Li Hon Hung

Li Hon Hung studied primary one to primary three in the primary section of Dun-mei School on Heard Street, Wan Chai. Dun-mei School was situated in a Chinese tenement house which had more than 10 classrooms for Primary 1 to Primary 6 students. It was a famous school founded by the respectable scholar Mok Dun Mei, who was also the school principal. Under his strict management, the school had a high reputation and attracted a lot of students. Mok Dun Mei also taught in the class occasionally. Li Hon Hung had been taught by Principal Mok for had one or two lessons on Mencius. He used to walk through the classes with a rattan cane in hand. Li Hon Hung was afraid of him but also respected him. The curriculum of Dun-mei’s Primary School was devised with reference to that in Mainland China. They had textbooks for each subject published by Chung Hwa Book Co. and the Commercial Press. The subjects included Chinese Language, English Language and Arithmetic.

For Chinese Language, the teachers taught ancient classical literature such as the Four Books and Five Classics and the Analects besides the Mencius. More simple and easy classical Chinese such as The Chinese Language Reading was also taught, but vernacular literature was rarely included in the syllabus. The teacher would explain the ancient text in class and the students had to recitethe text. In calligraphy lessons, the students practised with the Chinese writing brush. The writing brush and ink box were used on a daily basis. Some students even had to grind the ink with an ink stick. In those days, the students used the Chinese writing brushes and pencils in class and the senior students learned calculation with an abacus. Li Hon Hung didn’t learn abacus at Dun Mei but he started learning English Language when he was primary 3. The Chinese teacher taught them simple pronunciation and vocabularies. In the weekly music lesson, they were taught nursery rhymes from a female teacher. There were also Visual Art and Handicraft lessons. In the Visual Art lesson, they copied the teacher’s works with a pencil. The school principal wore Chinese long gown. Some teachers also wore long gown while others wore a shirt and western trousers. Dun-mei’s primary school had teachers of both genders. Li Hon Hung believed that they were graduates of the Vernacular Normal School.

Each class had 30 students or so with more boys than girls. They were of similar age but age difference between students widened after the war. The male students wore the grey Mao suit as uniform. Li Hon Hung went to school in leather shoes. Like most of his classmates, he carried his books in a rattan case and those from the wealthy families used a leather case. Li Hon Hung did not realize how greatly his classmates’ families differ financially. They seldom socialized after school because they were young. In those days, child abduction wasnot uncommon so he was escorted to and from school by a family member.

Because of the Second World War, Li Hon Hung quitted school before completing Primary 3. When the civil defense siren wailed on the day the Japanese army attacked Hong Kong, Li Hon Hung thought it was a drill. When he heard the cannons, he knew the war had started. He was at home when the news came, so he did not leave home for school. The city was in turmoil. The school had no formal announcement of suspension but it just did not resume classes since then. Life was hard during the Japanese Occupation. People saw no future and the Japanese armies sent many people to Hainan and imposed forced labour on them. His father’s shoe shop only opened occasionally. He supported Li Hon Hung’s school fees by selling the stocks kept in his shoes shop. During the Japanese Occupation, robberies were common but, fortunately, his father’s shop suffered no great loss. Because of shortage in supply, materials were more valuable than money. Under the Japanese rule, only the Japanese military yen was used and the people were made to convert their Hong Kong dollars into the Japanese Military Yen. The exchange rate was HK$20 to ¥10 at first and later on HK$4 was exchanged for ¥1.

Public order was restored after the Japanese army was settled in Hong Kong. Some of the local schools resumed operation. Li Hon Hung’s family did not want him to set his studies aside so they let him join a private si-su (which taught traditional Chinese literatures) in a respectable scholar’s home. The school charged a small fee and there were more than 20 students in the morning and afternoon sessions separately. Students of all levels were put in the same class to learn Chinese Language (ancient text), Arithmetic and other subjects. The teacher taught with a blackboard and students wrote with the Chinese writing brush and ink. In this home school, several students sat by a long desk in the sitting room, unlike in Dun-mei School where each student had his own desk and chair.

In the second term (December) of Primary 6, Li Hon Hung and his classmates were enrolled in the Northcote College of Education’s Subsidiary Secondary School. The school was scheduled to start in the next February and recruited Form 1 students for the second term. It was a government school which charged a tuition fee of five dollars, while some private schools charged thirty dollars. To reduce family’s financial burden, Li Hon Hung decided to study in this government school and asked to jump one level higher. The semester started in the middle of the school year. In order to fill the school places as soon as possible, the school adopted a more relaxed approach in picking students.  Li Hon Hung was admitted although he did not pass the English Language paper in the admission examination. The students did an unseen dictation in the English paper. Li Hon Hung could only recognize the words ‘I’, ‘is’ and ‘it’ in the passage read by the examiner. The examiner wrote the words ‘Causeway Bay’ on the blackboard for candidates to copy. In the Chinese Language paper, the candidates were asked to write  composition and in the Arithmetic paper, they were tested with fractions and the Four Operations. During the Japanese Occupation, Li Hon Hung didn’t learn English Language at Chi Hang School. He had learned some simple English Dun-mei School and Tuen Ching School.

When school term started, Li Hon Hung was excited about  secondary school life. The Northcote College of Education’s Subsidiary Secondary School was a regular middle school. There were only 3 junior secondary classes at the beginning. The school was operated in a government-run technical college on Wood Road, Wan Chai, which was a pre-war red brick building of several storeys.  The school classrooms were big enough to accommodate several dozen students. The windows and doors were broken. Some were sealed with iron bars or panels. A government-run school was larger than a private school in scale with more facilities including a playground and laboratories. More subjects were taught in school including the Chinese Language, English Language, Chinese History, Geography, Chemistry, Physics, Zoology, Botany and Physiological Hygiene. All subjects were taught in Chinese except English Language. The English Language textbooks were so difficult that Li Hon Hung had to work hard to catch up with the class. He thought students today had higher standard of English.

When he was in Form 3 (1947 to 1948), the Government Vernacular Middle School moved into the Northcote College of Education’s Subsidiary Secondary School. These two schools subsequently merged to become the Government Vernacular Senior Middle School. The principal of the new school was Leung Sai Wah. For the Northcote College of Education’s Subsidiary Secondary School, a Mr. So was appointed as acting principal before Yuen Ngan Ming was appointed Principal. The motto of the Government Vernacular Middle School was ‘Knowledge, Integrity, Loyalty and Sincerity’. This motto was kept as the merged school’s motto, as the Northcote College of Education’s Subsidiary Secondary School had no motto. The subsidiary school students had no idea that the Government Vernacular Middle School shared the same campus and neither could they object to the merger.

The school had informed the students of the merger and kept most of their teachers. The teachers of the Northcote College of Education’s Subsidiary Secondary School were retained in the new school. Besides having a new name, other related changes included the resignation of the Northcote College of Education’s Subsidiary Secondary School principal. At first, students from the two original schools had lessons in separate classes. Only until Senior Secondary 1 all students were streamed into classes according to their examination results. The school syllabus and academic structure remained unchanged. Li Hon Hung believed that it was the standard requirement of the Education Department. He found the subsidiary school lively and dynamic because the teachers were young. Most teachers of Government Vernacular Middle School were academic oriented. The Northcote College of Education’s Subsidiary Secondary School only had a history of two years, so Li Hon Hung did not see much change after the merger. Although there were more students than before, the campus remained spacious enough. The students of the Government Vernacular Middle School mainly came from Sai Ying Pun or Western District.

Among all teachers, Mr Wong Siu Ming was the most memorable to Li Hon Hung. Mr. Wong was Li’s class master in Form 3 and taught Physics and Mathematics. As he was serious in teaching, Li Hon Hung appreciates that he had learned a lot from Mr Wong. Other teachers he remembers included Wong Sui Ling who taught Chinese Language and Mrs. Cheung Tse Chung Yin. Mrs. Cheung had been his class mistress for many years and had helped much in his studies. Civic Education teacher Tai Wing Yuet taught the legal system, social and public affairs and morality in the classes every week. He studied Civic Education throughout his six-year secondary education. The textbooks were published by Chung Hwa Book Co. and Commercial Press. But it had no contents on the current conditions of Hong Kong and the only related content is the basics of legal system in Hong Kong. Li Hon Hung believed the textbooks used in Mainland China at that time were adopted and the teachers taught students about current situations in China. Li believes that this has helped encourage Hong Kong students to pursue further studies in China. But later, all textbooks used were published in Hong Kong or overseas countries. Interaction between teachers and students were roughly the same in private and government schools. In those days, teachers seldom visited students’ home. The curriculum in private primary schools resembled that in government schools. For example, there were many similarities in the curriculum of History and Geography between the two types of school. To Li Hon Hung, English Language was the only subject he had to put much effort.

The Government Vernacular Senior Middle School did not offer extra-curricular activities for its students. This school was a merger of the Northcote College of Education’s Subsidiary Secondary School and Government Vernacular Middle School. The students played basketball on their own initiative. But an annual Sports Day was held at the school playground. Li Hon Hung participated in high jump and running contests. The school also organized school picnics annually. The destinations were mainly places in the New Territories such as Sam Dip Tam in Tsuen Wan and Hung Mui Kuk in Shatin. His classmates in Senior Secondary 3 had organized visit to Macau on their own.

Li Hon Hung considers the school life in the secondary levels not interesting, because it was a half-day school. At school, he spent most of the time studying. After school, he had games, movies and picnics with classmates. As the Government Vernacular Senior Middle School cut the school places, Li Hon Hung faced great pressure. It was when Li Hon Hung was going to be promoted to Senior Secondary 3 that the school decided to reduce the number of classes from two to one. To compete for the limited school places, students were under stress that they had to work hard to gain good exam results. Although there were students who retained in the same level due to poor exam results, the students in general didn’t feel much pressured. However, the higher level it was in the school, the fewer classes were available and therefore the students felt greater pressure. The Northcote College of Education’s Subsidiary Secondary School had three classes for Junior Secondary 1 but only one class for Senior Secondary 1. Between Junior Secondary and Senior Secondary levels, some of Li’s classmates had left school, either because they did not reach the required academic results for promotion, or because their families couldn’t afford their education. Some of them went to English schools such as Wah Yan College, Hong Kong. Some of his wealthier classmates played the piano and were arranged to perform in school shows. Li Hon Hung admired them a lot.

Li Hon Hung made good friends with his secondary school classmates. They went to each other’s home after school. On non-school days, students who liked sports would go to school for swimming, soccer or basketball. (Public sportsground were sparse in those days) Going to the movies was popular among the adolescents. Some from poor families went to the cinemas which showed movies at the second-round. They could enjoy the movies at cheaper ticket prices, 30 to 40 cents for the front rows and 70 cents for the back rows, whereas tickets for the first-round movies were sold at two dollars each. Li Hon Hung liked Hollywood movies most. The Bathing Beauty and Gone with the Wind were famous movies of the time. The famous Hollywood stars included Tyrone Power, Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh and Esther Williams. Li Hon Hung watched Western movies. Occasionally he also watched Cantonese films such as Family, Spring and Autumn. However, he didn’t enjoy Cantonese operas.

In the early post-war period, there were very few swimming pools in Hong Kong. Young people would go swimming in the Ritz Garden Nightclub (which was located near the Hong Kong Funeral Home).  People might also go to the swimming sheds along the coastal areas in Quarry Bay, the sheds run by the South China Athletic Association in A Kung Ngam, and those run by the Chung Sing Benevolent Society and the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society in the Western District. The entrance fee for these swimming sheds was a few dozen cents. Some might choose to walk one hour from Wan Chai to Repulse Bay for a one day picnic and they would prepare bread for lunch.  Li Hon Hung didn’t notice the different in social class among his classmates. Government schools admitted children in their neighbouring districts, resulting that the students came from families of similar financial background. The Government Vernacular Senior Middle School did not admit foreign students. Li Hon Hung believed that ethnic minority children mainly went to the Sir Ellis Kadoorie Secondary School. In the early post-war period, the movement of secondary school students into and out of school was frequent, as some went to English schools and some simply dropped out of school for work.

Li Hon Hung graduated from Senior Secondary 3 in 1951. He thought it was difficult for him to pursue university studies as the University of Hong Kong was the only choice in Hong Kong at the time and the tuition fee was very expensive. Some of the male classmates furthered their studies in vocational training schools and teachers’ college and some worked as nurses or in the post office. A few of them went to the English schools where they studied for one to two years and then joined the civil service at clerical positions. Some of his classmates entered Grade 2 or Grade 3 in the English school. Grade 2 in English school was equivalent to Secondary 6 in middle schools. Students graduating from English school sat for the Hong Kong School Leaving Certificate Examination.
Upon completion of Grade 1 or Form 7 (equivalent to a one-year matriculation course) in English schools, students sat for the of the University of Hong Kong Entrance Examination. Some students from Government Vernacular Senior Middle School (GVSMS) entered HKU’s medical school, as they had changed to English schools such as Wah Yan College and St. Paul’s College earlier. After 1949, universities in Mainland China admitted students from Hong Kong. Some of Li’s classmates applied to these universities.

In the 1950s, the government planned to open a number of government primary schools within seven years to meet the growing demand of school places. There was thus an urgent need to solve the problem of teacher shortage by establishing the Grantham College of Education. The first training programme at Grantham admitted 50 to 60 students. The Northcote College of Education ran a two-year course with an intake of 30 students for each level. The Grantham College of Education had no campus and its students had classes on core subjects in the assembly hall of the King’s College and in the classrooms of other schools for elective subjects. Li Hon Hung studied in the Grantham College of Education. In the morning, he had theory courses at King’s College such as pedagogy, educational psychology, Chinese Language, Social Studies, Mathematics and Physiology and Hygiene. In the afternoon, he had classes on drawing, handicrafts, music and physical education in the premises of other schools. He chose handicraft out of the 4 elective courses. Male students who took this subject learned carpentry, while female students learned paper craft, embroidery and artistic craft. The carpentry class was held in the carpentry room of the King George V School. The course followed the British system and only a few students were selected through an interview with a British instructor from New Zealand.

The one-year course of the Grantham College of Education had a tight schedule. The students attended theory classes and taught as an intern teacher every Tuesday and Friday morning in a primary school. Li Hon Hung was assigned to the Catholic Kei Lap Primary School in Wan Chai to do internership. The school was at the junction of Johnston Road and Hennessy Road. The Principal let him teach different subjects such as Chinese Language, Natural Science and Social Studies (a subject which combined History and Geography). Classmates who graduated from the English school were arranged to teach English Language. At the time, only government schools offered carpentry class. Li Hon Hung would not have the chance to teach carpentry if he did internship in a subsidized school. During the internship, Li Hon Hung applied the newly learned 5-step method in teaching. Instructors from the Grantham College of Education would come to inspect classes and give their advice. There were about 10 instructors in the Grantham College of Education. One of them was Wu Hei Tak who taught Educational Psychology.

The studies in the Grantham College of Education was new and challenging to Li Hon Hung. The major shortcoming was that there was no chance for the students to enjoy campus life. In May the following year, the college had its own campus on Gascoigne Road with facilities such as library, music room and exercise room. Unlike what it was like in the secondary school, he was not close to his classmates. He explained that it was so because they didn’t have a campus to socialize with each other. Besides, they took elective courses and each student went to different school premises in a day. He was relatively close to 2 or 3 friends who went to the same school to do internship and those who took the same courses. His classmates mainly came from secondary school in Macau and private middle schools in Hong Kong such as Nam Wah College and Tung Chi College. Some 10 students were former students of the Government Vernacular Senior Middle School. Some students were older and had taught at subsidized or private schools. They entered the college in order to attain the necessary qualification. In the early post-war period, the government approved graduates from Mainland China universities to teach in Hong Kong to solve the problem of teachers shortage. Li Hon Hung was the first group of graduates from the Grantham College of Education but the graduates seldom gathered after leaving school. An alumni association was formed by graduates of the second and third programmes and a few of the first programme.

In 1952, Li Hon Hung graduated from the Grantham College of Education. The graduates had no difficulty finding jobs. They could choose to teach in government schools, urban subsidized schools or schools in the New Territories. Li Hon Hung’s classmates looked for jobs through the employment section of the Education Department. The Department also sent information of teaching vacancies to the college. In those days, there were more private schools than government schools. Many children had no education because average families could not afford the tuition fees of private schools. To solve the problem, the government implemented a 7-year education programme to increase school places at subsidized schools and government schools. Under the programme, more government schools were built so that every local district had a government school which offered 24 classes in the morning and afternoon sessions each.

Li Hon Hung taught in a subsidized school for a couple of months after graduation. He applied to transfer to the Canton Road Government Primary School. The application was approved without an interview. He believed that it was because both the subsidized and government schools were under the management of the Education Department which endorsed transfers of teachers between schools. At the time, he could choose to teach in a government school or a subsidized school. The former was more attractive because it offered a salary of some $500 whereas the latter offered $300 or so. Besides, the government schools had better facilities. Government school teachers were also pensionable civil servants and enjoyed job security and better welfare such as healthcare. For these reasons, Li Hon Hung and his classmates were eager to teach in government schools when there were vacancies. Most government primary schools had spacious and standard school premises with playgrounds. There were morning schools and afternoon schools so that more places were provided.

Li Hon Hung was one of the first batch of teachers who taught at the Canton Road Government Primary School. Li Hon Hung found it a happy experience to work in a new school with colleagues of similar age. The curriculum in government schools complied fully to the Education Department’s guidelines, which allowed him to practice the education methods he learned at the Grantham College of Education. The only difference between subsidized schools and government schools was that there were bible lessons offered by the schools of church background. At the Canton Road Government Primary School, Li Hon Hung taught Chinese Language, Arithmetic and Handicraft. The timetable of lessons was designed by the vice principal whereas the principal mainly focused on external affairs. Some teachers of the government schools were graduates of Mainland China universities but they afterwards got teachers’ qualification in Hong Kong. Those who graduated from the Grantham College of Education and Northcote College of Education satisfied the qualifications for Registered Teachers. In the government schools, the teachers belonged to different ranks. Those who graduated from the University of Hong Kong were employed as Education Officers.

In the past, many parents wanted to send their children to the government schools. At that time, parents and teachers had good relationships. The parents had great trust with the teachers. They even agreed with corporal punishment because they believed the stricter the teacher was, the better it was to the students. Only the topmost students at teachers’ colleges were appointed to government schools. Those who majored in English Language and Music could also get a job in government schools easily. In the government schools, students who failed the minimum standards had to retain in the same level. They would be expelled from the school if they failed again in the next year. When the 7-year primary school system was implemented in the late 1950s, the government made it a rule that no retention was allowed because on the final level a smaller number of students could graduate from the school. Li Hon Hung considered that after the retention system was cancelled, only two classes in each grade could meet the required learning standard. Consequently the quality of school discipline deteriorated. He disapproved the education policy which favoured quanitity over quality. Many parents did not want their children to be retained at the same level irrespective of their academic performance. In addition, most primary school students were not disciplined in learning. The learning attitude at schools was loose, which was different from what it was like when Li Hon Hung was in primary school. At that time, students who could not catch up with the standard were asked to change to another school so that students learned to work hard if they wanted to remain in the school.

The Canton Road Government Primary School emphasized both academic results and morality. The school taught students general morality like punctuality, sincerity and credibility at the weekly assemblies. In this school, only one to two classes could attain satisfactory results in the Primary School Certificate Examination and secure a secondary school place. Initially Li Hon Hung taught classes of Primary 3 and 4 and then Primary 6. In the late 1950s, the school delivered supplementary exercises to the students who had better performance. Consequently, students of different levels of performance were given different intensity of training. At first, in the Primary School Certificate Examination, students had to write for the essays-type questions. Later, students were assessed by multiple choice questions. Most schools trained their students to answer multiple choice questions speedily. After graduation, many primary school students joined the workforce or entered private secondary schools. Some did not have satisfactory results at the Certificate Examination and some could not afford the school fees.

Li Hon Hung considered that the shortcomings of government primary schools were that, they had to carry out government policies submissively, such as compulsory promotion and teacher-student ratio of a class. In some government primary schools, teachers had heavy workload as they had to teach 40 classes in a week. Li Hon Hung thought other schools that shared similar problem was because the schools lacked sufficient education fund. In church-run schools, there was no internal transfer of teachers between schools, so teachers stayed at a school for a long time and were familiar with the schools. On the other hand, transfer of teachers between schools was common in government schools, so that teachers had chances to find new experiences and to meet new challenges. Important educational policies, such as the 9-year free compulsory education, had great impact on secondary schools. Free primary education had significant impact on government primary schools. Before the 1970s, it was easy for students to change to another school if they could not adapt to the requirements of the school they studied. But under the free primary education, students had little chance to change schools.

Primary and secondary education faced with significant changes in the period between the late 1970s and early 1980s. During the period, due to the decline of student population, schools were challenged by a reduction of classes and the government approved early retirement of teachers. Later, the government cut teachers’ manpower by offering attractive benefit schemes to the teachers who belonged to the age group of 45-50 and chose to retire. Applications from music and English teachers who were in pressing need were rejected but teachers of other subjects such as handicraft were welcomed. At the time, government schools had carpentry classes, but Li Hon Hung did not teach carpentry. The transfer of teachers between government schools was loosely monitored. Li Hon Hung had applied for transfer to another school with the reason that transportation was more convenient between his home and that school. Government school teachers could also recommend themselves to teach in newly founded schools.

Most teachers of Li Hon Hung’s generation preferred the Secondary School Entrance Examination to the Academic Aptitude Test. Both assessed students’ ability in Chinese Language, English Language and Arithmetic, but he believed that SSEE was more effective to assess students’ academic ability. However no matter what form the exam took, schools arranged regular training for students to get familiarized with the mode of examination.

Most government primary schools streamed students into different classes according to their abilities because they considered that it was not efficient to teach classes composing of students with different abilities. It made teaching difficult if the ability of the students varied widely. The Education Department had no rules in regard of student streaming so that it was the authority of the school principals and teachers to organize classes. In the 1960s, the government primary schools provided special classes for students who were identified as slow learners. If the student intake was low, the school could allocate a teacher to teach 5 to 6 slow learners in a class. These teachers must take special training courses offered by the Education Department.

As government school teachers were civil servants, their appointment was approved by the Education Department but Li Hon Hung had no knowledge about the details. When Li Hon Hung was first employed in a government primary school, the People’s Republic of China was established shortly. Hong Kong was the place where supporters of Mainland government and those of Taiwan government competed for influence. Under the sensitive political climate, government school teachers had to seek approval from the school principal and the Education Department for departure from Hong Kong, even if it was a trip to Macau. Government primary schools organized annual group picnics for students of Primary 2 and Primary 3.