Dear Fellow schoolmate,
It is my pleasure to welcome you to the 5th Intemational Conference of Wah Yah Past Students Associations. I am most delighted to see everyone returning to our mother school, Wah Yan College in the homeland of Hong Kong. The International Conference held biennially gives us the opportunity to get together to foster links and share valuable experiences on affairs relating to various chapters of our Past Students Associations.
[All] of you are aware of the changes which took place in the School last year: e.g., the appointment of Mr George Tam and Mr Norman So as the first-ever lay principals appointed to the Wah Yan schools. There will be more future developments in the school premises and I believe it will be a good time now for us graduates to sit together to exchange opinions and learn more information concerning the roles and future directions of our School from Fr Deignan and our Principals.
Today. I am also honoured to have many past students who graduated from Wah Yan at different times coming to our Conference as guest speakers to talk about various important socio-economic issues and concerns in Hong Kong. Without naming any names here, all I want to say here is that they all share one common trait – successes both at the highest professional as well as personal levels. The messages they are going to communicate to us through this Conference will definitely give us visionary insights into the future of Hong Kong and will prepare our Wahyanites to face up to our historic time in the run-up to 1997 and the next millennium. Hence we have also titled our Conference with “Wah Yan towards year 2000” as the theme today.
Thank you for your participation in the Conference. I hope the Conference will be of benefits to all of you. I wish everybody a prosperous year in 1997.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Chung Ka Leung (WYHK 1970)
Dear friends,
I wish to welcome you back to our Mother School.
The experience of schooling may be bitter for some people but certainly not for us Wahyanites. Wah Yan, by means of a liberal atmosphere and a broad curriculum, has helped us to grow up healthily and happily and become men who have discerning minds and loving hearts. The International Conference offers us a good opportunity to share our joy and experiences, to strengthen ties with friends living in different places, and perhaps to devise a plan of action to give even greater help than presently to our students and graduates.
May the Lord direct us and give us strength in our endeavours.
Norman So
Principal
Wah Yan College, Kowloon
Dear Fellow Wahyanites,
Since September this year, I have become another lay principal of Wah Yah Hong Kong after a lapse of 64 years. Only a few days ago, I attended the Christmas Ball of WYPSA for the first time in the capacity of a principal and now I am taking part in this International Conference also for the first time as a full participant. May I now take this opportunity to welcome you all, especially Wahyanites from overseas, for coming here today. I am sure that these few days will help you bring back fond memories of your days in Wah Yan.
The Past Students' Association has set up a very good network to link up all the Wahyanites around the world and that is why we are able to hold the International Conference for the fifth time. The previous ones were very sucessful and I am sure this current one will also be just as successful. Wah Yan past students are always very generous to their alma mater such as sponsoring students ambassadors. You will go to another part of the world to attend the International Conference. Thus we never fail to realize that Wah Yan is one big family no matter where you are. The essence of Jesuit education that you have acquired penetrates into your profession and reaches every corner of the world.
Being a new principal, it is not at all too ambitious if I tell you that we want to make Wah Yan an even better school for the 21st century though by no means I am implying that Mr Peter Tsui, Mr Lim Hoy Lan and all the other Jesuit Principals achived nothing. However, the present situations reveal that the physical condition of Wah Yan Hong Kong is in an appalling state and the students nowadays are much more inferior both academically and character-wise to students in the past. So I think I am not too boastful if I say I want to make improvements in Wah Yan both qualitatively and quantitively.
Earlier in December all the teaching and laboratory staff had a two-day workshop at Chung Horn Kok to talk about and revise our missions in Wah Yan. We came up with numerous issues. These, though not at all new, do drive home the goals we are stearing towards. As I don't want to bore you with all the mission statements, I just want to mention a few. First, we are committed to providing total formation of students in the following areas – moral, intellectual, physical, social, &ae;sthetic and spitual and helping them to accept themselves, their strengths and weaknesses. Secondly, we are committed to providing care and concern for each individual in the school. Thirdly, it is our mission to develop a sense of service among our students because “we are men for others.” Fourthly, we believed that the archievement of the School's mission relies on a community spirit of co-operation, trust and respect among teachers, administrators, the Jesuit community, managers, students, parents and alumni.
In fact there are many other statements and each of which deserves to be giving the same weighing.
As the theme of this Conference is &ldqup;Wah Yah Towards 2000,” I am sure at the end of this Conference, I will have more constructive inputs that I may fail to realize now. With all the past students taking a keen interest in the school and the Jesuit fathers giving us unfailing and continuous support, “For the Greater Glory of God” will be my attitude aim in steering Wah Yan Towards Year 3000.
Lastly, I extend my congratulation to the organisers of this conference for all that has been achieved so far. To you all I extend a warm welcome.
Yours sincerely,
George Tam Siu Ping
Principal
Wah Yan College, H.K.
International Conference Chairman, Rev. Jesuit Fathers, Principals of Wah Yah Colleges, Delegates from all over the world and Fellow Wahyanites,
Welcome to the 5th International Conference. I am pleased to see so many Wahyanites attending this bi-annual event today.
I shall devote a few minutes to introduce to you International Networking. I shall then give you a brief summary of the work of INC in the past two years. Finally, you are welcome to give INC suggestions and to take part in discussions.
International Networking Committee is not a legal entity. It is not incorporated in Hong Kong or anywhere. It was formed under a legal and proper resolution unanimously passed at the 2nd International Conference held in Vancouver in 1990. So far, the Committee operates from Hong Kong. Its functions are:
In order to give more transparency of the operation of INC in the current term i.e. 1994–1996, I have included all the minutes of the Committee meetings in the folder for your information.
I am delighted to report that there were no less than 15 Wahyanites serving on the International Networking Committee as members during the current term. According to my record INC handled well over 1,000 pieces of direct communications in the current term. Remember that overseas chapters can communicate with each other direct without going through INC. It will be helpful if all overseas chapters can send their respective officials list to the secretary of INC as soon as they have concluded their annual general meeting. Also, INC is interested and finds it useful at the INC quarterly meetings if a short quarterly progress report of the activities of each chapter is received prior to the meeting. INC assisted all overseas chapters in all areas, particularly U.K. and Melbourne chapters, in the recruitment of members and in the revitalisation of their activities. International Newsletters were sent to all chapters periodically. There is a lot of room for improvement. However, such improvement depends on how much material overseas chapters can contribute. It was INC that [was] instrumental in the registration of San Francisco chapter as a legal entity before holding the 4th International Conference in San Francisco. The Conference was a great success and for those who were involved, deserved to be congratulated. INC is in good financial health. Each Wah Yan Past Students' Association, i.e. Hong Kong and Kowloon, contributed HKD 15,000.00 in 1994. As at the close of business of yesterday there was a credit balance of HKD 27,596.14 after spending HKD 3,279.00 and earning bank interest of HKD 571.85 during the period.
In the past, there were quite a number of regional reunions. A few years ago New York chapter visited the Ontario Chapter. In the last couple of years the Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary chapters hold very rewarding regional reunions. INC feels that such regional reunions are to be encouraged.
I wish to take this opportunity to thank the two Wah Yan principals, delegates from all over the world and all participants for attending this conference. I also like to thank all the speakers, the chairman of the organisation committee, his team and members of the INC for their hard work and co-operation to make this Conference a great success.
Last but not the least, I want to mention that Philip Ching has set an excellent example for Wahyanites to follow. His contribution to the greater Wah Yah family is well known. He has [helped] the establishment of many overseas chapters. He was Chairman from 1988, well before the formation of INC, to 1994. For his Wah Yah spirit and his care for INC, the Committee decided to award him a certificate of appreciations. The presentation of the award certificate will take place tomorrow evening at the official dinner in the school hall of Wah Yah College, Hong Kong. I hope you all will turn up.
After we hear presentations from delegates of different chapters, I welcome any suggestion for discussion from the floor on matters related to INC.
Thank you!
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If you would like to supply any extra information about this conference, please contact ic2002@wahyan.ca. Thank you. |