On 25th September 2009, the first LSCOBA Happy Hour of this term was held and we have a new "home" in Club Lusitano, the exclusive Portuguese club in Central. About 50 old boys attended the event and the guest speakers for the evening were Mr. Wong Yen Kit and Ms. Cecilia Tang, respectively Principal and Vice Principal of LSC.

Many old boys arrived early for the Happy Hour, probably due to the convenient location for those working in the Island, especially the "Central Dwellers" and for the special occasion of having both the Principal and Vice Principal coming in to talk about the new 3-3-4 education system, a hot topic for old boy parents and the current affairs of the College.

Mr. Wong opened the talk with a thorough introduction of the new system and Ms. Tang elaborated on the accompanying curriculum. Mr. Wong then reported on the recent happenings in LSC including the re-surfacing of the track and field which is near completion, the upcoming air conditioning system renovation project, the much talked about proposed scheme of drug testing in schools and a recent case involving a La Salle student. Many old boys raised various questions on these topics and the principals offered their insightful answers.

The talk then turned to the last topic of the evening: the school tie issue. Mr. Wong explained the background leading to the change and the series of events thereafter. A great many attending old boys expressed their opinions on this sometimes controversial matter with a few even digging up their old school ties of different eras, from the 70s to the early 90s, to show the original stripes in various but similar shades of red and purple; almost all supported and respected the school's decision to change back the colours of the stripes to reflect the traditional school colours and agreed that the key to smooth implementation of this or any policy for that matter, is good and effective communication between the parties. A special mention must go to the young old boy from the class of 2007 who had written to the Principal about this issue and was in attendance to share his views, an act of responsibility and true Lasallian spirit much to the appreciation of senior old boys. The requisite group photo was taken and about half stayed for the excellent Portuguese dinner thereafter with the principals which ended near 10:30pm. It was, all in all, a very enjoyable evening for all those attended. We hope to see more of you in the next Happy Hour, the Christmas Drinks, scheduled for mid-December.

Charles K. Chan (77)
President 09-10, LSCOBA