RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 NOTES AND QUERIES 221 (4) Diocesan BOYS SCHOOL AND LA SALLE College, KOWLOON SATURDAY, 4 May, 1974 The purpose of this visit is to see and enjoy the grounds and buildings of these two major Hong Kong schools and thereby to learn something of the history of education in the Colony. The visits are entirely due to the courtesy and cooperation of their Head-masters. The sites are extensive (23 and 10 acres respectively) and the buildings are of interest. 'DBS', as it is familiarly known, originated in 1869 with the Diocesan Home & Orphanage for English, Eurasian, Chinese and other scholars (male and female) which links with an earlier body, the Diocesan Native Female Training School of 1860-68. (From 1880 no more girls were received as boarders, though they still remained as day scholars. All girls left when Fairlea Girls School was opened in 1892. In 1900 a Diocesan Girls School was opened.) Located for many years at Bonham Road, the school moved to its present site in 1926. It may be truly said that its history is that of Hong Kong itself. The La Salle College is much newer, opening in 1932. However, its connection with Catholic education in the Colony is much longer. The La Salle Brothers had a record of 42 years' work in St. Joseph's College in Hong Kong when they opened their Kowloon Branch in 1917, and after two of the Fathers had 'gone together over the hills and lowlands of Kowloon' (as they then were) they found and purchased a 10-acre site by auction in 1928. Its premises are architecturally striking. As the then Roman Catholic Bishop said at the time, “Great though my hopes and expectations of the Christian Brothers were, I never dared to expect from them such a magnificent building as La Salle College."* Among the points to be specially noted on the visit are the following: DBS 1. the extensive grounds and playing fields (also made available to primary schools from resettlement estates). *Thomas F. Ryan, The Story of a Hundred Years: the Pontifical Institute of Foreign Missions (P.I.M.E.) in Hong Kong 1858-1958. (Hong Kong, Catholic Truth Society, 1959) p. 199. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 224 NOTES AND QUERIES The area still retains its distinctive character and is a tribute to the vision and public-spirit of its chief promoter, Mr. Ede (1865-1925). A small plaque set into the wall of a park in Essex Crescent perpetuates his memory. Another Garden City plan for the area south of Prince Edward Road, west of Waterloo Road and north of Argyle Street was initiated by the Hong Kong Engineering and Construction Company in 1932. Unlike the Kowloon Tong area, which was levelled by cutting and filling, this project was to utilise the natural features of the site. It was claimed that 'for excellence of situation, beauty of outlook, serenity of location and conformity with surrounding amenities, it will be without an equal in the Peninsula'. (South China Morning Post, Jan. 21, 1932, remarks at Sod Turning Ceremony.) Mr. J. P. Braga, Chairman of the Company undertaking the project, gave his name to the road at the centre of the tract, Braga Circuit. The area still retains some of its secluded and serene character and is a favourite of courting couples. It is better known today as Kadoorie Avenue, the general name used to describe the several roads that make up this residential complex. The Diocesan Boys' School As the name indicates the Diocesan Boys' School is an institution of the Anglican Church in Hong Kong. In 1859 the wife of Bishop Smith, being interested in the education of girls, organised a committee of women and founded the Diocesan Native Female Training Institute. It was established 'to introduce among a somewhat superior class of Native Females the blessings of Christianity and of Religious Training' (The First Annual Report). Education was to be in English. It was hoped the girls would make suitable brides for the male converts from St. Paul's College. However, there were some publicised instances of students from the School being sought after as mistresses of Europeans, their ability to speak English being a particular asset in such an arrangement. Due to this bad publicity local support fell off and the school was in financial difficulties. In 1867 all Chinese girls, except orphans and destitute, were dismissed. In 1868 Bishop Alford somewhat reluctantly agreed to head up a reorganisation. The following year the name was changed to the Diocesan Home and Orphanage. Under a new admission policy the Home was 'to receive and place children of both sexes, sound both in body and mind, of European, Chinese ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1975 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d 3 April he arranged a visit to old Wanchai, one of the oldest districts of British Hong Kong. Under the name of Ha Wan or "lower bay” it was one of the 5 bays or "circuits"-a terms used in the 1850s and 1860s to describe the residential and commercial areas largely developed by the new Chinese population of the island. Places visited included the Pak Kung Shrine in Star Street, established before the war and probably upward of 70 years old; the Hung Shing Temple, one of the oldest of the area, perhaps even existing as a shrine before the British occupation; the Sui Tsing Pak temple housed in several dwellings in a terrace and of the late nineteenth century; the Yuk Hoi Kung Temple to Pak Tai, God of the North and of early origin; and various terraced houses and individual buildings. In May Mr. Hayes arranged another excursion to the Diocesan Boys' School-D.B.S.-and La Salle College. D.B.S. originated in 1869 with the Diocesan Home & Orphanage for English, Eurasian Chinese and other scholars, male and female and had links with an earlier body, the Diocesan Native Female Training School of 1860-58. In 1900 the Diocesan Girls' School opened and DBS no longer took girls. The school moved from Bonham Road to its present site in 1926. La Salle dates from 1932 but its connection with Catholic Education in the Colony is much longer. The La Salle brothers had already a record of 42 years work at St. Joseph's College in Hong Kong. In June Mr. Hayes organised a visit to old Western District which included tea in a traditional tea-house. The original Chinese tea house was a place where many kinds of tea were served together with tim sham, small tidbits or literally "to point to the heart". It is gradually being replaced by new establishments usually combining a Chinese restaurant with tea-house business. Later, in July, a visit to a tea-house was also arranged to hear typical Cantonese music and "southern songs” traditionally played to clients of such establishments and also sadly disappearing in modernising Hong Kong. During the June visit to Western, many shops for traditional crafts and wares were visited or observed. Many have since been pulled down in this area scheduled for urban renewal. In July, Miss Helga Werle, a member of our Council, arranged with a colleague, a visit to Aplichau the small island-just still an island-off Aberdeen. Members visited the Hung Shing Temple, probably built in 1773; and the Shui Yuet Kung Temple (Shui Yuet is another name for Kuan Yin) probably dating from the early days of Aplichau town developing in the 1850s. ================================================================================