Queen's College, Hong Kong Explained

Queen's College
Motto:"Labor Omnia Vincit" (Latin)
"Chinese: 勤有功" (Chinese)
"Labour conquers all" (English)
Type:Public, single-sex
Principal:Lau Leung Yvetta Ruth
Staff:About 90 staff
Students:About 785 students
Colors:Red
Mascot:Dragon
Free Text:English, except for Chinese Language, Chinese History and Mandarin.
Free Label2:Campus Size
Free Text2:Approximately 2.5 acres (16,766 m2)
Free Label3:School Magazine
Free 4:Mr. WONG Kwok-keung, Mr. YU Wai-keung, Ms. LING Yuen-ting
Free Label4:Assistant Principals
Free Text3:The Yellow Dragon - First Published in June 1899. The first Anglo-Chinese school magazine in the world
Country:Hong Kong
Coordinates:22.2809°N 114.1917°W
Pushpin Map:Hong Kong Island#Hong Kong#China

Queen's College is the first public secondary school founded in Hong Kong by the British colonial government. It was initially named The Government Central School in 1862 and later renamed Victoria College in 1890, and finally obtained the present name of Queen's College in 1894. It is currently located in Causeway Bay.[1] [2] [3]

Brief history

The history of the college can be traced back to the Chinese village schools that were believed to have existed prior to the founding of British Hong Kong as a colony in 1842.

In August 1847, the British colonial government decreed that grants would be given to existing Chinese village schools in Hong Kong. It appointed an Education Committee in November of that year to examine the state of Chinese schools in Victoria, Stanley and Aberdeen, the aim being to bring the schools under closer government supervision. Following its examinations, the Committee reported that 3 Chinese village schools, namely Taipingshan School (28 pupils), Chungwan School (18 pupils) and Sheungwan School (21 pupils) were operating actively within Victoria City under Chinese masters Mr. Chuy Shing-cheung, Mr. Leung Sing-Than and Mr. Mak Mai-chun, respectively. The books used in these schools included the Three Character Classics (三字經), and the Four Books and the Five Classics (四書五經).[4] This marked the beginning of the establishment of public education in Hong Kong. Subsequently, government intervention in the provision of education in Hong Kong increased, and in 1857, it established new schools, including West Point School, to meet the ever-increasing demand for education in the burgeoning entrepôt.

In 1860, the British sinologist Rev. Dr. James Legge proposed that the Board of Education establish a Central School that would amalgamate the 3 existing government sponsored and monitored Chinese schools (Taipingshan, Chungwan and Sheungwan) in Victoria City. Two years later, a Government Central School on Gough Street, Central, opened its doors to the public in 1862. Its first headmaster was Dr. Frederick Stewart, who was also appointed Inspector of Schools in the Colony. As Headmaster, he was responsible for the supervision of all schools in Hong Kong until March 1879, when the Government established a separate office for the Inspector; this later became the precursor to the Department of Education, which was then incorporated into the Education Bureau.

In its first five years, the school admitted only Chinese students as a matter of policy. In 1867, it began admitting students of other nationalities, such as British, Indian, Parsee, Japanese and Thai. While Chinese students had to enroll in English classes, students from other nationalities were not expected to study the Chinese classics.

Secular schooling sparked a great deal of controversy with the Hong Kong Governor and religious leaders. On many occasions, the Governor personally scrutinized and intervened in the operations of these schools. Later, the Government established a grant program that enabled religious schools to compete on par with the Central School for funding.

On 26 April 1884, a foundation stone was laid on Aberdeen Street for the school's new premises by Sir George Bowen, Governor from 1883 to 1887. Witnessing the ceremony was Sun Yat-sen, then a student at the school. On the Governor's recommendation, the school was to be renamed Victoria College following the completion of the new building.

In 1889, construction of the school was completed at a cost of HKD250,000, making it one of the largest and most expensive buildings in Hong Kong at that time.

In 1894, the school was officially renamed Queen's College. Since the 1870s, the Government had wanted to expand the college to become a university; however, the idea was scrapped after the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904. Fearing that the benefits it enjoyed in the Far-East could be jeopardized by Japan's growing influence in the region, the British colonial government decided that it was crucial to establish a university that could train graduates in war-related subjects, such as engineering and medicine. While Queen's College remained a secondary school, this eventually led to the establishment of the University of Hong Kong in 1910.

Following the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong in 1941, the school was forced to close, after which it was converted into a Field hospital. Immediately after the fall of Hong Kong, refugees stripped the buildings of their timber for fuel. During the Japanese occupation, the school site was used by Japanese Occupying Forces. As a result, the campus was destroyed during an Allied bombing attack near the end of the War (1944 or 1945). For a brief period after, its ruins were occupied by refugees following the Japanese surrender, and fire accidents were common. Beginning in 1948, the site was cleared to make way for the PMQ.

In 1947, the school re-opened in a temporary facility on Kennedy Road, sharing a campus with Clementi Secondary School.

In 1950, a new campus of Queen's College was built in Causeway Bay to accommodate the school's expansion. It moved to the present site on Causeway Road, opposite Victoria Park, on 22 September. That day, Sir Alexander Grantham, Governor of Hong Kong, announced the re-opening of Queen's College. Since then, the two-storey high building has served countless numbers of Q.C. students.

Until 1951, pupils typically entered Queen's College at Class 4 (equivalent to today's Form 3). In September 1951, two additional grades were created at the bottom end of the school, the lowest grade thus becoming Class 6 (Form 1 today). For a time, these changes in organization and other factors, resulting from the rapid growth of education, led to an uneven distribution of divisions. In 1950 for instance, there were ten divisions of Class 4. In 1951, four of these divisions were transferred to King's College (英皇書院). From 1955, undergraduates intending to focus on the Arts were transferred to King's College and later to Belilios Public School for their Advanced Level year. From 1962, an extra Upper Sixth Form was provided to arts students so that QC boys would no longer have to study at Belilios. Meanwhile, for a brief period, Belilios Girls were sent over to Queen's to study Science. Since then, Queen's College has remained a full-time Anglo-Chinese secondary school for boys.

School song

The melody of the school song of Queen's College was adapted from the school anthem of England's Harrow School, with lyrics provided by Mr. William Kay, formerly a long-serving vice principal at the school. Heep Yunn School, an all-girls school in Kowloon, also shares the same melody for their school song. This rendition of the Queen's College school song is arranged by Dr. Lau Kai-chi, Anthony (Music Panel Head at Queen's College 1994 - 2009).

School Logo

At Queen's College, school logos were only officially adopted after the Second World War. Prior to the War, the school, like other government departments, used the Royal Emblem as its logo. However, Queen's College's first school logo was designed as early as 1923 by Mr Ng Ping-un, Chief Chinese draftsman of the Architectural Office. The post-war school logo changed numerous times, all of them based on Ng's 1923 design. The school's current logo was adopted in 1997 after the Transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong.

List of Top Scorers in Public Examinations

Queen's College has produced the highest number of perfect achievers in the history of Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE) and Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE), with 57 perfect scorers "10As" in HKCEE and 14 "Top Scorers" and "Super Top Scorers" in HKDSE.[5] [6]

7 x 5** "Top Scorers" are candidates who obtained perfect scores of 5** in each of the four core subjects and three electives.

8 x 5** "Super Top Scorers" are candidates who obtained seven Level 5** in four core subjects and three electives, and an additional Level 5** in the Mathematics Extended (M1/M2) module.[7]

Activities and achievements

There are 49 clubs grouped under Sports, Recreational, Religious, Social Services, and Academic (Science & Arts) areas. Most clubs hold events and functions for the participation of all students and many of them organize joint events with sister schools throughout every academic year. They also actively participate in annual school Open Days.

Hong Kong Outstanding Students Awards

Queen's College students have won 21 of the past Hong Kong Outstanding Students Awards,[8] placing the school in 2nd place among all secondary schools in Hong Kong. Of the 45 winners and finalists, 21 have served on the executive committee of the Hong Kong Outstanding Students' Association (HKOSA)[9]

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Outstanding Students Awards

Queen's College counts a total of seven winners and finalists of the Hong Kong Outstanding Students Awards from 2002 to 2017.[10]

Publications

First published in June 1899, the Queen's College school magazine, The Yellow Dragon (《黃龍報》), is the world's oldest existing Anglo-Chinese school magazine. A priceless historical resource, it provides a window into the evolution of education in Hong Kong and on societal evolution in the Asia Pacific region. In 2005, the magazine published its 100th volume. The Chinese section of the edition featured a brief summary of the magazine's past 100 volumes (百期回望專輯), written by seven students to commemorate the special occasion.

Another regular publication is the school newspaper, The Courier (《文苑》), which has been published since 1968. Currently, 3 issues are produced each year, covering the school's major functions and featuring student contributions.

In commemoration of the school's 125th anniversary, the Queen's College Old Boys' Association published a limited-edition history of the school entitled Queen's College: Its History 1862-1987 in 1987. Its author, Gwyneth Stokes, whose husband John was the Principal of Queen's College from 1965 to 1970, spent 2 years researching the 494-page book in local archives and in the UK.

Scandals

In 2006, it was reported that two Queen's College students robbed a Chinese Medicine Practitioner in his clinic in Shanghai Street, Jordan with cutters and towels soaked with chloroform.

Mr. Chiu Sin Hang, an assistant principal on probation, was involved in several scandals:

List of Alumni

Politicians, judges, diplomats, and military staff

Medical doctors

Businessmen

Academics

List of Headmasters and Principals

List of Head Prefects

Queen's College History Museum

History

The Queen's College History Gallery was established in 2013 to illustrate the history of the school and to serve as an archive for preserving and restoring school-related artifacts, documents and relevant publications. To give the 4000-piece strong collection and exhibition a more favourable environment, a new purpose-built museum converted from several classrooms was completed and opened on 23 January 2017. Renamed the Queen's College History Museum, it currently hosts a permanent exhibition entitled "From Gough Street to Causeway Road: Change and Continuity of Queen's College" curated by Old Boys Honorary Curators.

List of Special Exhibitions

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: 1894-02-03 . THE HONGKONG Government Gazette - Government Notification No.38 . THE HONGKONG Government Gazette . 2022-08-10.
  2. News: 1890-02-22 . THE HONGKONG Government Gazette - Government Notification No.70 . 1 . THE HONGKONG Government Gazette . 2022-08-10.
  3. Web site: 2022-08-10 . QC School History . 2022-08-10 . Queen's College.
  4. Book: Ng Lun. Ngai-ha Alice. Educational policy and the public response in Hong Kong, 1842-1913. 1967. University of Hong Kong. Hong Kong. 8.
  5. News: 2010-08-03 . 歷屆223狀元 皇仁女拔佔四成 . Ming Pao Daily News . 2010-08-03.
  6. News: 2022-07-20 . DSE狀元 . HK01 . 2022-07-20.
  7. News: 2022-07-20 . HKDSE exam results reveal eight top scorers from eight schools . The Standard . 2022-07-20.
  8. https://youtharch.org.hk/osa Hong Kong Outstanding Students Awards
  9. Web site: Hong Kong Outstanding Students' Association . The Youth Arch Foundation.
  10. Web site: Members « HKSAROSU I Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Outstanding Students' Union I 香港特別行政區傑出學生聯會. www.osu.org.hk. en-US. 2018-05-22.
  11. Web site: 皇仁副校涉逼學生改校刊撐警. Apple Daily 蘋果日報. 2019-03-11.
  12. Web site: 贏「啤酒大賽」獲換領券 皇仁副校被指無申報 廉署前調查主任：或觸犯防賄條例 (20:58) - 20161213 - 港聞. 即時新聞. 2019-03-11.
  13. Web site: 皇仁副校長遭投訴收5,000元獎品未申報 教育局調查. 黎梓緯. 2016-12-13. 香港01. zh-HK. 2019-03-11.
  14. Web site: 2023-11-08 . Wong Yan-Lung SC . 2023-11-08 . Temple Chambers.
  15. Web site: 2023-11-08 . The Hon Ronny Tong, GBS, QC, SC, JP . 2023-11-08 . Temple Chambers.
  16. Web site: 医学博物馆通讯 no08.
  17. Rebecca Chan Chung, Deborah Chung and Cecilia Ng Wong, "Piloted to Serve", 2012
  18. Web site: 纪念钟陈可慰 100 周年 (1920-2020).
  19. Web site: 2022-08-10 . Mung Chiang – Full Biography . 2022-08-10 . Purdue University.
  20. 2024-08-02 . G.N. 4493 Morrison Scholarships Fund . The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Gazette . 28 . 31 . 4493.

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