Who are we and

why were we established?

The International Society is a newly-formed student

organisation that aims to bridge the gap between local and

international students with opportunities and activities that

enrich life here at The University of Hong Kong (HKU). The

influx of exchange and full-time international students in recent

years means it is imperative for us to step forward and help

familiarise this group with the new environment and culture to

build a greater sense of belonging towards HKU.

English is used as a common language for communication,

meaning students’ networks can be enlarged and they can feel

right at home with the society's student-friendly approach.

1 4

7 9

11 13 15 18 20

about Sapientia is an independent English language

magazine written and published by students of The

University of Hong Kong (HKU). Stemming from the

university’s Latin motto of “Sapientia et Virtus”, our

name translates as ‘wisdom’ and reflects our intention

to bring together writers from different backgrounds

with broad perspectives on campus-related issues.

Sapientia’s number one goal is to act as a platform for

students to develop and showcase their professional

writing skills and offer food for thought – more simply

put, wisdom, to all our readers.

Contact us at intlsocpjc@gmail.com.

April 2014

credits EXECUTIVE EDITOR

SEUL JI KOOK

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

CHRIS WEI

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

PHOEBE HUNG

MANAGING DIRECTOR

SAMUEL CHAN

WRITERS

ANDRA AU

CELINA GORE

JAMIE CHOY

JONATHAN WONG

LINDSAY QIAN

MELISSA LEUNG

OSAMA HUSSAIN

RYAN KILPATRICK

PHOTOGRAPHY

ALBERT OEI

DENISE CHAN

Cantonese at HKU: The Final Frontier

Ryan Kilpatrick

Easy “A” Courses Melissa Leung

Open Ears Celina Gore

HKU Pride Samuel Chan

Soap Cycling

Lindsay Qian

Student Satisfaction

Osama Hussain

7 Types of Students at HKU Jonathan Wong

Tales of May Hall Andra Au

What do you wake up to?

Jamie Choy

Update on the MTR

by Samuel Chan

I guess by now you’ve spotted the structures

for the new MTR station behind Centennial

Campus and Haking Wong Building that have

rapidly sprouted up over the last two months

despite having been virtually motionless the

past year (most the work before was going on

underground).

In a statement to Sapientia, MTR

representative Cherry Mak writes, “The WIL

[West Island Line] is expected to be put into

service in the fourth quarter of 2014 while the

specific opening date will be subjected to

negotiation with the government. Currently,

the WIL project team is working hard towards

the completion of the WIL in 2014.”

Fourth quarter is vague but fingers crossed

that this new MTR link will be completed on

time or even early, around the time the new

semester starts in September. This extension of

the Island Line known as the West Island Line,

consisting of three stations only: Kennedy

Town, HKU and Sai Ying Pun, will allow HKU

students and staff to travel to Central and Tsim

Sha Tsui in just over 5 and 10 minutes

respectively. Obviously, the MTR offers much

more frequent and reliable service (compared

to buses during peak hour) and holders of the

Personalised Octopus with student status even

enjoy 50% off standard adult fares (grab an

application form from your Faculty Office!).

Watch this space.

By Ryan

Kilpatrick Critics have long accused HKU of

having a blinkered devotion to the

English language, but to an extent this

position deserves our support: English

is the lingua franca of academic

research worldwide, as using it as the

sole medium of instruction is a large

part of what makes us Asia's top-

ranked university; maintaining a strict

line on this also makes it easier for

students who came to HKU from

around the world to feel welcomed

and integrated into campus life.

However, another critical factor for

students to feel welcomed here and to

get the most out of their time in Hong

Kong is to learn the local language,

enabling them to have more meaningful connections with a wider spectrum of people, and obtain a

deeper understanding of the richness - and uniqueness - of Hong Kong culture. Until this year, the only

courses open to people interesting in learning Cantonese were Cantonese as a Foreign Language I and

Survival Cantonese, neither of which offered routs for further study and do not even teach literacy in

Chinese, making the written language the sole purview of Putonghua. Whilst the courses' immediate

utility to incoming exchange students is beyond question, those interested in seriously studying the

language must do so without any help or encouragement from our foremost institution of higher

learning. Despite the efforts of School of Chinese staff, students at HKU are still unable to major in the

languages of the country in which they are studying - despite every top university around the world

offering these majors.

The School of Chinese currently teaches one third of all Faculty of Arts students, and is therefore

stretched extremely thin. Dr CM Si, Head of the School of Chinese, says that the university is

currently in the process of planning to offer a Chinese as a foreign language major, and he hopes

the programme will be actualized within two to three years. Since the establishment of the

Modern China Studies programme just a few years ago, the Putonghua as a foreign language

courses offered by HKU have expanded from two to four, from four to six, and now from six to

eight, thus offering a four-year curriculum for international students interested to seriously

studying the language. Cantonese lags far behind but is progressing gradually: this year a second

course was added and, with a major in Hong Kong studies newly established, Cantonese will

hopefully experience similar growth spurt to that of Putonghua.

The

1

Dr Si says that exchange students complain about courses they'd like to take only being offered in

Chinese, mainland students complain about classes offered in Cantonese, and local students are

liable to complain if too many courses are offered in Putonghua or use simplified characters.

Pleasing all three groups at the same time, he admits, is a difficult task. At City University,

disgruntled mainland students who registered for a Chinese course not realizing it was conducted

in the local language of the place where they'd chosen to study actually pressured the university

administration into changing the course's language of instruction from Cantonese to Putonghua.

HKU takes on over one thousand new exchange students every semester. Of these, only a small

handful are interested in studying Chinese and those that do are complete beginners who only

take level I Putonghua. Dr Si laments that international students at HKU interested in seriously

studying Putonghua or Cantonese to advanced levels are in fact a tiny minority, and despite their

passion they do not comprise a large enough constituency to justify the allocation of resources to

create new courses. Another option in the meantime is to expand the current offering of English-

taught cultural courses for exchange students, perhaps offering an introduction to Chinese

literature or Cantonese phonology. However, even mainland students who stay here for the full

duration of their studies show little to no interest in learning the local language (often regarded

dismissively - and erroneously - in the mainland, as elsewhere, as a trifling and unimportant dialect)

and thus Putonghua-taught courses in Cantonese are even sparser at HKU than English ones.

Final Frontier

Cantonese at HKU:

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2

HKU is not the only Hong Kong university that does not

offer Chinese majors for foreign students; in fact, none

do except for the Chinese University of Hong Kong. CUHK

has attempted to offer Chinese as a major but have been

confronted with a dearth of applicants. Without enough

prospective students, government funding for the

programme was dropped and as a result it had to

become fully self-financed, sending the fees rocketing up.

HKU also follows the trend all around the Chinese-

speaking world - in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan -

where every university Chinese department operates

exclusively in Chinese.

Teaching Cantonese as a foreign language is a highly

under-developed area, and is often regarded both by

locals and foreigners alike as a language that outsiders

are simply unable to learn, and should not necessarily be

expected nor taught to do so. The teaching of Cantonese

to ethnic minority Non-Chinese Speaking Students (NCSS)

in Hong Kong has long been a source of tension in local

education, with non-Chinese students often graduating

knowing no Chinese and facing grim career prospects as a

consequence.

Unlike in China or Taiwan where children first learn the

Hanyu Pinyin or Zhuyin Fuhao phonetic systems

respectively before progressing to characters, children in

Hong Kong are expected to begin their education in

Chinese at home, where they learn the pronunciation of

characters directly from family members without the aid

of an officially sanctioned phonetic system to ascertain

the correct way of speaking. For Hongkongers who do not

come from a Cantonese-speaking household, this

absence puts them at a great disadvantage. The two main

rivals in Cantonese phonetics are Yale and Jyutping, but

altogether half a dozen different systems vie for

supremacy throughout Hong Kong, with different schools

and universities using different systems. Cantonese also

lacks a standardized exam like PSC or IELTS and for many

Cantonese words there is no agreed-upon character that

should be used to render it in written Chinese.

In addition to this there are no official academic or

vocational qualifications for Cantonese instructors.

Cherrie, a Cantonese instructor at HKU, believes that

setting an official standard for romanization and language

training would be helpful in making Cantonese more

accessible and popular, and indeed her wish may be

coming true soon. BC Chow, coordinator of the

Cantonese programme at the CLC ad author of the widely

used textbook Cantonese for Everyone, says that the

Faculty of Education will begin offering a Masters in

teaching Cantonese next September. Ms Chow also

supports the idea of using Jyutping in schools and says

there's growing support for this, and also starting in the

next academic year Cantonese will be offered as a Senior

Secondary Applied Learning Course (ApL) for NCSS, with

teachers asked to use Jyutping. Although she believes

that owing to the sensitive nature of language politics vis-

à-vis Beijing, the official status of Cantonese is unlikely to

receive any government support, she does see progress

being made in Hong Kong's education establishment.

The School of Chinese has often faced criticism for not

operating in English, but the truth is that subjects such as

Tang poetry are best taught using Chinese - and ideally

Cantonese at that, since the cadences and rhymes are

often retained in Cantonese but lost in modern

Putonghua, as the former is far closer to classical Chinese.

The problem lies not with the School's offering courses in

a language other than English, but in the lack of support

they receive to enable more students to learn this very

language.

Aside from the fear that local students would join such

courses for easy grades, there is also a widespread but

mistaken assumption that language learning is only rote

memorisation and not an intellectual pursuit worthy of a

university degree, ignoring the conceptual and cultural

shifts that language learning promotes. Whereas Korean,

Spanish, Japanese and other languages have gotten

through the Academic Board levee, though, a Cantonese

or Putonghua major remains off the cards.

Hongkongers often feel their culture under threat, and

this feeling is both understandable and completely

justified. However, as a community under threat, they

should not succumb to the knee-jerk reaction of closing

ranks in order to defend the purity and integrity of their

identity. This is the time when it is more important than

ever to reach out to the world, to make greater efforts to

articulate and promote Hong Kong's values and culture

and to include others in the fold. HKU's School of Chinese

has a long history of teaching Cantonese to Hong Kong's

newcomers, instructing a long stream of Governors,

diplomats, missionaries and merchants who have made

Hong Kong their home for short or long over the last

century and a half. Dr Si points out that HKU will have to

face this issue in due course as a matter of

internationalization, and he hopes the university 'will

look into this matter and allocate more resources'. To

accomplish this, however, support is needed by both

administrators and students.

"The streets of Kowloon" by Alexander Synaptic (flic.kr/p/nb2TGm) is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 3

Common Core Courses (CCs) were originally established to broaden students’ knowledge in

different areas including science, humanities, global languages and China. These courses

equip students with education of diverse fields and promote self-learning. However, do

students really gain a better education and do they really, as the CCs website states, “explore

issues of profound significance to humankind”?

Many students view CCs as a GPA killer and a waste of time. They seek courses that

ensure good grades and that have light workloads. As a result of this, at the start of

every semester we can hear friends talking about choosing a “good” CC to bump up

their grades.

The “Good” CC

What constitutes to a good CC? What, according to the students, is a good CC? Some

say it means the professor is lenient and gives good grades. Some say it means a total

workload of 500 words essay, a poster and a website only. Some say it means having

a final exam consisting of purely multiple choices. Or some say it means the course is

interesting, for instance the famous “Sex and Intimacy in Modern Times”.

Betty Fung, a year one student said, “every time I choose a CC according to my

interest, end up getting a bad score. So now, I always select courses according to the

course work, and the difficulty level.” Are interest and good performance mutually

exclusive?

Easy “A” Courses

Acommon core cornera

MELISSA LEUNG

"classroom" by Paul Goyette (flic.kr/p/77PDmR) is licensed under CC NC-SA 2.0

4

Many students view CCsa

as a GPA killer anda

a waste of timea

The Pursuit of Good CC

The common pursuit the good CC has given rise to many myths. The content below will

debunk these myths, in order to help you make a well-informed choice on the CCs you will

take in the next semester.

1. Newly founded CCs are more lenient.

This claim is not proven to be true. Although theoretically, the professors and tutors of new

CCs will want to make their course more popular among students to ensure that their

course will sustain for another year. We all know the power of the word of mouth, so if

students in a new CC all received a bad grade, that course will not be as popular in the next

year.

2. A CC with light workload is a good CC

This is not necessarily true. While students might have less work to do throughout the term,

the weighting of each component of the coursework will evidently be larger. If one of the

components turned out badly, the overall grade will be largely affected. On the other hand,

if there are more components, essays and presentations, the overall grade will be more

scattered. As a result, the chance of getting a good grade might be higher.

3. A CC that gave good grades last year will give good grades this year.

“I took a course that my friends said was a good grade CC. Then I got a C in that course,

while all my other CCs are in the B grade range. That taught me not to rely on good grade

recommendations,” said Marco Mong, a Year Two Mechanical Engineering student. While

your friends might have gotten a straight A in a particular CC last year, it might not be the

case in the following year. The workload, grading method and marker might be different;

hence a good grade course cannot be guaranteed from year to year.

In order to be more persuasive with our arguments, we attempted to ask the Common Core

Office for some marking statistics of CCs. However, we were declined as “the Committee is

of the view that it would not be appropriate to release the information requested.” We also

requested an interview with Professor L. George Tham, the acting Chair of Common Core

Curriculum, but were not given a reply as of publication. Perhaps, the curriculum

committee could consider being more transparent with their course information so as to

help students choose the appropriate course.

Key to Getting a Good Grade

“I got an A in that course. I didn’t go to the lectures at all.”

“Don’t listen to him. I got a C in that same course.”

Jonathan Wong and Isaac Cheung are both seated in front of me, debating whether

“Culture of War” is regarded as a good grade CC. While this discussion might seem

perplexing at first, everything becomes clear after a while.

“I always go through the lecture slides at home if I skip the lecture.”

“Yeah, I followed Isaac and skipped all the lectures but I didn’t read through the slides at

home. That’s probably why I got a C. “

At the end of the day, the effort you paid into the course will reflect the grade you get at

the end. Every CC can be a good grade one, if you have the heart to work for it.

5

13

With little or no hesitation, the decision to treat a broken bone or a toothache is a straight trip to the University Health

Services. But in the case of social adjustment or mental health issues, the door leading to professional support for some is

not as easy to open. The stigma of counseling and the expectation of self-healing can discourage students from stepping

forward to talk about their challenges with someone else.

The Counselling and Person Enrichment

Section (CoPE) under the Centre for

Development and Resources for Students

(CEDARS), however, tries to keep that door

open as wide as possible. As part of

CEDARS’s effort to be the one-stop resource

for students, CoPE takes care of

psychological counseling, personal

enrichment, and accessibility and support

for disability and educational needs.

Coming from diverse interests and

backgrounds in social work, clinical

psychology, and family therapy, its team of

psychologists and counselors are prepared

to address a variety of concerns that

students may have.

For decades, the counseling office had been

a part of student services at HKU. In 2006,

CEDARS was established, merging together

the Office of Student Affairs, Careers and

Placement Centre, and Personal

Development and Counseling, which had

duties similar to CoPE’s. Dr. Albert Chau,

the Dean of Student Affairs, said the

decision to combine came out of “the need

to provide a holistic and comprehensive

student support programme and to better

prepare for the 4-year undergraduate

curriculum.”

“Since the merge, the four sections of

CEDARS have been working as a team,” he

said.

Dr. Eugenie Y. Leung, the Director of

Counseling and Personal Enrichment, has

also seen the benefits of physically joining

CEDARS. In Meng Wah Complex, the

counseling centre is easily accessible to

anyone referred to their services from the

other student affairs offices on floors nearby.

“If there are things that we need to work

together with campus life to support the

students, we can work together more easily,”

said Dr. Leung.

An HKU alumnus, Dr. Leung has been with

CoPE for the past eight years after working

in a hospital psychiatric centre. Overseeing

the counseling services throughout the

years, she has identified four major areas

that students commonly seek help in:

adjustment problems, study stress,

relationships, and mental health problems.

With each need, Dr. Leung emphasizes the

CoPE’s commitment toward maintaining

the confidentiality and privacy of visitors in

order to make the choice to get counseling

less intimidating.

“I am trying very hard not to have [students]

waiting too long outside, or running into

visitors too easily,” she said. With the

university’s approval, the section keeps

counseling records separate from general

student records and private from anyone

seeking the information.

“We will keep all the information

confidential even when the person has come

to us or not, so this kind of assurance helps

students feel more secure coming to us.”

Strengthening Awareness Outside the Office

To encourage personal enrichment, the

CoPE offers programs to empower and

educate students to emotionally support

themselves and their community.

Mental health talks led by psychiatric and

counseling professionals are held for

audiences interested in specific

psychological areas such as counseling,

depression, and exam anxiety. Regular

workshops guide and inform students

about studying tips, personal image, and

relationships among other lifestyle and

development topics. Each semester, the

Mental Health First Aid programme trains

participants to be more aware in the

symptoms of common mental health

problems, and how and where to receive

help.

Recently, the CoPE has taken more creative

approaches toward immersing students in

mental health and personal development

through service projects.

In a former project, CoPE partnered with

the New Life Psychiatric Rehabilitation

Association and organized the HEA Kiosk

in Meng Wah Complex, promoting social

inclusion and equal employment. In the

project, student volunteers and trainees

recovering from mental illness together sold

fair trade and environmentally-friendly

products, as well as artwork created by

people in rehabilitation. Although only a

handful was recruited, participants gained

valuable knowledge on the workplace and

mental health.

“They will really have a firsthand

experience working with people in

rehabilitation, and that’s good for de-

stigmatization,” said Dr. Leung, who has

seen students from the business, law,

engineering, and science faculties

participate. The workers in rehabilitation

also benefited from becoming more

confident in working along side students

and in a new environment.

CoPE also promotes its services through

students who are concerned about someone

who needs counseling, but refuses to go.

Without naming the person, people can

receive advice on the services from its

counselors in order to facilitate the referral

process and persuade their friends to seek

help themselves.

Making Itself Known

Open Ears Celina Gore

7

University-wide emails, Facebook, and posters are the

most common ways that CoPE has tried to get the word

out on its counseling services, workshops, and events to

students.

In August, counselors attend each orientation program –

local, Mainland China, post-graduate, international, and

exchange student sessions – to introduce their campus

counseling services to the community.

CoPE also stresses that its services are free to students no

matter how many they may need, especially to the

foreign student population.

“The feedback from the international students is that in

some of the universities overseas is that the counseling

services are meant to be a short term one, so you are only

entitled to a certain number of sessions and then stop.

Here it’s always free, and you can take as many sessions

as possible,” said Dr. Leung.

One semester-exchange student, Angie, took full

advantage of the counseling services after her initial

weeks in Hong Kong sparked moments of homesickness,

culture shock, and doubts over her decision to study

abroad. In addition, she also sought professional help for

her depression, which had “exacerbated substantially”

since arriving, and the low self-esteem she had struggled

with as a child.

“Seeking help through counseling would be a means for

me to seek some sort of normalcy in my life when I felt

everything was unfamiliar, uncertain, and unstable,” she

said, knowing her past positive experience with

counseling.

Paired with a counselor, Angie found a comfortable

environment to discuss her concerns, as well as the

advice to improve her mental well-being.

“While my progress towards getting better has its ups

and downs, I feel like overall, I am better now than when

I first started, to which I give most of the credit to the

help of my counselor,” she said. “The people at CoPE are

ultimately there to help, and I think there's nothing

wrong with admitting to yourself that you need it.”

Compared to her generation, Dr. Leung feels that

students now are more open to counseling. She has seen

a range of locals, non-locals, and post-graduates of

different majors and years enter the office and use the

services. For anyone still looking for help, she hopes

their acronym – CoPE – will serve as a caring reminder of

the services.

“When you need some resources to cope with challenges

in life, then you can think of us.”

"The one thing that never waits." by Phoebe (flic.kr/p/ebE4yC) is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 8

Photo by Phoebe Hung

9

By no means should this be seen as an attack, but rather

constructive criticism.

I’ve been here for almost a full year and not one person has

been able to answer to my satisfaction this seemingly simple

question: who exactly are we? Usually it is just a vague

response of “HKU students” that comes with a frown but

really, we have no actual terminology for people of our kind,

unless of course you count on the Hong Kong University

Students’ Union (HKUSU)’s interpretation that we are all

“HKUers” from the bags they sell at the co-op store

(personally, I am not so keen on this name).

Yes, I am envious of universities abroad, particularly in the

U.S., such as Yale (Yalies), Princeton (Princetonian), Purdue

(Boilermakers), USC (Trojans), even Oxford (Oxonian). You

see? Calling oneself a “HKUer” or a “HKU student” simply

cannot compare when talking about school pride.

Don’t get me wrong, HKU has been treating me well nor do

I have a grudge against the school (why else would I be a

Student Ambassador?), but this is just one of the things that

virtually everyone silently acknowledges while remaining

unresolved.

Would you personally be willing to paint yourself in dark

green, our official school colour, to show your pride? No, I

suspect.

By contrast, I know most current students and graduates

from so-called elite local secondary schools, me included,

would change their Facebook profile pictures almost

unanimously before the intense, annual Inter-school

Athletics Meet to a common icon of their school to show

their support and love. On-day, there is simply an incredible

atmosphere as everyone dresses up the official merchandise

and cheers their school on. There is simply no culture like

that here at HKU.

Now I am not asking us to go to the extremes of some U.S.

universities, but ask yourself: how familiar are you with the

HKU cheer? Apart from hearing it at the One Night Stay

(ONS) camp offered to all local secondary school applicants

and during my Student Ambassador orientation (which note,

is by the same division that runs the ONS), I haven’t heard it

since.

On the other hand, the halls appear to be where all the pride

is locked up. Starting with identity, every hallmate would

consider themselves a Swirian, Skyer, St. Johnian, Starrian,

etc. and would at the very minimum know the lyrics and

gestures of countless cheers often performed well by heart.

Inter-hall competitions, particularly with “new ball games”

such as hockey, lacrosse and softball, are – from my

experience so far – the only thing that comes close to

genuine pride.

Surprisingly, this is also the case at universities like Yale,

where students identify with their residential colleges until

they go beyond the campus and are instantly transformed

into Yalies again. A friend who went to Yale tells me, the

school pride comes primarily from competition with

Harvard and students tend to go insane during the Harvard-

Yale game (“The Game”). Sounds familiar? Yes, inter-school

competitions do indeed bring out the pride in all of us but it

falls short here in Hong Kong at least. Local universities do

compete for certain sports such as rowing and track & field

but obviously awareness or concern within the student

populations are not high.

On a more superficial level, I have noticed that hall and

faculty hoodies (notably throughout winter) are much more

common than the official HKU hoodies sold by HKUSU. At

Yale and many other universities, people generally adore

wearing standard university apparel, with hoodies, sweaters,

pullovers, sweatpants, etc. without any distinguishable elitism

or segregation implied.

To HKU’s defense, perhaps at the end of the day, this

freshman has no basis to step out of line and judge whether

or not HKU – an elite university focused on delivering

excellent academic education to its students – lacks in school

pride nor to tell you how to love and respect your school.

But honestly I believe you can feel it. How often do you

even see our university mascot, the lion? Apart from

graduation, it is almost never.

Now is high time for us to re-evaluate our identities and

drive change for the better to make it beyond a place where

you merely study. Asia as a whole is not so keen on sports

(though we have a close equivalent: a university rugby team),

but there is a difference when schools such as the University

of Pennsylvania have their own marching bands to further

boost school spirit during critical times. We should be

focusing more on that rather than ‘traditions’ like high table

dinners which do little to foster pride or boost allegiance. So

Marketing 101, let's begin by rebranding ourselves.

"Sapientian", anyone? You could simply take my comments

with a grain of salt, but what I hope to see is a passionate

student body prove me wrong.

I MY UNI?

10

No, this is not what you think. People do not cycle for soap, in fact, there’s no cycling involved

whatsoever. Soap Cycling is just another way of saying “Recycling Soap.”

Around two million bars of soap are tossed away by hotels in

Hong Kong every year, most of them unused. I mean let’s

face it, how many of us really use the scrawny bars laid out

on the bathroom countertop in hotel rooms? Most people

would probably just run the bar of soap through the tap once

or twice, and forget about it a minute later. Meanwhile,

children around the world under the age of five are dying

from pneumonia and diarrhea, diseases that can be effectively

prevented by washing their hands with soap. With the help of

student interns at HKU, Soap Cycling has blossomed into a

full-scale organization that is dedicated to running this social

venture with the aim of helping out the world, one bar of

soap soap at a time.

Founded by David Bishop, a senior lecturer of business and

law at HKU, Soap Cycling is an NGO that mainly works with

the hospitality industry to recycle soap. Whereas many hotels

choose to dump their slightly used bars of soap, the operation

team at Soap Cycling collects them and brings as many as

they can back to the warehouse, where volunteers sanitize

them in order to distribute the soaps to those in need. The

primary aims of Soap Cycling are to improve sanitation and

hygiene in underprivileged regions such as Vietnam,

Cambodia and the Philippines, not only to reduce child

mortality rates, but also to promote waste reduction and

green living.

So how does Soap Cycling work?

With the support of a growing number of hotel partners

around the world, Soap Cycling receives a great number of

donated soaps. Volunteers are encouraged to come to the

warehouse at Kwai Hing and help scrape the debris off the

soaps, all to a strict standard. After a certain amount is

accumulated, a processing machine is used to melt together

all the clean soaps and then a long tube of fresh soap is

produced, which is then cut up into smaller, decent sized bars.

Packed up neatly into boxes, they are then shipped to places

all over Asia to help raise awareness and prevent infectious

diseases.

soap

Lindsay Qian

11

There are many Soap Cyclers currently serving as interns and

course-takers. Each helper is grouped into a certain

department that is dedicated to do their best. One of the core

members of the marketing team interning at Soap Cycling has

voiced out her passion for it:

“I jumped at the opportunity to join Soap Cycling through the

social venture internship because I was excited about the idea

of participating in a course that was a total break from the

traditional classroom setting and course structure,” she said.

Having been heavily involved in social enterprise clubs like

Enactus, she was especially interested in the various creative

ways that reusing, recycling, and up-cycling have posed as

solutions to waste management.

“Soap Cycling is an extremely successful example of the

power of recycling, not only to reduce waste but also to

provide poor communities with a vital resource that we have

in excess,” she added. Social ventures are certainly becoming

increasingly popular in Hong Kong, with youths actively

participating in events offered by many different kinds of

organizations that provide the possibility of helping out parts

of the world through simple ways. Youth development is a

major prompter of Soap Cycling, as it is run by mostly

university students. By taking this course (or joining Soap

Cycling), students are given the opportunity to see how

NGOs are ran and learn to be quick on their feet.

“The most rewarding part of joining Soap Cycling is being

part of an organization that really helps people in such a

simple, yet meaningful way,” she continued. She also

emphasized that by getting soap to communities that don’t

have daily access to sanitation and lack education in basic

hygiene, Soap Cycling is truly making life saving

contributions.

This month (April is also known as Earth Month), Soap

Cycling held a three-day event that volunteers participated in.

The usual scraping and sanitizing was involved, but this

campaign was even more intense than the regular sessions

held at Kwai Hing every weekend. Everyone is welcome to

lend a helping hand, and just like what Soap Cycling’s tagline

says: Soap. It’s that important.

cycling

INNOVATION

FOR YOUTH

"Plastic Bottle Cap" by Phoebe (flic.kr/p/d1u6wy) is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

12

The University of Hong Kong is one of the finest institutions of the

world; it has a prestige attached to its name and stands in the world

ranking as an internationally renowned university. Thousands of

students from every corner of the world are enrolled every semester

and many set indelible marks and make history. The question of yet

greater consequence is, “Are students of HKU happy?”

A number of students from diverse backgrounds and nationalities

were surveyed on the subject. Here’s a summary of what they had to

say.

Many international students are studying on scholarships (some don’t

even need to pay a penny); moreover, expenses, ranging from food to

accommodation, are reasonably subsidized. Notifications about

career opportunities and stimulating talks are always making their

way to your inbox. Many events and societies are specially working

for the interest of the international students.

Among all the other things, Chi Wah Learning Commons and

Centennial Campus are venerated and loved by almost every student.

Global Lounge is a haven for non-local students and holds numerous

cultural events representing highlighting the diversity of the student

body. International society is always looking for opportunities to unite

the students regardless of their nationality. The University Health

Service (UHS) caters to the needs of the students and staff in the best

possible way. In addition to the facilities for almost any sport, three

gyms are available at different locations.

The campus is adored by many as ‘beautiful’; its diverse makeup

ranges from the Victorian style main campus to the Centennial

Campus made by the modern man. It is easily accessible and the

university shuttles and the bus discounts serve the purpose of

keeping transportation costs to a minimum. Moreover, the MTR’s

West Island Line, expected to be completed at the end of 2014, will

make things much easier, at least for those residing at the Residential

Colleges.

As for the part that many of us may shy away from, the darker side of

HKU – there are some critical points, reasonably pronounced.

Although local students and international students are all happy in

their respective realms, lack of integration between the two spheres

is a fundamental issue. Opportunities for students of different

nationalities to come together are always available but it would be

better if they were conducted more frequently. As an international

student, if you live in a hall that is dominated by local students,

chances are that you might see some locals or Mainlanders, perhaps,

whom you don’t know at all. The language barrier seems to prevail in

almost every corner of the campus: staff members at halls may not

understand you or they may get irritated when you ask them to

repeat something; the medium of communication used for societies

and meetings is not English and it is also not a rare sight to see

posters on campus that are entirely inscribed in Chinese. Whatever

might be the cause, these things have the effect of compromising the

international standing of this university.

By Osama Hussain

STUDENT

13

Satisfaction Another problem voiced by the students, especially non-locals, of

some halls was about the “invasion of privacy” of the students. Word

has it that, in some halls, staff members enter anyone’s room if

there’s no response after two or three knocks. While students in

these halls may feel insecure at times, HKU also offers the Residential

Colleges, termed by an exchange student as a “maximum security

prison.”

Academic-wise, the curriculum is not considered very tough but the

competition is high, exceedingly so in some fields such as the Faculty

of Business and Economics; some take it as a matter of motivation

whereas some take it as quite the contrary. The focus paid on

studying is more than what is required and some students are often

surrounded by coursework. This does not only keep them from

enjoying their time, but it also inhibits the development of social and

interpersonal skills.

With the increase in Hong Kong’s population and the influx of non-

locals, the university is overcrowded and one often stumbles on a

queue in the campus. Perhaps a few more canteens and restaurants

could overcome that problem. Many tutors and lecturers are highly

intelligent and informed, speak proper English. However some are

inexperienced in terms of teaching, while others have a very strong

accent or are not proficient at all in speaking English. Moreover, the

exam papers are not returned. The question as to why that is so

remains a mystery. If you get a grade which is somewhat inferior to

what you expected and if you want to see your exam paper, you can’t.

If you think you deserved better, well, pay $200 and the concerned

department will recheck it for you but, as the re-appeal document

points out in bold and underlined text, “appeal against the academic

judgment of the examiners will NOT be entertained.” The money will

be refunded if there was any procedural or technical error, not

otherwise. The grading criteria also need in transparency, for many

students end up with grades that they did not expect, sometimes

much better and sometimes far from it.

When asked whether they would be better off at some other

university, the students responded along varied lines. Many full time

international students said that they were happy to be here but the

satisfaction level stood at different levels. The local students mostly

considered themselves highly fortunate and pleased to be here.

Students from Mainland China, given the rigorous competition they

go through, also reckoned themselves privileged to have made it to

HKU. The exchange students, not surprisingly, compare the standing

of this university to that of their respective home universities. Most of

them were happy to be here but did not wish to be full time students

at HKU for different reasons.

Reverting back to the question under discussion, HKU has had its

brighter moments and it is capable of procuring much more. The

perks that this university has to offer are nowhere near trivial and as

for the criticism, it cannot be condoned but I am certain that our

voices will eventually lead to reforms. That aside, I am incredibly

delighted to declare that most HKU students are happy to be here,

but as for who’s satisfied and who’s not, I would not venture to say.

"Victoria Harbour" by Phoebe (flic.kr/p/jkapPG) is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

14

"Victoria Harbour" by Phoebe (flic.kr/p/jkapPG) is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

What do

you wake up to? Jamie Choy

What do

you wake up to?

"vertical limit" by paul bica (flic.kr/p/bhdeLM) is licensed under CC BY 2.0

15

“Answer.

That you are

here—that life

exists and

identity,

That the

powerful play

goes on, and

you may

contribute a

verse.”

Walt Whitman’s cries: “O Me! O Life!” borne out of

existential anxiety is a crisis that most of us, albeit at

mere twenty-something are not entirely unfamiliar with.

Amidst corruption, tedium and his own foolishness,

Whitman asks the ultimate question:

What is the meaning of life?

16

“. . . medicine, law, business, engineering . . . these are

noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty,

romance, love . . . these are what we stay alive for.”

- The Dead Poets Society

Everywhere human beings are looking for meaning. There is an inexplicable need to know that our

existence holds weight, that we are not mere shadows. Hong Kong is a vibrant city, but in all her vitality she fails

to pause and look inside our hearts. When we think that we have searched every corner, yet the ultimate answer

remains elusive, we create our own meaning by trying to leave a mark. At this age, our ambitious selves search

for a suitable career, but what happens when our youthful passion comes into conflict with the shiny career goal

that society has planned for us? Should students part ways with their ideals and measure themselves according

to the capitalist standard for success?

Those who choose to pursue slightly less conventional degrees usually face patronizing appraisals: So what are

you going to do with that philosophy degree? What exactly is comparative literature? Sometimes, they are seen as

rash, reckless and idealistic. Here, in defense of pursuing what you love:

Motivation, the drive behind our actions Motivation is related to intrinsic and extrinsic rewards.

It has been argued that whilst we seek extrinsic

reward such as good grades and financial pay,

intrinsic reward is what makes us persevere even

when the material gets difficult. An aspect of intrinsic

reward is finding inherent value in our task at hand,

which is to say that we need to believe our efforts are

not wasted in order to stay motivated1. This follows

that if you think that the ‘thing’ you are pursuing is

valuable in itself, you will probably work harder at it.

Hard work usually translates into a higher GPA which

also increases your desirability to employers.

Your degree should neither define nor

delimit you Unlike law and medicine, many degrees are not

catered towards a specific career. This is unsettling for

most students because amidst their future, then,

looms a misty cloud of uncertainty. However, there is

a common misconception that a degree that is not

narrowly tailored for a specific career means that one

is less likely to succeed. Many degrees such as liberal

arts majors help students develop crucial skills

pertinent to many areas of the career field. This

includes critical and creative thinking, communication

skills, attention to detail, rhetoric and many more.

Your degree does not always relate to

your job Many people learn how to do their job whilst they are

doing their job. Then, there are those who find jobs

completely unrelated to the field they studied in

university. In all honesty, this cuts both ways. I have a

1 http://iveybusinessjournal.com/topics/the-workplace/the-four-intrinsic-rewards-that-drive-employee-engagement#.UyFHI_mSzfh

friend who majored in history and is now a consultant

at a bank, which you may argue smells like hypocrisy

but he has no regrets because it was time well spent. It

can be problematic when students pursue a degree

that does not relate well to any career paths. With that

in mind, a compromise can be made by coupling what

you love doing with internships that let you refine

your skills and improve your resume. You can still

stand out.

Your satisfaction matters We already know the damage that stress can do to our

mental and physical health. There is also a correlation

between happiness and health. However, HKU

students’ love for all-nighters suggests that health may

not be at the top of our priorities. Quite frankly, when

we pick an area of study that does not necessarily

translate into a currency of material value, we are

picking a path that is not without obstacles. Panic,

anxiety, angst – feelings common to HKU students may

be intensified for those who are not studying

conventional courses. With this in mind, why does our

passion matter? Many of us have been taught that our

present misery is only a stepping stone towards a

futuristic utopia, but this is arguable. You must grab

happiness when an opportunity presents itself; you

need to guard it before the humdrum capitalistic noise

saturates everything and turns it grey. You cannot

plan every step of your life, but if what you want to

pursue gives you a sense of fulfillment, then, what

more do you need to ask for? This article alone cannot

persuade you to follow your dreams. First, you must

look inside yourself.

17

You were never a fan of socializing.

Face it: you might not be the hardcore

introvert type, but the mere thought of

talking to random strangers in campus is

enough to give you headache. Especially when you are just that fed up with

university life, paying attention to others’ affairs might seem like a luxury

when you can barely maintain control of your own.

Nonetheless, you are the optimistic type, so you still kept your head high, and stride into the lecture hall with all the courage that you can muster. After all, “a new semester means a brand new start” has always been your motto.

You sit down, yearn a bit, and turn to the person sitting next to you…

the Nerd It’s him again, camping on the front row of the lecture hall, staring straight into the professor’s eyes with a lust for knowledge that can never be sated. He’s never the one you wanted to befriend, especially with that extra thick pair of glasses that blocks off any chances in starting an interesting dialogue. However, you were taught to never judge a book by its cover, and being in the same group as him for the project seems to be a very sensible choice.

You wonder what GPA he managed to score last semester. It will certainly hurt your dignity as a student to know. Disagreeing on how he prioritizes things differently from you, and the fact that somebody actually pays attention to studying in University, you can’t help but say to him, “dude, get a life”. But when he turned to you with his flawless mid-term paper and seemingly mocks you by saying, “No man, you try to get a job after graduation”, you have then came to the sudden realization, that you might have been the one doing university wrong.

18

the Businessman You bumped into him the other day in University Street in his usual sleek attire—an over-priced suit, overly-greased hair, and a somewhat annoying, over-confident grin. Why is it even necessary to suit up when you are merely going to a lecture? While you were whispering this question to yourself, he was already swiftly approaching you, as a predator hunts down its prey. Even when he seems to be hurrying to some “business events” of his, he always still manages to slip a business card from his pocket into your hand. Heavens, it even has a watermark on it. “Hey, how’re you doing? Got a meeting to catch, though, can’t talk. Definitely should meet up sometimes!” You wish you could be as motivated and resolute as he is, but the thought of having to wear a business suit everyday for no apparent reason is more than enough to send sweat down your chin.

the Hippie You have never seen this person in her sober state ever since the first time you met her in the night club. On most Monday morning lectures, she reeks of alcohol, and might have been considered the incarnation of “hangover” itself. Truth be told, it would have been a miracle seeing her appear in the lecture theatre in the first place. Normally you would try to avoid getting in touch with her just to stay out of trouble, but there is one exception-- when you are desperately in need of some hardcore partying, then she would be the perfect choice for company. Her sense of humor, further complemented by her lack of humiliation, is beyond what your mind can fathom. Not bounded by any kind of decree or norm, social deviance is her inborn instinct. She takes no consequences into consideration, and the word “YOLO” (you only live once) seems to have become more and more of a lifestyle choice for her, rather than a joke. Get drunk, get wasted, and get laid. Everybody should try it once when they are still young.

the Quarterback You were never fond of this brawny barbarian back in high school, and, frankly speaking, the transition into university didn’t make that much of a difference. He used to bully you, snatch stuff out of your schoolbag and take all your lunch money. Now, he (not necessarily the same person though) is actually still bothering you, but on a whole new level -- by taking away all the attention of the girls. You know you definitely hate this guy. Especially since he gained access to the university gym in Flora Ho sports centre and has altered into a pile of muscled disfiguration. He is the team member of any university sports team you can name, and even the sports captain of his hall. Why is he even in university, which is supposed to be a serene and dignified place for pursuing academic excellence? Damn, you just loathe this guy.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

the Shakespeare Mostly the English major students, fantasizing their life as an epic play on the stage. You always thought that a sprinkle of literature every now and then could cleanse your mind and nourish your thoughts, but when you scroll through your friends Facebook timeline to see nothing but literary quotes and Macbeths, you know you have just acquainted yourself with a Shakespeare fanatic. The good thing about befriending with her? You can always delve into a bit of intellectual talk and make sure that you are honing your scholastic edges. The downside of it? She might turn out to be a grammar nazi, with an obsessive-compulsive disorder in correcting every single word you’ve said. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

the Couple These two have miraculously taken human evolution to a new level, illustrating to fellow mankind that two human beings can actually intertwine into one symbiotic entity. Never has there been a known case of the two of them being physically separated from each other. It might have been the sweetest thing seeing these two getting along so well the first week or two-- holding hands where ever they go, feeding each other while they are eating, registering for the exact same courses… That is, until their relationship got a bit “out of hand”. They suddenly seem to be making out in the public and flirting during lecture at a much more frequent rate, and that most certainly bothers you. Or is it just jealousy? You have no idea.

the Zombie After a long tiring day, you drag yourself back to your safe haven, relishing the numbness and agony coursing through your whole body. You can't muster a thought about what happened today, and yesterday already seems like a blur. You turn to stare at the calendar, only to be distressed about what will come tomorrow. If that is the case, congratulations, you have reached the final form of being a college student: the zombie. Yet as monotonous as your life is, you still manage to find a slight bit of contentment from meeting all these amazing people, people from all walks of life, learning and thriving together with them. You are grateful for the joy they bring into your life, because you know that they are the people you call “friends”.

19

“Fear cuts deeper than swords. Strong as a bear. Fierce as a wolverine.”

A well versed Game of Throne Fans might at once recall the scene where this quote is spoken. Among

things in HKU that induce fear: GPA, assignment deadlines or not being able to graduate or “chut pool”

(find a date), there are also the well-famed HKU ghost stories. And the May Hall ghost story was said to

be one of the scariest amongst other HKU ghost story.

During the day, next to Meng Wah Complex, is a very pleasant short trail from Eliot Hall to May Hall. Up

the concrete trail, penetrating the blowing foliage, shafts of sunlight gently shower on travellers’

shoulder like golden drizzles. Turn left and before you stands the 99 years-old May Hall. The three

storey high, Edwardian red-brick house, occupying a siren corner of the campus (when the construction

stops), shines shyly under the sun, behind the Eliot Hall and the Chong Yuet Ming Fountain.

May Hall at night is a different story: a peculiar white wall blocks the gloomy corridor connecting Eliot

Hall and May Hall with eerie yellow lights glowing around you. A perplexing cage-like structure half-

hidden in the trees, is visible from the terraces of May Hall’s second floor. Shadowy trees lurking behind

the building foreshadows the backyard of May Hall, which is used to be an old basketball court, looks

exactly a place for ghost stories.

There are several different versions of the story. The following one is a widely circulated on internet

forums around 2007, which is more or less similar to the one told during orientation camps.

Many years ago, May Hall used to be an all-boys hall, housing many Malayan students. In 1985, May

Hall became part of the Old halls (together with Lugard Hall and Eliot Hall) after Typhoon Wendy

seriously devastated the building. For students' convenience, the University built stairs connecting the

halls with Bonham Road. The dead spirits of those who were brutally killed at Bonham Road by the

invading Japanese during WWII, were guided by these flights of stairs to a basketball court in May Hall.

Tales of May Hall Andra Au

"Campus at night" by Sonya Song (flic.kr/p/4SJdnp) is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

20

21

20

It is said that a Feng Shui master said that these stairs were filled with "yin", or dark forces. The

University then decided to block the stairs with a white wall so to let the dead spirits have a place to

stay as well as prevent students from disturbing them. And at the end of the stairs, there was a

basketball court, yet it was rarely used and students usually went to basketball court far away from the

campus for practice. It was rumoured that the basketball court was not meant for the students, but for

"them", dead spirits of children, because the basketball court, without a rim, was too small. This

basketball court was the starting point of the ghost story.

The story begins with a male student practising basketball there. Whenever he practised, there was a

girl watching him. One day after practice, the male student followed the girl, who went up to the second

floor and went into the last room of May Hall.

The male student went to ask the hall curator who lives in that room, and was told that it was an empty

room. This puzzled him exceedingly. Unsettled by this mystery, the student then went to the library and

found in old news that a person died in that room many years ago.

The next day, he again followed the girl into May Hall. After the girl entered the room, he peeped inside

through the key hole of the door.

The thing he saw further puzzled him. What he saw was:

Red.

Red.

He went to the library again in search for an answer, which after that he never ever dared to go near

that room again:

When a person dies of hanging, the blood vessel in the eyes will burst and dye the eyes’ conjunctiva red.

The colour of the eyes will become red (conjunctiva), black (pupil) and red (conjunctiva).

The girl was looking at him at the same time through the keyhole.

Ghost story like this usually receive mixed reaction. When I told others of the story, I often got these

reactions..

One said: “Waa… that’s really horrible! The story sends chills down my spine. Do human eyes really

look like that if you hang yourself?” While another person replied saying, “I have heard of ghost stories

like that before, this story can’t scary me at all.

This is why ghost stories are interesting: some people believes it and some people don’t. There were

also many discussion online concerning the story, sharing their memories concerning the place.

Believe it or not depends greatly in what you believe in, but this story constitutes an important part of

student life.

“When you went into the orientation, you learn the secret. It was a scary secret. And yet now you have

it. And now you can scare other people with it.” Said Dr. David Palmer, who teaches courses in

Anthropology and Sociology here at HKU. “That is what initiation is like, a rite of passage. They (the

stories) scared you but by after scaring you, you became part of your group too!”

“So it’s a secret that at the moment you share it, the other people become part of you group.”

Though equipped with great knowledge and experience, a professor might also fallen victim of a good

university ghost story.

May

Hall

at n

ight i

s a d

ifferen

t stor

y.

Black.

21

“You scared me with it. I have an office in May Hall. Now, you know… I was a little... Even though I don’t

believe in ghost (and) ghost stories are scary, so now whenever I go to May

Hall I would think of that story. I never think about it before … It will

change my experience.”

“Now I need to live with this story. I need to overcome any fear. I

am not going to stop going to May Hall. I‘ll keep going there and I

will overcome my fear. In a sense... Just like a martial artist or

fighter. His fear is always there but he can always overcome it.”

said Professor David Palmer

Flipping through the magazines celebrating May Hall

Jubilee (1915-1965) or the 20 year anniversary of the Old

Halls Jubilee, there was only one mentioning of the ghost

story. A student belonging to the Old Halls said that ghost

story is one of the many impressions people have towards

May Hall, without explaining what kind of ghost story is it.

At the same time, there was several interesting things

recorded in the magazine.

Ragging Greenhorns (freshmen) was, apart from vigorous

student movements and competitions with other halls (e.g.

St. John’s and Ricci), one of the most important thing for

students living in the Old Halls. According rto the magazine,

Stephen C. L. Chan (陳載澧), past student at Lugard Hall who

later established the HKU General Education Unit (now based in

May Hall), said that the “Royal Flush” was popular during his stay.

The “ceremony” involved putting a Greenhorn’s head into a toilet

bowel and the seniors flushed the toilet. While the “Orange Squash” at

May Hall, was to smear orange juice onto the Greenhorns’ head, order them

not to clean their face and locked them in a room for a night. These memories: the culture and pride of

those living in May Hall/ the Old Halls, survived the great typhoon Wendy, but was gone as time went by.

One might not remember the “Royal Flush” nor the “Orange Squash”, but the May Hall ghost story might

very well live on, as each year, seniors (Joba and Joma) taught the freshmen this scary story.

“Ghost story is that kind of story, because of ghost is a

human being but there is an issue of death, suicide and

scary appearances. So it's not completely unimaginable,

and it's not normal, and appeals to our deep fear.”

Sadi Professor Palmer

P.S If you find this story very scary, do read this version. The version is the same except the colour the

student saw: green, white, green. What could this be? It was, in fact the girl/ghost, had some green

veggie caught between her teeth.

P.S.S Dear Ghostbusters, if you want to find out more, I highly recommend you to visit the General

Education Unit’s Gatherland in May Hall. It is a cosy place to hang out, to study or to simply drink some

coffee. Gatherland is opened from Monday to Friday 9:30am to 6:00pm, which is recommended by the

GE staff: “Come at night, and you will know”, said she.

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