Xiao hua Issue 9

Xiao Hua 校話

ART COURSES in Drawing, Painting,

Printmaking, Sculpture, Mixed-Media.

ORFSTF 10O% UR FI S

Y SION 2 SESR CIS FO NTS. E STUD

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

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.

8 students Max

HongKongArtTutoring www.hkarttutoring.com HKAT_Advert_CIS_14.75x21cm_OCT13_FINAL.indd 1

2

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

Tel: +852 9722 8353 Email: info@hkarttutoring.com 1/11/13 5:14 PM

AustrAliA

Rustic Pathways

BurmA

™

CAmBodiA

the Finest hiGh sChool trAvel proGrAms in the World

ChinA C o s tA r i C A dominiCAn repuBliC Fiji islAnds

Where Will you go in 2014?

GhAnA indiA lAos monGoliA moroCCo peru s pA i n tA n z A n i A thAilAnd u n i t e d s tAt e s

1.800.321.4353

•

rusticpathways.com

ISSUE 9

•

XIAO HUA

3

Xiao Hua

FEBRUARY 2014 ISSUE 9 XIAO HUA

HAPPENINGS 簡報 SCHOOL YARD 校園 15 PROJECT WEEK 16

VOICES 心聲

CONTENTS X.H 校話 MASTHEAD 報頭 6 EDITORIAL BOARD 編輯委員會 7 EDITOR’S LETTER: JOHNSON PAK 10 EDITOR’S LETTER: SUNWOO NAM 11 XIAO HUA ANNOUNCEMENTS 12 CONTACT US 13

4

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

CIS STUDENT COUNCIL UPDATE 19 PERSONAL PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS 20 SYRIA THROUGH EYES OF A YEAR 7 22 CHARITY… TAKE A STAND! 24 在學校玩電子遊戲 26 ADVISORY 與 HOMEROOM 28 TEDX AT CIS 29 漢基杭州有感 30 融入中國 32 A DAY IN THE LIFE OF: AN AVERAGE HZ STUDENT 34 莫干山歷險 36 LINUX 38

WHAT’S COOL 流行文化 DEAR DR LINGERS 40 香港的另一面 41 DIARY OF A TEACHER: MR COOK 42 MOVIE REVIEW: 風聲－觀後感 44 BOOK REVIEW: SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN SAMURAI 45 HOW KOREA REVOLUTIONIZED POP CULTURE 46

FEATURES 專題文章 RUNNING TO STOP THE TRAFFIK 48 PARALLELS BETWEEN JUNE FOURTH AND THE EGYPTIAN CRACKDOWN 52 CIS REDEVELOPMENT 56 IB 或 DSE: 如何選擇？60 獨生子女，還是兄弟姐妹？62 INTERNET ACTIVISM 64 THREE CIS POLICIES THAT SHOULD BE CHANGED 68 POSITIVE EDUCATION AT CIS 72 GRADE CULTURE VS INTELLECTUAL CURIOSITY AT CIS 76

EDITORIAL 觀點 FALL OF AN APPLE 80

HONG KONG’S DEMOCRACY 82 HOUSING IN HONG KONG 84 蘋果手機與小米手機 86 THERE ARE NO “BLURRED LINES” 88 THE EVOLUTION OF INTERNET VERNACULAR 90 PRISM: HAS THE US GOVERNMENT CROSSED THE LINE? 92 THE FUTURE OF TRANSPORTATION: HYPERLOOP 94

SPORTS 體育 THE KUKRI SPORTS UNIFORM STORE 96 CIS DRAGON DANCE TEAM 98 SPORTS FIGURES: HOW DO THEY INFLUENCE ATHLETIC MINDSETS AT CIS? 99

CREATIVE 創意 下不停的一場大雨 103 FORGET ME NOT 104 FENNEC FOX 105 我屬於哪兒 106

ALUMNI CORNER 校友

108

ISSUE 9

5

XIAO HUA

Xiao Hua FEBRUARY 2014 ISSUE 9 XIAO HUA

FACULTY ADVISOR 指導教師 Georgina Martignago EDITOR-IN-CHIEF 主編 Johnson Pak & Sunwoo Nam MANAGING EDITOR & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR 設計副總監 Chloe Mok & Bernetta Li NEWS EDITOR 新聞編輯 Jackie Wu FEATURES EDITOR 專題文章編輯 Vera Lummis & Medha Goyal CHINESE DIRECTOR 中文編輯 Michelle Li & Justine Chen SPORTS EDITOR 體育編輯 Nicholas Sung & Konrad Lee HEAD OF PHOTOGRAPHY 攝影主任 Jessica Eu & Natasha Chak & Claudia Ng & Andrew Koo BUSINESS & COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR 財務及傳訊總監 Rachel Chan & Maegan Yeung NEWS EDITOR 新聞編輯 Jackie Wu Reporters 記者

Nicole Choi, Crystal Lau, Victoria Ngai, Cordelia Lam, Cuthbert Chow, Medha Goyal, Annette Kim, Shannon Hu, Miyeon Kim, Raghav Goyal, Cameron Sung, Scarlet Au, Zayna Mansuri, Hannah Jones, Daphne Yung, Zachary Yu, Adrienne Zhang, Isabella Boyne, Angus Lam, Christy Lau, Joshua Hung, Evelyn Choi, Sophie Kang, Ryan Lee, Richard Ding, Mikaela Choo, Brian Lee. FEATURES EDITOR 專題文章編輯 Vera Lummis & Medha Goyal Reporters 記者

Cordelia Lam, Hana Davis, Yoonah Han, Susan Maginn, Aspen Wang, Kendra Cui, Oliver Hsu, Megan Foo, Wen Yee Chan, Sophie Kang.

CHINESE DIRECTOR 中文編輯 Michelle Li & Justine Chen Reporters 記者

Ingrid Tsang, Nicole Li, Eric Tse, Caitlin Yeung, Maegan Yeung, Simon Lam, Jessica Chan, Natalie Chak, Adrienne Chen, Mona Shi, Christy Leung, Jing Yi Shan, Victoria Ngai, Ryan Tse. SPORTS EDITOR 體育編輯 Nicholas Sung & Konrad Lee Reporters 記者

Michael Cheng, Ethelia Lung, Nicholas Tse.

HANG ZHOU EDITORS 杭州編輯 Catherine Wang & Kenny Jeong & Hannah Hui Reporters 記者 & Photographers 攝影師

Catherine Wang, Hannah Hui, Crystal Leung, Joe Littler, Catherine Wang, Serena Hildebrandt MANAGING EDITOR & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR 設計副總監 Chloe Mok & Bernetta Li Illutrators and Designers 設計師

Trisha Wong, Letitia Ho, Hana Davis, Nicole Li, Nicole Wang, Candice Lincon, Kelly Luy, Kelly Chu, Michelle Wu, Audrey Hioe.

HEAD OF PHOTOGRAPHY 攝影主任 Jessica Eu & Natasha Chak & Claudia Ng & Andrew Koo Photographers 攝影師

Miriam Finnemore, Emma Kent, Britta Lam, Nicole Choi, Elena Eu, Mathew Chow, Joanne Pang, Scarlet Au BUSINESS & COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR 財務及傳訊總監Maegan Yeung & Rachel Chan

Medha Goyal, Stephanie Leung, Candice Lincon, Benjamin Oh, Yumi Tang, Shannan Liu, Rachel Cheung, Justin Lok, Francisca Lam, Eric Yang, Eliza Gilchrist, Cindy Wang, Christopher Cheung, Bonnie Lee, Angela Stanton.

PRODUCTION & ADMINISTRATION MANAGER 行政主任 Cynthia So & 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.

6

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

EDITORIAL BOARD FEBRUARY 2014 ISSUE 9 XIAO HUA

NEWS EDITOR JACKIE WU

The News Department has grown with every issue of Xiao Hua, and this issue we welcome the largest group of dedicated and talented writers to the department. From pop culture to politics to issues at CIS, this issue is packed with a mélange of though-provoking articles.

Thank you to the writers and department leaders for all their hard work - to the Year 13s, goodbye and good luck, to the new ed board members, welcome to the team. Happy reading CIS!

SENIOR FEATURES EDITOR

FEATURES EDITOR MEDHA GOYAL

It has been a long way since my first days at Xiao Hua as a timid year seven student, when I idolized my editors, and cowered before older writers. I have always been eager to contribute to Xiao Hua just as much as they have, and now that I am in a leadership position, I hope that I finally can!

VERA LUMMIS

This is my last issue as the Features Editor for Xiao Hua, and I have thoroughly enjoyed my time writing and editing for the magazine. The Features writers are a dedicated group of students.

Their articles in this issue reflect a level of social awareness and understanding that I think the CIS readership will find meaningful. I hope you will enjoy reading them as much as I have.

RACHEL CHAN (SENIOR)

Xiao Hua has been a very important part of my school life and this experience has taught me so many valuable lessons. It has truly been my honour to have worked with such a talented and hardworking team of people, issue after issue, in making this magazine happen. All the best to the new Ed Board and happy reading, CIS!

MAEGAN YEUNG

BUSINESS DIRECTORS

Working in the business department, I have noticed the drive and dedication of my fellow business associates fueled by the gloriously passionate Business and Communications Director, Rachel Chan. For the upcoming issues, I’m ecstatic to fill in her big shoes and collaborate with other like-minded individuals in the new Ed-Board. I’m certain that the collective staff of Xiao Hua will do a tremendous job in producing a high quality publication, and all I can say is, Xiao Hua will undoubtedly be worth your time, and worth your money – happy reading everyone!

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

7

ADMINISTRATION MANAGER CYNTHIA SO (SENIOR)

校話能夠有今天的成就，全靠同學 們的參與和支持! 謝謝大家多年以 來那麼捧場，我希望大家會喜歡本 期的校話以及陸續出爐的！最後我 想鼓勵新加入校話的同學們：努力 加油!

SENIOR CHINESE EDITOR MICHELLE LI

很榮幸能夠與這麽有才有識的同學 們一起創造這期的校話。今年雖然 是最後一次當中文編輯，但這幾年 在校話的時光必定是我中學最美好 的回憶之一。希新加入校話的同學 們也能分享我的樂趣，帶著寶貴的 經驗，繼續努力！

CHINESE EDITOR JUSTINE CHEN As Chinese editor, it has been an extremely rewarding and enjoyable first year. Having the privilege to work alongside such a talented and lively group of people has been a great pleasure. I have had the opportunity to not only recognize the passion within the Chinese writers in the CIS community, but also develop as a leader myself. I look forward to the many years ahead!

SPORTS EDITORS NICHOLAS SUNG (SENIOR)

During my final year at CIS I have dedicated myself to fully appreciating the school’s sporting values, and to admire the achievements, potential and fine spirit within the athletic community. As Sports Editor I have witnessed how diversity and energy is what makes Phoenix sports distinct. Working together with Konrad and an innovative team of sports journalists, we are excited to present you this issue’s Sports Section: a multidimensional illustration of sporting uniqueness at CIS. Wishing Xiao Hua continued success in the future!

KONRAD LEE

Working alongside Nick as Sports Editor, I’ve been able to learn so much more about the magazine and how we contribute to the CIS Community. Through this issue, I’ve seen how passionate and committed our school is towards sports and athletics. Hopefully in further issues we can keep on showcasing our school pride and our exemplary athletes. Go Phoenix!

8

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

(from left to right)

HEAD OF PHOTOGRAPHY

CLAUDIA NG

I will always remember XiaoHua as an integral part of my high school life. I have learned so much from this talented group during my time at CIS. All the best to the new Ed Board and I hope you all like this issue. Enjoy reading, CIS!

ANDREW KOO

Having the guidance of both Natasha and Claudia throughout this process has been of great value to me. Not only has my role in Xiao Hua allowed me to

become acquaintances with people that I would have otherwise not known, but through the help of my predecessors, I have also learnt a lot about leadership, and the responsibilities that come with such a role. I have had a wonderful time in the photography department so far, and I thoroughly look forward to the days to come!

NATASHA CHAK

This will be the last XiaoHua issue I’ll ever be part of and it has been an honor working with the talented Ed-Board

ARTISTIC DIRECTORS

CHLOE MOK (SENIOR)

To be able to work with such a talented and dedicated group of people has been both a pleasure and an honor. Even though this will be the last time I work with the XH team, Xiao Hua will always be a part of my CIS life. The insightful writers, creative designers, talented photographers and business staff are what makes Xiao Hua succeed both locally and internationally, year after year. I’m confident that there will

be many more amazing issues to come enjoy reading, CIS!

BERNETTA LI I’ve been in the layout department for 2 years and I’ve only recently had the privilege of joining the magazine’s artistic directorial team. We have worked long and hard for this issue, and I look forward to the many years ahead with this group of talented people. I hope you guys love this issue as much as I do! Enjoy CIS!

and all the fellow staff members. I wish XiaoHua all the best as the year 13s graduate. Happy reading CIS!

JESSICA EU

Even as an apprehensive year seven student, I had always been amazed by the sheer magnitude that was Xiao Hua. Now, as a member of the Ed Board, I am still blown away by the wholehearted dedication each of my peers has towards creating the best issue possible. I wish all the best to the graduating year thirteens and hope everyone enjoys this issue!

ADMINISTRATION MANAGER STEPHANIE LEUNG Even though I’ve only recently had the pleasure of joining the Xiao Hua editorial board, I would like to say a big thank you to all of the contributors for their hard work on this issue. I look forward to working with everyone, and I hope you enjoy this issue CIS!

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

9

EDITOR’S LETTER

T

hough it has already been many months into the academic year, I am still in disbelief that it is my last year at CIS, and that this is my final chance to contribute to Xiao Hua. This student magazine has come a very long way since its inauguration and has continued its mission of providing a valuable platform for students and teachers to share their stories, opinions and experiences, bringing the CIS community together. On behalf of the outgoing Editorial Board team, I want to thank all our readers for their support and all our student staff members for their dedication and contributions. It is definitely the people who make up this high-quality magazine.

Challenges never seem to be as scary and intimidating in hindsight. I can still vividly remember my initial struggles with managing this magazine. When I assumed this leadership position three years ago, I had no talent or any past experience whatsoever in journalism and publication. Long term planning and delegation were foreign concepts to me. Yet, I continued forward with uncertainty, learning little by little as I gained experience from taking one step at a time. Human beings are equipped with an extraordinary ability to learn and adapt, but these skills can only develop if you challenge yourselves. Here at CIS and in this magazine, we foster a supportive spirit and celebrate our students’ astounding achievements and the challenges we have overcome as a community. But ultimately, the purpose of sharing these exciting accomplishments is to inspire everyone else to do the same: to find their passions/ interests and strive to improve.

Taking this final privilege to share my reflection upon my experiences as Editor-in-Chief of this magazine, I challenge you, the readers, to challenge yourselves today. Whether it may be spending just 20 more minutes to perfect your science essay, or volunteering yourself to a charity organization every week, or creating a cocurricular activity at school to share your passion with other likeminded CIS students, these are the challenges and breakthroughs that are worthwhile, unforgettable, and will make you grow. These are the memories you want to create and will remember at your final high school graduation ceremony. Trust me… this minute may feel like forever, but a few years will pass by before

10

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

you know it. Venture out your bubble, be proactive, take the initiative, and be excellent!

Once again, I want to take this final opportunity to thank everyone who has worked to make Xiao Hua possible in these past three years. I want to express my immense gratitude to the Editorial Board members and their dedication to this student magazine. Our term has officially come to an end, but I know that Xiao Hua is in capable hands of Sunwoo, the new Editor-in-Chief, and her new Editorial Board team and I wish them all the best with the magazine. I’m confident that Xiao Hua will continue to grow, improve, and carry on its mission of connecting the CIS community!

Thank you so much Xiao Hua! Johnson Pak Editor-in-Chief

M

ost people will have encountered a famous restaurant, bursting with people, ardent to get in and experience its distinctive taste people have marveled about. For me, Xiao Hua has always been that ‘restaurant’. I have not only been thrilled to taste all the wonderful cuisines under the name of Xiao Hua, but have also been eager to contribute and be part of the creative procedure to produce delectable dishes for the CIS community. Starting out as a diffident student lost between floods of old writers and developing into an editor, reveling in the creative articles presented before me, I have grown both together as a writer and a person as Xiao Hua altered its cover page. I cannot possibly express how grateful and honored I am to now hold the key to unveil the future of Xiao Hua. In the past few years, Xiao Hua has prospered profoundly, continuing the legacy of being one of the largest student groups at CIS. This, of course, would not have been possible without our Editorial board – Johnson Pak, Vera Lummis, Michelle Li, Rachel Chan, Chloe Mok, Claudia Ng, Natasha Chak, Nicholas Sung and Cynthia So. With their passion, diligence and hard work, they managed to lead 120 members and create issues that are much admired and respected. As they leave and pass on their roles, I would like to express my gratitude for all the times they spent, arduously working and devoting their effort into the growth of this school magazine. In return, our new Editorial board members will aspire to do our best in assuming the roles of the previous editors and hopefully continuing to stimulate school spirit by celebrating students’ talent and achievements.

It can’t be denied that Xiao Hua, as a collective group of enthusiastic, talented staff members, has always strived to creatively capture different aspects of school life and bring the students, teachers, parents and alumni together through uniquely compiled ideas. Every issue has gracefully engraved and encapsulated the times that have passed, moments that are forgotten and memories people dearly hold onto. Though sometimes the magazine may have seemed incomplete and imperfect with displays of mistakes and lack of professional abilities in certain areas, it has reflected creative freedom, honest opinions and most importantly students’ development and growth into blooming writers, photographers, designers and administrators. Being new to this experi-

EDITOR’S LETTER

ence, our new Editorial board members and I may have to cudgel our brains to maintain this unique feature and continue to construct the roads that have been carved before us. With our fervor and desire to lead Xiao Hua magazine, however, we will endeavor to produce our very own secret recipe that best showcases and exhibits the voices and talent of CIS community.

I hope you like this issue as much as I do. Enjoy reading!

Sunwoo Nam Incoming Editor-in-Chief

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

11

Xiao Hua Awards

Announcements Congratulations

to our 120 student team for being named Crown Award finalists by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association.

The Crown Award is the CSPA’s highest honor for

overall excellence. This includes print and online stu

dent magazines, newspapers, and yearbooks.

Xiao Hua is guaranteed to win either a Gold or Silver Crown Award at the CSPA’s March 2013 convention in New York.

The Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA)

was founded in 1925. The Crown Awards is an

international competition that aims to recognize

exceptional work by student journalists in print and

online media. The CSPA is overseen by the Colum

bia University School of Journalism.

To view the announcement online, please visit the CSPA’s website at:

http://cspa.columbia.edu/recepient-lists/2014- awards-student-work-crown-awards-scholastic- recipients-0

Xiao Hua

also received All American Honors and a Gold Medal, the highest ratings from the National Scholastic Press Association and the Columbia Scholastic Press Assocation critique programs respectively for its 2010 -2013 issues.

For more information and details, please email cis. xiaohua@gmail.com

12

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

CONTACT US 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.

JOIN US: If you want to join our staff, please contact us at cis.xiaohua@gmail.com

ADVERTISING 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 targetted 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.

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

Tel: 6478 0234 Fax: 2838 9596 ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

13

HAPPENINGS

14

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

HAPPENINGS

SCHOOL YARD

校園

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

15

PROJECT

WEEK

VOICES

18

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

CIS student council update.

VOICES

A

Written By: Nicole Choi

Layout By: Hana Davis

s the halfway point of the 2014 Student Council’s leadership nears, what better way to celebrate it than to deliver an update from the leaders themselves! Xiao Hua took the liberty of having a chat with your Student Council - read on to learn more about what sets this year’s SC apart, what they’ve accomplished, their goals for the months ahead and more.

CIS has seen over the years.

The two other campaign ideas we proposed were a Sushi Bar and Gym Credits. The Sushi Bar has proven to be difficult, but we are currently liaising with Chartwells to get this to you soon. We’ve also been in contact with the PE department, and are in the process of trying to establish this gym credits system. The plan is to allow younger years to earn credits so that they can use the fitness room with a buddy!

1. What is your overall concept as the 2013-2014 Student Council?

What sets you apart from previous SC groups?

It is difficult to define one particular concept behind our student council, given the scope of the role the SC plays at CIS. The multifaceted nature of ‘student government’, in the broadest sense of the word, requires an effective SC to set different goals for the addressing of different issues at CIS. Regarding student life, in the recreational sense, we aim to continue the traditions of courtyard concerts and school dances, but also to really emphasize and celebrate the many talents of the CIS community. One thing that you could say sets us apart from past SC groups is our main focuses and concerns revolving around celebrating student talents and achievements.

3. Are there any major events planned before winter break?

Firstly, we are definitely continuing the CIS tradition of hosting a Christmas dance and Christmas deliveries.

However, we want to take this to the next level by having a special Funtastic Friday for Christmas! Get excited! We also have a huge surprise coming up, which we hope to launch in the days leading up to Christmas - it is something that CIS has been in need of and promised for a long long time!

2. What do you propose for the year, specifically regarding what you proposed in your election speech?

One of our main campaign ideas was to improve student life at CIS, and we have seen this begin to happen with our past two Funtastic Fridays (the courtyard concert in October and the Halloween Dress Up and Scavenger Hunt in November). This stemmed from a want to find a way for students to showcase their talents. In regards to Courtyard Concerts, we proposed to encourage a diverse range of performances, as opposed to typical vocal performances that

4. How is the new SC rep system working? Is it better and why?

The new SC rep system is a huge improvement, and has made it much easier for us to communicate and work effectively with different year groups. All of the reps are hard working and diligent, and have been turning up to all the meetings full of ideas and energy!

5. Do you have anything else you’d like to pass on to the CIS community?

As this year’s SC, we’d really like to establish strong relationships with students at school. We are sad that we don’t get to the student body more, so honestly, if you have any questions or just want to stop and have lunch with us, please feel free to do so! You can contact us at our email is <studentcouncil@student.cis.edu.hk> - send an email if you need any help, have any ideas or just want to talk!

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

19

VOICES

WRITERS: CRYSTAL LAU, VICTORIA NGAI PHOTOGRAPHY: MIRIAM FINNEMORE LAYOUT: NICOLE LI

PERSONAL PROJECT

HIGHLIGHTS

Y

ou’ve always heard from your parents and teachers on how important your education is to you, but you’ve never quite believed it. But as a member of society, the most important starting point in life is our education. As Nelson Mandela said: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

This is why at CIS there is a student run charity called “Education for All” that aims to increase the quality of education around the world. Many fundraisers go into supporting EFA, and there are some completely original and creative ones, including a recent charity dance showcase hosted by Sammie Haggard right at our school called Echappé, which coincidentally was also her Personal Project.

We had the privilege of going to Echappé and seeing the dances first hand. After comfortably seated in the CIS Auditorium, we were presented with a magical showcase of dance talents that each told their very own story. Blinded by grand jetés and seemingly impossible moves, it took the night away. Genres included jazz, hip hop, latin, lyri-

20

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

cal hip hop, and of course, the ever popular contemporary. It was obvious from the perfection in all the performances that the dancers had put a lot of effort and time into this showcase.

We also chose to interview a few audience members about what they thought of Echappé. A year 9 student said that she “thought it was very enjoyable and that it was a great show of artistic talents” and she “really liked the variety of the different dances.” Our French teacher at CIS Mrs. Grier was also at the event. She told us: “I was mesmerised by the show, immersed in the sounds and moves of the dancers. Each

and every one of the performers connected with the audience - I felt their sincerity and energy, filled with emotions. Each choreography had a message, a meaning that only their dance could convey. I learnt a lot more about my students and their passions.

The show was a huge success. Thanks to all performers, organisers and contributors.

Echappé must go on!”

We spoke with Sammie Haggard, who came up with this brilliant fundraising idea on what inspired her to base her Personal Project on helping to raise funds for Education for All.

S

he has been dancing since she was 5 and she readily took on hosting a dance showcase, due to her not wanting to choreograph a dance for somebody else. Her choice of Education for All as a charity was purely coincidental as some of her friends were part of it, and she wouldn’t need to search far and wide for a charity in need of help.

Education for All is right now aiming to help a place in China called Zigen with any problems they are facing. They’re trying hard to reinforce education and help find solutions to healthcare problems that have arisen.

Miao Lan Village in Zigen is benefitting from Education for All, as they are one of the poorest places in the nation and desperately need help with a lot of environmental and economical issues. Education for All is trying to raise funds which will help with tuition assistance, meal subsidies at schools and is also trying to recruit competent teachers for the children there. It is very rewarding to see members of our CIS community reaching out, doing whatever they can and helping others in need.

In the end, it all comes down to the fact that anyone can help in any way, they just need to find their motivation and drive to do so. Sammie’s case has been a great example to show us that even using a Personal Project at school, we can do our part to make a difference. We may not feel it, but for those who are less fortunate than us, one dance showcase can be life-changing. It is “A year to making our world a better place”, so why not take any chance to help the rest of the society?

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

21

VOICES

syria syria {THROUGH THE EYES OF A YEAR SEVEN} [ W: ZACHARY YU, L: NICOLE LI ] It all started on the 15 of March in 2011, around the time when Arab Spring was sweeping through many parts of the Middle East. In the small town of Deraa in Syria, 15 kids were spraying anti-government graffiti on the wall. They were arrested and tortured for it. News soon spread about the incident and many people went to protest and demanded the children’s release.However the situation turned dreadful when soldiers came out and opened fire on the crowd, killing unarmed civilians. These actions sent a shockwave through the people of Syria. The brutal actions unleashed a groundswell of unhappiness with President Assad’s dictatorial regime and all that was wrong with it – charges of nepotism, cronyism, and regular infringements on human rights. Encouraged by the Arab Spring that had brought down dictators elsewhere in the Middle East, the Syrian opposition demanded that President Assad step down, but their protesting brought on harsh and brutal retaliation from the government. The people of Syria then decided to take up arms, to fight for the ideals of hurriya (political freedom), adala ijtima’iyya (social justice) and

22

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

karama (dignity). That started a full-scale war between the rebels and the government.

The death count and refugees started to increase dramatically, spurring comparisons with the atrocities in Bosnia and Rwanda in the 1990s. The U.N began to discuss intervention. The U.N. (United Nations) Security Council (made up of 5 permanent members namely, China, Russia, U.S., U.K., and France) began to debate over the issues surrounding intervention: What type of intervention? Military or humanitarian aid? But they all agreed on one important principle: Use of chemical warfare would not be tolerated.

The US was particularly vocal on this point.

In August 2013 a chemical weapon was used on civilians.

This caused an uproar in the international community and attracted global condemnation. The Security Council immediately convened a meeting to determine the course of action. Unfortunately, the Security Council members were unable to come to a consensus on intervention despite the horrific use of chemical weapons. They were divided on two central issues: Who are you helping? And should you

VOICES interfere in a country’s domestic affairs?

If action had been taken earlier at the onset of the uprising, the choice would have been straightforward. Help would have gone to the protesters who were just grassroots citizens who wanted more democracy and fairness. However no one helped them. The United Nations stood by and watched as innocent civilians were massacred on the very streets that they knew so well a few years ago. Although the West was reluctant to intervene, help came from other less desirable sources such as the Jihadists, Hezbollah of Iran and even Al Qaeda. The rebels became increasingly Islamist with different agendas.

Sectarian violence has broken out between the different rebel groups. This presents a harder case for the international community to help the rebels’ cause as no one really knows who will take over as government when the Assad regime fell.

The second issue arises from a fundamental disagreement between the groups that make up the Security Council. The United States, United Kingdom and France opposing Russia and China. So far proposals to arm the rebels have met resistance from Russia and China. Memories of the Iraq war are still fresh. The war was seen as the Western powers, namely, the US, exercising imperial hegemony on Iraq in the name of liberty. The more recent intervention in Libya with the intention to remove its dictator Qaddafi sparked fears that this would set another global precedent of allowing foreign intervention in a country’s domestic affairs.

Should there be civil unrest in either Russia or China in the future, it would give the international community basis to intervene

in their country, potentially with the ultimate consequence of overthrowing the government.

The U.N’s inaction has been very costly to the people of Syria. To date, about 100,000 have been killed, two million people have been made refugees and four million people are homeless. The suffering is immense. Homes have been destroyed and families destroyed. Education is discontinued. Sitting in our safe and comfortable chair reading this article, we may wonder what this war has to do with us.

While Syria is only a country of 22 million people, the Syrian war can have the potential to cause the politics in the Middle East to become instable if the war drags on. The millions of angry refugees pouring into neighboring countries could cause an unstable population. It provides a perfect ground for terrorist organizations to recruit members. We could face a future of more terrorist attacks, making the world a more dangerous place. The scale of the refugee problem will also strain resources in host countries such as Turkey and Jordan, which could cause political problems for their governments. These are more moderate regimes in an increasingly Islamist Middle East, which the West cannot afford to lose.

More importantly, in the face of such human suffering and tragedy, it is our responsibility to respond and help. Humanitarian companies in the Middle East are overwhelmed by the scale of the Syrian problem, whether it be in areas of medicine, food or education. By raising awareness of the problem and donating to these humanitarian organizations, we can make a difference.

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

23

CHARITY...

TAKE A STAND W: CUTHBERT CHOW// MEDHA GOYAL

A

t CIS we are all passionate about charity! We all want to be good samaritans who play our part in the global community, lending a hand to those disadvantaged and in dire need! Or so it seems... There appear two consistent problems with the charity culture at our school. Firstly, potential donors are too disengaged to make any meaningful contributions. Secondly members of charity groups are uncommitted to their cause.

Let us scrutinize the first problem. From a young age, everyone tells us that there are many in need. Newspapers inform us of crushing poverty in Africa or natural disasters in Asia.

Most importantly, they enforce the idea that, in our position of privilege, we are the ones who need to help. But despite all this, we eventually become inured against the constant pressure to give. We distance ourselves from global issues.

We lose emotional connection with stories of the needy. We give on occasion, but it is to fulfill an obligation rather than espouse the cause.

Here begins a worrying disconnect between charities and their donors.

What causes disconnect? Ms. Safaya, our head of local and global engagement, took issue with what “[she] noticed in the first few years [at

24

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

CIS]”. There was too much charity work.

“There would sometimes be three events happening on the same day,” she says. Our sixth floor at the break was packed with bake sales, the cafeteria at lunch with innumerable pizza sales, and the third floor basketball court would constantly host a charity event or two. Our school may have passion, but it is misdirected.

Instead of being eager for thoughtful service we put our energy into setting up charity upon new charity in a frenzy. Even students themselves find all these charities overwhelming. When asked what percentage of the school’s charities he thought he knew about, one student declined, saying he “doesn’t even know how many charities there actually are, so [he] can’t really give a percentage.” To minimize the number of charities, Ms. Safaya has restricted charity events to only Tuesday and Friday. Now people can actually take the time to soak it in.

“There are always charities demanding money,” Ms. Safaya adds, “which leads to donor apathy.” She thinks “the best kind of fundraiser is “the kind that has the goal of the mission in mind at its heart.” This is why it is not enough to just cut the number of fundraisers. Ms. Safaya demands they be relevant to the cause. This

means no more bake sales. So if a student group is working with a specific organisation, they should try to “link up the fundraiser to the ideas of the organisation so that people participate with a much clearer idea of what the mission is.” They should have people literally walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. Ms. Safaya has even designated Monday for awareness raising campaigns. By informing a large audience about a cause, charities will receive money without having to demand anything, and with enthusiastic donors too.

But the problem is not just donor apathy, but also lack of commitment on part of those who join charities and help organize events. Let us take a look at the other side of the table.

It is a week before school starts and you’re on Moongate, scrolling through what seems to be an endless list CCAs you could join. You recall your head of year saying something about needing ‘hours’ next year. It’s part of a system to get students to help out in their immediate community and at local charities. That means you had better sign up for some charity activities. You find a charity group at school with a pronounceable looking name, and after ensuring that you need only attend meetings once a week, and help out occasionally with charity events, you click on it and sign up.

Many of us at CIS believe what Ms. Safaya, put nicely into words: At CIS “there is the pressure of wanting to do a lot.” Students don’t the purpose of the organization they have signed up for, let alone sign up because they have a genuine passion in that area. Many also sign up for the hours, with older students requiring a certain amount of time dedicated to service and community activities. Or they sign up to boost their report card. CIS has nurtured an army of overachievers. Packing as many activities into one day is considered the norm. As a result, students feel pressured towards joining as many CCAs as they can, and since it is impossible to commit enough to or even know enough about five charity groups simultaneously, the charity culture at CIS has been in rapid decline.

We see that on both sides of the table, having too much is the problem. As Sheena Iyengar, a social psychologist at Stanford, explains in The Art of Choosing, choice

is in fact not as freeing as one may think. It is debilitating. Lyengar once offered a group of volunteers 7 different kinds of soda. But instead of empowering them, it made it difficult to decide what to drink. In fact one participant even commented that there weren’t seven choices, but only one. Each person ended up choosing a soda at random. Charities at our school may resemble this situation. With so much information to take in, we pick a charity to donate to at random, like with fizzy drinks. And sometimes making the choice is so strenuous that if we did not really feel the desire to donate money in the first place, we do not even stop to make a decision, we instead just walk away.

As we have seen, our generally overachieving nature has diminished the depth at which we push forward new charities, and we’ve all become desensitised as a result of the ceaseless barrage of new and different charitable causes.

To regain our connection with the true meaning of charity, we need to find ways to better involve ourselves, and to bring that contribution to a more personal, and thus more meaningful, level. A great organization that encapsulates this is Kiva - a microlending service which allows donors to lend small amounts to entrepreneurs in third world countries. The donor can actually choose the actual person their money goes to, and the website gives a description of each person’s goal. The best part is that after the recipient of your money has made an investment, furthered their business, and made some returns, you actually get your money back to reinvest in someone else!

You need not worry about losing because, as the website puts it, your gift keeps giving.

So in the coming years at CIS, let’s put our charitable passion to better use! All who intend to give and donate should look into different causes first, and see why they really want help a particular NGO. The philanthropic individuals who host fundraisers and lead charity groups should continue doing so, but remember to “keep the goal of the mission in mind at the heart.” By doing these things, both the recipients of our benevolence and the quality of our giving becomes far greater and more meaningful.

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

25

在學校玩 電

腦現在已經成為我們生活 中不可缺少的工具， 它為 我們帶來許多便利。兩年 前，學校給每個學生配備了一部蘋果 電腦，希望幫助我們學習，提高學習樂 趣，同時用一個品牌便於學校統一管 理。 每天學生們帶著自己的電腦上學。每 人一部電腦，是學生認真學、老師樂 於教的動力。老師上課時利用電腦教 學，生動吸引， 提高了教學效果 。 而學生隨時可以用電腦找資料， 迅 速完成作業，同時也可以節省紙張，節 省能源，保護環境。總 體來說， 學校這一安 排， 得到了老師和學 生的普遍讚揚。 但是最近一段時間， 特別令大家關注的是有 些學生在學校課間休息 時玩電子遊戲的話題。 針對這個話題，我們進 行了一些採訪調查， 發現有幾種不同 觀點， 各有各的理由。 有些同學認為既然是課間休息，就 是讓學生們做自己願意做的任何事 情。能在學校和同學一起玩電子遊戲， 互相交流，比一個人在家玩更熱鬧刺 激。不會玩時可以及時請教，那也是一 種學習知識的方法。而電子遊戲中有 圖像、音響和故事情節，刺激又開心， 玩電腦遊戲使緊張學習的疲勞消失 了，精神很快恢復。 有一部分同學認為課間休息時，應 該禁止使用電腦， 他們認為應利用

電子遊戲

陳倚荺/

林啟鴻

這段時間，多和朋友交談，培養 社交生活的能力。他們說，既然 是休息時間，就應該讓自己休息， 尤其是我們處於生長期，再看電 腦，眼睛非常疲勞，不利於健康， 很多同學說近視加深了， 他們 建議回家做完功課後， 可以玩 一會兒。 部份同學雖然也不同意在 課間休息時玩電子遊戲，

大

“每天學生們帶著自己的 電腦上學。每人一部電 腦，是學生認真學、

老師樂於教的動力。”

26

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

認為玩遊戲是浪費時間，但是他 們認為課間休息時也不可以禁止 用電腦， 應該可以利用電腦做 功課。如果課間休息時間完全禁 止使用電腦， 對這些抓緊時間， 不玩遊戲的學生不公平。同學們 說應該可以用電腦做一些和學習 有關的事，完成功課或做研究。

VOICES

在

我們的採訪中，發現大多數同學反對在學 校裡玩電子遊戲。中午休息時，圖書館裡 學生很多，有些同學因為太期待玩遊戲， 一下課就直接跑到圖書館，打開電腦開始玩，有時連 飯都不吃。他們有時有些吵鬧，打擾了在圖書館做功 課和看書的同學。玩遊戲時，不可避免地入迷， 下午 上課時無法收心，有時還在想著遊戲中的情節，嚴重 影響學習。 總而言之，雖然有一部分人認為可以在學校玩電子 遊戲；但是大部分人認為在校時不應用電腦做一些 跟學業無關的事情。這說明電腦不僅給我們帶來的 很多益處，但也會帶來一些問題。不同的觀點，反映 學生不同的學習態度。通過我們收集的意見和調查， 希望學校老師，對「一人一電腦」的管理做一些適當 調整，充分發揮出電腦作為學習工具的優點， 盡量 避免帶來問題，甚至產生荒廢學業的遺憾。

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

27

VOICES

Advisory 與

homeroom

Article written by Jessica Chan. Layout design by Nicole Li.

今年，不少學生都期待一個新學年的到 來，因為新的一年有新的作息時間。今年的 時間與往年相比有許多的變化。最明顯的就是 學生們沒有了‘homeroom’。‘Homeroom’ 本來 是用來讓老師們點名，讓同學們放鬆，跟朋友 談天，或完成功課的時間。但是這個學期，學 校介紹了： ‘advisory’，以此代替了’homeroom’ 。‘Advisory’ 安排在第三堂課，跟 ‘homeroom’ 比較，每一班的‘advisory’會有更少的學生。去 年，Mr Alexander 發出一個電郵，講述‘advisory’ 的好處。這些優點包括：增加歸屬感，創造一 個沒有壓力的環境，對學生的學習有幫助。到 底學生們對這個改變有什麼想法呢？ 對有些同學來講，‘advisory’ 是個好的轉 變。因為每一個班裡只有十二個學生，學生 與學生之間容易溝通。一位十一年級的女同 學說：“我認為‘advisory’是個好的變化，因為 現在有較少的同學，我能夠很容易地發表我的 意見。”另外一位學生承認了因為‘advisory’人 數較少，她在‘advisory’中 願意跟別的同學說 話，沒那麼害羞，不怕交多點新朋友。同學還 發覺跟老師之間的關係有很大的改善。每一 個‘advisory’的老師也能夠真正地去指導每一位 學生。 除了建立了學生與老師以及學生與學生之 間的關係，有些同學還認為因為‘advisory’是在

28

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

一天的中間時段，能減少學生的壓力。一位男 同學說：“之前，每天‘homeroom’完了以後， 我們要不停地去上課，溫習.......沒有時間去 跟朋友交流。”可是現在 ‘advisory’ 能夠給我 們提供時間去放鬆。有些‘advisory’ 會利用這個 時間去沈思，有些 ‘advisory’會玩遊戲，有些會 讓同學帶食物去與大家分享，在一起像一個大 家庭一起吃 ‘飯’，增加歸屬感。 但是，另一些同學覺得 ‘advisory’ 有它的 缺陷。一位同學覺得‘advisory’ 沒有用，很浪費 時間,抱怨在 ‘advisory’ 裡什麼都不做，覺得很 悶。還有， 因為學校要求在‘advisory’ 中有一 對一的老師與學生的時間。有些同學認為這個 要求很不合理，因為這些一對一的交談會佔用 其他人的時間。 還有些同學說了他們不喜歡‘advisory’ 的原因是 因為人少。 ‘我有一位好朋友，之前，我們每 個‘homeroom’ 都會談天說地，令我們之間的關 係變得很好，可是今年被放在不同的 ‘advisory’ 之後，我發現我跟她的友誼變得越來越弱了。 真可惜！”。 我自己認為如果我們要讓‘advisory’ 變 成一件很成功，很有效的事情，我們不僅要保 持一個開放的態度，而且要記得‘advisory’ 是 個新的變化，學校一定期望我們提供意見， 使‘advisory’ 變得更好。

VOICES

AT CIS TED

talks are inspirational speeches on a wide spectrum of subjects such as art, science, technology among others. TED talks are delivered to spread worthwhile ideas.

TED is a non-profit foundation whose motto is: Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out in 1984 as a conference to bring people from three different Industries: Technology, Entertainment and Design, that is where the name TED came from. Since then TED has been expanding by including various subject areas such as Art, Science, Math, Music, History and many more. In addition there are different types of TED conferences which include: TEDx a n independently organized TED conference that is global and TED ed which is more focused on education than talks on any other subject. In TED ed you are allowed to make your own lessons and questions for videos. Anyone who has a unique idea worth spreading is allowed can give a TED talk.

Remember, anyone can give a TED talk, even you!

Two types of people can present on the TED stage. Either people with incredible talent or normal people who have amazing stories to share can give a TED talk. Everyone has interesting stories to share, but we have too many experiences that it is hard to choose one that will grip the audience. You need to pick an idea or experience and then expand on them until you can tell your story with all the important details. When brainstorming ideas don’t tell yourself “What is the most interesting story that I can tell?” instead you should ask yourself about any great lessons or morals you have experienced and share with a community.

Once you have picked a story you would like to share, dwell deeper and replay the most important events of the story.

Focus your attention to the parts that will connect with the audience. You can captivate your audience by adding facts and visual features. Some include: photos, videos, props, using your hands to describe something etc. All these are

the basics to delivering a very motivational and awe inspiring TED talk. To tip it all off practice is important. Even if you have many interesting stories and features, if you forget parts of your talk, it will ruin the effect of an excellent story that can captivate your audience. So to deliver a good TED talk, be a good story teller.

Written by: Miyeon Kim & Raghav Goyal

HEADBOY RUSSELL RUSSEL SALAZAR SPEAKING AT TEDX YOUTH @CIS ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

29

VOICES

漢基杭州 有感 施笑妍

眾

所周知，經過多年籌備的漢基國際學校杭州 學習中心終於在今年暑假建成，8月30日迎 接到了第一批學生的入住。正如總監潘和平 所說：“漢基的辦校宗旨一向注重中英文雙語教學” ，因此這次通過杭州學習中心的建成能夠有機會“長 時期深度融入當地的語言環境, 進行內容充實的實質 性對話與交流, 確實意義非凡。” 學習中心建於杭州綠城育華學 校校區之中，教學樓及宿舍的建 築風格也與育華相似，從硬件條 件上來看貌似是很好的融入了當 地的環境。但是，原來育華學生 很喜歡的大籃球場、操場邊上的 池塘、以及宿舍旁邊的涼亭卻都 因為漢基杭州的工程被迫拆除。 據了解，許多育華學生因此覺得 自己的校舍變得全是建築物，不 好看了，再加上施工過程帶來的 不便，育華的一部分學生在漢基杭州正式開幕前便已 經懷著抵觸的心理。 從育華學校貼吧及跟個別學生的採訪中來看，某些 學生還是把這種心態持續到了現在。隨著漢基樓的建

成以及室內照片的曝光，他們發現自己的住宿條件與 漢基學生差的太多，難免心裡不平衡，不自 覺地與漢 基學生產生距離感，更是開玩笑地將漢基學生稱為“ 高貴冷豔的土豪”。玩笑歸玩笑，但依舊足以讓我們 思考，漢基學生身上是否存在著某種與生俱來的優越 感？在被部分當地學生歸為“永遠只能仰慕的存在” 之後，是否能夠敞開心扉與育華學生成為朋友？在學 校購買了PROXY、提供了專屬的 優良住宿條件之後，是否願意真 正地融入到當地的環境之中？ 其實這種疑問想必許多人在第 一次聽說漢基要在杭州建學習中 心都有過：“雖說學校建在杭 州，但同學還是香港的那批同 學，互相習慣說著英語，那樣還 能夠融入當地的語言環境嗎？學 生的中文語言能力是否可以得到 提高？” 校方想必也是已經考慮到了這方面的問題，為漢基 學生安排了許多能夠更加接近當地文化的活動。除了 正常課程中的中文課之外，漢基與綠城育華中學的學 生共同參與課外活動、社區服務項目、當地實習、個

“在學校購買了 PROXY、提供了專屬的 優良住宿條件之後，是 否願意真正地融入到當 地的環境之中?”

30

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

VOICES 人興趣培養，更能通過日常的 體育活動增加與育華學生交流 的機會，提高漢語溝通水平。 除此之外，漢基還會時不時地 安排一些其他的特殊活動。例 如與育華學生一起慶祝中秋， 放飛孔明燈，或者入住富有民 俗特色的後塢生活度假村，通 過體驗教育的方式，讓孩子們 進一步了解並融入本土文化。 此可見，這次建立杭州 學習中心的確是校方在 深思熟慮後做的決定。 校方有花心思讓漢基學生多跟 育華的同學交流溝通，也有下 功夫使漢基孩子們能夠更全面 地融入到當地文化之中。我相 信，通過校方及學生們的共同 努力，本項目能夠達到其預期 的目的，成功提高漢基學生的 中文水平和對中國文化的了解。

由

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

31

融入中國 能

梁語桁

夠成為漢基杭州的先鋒之一，我心感榮幸。與漢基國際學校 攜手合作的是位於西湖區的綠城育華學校。 為了令漢基學 生更深入的接觸中國文化，我校成立獨一無二的漢基杭州計 劃。其目的是要我們在歷史，文化濃厚的杭州裡，培養我們對中國歷 史的了解，加強我們的中文能力及鍛鍊我們的獨立性。 生活在綠城，自然常常跟當地的學生接觸。與他們交流的時候，我 們都是用普通話跟他們溝通。在了解綠城學生生活的同時，也使我們 有機會運用普通話，一舉兩得。除了偶然在路上碰到他們，可向他們 打招呼以外，我們星期一的下午，會參加本校舉辦的課外活動，與綠 城學生一起上課；這些課外活動包括：跆拳道、日語、戲劇、雕刻等 等，種類包羅萬有，各有精彩。這些活動都是透過普通話進行，相信 過了一年以後，同學們的中文能力皆能與日俱增。 每週，我們都會到達杭州的一小角落，探索該地區的人土風情。最 近幾次的JUMP！活動，綠城學生都有參加。他們會跟著一個小組到處 發掘該區的歷史和特色，與我們合作完成一些特定的“任務”。這

32

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

VOICES 些“任務”包括：跟市場裡的人議價、訪問當地居 民（關於杭州的歷史）和拍一張特定的照片（用毛 筆寫自己的名字）等。通過這些活動，我們不但對 杭州和綠城學生產生更深厚的認識，還可以獲得與 本地居民溝通的良機。這都是漢基杭州特色之一。 另一個特色就是－社會服務。所有的學生都要到 杭州，甚至浙江省，進行不同的社會服務。每週一 次，時間長達兩小時，同學們會到杭州第一人民醫 院或兒童醫院，協助護士、醫生，進行不同的工 作。除了醫院，我們也可以選擇教一些在基層生活 的小孩踢足球，蠻有意思的。雖然要作一個半小時 的車才到達桐廬，但教完他們之後，看到一個個天 真的面孔發出燦爛的笑容， 我也開心。由於大部份 的人都聽不懂英文，我們也只好說普通話。說得多 了，自然慢慢習慣說普通話了。 自從參加這些活動以後，我們說普通話的信心大 大提高， 也加深理解中國的文化。我們已經逐漸融 入中國了。

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

33

VOICES

: f o t e iL f den e u t h S t Z n i H y e a g D a r A ve A n A 6:00

Wake up to the sound of your alarm (or someone else’s alarm). Curse and fall back to sleep.

6:35

Actually get out of bed before your Coach Mentor or Head of House has to drag you out.

7:00

AM

Leave to the cafeteria for breakfast.

Today’s going to be a good day – they have Coco puffs. You talk with your friends and complain about homework for a while before returning to the dorm and trying to finish the homework that you were complaining about (that annoying essay).

7:53

Run to class, which starts in two minutes. If you have a slightly more relaxed teacher, you can afford to walk.

If you have a strict teacher, sprint.

Make sure that you use your card for

34

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

the gates to get out of the dorm or else the guards won’t be happy.

7:55

Made it. Now the party starts.

10:00

Run back to the dorms for a welldeserved break. Snack and chat with your friends. If you’re up for it, go down to the games room and play some Ping Pong. Or just go do your laundry. Don’t forget to bring the detergent.

10:31

Run to class, which was supposed to start a minute ago but you forgot because you were caught up with something (chatting/Ping Pong/trying to find an empty washing machine).

If you have a slightly more relaxed teacher, prepare your best excuse. If you have a strict teacher, brace yourself; most strict teachers are completely immune to excuses by the third week of term.

PM 12:35

Lunch time! If you have community service, grab a packed lunch and run to the gates. If you don’t and can afford to relax, go to the cafeteria and try a bit of everything. This includes: Rice, spinach, some kind of pork braised in soy sauce, and soup. Keep chatting to your friends about life and homework (“Almost done with English! Take that, Romeo and Juliet!”).

1:10

Four hours of free time. Time to be productive. If it’s Monday, you get to go to extracurricular activities with the Greentown students and join them in classes like Archery and Jade carving. Afterwards, you split into small groups and join different classrooms for small games. If it’s Wednesday or Saturday, then you must play one hour of any sport to have the rest of the night to work. Try not to get distracted by your friends, snacks, TV shows, or computer games. It’s pretty hard, but you manage to finish the work that has been bothering you and still have time to go and play some Ping Pong.

4:58

Filled with the nagging sensation of guilt at not having used your time well enough, you run to class. You forget your card in the room and the guard grudgingly lets you through the gates. Thank goodness you caught the nice guard while he was on shift. The mean one would have left you trapped inside.

5:00

More class. You computer crashes while you are designing your Greenfoot game and your world almost ends. Luckily, the technician fixes it. You can breathe again.

6:00

Dinner in the cafeteria again! You talk to your friends about your near-death experience in CT class over a meal of rice with bean sprouts and chicken drumsticks. The cafeteria has also stocked up on Yakult, so you manage to hide several (five) in your hoodie pocket before trying to leave noncha-

lantly.

6:35

Walk back to the dorm and use the tiny pocket of time before the next lesson to hang out with your friends. You laugh at stupid things on the Internet while finishing the five bottles of Yakult stolen from the cafeteria as a way of releasing stress.

7:00

Evening classes. Luckily the teacher sympathizes with your fatigue and you play flashcard games for the entire lesson.

8:05

Return to the dorm and work – there are always tests to revise for and essays to write and endless piles of laundry to sort through.

If you manage to finish the majority of your tasks you relax and go play video games or go talk with your friends.

9:00

Tech time! You must hand in your iPod and cell phone and computer and iPad and anything vaguely electronic and can be used to access the web to your Coach Mentor, who will lock everything in his/her room for the rest of the night. It’s painful letting go of your devices, so you keep texting until your Coach Mentor is forced to wrench your phone out of your hand and remove you from the room.

9:10

You take a place on the sofa in the living room and reflect on the day with the rest of the dorm. It’s a good time to share a snack and a good joke. (“How do you kill a vegetarian vampire? With a steak to the heart.”)

9:45

Coach Mentors come around and make sure that lights are out. Though you try to sleep, you toss and turn. You feel that even though you’ve tried so hard with all your work, it’s hopeless because you’re never done, and you’re so close but so far away from achieving something great. Don’t worry. Tomorrow will go better.

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

35

VOICES

莫干山歷險 當

談到上學，我們立刻聯想到書桌、書本和電 腦。這是學生回到教室裡，一些最常見的事 物。大家都甚少離開課室、離開厚厚的書本。漢基杭 州最獨特的體驗之一，就是 JUMP！它不但是一種新 穎、實驗性的教學方式，還屬於漢基杭州四大支柱的 其中之一。 大部份的JUMP！活動都在城市或郊野進 行。它提倡在個人挑戰方面，啓發我們的領導、主動 和好奇心。JUMP！在我校佔領重要的一角，使我們的 課程獨一無二。 最盛大的JUMP！活動之一，就是莫干山歷 險。這是一個三天的郊野探險活動。出發的當天，剛 好碰到暴風雨。由於天雨影響，原訂的露營和繩降活 動被取消，但是，這也影響不了同學們興奮的心情。 同時，JUMP！的導師已立刻給我們安排別的活動。我 們是從上午十點乘車離開校園。我還記得那時風雨交 加，因此只能狼狽的匆進車裡。整個車廂都充滿了落 湯雞。因為下著傾盆大雨，加上我們的司機常常迷

36

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

路，所以車程長達四小時。下午兩點，我們終於到了 營舍了。 安頓以後，JUMP！的導師跟我們玩了一些熱身遊 戲，目的是令我們充分了解自己“歷程小組”的組員 和掌握如何跟他們溝通。我印象最深刻的遊戲是－「 你瞎我啞」。在這個遊戲裡，有兩個組員不能跟剩下 的組員說話，但他們知道導師給的指令。另外四個人 就要用布料，把他們的眼睛蒙著。通過“啞巴”所給 的提示，如拍手，“瞎子”要完成導師們吩咐的任 務。我是“瞎子”之一。 起初，我根本不知道為什麼有人在拍手，所以我跟著 拍。拍著拍著，我發現那是“生日快樂”的拍子。我 馬上喊「是不是要唱“生日快樂”的旋律？」，回答 我的是連續不斷的拍手。籍著特殊的溝通模式，我們 順利完成所有的任務。吃完晚飯後，疲倦的學生們， 就紛紛欲睡。繁忙的一天終於結束了。 大雨下個不停，用竹葉建一條船的計劃被取消，

可第二天的活動仍然精彩。乘船的，不再是 我們，而是一隻雞蛋。現在，用來建船的物 料，是任何村莊地上的東西。我組找到一個 發泡膠盒,一些繩子和一個小膠盒（雞蛋剛好 放得進）。為了固定小膠盒，我們到處撿樹 葉，來填滿其餘得空隙。最後，用繩子包好 發泡膠盒，小雞蛋準備出發了！利用距離村 莊最近的一條寛闊小河，我們進行了一次令 人提心吊膽的試驗，看著一個小白點在廣闊 的河裡橫沖直撞，我只希望小雞蛋還沒碎。 衝過一段大約五十米的溪流，我組把發泡膠 盒拉上岸。抱著高期望的我們，慢慢的、小 心的、打開一個個盒子。突然，四周都充滿 欣喜若狂的尖叫－我們成功了！興奮的我拿 著雞蛋迅速的回到營舍，好希望與大家分享 我們的經歷。誰料到，天生笨拙的我不小心 的把雞蛋摔到地上。雖然雞蛋沒了，但這次 的經驗非常難得。以後有機會，我一定會參 與這個活動。 最後一日，陽光普照，秋高氣爽。經過一 場詳密的考慮，導師們決定讓我們爬上莫干 山。導師告訴我們做好心理準備，因為第一段 的路程比較陡峭，會有點危險。我起初都沒 有特別的緊張，也沒有害怕我會受傷。我的

心裡只想著：快點爬山！我已經等了兩天。 但到了山腳，我目瞪口呆的打量，面前的“ 路”。所謂的行山徑，只是一塊塊的石頭。 由於前兩天下大雨，我已踏上石階上，我的 腳已經沾滿泥濘。險峻的小徑加上光溜溜的 石頭，加強了爬山的難度。你不可以停下， 因為地上實在太滑了。途中，更遇到一條小 溪，我吃力的向上走，突然感到非常疲倦。 這時，我想過放棄，但經過隊友和導師的鼓 勵，他們說：做事情要做到底，對自己，別 人下了承諾，就要完成它。聽完以後，我決 定繼續走下去，因為疲倦是短暫的，很快就 會消失。但莫干山的風景，會印在我的腦海 裡。 雖然我流汗浹背，也摔倒了數次但這個 活動訓練我的恆心和體能 。而且，莫干山的 竹林難得一見，我很珍惜有機會到訪這一個 美麗的森林。 這次歷險，有高低起伏。經過無數困難的 琢磨後，令我受益無窮。最重要的是， 它令 到我成長。 從訓練我們的思維到訓練我們的 體能和態度，我都獲益良多。 JUMP！的課 程與眾不同的地方就是：我們自我提升的同 時，它賜予我許多難忘的回憶和經驗。

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

37

L i n u x As a long-time Windows user, I was both excited and skeptical when Microsoft announced the arrival of Windows 8. Finally, an operating system that would introduce a unified computing experience across a wide variety of devices from phones to tablets to desktops. I was immediately intrigued but at the same time doubtful that this concept would prove useful in any way. Upon booting into the new tile-based Modern UI, my worst fears were immediately confirmed.

It has been over a year since I first started using Windows 8, and every single minute has been overwhelmingly painful. From the inability to boot straight to the desktop to the annoying lock screen that insists on require one extra click just to display the login interface, every aspect of Windows 8 has been filled with annoyances, bugs and general discomfort.

I am not alone in my vehement dislike of Microsoft’s horrible new operating system. Major corporations and tech innovators have also been quick to voice their opinions. Valve’s founder Gabe Newell has called Windows 8 “a catastrophe” that will “make people rage quit computing”, also dubbing it “this giant sadness”. Minecraft’s creator Notch has also spoken out, publicly declining Microsoft’s request to certify his world-famous video game for Windows 8. He tweeted, “I’d rather have Minecraft not run on Windows 8 at all than to play along”, also accusing Microsoft of “trying to ruin the PC as an open platform”.

Even Microsoft’s own partners remain unimpressed. In a recent interview, Acer’s CEO JT Wang said “Windows 8 is still not successful”, looking to Chrome OS as an alternative to Microsoft’s lackluster operating system.

Most of these complaints stem from the fact that Microsoft has locked down many features that were once taken for granted in earlier versions of Windows, such as Windows 7 and even Windows Vista. For example, the new version of Windows Media Player bundled with Windows 8 does not allow users to play DVDs unless they purchase the optional Media Center Pack. This

strikes me as an absolutely ridiculous move on Microsoft’s part, since most people with DVDs... will want to play those DVDs. Instead of pushing users to purchase the add-on, Microsoft’s decision will instead cause millions of users to flock to VLC or other open-source programs, which will not benefit them at all.

Given the catastrophic failure of Windows 8, many PC users, including myself, are looking to Linux as the future of enthusiast computing. While most people in the past were afraid of making the jump to Linux for fear of the unknown, we must now admit that switching to a new OS would be much less painful than having to deal with Windows 8. Linux has already equaled or surpassed Windows in many key areas. In terms of customizability, it is miles ahead, and is also much more secure than Windows given the lack of viruses written for Linux. Additionally, it is completely free and open-source, meaning that updates will be available very frequently, and will cost absolutely nothing.

Unfortunately, the one thing stopping people such as myself from immediately moving to Linux is the lack of gaming support. Most graphics hardware still does not work properly with Linux when it comes to demanding 3D applications, and major vendors are only now starting to look into the issue. Lars Gustavsson, DICE’s chief game maker, has stated that he has a strong interest in Linux-based video games. This has been positively supported by companies such as Valve, who recently announced their new Steam Box gaming console. Instead of being based on Windows, the Steam Box runs a modified version of Linux known as Steam OS, which is capable of streaming video games across different platforms (Windows, Mac etc.), streaming music/videos, and even sharing the same game across different machines, allowing friends to “borrow” games from one another. Valve’s new initiative will hopefully bring Linux-based computing to the masses, allowing it to become more popular than ever before.

However, Valve’s success still hinges

Written by: Cameron Sung Layout by: Hana Davis on whether or not they will be able to optimize OpenGL in the same way Microsoft has done with DirectX. They will also have to work extensively with graphics manufacturers to ensure that virtually all hardware configurations will be perfectly compatible with SteamOS, and thus Linux in general. If Valve manages to do all these things right, the next few years will be the golden age of Linux computing.

Gaming support aside, Linux does most things better than Windows 8. There are countless distributions available that cater to all sorts of users, so anyone can find the right flavor of Linux to suit their own computing styles.

Linux can also be installed on much older computers compared to Windows 8, requiring only 512MB of memory and 5GB of storage. Distributions such as Lubuntu And Xubuntu can also be installed on even lower-spec computers.

Additionally, with the recent NSA buzz, people are becoming more worried about privacy than ever. With Windows 8, Microsoft actively monitors what users download over the web, and can access that data at any time. Microsoft also has the ability to delete your programs and files without notifying you, just like Apple can do with OS X. Linux, on the other hand, does not possess any of these features and will not interfere with your computing experience in any way whatsoever. Being developed by a group of passionate developers who care about individual users, Linux will not attempt to expose your personal information or web-surfing habits like Windows 8.

Linus Torvalds, the genius who developed the Linux kernel, has stated that Valve’s Steam Box project will help drive many users to Linux as a viable Windows alternative, and I wholeheartedly agree with him. Ever since the success of Windows 7, Microsoft has entered a state of steady decline, showing time and time again that they are more interested in creating marketing gimmicks and half-working products than delivering a solid, enjoyable user experience. Hopefully, with recent advances in technology, 2014 will finally be the year Linux takes over.

WHAT’S COOL

WHAT’S COOL

THE LOWDOWN ON THE LATEST MOVIES, BOOKS, MUSIC AND MUCH MORE

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

39

dear dr lingers, i have a crush on my best friend, but i think he thinks of me as just a friend. how do i get out of the friendzone?

DR LINGERS: Ahhh, the dreaded friendzone! Many a wanderer has stumbled upon this barren land, void of all hope, and exhausted from nights of restless sleep.

But before you descend into the depths of despair, think carefully if you are willing to take up the challenge.

Ask yourself what you want from your friend. Since you two are besties, making a move could potentially ruin your friendship. Do you just want more intimacy with your friend? You could get that without necessarily being in a relationship. Or are you just desperate for a boyfriend? In that case go find somebody else. Most importantly: are you ready to know what he feels about you?

But if you’re sure you can steel yourself for rejection and a lot of potential hurt, then here are some tips for taking your relationship further.

First make sure that you aren’t just one of the guys.

If you find yourself hanging with his friends a lot, don’t join in on the sports or roughhousing.

Now try to spice up your appearance. What I mean is not to turn yourself into a barbie doll, slathering on layers of makeup, and working for that flat stomach.

Be yourself, do what you always do, but with some nice touches. Make sure you are well-groomed. Try a new hairstyle, or some nicely-scented lotion. Stand up straight, and don’t forget that powerful smize. Act confident; it will make you that much more attractive. Show him that you like enjoy having fun and he’ll want to spend more time with you. Maybe show him that you’re interested when you do hang out with him. Perhaps make more eye contact, touch him on the shoulder...

Most importantly: don’t act desperate! Don’t deny it - I know you keep careful check of his whereabouts - but please don’t be there for him 24/7! Pursue your passions. Show him you have a life beyond him, and, hell, a dazzling life at that. You have places to go, things to do, sights to see, and people to meet. Excite him with that allure, and he’ll come running to you.

But if all else fails just talk it out. That way it’s all cleared up. If he likes you too, then wonderful! But if not, maybe he’s not the one for you. Don’t shut him out completely in a melodramatic maneuver, but maybe spend more time with your friends instead.

Accept him as a friend, and stop trying so hard. Who knows? Maybe he might miss your attention and realize how much he values you… And if not, you are sure to find someone better.

WHAT’S COOL 豆苗居 一說到香港，大家都應該會立刻想到了金光 閃閃的高樓大廈與繁忙大城市，但其實香港 的每一個角落都隱藏着新的樂趣，還有很多 有趣的地方等著被人發現。不如就由我為你 介紹香港的另一面吧！

Grassroots Pantry: Restaurant

香港的 ... 另一面＿

誰說素菜一定不好吃? 在西營盤的福壽 里，一條僅長幾十米的街道，隱藏了一間面 積很小的素食餐廳 － 豆苗居(Grassroots Pantry)。豆苗居是一間多國菜餐廳，它們全部的 菜式都是自己設計的，大部分的材料更是利 用本地出產的有機植物。這間餐廳希望宣傳 有機食物的好處，擺脫一般人覺得素食和有 機菜不好吃的思想。豆苗居地方很小，但是 裝修得很漂亮，門口更種植了很多的植物， 配上白色的外牆，十分配合綠色餐廳的主 題。豆苗居的餐牌十分特別，裡面全都是職 員親自寫的菜式名字，加上自己畫的圖畫， 更介紹了每一碟菜用了甚麼材料，設計別出 心栽。這次到豆苗居真的令我另眼相看，因 為原來素菜也能很好吃。我試了的泰式咖喱 味道很不錯，吃完才知道原來咖喱裏並沒有 肉，而只是用了猴頭菇，而這種姑擁有像雞 肉的質感，所以吃下去便像在吃肉一樣。餐 廳裡還有很多特別的菜式，更有用有機食品 做的甜品，在舒適的環境享受美味和健康的 食物，豆苗居真值得一去！

By Natalie Chak and Nicole Li. Layout & photography by Nicole Li.

四方街 四方街（squarestreet) 是一間賣手表和鞋子、錢包、眼鏡、與 手提袋等皮質物品的商店，位於上環的四方街的文武廟後面。它 獨特的貨品全部都是店主們親手設計的，在別的地方是絕對會找 不到的。一走進去，我便立刻被它五彩繽紛的皮鞋吸引住了， 整整齊齊地排在木架子上。皮鞋的設計既漂亮又舒服，女男裝都 有，還有很多不同的顏色讓你慢慢挑選。牆上掛著一個個美麗精 緻的手提包、錢包、與手機套，每一個都是用香港當地採購的高 級皮革做的。但它不只是只有外表漂亮那麼簡單，那裡的手提包 剛剛好能放一部電腦，或是一些文件與紙張等，對工作或者是上 學都十分有用。除了這些，它也有一些樸素、簡單卻有非常摩登 的手表。最特別的是，四方街的店主實在商店裡設計與製造它們 的貨品的，所以在購物的過程中，也能看到那些貨品是怎麼做出 來的！我真的是很幸運能夠找到四方街，希望大家也在空閒時去 那兒逛逛，我保證絕對不會令你失望。 香港其實充滿了很多有趣的地方，只要我們平時花多些時間到處 走走，便能發現很多總類繁多的店鋪或餐廳。到處走走不但能曠 闊視野, 而且途中的樂趣比在逛其他大型購物商場更快樂！

地址(Addresses): 12 Fuk Sau Lane, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong + G/F, 15 Square Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong.

Squarestreet: Shop

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

41

WHAT’S COOL

Diary of a

Teacher:

MR COOK ‘I always enjoyed learning new things and I like when other people are learning new things as well. I like that spark that goes on that seems like “Ooh! That’s a new idea, that’s something I haven’t thought about before.”’, says Mr Cook, Head of Humanities, as we question him about why he wanted to be a teacher.

1. TELL US ABOUT YOUR AVERAGE DAY. Average day... Well I don’t think there is anything average about any day. But, the only thing that’s for sure is that I’ll get up every morning at about 6, my alarm goes off, and I am out of the door before 7 o’clock, so I can be up the hill before the traffic comes. So, I am usually at school at around 7:10 - 7:15. As Head of Department lots of different things come up during the day that require my attention, I never seem to know what those are going to be or how that’s going to be counted on any given day. Sometimes, I have very full classes all day long and sometimes I don’t have as many. After school, usually, I either have meetings on Mondays and Wednesdays or debate on Wednesdays and Fridays. Tuesdays and Thursdays, I am here at least until 5:00 usually, just trying to catch up on other work, grading papers and planning classes and things along that nature.

42

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

WHAT’S COOL 2. WHAT DO YOU DO YOUR SPARE TIME?

nothing but lie on the beach, go read books, go to museums, go to fairs and markets, maybe learn to do Polonaise dance, it doesn’t matter as long as it is something on those lines. And I would like to travel around the world. This would be what my ideal life would be like.

That depends as well, I am trying to do a cultural thing each month, that’s what I am trying to make sure to do.

I am going to see the Philharmonic in October. I will go to Clockenflap in November and I went to see Swan Lake last month. So, I like to go do different things like that and I like to travel, so I am going to Maldives for October break.

8. HAVE YOU EVER WANTED TO DO ANYTHING ELSE BESIDES TEACHING?

3. WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO BE A TEACHER?

Nope. I thoroughly enjoy teaching. I might start up my own business later in life, but at this point, if I am not enjoying it I wouldn’t do it.

Probably my dad, [he] was a professor at a university and my mom had a Doctorate in Child’s Psychology.

I knew I liked the learning process, not necessarily the teaching process, if that makes sense. So, I always enjoyed learning new things and I like when other people are learning new things as well. I like that spark that goes on that seems like “Ooh! That’s a new idea, that’s something I haven’t thought about before.” I like that kind of discussion and dialogue that goes on in the classroom.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BOOK? WHY? Well, that’s not an easy question. There are different sort of books that I like for different reasons, so the favorite economics book that I have read recently is Creatively Rational. My favorite fiction book is Middlesex

by Jeffrey Eugenides, and probably my favorite history book is The Devil in the White City [by Erik Larson], it is very interesting and very well done. It creates a historical narrative of two different things, it talks about Chicago’s world fair of the 20th century as well as the first serial killer in America.

5. DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE SONG OR BAND? Talking Heads is probably my favorite band, but I like a lot of different bands. It is almost impossible for me to have a favorite song - that changes on a monthly basis.

6. WHAT’S THE BEST PART ABOUT BEING A TEACHER? Interacting with students, easily.

7. WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE PASTIMES? If I could do anything, it would be sleep late, go to the beach, read, eat good food and go to the museum or learning something new. That is what I would do if I could be independently wealthy and do absolutely

9. WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO IN THIS SCHOOL YEAR? I guess there are different areas and different things that I am looking forward to. I am really enjoying and looking forward to teaching SL history for the first time in this school, so that’s the Year 13s- I am really enjoying that class. I always enjoy my economics classes, Year 7, 8, and 9 classes I teach. As far as CCAs I am looking forward to us hopefully winning the Prometheus Cup in Singapore, and in school I am just looking forward to break!

10. IF YOU COULD SOLVE ANY ISSUE IN THE WORLD, WHAT WOULD IT BE AND HOW? If I could solve the issues that face our world like environmental degradation and poverty then I would. Unfortunately these issues require more than one person and tackling them will take a multifaceted approach that can’t possibly be explained in a short Xiao Hua article.

11. IF YOU COULD HAVE DINNER WITH ANYONE WHO WOULD IT BE? That is a tough one. There are so many great minds to choose from. Probably someone like Di Vinci or even Benjamin Franklin would be near the top of the list.

12. WHAT WOULD YOU CONSIDER THE GREATEST HISTORICAL EVENT? I can’t possibly do this question justice. The most important historical events are so dependent on your personal history and the location that you are living.

Certain events in the 20th century have fundamentally changed our society but I am still reluctant to choose one.

Reporters: Scarlet Au/ Zayna Mansuri

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

43

風聲－觀後感 謝承潤

44

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

WHAT’S COOL

BOOK REVIEW: SNOW WHITE

SEVEN SAMURAI AND THE

Reporter: Hannah Jones

In Tom Holt’s Snow White and the Seven Samurai, three hackers from our real world, disguised as three colour-blind mice, hack into the Wicked Queen’s Mirrors 3.1 operating system running on her magic mirror. In doing so, they corrupt the database leaving the Queen to find someone who can reboot the system using her magical backup memory bucket. Until then, the fairy tales and stories are left chaotically and messily tangled together as you see the three little pigs’ home, enforced with concrete and anti-tank weapons, get continuously destroyed, the big bad wolf dealing with Frog Prince transformations, dominatrix Snow White has gained a wicked streak and the Brothers Grimm unconvincingly assuring others that they’re merely observers with no motives.

Among Tom Holt’s numerous “comic fantasy” books, Snow White and the Seven Samurai remains as one of the better reads. Seeing the fairy tale characters you’ve become familiar to being twisted makes for a delightful read. While the interesting concept and ridiculousness of the plot and maybe even the absurd title are enough to attract a reader to pick up the book, it is Holt’s talent for writing humorous descriptions and puns that are so bad they’re good, as well as the witty and sarcastic characters included in Snow White that makes readers continue reading the book and experience an enjoyable read. There are plenty of gags and jokes scattered throughout the novel that are sure to gain at least a snigger if not making you fall over with laughter as tears fill your eyes.

While the humour in Snow White is excellent, it is a shame that that is what mainly holds up the book.

While the plot, interesting and amusing at times, enjoys some twists and turns, it suffers from a lack of a set up at the beginning, which can make the book extremely complicated and confusing, especially later on in the book. While the characters in the book are all wacky and intriguing, there are times where it can feel like there are just too many characters as the book continuously keeps introducing new characters and jumps between the

characters and their complicated plots quickly and a bit too often making it difficult to follow, especially in the middle of the book.

The ending and conclusion to the book feels rushed and disappointing, as if Holt had lost interest and just tried to tidy it up as quickly as possible. The ending is also noticeably unamusing as compared to the rest of the book, all these factors makes the reader feel cheated out of a proper ending and leaves them unsatisfied and wanting more.

Overall, while the plot suffers under the huge cast of characters and from over complication, the humour and sheer absurdity of the story more than makes up for it.

Snow White and the Seven Samurai is by no means a book for heavy reading, you should not at all expect to gain new outlooks on life or experience grand epiphanies due to the book. Rather, Snow White is worth reading if you’re looking for a short book that’s great for a relaxing and amusing read, especially if you enjoy classic stories with a twist.

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

45

HOW KOREA REVOLUTIONISED

POP CULTURE

Reporters: Isabella Boyne, Adrienne Zhang

I

entered my art club a few weeks ago to find two teenage girls freaking out over some hot celebrity boy band coming to Hong Kong. I walked over to ask them who it was, anticipating a mainstream pop name so I could laugh contemptuously at their total conformity, and then rush home and buy tickets, but to my surprise, they spouted a name I didn’t recognize.

“Big what?”

“Big Bang!” they scolded, “Only the greatest K-pop band ever!”

My utter confusion must have been apparent, because they proceeded to narrate their entire music history to me, everything from their debut in August 2006, to their maknae’s (which I later found out meant youngest band member) drug scandal.

A few years ago I might’ve dismissed the matter, but K-pop is on rise, and it’s a little hard to tune out a matter that is coming from all directions.

Local Hong Kong students may all be experts on this matter, but as international students with a taste more accustomed to western pop influences, we may be unfamiliar with this matter, at least past the synchronized dance moves, auto tuned voices and identical plastic surgery faces. But a heads up could turn out to be useful, because K-pop has been taking over the asian pop industry slowly and surely, and is now directing it’s tenacious fingers to western audiences, an obvious indicator of it’s growing popularity is viral video Gangnam style by Psy. So, what is K-pop, exactly?

K-pop is an integration of Korean culture and western influences. It’s a musical movement that has evolved into one of the most popular genres of the modern entertainment industry. Starting with the invasion of western impact in 1940s that planted the seeds of K-pop in Korea, to the founding of the Big Three (the three most infamous K-pop record labels that currently dominate the markets: SM, YG and JYP Entertainment) in 1990s, to the present-day state of K-pop, a sprawl-

46

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

ing industry of hundreds of millionaire artists, a Korean “export” with immense, growing reach. Some go as far to say it’s one of the most effective manifestations of Korean soft power.

But K-pop doesn’t stop at Korea’s borders. Hong Kong and the rest of the world are becoming increasingly familiar to K-pop. This sudden explosion of popularity is known as the Hallyu Wave, or the Korean Wave. This “wave” includes the influence of both K-pop and Kdramas. An increasing amount of people in western culture have come to accept and appreciate K-pop, thus allowing K-pop to gain influence over parts of the music industry within the western world.

Although Korean Pop Culture originates in Korea, it is now widespread in many other countries.

It first reached out across East Asia, particularly in Taiwan, Philippines and Japan. Songs are now recorded in English, Japanese and Chinese, an indication to the steady process of globalization.

K-pop is moving out of Asia and around the rest of the world. Fanbases of the genre are situated in the Middle-East, South America and Eastern Europe.

K-pop has a distinctive and immediately identifiable style. It often contains elements of western music genres, mostly pop, but electronic, hip hop, R&B and trance are also discernable. Lyrics are highly repetitive in mainly in Korean, and the music itself is catchy, fun and fast paced. Youtube was, and continues to be one of the greatest publicizers of K-pop, particularly in showcasing the character-

istic music videos. Singers often appear in a “steel box”, a futuristic, unrealistic setting consisting of polished walls and flashing strobe lights. Often there are multiple versions of this setting, and shots of each are juxtaposed. Most commonly seen are the white and black variations. Outfits are highly coordinated by

color and style. Dances are in sync, fast, active, and to some extent, provocative.

Although auto tune may jump into mind when K-pop music is mentioned, that is far from the truth. In fact, the K-pop training regime is much harsher than many of us would expect. The journey begins with a young hopeful looking to make it in the world of music industry. The singer auditions for K-pop at as young as thirteen or fourteen, competing with hundreds of other teenagers for a coveted spot in one of the Big Three.

As soon as the audition has been completed, the lucky ones are whisked into the company to begin transformation, vocal, physical and mental. Training is grueling. The new trainees must adapt to twenty-four seven practice, which involves vocal coaching, acting classes and dancing programs. Because autotune and stunt doubles are looked down upon, everything in the music videos are authentic, therefor K-pop singers must train intensively. They receive around four to six hours of sleep a night. But even with all this, the trainee’s road to stardom is not assured. If they bad mouth superiors, they are cut. If they express impropriety, they are cut. If they are in-

volved with a crime, they are cut. If they are associated with anything that could cause a scandal, be it drugs, alcohol, sex, they are cut. Trainees may be eliminated at anytime should the company feel unsatisfied with their work, and in the end, there are only the few bands that actually achieve stardom.

The judging process is very selective.

Singers, especially girls, are judged not only for their voice, but their facial features and figure. Terms such as 11-abs, chocolate abs, honey thighs, s-line are

criteria for body shape, and v-line and eye smile indicate ideal facial features.

Many companies request trainees or even established stars to undergo plastic surgery to “trim” their image. This, as you can imagine, places starlets under immense pressure and insecurity.

Young girls feel the effect of this emphasis on appearance keenly. Teenagers are influenced to feel unconfident or unhappy with themselves. The abundance and normality of plastic surgeries is also a source of discomfort for many girls. A few Korean girls who’d undergone surgery, when asked why, had answered, “Because she did it.” “She”, obviously referring to a K-pop celeb. In addition, Korean teenagers feel that true beauty cannot be attained without plastic surgery, understandable when all your idols are excessively beautiful, thanks to surgery. It remains to be seen whether western teenagers will follow this trend with the rise of K-pop.

However, it’s the strict training regimen that creates such disciplined, self governed stars, something rare in western pop culture. The reserved, more low-key personality of K-pop singers is something flashy, obscene stars could learn from. The tolerance for sexual content is also much less, clothes less revealing, lyrics strictly censored.

In fact, while American pop songs tend to contain inappropriate themes, K-pop lyrics usually shy away from such topics and makes certain lyrics are clean. “Bubble Pop” by Hyuna has garnered 64 million Youtube views and is a global success, but in Korea, the production for a musical series was cut short because the dance moves and clothing in the music video was considered too provocative. By western standards, it’s almost conservative.

For teenagers, K-pop promotes a more appropriate focus and thus providing positive influences.

American singers often gain recognition

and popularity through scandalous acts that make headlines, or borderline unacceptable behavior, but in K-pop, such is looked down upon. Any fame achieved is done so by a strong work ethic and a readiness to sacrifice aspects of personal life. Using stars as role models, K-pop encourages perseverance and diligence.

The effects of K-pop are apparent, globally and locally. A while back, Cube Entertainment blocked all K-pop videos on Youtube for any other country but Korea, resulting in complete pandemonium. International K-pop fans took action immediately, creating facebook, tumblr pages in attempts to bring back K-pop, criticizing Cube Entertainment’s judgement using all forms of social media available. Soon after, under the sheer force of foreign fans, Cube Entertainment revived international access.

Hong Kong holds one of the largest fanbase of K-pop. In fact, the M Wave Asian Music Awards, (K-pop’s equivalent of the Grammys) were hosted in Hong Kong both this year and last year.

If that isn’t enough, Hong Kong hosted the K-pop Music Bank Festival back in June 2012, which, according to the concert promoter, Adeline Lee, sported fans crazier, and more enthusiastic than even Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift or Avril Lavigne concerts. Fans arrived the day before and spent the lining up.

-pop’s influence is becoming increasingly prevalent in pop music culture. It’s attracting international attention, and acclaimed western singers are seeking collaborative work with K-po stars, such as Kanye West with trio JYJ, Will.i.am and Diplo with duo GD&TOP. LA producer Fuego recently worked on a song in Miss A album “Touch”. “Gee”, a recent Girls Generation single, boasts 56 million youtube views, beating Lady Gaga’s “The Edge of Glory” music video by 13 million views. In addition, many similarities between western pop and K-pop are cropping up. Christina Aguilera’s “Ain’t No Other Man” and “Lady Marmalade” share many aspects with Ailee’s “A Doll’s House”.

Like it or not, K-pop is growing in influence and reach. It is not only a genre of music and a successful industry, but also a culture in itself. K-pop is taking the world by storm, and it is definitely here to stay.

K

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

47

R

unning to

STOP THE TRAFFIK RUNNING TO START A CHANGE

A

s I reflect with nostalgia on the 2012 24 Hour Race, I remember neither the schools’ placements on the race’s achievement list, nor the custom-made T-shirts that were given to every runner, but a 3 A.M. scene infused with relentless resilience – the scene of runners determinedly completing the final stretch of the Lugard Road, despite the wind-whipping, rain-rampant weather conditions that greeted them.

Running on The Peak at 3 A.M., sweat-drenched, seeking sustenance

48

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

BY: MEGAN FOO

and sore from five previous runs, it comes as no surprise that your momentum and energy levels start to peter out, especially with the prospect of the next run three hours later nagging at the back of your mind. As a runner of the 24 Hour Race I can attest to the fact that only a few driving forces provide the impetus for this staying power, and that they are different for each runner. For some, this resiliency is a manifestation of school pride and the can-do attitude that accompanies the honor of representing one’s school in an interschool athletic

event. For others, this resiliency is fuelled by the prospect of reaping the many fitness opportunities that arise from a long-distance workout, coupled with their sheer love of running.

There are also runners whose motivations are entirely posited on the cause, who run to fight against the manacles of the sex industry, whose passion for freeing people from the fetters of slavery is at the crux of the 24 Hour Race’s mission.

This synthesis of spirit, energy and deep-rooted passion forms an intrinsic part of the Youth Endur-

FEATURES

ance Network’s DNA. The Youth Endurance Network (YEN), a student-founded, student-led nonprofit volunteer platform which created the 24 Hour Race, aims to empower youth in Hong Kong through service-based endurance activities.

Through organizing endurance events, YEN hopes to cultivate an ethos that sees youth “pushing [their] mental boundaries” and “breaking [their] physical limits”, with the objective of “chang[ing] this planet one project at a time”.

YEN certainly is on pace to reach its ambitious goal – figuratively and literally.

Past YEN projects have included numerous races across Canada to raise awareness of multiple sclerosis, and Running to Stop the Traffik (RTST), better known by youth in Hong Kong as the 24 Hour Race, which unites students from all over Hong Kong to run “24 hours non-stop raising money to fight the source of human trafficking”.

The 2012 Hong Kong 24 Hour Race boasted a total of over 350 runners, whose contributions to the cause extended well beyond the running – each runner collected sponsorship funds, spread the word about the urgency of addressing human trafficking, and trained assiduously for the race. Collectively, these runners managed

to cover the distance between Hong Kong and New York City – over 13,000 kilometers – in the 24 hours. Since its inception in 2010, the 24 Hour Race has become a household name among the student community in Hong Kong, with its powerful mission of “philanthropy through endurance” striking a chord with race organizers, sponsors, runners, and marshals alike.

Another aspect of RTST and the 24 Hour Race that has resonated with students is the student-initiated approach, which is a testament to the will and capability of the Hong Kong student community. The race is organized by a team of six core directors. In the past, Harry Salnikow ’13 was involved as a Race Director, a position that entails coordinating all of the schools’ runners and ensuring that each runner is well-informed about the cause of anti-trafficking.

Following in Harry’s footsteps are Georgia Reading ’14 and Vera Lummis ’14, who are Race Directors of 2013’s 24 Hour Race.

Having been runners in the 24 Hour Race in past years, Georgia and Vera both demonstrate an ideological passion for anti-trafficking that underlies RTST’s philosophy for change. “Human trafficking is a huge taboo and isn’t talked about a lot,” Georgia,

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

49

mitted CIS Human Rights Group member interested in furthering humanitarian initiatives, Vera has conducted extensive research on the scope of sex trafficking in Sweden and Germany for her Extended Essay, and has travelled to AFESIP (Agir pour les Femmes en Situation Precaire), a rehabilitation center in Siem Reap, Cambodia for girls and women rescued from sexual slavery. unning to Stop the Traffik raises funds for Freedom Matters, a UK registered nonprofit organization that provides independent, impartial assistance in Nepal to children and women whose survival is threatened by the grim realities of trafficking and bonded labor in their communities. The brainchild of Philip Holmes, Freedom Matters has spearheaded a host of anti-trafficking initiatives in Nepal, including rescuing Nepalese trafficking survivors from modern-day slavery inside Indian circuses and bolstering their confidence by introducing them to contemporary circus skills, and shutting down and a fake orphanage in Nepal that houses trafficked children. Georgia explains that once Freedom Matters rescues and rehabilitates children, it helps them use their skills to build a future: “Freedom Matters forms a circus of children that travels around the world.

They’ve done some touring in the United Kingdom that will not only raise awareness, but will also raise money that will continue to fight the issue.”

Stepping in a Race Director’s shoes is no easy feat; Vera and Georgia can vouch for this.

“There are seven Race Directors, but there are only seven Race Directors,” Georgia emphasizes. “In the end, you’re organizing this huge race with 800 to 1000 people attending within the 24 hours. You have to make sure that it’s safe, that you’re going to have enough food and tents. You have to ensure that there is a contingency plan for every scenario.”

Additionally, there have also been difficulties in expanding the race. Vera notes that trying to get new schools involved with the race was “not as easy as [she] thought it would be since the prospect of running around The Peak for 24 hours isn’t exactly appealing to a lot of people”.

One of the central goals of 2013’s race was to reach a wider cross section of the Hong Kong student community, and especially reach out to smaller international and local schools. 2013’s race has seen the introduction of RTST to local secondary schools, including the Diocesan Boys’ School, and an increase the amount of

R

{

50

ISSUE 9

the Race’s Deputy Director comments, when asked about the importance of providing aid to sex trafficking victims. “The bottom line is a lack of awareness; it’s easy to turn a blind eye to human trafficking.” Statistics have shown that sex trafficking has a higher global prevalence in the twenty-first century than it had in the Atlantic slave trade from the 16th through to the 19th centuries. Although the statistics remain notoriously underreported, a projected 27 million people are currently held in slavery worldwide, a significantly greater amount than that taken from Africa during 300 years of the Atlantic slave trade, which is estimated to have shipped up to 12 million Africans. Many corporations do not want to be affiliated with the aid to stop human trafficking because of the negative stigmas and connotations attached to the sex industry.

Vera, the Director of Race, Schools and Teams, remarks that her motivation for applying to be a Race Director stemmed in part from her passion for campaigning against human trafficking: “I was looking for a concrete way to do anti-trafficking work […] sex trafficking involves some of the most degrading forms of human treatment. Running to Stop the Traffik is about harnessing the power of youth to show that we can do something about that”. A com-

XIAO HUA

participating schools from 16 to 21. In addition, Race Directors have encouraged schools to organize presentations and guest speaker events to raise awareness of human trafficking in our region.

“I hope the level of awareness and education increases exponentially from year to year. […] The more we encourage schools to take advantage of advocacy opportunities, the better it will be for the race in the long term because that will prompt more people to fundraise and sustain the race’s future”.

At the heart and soul of the 24 Hour Race are its participating high school students, each a vessel of RTST’s mission of eradicating human trafficking world-

wide. These students raise funds, host awareness campaigns and hold presentations at their schools to further awareness of human trafficking in creative and memorable ways. By encouraging smallscale advocacy events, that lead up to the 24 Hour Race, the 24 Hour Race team hopes to continue involving students in the fight against slavery. Participating athletes are not merely running to stop the traffic; they are running to start social change. The race is not about being the fittest runner, or winning the race; it is about demonstrating against human trafficking, and making a difference with each small step you take – on the trail, or elsewhere.

{

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

51

PARALLELS BETWEEN JUNE FOURTH AND THE EGYPTIAN CRACKDOWN Written by: Cordelia Lam and Hana Davis Layout by: Hana Davis Illustration by: Audrey Hioe

O

ur world is in uproar. In todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s political climate, it seems like almost every nation is facing a crisis of its own, be it the United States with its congressional bickering, or Syria with its bloodstained civil war, just to name a few cases. Throughout history, citizens in countries around the world have expressed disagreement with their governments in the form of uprisings and demonstrations, many of which have ignited significant changes in political conditions. However, not all cries for change were met with tolerance and understanding; rather, governments have responded with violence and cruelty to their own peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attempts at political discourse. Two of such events in particular remain painfully relevant to this day: the June 4th Tiananmen Square Massacre of 1989, and the Egyptian raids that took place on August 14 just this year. Despite taking place over 20 years apart, the two incidents are undeniably similar, and

52

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

worthy of closer observation. Their parallels reflect the perils too often involved in revolutionary activity, and in such an age of political entropy, perhaps foreshadow a trend in the fate of outspoken revolutionaries.

Over two decades ago, the world reeled in horror at massive violation of human rights that occurred on our very own Chinese soil.

The infamous June 4th Crackdown of 1989 was a response to Chinese civilians’ peaceful protests, when the central government ordered its army to impose martial law on demonstrators in Tiananmen Square. Thousands of civilians, mostly university students, had gathered in the square calling for democracy, freedom of speech, an end to corruption, and better economic policy. The situation in China was bleak on all fronts - following the institution of Deng Xiaoping’s new open market economic policy, the “iron rice bowl” of job security and social benefits that formerly protected the working class was compromised, leaving people in financial jeopardy. An even more pronounced social hierarchy emerged, and corruption ran rampant within the higher classes, who had land ownership and power. The Chinese people, frustrated with the government’s unresponsiveness to these issues, took to the streets in mass protest, urging the country’s leaders to advance from their rigid, unmoving system of decision-making. At the climax of the demonstrations, at least 1 million protesters assembled in Tiananmen Square.

To the shock of the public, the government responded ruthlessly. On the evening of June 4th, the People’s Liberation Army, with the sole instruction to “clear the square”, attacked unarmed civilians with assault rifles and tanks, killing and injuring thousands (the government remains tight-lipped even now about the official death toll). The incident sparked global outrage- how was it possible that a government could turn on its own people so brutally, when the people’s only crime was voicing their opinions? Today, the June 4th Crackdown is still a subject of intense controversy and taboo for the Central Government, and the oppressed citizens of China still struggle in the fight for freedom of speech.

After witnessing the carnage and injustice of the June 4th crackdown, it seems almost wrong that 20 years later, the world simply watched on as history repeated itself. This year on August 14, Egyptian forces raided two protests camps in Cairo, collectively killing and injuring over 4000 civilians. The protestors had gathered in support of the deposed President Mohammed

Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood leader democratically elected to office following the toppling of former president Hosni Mubarak’s dictatorial regime. However, Morsi was accused of attempting authoritarian rule, and of implementing an Islamist agenda with no regard for rule of law. He was the subject of mass opposition protests in June, and on July 3rd, was forcibly removed from office in a coup d’état by the powerful Egyptian military. had been removed in a coup d’état by the military. Despite this, Morsi’s supporters numbered in their thousands, and not long after his deposition, soon congregated in sit-ins around the city to call for his reinstatement. After a six-week long initiative to end the protests, Egyptian security forces resorted to brutality to clear the camps, and on August 14, fired at demonstrators at Rabaa al-Adawiya Mosque, and at al-Nahda Square. Citizens retaliated across the country, throwing Egypt into a month long state of emergency. Human Rights Watch described the raids as “the most serious incident of mass unlawful killings in modern Egyptian history.” Having condemned the Chinese central government for the atrocities committed in Tiananmen Square 20 long years ago, how outrageous is it that we allowed a death toll like that of Egypt to emerge, at the hands of

their parallels reflect the perils too often involved in revolutionary activity, and in such an age of political entropy, perhaps foreshadow a trend in the fate of outspoken revolutionaries. the Egyptian government themselves?

Before looking at what unites the two historical events, it is important to recognize the distinctions between the two, as often times, tragic incidents of government brutality can erupt from the most unlikely beginnings. The demonstrations in each country happened for different reasons. The Chinese government ran a corrupt and dictatorial regime, wherein its people were voiceless and oppressed. Desperate and frustrated, civilians and students held mass protests calling for change. In contrast, Egyptian demonstrators demanded the restoration of expelled president Morsi, after his forced removal left the country in political limbo. Both crackdowns

FEATURES

were responses to protests of very different origins, which goes to show that regardless of how noble or innocent the demands of the people are, a cruel government is still capable of attacking its own people. notable and shocking difference between the two crackdowns is in their exposure to the public eye, and the role of technology in the affair. After the Tiananmen Massacre, the government took extreme measures to censor any local or international news coverage or discussion, and it remained tight lipped about basic information like death toll, names of victims, and even the occurrence of the event itself. To this day, any form of remembrance of the massacre and its victims in China is strictly prohibited, with the exception of Hong Kong and Macau. Anyone who disobeys is labelled a “dissident” and placed under government surveillance or detention. Beijing was condemned on the international stage for its actions, but persists in withholding information about the crackdown. Technology and information-sharing was limited at the time, making it too easy for the government to eliminate evidence and impede interference or speculation from the outside world, almost completely removing this dark stain from its history. On the other hand, the Egyptian crackdown was watched by the entire world, thanks to the advent of technology, namely, the Internet. The 2011 anti-Mubarak demonstrations, and many subsequent protests as well, were largely organized through social networks like Facebook and

A

54

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

Twitter. Such public platforms made it easier to mobilize people and facilitate change, so the Egyptian people took to the web to raise their voices. When the government fired on crowds of Morsi supporters in August, thousands of mobile phone clips and videos were published online, making it impossible for the Egyptian government to escape castigation from the world. Despite being watched under a microscope by the entire world, the death toll still rose, and Egyptian troops still fired, unimpeded, on their own people.

Despite occurring for completely different reasons, and at completely different points in history, the parallels between the two incidents are startling, and upon close consideration, in fact reveal warning signs for the consequences of dissent in a political context. Governments have responded to their dissidents with ruthlessness in the recent and far off past, so who’s to say it couldn’t happen again? The international laws that bind nations with ethics and human rights clearly did not restrain the Chinese of Egyptian governments, so if June 4th and the Egyptian raids are anything to go by, it is almost certain that other nations may well choose to ignore them too. The Chinese demonstrations and Egyptian sit-ins were all

mass resistance movements that began due to discontentment with entrenched political powers.

Both incidents started out as peaceful civilian campaigns, that dissolved horribly by violent military intervention. The Egyptian and Chinese governments were both quick to use violence as their solution. The Tiananmen Square demonstrations were extinguished, with giant tanks and heavily armed soldiers pouring into the square and shooting at random. Over twenty years later, the Egyptian military surrounded the protest sites, also equipped with tanks and military grade weapons, and fired at pro-Morsi demonstrators, killing thousands of innocents. The significant unifier of both events is both governmentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; casual and decisive resort to violence and bloodshed, instead of acting on the peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s demands.

The seemingly only positive outcome of both incidents was the strong and spirited retaliation from citizens who survived or witnessed the attacks.

Although many civilians fled from the scenes, an incredible number of them stayed, almost guaranteeing their chances of being killed. True testaments to human resilience, startling numbers of demonstrators chose to stay put in defiance of the ruthlessness of their governments, making bold

statements for the world to remember.

Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d think that after the Chinese crackdown on June 4th of 1989, the international community would never allow anything like it to happen again.

Think again. It is glaringly obvious - the issues that ignited the Tiananmen Massacre 24 years ago have not gone away. They still plague modern society, as evidenced by the disastrous Egyptian crackdown that occurred just this year. The fight for democracy, equality, and better human rights continues, yet governments still respond to resistance with acts of violence, and with unlawful killings. History repeated itself in probably the worst way possible, except this time, the whole world was watching as it happened. The Chinese government may have thrown a blanket over the fire in the hearts of its people, but the prospect of democratic reform that eluded the Tiananmen protesters still lives on, not only through the Egyptian people, but through us, the ones who watched it all unfold. Ultimately, a country is made up of its people, and not just its government. We can only hope that after two recent incidents of government violence against its own people, such atrocities will never be permitted again in the future.

After all, the masses hold greater power than the few who lead them.

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

55

FEATURES

CIS

REDEVELOPMENT SOPHIE KANG/ WEN YEE CHAN

W

hat woke us up from the endless, inevitable daydreams of summer and post-summer camp depression was not the autumn breeze. Rather, it was the audible buzz that was engendered by an array of photos that were shown during the assembly in the soon-to-be demolished lower gym. Introduced by Mr.Mulcahy as a project born out of the idea of embarking on a transformative journey towards a better learning environment, the announcement of the CIS redevelopment project prompted some heat within the community.

The reaction was an odd blend of apathy from older years who are to graduate before the big project is put into action, complaints from middle years about having PE outdoors and unknown squeals of excitement from younger years. Putting other observations aside, one evident thing is that the general reaction to the project somewhat resembled our responses to the first presentation about CIS Hangzhou. Issues regarding practicality and the potential consequences, along with inconveniences, are currently being raised; teachers are debating the feasibility of such

56

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

programs, weaving their thoughts into intricate ideas. The student body is instigating an argument.

Though the founders of CIS started on a small campus, they had big aspirations. And as the first school in Hong Kong that created an environment where students could immerse and study in multilingual culture, the CIS community grows perpetually. During the last few years CIS has been bringing up ambitious plans and has put some of them into action. As CIS marches into its 30th year, Dede Huang, Director of Development states that through the redevelopment of CIS, our learning environment will be drastically transformed into an enhanced environment for innovation, inspiration and collaboration. Nonetheless, the redevelopment project is still in its planning stage: we don’t know its outcome yet. Perhaps, students are still standing blankly behind the thick wall of impracticality, insincerity and confusion while our school’s redevelopment is being planned out. We have only seen it through screens and heard about it through voicesthings are all unclear. So let’s recap what has been presented so far.

It has been clearly established that PE will be outdoors soon .

All older CIS students are well aware of the fact that they, after having no proper gym for the last 2 years of school, will graduate, leaving the old campus behind, with no nostalgic memories associated with the new campus. Is the torturous sacrifice of having PE outdoors worth it? Should we really be having PE outdoors for 2 years for a campus that we will never eat, study or spend any time in? Yes, it does seem unfair that the current Year 10 and 11 students will graduate before the end of CIS’s renovation, yet spend their last school years without a gym while younger years with fully experience the thrill of having a new gym with amazingly clean facilities. A number of people do express their disapproval when it comes to the matter of not being able to have a proper PE lesson in the gym.

One evident thing is that no matter how unfair it seems, a bright future never comes without a bit of sacrifice. Although we oppose it and deem the redevelopment plan unnecessary, when looking at the bigger picture, the CIS community probably realizes that the plan is a big step that CIS is taking on its 30th birthday, towards a brighter future. The pictures of our school’s future appearance depict the livelihood of education the addition to our original campus will create. Dede Huang states that the new learning environment with state-of-the-art technology and facilities, will garner innovation, inspiration and ideas within the student community. Ultimately, the current education system in CIS will flourish into a healthy and new educational environment.

The sacrifices, such as having PE outdoors for a few years, will lead to an enhanced learning environment that will flourish for a few decades.

Spacious lounges, slick and shiny handrails, “...our learning enviglass panelled meeting rooms with bright chairs… ronment will be drasthe stuff that we wildly dream of. Those who have tically transformed into watched ‘The Internship,’ and seen the buildings and facilities of the Google Headquarters, are sure to realan enhanced environize just how dazzling they can be. Google representament for innovation, inspi- tives have repeatedly stated that their headquarters, leaves so many people staring in awe, was deration and collabora- that signed to spark conversation and innovation amongst everyone with ‘googliness.’ In a sense, the outcome tion.”

of the redevelopment project may tell the same story as the Google headquarters: CIS can turn into an area where innovation thrives and even the most eccentric ideas are appreciated. The new vision of CIS as it unofficially starts anew, perhaps, is innovation - ideas, inspirations, interactions. The wooden DT labs (that sort of resemble carpenter workshops at the moment) with slightly rusty facilities will turn into more convenient rooms. With state-of-the-art facilities and clean white walls, the labs will be relocated to encourage cross-disciplinary synergies. New science labs will be built to foster bright thinking and unique ideas from students. Like the various Google headquarters around the globe, the new facilities and areas with seating pods will encourage interaction and inspiration not only within one subject, but within interrelated subjects that spark discussion and collaboration. Or

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

57

even controversy! Learning areas will expand for inter-departmental synergies, and even teachers’ offices will be easily accessible to students, with no corner offices.

For more diversity within the learning environment, the new spaces have some flexibility built into them. The atrium could become the venue for an annual science fair, the cafeteria a stage for lunchtime concerts or evening parent meetings.

The Assembly Hall converts to a gym, but more effectively than the existing two gyms. With versatile facilities and venues, the CIS redevelopment plan strives to make student-run events more engaging.

We will gain more access to large venues for concerts and assemblies. If you think about it, turning this plan into reality may be worth having PE outdoors for 2 years .

Our school’s redevelopment plan was devised based on students’ voices and needs; it reflects CIS administrators’ willingness to lean over to listen more carefully to our voices and actions. s you’ve come to reach this point of the article, your perceptions of the redevelopment plan may have altered completely. You may have thought that the redevelopment plan would just enhance facilities and bring in more technology into the already sufficiently technologycentric CIS students’ lives. But 21st century learning is not about IT anymore.

It is about positive thinking and fostering growth within students’ innovation, ideas, inspirations and interactions. And when the redevelopment plan is fully put into action, education in CIS will change- completely. New ideas will spring here and there. With an increase of collaboration in teaching, classes will be more enriched.

And most importantly, students will learn in various creative ways.

And as if acting as preparation for the changes that will be engendered after CIS’s renovation, an array of new systems have been implemented this year. Dr. Faunce has stated that the new Advisory system and the Positive Education (WellBeing) program that has been introduced earlier this year, is intended to support this kind of education which focuses on helping every student to know their inner strengths and creating opportunities to bring them into play. Nonetheless, students are neither supporting nor follow-

A

58

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

“A campus that automatically recalls, like a panorama, the cherished memories that are embedded in each step that you take inside classrooms and hallways. “ ing the newly implemented positive education program. A countless number of students are persistent about the impracticality of positive education that supposedly has no purpose in enhancing students’ learning and intellectual stimulation.

Like every other previous choices session that has been introduced to prompt “reflection” and “deep thought”, positive education may end up being a wasteful period of time where you go on Facebook while your teacher talks. It most likely will. But it should not. Thus, to equip students for the changes in CIS education, when implementing these new systems, teachers have to be aware of the aspects, attitudes and areas of CIS student life where change lies. Programs have to be interactive, enthusiastic and student led to some extent - especially in CIS, this very school where reflections and evaluations drain out students’ power and strength. School in Hong Kong is no longer a place dominated by teachers’ instructions and comments; it is our turn to lead, to guide and to own what we

learn. Performance is no longer an exclusive term that address plays and orchestra renderings. It extends to enormous boundaries of academics, which a choices program preparing students for a different learning environment should aim to promote and emphasize.

The redevelopment plan that was brought into light without warning at the start of the year indisputably instigated arguments within the student body. Evidently, there still are student forces that oppose it, complaining about the inconveniences of lacking a proper gym and losing an area for physical education. Such reactions are not shocking, of course- they were more or less expected. What is surprising, however, is the fact that none of us shout out that renovating will ruin the long history of the atmosphere that CIS has maintained on Braemar Hill- we seem somewhat unattached to the current campus.

The vast majority of complaints were not about the transformation of CIS into an unfamiliar place and difficulties with adapting, but rather

about matters concerning facilities. And a redeveloped CIS, should aim to become a campus that students are attached to. A campus that automatically recalls, like a panorama, the cherished memories that are embedded in each step that you take inside classrooms and hallways. Nonetheless, some students, mostly students graduating before 2017-2018, loathe the administration board for making the decision, complaining about inconveniences when it comes to having classes and using facilities.

One definite thing is that interaction is vital. It especially is during the process of introducing a new idea to students that may not embrace the idea. The CIS redevelopment plan needs more transparency, this being all the best for CIS students. All the best for the CIS community. All the best for CIS’s future.

The CIS redevelopment project will provide students with more unassigned spaces for work, lunch meetings, etc. These new areas would allow for more space for large scale projects such as a science fairs, TED talks and other performances. Currently, our school has 15m2 per student, which, compared to Canadian International School with 19m2 or Hong Kong International School with 26m2 is quite small. However, after the redevelopment project, the space will have increased to 22m2 per student, increasing the learning space for the students. The main new renovation projects include: the New Tower, Third Floor Cafeteria and the Whole Library.

than the current cafeteria to accommodate our growing student population. This would also be more suitable for lunchtime courtyard concerts, which can now be enjoyed from the cafeteria. Instead of rectangular long tables, these will be replaced by circular round tables which are better for conversation during lunch, break. This would combine with the current Courtyard cafe to provide students with a better dining experience.

WHOLE SCHOOL LIBRARY (October 2016 - March 2017) A whole school library would be constructed, making use of the the large space between the business offices. This would instead become the entrance of a new whole school library, with access to the offices after going through the entrance of the whole school library. This library would be centrally located behind the projects such as robotics which has elemoongate, and become a more ments from both dt and science. These collaborative space between the labs will be constructed with glass, to en- secondary and primary departcourage more collaborative learning with ments. surrounding classes. The 5-level New tower circular atrium would include glass he CIS redevelopment ‘pods’ on each floor, which are meeting Project will not only rooms with tables and seats for student’s increase the learning use for activities such as meetings or for space for each student, but will a study area. also encourage the collaboration The top two levels of the New tower between subject departments NEW TOWER (April 2014- June 2016) would be where the teacher’s offices and year levels. The project will A major development for the CIS Redevel- would be located, allowing for teachers provide students with a more opment Project is a new tower for science to become more accessible to students. balanced and united learning and technology. This would replace the This tower would have a very modern current tower with the Lower and secondary design, consisting mostly of glass, which experience. gym. There will be a redesigned lower gym, is suitable for the scientific experimenwhich also acts as an assembly hall which tal nature of science and technology can seat all of Secondary or Primary, with subjects. This innovative design can the added feature of retractable seating. This then inspire more creative and open would be the venue of all school assemblies minded thinking, useful for the science and would prevent having to listen to asand technology subjects. It was designed semblies from the floor of the gymnasium. to improve collaboration between the A sports complex will replace our current STEAM (Science, Technology, Engisecondary gym, with a fully equipped gym- neering, Arts, Math) subjects which are nasium and fitness center. instrumental to innovation.

This tower would also include science and design technology labs, which then encour- CAFETERIA (June - October 2016) age the collaboration of the 2 subjects.

A new cafeteria will replace the current There will be 9 new science labs, covering humanities classrooms on the ground 2 levels of the tower. This would aid in floor. This would be significantly larger

T

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

59

IB 或 DSE 如何選擇？

60

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

作者： 楊瀚寧和楊瀚欣 版面設計：戴味閒

FEATURES

第一屆的香港中學文憑（DSE）經 過多年的籌備，終於在二零一二年 順利舉行。這是一個全新的考試制 度，有別於過往的香港中學會考和 香港高級程度會考。學生於完成六 年中學課程後需考六個學科，包括 四個核心科目(中國語文、英國語 文、數學及通識教育)及兩至三個選 修科目。文憑試的成績匯報共分七 個等級：最高等級是7分，就是5＊ ＊，接下來是6分，也就是5*，然後 就是按次序為5－1級。 IB課程的考生需選擇至少選六 科，課程分配在六個基礎學科領域 裡，包括兩個語言，數學，科学， 人文科目和藝術。課程分為標準難 度課程和更具挑戰性的高難度課 程，這六科中至少有三門是高難度 課程。除此外，選擇國際文憑大學 預科課程的學生還要在兩年內完成 150個小時的社會實踐活動，再加上 額外Extended Essay (EE) 和 Theory of Knowledge (TOK)。 港中學文憑考試成績的學生可透 過「大學聯合招生辦法」（JUPAS） 報讀香港八所大學的學士課程。由 於香港中學文憑是一項新的考試， 過去數年，考評局及教育局已開始 向世界各地的高等教育學校進行問 卷調查。現時全球超過150間院校已 給予正面回應，表示歡迎持有香港 中學文憑學生的入學申請，並提供 有關入學要求。 在香港，國際文憑大學預科課程 的考生則要從 Non-JUPAS 的途徑報 讀香港的大學。國際文憑大學預科 課程已有超過四十年的歷史，今年 更廣泛地受到歐美政府的認可。 如可選擇好呢？ 很多香港的中學生都有一個疑 問，究竟讀什麼課程最能滿足學習和入讀大學的要求 呢？這固然不是一個三言兩語能解答的問題，因為每 個人的學習模式和興趣也不同。我們嘗試從看看本港 各大學熱門科目（例如醫科和法律）的收生要求。 本地大學對Jupas醫科和法律這兩個課程的收生 要求差不多。雖然在大學的官網上他們收生的要求 不高，只要求英文4級，中文3級，數學和通識各達2 級，再加兩科3級以上的選修科即可，但實際收生的 成績遠高於此。以香港大學醫科為例，在2012年以最 佳五科，5＊＊（7）分為滿分來計算，醫科最高要35 分，最低也要30分。而中文大學醫科最佳五科中位數

則是31分。法律課程的收生要求跟醫科相似，港大最 高要35分，最低也是30分，中大醫科、法律則是30 分。 香港大學的的醫科院對於國際文憑大學預科課程的 要求需有最少43／45分才有面試機會,而中文大學至 少要有40／42（不包括EE和TOK那三分）才獲考慮， 而三科高難度課程的分數更是要6,7,7。法律課程也 對英語課程的要求很高。 由於DSE還是一個較新的考試，所以外國的高等學 府，例如常春藤大學（Ivy League),牛津和劍橋大， 對DSE的收生情況仍未明朗。總括而言，選擇什麼課 程和考試應就個人的學習模式和興趣進行，所以難以 一概而論。

FEATURES Written by Jing Yi Shan Layout by Nicole Li

獨生子女,還是

兄弟姐妹? 在漢基，每個人都有自己的家庭，有些同學有許多兄弟 姐妹，有些同學則是獨生子女。那麼，到底是獨生子女 好還是有兄弟姐妹好呢？通過採訪了身邊CIS的朋友，發 現大家對這個問題都有著截然不同的看法。

身

為兄弟姐妹家族中一員的同學 大多數都為自己能有可以交心 聊天的兄弟姐妹而感到欣慰。 相反，很多獨生子女都渴望自己的家庭 能夠有一位兄弟姐妹，在自己孤單的時 候能夠陪著自己聊天。為了了解CIS學生 對這方面的意見，我採訪了一位十年級 的同學陳月研，她和我們分享了她的體 會。身為三姐弟中最大的姐姐的她認為 雖然有時候弟弟妹妹會時不時的打擾她 學習，有時候弟弟妹妹也會惹她生氣， 會和弟弟妹妹吵架。但是仔細想想卻覺 得，能夠擁有可以陪自己聊天，釋放壓 力的弟弟妹妹也是一件幸福的事情。從 性格上來說，很多的獨生子女因為常常 被家人愛戴擁護著，是一家人的掌上明 珠，所以難免會有不成熟的自我為中心 的舉動。身為獨生子女的孩子似乎更容 易比較嬌氣。因為是家裡唯一的小孩， 所以父母更可能會傾其全部把一切的愛 都賦予到這個小孩身上。這對孩子的成 長是沒有絲毫幫助的。而有兄弟姐妹的 家庭裡，大家都似乎更能為他人著想， 每個孩子都更細心，更體貼他人。 我個人作為一個獨生女認為有兄弟姐 妹是一件很讓人羨慕的事情。父母工作 很繁忙，經常一個人在家的我，每時每 刻都希望自己能有一個可以聊天的弟弟 或妹妹，至少那樣不會感到那麼孤單。 有兄弟姐妹的話，即使平時有些打打鬧 鬧都會成為成長的過程，無法像朋友吐

62

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

露的心事，也可以盡情的和兄弟姐妹們 分享，尋取他們的意見。在很多兄弟姐 妹的家庭中也會常常出現一種現象，那 就是父母對幾個孩子中一個孩子的偏愛 常常會引起其他孩子的不滿。為此詢問 了一些身邊的家長，令人驚訝的是，他 們都給予了相同的答案。 “或許有時 候，家裡的一個小孩會認為父母更偏愛 另外一個小孩，但其實作為父母來說， 自己的小孩無論是哥哥弟弟還是姐姐妹 妹都是父母最最疼愛的，所以根本沒有 偏愛一說。有時候因為家裡的老么年齡 原因而對弟弟妹妹們更加照顧，並不代 表家裡的長姐長兄便是不重要或是不被 愛的。 ” 仔細想想，作為家長，一定 都深愛著自己的孩子。雖然偏愛的情況 在家長眼裡不為存在，但事實上很多家 庭都依然有這種現象發生。作為不被偏 愛或有時候被略微冷落的那一方，應該 要學會放寬心情吧。那些因為家中另一 個兄弟姐妹得到比自己更多的愛就開始 和兄弟姐妹冷戰的同學，應該多想想， 自己能夠擁有一個可以一生陪伴自己的 兄弟姐妹是別人求之不得的。 總結來說，無論是獨生子女還是有 許多兄弟姐妹，只要注意平時的言行， 多為他人著想，放寬心。不管身在怎樣 的家庭，都應該珍惜現在擁有的。不知 道大家對獨生子女和有兄弟姐妹哪個比 較好有什麼樣的看法呢？

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

63

INTERNET

ACTIVISM

64 ISSUE 9 XIAO HUA http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4074/4747469484_9d5be27bf0_o.jpg

I

n this age of technology, picket signs, rallies and strikes are not the only forms of activism prevalent in society. Internet activism has established itself as the new way of sparking protest. As public voices become more opinionated and the internet more convenient and rapid, e-campaigning has likewise become a more popular agent of change. As of 2013, there are approximately 2.4 billion people in the world who have access to internet, 70% of whom use the internet on a daily basis. Of the 195 countries in the world, 122 countries have access to the internet. These statistics lend credence to the fact that the internet is becoming more accessible and used by people globally. Using the powerful, universal platform of the internet, people from countries around the world now have the necessary information and tools to campaign for change.

Few could deny how vital the internet was in 2012’s Stop Kony campaign, which began as a short film on Youtube that eventually went viral, setting off a global mass movement that prompted millions to join in. The campaign encouraged the global community to come together in a joint effort to help capture and try African militant leader Joseph Kony in the International Criminal Court by the end of 2012. After the film’s release on March 5, 2012, it captured the attention of over 100 million people worldwide. What followed was extensive campaigning done through social networking websites such as Facebook, Youtube and Twitter. Through social media, thousands of Facebook users changed their profile pictures to the Kony 2012 logo, millions of tweets trended “#Kony2012” and “#StopKony”, while celebrities and influential members of society promoted the cause on their social networking outlets. The campaign is a prime example of the exposure that internet activism can bring by using the power of the internet to raise awareness on a cause.

However, the Stop Kony video is also an example of the negative aspects of internet activism. Some viewers and experts began to doubt the accuracy

and legitimacy of the campaign, while others called it an example of “slacktivism”, a portmanteau of “slacker” and “activism”. “Slacktivism” is typically used to describe Internet actions (usually done as a “feel good measure”, that is, only to make a person feel better about having been a part of a cause or “doing good”) in support of a specific social or political cause that requires little time or effort. Others stated that Kony was far too commercialized and propagandistic, with just a mere eight minutes of the thirty minute video dedicated to explaining who Kony is and what he did, while the majority of the video attempted to rally viewers to join the movement . This led many to accuse the Stop Kony campaign as being merely

driven by commercialism and hype.

One blogger from Leaving the Circus stated that, although he admitted to cynicism, the Kony campaign “wooed people into the belief that purchasing a $30 kit and posting a tweet will be of any concrete consequence in the deeply complex socio-political environment of Central Africa”. This is one of many statements from skeptics who questioned the Kony campaign.

Ironically, those who were in support of the Stop Kony campaign became known as the “Kony Supporters”, as opposed to the “Supporters of the Kony cause”, leading experts to criticize the way in which the campaign was advertised, stating that the filmmakers did not properly inform and educate the public on the cause.

I

nternet activism has also been used as a means of encouraging political mobilisation in The Arab Spring, a wave of political movements set throughout the Middle East and North Africa that began in late 2010.

Due to the large youth population in the Middle East, where between 55 and 70 percent of each country’s population is under the age of thirty, the Internet is used to access more reliable, uncensored information and express opinions freely on the Internet. The international media stated that internet activism multiplied the impact of the social protest in Egypt, as social media allowed activists to escape the repressive Egyptian regime to rally and encourage online Egyptians to seek change offline. In the advocacy of protest, Twitter was used to drive the conversation regarding current political events, Facebook users gathered on event pages, and Youtube videos about the current political state of the Middle East garnered global attention.

The “We Are All Khaled Said” campaign in particular was a prime example of how social media mobilized the masses. When Google marketing executive Wael Ghonim saw the photo of Khaled Saeed, an Egyptian man who died after being arrested by the Egyptian police, he created a Facebook memorial page for him. This page eventually attracted hundreds and thousands of followers, quickly becoming Egypt’s largest dissident page.

As a result of the uproar regarding the poor treatment of Khaled Saeed as promoted by this Facebook page, the Egyptian government agreed to a trial for the detectives involved in Saeed’s death. In this case, it is evident that the power of social media put pressure on authorities to look into cases that would have otherwise been buried or hidden. The role of social media in the Arab Spring was quantified by a “Project on Information Technology and Political Islam” study that provided social media statistics during key points in the Arab Spring. For example, the study showed that the total rate of tweets about politics in Egypt during the week of Egyptian President Hosni Mumbarak’s resignation

66

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

‘THE GREAT FIREWALL OF CHINA’ CARTOON

http://www.wan-press.org/pfreedom/images/upload/The_Great_Firewall.jpg

increased by 10000%. Other statistics showed that the number of Facebook users in the Arab world increased by 30% in the first three months of 2011the year the Egyptian revolution took place. The power of social media and the Internet was reaffirmed during the tumults of the Arab Spring, showing how platforms such as Facebook and Twitter could play a role in inciting interest and subsequently, change. ome countries, however, try to repress the access to certain global social media platforms in an attempt to control what is being said about the government. The “Golden Shield Project”, colloquially known as the “Great Firewall of China”, refers to the laws, policies and protocols used to regulate the internet in China. The policies include banning the use of “undesirable” foreign websites such as Facebook, Youtube and Twitter, restricting searches of blacklisted keywords such as “June 4” (The date of the Tiananmen massacre), “human rights” and “democracy”, and even flipping internet “kill switches” to control public access to internet during times of crisis. It is reported that the government even hires “internet police” in charge of regulating posts on the internet, shutting down websites and erasing posts that pose a threat to the Chinese government. However, despite the strict

S

enforcement of the surveillance of netizens, activists have found a way to challenge the government through using irony, satire and parody. In recent years, photo campaigns have been used to challenge certain government decisions. The “Dark Glasses Campaign” urged Internet users to post pictures of themselves wearing sunglasses in support of blind activist Chen Guangcheng, who spoke out against forced abortions and sterilizations that resulted from the One Child Policy in China, a population control policy that restricts urban couples to only one child. Chen was sentenced to an imprisonment of four years and three months, but eventually fled to the United States. Although the campaign did not incite much change, participants were able to show Chen their support and gain worldwide media attention. Another similar case is that of Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese literary critic, writer and activist. He was arrested in 2009 due to “suspicion of inciting subversion of state power” after actively participating in the writing of Charter 08. Charter 08 is a manifesto drafted and signed by over 350 Chinese intellectuals calling for the reform of China’s human rights laws. After having been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in human rights activism in December 2010, Liu was not permitted by the

Chinese government to attend the ceremony, and his chair on the dais subsequently remained empty. This image consequently inspired activist Wen Yunchao to start an online campaign that required internet users to post photos of empty chairs along with the comment “if we only watch, then the empty chair may appear at your family’s dining table one day”.

Again, no tangible change resulted from this campaign, but international news coverage on Liu Xiaobo increased and thousands of Facebook pages, tweets and Tumblr posts were dedicated to rallying for Liu Xiaobo’s release. This brings hope to the future of censorship and control in Chinacould there be a day when the barriers are broken and China’s media and citizens could express themselves uncensored?

In a student body as diverse and opinionated as that of Chinese International School, the opinions on internet activism and its effectiveness vary.

“IT HAS POWER IN TERMS OF QUANTITY AND SPEED, BUT NOT IN QUALITY. THE INTERNET KIND OF DIMINISHES THE FACT THAT ACTIVISM IS MORE THAN CLICKING A BUTTON. INTERNET ACTIVISTS NEED TO REMEMBER THAT ACTIVISM TAKES DEDICATION, AND CAN’T BE ACHIEVED BY A CLICK”, states year 13 Kendra Cui. Some believe that internet activism does not necessarily end up in success.

Year 12 student May Huang believes that internet activism is “well-intentioned but depends on the form/ mass of the campaign. A campaign can either be lost on the internet by occupying a tiny cantle of the Internet, or infiltrate everything like Kony”. Others point out the positives

of internet activism-

“THE INTERNET IS VERY ACCESSIBLE TO EVERYONE, ESPECIALLY WITH THE EXISTENCE OF MULTIPLE TYPES OF SOCIAL MEDIA WEBSITES SUCH AS FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND WEIBO. INFORMATION SPREADS LIKE WILDFIRE ON THESE WEBSITES- WITH THE NUMBER OF WEBSITES THAT EXIST COUPLED WITH THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT SURF THE INTERNET, NEWS JUST SPREADS.”, states Year 12 Albert Wang.

Central Africa, the Arab world, China- disparate areas from different parts of the world that were, and for some, still are, affected by internet activism. The Stop Kony campaign differed from the other two in that it was not the netizens of Central Africa campaigning for change, but the international community. Although it was widespread and undoubtedly one of the most publicized campaigns of 2012, it was largely a failure in the bigger picture. Yes, we did see dozens of Facebook profile picture changes to the red Kony 2012 logo.

Yes, the Youtube film gained 100 million views in six days. And yes, the campaign was backed by powerful individuals such as Oprah and Rihanna. However, what this campaign failed to do was genuinely educate and inspire the masses. I myself have witnessed people joining the campaign because they saw their peers doing so, without understanding the delicate political situation in Central Africa, and why no change has been made thus far. The film completely overlooked important facts that ought to have been included, such as the exploitation of conflict minerals

that are often the reasons why Kony and other warlords exist. Their narrow focus on the obvious, that is, that thousands are suffering as a result of Kony’s brutality, and subsequent lack of publicity on the underlying reasons behind the conflict is one of the key reasons as to why I believe this campaign failed. Internet activism during the tumult in Egypt, on the other hand, proved to be relatively successful in some campaigns. The combined forces of a powerful platform targeting the right people during a timely moment ultimately led to a successful revolution where a majority of the protestors’ demands were met. The success behind internet activism in Egypt lies not only in numbers, but also the fact that citizens affected firsthand by the oppressive regime in Egypt embraced the power of social media to incite change. Granted, international pressure also played a role in the progression of the revolution. However, the firsthand efforts of the Egyptians not international pressure - are what I believe to be the main reason behind its success. That is not to say, however, that internet activism ended all tumult in Egypt. There is still political unrest in Egypt, yet ultimately, some change has been achieved through this revolution. I believe that the whole world is entranced by Internet activism in China. The notion of a nation so hermit-like and controlling battling the freeness of the internet is something that attracts the interest of the outside world. In the two aforementioned cases of Chen and Liu, although the ultimate change was not tangible, this result does not equate to the efforts as being ineffective. The netizens of China were able to create a level of consciousness in the public that is important for long term change.

Equipped with various desirable traits that make raising awareness both quick and efficient, the internet has revolutionized the way we champion for different causes.

Reporter: Yoon Ah Han

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

67

FEATURES WRITER | KENDRA CUI IILLUSTRATOR | KELLY LUY

Three CIS Policies That Should Be Changed

As CIS celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, we can look back on and celebrate the school’s myriad successes since its inception. However, it is also an opportunity to ponder the various areas of the school which have not been moving as quickly as they should. Some of CIS’ school policies, while well-intended, have created unforeseen negative consequences. In other areas, school policy has been slow to catch up with the demands of various members of the school community. Three such school policies are the one-to-one laptop policy, the driver’s code of conduct and the current CHOICES arrangements. As the school looks forward to another 30 years of success, these school policies can provide some avenues for improvement. >>

68

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

https://d2ba1wehz8pq9c.cloudfront.net/NewLearningTimes/1472187414_be2451c0cd_o_9eb212b16bf341bbbaa259b5ee9625b4.jpg

1. Laptop Policy Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve all seen and heard complaints about the laptop policy before in some form or the other, and these complaints will likely not go away, because whatever the intent of the original policy, it is evident that more harm than good has followed since the introduction of laptops to all secondary students.

The one-to-one laptop policy was introduced with the goal of enhancing classroom resources, and allowing students to become more technologically literate. Special emphasis has been placed on encouraging students to become ethical and responsible users of technology. There is no doubt that the laptop policy has achieved its goal of making CIS students more adept at using modern technology.

In addition, the laptop program has its merits in that it aims to treat students as independent thinkers and trusts that secondary students can, from the outset, manage their own laptop use. However, as evidenced by the amount of gaming occurring around the school, it has been more difficult to emphasize the idea of responsible use. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the laptops are introduced to a cohort which is possibly too young to

have the maturity and self-control over its own actions. Year 7 students, who are only around 11 years old, are likely lacking of the discipline to control their own laptop use. (Who didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to do whatever they wanted when they were 11?) If CIS wants to reinforce the idea of ethical and responsible technology use, it should not be through the sheer number of contact hours spent lugging a laptop around, but through controlled usage which enhances the quality of hours spent using technology.

Although efforts have been made to reduce the amount of excessive gaming occurring, such as conducting a schoolwide survey and limiting laptop usage to school work in designated areas (the Chinese and English corridors, library, common rooms and classrooms), the nature of this approach is to treat the symptoms of the problem as opposed to tackling the root of the problem. The school could instead consider changes in the very nature of the policy itself and reconsider distributing laptops to all year 7 students.

The school cannot simply distribute laptops to every student and expect students to quickly adopt the responsible tech-

nology use guidelines. Students must be guided in their technology usage during earlier years. This may mean delaying the distribution of laptops until students reach year 10, instead setting up more computer rooms around the school for years 7 to 9 students when classes do require the use of technology.

This way, students will still have access to required technological resources during class time, but not be constantly attached to a device throughout the day. This may be more developmentally appropriate for years 7 to 9; after receiving supervision at the early stages of their secondary school career, they will slowly but surely develop the self-control needed to discipline hours spent on a laptop, and can be weaned off adult supervision. If studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; laptop use becomes more disciplined, and students are not easily allowed access during break times, they will surely develop more healthy lifestyles.

Yet there is another aspect of the laptop policy which also poses certain issues: many classes, such as languages and arts classes, do not require the use of laptops (much less the smart boards

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

69

healthy laptop use), why notnot devote funds interactive whiteboards andand more more interactive whiteboards more healthy laptop use), why devote funds more to to enhancing the traditional classroom ICT staff are also incurred.

The cost to to enhancing the traditional classroom ICT staff are also incurred. The cost provided These pieces of ofatmosphere, thisthis program willwill undoubtedly where students cancan flexflex their providedinineach eachclassroom). classroom).

These pieces atmosphere, where students their support support program undoubtedly equipment are often rendered superfluous, continue to rise in the future, andand oneone brains through proactive participation? equipment are often rendered superfluous, brains through proactive participation? continue to rise in the future, and one may wonder if funds devoted to could question if the benefits of this This could mean hiring more teachers, and one may wonder if funds devoted to This could mean hiring more teachers, could question if the benefits of this procuring bebe better are are worth the the costs. reducing class sizes starting at MYP, procuringthese theseresources resourcescould could better thus thus reducing class sizes starting at MYP, program program worth costs. used or or sponsoring more experiential learning It is definitely notnot badbad for CIS usedininother otherareas. areas.

It is definitely for CIS sponsoring more experiential learning Laptops able toto programs, which could all all lead to much to embrace newnew technologies, Laptopswill willnever neverbebe able programs, which could lead to much to be to eager be eager to embrace technologies, replace learning valuable student engagement.

After willwill undoubtedly become replacethe thevalue valueofofthe thetraditional traditional learning more more valuable student engagement.

After as technology as technology undoubtedly become environment, which includes small classes assuming oneone MacPro costs 9,188 a part of our lives.

However, everything environment, which includes small classes all,all, assuming MacPro costs 9,188 a part of our lives.

However, everything and who often hashasHKD (at(at retail value), andand assuming each bestbest done in moderation; per-perandthe theguidance guidanceofofa teacher, a teacher, who often HKD retail value), assuming each is always is always done in moderation; more relevant knowledge than information cohort has around 110 (and growing very haps it is time to reconsider this rush to to more relevant knowledge than information cohort has around 110 (and growing very haps it is time to reconsider this rush stored online.

Instead of spending money quickly in number) students, the annual devote funds to technological learning, stored online. Instead of spending money devote funds to technological learning, quickly in number) students, the annual continuously which to to obtain such laptops could amount remember thatthat nothing cancan replace continuouslyononpieces piecesofoftechnology technology which cost cost obtain such laptops could amount andand remember nothing replace only ofof certain to to 1,010,680 HKD per year group.

Addithe benefits of an engaging teacher andand a a onlyhave havebenefits benefitsatatthethecost cost certain 1,010,680 HKD per year group. Addi- the benefits of an engaging teacher drawbacks and uncosts involving thethe introduction of of small, close-knit classroom environment. drawbacks(such (suchasasirresponsible irresponsible and un- tional small, close-knit classroom environment. tional costs involving introduction

2.2. The The Drivers’ Drivers’Code CodeofofConduct Conduct Where may Wherethe thelaptop laptoppolicy policy may indicate toto indicatethe theschool’s school’soverzealousness overzealousness introduce drivers’ introducesweeping sweepingchange, change,thethe drivers’ code attitude codeofofconduct conductand andthetheschool’s school’s attitude towardsdealing dealingwith withthetheBraemar Braemar Hill towards Hill congestionissue issuemay mayindicate indicate school’s congestion thethe school’s hesitancyinindecision decisionmaking. making.

The policy hesitancy The policy (orrather, rather,lack lackthereof thereof ) intrying trying reduce (or ) in toto reduce congestionis isanother anotherarea areathethe school congestion school shouldfocus focusmore moreattention attentionon.on. should October2013, 2013, only AsAsofofOctober thethe only policythat thataims aimstotoalleviate alleviatethethe Braemar policy Braemar Hillcongestion congestionis isthe thedrivers’ drivers’ code conHill code ofof conduct,which whichstates statesthat thatprivate private cars may duct, cars may notenter enterthe theschool schoolcarpark, carpark, and must not and must drivedown downHau HauYuen YuenPath Pathforfor drop-off. drive drop-off.

Again,this thispolicy policyis iswell-meaning well-meaning and Again, and is is a first step in trying to reduce the congesa first step in trying to reduce the congestionthe theschool schoolhas hasexperienced experienced over http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6206/6113309 tion over thethe http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6206/6113309 302_0a38ecc882_o.jpg years.

However, despite the policy, the 302_0a38ecc882_o.jpg years. However, despite the policy, the situation has hardly improved.

Statistics situation has hardly improved. Statistics obtainedafter aftera study a studybybya group a group year of of conduct place. “compassionate, ethical responsible obtained ofof year conduct waswas in in place. “compassionate, ethical andand responsible geographystudents studentsshow showthat that maxIf policies that allow students individuals” when our vehicles roads 1313geography thethe maxIf policies that allow students individuals” when our vehicles clogclog the the roads imumtime timetaken takentotoreach reachCIS CIS from use private cars cannot be stringently of Braemar Hill, pollute a residential area imum from thethe to to use private cars cannot be stringently of Braemar Hill, pollute a residential area PacificPalisades Palisadeswas washas hasincreased increased from enforced, perhaps it is time to consider where many residents students, Pacific toto from enforced, perhaps it is time to consider where many residents are are notnot CISCIS students, minutesfrom fromSeptember September 2012 more drastic policies to reduce the conand when people complain about our 1010toto1212minutes 2012 to tomore drastic policies to reduce the conand when people complain about our September2013.

2013.Despite Despitethethe new policy, gestion. This could include a mandatory traffic issue in the SCMP? Although there September new policy, gestion. This could include a mandatory traffic issue in the SCMP? Although there thesituation situationhas hasobviously obviouslydeteriorated. deteriorated. policy such those enacted at HKIS areare many logistical concerns regarding the busbus policy such as as those enacted at HKIS many logistical concerns regarding the the Before2013, 2013,the thedrivers’ drivers’code code conduct and GSIS, where students must agree to implementation of these more drastic Before ofof conduct and GSIS, where students must agree to implementation of these more drastic solu-solustated that students were to be dropped off use bus services or public transport, or risk tions, and various members of the school stated that students were to be dropped off use bus services or public transport, or risk tions, and various members of the school at Wai Tsui Crescent, yet even this policy jeopardizing their enrollment.

To make up community are working providing various at Wai Tsui Crescent, yet even this policy jeopardizing their enrollment. To make up community are working providing various was not actively enforced.

Only when the for the lack of bus routes in some areas, solutions, it seems the search for a viable was not actively enforced. Only when the for the lack of bus routes in some areas, solutions, it seems the search for a viable andand new code of conduct was increased did additional bus routes or a rearrangement effective solution kicked new code of conduct was increased did additional bus routes or a rearrangement effective solution hashas onlyonly beenbeen kicked intointo active enforcement occur.

The school is to of bus routes could be implemented to full swing due to external forces (such active enforcement occur. The school is to of bus routes could be implemented to full swing due to external forces (such as as be commended in taking the first step of reach students in more remote areas. complaints in the newspapers and concerns be commended in taking the first step of reach students in more remote areas. complaints in the newspapers and concerns announcing a policy, but should always One could always argue that it is Braemar Hill residents). One might wonder announcing a policy, but should always One could always argue that it is Braemar Hill residents). One might wonder make sure it has the means to stringently not the school’s responsibility to regulate why this problem was allowed to ferment to make sure it has the means to stringently not the school’s responsibility to regulate why this problem was allowed to ferment to enforce the policy, as was not necessarily the mode of transport students use to go such a serious extent before more stringent enforce the policy, as was not necessarily of transport students use to go such a serious extent before more stringent the case when the Wai Tsui Crescent code thetomode school, but how can we call ourselves solutions were proposed. the case when the Wai Tsui Crescent code to school, but how can we call ourselves solutions were proposed.

70

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

In the past, the school has been reluctant to enact more drastic policies regarding congestion due to resistance from parents and students who assert their right to use private cars. This reluctance is not unfounded, as CIS should be listening to all members of its community. However, there comes a point when the school should, along with students and parents, take full responsibility for the actions of the CIS community, even if it means acting against popular opinion. As

a school, we should uphold our value of “[preparing our] students to be... responsible individuals, contributing to local and global communities”, and realize that it isn’t acceptable to pollute our Braemar Hill neighborhood. Likewise, if parents believe that driving their children to school is more important than being a responsible and environmentally-friendly member of the Braemar Hill community, then per-

haps they should reflect on the message this sends to their children. The nature of a school is to instill values in its students, and that may mean sometimes taking action which may be met with resistance.

If that simply means giving up our cars and reducing the effects of pollution and congestion that the residents of Braemar Hill have suffered, then why not?

3. New CHOICES arrangements Also integral to the CIS education are the CHOICES sessions; sessions designed with the aim of educating students beyond the classroom--to focus on personal health, and promote awareness of various local and global issues. In previous years, CHOICES sessions were determined by year group, and each year group had more flexibility in determining their own CHOICES programs through decisions made by the head of year.

This new school year, with the introduction of positive education, a few sessions including standardized activities have been introduced. For example, during one particular session, students from years 7 to 13 were made to identify their top five personal traits using a survey then draw these traits out onto a sketch of their own bodies.

While this activity may be more meaningful to younger students, many students in year 13 did not see the session as age-appropriate, and did not take away anything new from the session. Although it appears that these types of sessions will not be a recurrent happening, they appear to indicate that the

well-being of students across 7 different age groups can be improved in the same way, which is not the case.

If the school truly wants to improve the well-being of students, it should tailor CHOICES sessions according to the needs of different year groups. But instead of simply leaving it to the head of year to decide on each year group’s curriculum, as is the case right now, this idea could be taken further. CHOICES has the potential to be the only class in which students have the potential to design their own curriculum. After all, who better than the students of each year group themselves to know what activities they would benefit most from? This could be implemented in the form of a voting process at the beginning of each year, during which students of each year group decide on which topics they would like to focus on. There is also potential to introduce student-led CHOICES sessions, where students can talk about issues that concern them. An additional use of CHOICES sessions could be to hold year-group

CIS has undoubtedly come a long way since its inception 30 years ago. Many policies have come and gone through CIS; some of them have been fine-tuned through trial and error, while others have eventually been done away with. The three policies above represent snippings of policies concerning various aspects of school life. As one of the leading international institutions in Hong Kong, CIS has the potential to become a pioneer in education. However, to do so, it must

celebration assemblies in lieu of wholeschool celebration assembles. Not only will students celebrate achievements they can relate to more easily; achievements which may not be so obviously defined as an “achievement”, such as the work of a specific student awareness group or results from a student trip, may be celebrated as well instead of just sports awards and large organized activities.

Instead of just celebrating the milestone achievements of students, these year-group assemblies allow students to celebrate ongoing achievements as well.

If CHOICES was used as a platform for students to explore issues they believe are relevant to their own year group or community instead of tackling ideas such as well of “well-being” in such a head-on manner, students may benefit more. If students have the ability to productively use CHOICES for what they see as most pertinent to their own needs, then the benefits of the CHOICES program will flow naturally as a by-product.

be unafraid of taking risks, and unafraid to be unconventional. This may mean holding back a laptop policy in face of a growing fad in education to use electronic resources, implementing a drastic transport policy, or giving students the autonomy to decide on part of their curriculum. If we as a community and institution are more willing to experiment, CIS will undoubtedly continue to prosper in the future.

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

71

FEATURES

POSITIVE DUCATION AT CIS

BY SUSAN MAGINN & ASPEN WANG

T

LAYOUT BY NICOLE LI

he school year of 2013/2014 has witnessed the arrival of an unfamiliar phrase - “positive education”. Increasingly integrated into the school’s vocabulary, the concept of “positive education” permeates much of our school life, from teaching to learning to a rather noticeable furniture overhaul. Yet what “positive education” really constitutes in practical terms remains by and large ambiguous. For much of the student body, the term “positive education” seems both oxymoronic and tautological. For some, “positive education” can appear pretentious; for others, “positive education” is a redundant phrase, for they can hardly conceive of education which is not positive; in both cases, the term

72

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

“positive education” has been misconstrued. What a large majority of students don’t realise is that positive education is a non-traditional approach to education that arose out of in depth research in psychology. It is not a rhetorical theory that lacks in substance or practicality. Rather, the field of positive education has enjoyed overwhelming critical and commercial success and for CIS, the implementation of positive education shows considerable future promise.

As positive education remains a fairly misunderstood term in CIS, we asked Mr. Mulcahy, the Head of Student Affairs, to explain the concept to us. Positive education is formally defined as education for both traditional skills and for happiness. Essentially, it is

an approach to education that draws on positive psychology, placing particular attention on individual strengths and personal motivation in order to promote learning.

This means a move away from determining the success of a student’s learning from grades and standardised testing, and a move towards customised learning goals to individual students’ levels and a focus on the well-being of the students.

Positive education requires both a change in one’s general outlook on positive and negative relations, and a change in habitual actions that alter the neuroplasticity of our brain so that we are reprogrammed to be more receptive to happiness. However, forced positivity or a scaffolding of happiness can be as detrimental as a negative outlook on life, and one of the components of positive education is to recognize the instances in which we do naturally feel stressed. After all, it is impossible to force one into feeling happy, no matter how many times you reinforce positivity into one’s life. It is not the responsibility of the school to force students and staff to be happy, nor is it achievable. However, the

school can indeed contribute to the overall positivity of its staff, students, and environhttp://michaelca ment. This is precisely the current aims of wright.com/201 2014/images/cis.jp positive education in CIS now.

One of the major reasons for implementing positive education at CIS, Mr. Mulcahy explained, was the need to promote a happier and healthier school environment, where well-being would be the focus for students. This was indeed a welcome change from the previous general view that academic success should be the number one priority in educational institutions.

However, positive education is an approach harder to adopt than one might think, because of the negativity bias we encounter in our daily lives that make positive thinking an obstacle rather than a helping hand.

Professor Lea Waters, a professor from the University of Melbourne and a leading expert in Positive Psychology in education explained: students and staff are far more likely to say “I am not stressed” rather than “I am happy”. This change in attitude from a focus on negativity to more positive outcomes is what positive education seeks to accomplish.

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

73

[

Professor Lea Waters is just one of the invaluable resources that the school has approached before deciding to implement positive education at CIS. In researching healthier approaches to education, the school began to investigate how other schools had successfully implemented positive education and with what results. By mid November of 2012, CIS staff had visited a number of progressive schools in Australia such as Geelong Grammar School that had integrated core concepts of positive education into their curriculum.

Through this investigation, the school saw life applications of what seemed like a revolutionary theory and decided that if we would adopt this approach for education in CIS. From books to articles to TED talks, positive education has been around for years; with scientists and researchers claiming that maintaining a positive attitude in life reaps benefits in terms of health, productivity and even longevity.

As part of the research and planning stage, Professor Lea Waters was also invited to visit CIS, in order to facilitate a training programme

in psychology for a smalL number of CIS teachers. The faculty began to recognize the benefits of adapted concepts of positive education to suit CIS. This training programme included supporting staff as well as teaching staff and administrative staff. Concepts of mindfulness, flow, and PERMA (positive emotion, engagement, relationship, meaning, accomplishment) constituted the main focus of these few days.

The school is focusing on teaching teachers the positive education approach because they want students to recognize the merits of positive teaching and have their learning attitudes change as a result. The school’s approach of encouraging a positive teaching style and implementing cosmetic changes aims to produce a ripple effect in the student’s attitude toward positive education. This we can surely be thankful of, for nobody enjoys or needs positivity thrust upon them in every waking second of the day. Students cannot be forced into happiness by the administration, but teachers can certainly contribute to it by fostering a happier environment to learn in.

“A REVOLUTIONARY THEORY”

O

ne of the ways that the school has been subtly introducing cosmetic changes in the school environment is the new Student Affairs Office, which has a visibly different set of furnitures, including a transparent door, lounges for discussion, and music. This new Student Affairs Office seems warm, welcoming, relaxing. Although this may seem contrived and superficial, the physical background of work lacks the punitive atmosphere with the private rooms it had before. It undoubtedly goes a long way to subconsciously shape the actions and habits we develop in the long term. Other less visible changes include a mini library in the Secondary Staff Room full of positive educational handbooks, guides, and reviews. The staff are encouraged to borrow these books, share their responses, and foster an attitude of positivity in their own teaching and outside

74

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

lives.

CIS students will also recognise the newly introduced celebration assemblies, which focus on strengths and achievements, or quizzes taken about character strengths in CHOICES. A particularly significant change must also be the advisory structure which replaces homeroom, and a whole new CHOICES programme which looks into positive thinking, positive body image, and mindfulness. Ostensibly, these CHOICES sessions are essential to the school’s curriculum and empower students with confidence and assurance. In reality, few are taken seriously and have minimal impact on the wellbeing of the students who participate. The school needs to combat this problem to make CHOICES an effective way of empowering the student body. What we need are not messages of “you can do it, just be confident with yourself!” but

personal and relevant life stories or examples from real figures around us, whether it be older students, teachers, alumni, so on and so forth. In this case, it truly is a case of “showing not telling” to convince us of positive psychology in our daily lives.

In the future, the school’s plan is to continue to build on the foundation that it has laid out so far. That means more CHOICES sessions focusing on positive education to offer a support system for the students, raising issues such as body image, bullying and self-esteem. The staff will be required to read a Mindfulness text by Mark Williams that covers positive relation issues on gender differences, Sacrifices vs Selfishness, relationships and a breakdown of the time frame for emotional responses. The idea is to produce not only staff-led training program but also student led programs regarding positive self image. The school also plans to send out a survey later in the school year to asses the impact of positive education and promote accountability. Generally speaking, the faculty response has been positive and there has even been a dramatic decrease in faculty absences. Mr. Mulcahy has received no emails of concern regarding advisory, which shows a degree of trust in the school and positive feedback. Already we feel a stronger sense of community, a natural progression into a healthier school environment for all involved in the community.

While positive education seems promising so far, what remains to be seen is whether the staff has truly applied positive education and integrated into their teaching styles and the class atmosphere. It remains to be seen

O

whether positive education is really the right approach for a school such as CIS. These concerns cannot be brushed off by the school, as the success of positive education does indeed lay in results.

These results are of course particularly difficult to measure; for the well-being of students and staff is subjective, and can vary widely from person to person, from day to day. The weather, the time, the workload, external influences such as fights with parents or spouses can all affect the happiness level of respondents in surveys. The only concrete bit of evidence that may be obtained are things such as measuring a decline in absences, students skiving class or school, complaints from parents, acts of bullying, and so on. Furthermore, should there be a decline in bullying, for example, it is difficult to say whether it has been positive education that has made the difference, or some other factor. There may be a correlation, but this doesn’t indicate a causation. It may be that we will never be able to determine if positive education has really made any change to our school objectively, but that we must trust our gut instincts about whether our school environment is really healthier and happier this year compared to previous years. These difficulties in measuring positive education should not be an obstacle in implementing positive education however, and whilst these concerns are extremely valid, the hugely beneficial effects of positive education in terms of health and happiness of its students and staff certainly outweigh the problem of objectively measuring its success.

ne major concern from the induction of positive psychology in the school environment is the gradual alienation of those who are not in a positive mind frame. Though it seems unlikely, it would be truly disappointing to have an environment in which all negativity is shut down and suppressed, seen as undesirable or worse, unacceptable, in such school setting which places emphasis on positivity. Students or staff experiencing negative thoughts or going through depression may become less likely to speak out about their problems, fearing being called out as the anomaly, or even begin to consider themselves unnatural for being unable to think more positively.

Indeed an environment which only looks at well being can be ironically more detrimental to our well being. Rather an environment that recognises both positivity and negativity, and finds ways to cope with the latter in a productive

way is desirable. Moreover, it is also a very real danger that positive education will inadvertently define happiness as a singular and particular personality type: cheerful, outgoing, goal-driven, extraverted. Therefore, what positive education at CIS needs to emphasise is the diversity of what happiness can mean, as well as avoid suppressing negativity at the expense of promoting positivity.

Positive education is not without its limitations and criticisms, yet it has the potential to be the new model for successful education. Already there are signs of positive education blossoming in CIS, with hints of greater benefits in the future. As with every new policy, there is bound to be skepticism and criticism; judging from the careful planning and research involved, the current state of well being in the school, and future plans, there seems to be good cause to put this unease at rest.

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

75

FEATURES

Grade culture

VS intellectual curiosity

AT CIS

A

Written by: Oliver Hsu

Year 10 student thrusts his hand in the air incredible urgency. “Will we need to know this for the test?” he asks, in such an automatic fashion that a casual observer would suspect he has asked the same question many times before. Indeed he has, in almost every one of his classes at CIS, to the point where posing this question is has almost become second nature.

This student is not alone. Scenarios where students seek confirmation as to whether what they learn is relevant to their assessments occur frequently. What could be considered a faux pas or an insult to the significance of the subject material in other settings is the norm at CIS. Many teachers have been so bombarded with such questions that they voluntarily offer the information themselves, with an emphasized “pay attention, this will be on the test,” or a casual “don’t worry too much about this, it won’t be tested,” finding its way into their classes.

What does this behavior imply about the attitude of CIS students towards learning? Massive generalizations are being made here, but there is a degree

76

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

of truth in such generalizations. It can be inferred from the almost obsessive concern CIS students have as to how their learning affects their grades that many see a high grade as the ultimate goal, with learning being the means to this end. This perception can further imply that students may dismiss the pursuit of knowledge in an academic subject if it is not tested and does not affect their grade. If so, we must ask whether the motivation of CIS students for learning comes from a desire for good grades rather than an intrinsic desire for knowledge. Are CIS students learning only for grades?

These implications are worrying at the least. The fundamental purpose of any educational institution is to foster intellectual curiosity and the pursuit of knowledge by its students. Should an institution become an environment where its students are motivated by aspirations for good grades as opposed to an intrinsic desire to learn, the integrity of the school as a place of learning is undermined and it instead becomes a place for faux-achievement. It is possible that the emphasis on grades has become so integrated within the school community that

WHAT COULD BE CONSIDERED A FAUX PAS OR AN INSULT TO THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SUBJECT MATERIAL IN OTHER SETTINGS IS THE NORM AT CIS. many would equate academic achievement with the attainment of high grade levels. But what are grades if not an attempt to quantitatively measure the learning a student engages in? A collection of trivial and meaningless digits. The pursuit of knowledge should, in an school setting, equate to the striving of good grades. Ideally, academic achievement in terms of learning should be reflected in grades. One can, however, seek to attain good grades without seeking to learn, and thus undermine the original purpose of grades as a reflection of learning. This insignificance of the grades attained in such a fashion is indicative of the pointless nature of academic achievement for superficial purposes.

It is important to remember that aspirations for good grades and intellectual curiosity are not mutually exclusive. As grades are intended to be a reflection of academic achievement, intellectual curiosity should drive both learning and the attainment of good grades. Ideally, the two should occur simultaneously. The pursuit of knowledge is its own reward, but grades are a byproduct that reflect this pursuit, a tangible indication of academic achievement. CIS students work hard. That CIS is the school of many diligent, ambitious, high-achieving super students who expect to

ARE CIS STUDENTS LEARNING ONLY FOR GRADES?

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

77

FEATURES and do attain the highest levels of achievement in their academics and extracurriculars appears to be a consensus, one that many individuals in the school community take pride in. Is the source of such diligence an intrinsic intellectual curiosity or a motivation related to grades? Both could simultaneously be the motivating factor behind work ethic of CIS students, though a student could just as easily be motivated by only one of such factors. Regardless of motivation, the student will likely achieve decent grade levels as the result of his or her diligence. The student who is driven by intellectual curiosity, however, will have achieved so much more because is it his or her goal to learn, rather than to attain good grades. He or she will have reached a higher level of academic achievement, in the most fundamental sense of the term.

The CIS Mission Statement states that “Chinese International School is committed to the achievement of academic excellence” and “encourages intellectual curiosity and independent, critical and creative thinking”. A school that strives to foster the achievement of academic excellence seeks not only to encourage the attainment of high grades but more importantly the excellence of the learning that occurs at the school. To encourage excellence in learning is to encourage an active pursuit of knowledge, which in turn is to encourage intellectual curiosity, and the CIS Mission Statement states that CIS does aim to do so. At first glance, CIS

seemingly does incredibly well in fostering the achievement of academic excellence among its students, as most students seek and do attain high grade levels, which are intended to reflect academic excellence.

This achievement is to some extent superficial, as students may strive only to attain grades, the reflection, rather than learning, in the broadest sense of the word, which is actual academic excellence. This superficiality suggests that it is the encouragement of intellectual curiosity and independent, critical, and creative thinking that CIS describes in its mission statement that is crucial to the strengthening of academic excellence in the school.

A focus on grades as the ultimate goal of education is certainly not unique to CIS students. It is a common attitude found in many high schools, particularly among ambitious high achieving students like those at CIS. But ambition and the need to strive for more than the norm is precisely why schools should seek to elevate the goals of their students from good grades to good learning, and thus elevate the integrity of the school by bringing it closer to the purpose of educational institutions.

There are many institutions of higher education that have reputations for fostering intellectually curious students who are exceptionally active in their pursuit of knowledge. How can CIS emulate the famous fostering of intellectual curiosity of such universities? It is almost impossible

“...STUDENTS MAY STRIVE ONLY TO ATTAIN GRADES, THE REFLECTION, RATHER THAN LEARNING, IN THE BROADEST SENSE OF THE WORD, WHICH IS ACTUAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE.” 78

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

given the difference in institutional nature between CIS, a K-12 school, and such higher education institutions. Accepted students choose to attend such colleges in particular, likely for their intellectual atmospheres. In that sense, a school’s reputation for intellectually curious students draws more intellectually curious students to the school, which is a luxury that CIS, being a K-12 school, does not have to the same extent, as deciding which school to attend for their primary education is not a decision most students make with such factors in mind. This attraction of intellectually curious students is an important factor in a school’s fostering of learning for the sake of learning, as intellectual curiosity is largely a personal quality, developing as a component of one’s personal maturation. Many high schools, however, do have the responsibility to prepare students for university and foster personal development, and for these purposes it is impor-

tant to encourage and develop intellectual curiosity to prepare students for a more intensive learning environment, one which they cannot fully integrate with if they have previously sought academic achievement for more superficial purposes.

This article is not intended to criticize CIS’ fulfillment of its mission statement, nor is it meant to be some great revelation exposing a lack of true intellectual curiosity at the school. It offers few specific examples, includes extensive speculation, and makes sweeping generalizations with little to no evidence. It offers no proposed solutions to a problem may or may not exist. It is not a piece meant to expose, criticize, or incite anything. It is simply the scattered and disorganized musings of a CIS student, himself often guilty of placing an unbalanced emphasis on grades, regarding the intellectual curiosity and perspectives on learning of his peers and at his school.

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

79

EDITORIAL

Fall of an Apple BY: ANGUS LAM

80

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

Compared to the 60 days it took iOS6 to reach 30%, and the 30 days for 60% it is a clear example that Apple can still trump itself, coming up with fresh releases to attract the masses.

Albert Watson 2006

Accompanying the two iPhones is the new operating system: iOS 7. The project was led by Jony Ive, designer of many other signature Apple products such as the Macbook Air, iMac and iPad; featuring a complete design overhaul.

It is indeed the biggest change to the OS since the first iPhone, marking a departure from “skeumorphism”, the emulation of real-life objects in the user interface (eg. the faux-leather in iCal and Reminder apps, or the yellow note paper in the Notes app), in favor for a “flatter” design. Critical reception to the new release were mostly favorable, but the OS adoption rates signified overwhelmingly positive public reception. An estimate of 32% of all devices were updated within 48 hours. By the 7th day, 51.8% were updated. In 27 days, 71% of all devices were running iOS 7. Compared to the 3 days it took iOS 6 to reach 30%, and the 30 days it took for it to reach 60%, it is a clear example of how Apple can still trump itself, coming up with fresh releases to attract the masses. In fact, all these announcements, whether big or small, are examples of Apple’s continuing ability to innovate and explore new technologies and designs, and doing so without the guidance of its former CEO.

RIGHT:

The iconic portrait of Jobs, taken in 2006 by Albert Watson.

Steve is the personification of everything Apple has stood for: perfectionistic, ambitious,

and putting emphasis on the most precise design details and aesthetic quality. He was a unique visionary, with a talent for bringing new technology to the masses; an intuition that brought us the home computer, smartphone, and tablet. His charisma impacted the way we, as consumers, treated Apple products. We wanted them for no particular reason. We found a reason to need them. Perhaps he left behind a legacy – a positive, lasting impression – on the company he founded. Recent sales have shown that the masses will still follow the “Apple Cult”, and that their designs are still capable of originality and innovation. Furthermore, it is important to note that Apple veterans such as Jony Ive and Tim Cook contributed significantly to Apple’s comeback and success as well, and that they are still contributing. The question that everybody is asking however, is whether they can keep this up, whether it’s just the calm before the storm, and keeping in mind that history proves otherwise.

James Martin/CNET 2010

might be venturing into the SmartTV market, on top of the SmartWatch market with the alleged “iWatch”. However, public perception of Apple seemed to reach a positive turning point, when Apple released the iPhone 5S and 5C on September 20th, 2013; the former being the flagship model with the new “Touch ID”, a fingerprint sensor on top of the home button for advanced security, the latter being a polycarbonate cased, mid-range model. Combined weekend sales reached a record-breaking 9 million units, showing that Apple product support is still strong and continually growing.

It is curious to note though, that the Californiabased tech company never released individual model sales.

LEFT:

Steve Jobs and Tim Cook discussing the change of leadership.

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

81

“democracy ” hong kong’s

Currently, the Hong Kong Chief Executive is elected by the 1200-member Election Committee (EC), an exclusive electoral college consisting of 28 functional constituencies. These constituencies are further divided into 38 economic and social subsectors. The constituency system allows for a false democracy whereby representatives are supposedly elected by members of their respective subsectors.

However, several aspects of the broken electoral system prevent most citizens from rightly doing so. Firstly, many citizens are denied their voting rights simply because of their occupations or religious affiliations, including self-employed and freelance workers, members of the informal sector, housewives, and university students. Because they do not belong to any represented sector, they have no representatives to vote for.

Furthermore, securing the “right” occupation still doesn’t guarantee an opportunity to vote; participants must be members of certain associations covered by the constituencies. For professional fields such as law and medicine, it is much easier to be recognised as voting members because these subsectors require certification from their respective associations anyway. However, not all workers in the represented subsectors belong to registered electors. For example, the Transport constituency only has 178 registered corporate electors.

However, thousands of corporations belong to the transport industry. This leads to another immense portion of citizens denied their rightful votes.

Another problematic aspect of the election process is corporate body voting. Of the 38 subsectors, 30% strictly register corporate body voters, denying a staggering amount of citizens their right to directly participate. In fact, only

82

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

3% of the adult population of Hong Kong are registered as individual voters. The owners of registered corporations have no legal obligation to hold internal elections, and are allowed to vote for their own desired representatives.

Remembering the example of the Transport constituency, most of the 178 registered corporations probably did not hold internal elections.

Not only does this unfairly represent the individual views of the corporations’ members, but it also leads to some people gaining significantly more power than the average voting member. For example, Robert Ng, the Sino Group chairman, controls around 3-4% of the registered corporations under the Real Estate constituency. According to the Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor, this gives him the voting power of around 16,000 individuals.

Photo (c) ANTONY DICKSON - AFP/Getty Images 2013

Hong Kong, a self-administrative region that follows its own distinct set of laws and legislation, is known globally as a growing commercial megacity, and is mistakenly regarded by many as a land in which democracy and free-market consumerism run free. In fact, despite the widespread belief that the Hong Kong people are governed by a system of democracy, in which political representatives of each district are voted into office by all registered citizens, the deep seated corruption of its electoral system is much more prominent than meets the eye.

JOSHUA HUNG & CHRISTY LAU

Moreover, 14 of the 38 subsectors were uncontested during the 2011 election. Voting procedures were not followed because the number of representative candidates matched the number of voting seats available to those particular subsectors perfectly. The political aristocracy of these subsectors generally come

“

I N FA C T , O N LY 3 % O F T H E A D U LT P O P U L A T I O N O F H O N G KO N G A R E R E G I S T E R E D A S I N D I V I D UA L VOT E R S overpower larger numbers

to an agreement within themselves as to who would be running as representatives that year, putting the public out of the decision. These agreements usually result in like-minded representatives being selected. Because many of these functional constituencies will likely continue to be uncontested over several years, the same small circle will remain in power again and again.

of unorganised voters. Furthermore, with both voting systems, unpopular parties have very small chances of securing seats. Because supporters of these parties don’t want to waste their votes, they have more incentive to vote for major parties. In addition, major parties can strategically nominate certain numbers of candidates to minimise chances of other parties securing seats.

Also of concern are the representative elections themselves. Firstly, there lacks a uniform voting procedure for all subsectors, allowing subsectors to remain uncontested or to permit corporate voting, mixed voting, or strictly individual voting as they see best. Having the decision of voting procedures rest on the politically powerful can easily lead to their choices of representatives (as opposed to the people’s) having higher chances of securing seats. Secondly, most representatives are elected through a pluralityat-large or preferential block vote: election processes that can easily lead to the same party dominating the seats. For example, plurality-atlarge voting is easily susceptible to tactical voting; because of the way the votes are counted, small numbers of cohesive voters can

Even when ignoring the flaws of the representative elections, the entire CE electoral system has been criticised as a false democracy and a “small-circle election”. In fact, Time magazine reported that “a mock election conducted by the University of Hong Kong… found that over half of nearly 223,000 respondents would have rejected all three candidates.” More importantly, the extent to which Beijing can influence the voting process is a pressing concern. Time magazine described the election as “an empty show, designed to ensure that Beijing maintains a firm grip on the city through the oligarchic selection of a candidate who can be relied upon to uphold its interests… It is widely believed that Leung’s [the current Chief Executive] backers… cast their ballots according to the wishes of Beijing, whose officials reportedly canvassed voters in person and by

EDITORIAL New York Times reported that “business tycoons with large investments in mainland China are heavily represented on the committee, as are politicians and labor leaders with strong connections to Beijing.” The newspaper also observed that: “sectors deemed friendly to Beijing, like traditional Chinese medicine, have far more electors relative to their share of the population than do sectors deemed hostile, like social workers or lawyers.” In short, sectors less inclined to blindly follow Beijing’s desires are underrepresented. Furthermore, of the 96 ex-officio EC members, 36 are pro-Beijing deputies of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPCSC), the highest governing body of the People’s Republic of China. In brief, the current election process is nowhere near to representing the voice of Hong Kong, and might well be manipulated by China to ensure the CE remains a pro-Beijing puppet.

Over the past few years, prominent individuals in the Hong Kong political scene have expressed their support of implementing universal suffrage into the CE electoral process.

Former Chief Secretary Anson Chan explained that it is the job of the CE and the Legislative Council (LegCo) to ensure that the necessary changes to Hong Kong’s electoral arrangements are made in order to provide for an election that is fair. Similarly, the United States Envoy Clifford Hart reaffirmed America’s support of universal suffrage, stating that “one of the fundamental precepts of democracy is that the people themselves have a full say in how their systems work”.

Alex Hofford/European Pressphoto Agency 2013

phone…”

intensified conflicts between Chinese officials and Hong Kong due to the broken promises concerning universal suffrage. While the Basic Law grants the right of universal suffrage to Hong Kong people by 2008, Chinese officials seem to be attempting to make the promise conditional. In fact, the NPC has yet to provide a satisfactory justification as to why there was no universal suffrage as promised in 2008.

Public outrage was only exacerbated when Beijing reneged on earlier promises to allow Hong Kong the right to determine the timetable to universal suffrage when the Standing Committee of the NPC ruled out universal suffrage before 2012.

Despite promises by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to allow for universal suffrage in the upcoming CE election of 2017, no additional actions have been made. The Pan-Democrats, the main political party attempting to implement universal suffrage, have warned of "fake universal suffrage", as details of the 2017 and 2020 elections have not been settled, despite Beijing’s constant promises made to quell the public’s growing demand for universal suffrage. Previous LegCo member and Chair of the Democratic Party Martin Lee expressed concerns over Beijing’s proposals, explaining that they were "full of blanks" and contained no concrete details. Moreover, he exerted his worries concerning the CCP’s grip on Hong Kong’s political system, stating that he does “not see Hong Kong with genuine democracy in 10 years more or 20 years more.”

Moreover, the future of HK’s political system does not seem bright even with the prospect of universal suffrage, as representatives of the NPC have been documented of stating that restrictions on viable candidates will be put in place. Beijing's top representative in Hong Kong ruled out open nominations for candidates, meaning all candidates will be chosen by a committee stacked with Beijing loyalists even under a one person, one vote election. Qiao Xiaoyang, chairman of the NPC Law Committee, stated that CE candidates would be required to love both China and Hong Kong and not confront the central government, effectively excluding candidates from the opposition pro-democracy camp. On a similar note, Chinese official Yu Zheng Sheng said that the NPC held the right to ensure that only parties with political views in accordance with the values of the CCP are permitted to be part of the HK government. This intervention of the NPC in Hong Kong’s internal affairs is abusing the region’s Basic Law.

Perhaps the strongest argument supporting the mandation of universal suffrage is the target of achieving universal suffrage clearly outlined by Hong Kong Basic Law. This clause of Law has

While Hong Kong citizens pride themselves in believing in the concept of ‘one country, two systems’, the belief that Hong Kong is independent is nothing more than a unrealistic

fairytale. Current CE CY Leung has warned that even with the adoption of universal suffrage, Beijing believes that it reserves the right to not accept the person chosen to govern Hong Kong. In fact, Beijing has previously declined to accept officials nominated by the CE, claiming that it reserves authority that surpasses that of the Chief Executive. As the public becomes more aware of the NPC’s stranglehold on the development of Hong Kong’s electoral system, movements such as Occupy Central, a proposed nonviolent occupation protest for universal suffrage if promises made by the Central People's Government for universal suffrage were not realized in the CE election of 2017 and 2020, have risen to domestic attention.

Such actions of rebellion illustrate the public’s rising demand of getting their voices recognized.

THE FUTURE OF HK’S POLITICAL SYSTEM D O E S N OT S E E M B R I G H T EVEN WITH THE PROSPECT OF UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE

”

As universal suffrage continues to be rejected by the Central Government, the road to complete democracy seems dim. Without elections that allow each person to vote, discontent and resentment towards the government and the CE by the public is simply going to intensify.

The current CE electoral system does not appropriately represent the needs of the entire Hong Kong population, nor do they represent the values and ideals that the majority of Hong Kong people do. Under this system, the Hong Kong people are deprived of their right to vote for their leader, leaving the Hong Kong political system under the heavy hand of the central government. With this in mind, one can only imagine the abuse of democracy that will occur after Hong Kong’s 50 years as an S.A.R comes to an end.

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

83

EDITORIAL

84

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

85

蘋果手機 Xiao Mi 與 iPhone 小米手機 倪瑋琦/曾偲雅

讓

我猜一猜現在你的手機在哪裡。在手 裡？在你前面的桌子上？不是嗎？但我能 保證你的手機一定在你的視線範圍之 內。猜對了吧！ 因為現在不管在香港或是中國大 陸，甚至是全球，人們都已經離不開手機。我們可 以把這些人分成幾種： 1.簡易功能組：只會用手機打電話（大多數是上了 年紀的人）； 2.瘋狂打機組：利用手機瘋狂玩遊戲（像我們這種 年輕人）； 3.繁忙工作組：工作的一半都靠手機（很多在職人 士）； 4.身份象徵組：手機就是身份的象徵（我覺得這種 人最值得爭議）。 其實，高科技的生活環境算是人類的一大進步。 可能一出生就比較富有的我們不會察覺到，智能 手機的誕生給了人類許多的方便以及娛樂，協助了 人類的溝通。其中一個比較受歡迎的手機品牌就 是蘋果。 蘋果手機(iPhone)在智能手機的 市場上佔很大的比 率。蘋果公司的手 機重新定義智能手 機。新出的時候，蘋 果手機是完全嶄新的。因為蘋果公司是最開始創 造這種智能手機的公司，所以人們會較喜歡使用蘋 果手機。可是，現今有數不清的品牌都能夠製作這 種智能手機，蘋果手機如果不夠好，也不會如此受 歡迎。蘋果手機的品質非常好。它不斷更新，使用 最新的硬件、最先進的科技。還有，蘋果手機用簡 單的設計概念、有獨一無二種種不同的功能...... 不但如此，蘋果的網絡管理好，擔保用戶的私人資 料不會洩露。數不清的好處，難怪蘋果手機如此 成功！

“高科技的生活 環境算是人類的 一大進步。”

蘋果手機 http://www.iclarified.com/images/news/29695/117935/117935-1280.png

86

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

EDITORIAL

但

原來中國的小米科技生產的手機也十分 受歡迎，在中國市場的份額比蘋果手機 大。在內地智能手機生產商壓過蘋果公 司，排名第六。小米手機的主要賣點就是它的價錢， 雖然手機中的硬件與國際的品牌一樣，但是卻能已 便宜的價錢銷售。16GB的版本只需1999人民幣，64GB 的版本則2499人民幣，遠少於蘋果手機以及很多其 他智能手機的貴價。

“小米常被比喻成”中國的蘋 果“。雖然有著這樣的名稱，可 是小米手機始終是國產貨。”

小米常被比喻 成”中國的蘋果“。 雖然有著這樣的名 稱，可是小米手機始 終是國產貨。手機 十分脆弱，一掉在 地上，螢幕就很容 易破損。它也被指 很容易發熱，而且電池方面也有不少問題：充電效率 低、電池持久力短。不只如此，小米科技公司的網絡安 全也管理得不太好，可能會泄漏出用家的私人資料。 另外，如果手機有什麼問題，也很難換，因為大多數的 都是由網上購買。可以說是“一分錢一分貨”吧！ 雖然如此，小米用戶更傾向於其價格實惠性。而且， 每一個手機用戶對同一款手機的鍾愛度會因為他們 的年齡、性別、喜好、生活狀態而改變。我們對手機的 顏色、款式、功能等等當然會有不同的意見。比如說， 青春美少女可能會比較喜歡色彩繽紛，又設有很多 遊戲功能的手機，而不會考慮到價錢，因為倒霉的永 遠是家長的錢包。所以對她來說，蘋果最近開始出售 的“iPhone 5C”可能會適合她。相反來說，一個生活 在基層的老人就會挑一款價錢便宜的手機。小米的“ 紅米手機”僅售800元左右，可能會比較適合他。 因 此，最終對手機好壞的評價還是具有個性化和局限 性的。

小米手機 http://www.pdair.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6 e5fb8d27136e95/9/n/9nxm2s_1.jpg

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

87

EDITORIAL

NO

There are

“BLURRED LINES” I Reporter: Jackie Wu

f you have ears, you’ve probably heard “Blurred Lines”. If you have eyes, most likely you’ve seen the explicit video. Robin Thicke’s latest single has engendered a whirlwind of controversy and debate among its listeners and viewers.

Despite its funky beats and catchy tune, the song’s meteoric rise to the top of the charts was accompanied by scathing criticism alluding to the themes of sexual harassment, slut-shaming and victim-blaming, just some among many of the artists’ apparently blatant offences.

‘Offensive’, ‘sexist’, ‘misogynistic’ and ‘rape-connotated’ are a few of the labels being tacked on song, which

88

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

Thicke may have unintentionally turned into the splint that ignited a new feminist movement. The song treads a fine line in the grey area between sexual consent and assault, and whilst there is no doubt the music itself brought the song to fame, its message needs to be duly questioned.

To put things in perspective, the song is about sexually ‘liberating’ women who are ‘good girls’, making them seem like they desire sex. An online magazine called

The Society Pages recently published an article comparing the lyrics of ‘Blurred Lines’ to the words of rapists, as recalled by their victims. Project Unbreakable, an online photo essay exhibit, also features images of rape victims holding signs with phrases their rapists said before, during, and after assault - the resemblance to the song is shockingly similar.

The notorious “I know you want it/You know you want it” lyrics of the song stems closely to a phrase that many sexual assault survivors report their rapists saying to justify their actions. It gives the implication that the girl hides her true sexual desires under a facade of disinterest. Her lack of reciprocal desire (if it exists) is proof that in his mind she wants it: silence becomes consent, and “no” really means “yes”.

Furthermore, Thicke sings “you’re a good girl”, which illustrates the whole concept that women must be obliging and obedient in conforming to actions which might not necessarily be willing to do.

What’s more, the video duly amplifies the messages projected in the lyrics - featuring scantily clad models in nude thongs parading and prancing around the two artists, both who are fully dressed (see the irony here?).

It gives impression that it is socially acceptable to demean women, make them seem vulnerable, less human

and less competent, as ‘toys’ for men to ‘play’ with.

Nevertheless, we shouldn’t ignore the other end of the argument. Emily Ratajkowski, one of the models in music video, advocates that the nudity in the video tries to highlight feminine confidence and the idea of celebrating women and their bodies. Others have suggested that the song resembles a feminist liberation anthem, Technically speaking, there was no forced sexual contact in the song - the guys are making offer to open sexual relationship with woman, not a damsel in distress. In an interview, Thicke even claimed that “[they] are the perfect people to be making fun of this subject,” since both singers and married and have children. However, in light of all this, to what extent can sexism be sarcastically and ironically joked about? What does this say about our society, if it is socially acceptable to turn sexism to into a joke?

Perhaps the popularization of ‘Blurred Lines’ was a good opportunity to shed light upon the ongoing subject of the representation of sexual assault and rape in modern culture.

The effect of the media, culture, our education system and judicial framework have all contributed to how we perceive this issue.

The music industry is notably at the forefront of promoting this issue in a negative way. R&B, rap and even pop

“the nudity in the video tries to highlight feminine confidence and the idea of celebrating women and their bodies.” songs are riddled with hints and implications of the gender sexual relationship. - it has almost come to the point where we are so used to this culture that the messages are already implicitly ingrained in our minds.

When a teenage boy yells “dude I totally just raped you” to his friend after an intense video game battle, he probably doesn’t realise the underlying connotations to his words - a phrase that implies a need to dominate and humiliate another person.

It may be the time to shift our perspective and change our opinions instead of teaching children to avoid getting raped, how about teaching children not to rape in the first place.

There are no ‘blurred lines’. There is only one line: consent.

Absence of consent is a crime.

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

89

EDITORIAL

Photograph: Matthew Chow Layout: Letitia Ho

90

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

91

EDITORIAL

http://www.everydayrebellion.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/DavidPope-Obama.png

PRISM: has the us government crossed the line?

WRITER | RYAN LEE 92

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

To quote Marlon Brando: “Privacy is not something that I’m merely entitled to, it’s an absolute prerequisite.” As standardly defined, privacy is “the state or condition of being free from being observed or disturbed by other people”.

While most of us have been very cautious and have taken precautionary steps to protect our data, some people don’t really protect their own personal information, and hackers have taken to this advantage and tried to obtain their personal information.

In fact, Edward Snowden made headlines in June when he revealed the PRISM program and NSA’s actions to international media. At the time of the revealing, many people had been left in the dark, since they did not suspect that their government would ever dare to attempt such a thing. Many people would agree that the government has crossed the line in this incident, but how does it work, and why should we care about it?

The NSA stands for the “National Security Agency”, and is responsible for intercepting foreign intelligence signals, decoding and translating signals and analyzing data and information that they deem suspicious. Its PRISM surveillance program dates back to 2007, and has been activated ever since the 911 World Trade Center attacks, initiated by the Protect America Act during George Bush’s administration. The NSA has a large variety of targets, including multinational and local companies, terrorist organizations such as Al Qaeda and Taliban, and individuals that are deemed dangerous to the state.

This is to increase security and to see what corporations are doing that may hurt security, interest and induce competition.

The technology behind PRISM is extremely meticulous and sophisticated.

By allowing the presence of back doors in codes of smartphone operating systems and digital services, the NSA can then extract data from the companies by force with/without their consent. There are four possible scenarios:

1.

2.

Corporations look into user’s accounts and emails, deliver advertisements and other content that are related to the content in their emails.

3.

4.

Cloud services can be hacked after surveillance agencies ask the companies for their service encryption keys.

NSA inserts code into mobile OSes (such as iOS, Android etc.), providing a link (known as a “backdoor” for the agency to retrieve data from. This enables the NSA to turn on and remotely control certain features without the knowledge of the user, get information about your phone through your carrier, spy through sound and video recording devices and even cars and home appliances in the future.

Carriers hand over information regarding the phone calls made by people. The NSA has also recorded messages, posts on social media websites, raw Internet traffic (including website searches, files sent, visited web sites etc.)

The agencies involved in the surveillance program collect the data they need by accessing the company’s servers and asking the corporations involved to provide data to them directly. However, this act must be legalized using the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) request, since data can only be shared and transmitted through PRISM to the NSA after corporate lawyers review the FISA request. This form of giving and receiving information between two parties may not involve interception when data travels from one place to the other. It could mean data

that would be sent directly to the government from technological and Internet companies at their request. There are two types of data that NSA intercepts: content and metadata. In this context, content refers to the content in emails, chats, phone conversations, video calls, files in cloud servers etc., while metadata refers to extra data such as the participants (if applicable), the time of the phone call/email/ chat/video call and how long it has lasted for. It also includes geographical data and search histories, allowing agencies to detect any suspicious activity.

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

93

EDITORIAL

http://dev.sergeroux.com/wp-content/media-uploads/Hyperloop-Station_First-floor-workflow.jpg

THE FUTURE OF

TRANSPORTATION:

HYPERLOOP T

Reporter: Richard Ding

he year is 2013, and the world is experiencing the most radical technological boom since the industrial revolution. With the world growing towards a new era of smarter phones, alternative fuel, quantum computers and 3D printers, its no surprise that when the US government proposed a $68.4 billion dollar high speed rail project, a number of eyebrows within the scientific community were raised.

Why would the US government, up to their necks in $16 trillion dollars of debt, approve such a ridiculous cost for high-speed rail? Surely with

94

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

that kind of money, a more efficient method of transportation could be achieved. Amongst these raised eyebrows was that of Elon Musk, cofounder of Paypal, and owner of Tesla Motors and SpaceX. Musk is quite the entrepreneur, and when the situation arose begging for a new form of transportation, he had an idea – which he called ‘Hyperloop’.

Hyperloop is a fundamentally new concept still in its alpha stages, however it was so promising that the moment it was unveiled, Tesla stocks shot up by almost $20 US dollars.

The idea of Hyperloop is to have a

brand new form of transportation, superior to the traditional four types: road, rail, sea, and air. According to Tesla, the proposed Hyperloop system would be: safer, cheaper, more convenient, self powering (courtesy to Elon Musk’s involvement in SolarCity and other green power projects), immune to the weather, and resistant to earthquakes. The proposed route will connect Los Angeles and San Francisco in only 35 minutes. That is an incredible difference from the current 4 hour car ride.

Elon Musk is making many mind boggling claims for his new inven-

tion – but how will he do it?

For readers with less patience for the details of how the Hyperloop works, it can essentially be compared to a train, however the difference being it will travel in a tube with low air pressure, and float on a cushion of air, compressing the air in front of it to reduce friction. Think MTR, without the train track.

For those of you with a greater interest in the technicalities of this technological marvel, read on, because this is where it gets interesting. One of the most challenging aspects of breaking the sound barrier is that the air resistance increases with speed. That means that with every extra km/h of speed, there is an even greater force of air resistance to slow you down. Additionally to this, the Hyperloop capsule would travel in a tube, and because of this, it would act like a syringe. For those unfamiliar with the hidden physics behind the simple syringe, there is actually a minimum tube to pod ratio below which the flow of air would be choked, and as a result of this a rather low maximum speed. This is because the capsule would eventually end up having to push the entire column of air in the system, and even with aerodynamic sculpting that would make the techies at McLaren drool, the Hyperloop would still end up choking the flow of air and reaching a maximum speed. This “speed limit” is known as the Kantrowitz limit. Elon Musk plans to overcome the Kantrowitz limit by mounting a compressor fan at the front of the capsule, which would suck in air, compress it, and release it out the back, a manner humorously similar to the human digestive system. It’s literally like a desk fan operating in reverse, taking the air in front and letting it out the back.

This system of compressing air and releasing it at the other end must have also given Musk a light bulb moment – to use the compressed air already in the capsule and release it

http://www.popsci.com/sites/popsci.com/files/styles/image_full/public/ hyperloop-diagram.jpg?itok=dtIMovGr

below the capsule, creating a cushion of air in which the Hyperloop would be able to essentially float on, in a manner similar to the way a hockey puck glides on an ice hockey table.

This is a fabulous idea, you might muse, but how does it move? Well, lets start with power. The Hyperloop system is projected to be 100% green, by covering the tops of the long tube lines with solar panels. The solar panels would charge batteries concealed along the tube, which would be more than enough charge to keep the system running at night or on cloudy days. The electricity generated by the solar panels would then power the external linear electric motor (similar to the round induction motor in the Tesla Model S), and ultimately the hyperloop will move similar to the Maglev, moving with shifts of magnetic fields, and accelerating the pod up to 1220km/h.

With these massive proposals in mind, how does this affect us? Many of us, writer included have never even been to the US! Well, this is simply just such a radical idea that the potential for further application is phenomenal. If successful, the technology behind Hyperloop could be seen in applications much closer to home,

and with China’s massive budget and involvement in technological advances, it would not be too far fetched to see a future where Hyperloop is considered the dominant transportation system.

So, the Hyperloop. A new form of transportation designed to be used instead of the $68 billion dollar California High Speed Rail project. The big question though, is how much would it cost? Surely more than the simple High Speed Rail project proposed, especially when considering its de-pressurised tubes, its solar panels, its compressor fans, and magnetic motors? Well, Elon Musk says it can be done in $6 billion US dollars. After what we’ve seen from his previous projects - I believe him.

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

95

SPORTS

The Kukri Sports Uniform Store: Did Phoenix Spirit Just Turn Up Another Notch?

96

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

T

he Phoenix has arisen. In the 2012-2013 school year, new team uniforms were introduced to multiple sports teams, of which include the swim team swimsuits and track suit, the athletics uniform and the basketball uniform.

Clad in their new attire, teams travelled to their competitions and friendlies looking more unified than ever – yes, 2012 was the year school spirit was brought about in the form of merchandise. And it’s about to get bigger and better.

Students wanted uniforms not only for their own sports teams, but for co-curricular activities such as Model United Nations where teams of students would travel and compete. Not only that, students wanted more Phoenix products available – “they [wanted] quality and durability and they [wanted] designs that are aesthetically pleasing”; they wanted to “look good and feel good while representing school” – so the Order of the Phoenix responded.

At the start of this school year, the Order of the Phoenix unveiled the online Phoenix merchandise store, courtesy of Kukri, providing a wide variety of options for team uniforms that include t-shirts, polos, hoodies and more!

A Xiao Hua representative interviewed Mrs. Kellie Alexander to get a behind-the-scenes scoop on the process behind the development.

“It all started with the swim team – at the very start of last year, we developed uniform with the swim… looking specifically at that stage for swim-specific uniform.”

With the great success stemming from the look and feel of the swim team’s outfit, it was imminent that development would begin for team uniforms across the board; and so the sports team of the 2012-2013 school year donned new jerseys from Canterbury. In early 2013, the Order of the Phoenix “surveyed students about sports uniform and the feedback was overwhelming.

Students want more Phoenix products available… [and] felt that products like

the sports hoodie should be available to all students who represent CIS and that teams would look much smarter when representing CIS if all age groups had the option of a tracksuit, sports hoodie and travelling uniform (especially for those teams travelling overseas).”

Thus the designing of such uniform began. According to Mrs. Alexander, “the design came 95% from students.

We had some parent input, and of course we had input from the designers at the company as well because when it came to choosing material, they’re the people with the expertise; for instance, for the t-shirts and polo shirt, we wanted a material that was dry fit”. This is where Kukri comes in.

Though the school worked with many companies in developing designs with materials, they “decided to go with Kukri mainly because they offered us an online store way of purchase - instead of as a school purchasing a bulk order, where the uniform would sit in the uniform shop and there would be a lot of money tied up in that, Kukri were prepared to have an online store with purchases happening at certain times throughout the year. Students can go in the store and they can order what they want with a specific delivery date in mind. When you go on to order, you have payment options of credit card and check, and they’ll deliver to school. It’s advantageous to us because we don’t have any school money tied up to the store”.

“We’ve set [the website] up with the maximum number of options – for instance, the polo shirts come in white, maroon and navy blue – it’s going to be the students that choose eventually what the kit uniforms are [for their teams].”

“The whole idea behind it is we have track suits, we have polo shirts and these mandarin collar shirts, an option of two different types of tracksuit pants, an option of dry fit shirts, that can be worn across the board of any sport, so it would be a uniform that becomes travelling uniform, it would

become a uniform that becomes a warm-up uniform worn to games, and a uniform that you can wear to a presentation in.”

One of the first teams to get such a kit was the CIS Varsity Basketball Team, who travelled to Beijing to attend the Great Wall Shootout in brand new Kukri outfits. Captain Dean Dyus said that “The new uniform instills a sense of pride and spirit in us for the school, as we feel that we are representing the school at all times. It also brings us closer as a team, knowing that we are all striving for the same goals, it gives us a sense of more unity. Plus, we look awesome in it.”

I personally think that the new school uniforms are really clean and provide us with a refurbished identity, and that one of the perks is how well the different pieces match together. If you are wondering about the Canterbury team uniforms implemented last year, they have been kept since everyone seems to be happy with them, but the one item that the school decided to change from Canterbury to Kukri was the sports hoodie, and this was due to quality. Of course, we’ll have to see how it goes with the material from Kukri.

If the new uniform isn’t quite to your liking, don’t fret – there are still a lot of opportunities for student feedback!

The OTP and Sports and Activities department are “still doing a little bit of tweaking with some of the things we’re not happy with, that 5% [non-student input] comes down to the company and ourselves, working on little bits of information that comes back to us through parents about things like quality and washing.” The Order of the Phoenix is a committee run by students about students, and they definitely need your feedback so that they can relay what you students want.

[You can email your feedback to orderofphoenix@student.cis.edu.hk] A big hand to the Order of the Phoenix for their hard work!

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

97

layout by NICOLE LI Photography by Emma Kent

DRAGON dance Team LEE, KONRAD What’s a constant staple of CIS’s annual Mid-Autumn Festival Assembly and Chinese New Year Assembly? If you’re thinking of the dragon dance, you’d be right! The CIS dragon dance team is often one of the star performances during those whole school assemblies, taking our minds off our aching backs and cramped legs. Open to a wide range of members, from year 7s to 13s, the CIS Dragon Dance Team has come a long way since they were first established. The membership has grown so much that they’ve had to split the team into two, with one team in charge of flying a proud maroon dragon (bearing the CIS colors), whilst the other team bears a majestic blue dragon.

The team practices once a week, after school on Mondays. However, before any special events or performances, they will practice for 2-3 hours on days that the whole team is free. This shows the level of dedication, passion and commitment that is one of the core qualities of Phoenix Sports Teams.

Justin Leung, a Year 8 on the team, told us the reason why he decided to join the dragon dance team.“Dragon dance is definitely strenuous, but it makes me feel like I’m contributing and doing something significant for the school.”

The great thing about being in a team is that you always have others on your side. “Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success”; the team has worked hard together, and have established a strong sense of pride, unity and teamwork for what they do. Victoria Witt, Year 11, tells us how fun dragon dance is. “Dragon dance is incredibly fun. Learning new tricks every week is very exciting. The unity and teamwork that dragon dance brings is great.”

However, compared to other sports teams such as basketball or rugby, dragon dance remains a relatively unknown sports team. Members feel that the team deserves a lot more recognition for all the hard work and dedication they put into the sport. Whilst the student body knows the dragon dance team and appreciates their presence at a series of events and assemblies, members of the team feel that it would be an improvement if awareness of this activity increased. “Dragon dance is always happy to welcome new members, and if you are interested, be sure to sign up for it! It showcases your school spirit and helps you make new friends!” is the enthusiastic response given by Justin when asked if dragon dance has room for new members.

So if you’re looking for a challenge, or have just discovered a newfound love for dragon dance, be sure to sign up and demonstrate your school pride. Hopefully we’ll be seeing some new faces on the team next semester! Go Phoenix!

98

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

sf

SPORTS

ports igures HOW DO THEY INFLUENCE ATHLETIC MINDSETS AT CIS? ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

99

SPORTS

m

otivation is one of most impor-

tant characteristics for any athlete. On the last stretch of a marathon, the last few minutes of a football game, or even the 72nd hole in a golf tournament, the desire for success is pivotal for producing the best performance possible. And this is where the greatest athletes are able to overcome all mental barriers to accomplish and achieve at the highest level. The likes of Usain Bolt, Roger Federer and Cristiano Ronaldo have such psychological strength that they are able to overcome even the most toughest of challenges.

Zooming into where we live, work and spend most of our daily lives, CIS is also home to a set of fantastic athletes. During those many school days that we have every year, these members of our society seem just like

Justin Lok

Year 11 CIS Golf Team a) Do you think every athlete has an idol (who incidentally is also an athlete)?

Yes! b) If so, who is your idol in sport?

Tiger Woods! c) Has he/she influenced the way in which you exercise your sport? How big of an impact do you think he/she has had?

Tiger has definitely impacted the way which I play the game. Golf used to be a recreational game, a game which didn’t require much physical fitness, ability etc. When Tiger came along, he introduced a much more athletic perspective from which to play the game, and he managed to promote the game from an leisurely game into a sport. d) What morals and values do you think you can take from your idol? (this includes things like attitude, determination etc) The main thing which I think we have to learn from is his discipline on and off the course, and how much time he dedicates to improving his game. Sure he’s a professional golfer, but the reason why he’s gotten to this level of success is all due to his sheer hard work. We also should try to learn from his mental willpower – he’s extremely mentally tough, and he rarely gets distracted by his opponents, his fans, or even himself. In effect, I think that the focus which applies to his game is incredibly astounding.

100

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

us, motivated individuals that strive to excel in school life. But what we don’t know is the amount sheer willpower that they have hidden inside them. When our athletes take to the field, they become even more determined than they ever are (although this might not always be the case), and they have the ability to channel their thoughts to focus on the situation at hand.

But what is it that motivates them? The truth is that it’s hard to say. There are so many factors that can change an athlete’s mood, and to pinpoint one factor specifically and attribute all the motivation to that factor could be a rather inaccurate and risky move. However, it is possible to investigate a factor to see how much it affects the athlete. I have chosen to look into CIS athletes’ idols, and how they affect the way that our athletes manage their sporting lives.

---------

Brandon Lin

Year 13 CIS Badminton Team a) Do you think every athlete has an idol (who incidentally is also an athlete)?

In many cases, I think athletes do have an idol they look up to.

In order to become more competitive, they strive to become just as good or even better and what drives them can range from the success that this idol has achieved or even the moral discipline he/she has. b) If so, who is your idol in sport?

In badminton, although I do not really follow the international competitions closely, I find Lin Dan to be a very good example.

He is very dedicated in his playing and possesses exceptional skills. c) Has he/she influenced the way in which you exercise your sport? How big of an impact do you think he/she has had?

I actually use a racket which is similar to Lin Dan’s model!

Although he did not directly influence my playing style, I’ve realized that it’s so important to give everything that you’ve got in each game – to chase down every shuttlecock, and to never stop moving or running on the court. d) What morals and values do you think you can take from your idol? (this includes things like attitude, determination etc) I think I can try and emulate the attitude that he has – the attitude to work hard, improve, and tailor his game to the ever-changing scene of the sport. I think that this is the most important part of his mental game, because his ability to adapt to situations as well as to modify is game is exceptional. After all, there’s no fluke in winning two Olympic gold medals!

Matthew Ho

Year 13 Triathlon

a) Do you think every athlete has an idol (who incidentally is also an athlete)?

I feel that in sport today many of my peers idolize professional athletes out of respect towards a particular athlete’s achievement in sport, and to seek a role model to look up to for motivation.

I don’t feel that every athlete has an idol, because the ways in which we seek motivation and inspiration varies between individuals. While I feel that it is vital to have motivation and drive to succeed in sport, there is a big distinction between having an idol and having a role model. I would define a role model as someone to look up to and seek advice from, whereas an idol can be referred to as an object of worship, blindly and excessively. In my opinion, having an idol in sport can set a

subconscious mental barrier and division between what you think you can achieve and what you think you can’t. From my experience, having someone in your personal life, whether it be a coach, a family member, or even a friend to look up to and to seek advice from is a lot more beneficial for success in sport. b) If so, who is your idol in sport?

I personally look up towards Andrew Wright, who has been my triathlon coach since I picked up the sport in 2009. c) Has he/she influenced the way in which you exercise your sport? How big of an impact do you think he/she has had?

He has been a great inspiration and mentor, helping me push through the mental and physical aspects of the sport and guiding me to significant achievements in competitions. Andrew has also taught me to be disciplined and set goals both in sport and in my daily life. Finally, he has shown me that hard work pays off, and to follow my dreams. The effort you put into training is reflected in your results. d) What morals and values do you think you can take from your idol? (this includes things like attitude, determination etc) To never give up, despite how hard the circumstances may be.

Triathlon is a not only physically demanding, it is also a huge mental game. The “standard” triathlon distance is a 1.5K swim, 40K bike, and a 10k run, the long course totals 70.3K, while the Ironman is a 180.2K race. Through his outstanding achievement he managed to maintain the sport’s funding from the government despite immense pressure and long term injuries.

This determination inspired me to set a goal to compete in the Ironman World Championships before I complete University.

Andrew’s personality and mindset he has also taught me to be humble, and not to be cocky no matter how good you may be something. Through coaching local underprivileged children free of charge, and developing a fully sponsored youth triathlon team he has taught me to use my strengths and abilities to mentor and motivate others. This inspired me to teach others how to swim, leading me to volunteer as an assistant swimming coach in the CIS swimming pool for 2 years.

--------In conclusion, athletes are definitely affected by idols and role models. Within the mindsets of all the great superstars in sport, there always lies the motivation to succeed and to surpass his/her best moments. In light of the above discussion, it’s evident that our athletes are constantly inspired by their idols/role models to improve in their own areas of expertise. Perhaps to improve one only needs to look inside, and find someone to look up to. Because after all, to be the best one has to start from somewhere. And perhaps that somewhere is by looking up to someone and working the way to the top.

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

101

CREATIVE

102

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

CREATIVE

下不停的一場雨 梁穎彤

又

是一個下雨天。

細細的冬雨綿延不絕地啪嗒著那早已生銹 的下水井蓋，使不搭調的敲擊樂聲引出深沉空洞的回 音，彷如在慨歎著中年人的苦惱。在旁邊等候巴士的 上班一族也變得更為煩躁，眉頭被整天都受著委屈般 的愁緒無情地牽曳著。他們每隔五秒就會不約而同地 看看手機屏幕上最準確的時間，然後又身不由己地抖 腳，抖到抽搐了，又借坑窪中的日積月累的污水擦擦 鞋底。 灰色的街水已經完全侵蝕了潔癖人群的襪子， 使他們為了轉移注意力而焦慮地揪扯著領帶，心智被 久違的恐懼任意地操控著，使平時剛強自信的身軀表 露出內心的怯弱。 巴士來了，他們一個一個自言自語地詛咒著前面蝸 行牛步的車群，緩緩地步上此經已無容足之地。心力 交瘁的車長從後照鏡凝望著這狼狽的人群，細心聆聽 著工作環境中新添的怨氣。他從不會想著有人會感謝 他的勤勞。 我只是在工作。吃、喝、穿的都是他們 付的。他們才是我的老闆喔。我妻子的手術費也是他 們付的。他不斷想著。但在他麻木無情的驅殻下，心

裡仍盼望著一句問候、一句安慰，如：“哦。請你節 哀順變。” 或一句 “有什麼事、什麼困難找我聊聊 吧。” 但什麼都沒有，一絲惻隱也沒有。這悲情世 代，什麼也沒有。 巴士隨著刮雨器的節奏緩緩地、謹慎地向前走。外 面的逆風也逐漸增強，彷如毫無諒解之心。雨滴聲也 更頻密地鞭打著這輛“反抗勢力”。相反，車廂內的 怨氣已漸漸地被淡忘。狼狽的人群已忘記了要整理被 風打至東歪西倒的頭髮，開始拿著手機近距離地自 拍，忽然擠出甜美的笑容，要在社交平台上留念這“ 欸，下雨天。搭巴士中～辛苦死人喔！！！”的非正 常日子。 車廂突然綻放著與陰天不太協調的鮮艷色 彩。唯獨是右前方的、被圍欄著的小座位，仍瀰漫者 昨時的灰霾。 困於灰霾下，車長憔悴的面容似乎已忘了背後幾十 人生命的色彩，右腳如機器般向下踏、向下踏...... 疲倦的、腫脹的、下垂的冷眼已看不到前路、看不 到什麼指引燈號。什麼都沒有，一絲惻隱也沒有。這 悲情世代，什麼也沒有。 喔，紅色燈號......

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

103

T

he teacher’s name was Mr. Lin. He was wearing an extremely shabby suit that had been darned in many places, and his trousers were patched. He looked ill and tired, as if he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in a while.

Though he was young, his hair was tinged with grey.

Stares followed him as he walked in.

“Good morning class.” Silence greeted him.

“I’m your new teacher, Mr. Lin.” The students exchanged curious looks.

If Mr. Lin was perturbed by the class’s reaction, he did not show it. He continued the lesson and taught well, and as the lesson progressed, most of the students were looking at Mr. Lin with increased respect.

“He seems like a good teacher,” Dan said approvingly.

Quinn sneered. “Look at what he was wearing. I’m surprised the headmaster would let someone like that teach here.”

“But it doesn’t matter,” Dan retorted. Quinn sent an obnoxious smirk his way before walking off. Dan watched as his classmates left one by one. Weren’t any of them going to disagree?

Over the next few weeks, Dan noticed that Mr. Lin went for long “breaks” during lessons. The other students didn’t seem to think it strange, simply chalking it up to his “incompetence as a teacher.”

Dan watched as Mr. Lin left the room yet again and his curiosity won over. Glancing at his unsuspecting classmates, he deemed it safe to sneak off.

Creeping off after Mr. Lin was no easy task.

Dan soon found himself ducking behind water coolers and pressing himself against the wall to avoid Mr. Lin’s nervous glances.

Mr. Lin walked out the main doors. Dan hesi-

tated. Should he really leave to follow him?

He caught the door swinging shut with the toe of his foot at the last minute and trailed after Mr. Lin. They reached the shed. Mr. Lin must have been hiding something big and he was sure to find out what.

Dan clambered out of his spot in the bushes as the shed door closed behind Mr. Lin. He pressed his ear against it eagerly.

The door opened suddenly from the inside, and Dan tumbled in. He stared abashedly at Mr. Lin peering down at him through his thick glasses. He felt his face heat up and stammered, “Mr. Lin! I – uh… I’m sorry.” Dan’s eyes strayed to the old woman sitting behind Mr. Lin. Her copper skin was wrinkled and dry, and her eyes were dull and cloudy as if she had seen too much for a lifetime. Her back was hunched, as if she was bearing a weight on her shoulders.

Mr. Lin followed Dan’s gaze. “I can explain.” He moved to get up and Dan followed suit, but the old woman clung on to Mr. Lin’s arm. She spoke in garbled speech that Dan could not understand. Mr. Lin did though, and he murmured reassuring words before leaving with him.

Dan walked back. After class, he hung behind to talk to Mr. Lin. “Who was that woman?” he asked.

And so Mr. Lin explained. It was his mother, who had Alzheimer’s disease. He couldn’t leave her at home alone, in fear that she would get lost or hurt herself.

As Dan listened, the pieces of the puzzle clicked in his mind – the old clothes he wore, the bags under his eyes – it was all for his mother.

“I’ll keep your secret.”

Mr. Lin looked at Dan. “I can’t ask you to - ” Dan cut him off. “I want to.”

Dan often checked on Mr. Lin’s mother.

He grew fond of the queer old woman, and realized how hard it was for Mr. Lin. She could seem herself one day, and forget her own name the next.

Quinn grew suspicious. Dan noticed, and kept his guard up. He didn’t dream that she would find out their secret, but she did.

As he walked into class, a wave of hushed whispers fell over the students. Dan ignored them. Quinn was smug, telling her friends all about it. Dan grew angry listen-

ing to her brag. He was just about to tell her off when another teacher walked in.

“Where’s Mr. Lin?” Dan asked Quinn.

“He isn’t here,” the teacher snapped.

“Take out your textbooks please.”

Dan scowled but didn’t pursue the matter any further. After school, he went to Mr. Lin’s office and was shocked to see the room devoid of his things. Isaac told him the headmaster had fired him once he found out about his secret.

Dan went off in search of Mr. Lin at once.

“They can’t just fire you!” Dan exclaimed.

Mr. Lin sighed and said nothing.

The next week was terrible. The teacher who took Mr. Lin’s place was not half as good as he was.

Dan only perked up when he heard Mr. Lin’s name in the morning announcements.

“In light of recent events,” the headmaster said, “I have decided to revoke my decision of firing Mr. Lin.” Dan was ecstatic.

He sped to Mr. Lin’s office early next morning. “Mr. Lin!” he cried, and could not help but grin widely.

Mr. Lin smiled. He explained how the principal had decided to rehire him. His tone turned serious. “Dan, you must forgive Quinn for ratting us out, and bury the hatchet with her.”

Dan protested indignantly.

Mr. Lin silenced him. “She was the one who convinced the headmaster to re-engage me. She brought a petition to him, and apologised to me after learning that I did it all for my mother. She has a grandfather with Alzheimer’s.”

Dan didn’t know what to say. He mumbled, “I’ll try,” and left swiftly.

That afternoon, he spotted Quinn at her locker. Dan apologised for jumping to conclusions too quickly. Quinn scrutinised him for a moment, before tentatively shaking his outstretched hand.

Mr. Lin walked into the classroom the following day. The students settled down.

“Good morning, class,” Mr. Lin smiled.

“Good morning, Mr. Lin!” the student chorused cheerfully. Quinn was the loudest of them all.

Written by: Mikaela Choo Illustration by: Kelly Chu

FORGET ME NOT. 104

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

FENNEC FOX

http://cdn.petkaria.com/pictures/www.mrwallpaper.com/wallpapers/fennec-fox-1440x900.jpg

Trotting through the golden brown sand, Its thin strands of body insulation, Blending in with the expensive colors of Sahara.

Miniscule, feline-like, Proudly sinking each extension into the fragile grinded rocks.

Ears pointing towards the nearest light, Heading for the darkest scream, The brightest bellow.

Gravity gets the better of it, Trying to regain some inner vitality, Persistent to pursue its survival.

This abode is so bleak, How could one stumble on any sort of attainment?

Conclude this journey for endurance, Crimson painted feathers, Open like a wound, At last something for the nibbles.

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

105

我屬於哪兒 字 桃樂 編輯 梁語桁 到不了的地方叫作遠方，回不去的地方叫作故鄉。

有

一種東西它使你迷戀、使你 況洽、使你對它有了母親般 的依賴。但你缺又不得不 放手，離別讓你嚐到了痛苦的滋味， 站在愛與痛的邊緣，這似乎是一種刻 骨銘心的記憶。古今中外多少浪子漂 泊在外。 “慈母手中線，遊子身上 衣” 的離別愁彌仍回蕩在耳邊。 故鄉的海是我情感的居托處，每 當心中有些煩悶，我便喜歡去海邊吹 吹海風。 那片還沒有清澈的藍，沒 有柔軟的沙，沒有擁擠的人群，唯有 幾艘孤零零的船停在岸邊“休憩”。 那便是杭州灣。 清晨，微涼的海風掠過臉頰，不 禁感到有些寒意。 柔柔陽光透過朦 朧瀰漫的霧照在海面上，近岸的地方 寫下了昨日潮漲潮退的殘餘。雖我看 過許多海； 青海碧藍的海水，夏威 夷舒適的沙灘，但我仍愛故鄉的這片 海。它是我年少是煩惱地傾訴對象。 而用樹枝在灘上畫下的城堡仍在眼前 若隱若現。面朝大海，它對於我來說 便是靈魂一般的存在，它也是我存在 過的痕跡和證據。 家門前的小路使用青石板鋪成的 崎嶇不平的小道。青色的苔癬充滿了

106

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

每一個僵陳。歲月用它頻繁的步伐打 磨着原有粗糙的青石板，讓它變得光 潔。遠外，灰煙被風吹散，洒落在殘 陽裡，青石板的道路旁，當年離家的 樣子仍歷歷在目。思念多少次的冰封 雪凍埋藏了我離去的腳步，卻終埋藏 不了我心中的那份對故鄉的守候。等 不完的守候，忘不了的憂愁，青石板 用自己的身軀鋪平了了遊子遠行的 路，它指引著我思鄉的愁緒漸行漸 遠。 故鄉的土地便是生我養我的地 方，那片土地上種著兒時我哉下的 夢。抓一把夢的土壤，將心低記憶的 種子變成一棵參天大樹，經歷春夏秋 冬。在風吹雨打中喚醒記憶的萌芽， 將美麗延伸到下一個春天。許是因為 緣分，我寫這片土地有了深厚的情 感，既便遠離，它也能牽動我思念的 情緒。 心中總有一個聲音在吶喊：是 的，我屬於哪兒；杭州便是我的故 鄉。 若，讓夜鷺止清唱，只留下淺淺 的餘溫，是否我的故鄉，會隨著思念 的消失而停歇。故鄉，我屬於哪兒。

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

107

Douglas Potts ’06 Name: Current Team: Shirt Number: Positions:

Profile

Douglas Potts CIS Phoenix 9 CAM, CF

Age: Height: Weight: Nationality:

25 6’ 160 lbs Hong Kong

Douglas Potts’ Characteristics Strengths Dribbling Finishing Key passes Direct free kicks Corner kicks Speed on the ball

Weaknesses Defensive contribution Aerial strength and ability

Douglas Potts’ Style of Play Likes to dribble Likes to cut inside Likes to shoot from tight angles

Likes to take set pieces Likes to play through balls

Latest Matches 1 December 2013 17 November 2013 2 November 2013 20 October 2013 1 October 2013 23 September 2013 15 September 2013 1 September 2013

108

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

紅公雞 3:1 CIS Phoenix ABC 0:3 CIS Phoenix Burger Republic 1:0 CIS Phoenix Wyndham Hovers A 3:0 CIS Phoenix 濟記 3:0 CIS Phoenix 頻頻 0:0 CIS Phoenix Maccabi B 4:2 CIS Phoenix Burger Republic 1:3 CIS Phoenix

it to alum ni@ cis. edu .hk Got more alum ni new s? Sen d

Since September this year, CIS Alumni Association has an official football team competing each week in the Hong Kong City League.

Introducing the team’s co-captains who make it all possible:

Jeremy Olsson ‘06 Name: Current Team: Shirt Number: Positions:

Profile

Jeremy Olsson CIS 3 LB/RB/LW/RW

Age: Height: Weight: Nationality:

25 5’8 145 lbs Sweden

Jeremy Olsson’s Characteristics Strengths Through ball Good attention to position Quick & agile High work rateball Dribbling Defensive contribution Explosive

Weaknesses Long range shots Long passing can improve Lacks size in aerial battles

Jeremy Olsson’s Style of Play Likes to do layoffs Likes to dribble down the wing Likes to cut inside

Likes to do 1-2 passes Fearless and confident

Latest Matches 1 December 2013 17 November 2013 2 November 2013 20 October 2013 1 October 2013 23 September 2013 15 September 2013 1 September 2013

紅公雞 3:1 CIS Phoenix ABC 0:3 CIS Phoenix Burger Republic 1:0 CIS Phoenix Wyndham Hovers A 3:0 CIS Phoenix 濟記 3:0 CIS Phoenix 頻頻 0:0 CIS Phoenix Maccabi B 4:2 CIS Phoenix Burger Republic 1:3 CIS Phoenix

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

109

T +852 2554 9088 902 Horizon Plaza 2 Lee Wing Street Ap Lei Chau

110

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

MANDARIN & CANTONESE Hong Kong Language School Daytime / Evening Group classes / Private tuition *HK$85.5- per hour up *Cozy coffee corner with sea view *Next to Wan Chai MTR station

1701-2, Tung Chiu Commercial Centre, 193 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai

Contact us for a free assessment Tel: 3622-2558 Email: info@HKLS.com.hk Website: www.HKLS.com.hk

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA

111

112

ISSUE 9

XIAO HUA