TUESDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1978
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TOWARDS MORE GAINFUL LEISURE PURSUITS
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AT THE AGE OF 25, MR. TSANG LIN-SHING IS WELL UP THE LADDER OF SUCCESS IN THE PRINTING AND DESIGN PROFESSION.
MR. TSANG'S TALE OF SUCCESS WOULD HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT, AND MORE OF A DOWNHILL ONE. HAD HE NOT BEEN ENCOURAGED TO MAKE FULL USE OF HIS LEISURE ON MORE GAINFUL PURSUITS.
EVEN TODAY AH TSANG, AS HIS FRIENDS STILL CALL HIM, DOES NOT MIND RECALLING HIS EARLY DAYS WHEN DEPRIVED OF PARENTAL CARE, HE USED TO PLAY TRUANT AND MIX WITH STREET-BOYS.
+ IT WAS MY TEACHER WHO HAD HELPED ME START A NEW LIFE, OWE MY SUCCESS TO HIM,+ MR. TSANG RECALLED.
HIS TEACHER WHO WORKED IN AN ADULT EDUCATION AND RECREATION CENTRE IN SAI YING PUN, OBSERVED AH TSANG'S PROBLEM AND THE DANGER LYING AHEAD OF HIM, HE TOOK HIM TO THE CENTRE IN AN EFFORT TO REFORM HIM. HE DID.
AFTER VISITING THE CENTRE SEVERAL TIMES, AH TSANG BECAME INCREASINGLY INTERESTED IN THE VARIETY OF FREE EDUCATIONAL AND RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES THERE, HE WAS PARTICULARLY INTERESTED IN THE PRINTING AND DESIGN CLASS.
HE THEN WORKED AS AN APPRENTICE IN A PRINTING FACTORY AND LATER AS A TECHNICIAN IN AN ADVERTISING FIRM BEFORE HE STARTED HIS OWN PRINTING BUSINESS TWO YEARS AGO.
SINCE BECOMING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSMAN, MR. TSANG HAS NEVER MISSED A SINGLE EVENING IN THE CENTRE - IT HAS BECOME AN INTEGRAL PART OF HIS LIFE.
RECENTLY, HE TOOK JAPANESE AND ENGLISH CONVERSATION CLASSES IN THE CENTRE WHICH, HE SAID, HELPED HIM A GREAT DEAL IN HIS DAILY WORK.
THE SAI YING PUN CENTRE WAS THE FIRST ADULT EDUCATION AND RECREATION CENTRE RUN BY THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT. IT WAS SET UP
IN 1955.
LIKE MR. TSANG, THERE IS A COUNTLESS NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE STARTED NEW LIVES AFTER JOINING THE DEPARTMENT'S ADULT EDUCATION AND RECREATION CENTRES, ACCORDING TO MR. CHAN CHUEN-AH, AN OFFICER OF THE DEPARTMENT'S ADULT EDUCATION SECTION.
WITH THE OPENING OF THE LATEST CENTRE IN SHA TIN LAST MONTH, THERE ARE NOW 16 ADULT EDUCATION AND RECREATION CENTRES IN HONG KONG WITH A TOTAL MEMBERSHIP OF MORE THAN 47,000 PEOPLE.
+THEY ARE OPENED NOT ONLY TO PROVIDE HEALTHY PASTIMES THAT ADULTS NEED BUT ALSO TO ENCOURAGE THE DEVELOPMENT OF INDIVIDUAL POTENTIALITY, RESPONSIBLE CITIZENSHIP AND A BRIGHTER OUTLOOK ON LIFE,+ MR. CHAN SAID.
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