Dear Fellow Old Boys,
I guess all of you must have read the Annual Report of LSCOBA 03/04 and the Notice of Annual General Meeting 2004 to be held in our dear Alma Mater on July 16, 2004 (Friday). All of you are warmly invited to come along with your old classmates to join the Annual General Meeting and AGM Dinner afterwards, to give support and vote for the in-coming LSCOBA Committee, to say hello to the Christian Brothers especially Brother Thomas LAVIN, our retiring Principal, to meet the Principal -designate Dr. Paul Lau Wai Kin and to give solid suggestions on the future development of LSCOBA and our Treasured Heritage.
We are living in a changing world. Back in the sixties when I studied in La Salle Primary School and La Salle College, Hong Kong was a totally different place. Many children did not have the chance to attend school. Buying textbooks and school uniforms for their children could be a significant financial burden for many families, especially for the low-income population living in Shamshuipo, Mongkok and Kowloon City Area. In those days, if you were fortunate enough to enter a good school such as La Salle College, you had a high chance to learn good English, do well in the School Certificate Examination, Matriculation Class and even enter University – there was only one university in Hong Kong in that time. In contrast, Hong Kong is now a rich and affluent society with excellent education opportunities both locally and abroad. The old La Salle Primary School and La Salle College buildings live now only in our memories and two new school complexes facing each other in La Salle Road have facilities comparable, if not superior, to any school in Hong Kong and other major cities in the world………..but, what about the educational values, the Christian Heritage of the School……..can our dear Alma Mater maintain its tradition of educating all the students irrespective of their social classes, helping them to identify their abilities, and areas that they excel. I am sure that the School Management Team and all the teaching staff in the School will have a daunting task ahead in the coming few years.
In the first meeting of the Academic and Educators Professional Network Group of LSCOBA, spearheaded by Mr. Zachery Tien, Mr. Carly Law and Mr. Simon Yeung in mid June this year, Mr. W S Wong, an ex-teacher of LSC in the sixties had highlighted some of his observations on La Salle Tradition – namely, spirituality, family spirit, full students’ participation in academic and extra-curricular activities and commitments by old boys to contribute back to the School, one way or the other. Although he was not a Catholic in his school days, Mr. Wong was grateful for the Christian atmosphere in the School and he found his faith in God later in life. That sharing meeting with Brother Thomas, Mr. Wong and Dr. Paul Lau has been an enjoyable and nostalgic one and I am grateful to all the coordinators of various Professional Network Groups for their sacrifice and good work in the past one year. It is also very nice to know that some of the younger members, that is below thirty-five years old, have gathered together to form a Young Members Subcommittee and they plan to organise more activities such as career development talks for the new school graduates and younger old boys in the coming one year.
Looking back, the past twelve months have been a rewarding and challenging period for me. With over four thousand members, there are, of course, different opinion on how LSCOBA should be run, how we should spend our money and what are our priority areas. I am most grateful and thankful to all the LSCOBA Committee Members 03/04 for their tolerance, patience and their high sense of loyalty to our Association. I am also grateful to all the members of different generations, especially the class coordinators, subcommittee members and members of organising committees of various activities, for their advice, suggestions and strong support to the work of the Committee in the past twelve months. Although I would not be running for the Presidency of LSCOBA 04/05, I would pledge my total and unreserved support to the new President 04/05 and his Committee.
I sincerely invite all of you to join hand in hand to work for LSCOBA – to build a better fraternity, to rally support to the Christian Brothers and our Treasured Heritage.
With warmest regards to you all,
Dr. Robert Yuen Kar Ngai ’71
President, LSCOBA 2003/04
E-mail address: presidentEmail LSCOBA
NB. There will be a short souvenir presentation ceremony to our Honorary Patrons and Honorary Advisors of LSCOBA 03/04 during the AGM Dinner in the school on July 16, 2004 (Friday). Do come and support us. You can form and reserve your own table by phoning up our part-time administrator Ms. Fanny Leung.