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KGV Alumni HeraldAlumni Newsletter - Spring 2016
KGV ‘S POP KINGAarif Rahman- Express YourselfExclusive Interview
Event ReviewArchivist Experience Precious Memories of KGV
KGV NewsRecent news around KGV School Life
KGV Creativity and Christmas Fair 2015
Content ForewordMessage From......
Event Review
Alumni Interview - Daniel Chen, David Wong
Alumni Interview - Aarif Rahman
KGV News
Lion Fund
P.1
P. 2-3
P. 4-5
P. 6-7
P. 8-9
P. 10-11
Welcome to this edition of the Alumni Herald, KGV School’s alumni newsletter. In this edition we have interesting interviews with alumni, a review of events at school and plans for the remaining of the year.
Since I joined KGV’s community development department, I have enjoyed every day of my work. I work with fabulous colleagues who are diligent professionals, meet with inspiring alumni, interact with confident and aspiring students. The events, memoires and development plans are all testimony of how wonderful KGV is. The KGV community reflects the greatness of it all. This academic year Executive Principal Dr Ed Wickins embarked on a journey to carry KGV through to a new error of learning. The Kowloon Learning Campus was established in August 2015. The campus will comprise of the three schools; King George V, Kowloon Junior and The Jockey Club Sarah Roe The aim of this pilot project is inclusion and “breaking down barriers” between the individual schools and with the wider community. The objective of KLC is to increase cross campus inclusion opportunities. Students of all three schools can then share facilities, expertise and form partnerships.
Head of KGV School Ms Judy Cooper is committed to writing the KGV Story to illustrate the evolution of learning at the school since establishment as the Central British School in 1902. This project will ultimately be shaping the future strategic development of KGV. The aim is to determine the course of education as the school moves further into the strands of IB world learning.You will read about the journey of Aarif Rahman from being KGV’s Head boy to stardom. Aarif has joined us in celebrating KGV 80th anniversary on Tin Kwong Road by endorsing our LION FUND. The annual fund was launched to raise money to support our schools development and advancement on programs outside of school funding. Programs such as the Language Immersion trips impact the learning of our students tremendously. The fund also supports us on project that we feel dear at heart to such as fixing our school clock which has been up in the Clock tower in the Peel block since 1936. We would be much delighted for our alumni to support us through this fund. No amount is too big or small and all money will be used to impact the learning and learning experience of our students immediately.
It was a delight to meet with alumnus Daniel Chen who returned to visit KGV for the first time after he left in 1965. Seeing David reminisce about his time here was a touching moment for me. For many including myself KGV holds a special place in our hearts. Dr. David Wong another alumnus who is thrilled to be back at KGV as a parent, was so kind to share pictures and stories with us. David is now a keen supporter of our LION FUND campaign.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude. Hopefully you will enjoy reading this issue. Please email me your comments, feedback or share stories that we can publish.
My very best wishes to you all.Yasmeen Ashraf
This year we are embarking on a very exciting project. The KGV story will be written and will result in a book which I am sure will make interesting reading for all alumni, current students, future KGV students and the community. We are working with alumni from every decade to track the evolution of learning through the years. We want to find out how KGV prepared students for life after KGV and what learning looked like in the classroom.
The journey will enable us to forge closer links with alumni and encourage them to work with us and share their expertise. KGV students will have a greater understanding of how the school has developed over the years whilst keeping traditions which we hold dear.
We aim to also work with primary students to find out what they think learning should look like when they come to KGV. We will use all of this work to inform the school vision statement. If you would like to get involved, please email [email protected] and we will be delighted to hear from you.
On Sunday 31st January 2016, I will be hosting the London alumni reunion. Please come along if you can and share the message to anyone you know who may be interested. This will be an opportunity to meet up and share stories of KGV past and present. You will be able to contribute to the KGV Story and tell me what KGV was like when you were a student.
Please email KGV Community Development Manager [email protected] if you are interested and she will send on more details when they are confirmed. I look forward to seeing you there!
Message from.....
Mrs. Judy Cooper, Head of King George V School
Dr. Ed Wickins, Executive Prinicipal of Kowloon Learning Campus
One of the highlights of my new role as Executive Principal of the Kowloon Learning Campus (King George V School, Kowloon Junior School and Jockey Club Sarah Roe School) has been working more closely with Yasmeen and Clara who share the same office floor. They have brought tremendous energy and enthusiasm to KGV’s work with its Alumni and I am sure you are feeling and appreciating this. To support them I want to clarify the difference between what they are doing on behalf of KGV school and the independent KGV Alumni Association led by Eleanor Sackett and Chris McKrath.
In essence the school wants to continue to develop relationships with all KGV alumni; coordinate opportunities for you to return to KGV, access our impressive archives and network with old chums; and engage you in the life of the school and its future. You are not required to pay anything for this service, we just want to know how to contact you so we can let you know what is happening. The KGV Alumni Association is independent of KGV. Their agenda is focused on reunions and providing a service for their members. We try to work together for mutual interest but we are separate organisations. I hope this clarification is helpful and we can all move forward in the interests of KGV and its extraordinary community of Alumni.
Event ReviewArchivist Experience- Precious Memories of KGV
KGV’s archives were built and furnished in 2014 following a generous HKD 15 million donation from an
alumni of the school. Within it, priceless documents and other important pieces of information - which
detail life at the school following the end of WWII to the present - are stored in acid-free manila folders and
an intricate storage system. These were organised with the help of a professional archivist, Don Brecht, over
the course of the most recent summer break. Whilst these are managed from above by KGV’s Community
Development Manager Yasmeen Ashraf, as well as the head of the history department, John Edwards,
the school also makes use of its IB history students to act as its in-house archivists.
A look into the archivistsBy Charmaine Au-Yeung and Judy Lee
Q: Why did you start working with KGV’s archives?
A: Personally, I started working in the archives to further
my own skills as a history student. I plan on studying
history at university, and doing a little within this space
has definitely been an eye-opening experience. A
lot of detail -- more than imaginable, actually -- goes
into it, something that has undoubtedly helped me
appreciate the painstaking record-keeping archivists
manage. I have a newfound respect for anyone that
has the time to go through, file, and fill in a registration
sheet for more than 30 sources individually; patience is
definitely a key aspect of archive work!
Q: What’s your favourite part about the archives?
A: Leafing through aged leaves of paper bound to
books dating back to the 1950s. It’s older than both of
my parents, so that’s more than terrifying yet exciting. I
know that sounds really odd (it is), but there’s something
very euphoric about holding a literal piece of history in
your hands.
Q: Anything else?
A: Judy and I, whilst unjustifiably overexcited about
many things, are definitely justified in acting like Gandalf
with the archives: whilst we’re able to deal with old-
age relics with extreme care, we’re also able to guard
the room with a dignified “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!” unless
you have our - and most probably Mr Edwards’ and Ms
Ashraf’s - firm approval.
Upcoming Events
31-Jan London Reunion2-Feb PTSA Chinese New Year Lunch
19-Feb Evening of Music and dance
10-Mar French Theatre Festival12-Mar Panache Fashion Show20-Mar ISTA Trip to Theatre Festival,
Tai Pei24-Mar Middle School Talent Show
201625-Mar KGV Ski TripApr 2016 Lion Fund Cocktail20-Apr Graduation Ceremony21-Apr Sports Award Evening20-May Graduation Ball3-Jun Transition Day21-Jun Summer Music ConcertNov 2016 Dinner Gala
The KGV School Fair held last Friday was a superb
evening of fun and laughter. The atmosphere
was festive and exciting. The entire school, parent
and alumni community came together creating
a successful fundraising event! KGV was turned
into an arcade of amusement and laughter.
There was something for everyone, from soaking
the teacher to lounging at the Piazza listening to
open-mic music performances. Throughout the
evening student performers took center stage
to the delight the audience. The school hall was
transformed into a concert stage with live band
jamming sessions. The front driveway was filled with
dozens of stalls and games offering everything
KGV Creativity and Christmas Fair 2015
from . The PTSA put on a spectacular International
food festival. The field was crowded with
spectators cheering on the Alumni vs Staff football
teams playing their best match refereed by our
Executive Principal Dr Ed Wickins. The celebratory
atmosphere was just fantastic bringing an end to
a week-long of Creativity at KGV.
Special thanks to our many students, alumni,
parents, staff and volunteers who helped prepare
and run the evening and making it possible.
As well as all those who donated items and
purchased them. We appreciate our supportive
school community!
Alumni InterviewMr. Daniel Chen - 1965 KGV Alumnus
E.W.D. Gore was the principal when I graduated in 1965, after taking the GCE “A” Level Exams. I later went to Texas and graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington. Retired after a career in IT work, I now live in Melbourne Australia.
In the 60s, we had no calculators, no computers, Facebook or Internet. More complicated multiplications and divisions were done using Log tables. Homework was all written on paper, in exercises books, and for news Ann’s communication, we had newspapers and postal service. And for school bags, we had our canvas bags, rattan cases, and some have the more modern and fashionable Pan Am or BOAC bags. Only Form 6 students were allowed to use slide rules in tests and exams. (A slide rule is a simple analogue computing tool.)
School fees for Form 6 students were $36 a month, $4 more than those in Form 1 to 5. The $4 were
lab fees for Science students and for that we had each a cupboard inside the laboratory with our own set of equipment, such as burettes, flasks, bottles, crucibles, Bunsen burners,... Form 6 students had special privileges and powers. They were the only students allowed to use the main entrance and the staircase inside that entrance.
Most of them were made Prefects. Prefects could punish students in lower forms for various offences, such as walking through the low hedges (which formed perimeters for much of the basketball courtyards), not walking in single file in the corridors, running or making loud noises. A common punishment was writing 100 times something like “I must not walk through... ... “
School life in KGV at that time was in some ways similar to what was written in the novel “Tom Brown’s School Days” a century earlier. They were no residential
buildings in Tin Kwong Rd, just KGV and a girls’ school (Heep Yun, I believe), some sports ground, and the Kowloon City police station at the foot of the hill. And yes, there was KJS, which was connected to KGV at the back and that little gate was sometimes used by students to sneak outside. We had no security cameras then, and no security guard at the front either.
Most students studied French as a second language. Some choose German or another language. Chinese was not offered. Only about 10 percent of the students were Asian, with the majority European, especially British. Anders Nelson was in the same year. He was often seen in the library upstairs during lunch time writing music. It’s nice to see the assembly hall looking virtually the same after these 50 years, and to hear that students still sing “Honestas Ante Honores, Honesty first then glory”.
Dr. David Wong - 1967 AlumnusDr. David Wong was at KGV from 1964-67, form 1 to form 3, when Mr Eric Gore was headmaster and Mr Reeve was vice principal.
Mr E Gore later became my patient briefly in the late 1980s.Returned to KGV this August after leaving in 1967. He is excited to be back and currently enjoying his time as an alumni and parent of KGV. He was interviewed for the KGV Story and is a supporter of our Lion Fund.
Daughter Ginger has just started Y7 and is extremely happy at KGV.
Back to the Boundary
Boundary School closed in 1992 because a new school was built in the Eastern New Territories and opened as Clearwater Bay School. Originally CWBS had 3 classes per year group. This has since expanded to 4 classes per year group.
The Rose Street site became temporary premises for Jockey Club Sarah Roe School when it was rebuilt and expanded. After that the site opened as the Rose Street Annex of Kowloon Junior School at a time of heavy demand for ESF primary places. Rose Street Annex amalgamated into the Kowloon Junior Perth Street site when KJS was rebuilt two and a half years ago.
The planes finally stopped flying over Rose Street in 1998!
Alumni InterviewMr. Aarif Rahman - 2004 KGV Alumnus
KGV’S POP KINGFrom Head Boy to top billing: Aarif Rahman never expected to become a pop star. “One thing led to another,” he says. Better known by his stage name, Aarif Lee—which he chose to reflect his multicultural background — the 28-year-old King George V (KGV) alumnus is now one of the most promising young talents in the Hong Kong and China entertainment industry.
It all started when Aarif was still a student and he performed a song by David Tao at a gathering of friends. One of the people listening was married to the CEO of Amusic, the record label co-founded by Leon Lai in 2004. Aarif was signed to the label before he even graduated. “I felt pretty amazing. As a musician, the feeling of being wanted or having value to others is the best feeling in the world,” he says. “My parents were actually very open minded.” There was just one condition: he needed to finish his studies. “No degree, no tunes,” he says. “As far as they were concerned, I was a free bird as long as I finished my university degree.”
Aarif was no academic slouch. “I don’t want this to sound too clichéd but I think I enjoyed every single subject that was offered,” he says. In 2004, he was elected as head boy in KGV. “I wasn’t elected through universal suffrage,” he says, wryly. “There was a students’ vote, then a teachers’ vote. Finally the selected few were interviewed by a panel consisting of the headmaster, deputy headmaster and a few middle school student prefects.”
Aarif remembers his time at KGV with fondness. He ran track, he swam, “I remember interschool sports days very vividly. The atmosphere was electric.” he says. He took part in musical performances “ranging from inappropriately hardcore assembly performances to appropriately hardcore Lion Rock performances,” he says, referring to the music festival organised every year by KGV students.
Moving to the UK to study physics at Imperial College London was a rough change of pace. “I hated it the first year,” he says. “I couldn’t afford anything because it was so expensive and I realised the mountain I had to climb to graduate. I was under the false impression that if I were intelligent enough,
“I felt pretty amazing. As a musician, the feeling of being wanted or having value to others is the best feeling in the world.”
Aarif performed a short gig with his friends from KGV this year
Aarif was a guitarist in his band when he was in KGV
I could study less and play more music since physics is more of a common sense subject.” There were just two problems, he says. “One, I wasn’t intelligent enough. Two, there was a gentleman named Einstein who took common sense and threw it under a bus. A very heavy bus.” Jokes aside, Aarif says he does enjoy physics, and he has always been intrigued by the idea of finding a “theory of everything.” Things were better by the time Aarif entered his second year at university. “I found my momentum and of course a girlfriend, who showed me around the less dull parts of London. I really enjoyed watching gigs at the Roundhouse, Albert Hall, overeating at the Borough Market and of course breaking into Hyde Park after hours.”
When Aarif moved back to Hong Kong to start work with Amusic, it was like starting university all over again. “I wasn’t used to feeling like a nobody,” he says. But he soon found his pace, and within a year, he had written the lyrics for Janice Vidal’s English-language album Morning and released his own album of Cantonese and English songs, Starting from Today. Then came another unexpected break: he was asked to star in Echoes of the Rainbow, the award-winning 2010 film that sparked a preservation campaign for Sheung Wan’s historic Wing Lee Street.
Aarif says he did not have any acting experience when he embarked on the film. “I was lucky that I was under the guidance of great filmmakers, Alex Law and Mabel Cheung,” he says. “The main challenge was learning to run the hurdles properly. The character in the film was an interschool hurdling star. I did two months of training for that.”
Since then, Aarif has performed in a diverse range of Hong Kong movies, from goofy comedies like 2011’s I Love Hong Kong to 2012’s popular crime drama Cold War. More recently, he has starred
in a number of mainland Chinese productions, including 2013 comedy One Night Surprise and 2014 TV series The Empress of China, both of which feature Aarif alongside mainland megastar Fan Bingbing.
When Aarif was growing up, he enjoyed Stephen Chow comedies and Jackie Chan action movies, along with the triad and gangster films that were popular in the late 1990s. As for music, he describes his taste as “rather schizophrenic.” “There was a fling with the Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls. I won’t lie,” he jokes. “Then quickly gave way to the likes of Korn and the Nu-Metal phase that took over in the early 2000s. This led me down a deep journey back to the 80s. Hard and heavy metal – X Japan, Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne. I finally arrived at John Mayer and later Porcupine Tree. I’ve been through it all.”
Despite his stardom, Aarif has not forgotten KGV. In fact, he was back on campus this year to play a short concert and film an episode for a mainland TV show. “It was a blast,” he says. And just like when he was a student, Aarif is keeping his mind open to the future. “I don’t believe in planning too far ahead. Improve, enlighten, work hard, love hard and let the sails catch whatever wind is blowing your way,” he says.
“I don’t believe in planning too far ahead. Improve, enlighten, work hard, love hard and let the sails catch whatever wind is blowing your way”
KGV NewsRecent news around KGV School Life
Hebe Haven 24 hours Dinghy Race
KGV participates every year in the Hebe Haven 24 hour Dinghy Race, and this year was no exception.
We fielded 2 boats; a Feva for the fun team and a Wayfairer for our race team, and raised over $13,000 for the charities supported by the event.
Shaq’s Visit at KGV
On a normal sunny day of 19th August, a group of Middle School students were having a PE lesson as usual. But they never knew a surprise was prepared for them as Shaquille O’Neal, former NBA Basketball Star, paid a visit to KGV as part of his interview show with CNN Asia.
A few of our students were chosen to have the chance to play basketball with the legend
Well done to those students who met him and played basketball with him, and we hope you enjoyed it!
KGV Interhouse Music Festival
This year, Upsdell is the winning house of the KGV Interhouse Music Festival, it was fabulous to see all students singing brilliantly with passion and enjoyment clearly felt across the school hall. Congratulations Upsdell!
KGV Girl Football Team Champion!
KGV girls have always done well in the annual ESF tournament, but the pressure was on this year as they were the holders of the cup having won in 2014.
he final was against South Island who were clearly intent on stopping KGV from retaining the trophy. Both teams fought gallantly creating and having saved opportunities both ends of the pitch. However, the game again finished goalless which meant more penalties. With confidence high after the penalty shootout before, the girls finished clinically, slotting away the first two penalties easily (Natalie and Maya). Siobhan then prevented SIS’s second penalty meaning all Dveeta had to do was score and the trophy was ours. Dveeta was a cool customer and hammered the ball into the back of the net meaning KGV were the champions
KGV Speech Day 2015
It was lovely to see so many parents, students and other members of our community at this year’s KGV Speech Day, which was held on Friday 6th November. Prizewinners received awards for a diverse range of endeavours – from the Ezra Abraham Scholarships which recognize academic excellence, to the Hendon Harris Sports Award which recognizes an outstanding sportsperson, to the PTSA Public Spirit Prize which recognizes a commitment to volunteer/charity work and other socially responsible activities.
Our orchestra and chamber choir provided music throughout, alongside a dance performance by Christy and Stephanie Yip.
Our speaker, Mr Abraham Shek, gave an enjoyable and meaningful speech about ethical leadership and KGV is delighted to have been able to welcome ESF’s new chairman to give the speech on this important occasion within the school’s calendar. We would like to extend our gratitude to Mr Shek for being with us.
This year’s Speech Day also featured a number of new aspects, including a Prizewinner’s exhibition, video vignettes and the newly-introduced LION Awards. Holding the event within the school day allowed every student to be a part of this year’s ceremony. These important changes were made through extensive work by the Speech Day Committee, headed by President Gladwin Ho and Vice Presidents Hayley Chow and Fatih Ozer.
Congratulations go to these students for the quality of their leadership and for providing a seamless event which was an excellent display of KGV’s values.
Finally, thanks go also to the many individuals – students, staff and others – who gave of their time and energy to make Speech Day a success once again.
Alumni returned to help out our Careers Fair
We thank Jackie Ng and Minako Hachiya for returning to KGV and helped out our Careers Fair on 22nd September. The fair was extremely successful and students gained knowledge in choosing their future career path.
French Speech Festival 2015
Bonjour! We are Chloe Yu, Jocelyn Cheng, Alex Jaouen, Hayley Chow, Katie Mak, Alantha Zhang, Matthew Wong, Adrian Wong, and Charming Yeung, and we participated in the 6th Annual French Speech Festival. This performance has improved our French speaking skills, and strengthened our ability to speak fearlessly in French in front of a large audience.
We each recited a poem in front of two judges, who assessed us in terms of performance, interpretation, pronunciation and fluency. The top three candidates were given certificates, with a comment from the judges and a score out of 100.
At the end of the day, KGV as a school performed amazingly well in the 6th annual French speaking competition. Smiles and jokes shared all around, we ended the day looking forward to the next competition.
Bravo to everyone who performed!
ESF Won Bloomberg Square Mile Relay
ESF participated in the Bloomberg Square Mile Relay for the second time earlier this month and won the first prize of HK$80,000.Over 120 teams participated in the relay including three teams from ESF. Our first team finished the race in a time of 51’51, outrunning last year’s champion by less than two minutes, and successfully won a prize of HK$80,000. Our first runner is Brendan Kean, Vice Principal of Clearwater Bay School, who ran the fastest mile in just 4’43!The other two ESF teams managed to finished the race in a time of 57’48 and 1’07’04, finishing 8th and 41st overall.
The fund will all be donated to Indochina Starfish Foundation, an international charity which helps the poorest and most disadvantaged children in Cambodia.“The prize of HK$80,000 was donated to the Indochina Starfish Foundation in Cambodia and will be used to purchase resources and facilitate training for the two schools that the foundation runs. ESF teachers have been actively supporting this foundation for two years and this continues our commitment to what we believe is a remarkable charity making a real difference,” ESF Senior Education Officer David Fitzgerald said.
New Vice Principal Appointment
I was lucky enough to visit Hong Kong for the first time in 2010. I was leading a group of teachers from the UK on a British Council TIPD visit. We visited several local schools and soon came to appreciate the value given to education in Hong Kong. So when I saw an opportunity to move to Hong Kong and join KGV I jumped at it and have never looked back.
I joined KGV in January 2013 as Learning Director for Science and Technology. It was an exciting time as we closed down the old, though characterful labs and moved into the brand new tower at the end of the drive. The increase in space is amazing and I would encourage you to come and have a look when you can. I am passionate about Science and Technology having completed a PhD in microbiology at Newcastle and love sharing my enthusiasm for learning with our students. The PhD- Xenobiotic degradation by the ligninolytic hyphomycete -Ulocladium atrum is a bit of a conversation stopper but fascinates the students.
I taught in many schools in the UK before coming to Hong Kong (Walker -Newcastle, Newmarket, Lytham and Colne) as well as working in an advisory capacity for Medway Council and working with National Strategies. These experiences showed me just how important teacher – student relationships are in learning and I relish being in a school like KGV where these values are celebrated and supported. KGV students really appreciate good teachers and the strong alumni network and ties students feel to the school make working here incredibly rewarding. I was thrilled to see many of my first IB cohort of students after their first term at university and hear their tales of adventures new and fond memories of being at KGV. I hope they keep in touch as many of you do.
The opportunities for KGV students are fantastic with Challenge Week being a particular highlight each year. Last year I was lucky enough to lead a fantastic group of students to Borneo where we saw the devastating effect of the palm oil industry first hand. We cooked with local villagers, planted trees and cleared water hyacinths as well as enjoying river cruises and visiting conservation centres. In September 2015 I was thrilled to be promoted to the temporary Vice Principal role and join the senior leadership team. Being able to influence the learning and student experience in a great school like KGV is an absolute privilege. I only hope I can shape experiences and memories as good as those you hold of your time at KGV!
Lion FundAnnual Strategic Development and Advancement Fund
The Lion Fund is an opportunity to support the school. It provides a means of making a financial contribution
at any time and having rapid impact for the good of KGV students. At KGV we believe in the powerful
impact of collective unrestricted gifts: every donation counts no matter the amount. Your contributions
have an invaluable role in increasing the resources available to the students. The financial support of the
KGV community enables the school to look beyond the school fees and the ESF contribution devoted to
teaching, administrative costs and school maintenance.
The Lion Fund can be called upon at a moment’s notice to purchase equipment which will have an
immediate impact on the current students’ experience.
Your ongoing support provides flexibility for the school in identifying projects that will ensure an unmatched
student experience.
Your gift will make a difference!
A Stronger KGV
Donations can be made at any time and are always gratefully received by the school. By making the
payment of your choice you will help to enhance the KGV experience that so many others before have
enjoyed. We strive constantly to extend the range of facilities for today’s students. You can play your part
in shaping the future of the school and its students. You may make your gift by cheque or bank transfer
with donation form. If you would like to support a special project, simply indicate how the gift should be
allocated when you make your contribution.
To find out more…
Message from Aarif Rahman, Lion Fund Ambassador 2015-16
How to Support the Lion Fund
KGV Community Development | +852 2711 3029
Email: [email protected]
Visit our website: www.kgv.edu.hk (under Giving > Lion Fund)
Donations are tax deductible. Tax receipts will be issued for
donations of HKD$100 or more. All donors are recognised on
the school Annual Report and on the Lion Fund brochure.
