Choi : What makes you take up educational work? For how many years have you been teaching? Have you worked on other jobs besides?
Mr. Chung: I took up education for two reasons. When I was studying Form 6, I was Chairman of a voluntary group and had to teach in an evening primary school for adults. At that time, many fishermen and factory workers received no schooling when young and were illiterate. For self-enhancement, they chose to study after work. Their eagerness and persistence in learning and their respect for teachers deeply touched me and inspired my enthusiasm in education. Moreover, my brother was also engaged in educational work and often shared with me his experiences and their joys and sorrows. As a result, I took up teaching after graduation.
Leung：Before you became our Principal, where did you teach and what were your major subjects?
Mr. Chung: I (mainly) taught English, World History, Integrated Humanities and Liberal Studies at St. Joseph’s College on Hong Kong Island.
Choi : What do you think is the role of the principal in a school?
Mr. Chung: As a principal, I can fulfil my educational ideals and aspirations to the benefit of students of the whole school. I strongly believe that nurturing the next generation is the adults’ responsibility. After becoming Principal, I can implement various policies and programmes to broaden their horizons, consolidate their skills and improve their attitude towards learning.
Leung : In what way did our school appeal to you that you would like to be our principal?
Mr. Chung: I have always been living on Hong Kong Island and POCAWSCSS was rather unknown to me until the school was recruiting a new principal and I intended to apply for the post. Since then I began to research its background and the information about it. Incidentally, I had a few friends living in Tsuen Wan, who had children studying in the school. They held the school in high esteem, telling me it was a simple and unpretentious school, its students being industrious and aspiring, with good language ability. They also performed well in extracurricular activities. Meanwhile the teachers were dedicated, always willing to sacrifice their time and effort to give extra guidance to students. They were ready to help students not only in their studies but also in their family or emotional problems. In this way, the school impressed me in different aspects and I was eager to be principal here.
Choi: What are your educational aspirations?
Mr. Chung: I had a very good teacher whose words have been guiding me along. He said, “A teacher does not teach books; he teaches people.” Information and knowledge are concrete and passing them onto students is not difficult. The difficulty lies in the inculcation of propriety and morality in students. To achieve this, I suppose teachers should set good examples and always do their proper duties, so that students can model on their exemplary behaviour. Besides, I also firmly believe that a person should possess both intelligence and virtue and have training in the five aspects of education namely, the moral, intellectual, physical, social and aesthetic aspects. Only then can students have all-round development before they can contribute to the well-being of the community.
Leung : What is the school mission under your leadership?
Mr. Chung: My goals as Principal coincide with our school’s original mission and goals, which emphasize “Respect, Humility, Progress, Sensitivity”. I hope that students can have self-respect and respect for others, learn with modesty, progress with the times to enhance themselves, be active and responsive in doing things and fulfil their proper duties.
Choi : What do you think is a good secondary school, and what are the essential conditions for its successful operation?
Mr. Chung: A good school must, in computer terms, possess the relevant hardware and software. The “hardware” refers to the school facilities, the environment and the resources. Ample resources and a favourable environment can produce conditions conducive to learning. The “software” refers to manpower. A good school must have quality participants. First about the leadership. The school management is like a beacon guiding the whole school. School leaders should have farsighted educational ideals. They should improve with the times and possess the courage to assume responsibility. On the teachers’ part, they need dedication and take it as their ultimate duty to educate students to be learned and moral people. As for students, they should persist in working hard for progress, relate with others according to our school motto: respecting others, being modest and polite, progressing with the times and being prudent in speech and quick in response. Other stakeholders like parents also have an important role to play. This is because a spirit of cooperation between the school and the family can encourage parent-teacher communication, which is beneficial to the upbringing of children. The advancement of a good school cannot just rely on the leadership: it requires the support and concerted effort of all teachers, students and parents, so that our school can create more miracles.
Leung : WSCSS has changed from an ordinary Chinese secondary school into a prestigious English secondary school. Its outstanding performance is obvious to all. How would you maintain this position? Do you have further enhancement in mind?
Mr. Chung: The upgrading of our school from a CMI school to an EMI school was not an easy task. It has involved a lot of effort and devotion from the board of directors, the past principals, parents, teachers and students over the years. I understand that to carry forward our achievements is a big challenge. But since we have made the effort to change to an English school, we have to put in extra effort to make it a worthy one. To sustain such an advantage, I will try to create a favourable English-speaking environment in the campus and raise the students’ interest in English. Relying on regular English lessons solely is not enough. We must provide different English learning opportunities outside the classroom to improve students’ ability in English. I also hope to augment the school’s educational quality and increase the effectiveness of classroom teaching, so that our school can be constantly upgraded.
Leung : What expectations do you have for yourself, your teachers and students?
Mr. Chung: My motto is: “Treat people with generosity and handle matters with strictness”. I always think that in getting along with others, we have to learn to be understanding and considerate and put ourselves in others’ shoes. Only in this way can people have close cooperation with one another. In handling matters, we have to be serious before things can be done flawlessly. Unfortunately, young people nowadays are often generous to themselves and harsh to others, and this is surely something to avoid. That is why I expect myself, our teachers and students to understand the necessity to be frank, sincere and modest with others, and spare no effort in doing things.
Leung : What is our future direction for development in terms of academic work, curricular and extracurricular activities? Can you tell us your plans and strategies?
Mr. Chung: Academically, enhancement of students’ English ability is a major concern. Regarding public exams, besides assisting the more outstanding students to achieve even better results, the school will also focus on the average students and those who lag behind and provide them with more support so as to help them realize their potentials. Very often, students may not be doing too well academically, but they can excel in other fields like sports, art, etc. The school intends to cater to the needs of different students and arrange for them various forms of training so that they can be best equipped for entry into society.
As for extracurricular activities, I know our students have long been doing very well such as in handball, singing, recitation, etc. They often have distinguished results in public contests. In addition, the school will also diversify such activities so as to broaden the students’ horizon and experience and to benefit a greater number of students.
The development of a school lies in the advancement of its students’ academic work, extracurricular activities and moral character. I believe with the concerted effort of all the stakeholders, WSCSS will scale new heights!
Postscript: We reporters were deeply impressed by our Principal Mr. Chung who was very amiable. The whole interview was like a friendly chat, which made us feel free and easy. Moreover, Mr. Chung showed his concern for our needs and encouraged us to tell him our expectations and opinions. In the interview, he listened attentively and jotted down our suggestions. This made us understand that we students can also contribute to the advancement of the school.