Leung Wai Chiu, Molly
Mrs Chiu’s biological mother was the fourth child of the family; her maternal grandfather arranged for her mother and the fifth aunt to study at Vernacular Normal School for Women whose classes were held in Belilios Public School, and they became the first graduates. However, her maternal grandfather thought that “only those who are poor will teach”.
| Title | Family members' opinion to a daugher pursing teaching career in pre-war period |
| Material Type | Audio |
| Collection | Oral History Archives |
| Accession No. | TW-LWC-FS-005 |
Leung Wai Chiu, Molly
Mrs Chiu’s biological mother speaks English and had once taught Chinese at the primary section of Belilios Public School. After getting married, her biological mother ran Tuen Mung School where she was the principal. The school was located in a semi-detached building at On Hing Terrace in Central. There were three floors including a little hut on the roof. Chinese primary section and junior secondary section were available in the school. Later when her maternal grandfather had larynx cancer, her biological mother closed the school in order to take care of him. The students of Tuen Mung School were transferred to Min Yin School near Prince’s Terrace on Caine Road.
| Title | Married women running school in pre-war period limited by family factors |
| Material Type | Audio |
| Collection | Oral History Archives |
| Accession No. | TW-LWC-FS-004 |
Wong Mo Yan
MT Wong’s grandmother had learned classical Chinese. When she grew up, she set up a boarding private school in a one-storey building at Wing Lok Street. Her grandmother taught Three Character Classics. MY Wong had studied at that private school for a year and learned about Three Character Classics. As her grandmother got old and she hired a mistress for assistance. This teacher was MY Wong’s teacher at that private school.When her grandparents retired, their younger sister’s husband and two son-in-laws gave them a big old house with a garden in Kowloon City. MY Wong grew up in that big old house and went into the Primary Section of Munsang College for her primary education.
| Title | Women running private schools in pre-war Hong Kong |
| Material Type | Audio |
| Collection | Oral History Archives |
| Accession No. | TW-WMY-FS-001 |
Wong Mo Yan
After MY Wong’s father passed away, her mother set up Sau Fong Girls Vocational School at Nathan Road. At Sau Fong Girls Vocational School, a female teacher as well as shareholder taught embroidery, Chinese painting, weaving and other skills. Only junior secondary curriculum was taught due to inadequate admissions. Sau Fong Girls Vocational School subsequently merged with Southwestern College, which was located at Ho Man Tin and renamed as Southwestern Girls' College Kowloon. The principal of Southwestern College co-acted as the principal of Southwestern Girls' College Kowloon. Mother taught Primary 1 and 2 Chinese at Southwestern Girls' College Kowloon, which offered Arithmetic, English, Mandarin (today’s Putonghua) and other subjects from Primary 3 to Form 3. MY Wong studied there up to Form 3 together with her little elder sister. Mother had taught at Southwestern Girls' College Kowloon until Hong Kong’s fall to the Japanese. She fled to her hometown.
| Title | Women running vocational schools in pre-war Hong Kong |
| Material Type | Audio |
| Collection | Oral History Archives |
| Accession No. | TW-WMY-FS-002 |
Ma Ho Fu
Tack Ching Girls’ Secondary School had around 10 students in each class. Among those students, 2 to 3 were nuns-in-training and the school was particular strict to them. During recess, the school forbade them to talk to their fellow classmates, so as to isolate them from any influence that might undermine their future religious careers.
| Title | Students who were trained to be nuns in pre-war Catholic schools |
| Material Type | Audio |
| Collection | Oral History Archives |
| Accession No. | TW-MHF-FS-001 |
Leung Yuk Jan
The younger sister of Ms Tam Wai Fong taught English at Lai Chack Middle School. In class, students read English storybooks, consulted dictionaries, and learned to recognise English words and make English sentences. However, since Lai Chack Middle School was a Chinese secondary school, English was not a focus in its curriculum.
| Title | Junior secondary English course in pre-war Chinese schools for girls |
| Material Type | Audio |
| Collection | Oral History Archives |
| Accession No. | TW-LYJ-FS-007 |
Leung Yuk Jan
Ms Tam Wai Fong taught algebra at Lai Chack Middle School. As Ms Tam did not finish teaching the whole algebra textbook, Leung Yuk Jan had difficulty transitting into the upper six curriculum while in Xiangjiang Secondary School. Vice Principal Yip Yurk Chiu was the geography teacher then. She taught with great clarity, and Leung paid keen attention during her classes without having to do much revision at home. The curriculum also comprised Chinese geography. The English officer who taught Form 2 and 3 students was the young sister of Ms Tam Wai Fong, who graduated from the University of Hong Kong. Leung did not remember much about foreign history except for the October Revolution in Russia and King Louis XVI of France. Students in those days feared their teachers.
| Title | A brief description of pre-war junior secondary English course in Chinese schools for girls |
| Material Type | Audio |
| Collection | Oral History Archives |
| Accession No. | TW-LYJ-FS-008 |