St. Paul's College, Hong Kong
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| St. Paul's College, Hong Kong | |
| School Badge of St. Paul's College
寅畏上主是為智之本
(The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom) |
|
| Location | |
|---|---|
| 69 Bonham Road, Hong Kong |
|
| Information | |
| Type | DSS, Day, All-male Primary & Secondary |
| Established | 1851 |
| Principal | Dr. John Richard Kennard |
| Grades | Primary 1 - Form 7 |
| Students | 1300 (Secondary) 600 (Primary) |
| Houses | Banyan, Ginkgo, Oak, Pine, Rosewood, Yew |
| Publication | Wayfarer (弘道, school magazine) Scope (文苑, school newspaper) |
| Affiliation | Anglican |
| Founder | Revd Vincent John Stanton |
| Medium of Instruction | English |
| Website | http://www.spc.edu.hk |
St. Paul's College (Traditional Chinese: 聖保羅書院) is an Anglican day school for boys in Mid Levels, Hong Kong and is located adjacent to University of Hong Kong. Established in 1851, it is the oldest secondary school there. The college has an all-boys primary school section (Primary 1-6) and only becomes co-educational in the secondary section from Form 6 and beyond. Its school council enjoys a special status in Hong Kong, in that it is a statutory body incorporated by a local ordinance, the St. Paul's College Council Ordinance. The aim of the school is, according to the Ordinance, to "provide education to Chinese youths in the English language upon Christian principles".
The school opened with one tutor and nine pupils. Today, the school has 1163 pupils in the secondary section and around 500 in the primary section.[1]
Contents |
[edit] History
St. Paul's College receives special attention from historians as the world's first Anglo-Chinese school. Its founder, the Revd Vincent John Stanton, is also the first Colonial Chaplain of the former Colony of Hong Kong.
The Chinese characters in the school motto (寅畏上主是為智之本) are from Proverbs 9:10. They are usually translated in English as "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (KJV) ("Timor Domini Principium Sapientiae" in Latin and can be found in graduation certificates of earlier days). The fact that the motto is in Chinese is significant. While it was more the fashion at that time to use Latin for such a purpose, the far-sighted founders of the school saw St. Paul’s College as a hub to foster bilinguals and to bring together the cultures of the East and the West.
After the Japanese Occupation the school was briefly merged with St. Paul's Girl's College, and renamed St. Paul's Co-educational College. The school resumed its individual status in 1949 and went on to be known as St. Paul's College once again when its campus on Bonham Road was completed, while St. Paul's Co-educational College remained, as its name implies, co-educational.
During the Hong Kong 1967 Leftist Riots, the then Form 5 pupil Tsang Tak-sing was expelled from the school and prosecuted for distributing leaflets promoting Communism and Public order crime. Tsang was sentenced to two years in prison as a result. He later went on to become a deputy to the National People's Congress of Communist China, a member of the Central Policy Unit and, on 1 July 2007, the Secretary for Home Affairs in the Hong Kong Government.
Today, St. Paul's College continues its excellent achievements both academically and in extracurricular activities. Students excel in public examinations. Students bring home trophies won in international as well as local music and sports competitions. The school's old boys contribute in the government and as well as in the academic, professional and business areas.
The year 2001 marked the 150th Anniversary of the school, and in the same year the school decided to join the Direct Subsidy Scheme, under which the school is given more freedom in the enrolment of students and the design of the curriculum.
[edit] Campus
The current campus is located at 69 Bonham Road, Hong Kong. [2]
Before World War II, St. Paul's College is located in Glenealy, Central, which is currently called the Bishop's House of Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui. The buildings of the college was damaged during the war, so St. Paul's College merged with St. Paul's Girls' College to form St. Paul's Co-educational College (SPCC).
After that, St. Paul's College dissolved from SPCC, and started to use the former HKU St. John's College site as the campus. At first, St. Paul's College used the original buildings as campus, then it started to build new buildings on the site simultaneously.
The present school buildings, consist of classrooms, a school hall, library and Primary School building (demolished) was completed in 1969. The school buildings also house a covered playground, a gymnasium, 6 laboratories, a Music room, a Multimedia Learning Centre (MMLC), 2 computer rooms, a Geography room, an art room and a chapel.
The Wong Ming Him Hall, built in 1954, is the oldest building in the campus. It is a 3-storey multi-purpose building which once used as Table-tennis room, art room and music room. The building was renovated in 2007-2008, and now houses a multi-purpose area, a rehearsal room and a meeting room. The school also has a swimming pool next to the Wong Ming Him Hall.[1]
[edit] School Improvement Programme
In 2003, the school started the School Improvement Programme (SIP). The aim of the programme is to build a new administrative block above the swimming pool area. To make way for the new building, the school had to demolish the former Primary School Building. The administrative block or the New South Wing was officially opened in October 2006. The South Wing houses a College office, a principal's room, art rooms, music rooms and staff rooms.[3]
[edit] Students' Association
The St. Paul's College Students' Association (abbreviated as SA) is the students' organization of the College. It is the main body which conducts on the fields of students' welfare and communication with the school. The SA is also the oldest students' organization in all secondary schools in Hong Kong. The Executive Council is the decision making body of the Students' Association, and the ExCo contains the committees, which are listed as follows:
- Affiliated Clubs Committee - helps all clubs in financial need and in other matters such as club registration. There are 53 affiliated clubs under the students' association.
- Audit Committee - monitors the income and expenditure of the Students' Association.
- Chief Duty Officer - is responsible for arrangement of the SA officials' duty. There are around 30 SA officials every year who are under the administration of CDO.
- Programming Committee - is responsible for all the programmes held such as the Form One Day, the Class Overall Championship, etc.
- Public Relations Committee - is responsible for liaison with external bodies or schools.
- Student Publications Council - is responsible for the publication of Scope, the school newspaper, and Wayfarer, the school magazine.
- Welfare Committee - provides welfare services such as lunch-box service, sale of school sweaters, old books, stationery, etc.
The office of the SA is known as the SA Room. It is located in the Covered Playground on 2/F. Students can order lunch, purchase plastic balls (known as Watermelon Ball)and stationery there.
The Students' Association is led by the SA president. In the beginning of each school year, a SA president election is held. All students are to vote for a candidate. The term of office for each president is one school year. The current president of the Students' Association for the 2008-2009 school year is Pak Sek Huen Jethro. [4]
[edit] College song and hymn
The old college song was titled The Old St. Paul's College, composed by John Peel. The current college song is composed in 1970s by Rev. Moses Wu, the music teacher at the time; lyric by C. F. Miles. It was mostly sung during major college events such as the Speech Day, Swimming Gala and Sports Days. The song will be played by the school orchestra in the Speech Day. The College Hymn, We Build Our School on Thee, O Lord, is also sung during important morning assemblies.
[edit] Class structure and curriculum
Currently, there are six classes for each of Forms 1 to 5, and three classes for each of Forms 6 and 7.
[edit] House System
The House System [5] was first introduced in 1975. Currently, there are six houses. Each House is led by a House Master, and a number of Assistant House Masters/Mistresses. The House Master will appoint a student to be the House Captain.
| House | Color |
| Banyan | Blue |
| Ginkgo | Green |
| Oak | Orange |
| Pine | Purple |
| Rosewood | Red |
| Yew | Yellow |
[edit] College publications
The College publishes a school magazine and a school newspaper annually. The Student Publications Council, part of the Students' Association, is responsible for that.
[edit] Wayfarer
Wayfarer (弘道) is the school magazine of St. Paul's College. The issue for each academic year is published in December of the following school year.
The name Wayfarer, which means a traveller on foot, symbolises achieving dreams by eliminating obstacles. It was first published in 1958 but was subsequently suspended until 1963, when the College started to publish Wayfarer annually. The first colour Wayfarer, Issue 45, was published for the 2006-2007 academic year (155th Anniversary of the College). To date, Wayfarer have altogether published 46 issues.
Wayfarer includes College Report, photographs of classes and groups, features and contributions.
[edit] List of Principals
- Rev. Vincent John Stanton (founder)
- Bishop George Smith (1849-1864)
- Bishop Charles Richard Alford (1867-1871)
- Bishop John Shaw Burdon (1874-1897)
- Bishop Joseph Charles Hoare (1898-1906)
- Bishop Gerald Heath Lander (1907-1920)
- Rev. Arthur Dudley Stewart (1909-1930)
- Col. Evan George Stewart, DSO, OBE, ED (1930-1958)
- Rev. Geoffrey Lowrey Speak (1959-1967)
- Mr. Timothy Wing-ho Ha, MBE, JP (1968-2006). Ha was the first Chinese principal of the college. He is now the Secretary for Education of the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui.
- Dr. John Richard Kennard (2006- ).
[edit] Notable alumni
- Wu Tingfang, a Chinese politician who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China during the early 1910s, Hong Kong's first ethnic Chinese barrister, the first ethnic Chinese member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, Hong Kong's first ethnic Chinese Justice of the Peace.
- I. M. Pei, a Pritzker Prize winning and internationally renowned architect whose important works include the Louvre Pyramid of Paris, Honorary Doctor of Letters of the University of Hong Kong (1990)
- Stephen Ip Shu-kwan, former Secretary for Economic Development and Labour of the Hong Kong Government
- Joseph Yam Chi-kwong, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority
- Lee Wing-tat, member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong and former Chairman of the Democratic Party of Hong Kong
- Jasper Tsang Yok-sing, member of both the Executive Council of Hong Kong and Legislative Council of Hong Kong, former Chairman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB), National Committee Member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference of the People's Republic of China
- Peter Kwong Kong-kit, the first Archbishop and Primate of the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Province, retired at the end of 2006, now Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui, Honorary Doctor of Divinity of the University of Hong Kong (2000)
- Ching Cheong, senior journalist and chief correspondent of The Straits Times; was detained in the People's Republic of China under suspicion of espionage during his research for news in Mainland China.
- Shun Chi-ming, Assistant Director of the Hong Kong Observatory
- Lai Man-wai, Hong Kong film actor & director
- Tsang Tak-sing, Secretary for Home Affairs, Hong Kong Government (see Hong Kong 1967 Leftist Riots).
- Lau Siu Kai, Head of Central Policy Unit, Hong Kong Government
- Kenneth Ting, Chairman of Federation of Hong Kong Industries, former Legislative Councillor
- Patrick Lau, former President of Hong Kong Institute of Architects and currently member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong
- Dr. Lo Wing Lok, former legislative councillor and president of Hong Kong Medical Association
- Lau Kong Wah, member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong
- Chung See-yuen, former chief Executive Councillor and Legistlative Councillor
- Professor Raymond Liang Hin Suen, a renowned haematologist and currently the Acting Dean of Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine at University of Hong Kong.
- Raymond Lam Fung, Television Broadcasts Ltd. actor
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b History - St Paul's College Official Site
- ^ Contact Us - St Paul's College Official Site
- ^ School Improvement Programme - St Paul's College Official Site
- ^ [1] - St Paul's College Students Association
- ^ [2] - St Paul's College House System
[edit] External links
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to: St. Paul's College, Hong Kong |

