Wah Yan College, Hong Kong
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Wah Yan College, Hong Kong (WYCHK; 香港華仁書院) was founded on December 16, 1919, by Peter Tsui Yan Sau (徐仁夀). It is a Roman Catholic secondary school for boys run by the Society of Jesus. Fully subsidized by the Government of the Hong Kong SAR, WYCHK is a grammar school using English as the medium of instruction.
Wah Yan has an enrolment of about 1,000 with about 50 teachers and some Jesuit Fathers. The campus has about 220,000 square feet (20,000 m²), located on a small hill in the middle of Wanchai, Hong Kong. The school has 26 classrooms, 14 special rooms, a hall, a chapel, 3 playgrounds and 2 squash courts.
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School Mission Statement
According to our Catholic and Chinese traditions, we aim at the greater development of each student in each of the following areas: moral, intellectual, physical, social, aesthetic and spiritual. Through care and concern for each individual person, we seek to form students:
- whose acquisition of knowledge and skills is joined to values.
- who will become reflective and will accept their strengths and limitations.
- who know God's love and practice Christian values especially through serving the poor and working for justice.
- The achievement of the above relies on a spirit of community, co-operation, trust and respect among the supervisor, managers, administrators, the teaching and non-teaching staff, managers, students, parents and former students.
Time Line
1919 - Wah Yan College was founded on the second floor of No. 60 Hollywood Road on 16th December by Mr. Tsui Yan Sau (徐仁夀), a former teacher of St. Joseph's College, Hong Kong. There were 4 students on the first day.
1920 - In order to accommodate the newcomers, Mr. Tsui rented the second floor of No. 54A, Peel Street and two more teachers, Mr. Shak Cheong On and Mr. Foo Shiu Hong, were engaged in March. The third floor of No. 60, Hollywood Road was secured and Mrs. Hoyune, the first woman teacher, joined the teaching staff.
On the re-opening of the school in August, No. 54A, Peel Street was vacated in favour of more spacious premises at No. 33, Mosque Junction. Mr. Lo Kwing, Mr. Lau Lap and Mr. Cheong Man Fai were enlisted.
1921 - The school moved to new premises at 2, Robinson Road with 300 students.
1922 - Wah Yan became a Grant-in-Aid school on 1st October. Mr. Lim Hoy Lan joined the staff.
1924 - Owing to the increase in applications for admission, a branch school (Wah Yan College, Kowloon) was opened in Portland Street, Yau Ma Tei on the Kowloon side of Hong Kong.
1926 - Mr. Lim Hoy Lan was asked to take over the Headmastership from 1st January.
1927 - The first Irish Jesuit father, Rev. Fr. John Neary, started to work in Wah Yan as a teacher of Religious Knowledge. The hostel in Wah Yan was opened on 5th September with Mr. Wong Tuen Po as its first Warden.
1928 - The Kowloon branch school moved to Nelson Street. For the first time in the history of the college, the number of boys on roll reaches the total of 800 - the biggest number in any school in the colony then.
1932 - The College was transferred to the care of the Society of Jesus on 22nd December. The late Fr. R. W. Gallagher, S.J. was the first Rector. In the records of the Jesuit Order, the school was given a new name : College of Christ the King.
1933 - The school magazine, "The Star" (Vol. 1), was first published.
1934 - The "House system" was introduced in order to extend the benefits of games and athletics to every boy in the school.
1935 - The Wah Yan Past Student Association (taking the place of the former "Old Boys' Union") was set up and the first President was Mr. Ko Fook Sun.
1938 - Under Fr. Donnelly's inspiration, Class 2 (Form V) began a Free Night School for the poor children of the neighbourhood which continued until the outbreak of the Pacific War.
1940 - The hostel in Wah Yan was closed down.
1941 - A branch for Senior students was opened on 8th September in Austin Road. while Junior Classes continued in Nelson Street, under Mr. Lim Hoy Lan. Austin Road had a short life as it closed on 9th December, the day after the Japanese invasion.
During the War, the basement in Wah Yan has been turned into Red Cross Station. School was closed. The whole terrace beyond the college in Robinson Road burned to the ground. Fr. Gallagher and Fr. McAsey were interned.
1945 - Wah Yan College reopened on 8th September. Later in the year a Chinese stream (Wah Yan Middle School) was added.
1946 - In March the organisation of the Wah Yan Dramatic Society commenced. The first production was "The Thrice Promised Bride", performed in the French Convent Theatre. The Society was formally established in 1947.
On 8th Septermber the school at Nelson Street reopened, with 560 pupils on the roll. The Kowloon Branch was handed over to the Jesuit Fathers from Mr. Lim Hoy Lan. Fr. Grogan was appointed as superior and was assisted by Fr. Kelly.
Fr. Howatson began the Wah Yan Poor Boys' Club on 15th November, with 19 boys. With the help of Mr. Joseph Cheung he collected from the lanes and side-walks of the city an army of shoe-shine boys.
1948 - The Night School was started on 17th February.
1949 - An afternoon school opened under the leadership of Fr. Maguire, with more than 700 boys enrolled. The school time for the afternoon school was from 2:00 p.m. to 7:10 p.m. On 10th October the site for the new College in Waterloo Road was blessed.
1950
The Chinese Section of the school was closed down.
1951
The classes were renamed. Class One was renamed as Form 6 and Class 6 was renamed as Form 1. Class 7 and 8 were renamed as Primary 6 and Primary 5 respectively.
1952
The Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Alexander Grantham, opened Wah Yan College, Kowloon, 56 Waterloo Road, on 12th December. The Afternoon School in Wah Yan College, Hong Kong closed.
1953
The contract for the site formation at Mount Parish was signed on 16th September.
1954
On 7th October the foundation stone of Wah Yan College, Queen's Road East was blessed and laid.
1955
Formal opening of Wah Yan College, 281 Queen's Road East, was performed on 27th Septermber by His Excellency the Governor, Sir Alexander Grantham. The Form 6 classes were divided into two streams, the Science Stream and the Arts Stream.
1960
Our basketball and football teams made a trip to Taiwan.
1964
Fr. Ryan, S.J. received the Hon. Degree of Doctor of Letters from the Governor. The school newspaper, "Starlet", was born. Chon Chi Yu set the record of 9 distinctions and 1 credit in the H.K.C.E.E.
1966
Monthly assembly was introduced as a regular event in school. The Student Association of Wah Yan College was formed.
1968
Two teachers, Mr. Raymond Yu and Mr. Chau Sui Hay, were appointed to become the first ever Assistant Principals of Wah Yan.
1971
The taking over of "Pun U Primary School" by the Jesuits. It was named as "Pun U Wah Yan Primary School".
1972
Opening of the Ma Ying Library after the renovation work sponsored by Mr. Ma Ying.
1973-5
The students grasped the championship of the Inter-school Chinese Debate Contest.
1976
Economics was introduced in Form 4.
1977
Robert Wong Tuen Po who joined Wah Yan in 1922 and was in charge of the hostel in Wah Yan until it was closed down, died. He was a Link-Man at the change of management to the Jesuit Fathers. He was the man with the Wah Yan Afternoon School until his retirement in 1961.
One extra Form 1 class was added to meet the need of the expansion of secondary education.
1980
Founder of Wah Yan, Mr. Peter Tsui Yan Sau, died.
1984
The students grasped both the championships of the Interschool Chinese Debate Contest and the Interschool English Debate Contest. The Wah Yan English Evening School was closed.
1985
Mr. Raymond Yu left Wah Yan after a service of 24 years for Canada and Mr. Cheung Man Sun took his place as one of the Assistant Principals.
Wah Yan College proceeded into the computer age. The computer group was set up and the Report Cards, H.K.C.E.E. results and the school magazine were processed with the help of the computer. The models of microcomputer used by the school were Apple II and Laser.
1986
The Streaming to Arts and Science was started in Form 4 and the Form 4 classes were renamed as 4S1, 4S2, 4S3, 4A1 and 4A2. Computer Studies was introduced in Form 4.
1987
The new annex, Gordan Wu Hall, was officially opened on 12th April. Lo Chun Kai set the record of 10 distinctions in H.K.C.E.E.
1988
The students got championships of two inter-school Chinese Debate Contests. The first WYPSA international conference was held.
1990
Wah Yan celebrated its 70th Anniversary with an enrolment of 950.
1991
Two new Assistant Principals, Mr. George Tam and Mr. P. T. Chan were appointed. The counselling Room which is located at the ground floor of the new annex was opened.
1992
On 8th May, there was a severe landslide at the junction between Kennedy Road Queen's Road East, taking the life of a driver passing by together with his car, owing to heavy rainfall. The back door and the stairs were closed where the basement was evacuated. The Scouts Room, Table Tennis Gym were relocated to the vacant space under the junior lab. The Laboratory wing was sinking owing to the mud slip and there were cracks all over the playground. The well-known 'crack' in the Classroom wing was worsening. Stainless steel plates were used to cover it up.
Wah Yan got three "10 A's" in H.K.C.E.E. A new subject, Principle of Accountancy, was introduced in Form 4 and Form 6. The new geography room was opened. New audio-visual equipment was installed to facilitate the teaching of the subject.
1993
Six classrooms were demolished due to the effect of the landslide. An additional Science Lower 6 class was opened. The opening ceremony of the 75th Anniversary was held on 21st of December and the Wah Yan Archive was also officially opened. The 75th Anniversary Redevelopment Campaign took place.
1994
Wah Yan celebrates its 75th Anniversary with an enrolment of 961. Computer Literacy was introduced in Form 1. The Wah Yan College Home Page on the World Wide Web was first prepared by Dr. Ashley Cheng.
1995
The theme "Growth Through Respect" was adopted for the year.
The Jesuit Society announced the retirement of Fr. J.C. Coghlan, S.J. in September, 1996. Mr. George Tam was appointed the Principal.
1996
The theme 'Wahyanite, Hong Kong Sentiments, Chinese Heart, Global View' was adopted for the year.
The first exchange student came from Italy.
1998
Start of the 80th Anniversary programme & opening of the 6-classroom block on 22nd December.
All classrooms and special rooms installed with air-conditioners.
Cultural exchange programme to Mainland China began.
1999
80th Anniversary programmes reached its climax by a mass gathering at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre.
The IT infrastructure began.
2001
The first ever Wah Yan Family Day was held at the College on 7th January. Over two thousand present and past students and their family members took part in this memorable activity.
2002
The first summer course in New Zealand by the Parent-Teacher Association was organized. The campus had thorough renovation.
2003
The School Development project officially started on 25th May, with Phases I & II scheduled to be finished by December 2004.
Famous Old Boys
- Donald Tsang Yam Kuen GBM JP KBE (Chinese: 曾蔭權), Chief Executive of Hong Kong SAR
See also
- Wah Yan College, Kowloon
- Education in Hong Kong
- List of buildings, sites and areas in Hong Kong
- Hong Kong SAR
External link
- School Homepage (http://wahyan.edu.hk)