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SUNDAY, AUGUST 1, 1982
HOW A TRIP TO AUSTRALIA IS WON
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FOUR YEARS AGO, SHUM MAN-HOK LIKE TENS OF THOUSANDS OF HONG KONG'S SECONDARY STUDENTS, SPENT A LOT OF HIS LEISURE IN WATCHING TELEVISION, KNEW VERY LITTLE ABOUT THE CITY IN WHICH HE LIVED, AND IN FACT, CARED NOTHING ABOUT IT AND ITS POPULACE.
BUT NOW, WHENEVER MAN-HOK, NOW A 17-YEAR-OLD FORM 7 STUDENT, IS FREE OR ON HOLIDAY, HE WILL TRY TO FIND SOMETHING TO DO WHICH WILL BENEFIT THE CITY OR HIS FELLOW CITIZENS.
IN FACT, MAN-HOK IS PLANNING TO TAKE UP SOCIAL WORK IF HE CAN GET INTO A UNIVERSITY NEXT YEAR SO THAT HE CAN PROVIDE SOME FRONTLINE SERVICE TO THE NEEDY.
HOW DID THIS DRASTIC CHANGE COME ABOUT?
+ IT ALL STARTED AFTER I JOINED THE COMMUNITY YOUTH CLUB IN 1978, WHEN THE CLUB WAS FIRST FORMED, RECALLED MAN-HOK, THEN A FORM 4 STUDENT OF THE ST. FRANCIS XAVIER'S SCHOOL, TSUEN WAN.
+ I COULD REMEMBER THAT ONE OF MY TEACHERS CAME TO ME ONE DAY AND ASKED IF I WAS INTERESTED IN JOINING A SERVICE GROUP CALLED THE CYC. I KNEW NOTHING ABOUT THIS ORGANISATION BUT HE TOLD ME THAT BY JOINING THE CLUB, I COULD MEET MORE PEOPLE AND UNDERSTAND MORE ABOUT HONG KONG. THIS IDEA INTRIGUES ME AND SO I'VE BECOME A MEMBER OF THE CYC.+
MAN-HOK HAS NOW BEEN WITH THE CLUB FOR FOUR YEARS AND VALUES EVERY MINUTE OF IT.
+I'VE COME TO KNOW AND SEE A LOT OF THINGS WHICH HAVE HELPED ME DEVELOP MY FUTURE GOALS, ONE OF WHICH IS TO SERVE MY FELLOW CITIZENS, HE SAID.
MAN-HOK SAID BEFORE JOINING THE CYC, HE CARED MAINLY ABOUT HIMSELF. HE WAS OF THE OPINION THAT OTHER PEOPLE WOULD TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES AND THAT GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES WOULD TAKE CARE OF THE CITY.
BUT HE WAS QUICK TO ADMIT THAT HE WAS WRONG AFTER TAKING PART IN A NUMBER OF COMMUNITY SERVICE ACTIVITIES ORGANISED BY THE CYC.
ON A CHILLY DECEMBER MORNING IN 1979, MAN-HOK AND ABOUT 20 FELLOW CYC MEMBERS PAID A VISIT TO AN OLD PEOPLE'S HOME IN TSUEN WAN. IT WAS HIS FIRST VISIT TO AN ELDERLY'S HOSTEL AND HE THOUGHT THAT IT WOULD BE A RATHER MONOTONOUS EXPERIENCE.
BUT IN FACT THE VISIT TOTALLY CHANGED HIS ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE ELDERLY AND TOWARDS LIFE.
/RECALLING 2.8