Dear Fellow Old Boys,
For those who have visited our beloved Christian Brothers in their dining room during the Chinese New Year Season, you would have noticed that there was a beautiful and blossoming tree there – this traditional Chinese New Year Tree was bought by the current Committee of LSCOBA as a small token of appreciation from the thousands of graduates from our Alma Mater in the past seven decades to the Christina Brothers who had shaped our life and our career.
Chinese New Year is traditionally a time for rejoice and self-reflection. As the President of LSCOBA elected in the last Annual General Meeting in July last year, I have spent hours thinking and discussing with other fellow old boys on what the current Committee have achieved so far in the last seven months and what we would like to achieve before the end of our term in July this year.
Thanks to the support of many old boys, the Christmas Ball held in Holiday Inn Golden Mile Hotel in December 2003 titled “Celebrating Christmas with the Brothers” had been a tremendous success and we had used this fitting occasion to pay our sincere tribute to the seventy odd Christian Brothers who had shaped our College and our treasured Heritage. In spite of a very tight schedule, we have been able to publish a Red Book – ‘The Brothers’, featuring the authentic stories of all the Christian Brothers who served in La Salle College in the past. We had also presented lovely souvenir crystal plaques to all the nine Christian Brothers in Hong Kong, including Brother Herman and Brother Lawrence of Chan Sui Ki (La Salle) College, Brother Thomas Favin and Brother Alphonsus Breen of St. Joseph’s College for their dedication and lifelong commitment to the education of the children in Hong Kong.
What about the coming few months? I would like to see more and more of our four thousand strong members take part in the activities of the Association eg. Sports Tournament, Spring Dinner, Family Fun Day etc. and contributing their precious time and resource for our beloved College and the current students. I would also like to see more joint activities with our Brother Schools OBA in Hong Kong and our oversea Chapters. I think all of us should applaud our Vancouver Chapter and California Chapter for their commitment to offer scholarship and loans for current La Salle students who wish to study abroad. Also, I would like to hear your voices and views on the future role of LSCOBA in the coming three to five years – a changing time, a time for local educational reform and a time when the helmsmanship of all the Christian Brothers Schools locally, including kindergarten, primary and secondary schools, will be taken up by lay educators under the guidance and partnership of the retiring Christina Brothers Community in Hong Kong.
I am very thankful to all the loyal and dedicated old boys for leading the formation of various professional network groups to be formed in the coming few months. We would probably organise some open forums and discuss on the future directions of LSCOBA………………….I would be most happy to meet you personally soon in one of our future activities and have some nice chat together.
Viva La Salle Spirit. Viva our Fraternity and Comradeship……and book a seat with your old pals in the coming Spring Dinner on 12.3.04 (Friday)
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Robert Yuen Kar Ngai ’71
President, LSCOBA 2003/04