2022年6月1日

When we begin our June calendar each year, I feel sad. Not only because it approaches the end of a school year, that I won’t see students for a few weeks, but it also reminds me that I have no muscle to show.  No matter, I am sure the word vacation, despite its duration, will still be some form of compensation.  This August, we have a short one; but now we must not forget, we still have one school month before our final examination. So, do your best.

 

As I reported in the speech day 2022, that we lost a lot of learning opportunities in this school year: swimming gala, picnic day, athletics meets, Christmas feast, poon choi dinner, and all the lunch time silliness and afterschool inter-house/student union activities. I hope all these can return stronger and happier in the coming academic year.

 

But we understand the need of progress, and the importance of tradition. I mentioned before that tradition started as something new at a point in history; it was once new before we continue observing it and making it a tradition.  Not all traditions are worth keeping, and some meaning might have changed over the years.  While history cannot be erased, we need to understand it and move on, armed with the knowledge and lessons learned.  I mentioned that foot-binding was once considered beautiful, and keeping slaves was considered a status symbol, a man with different skin color in some countries was not considered a man at some point in history. As we learn more about humanity, we realized that respecting each other, respecting life, respecting progress are all more important than preserving beauty and status symbol. We must move on, armed with this knowledge.  Don’t forget that.

 

As the saying goes, knowledge is power (scientia potentia est): do revise well for your lessons diligently, perform at your best, and persevere, with integrity, a simple life.

 

Anson Yang