Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch
RASHKB and author
Vol. 1 (1961)
ISSN 1991-7295
113
the Education Department and are under constant government supervision; that there must be an average of 1.2 teachers per class at primary level and 1.4 at secondary level (the standard class numbering 45 and 40 pupils respectively); that at the secondary level entrance requirements are controlled; and all of each graduating class must sit for the School-leaving Certificate examinations. It is an impressive fact that Buddhist groups have been able to meet such standards and that at present more Buddhist schools with space for 3,000 pupils are in the planning stage. As to the other Buddhist welfare enterprises (homes for the aged and orphanages), their operation too is considered satisfactory by local standards. Though they are not legally subject to inspection or supervision by the Social Welfare Department, representatives of the Department visit them from time to time and make suggestions that are usually readily accepted.
In appraising Buddhist educational and welfare enterprises, it should be remembered that nearly all of them are comparatively new. A tradition of quality in this kind of work takes many years to build. Buddhist schools in particular have been handicapped by the superior drawing power of competing institutions. For example, Roman Catholic schools, with their long record of success, can turn away a number of applicants for every one they accept. Buddhist schools do not yet enjoy the same prestige (partly because they are indigenous rather than Western) and hence they cannot pick and choose their pupils to the same degree. From another point of view, it may be one of their merits that they do provide education for those who would otherwise find it hard to get.
The principal religious role of Buddhist organisations in Hong Kong is to provide funeral ceremonies and care for the souls of the dead. Thus the Hong Kong Buddhist Association holds a public service for the souls of the dead every Remembrance Day at the Tung Lin Kok Yuen. In January 1960, the Hong Kong Jockey Club after a series of mishaps during the racing season, in the last of which a prominent jockey had been killed (the fourth since the war), invited the Buddhist Association to arrange for appropriate rites of exorcism. For three days and four nights some 68 monks and 44 nuns performed elaborate ceremonies at altars set up on the Club's premises. They prayed continuously in teams, not only for the repose of the souls of the jockeys, but also for those of the 2,000 persons who lost their lives in the grandstand fire of 1918, and for any other souls whose welfare was brought to their attention by relatives. According to the local press, some 40,000 persons attended. Though this was the first time such an event had taken place at the Jockey Club,
F
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch
RASHKB and author
Vol. 1 (1961)
ISSN 1991-7295
113
the Education Department and are under constant government supervision; that there must be an average of 1.2 teachers per class at primary level and 1.4 at secondary level (the standard class numbering 45 and 40 pupils respectively); that at the secondary level entrance requirements are controlled; and all of each graduating class must sit for the School-leaving Certificate examinations. It is an impressive fact that Buddhist groups have been able to meet such standards and that at present more Buddhist schools with space for 3,000 pupils are in the planning stage. As to the other Buddhist welfare enterprises (homes for the aged and orphanages), their operation too is considered satisfactory by local standards. Though they are not legally subject to inspection or supervision by the Social Welfare Depart- ment, representatives of the Department visit them from time to time and make suggestions that are usually readily accepted.
In appraising Buddhist educational and welfare enterprises, it should be remembered that nearly all of them are comparatively new. A tradition of quality in this kind of work takes many years to build. Buddhist schools in particular have been handicapped by the superior drawing power of competing institutions. For example, Roman Catholic schools, with their long record of success, can turn away a number of applicants for every one they accept. Buddhist schools do not yet enjoy the same prestige (partly because they are indigenous rather than Western) and hence they cannot pick and choose their pupils to the same degree. From another point of view, it may be one of their merits that they do provide education for those who would otherwise find it hard to get.
The principal religious role of Buddhist organisations in Hong Kong is to provide funeral ceremonies and care for the souls of the dead. Thus the Hong Kong Buddhist Association holds a public service for the souls of the dead every Remembrance Day at the Tung Lin Kok Yuen. In January 1960, the Hong Kong Jockey Club after a series of mishaps during the racing season, in the last of which a prominent jockey had been killed (the fourth since the war), invited the Buddhist Association to arrange for appropriate rites of exorcism. For three days and four nights some 68 monks and 44 nuns performed elaborate ceremonies at altars set up on the Club's premises. They prayed continuously in teams, not only for the repose of the souls of the jockeys, but also for those of the 2,000 persons who lost their lives in the grandstand fire of 1918, and for any other souls whose welfare was brought to their attention by relatives. According to the local press, some 40,000 persons attended. Though this was the first time such an event had taken place at the Jockey Club,
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