Hobbies and Interests
Our correspondent in China, Kelvin Ng who is also a former president of WYKAAO, shares his album of pictures taken in the recent Expo in Shanghai. Click here to view the photos.
Shanghai, known as the Paradise for Explorers (冒險家的樂園), has gone through many changes.
“… in the years of 1947-50, … refugees from China rushed into Hong Kong … as we, students of Wah Yan College Kowloon, encountered them joining our classes in large numbers. The Shanghai boys spoke better English, were Catholics, and appeared generally confident.
… in May 1973, ... The streets were filled with thousands of running bicycles.
… the city planners had done an excellent job, by building a network of overpass highways to extend Shanghai outwards, like the pictorial structure of its old name, Shen 申, with a main cross surrounded by a square. It eased much of the original inner-city traffic congestions, and connected Shanghai to all the thriving neighbouring cities in the Yangtze River delta region.
… Teachers and professors were branded “rats dashing across streets” 過街老鼠 during the Cultural Revolution, to be beaten by everyone, especially pupils and cadres. Their salaries existed on paper only. Twenty years ago a full professor received $270 per month. Beginning about ten years ago, there had been no fixed salary for professors, even in the same university
… And, once again, Shanghai is a new paradise for new generations of explorers, who care not to exploit, but to share in the creation of a fair and commonly aspired future.
… Yet, the fact speaks loudly. A new approach is working effectively. It may mean that China is meeting the world on its own terms. It will be up to foreigners to learn how ‘offices’ operate in China.
… Today, the statue of Chen Yi 陳毅 stands where, one hundred years ago, a plaque stood to degrade the Chinese people. It said, ‘No Chinese and dogs allowed here’. ”
Click here to read the whole article.
Expo67 took place in Montreal with the theme, "Man and His World".
Forty three years later, Expo2010 opened to the world in Shanghai with the theme, "Better City, Better Life".
S.L. Kong (53), who was involved in designing the Canadian Pavilion in Expo 1967, visited Expo2010. He shares his thoughts in an article in the Features Page. His expo album is on the Pictures Page.
In this article, the author recounts his meeting with Zhou Pei Yuan 周培源, Fung You Lan 馮友蘭, Qian Wei Chang 錢偉長, Guo Moruo 郭沫若, Fei Xiao Tong 費孝通 and Su Bu Qing 蘇步青 in 1970s. "All these scholars were well educated in the Chinese tradition. They also had rich and notable experiences in universities outside of China when they were young..."
Click here to read the whole text.
The 4th article in this series, The Miracle, traces how Shenzhen has become the second largest economic city in China, after Shanghai. In 30 years, this small muddy check point, with a name meaning ‘Deep Ditch’, has developed into a modern metropolis. The author attributes its success to the Power of Being Free. Please click the Features Page to read the article.
Mr Laurence Tam writes, "On 2nd May, Sunday, I was invited by the Hong Kong Culture and Leisure Services Department (LCSD) to be the judge of a sand sculpture competition at Shek-O Beach. Shek-O was chosen, because the sand over there is extraordinary fine. There had been 12 rounds of competitions before this. This was the final round in which five of the winning teams who scored the highest points in the earlier competitions were competing. The winning team in this competition will be representing Hong Kong to take part in the international sand sculpture event to be held in coming August at Kagoshima in Japan.
This is #3 in the series of China Meets the World. The author speaks to Dr. Wu Yi-Fang 吳貽芳, in 1972 and 1976. Dr. Wu (1893-1985), the first president of the first women's university in China, was a great educator. She contributed significantly to modern China, from the 1911 Revolution on, and through the turbulent years of the Sino-Japanese War, the Civil War, and then the Cultural Revolution.
This article presents brief exerts of their conversation on Dr. Wu’s work in the most difficult periods of Chinese history.
Click here to read the whole article.
(1928年，吳貽芳任金陵女大第一任校長時在校園內留影)
A member of WYKAAO has offered a batch of Chinese books for sale to our members and friends. Net proceeds will be donated to WYKAAO. A number of copies are availble for the following books:
1. 中國文字 – 草簡源系
2. 認識漢字學漢語
3. 一筆字書法字帖
4. 千字文全篇
Click here if you would like to place orders or want to know more about these books.
1. 中國文字 – 草簡源系 (suggested minimum $80)
2. 認識漢字學漢語 (suggested minimum $50)
3. 一筆字書法字帖 (suggested minimum $30)
4. 千字文全篇 (suggested minimum $75)
Please indicate which book(s) you would like to order and the quantity.
We will follow up with you through e-mail about shipping details and the method of payment.
Since 1950, Psychology, branded as imperialistic, has been banned in China. In 1981, a professor of the University of Toronto speaks to an audience in Shanghai on the recent development of Psychology in the West. He believes, “If China was to meet the world, her decision makers must … approach the world as it is, a multi-dimensional constellation.”
Click here to read the whole article.