Opportunity

 

Dr. P.L. Lam

 

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We are delighted to have the chance to invite Dr. Lam Pun Lee to share his view on education in Hong Kong.  Not only is Dr. Lam a famous Hong Kong economist specializing in regulatory policies for public utility and business administration, he is an alumnus of the class of 1979.

 

School Life at SPC

Dr. Lam has had great success in his academic studies and his career, yet this was not the case when he enrolled at SPC.  Dr. Lam recalled himself not doing academically well when he was in junior form.  ‘There were altogether 240 students in the form, and my rank was 230 out of 240.’  It was solely due to an adaptation of school systems, since Dr. Lam studied in a CMI primary school, and a transition period was essential for enrolling in SPC, an EMI secondary school.  A drastic change of events happened when he was in Form 6, as he could merely continue his studies in SPC, with a class rank of being one of the last four in Form 5.  He then understood the importance of learning and with an immense amount of hard work, he ranked the first in his class for his A-Level Examination and he successfully entered the University of Hong Kong, with a clear direction and sense of mission for his future.

 

To Dr. Lam, academics were not the most unforgettable part of his seven years at SPC, but teachers.  He still remembers when he once wrote about the unfairness in the local education system, his teacher’s comment at the time was that only when one has the courage in attempting the local exams can one change the system, and not complaining without taking any practical moves.  Responsible, caring teachers’ words and deeds have inspired him to work hard, and a huge motivation for Dr. Lam to having taught at the Polytechnic University of Hong Kong for 22 years!  Apart from teachers, brotherhood also played an important role in his seven years at SPC. Activities such as playing Watermelon Ball and participating in interschool athletics, swimming and basketball competitions, he developed lifelong friendships with his classmates.

 

Equity in Hong Kong Education

In Economics, Equity is a subjective concept that involves value judgement, which refers to the concept that different people in society tend to use different standards to measure ‘fairness’. As such, Dr. Lam is no exception to this concept and has his own definition on Equity.  Dr. Lam claims that he has a great sense of belonging to Hong Kong.  As a native Hong Konger, he hopes that Hong Kong can achieve higher equity and become a fair, righteous and passionate society.  Through utilizing his life experiences and social understandings, Dr. Lam wrote about the sustainable development of Hong Kong in his articles.  He used Brexit as an example: as the capital city of the UK, London benefited immensely from European integration.  For many of the other parts of the country, they could not enjoy any advantages but had to bear the drawbacks.  Dr. Lam compared this case with Hong Kong, where some retailers took advantage of the Individual Visit Scheme for China; however, citizens -- especially those who live in Sheung Shui – have to abide the various negative impacts caused by the Scheme to the society, such as a surge in housing prices and an inadequacy in medical services.  Recently more developers and organizations are using different methods to take up social responsibility, such as providing land for teenagers’ development for artistic creations and youth hostels at low or no rent.  It is foreseeable that more opportunities will be provided to young people with various talents in music, sports, arts, movie-making and other areas to help unleash their potential.

 

In addition, Hong Kong is a rich city where more resources should be allocated to young people.  Dr. Lam owns non-profit tutorial centers and leases them out to youngsters free of rent for at least the first three years.  This provides young people with an opportunity to nurture their entrepreneurial skills and gain experience in teaching students through h creative approaches such as debate and drama.  Dr. Lam hopes this can help raise society’s awareness on teenagers’ development, especially when most of the young people have difficulties affording high rent and raising capital for their businesses.

 

In addition the society should also focus on students with special needs in education and provide resources in order to improve the quality of their learning environment, and to serve their needs; however, this kind of extra support in Hong Kong is insignificant when compared to other countries, such as the U.K. Dr. Lam pointed out that the U.K. spends a significant amount of resources on SEN and disabilities every year; they also have special arrangements of assigning two tutors to one serious autistic student. The purpose behind this arrangement is simply to forestall uncontrollable, self-harming actions of these students. As such, the ultimate goal is to improve their lives and have them attend regular Church Services, just like their peers.  Dr. Lam believes that with extra support, they can foster a correct outlook on life, without belittling or feeling ashamed of their disabilities. In addition, the government should offer help to aid students with learning difficulties, by social contract or even by raising the tax rate.  For these students, special classes and treatments are needed.  However, this places heavy economic burden to the family and not everyone is able to afford such expenses. Statistics show that 5 to 10 percent of the family could benefit from this support.  This might seem insignificant, but it does help even when everyone in society is contributing their part, and what matters most is whether it can truly satisfy these desperate needs.  Equal chances should be afforded to everyone in society and Dr. Lam believes that this is also one of Hong Kong’s core values: imagine if you were a SEN student; would you not want additional help to compensate your innate learning difficulties?  Dr. Lam is optimistic about Hong Kongers being generous and empathetic. .

 

Message to Paulines

Education changes one’s life; you can undoubtedly learn general knowledge from tests and examinations, but not for leadership and interpersonal skills.  While pursuing after a sophisticated and worldly image is a lifelong process, Dr. Lam advised us to harness every opportunity we have and to make every second in our life count and be meaningful. As life influences life, Dr. Lam is lucky to have encountered good teachers and in the true spirit of SPC’s motto, ‘All for Each, and Each for All’, he hopes that young people will continue to contribute to society for generations to come.

 

Writer: Chan Lok Hin, Darryl (5E)