone in the progress of mental health awareness would be to see the media and various art forms embracing a holistic depiction of people suffering from mental health problems; the distorted representation of such people cloaks mental illness with mystery, making it seem more distant and detached from humanity.

Maybe, someday, we’ll realize that suffering from mental health problems is nothing to be ashamed of in a fastpaced, stressful, sometimes unforgiving society. The social stigma attached to mental illness and the lack of discussion in schools and communities hinders the flow of positive dialogue about seeking help. Governments, merely by putting mental health on its health and education agenda, will cause a trickledown effect, where youths in schools will be exposed to and be able to discuss the issue of mental illness in a safe, supported environment.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 2 new cases of mental illness occur in the U.S. every second of the day

– that’s around 60 million new cases each year. Besides, mental illnesses do not discriminate.

People of any age, gender, ethnicity, and economic bracket can be susceptible to mental illness.

It is easier to disregard a person suffering from mental as opposed to physical illnesses merely because the former is inherently less conspicuous. Consequently, there is a disparity in how much of the health budget is allocated to mental health, ranging from 0.53% to 5.10%, with 2.8% as global median. These staggeringly low figures hint at the lack of treatment and insufficient counselling services available to those who seek help. As aforementioned, it is the government and society’s responsibility to educate younger generations on mental health.

Just as succumbing to chronic illness isn’t someones fault, there is nothing humiliating or degrading about falling victim to mental illnesses.

Cancer, diabetes, and heart disease: the three “big killers” that

governments seem to invest so much resources into. Ironically, mental illnesses are more common than any of the three. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, an estimated 23% of American adults or about 44 million people suffer from a mental disorder in a given year. As for children, no less than 20% are affected by mental illness each year. While it might take years upon years to tackle social stigmas associated with mental illnesses it is and perilous to push aside something that is affecting so many of us. It is of paramount importance that society dismisses the negativity surrounding mental illness and removes its preconceptions of people living with mental ilness.

Support for recovering mental illness patients should be one of the priorities on a government’s health agenda after all, what is a fruitful life without a healthy mind?

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Depression does not separate the sheep from the goats. It is a merciless, looming fist that cannot be bargained with. It does not care how wonderful your life is or how many people you’ve touched. A darling of the world, Robin Williams seemed to have it all: He was adored by millions, loved by family and friends and had fame and fortune. But it didn’t matter, because someone suffering severe depression cannot feel the joy and satisfaction that comes with even the best things in life. As a society, we need to hear these collective cries for help and take depression seriously as a public health issue.

We should not define Williams by the disease he eventually succumbed to, instead, we should honor him as the man who lit up our days and warmed our hearts.

As Obama eloquently put, “He arrived in our lives as an alien but he ended up making us laugh and making us cry.”

features

DATA violat ion The Big Data Boom - Who Wants To Know About You? WRITERS: HANNNAH HUI (Y11) ILLUSTRATORS: MICHELLE WU (Y12), KELLY LUY (Y12)

Imagine a world where your every move on the internet is tracked. Everything you do is recorded, an omniscient digital force gradually and constantly collecting a comprehensive database about you, keeping every single chat log, every picture you’ve ever sent somebody, stored in a server entire continents away. Your information a commodity, your number, email address, real-life address, and shopping habits are all things that we unwillingly hand over to companies.

That world is no fantasy. This is the reality that internet users face today. It is too easy to forget that “... the internet has a dark underside, one that is hidden deep beneath the alluring glow of our monitors and screens”.

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The issue of Digital Privacy is one that is frequently brought up in day to day conversations— we are constantly told that when something is up on the internet, it can never be deleted. Your digital footprint is an evergrowing, never-dwindling collection of photos, words, videos that can be accessed by various companies (and those willing to dig deep enough) at will.

By gaining the right to connectivity, do we lose the rights to privacy? Is the issue of digital privacy actually as serious as it is made out to be? What can companies actually do with the information they gather? What rights do we have to that information?

How exactly do companies collect this information? Sometimes, you’re forced to give up this information in exchange for a service, unaware of the repercussions that may come with it. Some websites have craftier methods of extracting even more information— most people know the cookie only as some sort of technological jargon that they’d rather not get involved with. Every time you access a new website, an ID is created in your browser that corresponds to a big database full of cookies.

Cookies are conceptually harmless, and are what allows the browser to do things such as remain logged into a site after signing in, and remember the language preference of the user— cookies are what helps websites remember you. This makes things convenient on the users end as they do not have to sign in and tweak their preferences every time they enter a site. In theory, cookies can only be accessed and read by the site that created the cookie in the user’s browser. However, advertisements that you see on websites actually originate from a different website, meaning that two cookies are created as opposed to one: One for the website you intend to view, and one for the website that hosts the advertisements. The latter is called a third-party cookie. Different sites can display advertisements from the same host, which means that the third-party cookie will be modified often. Much like persistent cookies, third-party cookies can do things such as monitor and track your browsing history, your shopping habits, your interests and key search words you’ve used. This allows them to flood you with advertisements that you’ll find relevant and interesting, which

helps companies turn a profit.

Sometimes, interest based advertisements aren’t that bad. For example, Amazon may recommend the movie adaptation of that book you just viewed. The problem begins when other sites begin displaying things based on information you didn’t actively give them—it’s borderline invasive. This kind of marketing is called Behavioural Targeting, and is the centre of much discussion. To top it all off, since third-party cookies can be stored externally, websites can sell and buy this information, making money from your interests. Your personal details, spun out into dollars— according to the McKinsey Global Institute, as of 2012, the data industry made 300 billion annually, and employed 3 million people in the U.S alone.

You might not be too surprised to hear that the sites you use constantly record your activities— does that not mean anything? That society is so desensitized to the blatant violation of privacy? The age-old phrase “whatever you post on the internet can never be deleted” is not a lie told to you by adults to make you think twice about what you post—websites really do keep absolutely everything you tell them. In 2011, Austrian student Max Schrems asked Facebook to send him a copy of his data.

He received a CD with every message, like, unlike, friend, unfriend, photo, and video he had ever posted on the site. The fact that this data was on record wasn’t surprising—what was surprising was that deleted content was there was amongst the data. Facebook retained this information even after Max had deleted it. Max says that by keeping this data even after the user deletes it, Facebook is acting like “the KGB or CIA.”. An even more shocking account of what companies can do with this information comes from Malte Spitz, a German politician who sued his carrier for access to his records from August 2009 to February 2010. He received a CD full of raw data- his whereabouts at certain dates, his movement throughout the day, when he made calls, to whom he made those calls, is all retained by the carrier. With that information, governments can control their societies because they know the habits of their society. Malte says that “today, state agencies and companies want to store as much information as they can get about us, online and offline. They want to have the possibility to track our lives, and they want

The age-old phrase “"whatever you post on the internet can never be deleted“"“ is not a lie told to you by adults to make you think twice about what you post.“ websites really do keep absolutely everything you tell them.

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Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the world, thanks to the rise of computers to store them for all time.” This is something akin to an Orwellian novel, where every single move we make is tracked and recorded— Malte says that “just because companies and state agencies have the possibility to store certain information, they don’t have to do it.”

He most certainly has a point.

However, it isn’t just big corporations and data companies that are capable of accessing your data. In early 2014, a security vulnerability called Heartbleed scandalized internet security, as researchers discovered a security vulnerability in a commonly used web encryption system that had been exploitable for over 2 years. It was estimated that around two thirds of the internet was vulnerable as a result of this flaw. Hackers could exploit the bug to obtain vital information such as passwords and usernames, instant message logs, email addresses, and even credit card numbers.

The ramifications of Heartbleed are unimaginable. Two thirds of the internet was left wide open and for the taking by those willing to get their hands a little dirty. Thankfully, the vulnerability was quickly fixed after news broke of Heartbleed’s existence. Most services and sites utilizing the encryption software issued statements to customers, telling them to change their passwords quickly, and repaired their own versions of the software.

Digital security is still a young sector. The sad thing about the digital world is that there are so many vulnerabilities to exploit.

The internet will never be rid of these vulnerabilities: new ones are constantly being discovered. This is where hackers come in.

What comes to mind when the word “hacker” is used? A youth dressed in a generic grey hoodie, hood up and hunched over a keyboard, tip-tapping away at the keys at a pace mind-bogglingly quick, perhaps, committing acts of cyber-vandalism and causing all sorts of mischief and discord? That would be what is referred to as a black-hat hacker, hackers who hacks for personal gain and malicious purposes. Black-hat hackers do things ranging from crashing or destroying entire sites and removing data to stealing data. User data is even sold by black-hat hackers on a sort of black market: forums that are parts of the internet underworld. Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the world thanks to the rise of computers, giving people the ability to do things such as make purchases under your credit card number. There have been countless high-profile data breaching cases over the years, with millions of usernames, passwords, and credit card information being leaked in the process. Then, there are people whose work involve stopping breaches before they even occur.

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The unsung heroes of digital society, white-hat hackers, find vulnerabilities in software and report them to the manufacturers of the data, allowing them to patch the flaw and remove one more vulnerability from the piece of software.

These white-hat hackers are hard at work to keep users of the internet safe from data exploitation.

However, there are still many things users can do to keep themselves safe. Never use the same password or username for two different accounts. Change your password once a month. Enable two-factor authorization, which adds an additional layer of security on top of your password, such as a mobile number, for all sites and services you use that support it, and press the sites and services that don’t support two-factor authorization to support it.

Don’t use common passwords, such as qwertyuiop and

123456. Try your best to stay away from unprotected WiFi, as hackers can use free tools to intercept data. Take care to avoid malicious software— if a site seems suspicious to you, leave it immediately. If you play your part in the digital security game, your chances of being a victim fall dramatically.

The internet is still a relatively young invention.

It is confusing, murky, and it is dangerous, and yet, it is hard to imagine a world without it. It has made the world smaller, more accessible, and has created new careers for a new generation. It has ushered in a new age of possibilities, but it has also brought with it many new issues.

There will be wars waged for digital self-determination and individuality in our lives, and we will be the ones to fight them.

1. Never use the same password/username for two different accounts 2. Change password once a month 3. Enable two factor authorization 4. Avoid common passwords 5. Stay away from unprotected Wi-Fi 6. Stay away from suspicious software

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TMYSTERIES: features

ODAY’S

TOMORROW’S

SOLUTIONS?

WRITERS: MEDHA GOYAL (Y12), SEAN MENG (Y8), RACHEL LAU (Y9) ILLUSTRATOR: ALISON WONG (Y11)

“After all, how often do we get a second chance?”

ready put the death toll at over 5000 of the 14000 people infected so far.

Lack of experience, weak health care systems and scarce resources in the hardest hit countries in West Africa propagate the disease. Working in conjunction with the World Health Organization (WHO) the Liberian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has done its best to set up clinics to treat solely this disease. However resources remain inadequate. While one of its clinics, Island Clinic, was set up with 120 beds, it often has to work with over 210 patients at a time. Doctors often lack the necessary experience, which the WHO has attempted to remedy by sending teams of Ugandan health workers with 14 years of Ebola-specific experience to Liberia to work alongside their doctors. In order to increase the number of workers the clinic can treat, the United States’ Center for Disease Control and Prevention has also set up a laboratory to attempt to accelerate the process of making clinical decisions. While patients have received great international aid, the risks are high for the doctors as well. The WHO estimates that since the beginning of the outbreak in Liberia, approximately 200 caretakers have been infected, and about 100 of those have passed away as a result. As a result of fear for a fate similar to these 200, there have been cases in West African hospitals in which nurses used lethal drugs to kill their patients in fear of being passed the disease. To identify possible infection as early as possible, doctors and nurses are continually monitored.

asks author Jay Asher in one of his books. Indeed, chances are hard to come by, and it is hard to predict when you will need them. In the past year, the unpredictability of life has been made undeniably clear with a series of unfortunate and seemingly random events all over the globe that have sent the world into shock. This March, 239 passengers boarded a plane in Kuala Lumpur expecting to land in Beijing, only to go off the radar completely. An additional 283 passengers were similarly lost when leaving Amsterdam in July. In the same month West Africa was struck by an outbreak of Ebola, a deadly virus that has stolen the lives of thousands.

And in an event on a much smaller scale, gun instructor Charles Vacca was shot dead in August by his 9-year old student while teaching her how to operate a firearm.

All these events seem to have occurred completely out of the blue, yet were they inevitable or could they have been predicted and prevented? And after they occurred, is there a second chance to make our future right?

Let’s first look the most prolonged of these events - the Ebola epidemic. Ebola was first discovered in 1976 as the result of two outbreaks, yet today’s situation is considered the most severe in world history. Over eight countries have been affected by this deadly disease, hitting hardest Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. In fact, as this article goes into print, TIME magazine has al74

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centers in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia, and to ensure that the healthy living in affected areas are regularly monitored for the disease. Representatives have been sent to more backwater areas to educate people on hygiene so as to prevent them from contracting Ebola.

The situation is far from ideal, yet perhaps with sustained foreign medical aid, greater health education on the importance of hygiene, and a continuous effort towards finding a cure, we do have a second chance at resolving this crisis.

Now a far more unexpected event: the accidental shooting of firearms instructor Charles Vacca by his 9-year-old student at Last Stop Shooting Range in Vegas. While teaching her how to shoot an Uzi, Vacca helped his student in holding the gun. After they fired shots together a few times, he finally let her handle the Uzi on her own. However, telling her family later that the gun was too strong for her, the recoil effect of the gun pushed her backward, and caused the shot to fly up. And of all the places the bullet could have landed, it hit Vacca straight on the left side of his head.

While the victim of this incident is clear, the culprit is less so. The girl was not blamed for her inability to control the gun; in fact Vacca’s children even wrote her an open letter showing that they understood the situation and bore no animosity. Because this was what was called an “industrial accident” no charges were pressed. The instructor and unfortunate victim was not blamed either; he was simply doing his job, and was not considered to have been negligent. The girl’s family had only good intentions taking her to the shooting range; the only place they had anticipated their daughter’s bullet would land was on a target, not on someone else. Finally it was completely legal for the girl to have been shooting the gun, for Arizona does not have an age restriction for handling of firearms.

With no clear takeaway from this event, it is difficult to pinpoint the mistake, and prevent further such occurrences. We could blame the parents for failing to foresee possible consequences. While we should not avoid all activities that carry risk, perhaps the parents should have put greater weight on this as a possible risk? Yet at the

Though Ebola has remained away from the global eye for several decades, it does not seem to have been dormant. World Health Organization (WHO) records show that minor outbreaks in pockets of Africa have occurred about once or twice every year since 2000. Except during a period of 10 years when the only incidence of the disease was perceived in animals, the infection has repeatedly affected different human populations since first recorded in 1976.

Because Ebola has had a sustained presence on the global population for several decades, we cannot say the current spread of disease was wholly unprecedented.

However the scale at which it occurred has never before been seen, to such an extent that when the outbreak first began in March 2014, many severely underestimated its reach. Now that most of a year has passed since then, one would think we would have thoroughly addressed the problem now, identifying and sealed off troubled areas, yet this disease keeps us second guessing. For a time, Mali was thought to be free of Ebola after a toddler died of the disease in October, yet another case was reported some time later, and we had to reconsider Mali as being affected.

Our helplessness in the face of this epidemic is only highlighted by the fact that in addition to being unable to predict or prevent this massive outbreak of Ebola, there is not yet any cure. To relieve the situation WHO has been working to provide hospital beds and treatment

The situation is far from ideal, yet perhaps with sustained foreign medical aid, greater health education on the importance of hygiene, and a continuous effect towards finding a cure, we do have a second chance at resolving this crisis.

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features

IT IS UP TO US

TO DECIDE WHETHER TO TIGHTEN CONTROLS, GIVE GREATER THOUGHT TO THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR EVERYDAY ACTIONS, AND TO PROTECT OURSELVES MORE KEENLY IN ORDER TO MINIMIZE LIFE’S RANDOM LOSSES, completely out of our grasp. Perhaps it is a combination of the two.

And to top off our series of unfortunate events, a great pair of tragedies that occurred this year were the Malaysian Airline crashes. The disappearance of the MH370 in March, a plane from Beijing to Malaysia carrying 232 adults and 7 children, sparked worldwide fear and confusion, as specialists from all disciplines tried to understand why it flew off route, and where it crashed - or hopefully landed. Perhaps the shock was augmented by the lack of salient plane crash coverage in the past year. Despite months of heavy investigation, the plane crash remains a mystery. As if this wasn’t enough, another Malaysian plane, the MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, crashed on July 17 near the Russian-Ukrainian border. American intelligence claims overwhelming evidence that the plane was simply caught in the middle of conflict, unfortunately shot down by pro-Russian separatists. Russia, on the other hand, denies these claims in totality and believes that Ukrainian nationalist forces shot down the airliner.

This succession of events was particularly shocking as both planes were from the same company. Was this a pattern that indicates something about Malaysian Airlines? Or was this simply the result of two isolated incidents? And finally, who is to blame? Families of German MH17 victims attempted to sue the Ukrainian president for negligence as he had failed to prevent such an event.

Yet Malaysian Airlines has come under fire - no pun in-

same time, perhaps they had never heard of such an incident nor known of that a gun could be so difficult for a child to handle. We could blame the law for not restricting a child’s use of firearms. The instructor could have chosen a safer job. Perhaps the use of firearms should not be legal at all. The list of what could have been is endless, and there is no absolute as to what is right.

Debate has raged around the world regarding the causes of this event and what would be appropriate consequences. Some have argued that laws should not be affected; there are benefits children can get from shooting a gun, for they will have better hand-eye coordination and protecting themselves. Some have replied to this asking whether children should live in a world where they have to be so scared of being attacked that they have to carry a gun around for protection? Others take this further, asking if the laws that allow citizens of the United States guns is justifiable. Even whether the event was predictable or completely out of the blue is controversial.

Clearly the public views are conflicting, so perhaps we can take from this event only the reminder that human life is a result of many factors that are often out of our control. It is up to us to decide whether to tighten controls, give greater thought to the consequences of our everyday actions, and protect ourselves more keenly in order to life’s random losses, or whether to take our chances with the knowledge of potentially fatal consequences, and simply treasure each day knowing that what happens is

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OR

WHETHER TO TAKE OUR CHANCES WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF POTENTIALLY FATAL CONSEQUENCES, AND SIMPLY TREASURE EACH DAY KNOWING THAT WHAT HAPPENS IS COMPLETELY OUT OF OUR GRASP.” tended - for not altering their route to avoid Ukrainian airspace, which other Asian airlines had done since early March. So perhaps it was their responsibility to prioritize the safety of their passengers over the efficiency of the route, or the convenience of a familiar route. While we are still unsure of the causes of the first crash, would it be possible that negligence on part of the Malaysian Airlines made it easy for its plane to be hijacked, or for its machinery to malfunction, two of the many theories offered for its off-course trajectory? Could the Malaysian Air company have modified their plane models or improved their management to prevent further accidents?

In examining these three events, we posed a lot of questions, and yet seem not to reach any answers. General trends are difficult to find. And we cannot even determine whether we could have predicted the deaths or whether they were completely unprecedented. All we can do is see each event in various dimensions.

Some say that the parents could have reflected more on the idea that it was unsafe for a 9 year old girl to be handling a powerful weapon. Some say that we should have some common sense as to knowing what is safe and what isn’t and that in many cases we have the ability to predict the future based on the information we have. As for the outbreak of Ebola: if people have been continuously infected by it for decades, couldn’t we argue that we should have a cure by now? That these countries should know what to do about it and that the WHO should have had a much more effective plan of action? These ideas are

not wrong, but maybe we are too distracted by the status quo to anticipate the occurrence of unprecedented events.

Knowing only what we have seen, can we be blamed for not predicting the unknown? Or it could be that, as might have been the case of the Malaysian airplane crashes, we had asymmetrical information? Only the staff of the company knew of the risks, and that passengers were uninformed as to the potential dangers. In that case is it their responsibility to reveal them? o if everything seems up in the air - again, no pun intended - can we derive any concrete conclusions from this? After all, the majority of us at CIS have not been directly affected by the crises: some of us may know someone affected, however we are alive to read this, so we were almost definitely not physically there. Regardless of our involvement in causing the problems, our apparent futility in resolving them begs the question: if we cannot change the past events, why should we take note of their causes and consequences? Could we do anything to prevent such events in the future? Well after thinking about it for a while, here’s how I see it: while we don’t have the answers to today’s mysteries, that shouldn’t deter us from asking more questions, because even if we don’t reach any conclusions that can help prevent crises in the future, at least we will know we have considered as many factors as we can. Then perhaps, in the absence of a second chance, we can forgive ourselves with the thought that we have attempted to better our futures by interpreting the mysterious tragedies of the present.

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LOL :

no longer a laughing matter WRITERS: JIMIN KANG (Y12), HANNAH JONES (Y12) ILLUSTRATORS: WENDY WANG (Y7), SHEILA ZHANG (Y11) PHOTOGRAPHER: BYRON LEE (Y12)

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elcome to the 21st century, where fast communication has begun to ingrain itself into our daily use of language. Who needs a wholehearted, belly-shaking laugh when you’ve got LOL? ROFL, if need be? Who has the time to explain all these things IRL? Say hello to the quick, constantly-changing language of a vast part of today’s youth: text language.

It’s something we’ve all seen and perhaps even used ourselves: students at CIS receive a fair share of exposure, notably through our extensive usage of social media when communicating with our peers.

However, the rise of this new language also has its fair share of skeptics. While mourning civilized written language and ‘damning’ technology and ‘lazy’ teenagers, many non-supporters accuse text language of causing everything from destroying the sanctity of the written language to lowering children’s literacy. If anything, they see text language - or ‘alien language’ - to mark the beginning of linguistic decline, a case that illustrates the true fallibility of human civilisation.

But is this really the case? Whether or not these accusations are true is a contention that remains relevant for debate. But if there’s anything we could ask to start gauging the answer, we must first ask the experts: how do linguists and non-linguists alike view the advent of this ‘alien language’?

But more importantly, should we fear it?

First of all, let’s establish a quick foundation as to what text language actually is. By definition, it is the collection of slang and abbreviations commonly used in electronic communication media such as social media, email or messaging. It is generally characterized by the replacement of full words by shorter counterparts, often consisting of the absence of consistent punctuation (were and shes instead of we’re and she’s), single letters or digits in place of words (such as h8 for hate), or the full abbreviation of terms (such as TBH for to be honest). Text language started with early mobile phone messaging when texts were limited to a certain number of characters and mobile phones had small keypads that were difficult to type on. Those features of early mobile phones encouraged users to use abbreviations and slang to make communication more convenient. However, even as our means of communication have become more conducive to non-abbreviated, formal language, texting language still remains common for reasons ranging from convenience to the desire to display internet-savviness.

There are a couple of common arguments frequently given by those who oppose this new form of language, many of which state that it ruins our language skills.

When the sixth edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (OED) was published in 2007, to

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the horror of some the dictionary had removed hyphens ever, others believe that text language simply reflects our from 16,000 words, replacing words such as cry-baby to languages’ natural states of being, or, to go even further, crybaby, leap-frog to leapfrog, and pot-belly to potbelly. that texting actually bolsters the importance of language The editor of the OED, Angus Stevenson, stated that a for our youth. reason for this change was due to typers’ neglect of the American linguist John McWhorter argues that hyphen as they “no longer have time to reach for the ‘what texting is, despite the brute mechanics of somehyphen key”. thing we call writing, is fingered speech’, meaning that ritics of this change have not been quiet. In an text language isn’t alien but a natural extension of what article published online, Welsh author John Humwe use to communicate every single day. According to phrys described text language as “pillaging our McWhorter, texting shows us how the lines between the punctuation, savaging our sentences and raping our written and spoken language are often blurred. Our ways vocabulary.” Although it is a harsh comparison, Humof speaking and writing, however much they revolve phrys makes it clear that he sees text language as a force around the same words, phrases and emotions, are starkly that is gradually eroding the proper usage of punctuation different: whilst the former is expressed in batches of and limiting our use of sophisticated vocabulary. After fewer words - seven to ten, according to McWhorter all, when text language serves to stay true to convenience, the latter is expressed in longer sentences and carefullyusers prefer shorter, more common words as opposed positioned punctuation. For us, living in a society where to flowery synonyms. Humphrey writes on to express his we are constantly required to use both means of comdiscomfort at how texters use “increasingly obscure ways munication, we tend to blend the two depending on of expressing themselves”, more specifically his disapconvention; this, in turn, allows us to speak like we write, proval of ambiguous and confusing abbreviations used in or write like we speak. For example, politicians often give grammatically incorrect sentences with no punctuation. speeches that sound like writing to retain the eloquence Abbreviations can also devalue the worth of emotion: and carefulness that is captured within text, which is by brushing aside the effort needed to wish someone a important in order to maintain an aura of professionalwarm birthday by using a meagre ‘HBD’ (which, believe ism. If that is so, then why can’t our teenagers text in the it or not, people use more often than we want to believe), abbreviations frequently serve as cheap ways of fulfilling the social obligation to responding to others. Because typing out a three-letter phrase takes significantly less time than writing out sentences on your appreciation of someone’s survival from their birth to the present today (and maybe the memories you may have made in between), busybees who only get to check their phones whilst on the move are more likely to send off a quick messages conveying what otherwise could have taken several sentences to say, as opposed to fully writing out those sentences themselves.

But how does this phenomenon affect our youth? A study conducted at Penn State University in 2012 showed that “tweens” who texted frequently in text language performed poorly in grammar tests. Researchers claimed that this was caused by how text language hinders their subjects’ ability to switch to and from normal English and text language. This certainly sounds like the type of news that parents obsess over and cause them to turn paranoid when spying on their offspring wielding a mobile phone. What good does texting do, if it does any good at all?

In spite of these arguments, how79

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gosh, i’ve been so tired lately.

way they would naturally talk to their peers if this would allow them a stronger sense of intimacy? If, in speech, we neglect the particularities of punctuation and speak in sounds, not letters, then it is natural for us to translate this manner of communication into everyday texting.

Another argument McWhorter makes for text language revolves around the nature of language as a constantly changing form that adapts itself to new circumstances. Language will not remain and never has remained the same. If we look at language on a general level, we see that it has evolved over the years thanks to communities that added their own conventions to everyday speech and writing, in the same way fables change over time. One can find a clear example in McWhorter’s book What Language Is: in Middle English, the word ‘apron’ was, in fact, ‘napron’ from the late 12th century up to the 14th and 15th centuries. It was only when people began saying ‘a napron’ did the term become ‘an apron’. Thus, we see that change is natural and that we add our own meanings to new things. In a similar sense to the example above, text language finds new ways of expressing the same things: a clear illustration of this idea would be the substitution of ‘-ate’ sounds with the digit ‘8’. et another way of looking at text language as a development of standard language is by considering how it adopts common features of communication into its own medium. Let’s look at pragmatic particles (phrases or parts of phrases that contain implicit, inferred meanings). Pragmatic particles are used in conversation to transmit subtle social cues because, after all, communication is social. For example, the phrase ‘It’s cold in here’ is pragmatic because firstly, it implicitly serves as a request to close an open window, and secondly because it reflects the fact that the speaker is not in a socially ‘higher’ position. The advent of text language

Y

lol, me 2.

means that, to a certain extent, terms such as ‘LOL’ which stands for ‘laughing out loud’ - have become pragmatic particles too. Let’s say Lily texts Peter saying, ‘our teacher rly can’t teach, it sux.’ Let’s say Peter responds with a ‘lol, ikr’. Although there is nothing hilarious about a teacher who cannot teach - in fact, it is a rather dismal prospect - Peter insists on using ‘LOL’. John McWhorter believes he knows the reason why: to him, ‘LOL’ has become a marker of ‘empathy and accommodation.’ Peter is using ‘LOL’ not because he finds the teacher’s teaching ability particularly worthy of a giggle, but because he wishes to convey subtle meanings of mutual understanding and shared social position to a peer.

In this manner, our use of text language is testimony to our own contributions to language and how we naturally absorb everyday conventions into other means of communication. Rather than see this as vandalism of language, perhaps we could see it in a more positive light: perhaps this adaption of language may also serve an educational purpose.

This is where other experts - generally academic and educational experts rather than linguistic - come into the conversation: many believe that text language has not only increased children’s ability to develop translation, interpretation and recognition skills, but also given us the opportunity to put our language knowledge to good use.

David Crystal, a professor of linguistics at the University of Wales, believes that ‘children could not be good at texting if they had not already developed considerable linguistic awareness’. He claims that studies from Coventry University (UK) show that there exists a direct correlation between one’s use of text language and success in standard English among pre-teenage children.

He explains this phenomenon by claiming ‘texters’ need a strong grasp of how letters are linked to sound, how alternative spellings work, and how the successful usage 80

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of purposeful abbreviations such as ‘BRB’ require empathy and social awareness. In order to text, you need to first get your head around how language works and how you can mold it in a way that would still remain comprehensible to the wider population. In order to understand a text, you need to recognize such conventions and interpret configurations of letters with a strong foundation in sound, lexicon and syntax. ranted, a skeptic may argue that if a hefty part of a child’s language learning is based upon textspeak, he or she may easily be confused about what the standard conventions actually are. If, from a young age, you are led to believe the usage of ‘ur’ can be interchangeable with ‘you’re’ and ‘your’, then what would stop you from switching between the two in ordinary communication? To counter this kind of argument, one only needs to step back and see texting as part of the larger picture of language exposure: when trillions of texts exist among conventionally written material, and when studies show that less than 20% of all texts actually contain text language in the first place, unless the child finds him or herself living under a rock, it cannot be assumed that a child’s grasp of language will inevitably be distorted. After all, teenagers and non-teenagers alike still understand that there exists a stark distinction between conventional language and text language, and that the circumstances that determine the appropriateness of either differ greatly too. Hence, it can be argued that a wider ‘safety net’ exists in society that ensures text language and standard language are kept apart. But this is for the most

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anxious of skeptics - as discussed before, the presence of texting has allowed mankind to explore the realms language has to offer. The existence and popularity of texting itself has given the youth plenty of opportunities to challenge limits and traipse around in their playground of words, and if this isn’t a good place to experiment with the written language, the question is, then where?

At the end of the day, perhaps this ‘alien language’ we call ‘text language’ isn’t so alien after all.

What’s more, perhaps we don’t have to run away from the sudden descent of its UFO. Yes, text language is often confused with conventional language, leaving many of us fretting over the literacy of our future generations. Yes, perhaps ‘LOL’ serves no justice in conveying the whole-hearted, belly-shaking laugh a great joke deserves. Yes, perhaps spelling and punctuation are oftentimes left shivering in the dark, dark cold; yes, language is fallible.

But no, this isn’t always the case. And no, text language is certainly not killing what we know as standard convention. Text language allows us to witness the natural evolution of language, whilst its technology gives us plentiful opportunities to take part in the revolution. It allows us to become cognizant of how our written and spoken languages are inseparable, how we understand our speech through sound, how we can translate empathy into our own novel terms and how, above all, we can experiment with the wonderful, beautiful, capricious and mysterious world of language. & isnt that gr8?

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E

DUCATION

A Powerful Weapon Against Human Setback WRITERS: CORDELIA LAM (Y12), CHRISTINA LI (Y10)

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n popular lore, problems are almost always solved overnight or in a flash. In fairy tales, the princess trapped in a towering castle is rescued by a knight in shining armor, who charges across a rapidly-disappearing drawbridge to extract her from danger. Throughout the Batman franchise, the villains plaguing Gotham are defeated one by one by none other than the Caped Crusader himself, arriving on the scene in his gargantuan vehicle only to drive away in what seems like a split second with his nemesis already promptly dealt with.

In reality, however, nothing is ever that simple. Problems are complex and interconnected, and are rarely ever solvable by a formula. In fact, forget the knight in shining armor entirely! In a world faced with a plethora of difficult problems like poverty, disease, and other strife, there are no quick fixes. However, an oft cited solution to a multitude of social issues is education. In conversations about topics as far apart as gun control and disease prevention, gender discrimination and world hunger, education is frequently lauded as the answer. Why does education hold the key? How can it as a broadly encompassing term mean one thing for some people, and another thing for so many others? It is worth exploring education in the context of both developed and developing society, to better understand it as a problem-solving tool.

Education in Developed Society The concerns that citizens fortunate enough to belong to a “developed society” have in mind can be loosely boiled down to priorities like personal fulfillment, financial security, and professional advancement, give or take a few others.

Generally speaking, most aspirations of those in the “big city” (or at least busy suburbia) involve getting or maintaining a job of some kind, thus being able to afford a comfortable lifestyle for the self and, hopefully, a family. In societies where everybody converges on the same small list of priorities, education emerges as the “key to success”, promising good prospects and contented lives for those who get it, and who get it good. Unlike in developing societies, education is less a form of salvation and progress than a tool for enrichment and advancement. Sound, well-rounded education is the basis of intellectual thought and discussion, and is a stepping stone to the advancement of our thinking. On top of this, it is also the tool that grants us a competitive edge.

Sometimes, it even appears that we can’t get be educated enough! Every summer at CIS, hundreds of students flock to camps and institutions around the world to bone up on science knowledge, creative writing skills and mathematics mastery, jam-packing their summer schedules until the lines between “vacation” and “academic year” fade into obscurity. It is admirable that even outside of an academic context students exhibit such keenness to absorb knowledge, but one cannot help but question the absolute purity of the motives behind such ambition and thirst.

While education breeds intellectual maturity and growth, it also brings with it competition in the form of an intensifying, almost stifling phenomenon: the use of education and the institution as a gauge for intelligence, competence, and, further down the line, employability. A Georgetown University study projects that by 2018, 63% of job openings will require postsecondary educational qualifications. Education is clearly a powerful “weapon” to have on your side, and the benefits of higher education especially, appear to compound rapidly. It is evident that the developed world craves education just as much as the developing world, just for slightly different reasons. What represents hope and progress in poorer, economically and politically unstable countries brings the same sense of aspiration and advancement in more sophisticated society, but in a more professional, competitive sense.

Sound, well-rounded education is the basis of intellectual thought and discussion, and is a stepping stone to the advancement of our thinking.

How effective is education?

With this in mind, just how effective is education in moulding us as citizens and future leaders of the world? Do we know what we need to in order to properly navigate our society? It is not uncommon to hear professors, experts on television, or even our own parents, chide us for being uninformed, or even apathetic about current events. But why should we take all the blame?

Traditional educational frameworks, like the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE), have historically come under fire for being too knowledge-heavy, forcing students in the system to become reliant on memorization techniques to perform well on exams. This year, in response to criticism about archaic vocabulary words and other weaknesses, The College Board announced the launch of a new SAT Reasoning Test in 2016 that will abolish antiquated words and feature real-world examples. This change will alleviate the hours students waste memorizing obscure, multisyllabic vocab words, and will discourage students from making up essay examples on the fly.

The thinking abilities of students are often called into question too. According to a 2013 survey by the South China Morning Post,just 32 percent of DSE students see themselves as having the ability to think analytically. With a knowledge-based curriculum comes the task of dedicating tremendous efforts to retaining large volumes of information, which is no easy feat as we all know. Before leaping to deride students for their lack of awareness about current affairs or even the structure of their own local governments-- which albeit should be common and assumed knowledge-- perhaps consider the nature of a secondary school curriculum which often binds them to their desks working through the syllabus. Digesting the contents of a biology textbook whilst finding time to dissect the long and convoluted timeline of the Syrian Civil War, for example, takes a great deal of skill, not to mention finely-tuned time management down to a science.

Having said that, curriculums cannot shoulder all the blame. A possible side effect of the easy access to education that exists in developed countries is that it becomes taken for granted. CNN reported that in 2006, after more than three years of combat and nearly 2,400 U.S. military deaths in Iraq, nearly two-thirds of Americans aged 18 to 24 still could not find Iraq on a map. While CIS students are by no means insular, there is certainly the risk of an assumed trust in the school syllabus to cover all bases of knowledge, which is naive and frankly, impractical. We are better off with a wise conscience, acknowledging that our school education alone is not enough to inform us of “everything we need to know”. Education is limited in that it is not the beall and end-all of learning; it is very much on us as students to investigate the world around us!

features

Education in Focus: Underdeveloped Countries Education in Focus: Underdeveloped Countries “Education is the single best investment countries can make towards building prosperous, healthy and equitable societies”. (UN Global Education First Initiative) Arguably, the problems that developing nations face are more numerous and difficult to combat than those in developed societies, fundamentally because of the relatively smaller wealth of developing nations. Thankfully, the fix-all effect of education certainly does not skip developing countries; in fact, it works visible magic! There is a tangible relation between it and the eradication of poverty. According to UNESCO, “if all students in low income countries left school with basic reading skills, 171 million people could be lifted out of poverty”. What education provides is an understanding of the building blocks of the modern world, and extends beyond basics like language and maths-- it teaches the critical skills necessary to approach problems and engineer solutions, thus better enabling people to provide for their families. The success of education in reducing poverty also transcends entry into the job market. Generally, educated people become more conscientious members of society. What education provides is an understanding of the building blocks of the modern world, and extends beyond basics like language and maths-- it teaches the critical skills necessary to approach problems and engineer solutions, thus better enabling people to provide for their families. The success of education in reducing poverty also transcends entry into the job market. Generally, educated people become more conscientious members of society who are ready to harness knowledge and innovation to grow the economy. A study by the Department of Economics at the University of Oxford concludes that in rural Ethiopia, education greatly improves agricultural output by raising farmer efficiency and increasing the propensity to successfully adopt innovations. As the saying goes, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

The positive relationship between education and

disease prevention is undeniable, and perhaps the easiest to conceive. Those with low literacy and little to no educational background find it difficult to process directions from physicians, to understand prescriptions, and to navigate the health system for access to services. It is no myth that diseases spread most quickly in impoverished, underdeveloped areas, and the devastating outbreak of Ebola in West Africa particularly spotlights how important health education is.

The Ebola virus is transmitted through contact with an infected patient’s bodily fluids, but the virus is often mistaken to be airborne.. The infection can be controlled through recommended protective measures like early seeking of treatment, the safe burial of infected bodies, and the basic first step of careful hygiene! However, local authorities face misinformation, widespread fears, and stigma among residents, as panic surrounding the disease has escalated to the point of violent paranoia.

In September, healthcare workers in southeastern Guinea were found dead with their throats viciously slit after trying to educate locals on the risks of Ebola. Clearly, a move towards disease prevention and better healthcare for all is not possible without a heavy integration of comprehensive health education that is tailored for the cultural specifications of the region. One cannot exist without the other.

It seems almost fantastical that the answer to so many deep rooted, interwoven problems lies with education.

It’s no secret that developing countries have more than just deep seated poverty to overcome in order to join the ranks of their developed counterparts on the world stage, and the unfortunate reality is that the perplexing issues facing them today are entangled in a chaotic jumble-- one cannot simply overcome them one by one. Matters like poverty, gender inequality, child mortality, and disease are linked in an adverse chain of dominos; the eruption of one inevitably leads to the outbreak of another. However, education presents itself as a healthy, encouraging solution that attacks problems at their roots, instead of simply hacking haphazardly at their stray branches.

“While education breeds intellectual maturity and growth, it also brings with it competition in the form of an intensifying”

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“EDUCATION

POWERFUL WHICH YOU CAN USE TO

CHANGE THE WORLD.” -NELSON MANDELA

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t is amazing to see the difference between what education means for one portion of the world and what it means for another. In developing societies, education extricates communities from adversity, propelling them in the direction of stability and growth; in the developed world, education refines and polishes, but also has the propensity to incite fierce competition, and sometimes even the omission of current affairs and thinking skills outside of school syllabus. Despite a discrepancy between the meaning of education in dif-

ferent contexts, one truth emerges, and stays constant throughout. Education is imperative, but it must also be good. Good in that it inspires hope and faith in progress through reason, but also in that it instills a love of learning, and desire to keep “looking outwards” and keeping abreast of contemporary issues. There is no room for skepticism about the promise of education in overcoming human setbacks-- as Nelson Mandela said, “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

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hangzhou

社区冷暖 还

WRITER // PHOTOGRAPHER: VICTORIA NGAI (Y10)

记得那是一个阳光明媚的下午，但外面的阳光却无 法照进杭州市社会福利中心的社区。走在静静的走 廊里，我的心非常沉重。看着老人们一张张目无表 情的脸，我们都显得有点不知所措，只好按照事先计划好 的，给老人们献唱一首《茉莉花》。他们也开始了有所配 合，有的拍手，有的还跟着一起唱。但是喜欢唱歌的我却一 点也兴奋不起来。

我看着他们，慢慢进入了沉思。他们的动作那样缓 慢，笑容也那样无欲无念，无忧无虑，但我发现他们脸上的 每一道皱纹却仿佛都在述说着一个个动人的故事。是的，他 们也有年轻的时候，也有浪漫的岁月；像我们现在迷恋歌星 一样，他们的心也曾经追随过那个年代的风云人物。他们也 是妈妈，爸爸，曾经是家里的顶梁柱，每天风风火火，上班 下班，养活一大家子。现在老了，病了，就应该被遗弃在这 个连阳光也照不进来的角落吗？

“来，来，来...” 突然，我隐隐约约听到了身后一 位老奶奶的声音。我回头一看，原来是个两眼闪着点点泪 花，正在把颤颤巍巍的双手伸向我的老奶奶。我连忙去接她 的双手，下意识地回应了她。她好像我外婆！也许是离家这 87

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么多天的思乡，更也许是不想让 这位奶奶失望，我慢慢地把脚步 向她挪进...

就这样，我们聊了很久， 虽然大部分的时间我只是在点 头，而且杭州话我也听不太懂， 但是从老奶奶渐渐展开的眉锁 间，我看到了从屋外反射进来的 淡淡夕阳。我们终于要走了，我 有点不舍得刚认识的那位奶奶， 但我更不愿回头去望我们离去后 她的模样。老奶奶今天一定会睡 得很香，因为她见到了好久好久 没去看她的“小宝贝”。

回学校的路上，我又陷入 了沉思。早已立志要当医生的 我意志更坚定了，希望早点发明 医治阿尔茨海默氏症（老人痴呆 症）的药，那这些老人们就不用 那么受病痛煎熬了。其实，他们 的人生经历和工作经验，又何尝 不是我们丰富的资源呢？中国人 不是有句古话“姜还是老的辣“ 吗？我更觉得他们的子女也需要 医治，他们得了冷酷病，无情 病，但这些病症又有什么药物可 以治疗呢？恐怕连华佗转世也会 束手无策的。

hangzhou

INTERVIEW:

COACH MENTORS WRITER: VICTORIA NGAI (Y10) PHOTOGRAPHER: INGRID TSANG (Y10)

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JEAN YAP

oach mentors play a tremendous part in our lives here are CISHZ. Many of us have mixed feelings about them, but that’s mainly because we don’t really understand their job. These 2 interviews give us an idea about what being a coach mentor is like, and how it really feels.

Jean Yap Q: What brought you to CISHZ? A: Mr. Pratt! In the summer, he told me about this Coach Mentor position and asked if I was interested. That time I’d just finished University so I didn’t have any plans for the future, and this job sounded like one where I would be able to learn a lot. I also wanted to contribute, since there have been a lot of people in older years who influenced me, and I wanted to be one of those people.

I wanted to have a job that was meaningful... that had a meaningful way of saying thank you to the school that I came from.

Q: Be honest, how does it feel to work with kids our age?

A: It’s not that hard. I have two siblings who happen to be one year older and one year younger than you, and I’ve been working with them for a long time. Of course, I don’t treat you guys like I treat my siblings. For example, if I wanted you to get off the couch, I would say “Can you please get off the couch” instead of “Get your bum off the couch!!”.

It’s very interesting to work with people your age, because I came from the same school, and I’ve had to do a lot of the things that you need to do, so it’s interesting to see your journey through the lens of having been there.

Sometimes, you guys are very annoying to work with. I heard how some people were saying that the children they had to work with for IDE “won’t stand in a circle, and I have to tell them an instruction a million times before they do it, and the moment I get them in a position they run away.” That’s kind of how you guys are with a lot of things as well. The level of it changes, but there is the element of “Where’d they go?”

But otherwise, it’s very much fun, you guys are starting to form ideas, and some of it is very creative. It’s really interesting to see how you guys are forming as young adults and how your personalities are growing at this stage, because this is so pivotal.

Q: What skills have you developed from being a CM? A: To sleep through screaming, there’s a lot of that in the girl’s dorm. *laughs* For me one of the things that I’ve had to develop is to find the line between being fair and firm, but not distant or overly harsh.

Another skill I’ve had to learn is speaking less but getting other people to speak, in other words to facilitate discussion. I’ve always been a person with lots of ideas - I love to share, but as a CM, I’ve had to pose a question and try to get the answers out of people.

Q: What would a normal day for a CM look like?

A: Is there ever a “normal day” for a CM? I don’t think any two days have been the same.

The general structure is, I wake up at about 6:30, the 88

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same time as you guys, and I probably open the tech box. Then I’ll go to breakfast, because if you guys are expected to go to breakfast, then I think I should go with you, to be a role model. Then, after breakfast I go back to bed for about an hour. I do that because my day extends and I’m more busy in the afternoon. Sometimes I have a meeting after I wake up. It tends to be that certain days I will have a lot of meetings, and then I’ll go to lunch, and I’ll have some activities, and then I’ll go to dinner. So, my day is all in place. Some days I will help in Mr. Karena’s class, and Mondays I run 口 语课 with Lin Jun. Sometimes, between meetings and classes I have pockets of empty spaces where I’m doing my admin work and reading manuals or doing one-onones.

Q: Your life here in 3 words A: Welcoming, unpredictable and loud.

Q: Describe a memorable moment A: There are a lot. A memorable moment was when Katherine had to write 75 lines, and she had to do 3 of them. For me that’s a highly memorable moment, just

Thebes Law Q: What brought you to CISHZ? A: Around this time last year I was entering my final year of university and like any responsible prospective graduate, I had no idea what I was going to do after. After fluctuating between blind optimism and straight up freaking out, I was lucky enough to get in touch with Mr Pratt through my good friend and exCISHZ Coach Mentor Yohei Tse. I spoke to them in depth about CISHZ, and it became clear that this was an exciting and challenging new project. I knew I wanted to live in China at some point in my life, not just to get better at Chinese but also to get a better understanding of Chinese society, and education is also something I find interesting. So by April everything was set and now I’m here!

Q: Be honest, how does it feel to work with kids our age?

A: There are definitely staff members far more qualified in asserting this, but working with you guys makes me feel... old. I think this points to the real transformative process that occurs between our (relatively) small age gap.

Q: What skills have you developed from being a CM? A: Patience and appreciation comes to mind, considering the fact that I am working with a group of young men whose capacity to frustrate and delight are in equal measure.

Q: What would a normal day for a CM look like?

A: I think it is probably more appropriate to speak of a ‘normal week’, but if I were to aggregate it all it would probably go something like this. It begins with a strong but ultimately fruitless effort to wake up for breakfast, then actually getting out of bed for meetings about this and that here and there. I also sit in to assist or teach some lessons of my own, whilst afternoons are often filled with sports, community and service, and/or general moving about.

During family time at night, we chat as a dorm about how our day has gone and write our logbooks.

Q: Your life here in 3 words A: Rewarding, unpredictable and entertaining.

Q: Describe a memorable moment A: When we found the Brick Wall of China.

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2014

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meri

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WRITER: FRANCESCA LI (Y13) ILLUSTRATOR: SHANE YEUNG (Y12)

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negative public opinion of the President, the mid-term elections give people an opportunity to vote for the opposition party, making them the majority and making it more difficult for the president to pass laws. Also midterm elections are usually used as a forecast to see which issues dominate the following presidential elections.

Back in 2012, Romney ran his campaign built on the assumption that the poor economy would deny Obama a second term. Even though the unemployment rate was at 8%, Obama’s approval numbers were still in the high 40s. Fast forward to 2014, unemployment has gone down to 6%, but in mid-October Obama’s approval ratings went down to a career-low 43%.

In both 2008 and 2012 the elections were heavily influenced by the youth vote. For example In the 2012 elections, the youth vote proved a decisive difference in important states such as Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio, where Obama won at least 61% of the youth vote. A study by the Research and Information on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts suggests that if Rom-

very four years, in the month of November, people take to the voting booths to vote for a presidential ticket. In 2012, over 57.5% of those eligible vote turned out to vote, making it the highest turnout percentage since 1968. With the upcoming 2016 presidential election, possible candidates are coming out the fray, political parties are building up their ammunition and ****. At the moment, many are frustrated with the gridlock that is present in Congress. This has created mass disillusionment and public distrust of the Government, and has had a detrimental effect on the general public’s opinion of Obama in his past two terms. The 2016 elections should mark a moment of change, a shift from cynicism and scepticism to a feeling of optimism in the general public, as a new presidential ticket spearheads the country, and has the opportunity to mould the path of the country and create fundamental change.

Since the elections for the House of Representatives happen every two years, there is always a mid-term election in the middle of a president’s term. If there is 90

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ney had won half of those voters, he would be president today. With the youth vote playing such an important factor in elections, it is important that candidates strategize to rally the youth.

Typically, millennials are progressive and often more left-wing. In 2008, we saw youths flock to Obama with his flashy campaign, wide use of social media and mass celebrity support.

In past elections, the role social media plays in election campaigning has increased. According to a study by the Center of Responsive Politics, Republicans rely on direct mail to spread their message, whilst Democrats use social media.

Politicians are directing their social media campaign much as businesses conduct social media marketing strategies. Through social media they can provide content for their target demographic/voter and encourage them to share their campaign message. Also, the immediacy of so-

cial media allows politicians to quickly determine popular reaction to different issues.

IMPORTANT ISSUES FOR 2016: 1. Climate 2. Immigration 3. Economic recovery from recession 4. Government spending and national debt 5. Same sex marriage 6. Healthcare and the continuation of Obamacare 7. Gun control As of November 2014 no candidate has officially announced their run for the 2016 presidential election, however with the 2014 midterm elections over, the political sphere is prepping for its next presidential elections. Like most elections there will be some surprise candidates, however 2 years prior to the elections there are already some heavy-betting favourites.

DEMOCRATS

REPUBLICANS

Hillary Clinton

on the nation.

Since Obama’s re-election, eyes have been on Hillary Clinton, who has always been a long-assumed candidate for the democratic ticket. She previously ran in 2008, losing the ticket to Barack Obama. However, she went on to serve as Secretary of State. Clinton is best described as a political power player who is familiar with Washington.

Many believe that Clinton will most likely win the democratic nomination in the 2016 presidential election.

Jeb Bush

Elizabeth Warren Unlike Clinton, she’s unabashedly liberal and appeals to the democratic masses with her populist rhetoric that repeatedly attacks Wall Street. Warren offers close comparison to 2008 Obama, yet she isn’t a politician: she’s a reformer.

Martin O’Malley A devout Catholic who has taken controversial and liberal views on marriage equality, gun control, death penalty repeal, decriminalizing cannabis and legalizing medical marijuana. O’Malley’s chances heavily depend on Warren; if she runs, he’ll have clear competition for being the most progressive, and if she doesn’t, he’ll have a clear identity. However in 2016, O’Malley might not appeal when Obama fatigue is weighing heavily

Part of the Bush dynasty and former Governor of Florida, Bush is experienced in governing on a large scale, tapping into fundraising wells, and has the leanings of being the middle-man of the party. Most importantly, Bush is an immigration reformist and could be a possible olive branch to the Hispanic community.

Ted Cruz Tea party favourite known for his conservatism, he would gain the support of the Republican’s far-right group.

Chris Christie Plain spoken and conservative, this tea party member who has been plagued by scandal. Yet, he has an outsized fundraising ability and is the head of the Republican Governors Association, which ought to give him a reasonable platform to start from.

Even though the Republicans won the majority in the 2014 elections, historically, midterm results, tell us relatively little about the coming presidential campaign.

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editorial

TOK - WHAT WE THINK IT IS WRITER: CUTHBERT CHOW(Y12), RICHARD TENG(Y12) PHOTOGRAPHER: MIRIAM FINNEMORE(Y12)

T

at knowledge claims - an assertion that we know something - and analyse their validity. Now, most importantly to the students of CIS, how is this course assessed? There is both an externally examined essay and an internally graded presentation. The exact matrix used to convert these grades and the rubrics that they are marked against can be found in IB resources but the ToK numerical grades are converted into a single letter from A to E. Standalone, this letter means nothing, but in terms of grading it is put into a matrix along with the letter grade received for the Extended Essay, which is another assessed piece of writing akin to the Personal Project, and a number grade out of 3 is pulled from this matrix.

Borrowing a phrase from the Theory of Knowledge subject guide, ToK is “knowing about knowing”. It involves critically thinking about the process of knowing, rather than simply acquiring knowledge. It also involves analysing the ways of knowing, which we feel is the most intriguing aspect of the course. Ways of knowing include language, sense perception, emotion, reason, imagination, faith, intuition and memory. In class, these ways of knowing are examined, with their differences being observed. It also provides insight into how different ways of knowing

he Theory of Knowledge course, for those who are unfamiliar with it,is a mandatory class that all IB students must take. However, most new IB students are unfamiliar with the premise of this course, and what content it covers. Some have described it as a very fulfilling course which allows people to broaden their horizons and see the world in a different light. Others have called it nothing more than a glorified philosophy class. Personally, we did not know what the course would entail outside of the fact that it would account for three points of our total grade, since we ourselves have only begun the journey that is the ToK course. Hopefully we can help demystify that a little bit for students who have yet to suffer the IB struggle.

Theory of Knowledge is what it sounds like: it’s the study of what we know and how we know it. Or, to use the ToK question: “how do we know what we know?”

It’s similar to a course taught in some schools known as epistemology. It tries to look at the validity of our knowledge, and in what ways we are able to attain this knowledge. The course is different to all others in that there is rarely a valid answer, and many different approaches to the same questions. The course teaches student to look 92

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are flawed and how they may bias our perception. Then there are the areas of knowledge, which basically discern all knowledge as belonging to separate branches. These are essentially an articulation of the broad strokes of both human academic and human moral wisdom. Among them rank the mathematics, the natural and human sciences, history, the arts, knowledge systems, and ethics. These come together to make ToK the extremely broad learning experience that it potentially could be.

An interesting aspect of the ToK course is the open ended interpretation that everything can be subject to. It not only challenges the mind, but expands it as well, introducing new ways to see the world and interpret the way we utilize our worldview. As a basic tenet of the ToK course, students are routinely invited to consider how they can make the claims that they do and how, using the method that they have come to such a claim, verify it against the world or, failing to do so, how simply not being able to empirically verify something does not exclude it from the realms of reality. In effect, we need to take into account the world as we see it, but in addition to that, also need to account for the fact that our own opinions, beliefs, backgrounds and worldviews may have influenced the things that we view as facts. In addition to that, we also constantly look at the different sources of knowledge that we encounter, whether it be the Internet or other people, and how these sources, in their turn, have their own influences and motives and how this will ultimately filter out towards us.

From a more personal standpoint, the part of the ToK course that we found to be most applicable in life, in the brief moment we dabbled in it, was the section of the course that dealt with morality. Recently, in ToK class, a journalist from the New York Times who had formerly worked with the Huffington Post was invited to come and

to speak with us on her job and, by extension, its relationship with ToK. Initially, it started off as material that was already covered in the earlier portion of the year, specifically how one can verify and support statements and claims that one makes. However, as she progressed through her talk, she ventured into material that we will only cover in the latter components of the course, namely, morality. Or, if one was to play on the core ToK question of “how do I know what I know?”, “what do I do with what I know?”

We found this to be incredibly interesting and, not to say that this is truly the case, but we personally found that this part of the course to be the most useful and most applicable. In some cases, we gain a lot of knowledge, and through knowledge comes a certain degree of power.

Therefore, it is particularly important to note that we do not abuse this power, because even if the laws of man say that it is fine to do so, there are certain basic levels of human dignity and respect that should be upheld and protected. This, we felt, was the main lesson that the speaker of the talk wished to impart upon us.

Admittedly, we have only been studying this course for two months as we write this article, so we are hardly the people most entitled to make a detailed and comprehensive description of this course. What we described and laid out to you consisted primarily of our interpretation of the course, which by now you should be aware, is influenced by a variety of things. We also articulated some of our opinions of the course but of course, they are premature at best given our fledgling status within the wider realm of the ToK course. However, we hope, for those of you who have yet to join the race and journey that is the IB Diploma course, that this little foray into the ToK course has taught you somewhat about its workings and its general aims and goals. Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favour.

“An interesting aspect of the ToK course is the open ended interpretation that everything can be subject to. It not only challenges the mind, but expands it as well, introducing new ways to see the world and interpret the way we utilize our worldview.”

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52.0 51.5 51.0 50.5 50.0 49.5 49.0 48.5 48.0 47.5 47.0 46.5

大蕭條 WRITER: JUSTINE CHEN (Y12) ILLUSTRATOR: KELLY LUY (Y12)

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金

融危機導致許多家庭陷入債務的巨大危機。現 在很難確切地說出是哪一年。由於危機發生在 不同的國家和地區，並且並非完全同時。大致 地說，從2007年到2009年底對世界很多國家和地區來說 是一個巨大的經濟危機。 國際貨幣基金組織（IMF）認為2009年在美國歷史上大 蕭條以來最嚴重的經濟衰退。而世界上其他大國，也都 在這段時間經歷了抵押貸款和金融失衡危機。 2007-2009年時財富的損失最慘重的是收入下 降。在美國平均家庭財富約下跌百分之三十五。想想 看，如果你一年賺一億，百分之三十五就是3500萬元。 收入下降會深深影響這些人的居住方式。對很多人來講 會很難去想像這樣的情況，以及受影響的人是怎樣的感 覺。我也感到如果一下子失去那麼多錢一定會很有壓力 而且也會很憂愁。很多家庭失去了經濟來源，很多人失 去工作，也有很多成長中的孩子不得不開始人生新的旅 程，並在那時候感到十分磨難和特別壓抑。 另一個巨大的危機是房地產崩盤。而這種困境主 要源於收入水平的直線下降。在大多數情況下，當你買 房子的時候，你必須從銀行貸款，這筆貸款是你所謂的 抵押貸款。現在在香港平均償還房貸的時間是25-30年。 所以在這個25-30年中，你每個月都要將你的收入的一定 比例存入銀行以抵押房貸。 假如說你想買一個價值1000USD房子。但你沒有 足夠的錢，所以你先付出的是30 ％，這將是300USD ， 作為首期付款。其餘700USD將作為按揭，你必須按月償 還。然而貸款銀行有時會急需用錢，銀行就將房產抵押 給其他銀行或金融業務。這樣做，他們可以借到錢，也 許500或600美元去投資到其他地方。而被抵押的銀行或 其他金融機構，也將獲得利潤，收取利息。然而，在這 種情況下，當房市崩盤，許多的人無法支付按揭，房產 最終會在市場上。但是當太多的房子在市場上的時候， 房產的價值或成本將降低。因此,1000USD 的房子本來

成本可能只有300USD。當按揭無法支付，資金的鏈條一 斷，其他金融機構將無法賺取利潤，數額一大，則只能 破產。著名的銀行如雷曼兄弟和貝爾斯登熊破產了。這 在一段時間內影響到幾乎所有的企業，造成世界上某一 些人失業。 風險管理行業，也經歷了一個巨大的衰退，和 巨大的利潤損失。銀行家們將他們所賺取的錢，投入到 不同的公司或企業，他們認為會給他們帶來金錢，可以 幫助他們賺取利潤。在這段時間中抵押貸款業務是電子 商務將資金投入到最看好的路線，於是所有的未來投資 者，以及差不多所有銀行在那個時候把大量的資金投入 到這項業務。然而，當銀行試圖利用抵押貸款的時候， 很多購房者都沒有能力支付房貸。總之，因為許多人無 法支付抵押貸款，很多房子都必須由業主收回，並重新 投入市場。而市場上由於有太多的房產，造成價值下 跌，銀行都沒有接收抵押貸款的預期量，導致銀行從較 低的抵押貸款收入，賠錢的公司最終關閉，市場一片混 亂。 如今，投資公司的營銷人員和銀行家們都非常小 心。按揭手續已經收緊了很多，程序較以前更為嚴格。 該過程包括：銀行必須檢查你過去的收入，他們有權了 解你從事什麼類型的工作，你是否有穩定的收入可以保 障還清房貸等。在股票市場上，投資A股或購買一支股票 時一定要經過很多程序。 金融危機這一事件提醒我們所有的人，甚至包括 學生，在進行個人投資時，一定要小心，避免作出任何 大的失誤。在投資前，要做好充分的準備，注意每一個 細節。最後要說明的是，事情並不總是那麼悲觀，不能 因為曾經經歷過金融危機和經濟衰退就放棄商業活動。 相反，我們應該在謹慎和了解市場的前提下，發揮自己 的創造力，將鮮活的生命發揮到淋漓盡致，因為你永遠 不知道什麼時候都可能發生什麼樣的變化。 95

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水晶人頭骨

WRITER: JINGYI SHAN (Y11) ILLUSTRATORS: SIERRA CHIAO (Y11), CHERYL LEE (Y11)

水晶人頭骨，是一種由透明或半透明的石英石打 磨雕刻完成的人頭骨模型。它的硬度，僅次於鑽 石和剛玉，即使是用銅、鐵或石製工具，都無法 加工它。在通俗文學中水晶人頭骨總是被渲染成 具有銅陵作用的神秘媒介，在新紀元運動中，有 人還宣稱水晶頭骨蘊含著超自然能力。關於水晶 頭骨的傳說有花樣繁多的版本，水晶頭骨也毫無 疑問的成為了當今影視，文學，甚至電子遊戲中 最為流行的元素之一。

一些現代研究者將水晶頭骨按照大小分為 兩類。一類是念珠大小的頭骨，最初在19世紀中 葉被發現；另一種是具有真人頭骨大小的頭骨， 在19世紀末期發現。念珠大小的頭骨，主要由來 是墨西哥的原居民阿茲特克人有用石頭、骨頭、 木頭等各種材料打造人頭骨的習俗，並將其稱 為“死亡頭”。其中有一部分作品是用水晶雕刻 而成的，它們形狀誇張、抽象，風格較為一致。 但是這並不是神秘現像或“新時代宗教”崇尚者

所說的水晶頭 骨。他們心目中 的水晶頭骨，與 真人頭骨差不多 大小，風格寫實， 維妙維俏，並相 信那是瑪雅人的聖 物，擁有無窮神秘 的力量。

《水晶頭骨 之謎》中說：“根 據長老會傳下來的 說法，共有52個。瑪雅人 有13個，其他的散佈在世界各 地的神聖之地，其中包括美洲許 多其他土著部落，也包括西藏和澳洲 土著等部落。” 書中還說：其中12個頭 骨的下頜骨能活動，

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稱作“會唱歌的頭 骨”，裡面存儲了 大量知識，是外星 人從天狼星座給地球 人帶來的禮物。為了 協助知識的傳播，外 星人在地球上又製作了 40個下頜骨不能活動的 頭骨，稱作“會說話的 頭骨”。

另有傳說美洲印 第安人中流傳著一個古老 故事：“古時候有13個水晶頭 骨，能說話，會唱歌。這些水晶頭 骨裡隱藏了有關人類起源和死亡的資 料，能幫助人類解開宇宙生命之謎。根據 傳說，人們必須在2012年12月21日之前找到全

部頭骨。那一天是已經循環了5126年的瑪雅曆 法的終結。除非13個頭骨聚集在一起並按正確 的位置擺放，否則地球將飛離軸心。只有那樣 做，頭骨的超自然力量才能挽救地球。”

雖然大部分人並不相信瑪雅文化中所 提到的水晶頭骨是真實存在的，但在1927年， 中美洲洪都拉斯瑪雅廢墟中科學家們真的發現 了水晶頭顱的跡象。被挖掘出的頭顱用水晶雕 成，高12.7厘米，重5.2公斤，大小等同真人 頭骨，可以推斷出這是按照一個女人的頭顱雕 製成的。這顆水晶頭顱的五官比例與現代人一 模一樣，牙床上整齊地鑲著上下兩排牙齒，眼 睛由圓形水晶石點綴，鼻骨則由三塊水晶石拼 成。至今一千多年曆史，專家們研究過頭顱的 表面及其內部結構後，肯定其歷史非常悠久， 確是瑪雅時代遺留的文物。

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editorial

WRITERS: STEPHANIE LEUNG (Y12), SOO YEON KIM (Y12), RICHARD TENG (Y12) ILLUSTRATOR: ADAM WANG (Y8)

F

or those of you who aren’t aware, Scotland, a kingdom within the greater sovereign state of the United Kingdom, held a referendum back in September wherein Scottish citizens were to answer the question, “Should Scotland be an independent country?” Scottish citizens were to to decide whether or not they would secede from the union and become an independent state. The referendum was properly held on the 18th of September of 2014, with an end result of about 55% against independence, and 45% for, meaning that the United Kingdom remained one whole nation. Despite the “no” vote that Scotland issued, the Scottish referendum, and the leadup campaign toward the actual vote, showed that the Scottish people want some manner of change to the status quo.

Before getting into the details of the arguments for and against the notion of Scottish independence, let’s discuss the history of Scotland and England and see why they would want to leave the country to begin with. The Acts of Union of 1707 were the true legal decision that combined the kingdoms of England and Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain (which was to be renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland when Ireland joined the union in 1801) but to say that was the start of any sort of unity between the two Crowns would not be true. The start of the union between Scotland and England began in 1603 with the Union of the Crowns when King James VI of Scotland ascended to the English throne with

the death of Elizabeth I and became King James I of England. This was, however, only a personal dynastic union as King James reigned as king over two separate and distinct realms. Prior to this Union of the Crowns, England and Scotland had always shared a degree of animosity and were constantly embroiled in warfare to train and exploit instability in the other. In the more modern era, the two countries have enjoyed peaceful existence together despite their historical differences and have enjoyed a prolonged period of prosperity, success, and power.

Back to the Scottish referendum, there were two major camps in the debate over Scotland’s independence. The first, Yes Scotland, advocated for Scottish independence on the grounds that it would benefit Scotland and her people. The second, Better Together, as its name suggests, believed that Scotland would be better off staying together with the rest of the United Kingdom instead of leaving it. Both of these opposing camps have valid and cogent arguments for their side and this article will endeavour to examine these arguments for what they are worth.

One of the major concerns that the Scottish people have was in regards to the balance of power displayed in Westminster, the seat of the United Kingdom’s power. The primary concern in this regard was the imbalance in the number of Members of Parliament (MP) that are present in the United Kingdom’s Parliament, 98

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which holds power and sway over the entire realm, and affects Scotland as well.

The vast majority of the MPs are English, which means that policies and laws can be enacted that affect the greater realm that do not necessarily benefit Scotland, or the other countries of the United Kingdom. This creates a somewhat unfair system of governance and law.

In 1999, the Scottish Parliament was founded to counterbalance this system somewhat by giving power to the Scottish Parliament to govern and enact laws within Scotland in some, but not all areas. This prevented the English MPs from swamping Scottish ones in Scottish affairs and guaranteed a more representative governance of Scotland. However, the fact of the matter remains that the Parliament of the United Kingdom still reserves tremendous powers over matters of state and is paramount over the Scottish Parliament. Therefore, independence would guarantee that Scottish affairs are purely in Scottish hands and that Scotland can decide its own policy and forward action independently.

Though politics may be at the core of the decision behind Scotland’s desire to break free from the union, what played the most significant im-

pact on Scotland’s decision was the issue of finance and economics. The economic situation of the Scotland, if it had gone independent, was one of the core arguments both for and against its independence, with both sides having some degree of support in their arguments. For the pro-independence camp, Scotland’s independence would have allowed Scotland to further pursue the North Sea’s rich reserves of oil and to profit from such a venture.

In this case, Scotland, no longer being a part of the United Kingdom, would be capable of enjoying a larger cut of the profits made from such a venture and would be able to use the money to benefit itself more. England, being further away from the North Sea’s oil and losing its control of the Shetland Islands, would not be able to exploit the North Sea’s natural riches as well as Scotland could.

However, there are also plenty of financial arguments against Scottish independence. First and foremost being that many of the banking and financial institutions of Scotland were prepared to move south to England in the event that Scotland gained

independence. The Royal Bank of Scotland and the Lloyds Banking Group, the two largest banks in Scotland both voiced that they would be prepared to move their headquarters and operations southwards to England, and more specifically, London, if Scotland came back with a “yes” vote. Many other banks whose main source of activity are in England would be required to relocate south, assuming Scotland wishes to remain part of the European Union, due to laws that require a company’s registered offices to be within the nation where the majority of its activities occur. At the moment, Lloyds and RBS have their offices within the United Kingdom but if Scotland had gone independent, these banks may have been forced to move. Not only would this have been a large economic hit to Scotland’s financial industry, but also it would have been somewhat of a prestige hit to Scotland itself as the main banks of Scotland would have tucked tail and ran southwards at the prospect of Scottish independence. This would further decentivize Scotland from declaring its independence.

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for Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom going forward?

For starters, it means that the United Kingdom won’t have to change its name or its flag. But what it also means is that the Scottish Parliament, if the government of the United Kingdom follows through on its campaign promises, will be granted more devolution and will have even more powers to govern itself and its affairs than it did before. In addition to this, to counterbalance the increase in Scottish powers in Scotland, the West Lothian question has been called up on several occasion, with David Cameron, the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, calling for the question to be answered. For those that don’t know, the West Lothian question asks whether Scottish (or more specifically, non-English) MPs should be allowed to vote on matters that affect only England. At the moment, they are allowed to as England does not have her own parliament and Westminster features MPs from all over the realm. Ultimately, the balance of power within Scotland and within the United Kingdom is held in precarious balance and the future of such delegation of powers remains to be seen.

Rule Brittania!

editorial

NEW TERRITORIES DEVELOPMENT

WRITER: STEPHANIE LEUNG (Y12), JUSTIN NGAI (Y9) ILLUSTRATORS: MICHELLE WU (Y12) he New Territories of Hong Kong is situated at the northern part of Kowloon territory, and acts as a boundary between Hong Kong and Mainland China. Due to its swelling population and rapid economic development, the government has recently released plans to transform the New Territories to what will be a “New Development Area”. Currently a tranquil rural area with serene forests, exquisite summit views and minimal population, this plan has undoubtedly angered many.

The North East New Territories Development Project was proposed by the Civil Engineering and Development Department on the long-term debate regarding wide-scale redevelopment of the New Territories. It aims to speed up urbanization of suburban areas such as Kwu Tung and Fanling, bringing about prosperity and economic growth in the process.

Recently, the Secretary for Development Paul Chan announced that the development areas in New Territories will be extended from just Kwu Tung North and Fanling North to the whole Fanling and Sheung Shui dis-

T

tricts. This means a total increase of 614 hectare in where 333 hectares can be developed. The plan would ease the swell of population and provide over 60,700 new flats in which can hold over 174,900 new residents. Furthermore, around 37,700 more vacant jobs would be created in order reduce those who are unemployed.

“The new development areas will provide a very nice living environment after completion for local residents,” Mr Chan said.

It is undisputable that all residents of Hong Kong with a degree of common sense would agree that the lack of public housing within the city has hindered and affected the lives of many, which demonstrates the significance of this issue. The small area of the city furthermore does not alleviate the problem in any way. Therefore within the development plan of the New Territories, 36,600 more flats of public housing will be built. This will raise the ratio of public housing to from 49% to 60%, occupying 47% of the land, which makes it an extremely beneficial long term investment project. This will also be one of the more straightforward ways to tackle the housing problem.

It is planned for the first clusters of housing apartments are expected to be complete by 2022 to 2023, and for the entire project to be completed by the year of 2031.

However, to every action is a reaction.

Large plots of farmland will be demolished, and will act as an inevitable sacrifice for effective development.

To be exact, around 100 hectares of farmland will be lost, which causes many people to question the outcome of the plan.

This development plan would mean the removal of Hong Kong’s last remaining agriculture and industry, such as the disappearance of agriculture in Kwu Tung North and Fanling North. Hong Kong’s industry in Kwu Tung would also be uprooted during this plan. Villagers and those who have lived in these rural areas for decades will be severely affected which caused the uprise of the disapproving voice. As the Hong Kong Magazine said, more than 10,000 villagers will be affected by the plan, and in that more than 10 villages will be demolished. Settlements that have been there for decades, all uprooted within the span of days. Among the many affected villagers, most of them shun the idea of getting compensated and fight for the right to remain in their homes. The issue has proceeded to a stage of protest which nearly all villagers participated in.

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All of these setbacks have nonetheless sparked controversy between the government and landowners, and have been a key source of anger for the landowners.

Protests were regular for over two months, and protesters have even stormed public areas such as the Legislative Block of the Central Government Complex to garner the attention of authorities. These citizens, upset from the soaring housing prices that the development plan would bring, were joined with farmers from the outlying New Territories area. A 29-year-old villager, who manages a community farm, says that “Hundreds of farmers have had to leave the village because of this land hoarding”.

This dissatisfaction with the impacts of the development plan is furthermore supported by the arise of multiple online petitions, which were easily accessible to the wider public. The most popular petition, featured on popular petition site ipetition.com, gathered up to 1,854 signatories, demonstrating the dissent within the Hong Kong population.

However while it is easy to focus on one side of the argument, it is also important to think from multiple perspectives. Many believe that this development plan will be crucial to the growth and wellbeing of Hong Kong, and believe that the benefits will outweigh the costs.

While 1,000 households will be forced to move to different locations during the enactment of the plan, the end result of the same plan will lead to housing for 175,000 people, with 60% of these being subsidized by the government. As formerly stressed, the lack of housing is a pressing matter in Hong Kong; this can potentially be the first step to help relieve its severity. Furthermore, the government will also try its best to relocate elderly citizens from old folks’ homes to new premises, and to help find new plots of land for those who wish to continue their agricultural businesses. This seems like an all-encompassing action plan, yet many of the activists opposing the development plan are not from the area itself.

In order to move forward with the development project, the proposal has to first undergo the deliberation of the Town Planning Board (TPB), a committee that aims to consider and approve statutory plans such as Outline Zoning Plans, and to make decisions on application for planning permissions under the Town Planning Or-

dinance. Moreover, the board considers applications for review on the board’s existing decisions on planning permissions, in case some disapproval arises from the original applicant for permission. All this legal and technical jargon sounds fairly complicated, so in other words, the board oversees any application for the change in land functions.

A recent interview was conducted with a member of the Town Planning Board who wishes to be anonymous regarding his personal stance on the development plan. He says that the development plan is an application to rezone existing land, and that most attempts to convert existing agricultural land to become residential land will always have major effects amongst various stakeholders.

On one hand, many people are against new development as they believe that Hong Kong is in desperate need of its own agricultural products- as of now the economy of the city is almost neglecting the primary sector altogether.

Moreover, the rezoning of land will undermine the village way of life.

Indigenous villages in the New Territories have managed to develop and furthermore maintain their culture over the ages, such that male villagers have the birthright to be entitled to a small house at one point in their lifetimes. Unfortunately, the land supply in the village itself is limited. If the green belt area to be developed overlaps with the land belonging to that of a village, the land that can be used to build these village houses will evidently be less.

On the other hand, environmentalists wish to increase green belt and conservation areas. Land developers also wish to improve the quality of life of the citizens of Hong Kong, and build more housing as well as gain a hefty profit.

As it is shown that the interest of the different parties drectly conflict with one another, this TPB member’s stance remains ambivalent. Nonetheless this is still an ongoing negotiation, and there are definitely certain flexibilities that can be made to balance the needs and wants of various members of society; the rezoning of the existing plan to adjust area distributions is currently being considered. Being members of the wider Hong Kong society, it is our responsibility to stay mindful of our ever-changing community.

“The new development areas will provide a very nice living environment after completion for local residents.”

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editorial

GUTTER OIL

SCANDAL THE DIRTY TRUTH WRITERS: SIMON LAM (Y8), RYAN LEE (Y11), HORACE WANG (Y12) ILLUSTRATOR: SIERRA CHIAO (Y11),

E

arly September of 2014 marked the beginning of a large food scare in Taiwan, after it was discovered that 645 tonnes of “gutter oil” had been produced and distributed to more than 1,200 restaurants by Chang Guann, an oil firm based in Kaohsiung. Gutter oil is the unofficial term that has been adopted for oil that is pumped from sewers outside restaurants and drained into dumpsters. The gutter oil is reprocessed from garbage and sewage collected from drains, sewers and trash cans, after which the oil is put into barrels and bottles and then delivered to many places such as restaurants and hotels.

One of the biggest reasons that the severity of the issue has gotten as high as it has reached is that it is immensely difficult to distinguish between legitimate oil and gutter oil. To the average consumer, there is virtually no difference between the two in terms of appearance.

However, gutter oil contains carcinogens and other harmful toxins. The continued consumption of the substance can potentially lead to liver ailments, cancer, and developmental disabilities. At the same time, gutter oil’s low price means that it is much more affordable for establishments such as low-scale restaurants and canteens that may not be earning massive amounts of money, making it a very profitable alternative to legitimate oil.

Events of the scandal kicked off on September 1st, when it was uncovered during a police raid on an unlicensed factory. Six people were arrested, including the factory owner and the deputy manager of Chang Guann.

Three days later, Chang Guann chairman Yeh Wen-hsiang apologized to the public and revealed that Chang Guann had been purchasing this type of oil since February 25.

Further information came to light the following day when it was revealed that 235 local food companies had used

gutter oil in there food and oil products. On the same day, Taiwanese Premier Jiang Yi-huah ordered all of these products to be cleared within two days.

Although the scandal originated in Taiwan, the effects of the gutter oil scandal are felt far beyond the Taiwan border. Shiu Ming-neng, Taiwan’s vice minister of health and welfare confirmed that 14 food items made with gutter oil have been shipped worldwide since March 13. Countries that received the aforementioned products include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, France, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, the United States, and Vietnam.

It took only 10 days for the gutter oil scandal to become a significant issue in Hong Kong, resulting in the Hong Kong government’s banning the import, sale, and supply of all lard and lard products made by Chang Guann after March 1st. An estimated 300 bakeries, restaurants, retailers, and distributors involved have taken a hit from this ban. Among this list are some of the biggest chains, including Maxim’s, Starbucks, and 7-Eleven. The pineapple buns sold in all Maxim’s and 7-Eleven stores, as well as two specialty Starbucks stores, may have been made from gutter oil. Groceries stores in mainland China have also removed Taiwanese brands of dumplings, sauces, and noodles from their shelves. The problem of gutter oil has added to the already present concerns regarding the state of the food supply in China, where controversies regarding hydrogen peroxide being used to marinate chicken’s feet and the usage of expired meat in fast food chains have already unsettled its consumers.

The subsequent investigation also exposed the

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fact that the issues concerning the scandal reached further than illegal recycling of contaminated oil. Lard imported from Hong Kong in March and May may have also been contaminated. The Hong Kong Centre for Food and Safety announced that local supplier Globalway Corporation exported contaminated lard to Chang Guann, who in turn obtained it from Upswing. While Upswing sold the product to Globalway intending it to be used for animal feed, Hong Kong officials claim that the documentation makes it clear that the product was not fit for human consumption. As a result, all imports of lard from Hong Kong are completely banned, and imports from the nearby regions of Macau and mainland China are only allowed into Taiwan with certification by the government of origin.

Such a scandal, of such a large scope, has not occurred since the first raid, with the Taiwanese government actively working to prevent the same mistake from happening again. The Ministry of Health and Welfare is now actively monitoring approximately 100 oil manufactures and 500 importers based in Taiwan. Now, the registration of information regarding aforementioned companies is more strictly enforced, with companies that submit false

information potentially being faced with a $100,000 fine and suspension for one year.

In the days following the outbreak of the scandal, scientists discovered a new method of dealing with the usage of gutter oil. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has the potential to detect gutter oil through a chemical analysis process that requires close to no preparation beforehand and quick analysis of numerous elements.

In conclusion, it’s evident from this scandal that we need a stricter management of the food industry. Officials have made a step in the right direction through actions like publishing lists such as a list of eateries that utilize gutter oil or products with gutter oil, but there still is a lack of understanding among the general public regarding the detrimental consequences of gutter oil. Stricter checks of manufacturers and suppliers should be conducted by the Health and Safety Department, to demonstrate the importance of this issue. Ultimately, this scandal has increased our awareness of the quality of our purchases, and makes us more conscious of where the ingredients of our food really originate.

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sports

SPORTS TEAM FEATURE: NETBALL WRITER: ALISHA TIDMARSH (Y12) PHOTOGRAPHER: KELLIE ALEXANDER

5

years ago, Netball was a small CCA at CIS, desperately searching for new members to fill the ranks.

Since then, the sport has become vastly more popular, as more and more students are interested to see what the sport has to offer. Now there are over 40 girls in just A grade and B grade alone, with more people joining each season!

One of the best aspects of the girls’ netball teams is the sense of support and motivation each member has towards one another. Everyone knows that whether their purpose on the court is to score the goals, defend their

net, or to simply move the ball towards one end of the court, their job is important and without them, the team would not be able to function to the best of it’s ability.

Not only are the players playing on the court important, but so are the substitutes who constantly motivate their teammates by shouting out encouraging and helpful tips, providing moral and mental support from the sidelines.

Trainings take place on Mondays after school at courts on the field and members constantly show their commitment by turning up every week with unparalleled enthusiasm to improve their skills and improve their game.

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:M

s. Alexander, coach of the A1 netball team, has had the chance to watch her team grow in terms of players and skills for the past two years. She has gotten to know each player extremely well and does an excellent job of enhancing their strengths and creating drills to improve weaknesses. An insight on Ms Alexander’s views on her team and her role as coach: “The A1 netball team are a mixed bunch this year with a few girls having years of club experience mixed with girls who are relatively new to the game.

In planning my sessions for training I have often found that focus on strong basics such as passing skills, communication and basic set plays has been best because the girls are really quick learners and listen and apply what they have learned with a keen interest.

In some respects, working with a team like this is even more rewarding than working with an experienced winning team. While we might not win all of our games this year, putting together good plays with im-

proved individual skills is more rewarding to me as a coach. I adore the girls and love working with them.”

Alisha TIdmarsh, captain of the A1 netball team shares her experience, as she goes into her sixth year of netball at CIS. “Watching the sport grow in terms of numbers and skills has been great, and I can’t wait to see what the teams this season can do in the competitions! With such amazing coaches and all the support they give us, I have no doubt that each team will make CIS proud. In terms of trainings and the general atmosphere of netball, I can safely say that almost anyone who plays thoroughly enjoys their experience and carries on playing in following seasons, so I recommend anyone with good commitment and a desire to broaden their horizons to join the CIS netball team.”

The CIS netball team is a wonderful thing to be a part of, and considering the way things are going, their future looks as though it’s only going to get better and better!

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sports

SPORT IDOLS

WRITERS: EDWARD HA (Y7) // SEAN MENG (Y7) PHOTOGRAPHER: BYRON LEE (Y12)

has a multitude of talented student athletes. Yet such student athletes must have some sort of idol, a paragon of the sport to which they look up to and strive to be like. We interviewed some of our student athletes to see who inspires them and what they want to learn from their heroes.

KONRAD LEE, YEAR 12 Sports: Basketball, Cross Country, Athletics Idol: Stephen Curry Reason: Stephen Curry is one of the best shooters in the NBA currently, and already one of the best guards. I really like the way he plays and obviously while I’m not good enough to even try to play like him, I still try to learn from him. He’s a bit small to be playing in the NBA, which pretty much reflects my situation in varsity basketball, where I’m probably an inch or two shorter than the average height, plus the fact that I’m literally constantly surrounded by giants. But the fact that he managed to become one of the breakthrough superstars in the league despite leg problems, which I also have, is an incredible testimony to his skill and perseverance, and I really admire his tenacity and mentality, and hope to be able to continue to learn from such an inspirational player.

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ELIZA GILCHRIST, YEAR 13 Sports: Football, Netball, Cross Country, Swimming, Athletics, Triathlon

Idol(s): Andrew Wright and Kate Rutherford (Coaches), Brownlee Brothers and Gwen Jorgensen

Reason: It’s extremely hard to narrow it down to just one person that I idolize, as I look up to so many people in the sporting industry. Two of the biggest idols I have are my coaches Andrew Wright and Kate Rutherford, who have supported me endlessly and are incredible athletes themselves. I also take inspiration from all the other athletes that I train with. In addition to that, I really look up to triathletes such as the Brownlee Brothers and Gwen Jorgensen for their talent, yet also how they reach out to younger athletes in their local communities. All of these individuals have taught me to never give up and have encouraged me to pursue this sport that I love.

HARRY WU, YEAR 12 Sports: Football, Rugby Idol: Ronaldo Reason: I really admire Ronaldo because he shows great perseverance throughout all obstacles, whether it’s injuries or hate from fans. The fact that I have a back injury means that I sometimes find it hard to deal with it, and Ronaldo always serves as inspiration and motivation for me. It also doesn’t hurt that he’s pretty much the best player in the world, and his skills are just all around incredible, it’s an incredible experience just watching him play.

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sports

How CIS is coping

without the gym WRITER: MARTIN BANSON (Y12) PHOTOGRAPHER: SCARLET AU (Y10)

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t the climax of the 2013 school year, kids danced to a school-run concert and painted the walls of the gym to say their bittersweet goodbyes to the place many called “home”. At the end of the ceremony, it was announced, 2016 would bring the opening of a brand new gym that kids all around CIS were anxiously awaiting.

The only issue that faced the community was: How are we going to cope without the gym?

The problems were threefold: firstly, it limited the space that people could run around in at lunch, and considering that the field’s basketball courts were not up to par, this severely limited the areas in which people could play basketball, one of CIS’s division one signature sports.

Secondly, it made PE classes very hard to teach, in particular badminton and other sports that must be played indoors. Lastly, it forced whole school assemblies to be held outdoors, leading to less community spirit.

With the dawn of the 2014 school year came a round of changes made by the faculty and management as well as the students to make the couple of years without the gym bearable. The first problem was tackled by the

management. In order to make up for the loss of basketball courts in the gym, they redid the basketball hoops on the field to a very high standard. While before they were close to unusable, with the new changes to the courts it soon became very appealing for die-hard basketball fans to play there. The start of 2014 also saw a new bin for balls on the third floor courtyard and an influx of balls for the field. This greatly increased incentive to play and there was very little loss of activities during school between the gym being open and it being closed.

Secondly, the problem of Physical Education classes was easily solved. The PE department worked over the summer with school management and came up with good, easy-to-implement solutions. The first solution was that all sports that could be played on the field, would be played on the field. The second was that for units that had to be indoors, during lunch a school bus would be hired to take the students from school to a location where the sport could be played. Although the first solution was at the beginning unappealing for students as they did not want to have to play outdoors, they quickly realised that the field

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With the outdoor assembly, people felt less connected to the community, and they felt distanced from the speakers. was very similar in experience as the gym. Not only did they feel that way, but students also found that having everyone together created more of a bond between students when playing games. “Honestly, I feel like PE is one of my favorite classes!” said a year 7 CIS student.

The next way that the CIS faculty decided to tackle the problem was going out of school to play indoor sports.

“It’s just fun to be out of school!” “It makes me feel like I’m on a field trip!”. These were all statements that resonated around the student body. Leaving school to go out and play sports made people excited and gave class a different sort of flair, and that directly translated into their enthusiasm while participating in PE class. Many students have spoken to me about how this change was by far the best change between last year and this year.

Last year brought about the coming of the outdoor whole school assembly. People quickly realised that the feel of the outdoor assembly and the indoor

were very different. With the outdoor assembly, people felt less connected to the community, and they felt distanced from the speakers. This year, many expected it to be the same, but instead the administration decided to really ramp up the interaction of assemblies to make up for the lack of physical closeness. This year at the Lunar Festival assembly, there was a plethora of interaction (dances, singing) and this made people more excited about the assembly. In fact, people commented on how it gave them the same feel as the old assembly combined with open air and non-stuffiness, and that it was actually an improvement.

The opening of the new gym is set for 2016, with many eagerly awaiting its arrival. In the meantime however, the changes made by the CIS community will mean that the waiting period will not be hard and filled with strife, instead allowing the CIS community to make the best out of the situation.

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FITNESS GUIDE FOR CIS STUDENTS

WRITER: KONRAD LEE (Y12) PHOTOGRAPHER:ANDREW KOO (Y12) o last issue, we gave readers a quick introduction to Fitness 101. With the cold weather beginning to come to Hong Kong, people are beginning to feel the chill and lethargy that usually accompanies winter, with a yearning for hot chocolate and a warm bed.

Seasonal Affective Disorder is an all too real thing, and what better way to beat the cold blues by keeping yourself healthy and alert? The fact that it’s proven that exercise improves your immunity is pretty much a guaranteed bonus.

So get ready, because here’s Part II of the CIS Student’s Guide to fitness.

S

Cardio: Best way to keep warm during the cold spells of Hong Kong? Warm up your body with a bit of cardio, whilst fortifying your immune system, with the cold weather actually benefiting your respiratory system and lungs. If that doesn’t motivate you, what with living in Hong Kong and all, I’m not sure what will.

1. Jump Rope This playground game is actually one of the most efficient forms of improving your cardiovascular fitness, it keeps you light on your toes and builds coordination. Best of all, all you need is a rope and some space so that you don’t whip someone across the face. There’s a reason why boxers make it such an integral part of their training, and you should too.

Instructions: a)Choose the right rope for you. THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. Your rope should nearly reach up to your shoulders when it’s folded in half. This will give you enough room to comfortably jump over it, but not so much that you trip over the rope. The rope should have handles that are easy to grip and shouldn’t be too light or too heavy.

Too long and the rope will most likely give you whiplash, too short and it’ll most definitely trip you b)Hold the rope. Extend your hands and forearms at least a foot away from your body, at a 45 degree angle. This will

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create a larger arc for you to jump through. c)Make sure the rope is behind you, with the middle of it touching the back of your feet. d)Use your hands and wrists to swing the rope over your head. Don’t move your arms, and use your wrists only e)When the rope comes towards the front of your feet, hop over it. Stand on your tiptoes, and push off with the balls of your feet. f)Set a pace that works for you. For beginners, it’s best to move the rope slowly, so that you have enough time to take a small hop in between each jump over the rope. e)Maintain a straight back and keep your gaze set straight ahead as you fall into the correct rhythm. If you watch your feet as you jump, you’ll be more likely to get off balance.

2. Elliptical Machine With the weather getting so cold, it’s understandable that you may not look forward to exercising outdoors. Fear not, because one of the best cardio-aerobic exercises out there happens to be on a machine that is located indoors, and is a great alternative for those who don’t enjoy running quite so much. Even Dwayne Johnson uses it as his preferred form of cardio exercise. Do you want to be like the Rock? Do you?

Instructions: a) Step onto the machine facing the console. b) Hold the handle bars c) Rest the center of each foot on the pedals and make sure that the leg in the lower position is bent by 5/10 degrees d) Turn on the monitor by pedaling. Do this by pushing the pedals in a forward motion with your feet and pushing and pulling on the handles evenly. Pedaling in a forward motion is recommended because it’s easier to balance, it simulates real movements and is not as tough on the knees as backward pedaling. e) Increase or decrease the pedaling resistance during your workout by hitting the up and down arrows. f) Stand upright on the machine and do not lean forward or backward. You should be able to balance without leaning the handles for support. g) Avoid gripping the handles too tightly. h) Look straight ahead. i) START PEDALLING j) Before stepping off of the elliptical, make sure that it has fully stopped.

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Strength Training: Want develop strong bones? By stressing your bones, strength training increases bone density and reduces the risk of osteoporosis. It also boosts your stamina, manages chronic conditions such as back pain, arthritis, obesity, heart disease and diabetes and helps sharpen your focus, which is extremely beneficial for students. So listen up.

2. Mountain Climbers One of the best exercises for building endurance in the abdominals, back and core, this is an intense exercise that’ll warm you up in no time. Efficient and effective, mountain climbers are great for increasing joint flexibility as well as improving coordination and agility. After doing them, you’ll feel fit enough to... well...climb a mountain.

1. Pullups So pull ups are pretty much the benchmark for one’s fitness. Elite military forces such as the Navy SEALs and the Marine Corps require recruits to be able to do at least 8 pull ups to even be considered eligible for boot camp. The ability to pull your body to the bar (repeatedly) proves that you’re someone who can truly pull his own weight, both literally and figuratively. Whilst they may seem pretty much like death, pull ups are actually extremely efficient form of exercise, working multiple muscles at the same time as well as increasing strength, so go find a bar and follow the instructions below.

Instructions: a) Grab the bar using an overhand grip that’s slightly beyond shoulder width. b) Hang at arm’s length.Your body should remain straight from shoulders to knees for the entire movement. c) Bring your chest to the bar, pulling your upper arms down forcefully and squeezing your shoulder blades (pretend you’re trying to pinch something between them).

It helps if you imagine that you’re pulling the bar to your chest instead of your chest to the bar. d) Pause, and then lower yourself back to a dead hang, which means COMPLETELY straight arms.

Instructions: a) Place your hands on the floor. b) On forefeet, position right leg forward bent under body and extend left leg back c) Extend right leg back and pull left leg forward under your body, repeat the other way round.

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HKSSF

VS

ISSFHK

WRITER: JOEY CHENG (Y11) PHOTOGRAPHER: KELLIE ALEXANDER ost sports teams in our school participate in at PE teachers from the host school who are not quite clear least two inter school tournaments: the ISSFHK on the rules. Terrible calls often happen, and tensions beand the HKSSF. ISSFHK stands for the Inter- tween referees and players often occur, with players somenational Schools Sports Federation Hong Kong, whilst times joining in the fray.

However, referees in HKSSF are appointed by the HKSSF is the Hong Kong Schools Sports Federation. As their names suggest, the ISSFHK is limited to only inter- federation, which issues strict guidelines and standards. national schools here in Hong Kong, whilst the HKSSF is They even show up in a standardized uniform, whilst ISSFHK referees usually wear flamboyant tank tops or casual open to all schools throughout Hong Kong.

Although both federations essentially cover the clothing.

Moreover, teams in the ISSFHK do not play as same sports, the ISSFHK has a much smaller number of schools participating in it compared to the HKSSF. well as local schools. Whilst it may seem contradictory to Around 15 international schools are part of the ISSFHK, cultural stereotypes, most international schools seem not some with more than one team, partaking in different divi- to take sports as seriously as local schools. At local schools, sions which are sorted out according to their performance. teams usually trained for at least three days a week, 2 hours The HKSSF, however, is comprised of nearly all schools, minimum. However, international school teams usually local and international, across Hong Kong. Due to the have only a day of training per week. This is most likely number of participants, HKSSF tournaments are sliced due to a result of a lack of commitment and responsibility up so that schools in the same area compete against each towards sports here, as well a much more significant emother. Each school can only send one team to compete in phasis on academics. Whilst player commitment to teams are seldom questioned, it does make one wonder whether each sport.

Competing standards in ISSFHK are essentially or not we can really spare some time to dedicate to our lower than the HKSSF’s. From personal experience in respective sports. basketball, referees in the ISSFHK are terrible. Instead of The differences between HKSSF and ISSFHK being appointed by the federation, referees are hired by are caused by their different aims. The ISSFHK aims for a each home team, which varies for every single match. Far more recreational tournament, whilst it seems that HKSSF from professional, these referees are usually amateur play- means serious business. Until schools in ISSFHK start ers looking to make a quick buck, sometimes parents or to take sport more seriously, participating in this league

M

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A E R C TIVE A SELECTION OF WORKS FROM THE CIS COMMUNITY

青少年憂鬱症 WRITER: CRYSTAL LEUNG (Y11) ILLUSTRATOR: MINA SHIH (Y12)

她

剃下耳後兩側的金髪，眼皮上畫 了一條粗糙的黑線。她跟我說是潮 流，說是所有同輩在追的風。衣袖 傳出燒蕉的菸味，手腕在錶帶下隱約浮視紫 青色的瘀傷。她哥哥告訴我，她一年換了三 間學校，原因都是出席率欠佳。那時我就該 察出她選了一條不歸路。

第一次見她的時候，我十歲，但父母 早聽過這個成熟、幽默的鄰家小孩。她母親 每逢暑假都會到訪我家，茶餘飯後一談就整 個下午。我倆就像解放了一樣，笨拙地跑出 公園。一夥夥的汗珠流到雙頰，心狂奔若喜 地跳 ——因為我們知道，假期開始了。

好日子總是短暫的。

十三歲那年，我到學校等她，殊不知 頓時引起一群觀眾。當同學用刻薄的眼光打 量我的時候，她卻快速穿插於人群中。在刻 板的臉蛋背後，她烏黑的眼睛閃爍著淚珠的 殘光。

走了一段路，她終於開口：「我醜。 同學都不睬我——你...你是我唯一的朋友。 」她的聲音像平靜的湖水，並沒有滄桑的波 瀾或苦澀的漣漪。那暑假，她開始使用遮瑕 膏。即使如此，我只記得她毫不厭倦地問： 「好看嗎？」玲瓏而蒼白的輪廓依然美麗， 只多了一絲憂愁。

接下來的夏天，她變了另一個人。 爛漫的笑聲已成過去。她白天素顏，晚上豔 妝。針孔洞代替了深紅的縫口。為瘦身，她 的餐單越變越短。我已分不清她是沒氣還是 喜歡沈默，但我更看不透－這是美嗎？

幾年以來，她眼睛終於亮起色彩。「 我想永遠保持年輕美麗，我不想被人憶為醜 小鴨。」我心裡湧上一個不詳的念頭，想安 慰她但又不知怎樣開口。

看著那個缸，我獻下膠花。我搖頭無 奈的笑：她從前擔心的，掙扎的，壓抑的， 豈不是全化為隨風起舞的灰燼？ 117

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WRITER: HORACE WANG (Y12) This was a terrible idea, I think. I can’t believe I violated my parole for this. It’s not the first time this thought has occurred to me tonight, but any thoughts regarding the impracticality of my decision are forgotten as I remind myself why I’m doing this. I’m determined to get to my destination, even if it means getting caught.

I run along the streets of the town, keeping to the shadows and praying that the cops don’t catch me.

Every single movement needs to be timed exactly and executed flawlessly; one mess-up could result in my having go back to prison. Run, stop, look. Run, stop, look... it doesn’t matter how many times I carry out this pattern, because it does nothing to ease me.

My old sneakers, which should have been thrown out ages ago, are reflective of the distance that I’ve travelled in them. The harsh, wet snow scattered everywhere on the ground isn’t helping.

It wasn’t always like this. A year ago, I had a well-paying job, a loving wife, and a spacious house, all of which disappeared in one night. We were on our way home from a New Year’s Eve party during which I had one too many glasses to drink. I could tell that my wife was skeptical about whether or not I was sober enough to drive, but I used the typical rubbish excuses and insisted on driving. I didn’t know that it would be a costly decision.

At that time, we had been driving for half an hour and were almost home. Everything had been going smoothly up until that point, so the crash came as a total surprise, as car crashes often do.

BLAM! I hit the brakes as the blunt force trauma and noise snapped me out of my drunken trance. I turned towards my wife in the opposite seat and saw that the glass in front of her was dented and her head was

slumped on the dashboard. Panicking, I took off my jacket and wrapped it around her head. Don’t die on me, c’mon...but no matter how hard I hoped, I knew it was too late.

A man got out of the other car and started angrily swearing, but I made no effort to respond. Silently, I sat on the edge of car and watched as more cops pulled up. I didn’t resist as cops cuffed me and escorted me to the police car, only pausing for a moment to look at my wife. I knew fully well that it would be the last time that I ever saw her.

Days blur and become weeks, weeks blur together and become months, and before I’ve known it I’ve been in prison for a full year. I look forward to and dread the day I’m released at the same time, knowing full well that I’ll have nothing to return to when I’m released. So when I’m eventually informed that my sentence is reduced to a year because of my “good behavior”, I’m not sure how to react.

I step outside the dull prison block with nothing but the clothes on my back and an envelope containing a small amount of money, a Greyhound bus ticket, and a piece of paper that dictates how I’m supposed to live the rest of my life. For a while I stand completely still at the prison gate, unwilling to face a world in which my wife is dead.

The silence reminds me how much I miss her as I recall memories back from when she was still alive.

I wasn’t even allowed to attend her funeral.

And with that thought, I decide to break the law once more.

I drop my papers into a trash can before boarding a bus into the city.

The joyous sounds of people celebrating the New Year gradually die down as I get closer to my destination, eventually being replaced by silence. I step inside the cemetery and head towards a single grave.

Reaching into my jacket, I bring out an old cloth and wipe away the snow that has gathered on the tombstone. The snow falls to the ground, followed by my tears which fall as soon as I see the inscription on the tombstone.

I try to to talk, but can’t speak knowing that my words will be inconsequential. So I just stand there, shivering in the cold. Only when I can no longer resist the coldness both inside and outside of me do I turn around and walk away, doing everything that I can to not look back.

The warmth of a nearby soup kitchen embraces me as I step inside the building. With my tattered clothes and the fact that I have no idea where home is anymore, I fit right in. I stick my tray out to the volunteers, put on a fake smile, and say a quick “thanks” as leftover turkey and sloppy mashed potatoes are dropped onto my plate. A year ago, I wouldn’t have regarded the food as much, but to a man who’s eaten prison food for the last year, it’s a king’s feast.

Night falls, and one of the volunteers switches on the old television set. A reporter stands live in New York, surrounded by thousands of joyful citizens as they all prepare for the ball to drop. Watching all those happy citizens, I feel a sudden pang of jealousy.

Something inside me awakens, and with that I make my second bad decision of the day. I exit the kitchen and head towards the bus station, where I was supposed to be three hours ago.

I board the next bus out of the city without much consideration as to where the bus is headed.

There’s nothing left for me here, and I can’t imagine that’ll I be back anytime soon, so hopefully wherever the hell I’m headed right now has something in store for me. I remember a conversation I once had with my wife, in which she hoped that even if she died before me, I would continue to live life to the fullest. I can’t imagine she envisioned herself dying in the way that she did, but it doesn’t change the fact that in doing this I’m fulfilling both of our wishes. As the bus leaves, the clock strikes midnight and I watch the fireworks shine among the buildings in the distance. A new year is here.

Hopefully it can be a new start for me as well.

END

B

y definition, street art is a form of visual art that is created in public venues accessible to large amounts of people. Historically, street artists have specifically chosen to display their artwork in public venues in order to reach out to a larger audience, breaking down the barriers that the formal art world has created between its artwork and its audience.

A large part of modern urban culture has been influenced heavily by street art, and this is because of the easily felt presence of the art form on a large part of the community and the messages that most pieces carry. Art critics agree that street art is powerful because it often provides cynical commentary on socially relevant issues by deploying elements such as satire and hyper-exaggeration. Moreover, because street artists are able to preserve their anonymity, they often do not shy away from promoting controversial political and social themes.

Although well-known works of street art and artists themselves are mostly well respected, the art form did not “mature” or become somewhat “socially accepted” until the late 2000s. This was because it was around this time that modern street art finally evolved from graffiti forms such as territorial tagging (a tag is an artistic way or approach of writing one’s pseudonym) and “throw-ups” (graffiti that is not just simple tagging, but not as complex to be considered as a full work of art), to a more refined art form.

The most common misconception is that graffiti and street art are the same thing; however, most graffiti is not considered street art because it is often invasive and vandalistic, rather than created with an artistic intention. Even now, many bodies of governments are having difficulties drawing the line between unlawful vandalism and street art, as street art advocates continue to lobby for street art against those who want to outlaw both the art form entirely.

However, as graffiti and street art continue to develop, it is evident that not much has been done to preserve the two; much more has been done to destroy and “cover” it up.

The graffiti boom in New York City started in the early 1970s and many politicians say that street art in this infant state was more invasive than it was artistic. While some artists in this time period were already prominent for artwork and their tags, the economic restraints in New York allowed many

artists to tag their names in both private and public areas such as parks and city squares, with district government incapable of covering it up or compensating for the damages.

Towards the late 1970s, tagging became extremely competitive and artists began fighting for recognition by going what they called “all-city”, which meant establishing their names in all five boroughs of the city.

While many artists were tagging their pseudonyms on billboards, walls of buildings and junkyards, graffiti flourished in the metro system of New York City. The tags of artists on both the interior and exterior of trains spurred the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to increase its anti graffiti budgets to an all time high. This also spurred on many governments to actively take measures to remove street art and graffiti off of all platforms by increasing the severity of punishments on graffiti artists, and by restricting paint sale. Many politicians have attempted to completely prevent youth from possessing aerosol-based paint and other tools to create graffiti; Peter Vallone Jr., a Council Member of the New York City Council wrote legislation preventing anyone under the age of 21 to purchase or possess spray paint and permanent markers.

But since the 20th century, street art has evolved to become so much more than just tags and throw-ups.

Many street artists transition from getting sent to prison for unlawful vandalism, to being commissioned by the government to create art for them. Prominent street artists often have their own studios where they perfect their own craft. People even fight over graffiti; when a building with a prominent piece of graffiti on the exterior wall was sold in 2010, the original owner of the building wanted to take that part of the exterior wall with him, causing a 20 million dollar lawsuit. Yet, many politicians are still lobbying to remove street art permanently from its cityscape.

While there are many ongoing movements to suppress or promote street art and graffiti, the biggest question is and always will be, what constitutes as respectable street art, and what constitutes as unlawful graffiti? Many will argue that even the simplest tags carry some meaning and message, and the value of every work is definitely subjective. A wall of tags, which may heighten the sense of crime of an area to one, may have sentimental and historical significance to the other. Some will forever see graffiti as vandalism; but is it more than that?

WRITER: KENNY JEONG (Y11) ILLUSTRATOR:ALISON WONG (Y11)

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秋...

WRITER:VICTORIA NGAI (Y10) PHOTOGRAPHER: FLORENCE WU (Y10)

秋天，一道美丽的风景线， 随着夏季默默的隐退， 人们终于换上了美丽的秋装。 静静看着随风的人群， 脚踩着校园里的落叶， 带来我们的思绪，也诱发了我们的联想， 花香伴我们行走，帮我们驱散寂寞， 鸟鸣激荡着心灵的原野，婉转而悠长； 正如我们的青春，洋溢着神秘的光芒。 秋风吹动同学飘逸的长发， 金黄的大地在日光中闪耀， 就像我们的激情，充满着快乐与感恩，智慧与勇气。 这就是秋天，真是丰收的季节。

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O

n a hot summer afternoon, one month into school in the East, the wretched hearts of a hundred upperclassmen moved when they read it:

“There will be a dinner-dance at the Fairchild Country Club,” it said, “It is one of the many closing dances for the club, which I am sure you are aware of. The date is Thursday, September the seventeenth, at an appropriate seven o’clock.”

Your affectionate friend, For and on Behalf of the Chairman of the Fairchild Club Myra Fairchild R.S.V.P. And so on a cool Thursday evening, graceful chauffeur-driven saloons and exuberant young things drifted in throngs into the crammed vestibule of the Fairchild Country Club, the moonlight wan on the forests and the lakes. A sylphlike mist settled on the dark cupolas of the clubhouse and lingered impossibly along the gray streets. In the distance, there was the sound of crickets.

Strolling nonchalantly into the country club portico was Sherwood E. Lee, a dark-haired boy with promising, handsome eyes which seemed to be the quintessence of romance. His facile imagination often eluded the disappointments of life, and it was on this summer night his love for idealism was fulfilled.

In the large ballroom, dark forms retreated into silver shadows and Sherwood E. Lee, yet to run into any of his friends, nervously found his place card. He had been at Archibald University since the beginning of the semester, having transferred, and he had found the settling-in irritating, the people inconsequential and “different.” Nonetheless, he had come, like many other upperclassmen, for Myra Fairchild, the most popular girl at school - in any school in the East.

At Sherwood’s left sat Norman Percy Kim, his hair slicked back handsomely and his two eyes gleaming like winter dreams; a young bachelor of twenty-three and the paradigm of a cavalier. Around the table there were men and women, even the varsity Football captain, Herbert Sun, who sat two spots to his right, stocky but impressive in his well-cut suit.

Their bright, talking faces moved exuberantly among the riotous cries of the night, but Sherwood could think only of Myra Fairchild, and where she was, and why he had not yet seen her dancing among the youthful crowd.

Seven o’clock moved into nine. The last polished plate of toasted brioche had been removed by the conscientious waiter, but Myra still couldn’t be found, and Sherwood, and inevitably many other voracious upperclassmen, were beginning to tap their wingtips on the marble floors irritably.

The air turned languid and thick and powdery. Disappointed men began to pick up their evening coats. Click clack! Aching heels limped out of the ballroom doors. Sherwood, suddenly alone, sat a dark, empty table.

WRITER: YEW SAN CHEAH (Y10) ILLUSTRATOR: KARIS TAO (Y10)

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When he got bored, he drifted out to the moonlit veranda.

From where he was standing, Sherwood could see vaguely the first tee of the golf-course, and on both sides the dark expanse of forests. The balmy, light summer wind crackled the evening trees and brought with it the scent of bush roses. Here and there below the yellow headlights of automobiles beamed faintly amidst the mist and the darkness.

The distinct howl of starting engines told Sherwood that everyone was leaving.

Then, as the last roadster sped off into the night, never to be seen again, a woman could be seen descending the steps of the vestibule balcony. Even from afar, Sherwood knew she was the most beautiful person he had ever seen.

It was his youth’s felicity and his unwavering prejudice for romance that he knew, from the flamelike passion in his heart, that the girl his great eyes now lay on was indeed Myra Fairchild.

As he decided on his next movement, he was reminded of a line of Lord Byron’s... and all that’s best of dark and bright, meet in her aspect and her eyes...

Sherwood watched her discreetly from the veranda as she drifted to the bottom of the steps and over the trembling grass. Carefully, he turned and moved down the veranda steps.

She was wearing a long white gown that outlined her slender, supple body, and a wreath of flowers adorned her forehead. Her eyes were dark and sad and lovely, and her pale hands swung gracefully by her sides.

“Hello,” he cried softly. “I’m Sherwood.”

Hearing the stranger’s voice, Myra turned around. What she saw was a boy of incomparable romance. His dramatic eyes lulled her fatigued soul into bits of paradise, and then his name finally got around to her... Sherwood! Oh, Sherwood!...

“We haven’t met,” Sherwood said breathlessly. His dark eyes said: “I stayed behind... after everyone left, just to see you.”... “You might have met my older brother, Scott, Scott E. Lee.” At the proclamation of his brother’s name, Myra’s face perceptibly brightened. “He was captain of the Football team some years ago, but he’s since graduated.”

“Oh, yes, Scott E. Lee...” she said pensively. “So you’re his brother?”... “He’s a collegiate legend of sorts, a real

Archibald sportsman. You should be very proud.”

Precipitately, a nervous jealously throbbed in Sherwood’s head - not for Scott’s success, but because of the fact that Myra respected Scott more than himself. They were walking off the golf course, into the darkness of the nearby forest. Amidst the thick foliage, pale moonlight slipped onto the glinting leaves and through the innumerable gaps in the trees. Sherwood allowed a little distance between them, for fear Myra wouldn’t like the intimacy.

“I adore men like you,” she whispered very suddenly, settling herself on a smooth rock. “Men nowadays are all facile, unromantic things who lack the eternal quality of patience. You see the beauty in different things, and your mind is cool and measured, and that’s where a generation fails.”

For the first time in his life, Sherwood had found idealism, and the impossible quality known as physical perfection, which now sat tremulously in front of him. Advancing toward her, he placed a polished shoe on the rock, and both of his arms resting cooly across his leaning leg, he said: “I’m deeply flattered, Myra. Could I visit you sometime, give you a call?”

Her eyes beamed with passion. Sitting there, she turned her wan face up to him in the moonlight, and her pale lips trembled.

“Why-yes Sherwood, of course. The car is waiting for me at the entrance now. It’s twenty minutes to ten. I have to go.”

Silently, she raised herself from the rock, the ends of her white blouse slipping sadly off it.

“Good-bye,” said Myra.

“Good-bye,”said Sherwood.

Sherwood watched her disappear into the dark foreground, drifting like a phantom until she was only a scarcely perceptible dot in the distance.

Skipping away, Myra saw vaguely the large windows of the Fairchild Club. The wreath of shadowy flowers breathed in the golden moonlight, and her soul softly sighed, conscious of the eternal hydrangeas adorning her forehead, and at that moment she knew she was beautiful.

Have you heard about the new alumni initiative, AlumLives?

Alumni are invited to submit short 1 minute videos of themselves to share with the CIS community. Just something short and fun to showcase the diverse lives of CIS alumni.

Check out the seven videos we have uploaded so far on our facebook page: www.facebook.com/CISHK

漢基校友｜生活剪影

AlumLives

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Joyce Man Class of 2002

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Alan See

Jesse Mulcahy

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Go t m ore alu m ni ne ws ? Se nd it to al um ni @c is. ed u.

Ami Jon Class of

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Joseph Ng Class of 2003

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Osca Class

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Like us at CISHK

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SCAD Leading the World in Creative Education The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) provides specialized art and design education and professional career preparation through locally accredited bachelor's and master's degree programmes focused on student success. SCAD's presence in Hong Kong places students from around the world in closer proximity to a world-class art and design education to prepare them for creative careers.

SCAD Hong Kong offers: 21 art and design programs from a range of 14 majors International student body that broadens horizons via cultural exposure Advanced learning resources Unique opportunity to experience life at SCAD’s other campuses in Savannah, Atlanta and Lacoste Active learning through collaborative projects and internship opportunities with major international and local brands

SCAD Hong Kong, 292 Tai Po Road, Sham Shui Po, Kowloon, Hong Kong

TURN YOUR CREATIVITY INTO A CAREER. SCAD Hong Kong courses enhance your creative expression and emphasize the in-demand production skills and techniques necessary for a successful career.

Learn more about the university for creative careers.

SCHEDULE YOUR VISIT TO SCAD HONG KONG TODAY.

admission_hk@scad.edu 852.2253.8000 scad.edu/hongkong Courses of Study are registered with the Hong Kong Education127 Bureau, registration numbers: 261958-261971 and 262196-262202.

It is a matter of discretion for individual employers to recognize qualification XIAO HUAany ISSUE 11 to which these courses may lead.

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