RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1987 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522 58 Furthermore, Mok himself does refer to his participation in the pupil teacher scheme of 1885. This is particularly interesting on a number of grounds. First of all, there must be some doubt about the precise veracity of Mok Man Cheung's 1906 entry in Who's Who in the Far East. His name does not appear in the Hong Kong Government's Blue Book of 1885 as one of the pupil teachers, but it does appear in that year's Blue Book as Third Assistant Chinese Master.26 In the 1884 Blue Book, Mok Man Cheung is recorded as "Fourth Assistant” in the Central School, appointed on 23rd September, 1884. It appears certain, therefore, that, having completed Class 1 at the Central School in 1884, he was appointed directly to the staff of the school, rather than to the pupil-teacher scheme. He may well have taken a Class 1 examination in Pupil-Teacher's Method and his monitorial duties may have included the supervision of some of the junior classes. The records indicate, however, that he was not formally appointed as a Pupil-Teacher at the Central School at any time between 1880 and 1885 and that the normal length of a Pupil-Teacher course was three years. 27 The pupil-teacher scheme is itself of considerable interest and an association with it may have been regarded by Mok Man Cheung in 1906 as face-enhancing. A slight diversion from the personal snapshot may, therefore, be justified in order to consider the provisions for teacher education in Hong Kong in the latter part of the nineteenth century. 28 The first provision of formal teacher education in Hong Kong was similar to the "Monitorial System" of Bell and Lancaster in Great Britain. In the early days, however, Frederick Stewart, the first Headmaster of the Central School, who, for many years, doubled as the Inspector of Government Schools, became discouraged by the way pupils who were trained in school to become teachers "cashed in" their improved fluency in English by leaving school and taking up employment as interpreters, translators, or other types of middlemen in commercial undertakings or in government service.29 In 1881, an experiment with a discrete teacher education establishment was launched in Hong Kong, thanks to the enthusiasm of the new Inspector of Schools, Dr. E.J. Eitel, and the forceful, but controversial Governor of the time, Sir John ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1987 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522 69 lished in 1884 by ex-pupils and prominent members of the Chinese community as a mark of respect for Dr. Frederick Stewart who had resigned as headmaster in 1881 after nearly twenty years service to the school; and various special prizes especially for proficiency in Chinese. 26 He was appointed under Colonial Standing Order 3248 of 1884, as from 1st January, 1885, at a salary of $300 per year. 27 The authority for his appointment was CSO2202. His starting salary was $240 per annum. 24 For details of the memorial system and the part played in its genesis in England by Andrew Bell (1753-1832) and Joseph Lancaster (1778-1838), see John Lawson and Harold Silver, A Social History of Education in England (London: Methuen, 1973), pp. 241-246. In one of Eitel's reports on the short-lived Normal School in Hong Kong, he refers to the "Madras-born monitorial scheme of Bell and Lancaster" being adopted at the Central School by Stewart. In Eitel's opinion, this scheme suffered in comparison with the Normal School because it did not include “the special private tuition and instruction”, presumably, in teaching rationale and methods. (CO129/202, p. 532). In his Annual Report for the year 1866, for example, Stewart wrote: "In my last Report I stated that I entertained the hope of being soon able to overcome many difficulties connected with the school by training Chinese assistants for their work. I then anticipated that I should always be able to retain two of the more advanced boys for a period of at least four years, after which they might, if they chose, find employment elsewhere and be succeeded by the two who stood next to them. The project has all but failed. The demand for the services of the more intelligent of the boys is so great that it is, in the meantime, hopeless to expect them to remain for any length of time. The two in whose case the experiment was tried have both left many months ago, just when they were beginning to be of real value to the school. I shall not, however, abandon the scheme. Out of several, it may be possible to retain some; and, as the knowledge of English becomes more general and situations more difficult to be obtained, the greater will be the probability that these Assistants will remain until, at least, others are qualified to take their place.” (Hong Kong Government Blue Book, 1866, pp. 279-280). 30 The dispute was, in some ways, a continuation of the friction which existed between Frederick Stewart and Eitel after the separation of the duties of Headmaster of the Central School from those of the Inspector of Schools in 1878, first as an expedient measure while Dr. Stewart was on long leave in England and subsequently confirmed on Stewart's return to Hong Kong. Bateson Wright succeeded Stewart as Headmaster of the Central School in 1881. He inherited the bitter relations between the two leading education officers in the Government, but his own, quite positive personality, if anything, exacerbated the situation so much so, that the supervision of the Central School was taken away from the responsibilities of the Inspectorate and a “Dual System" inaugurated whereby the Central School, renamed successively Victoria College and Queen's College, was administered and reported on by its own Headmaster and eventually examined by an independent Board which did not include the Inspector of Schools. The Dual System was kept in being until the retirement of Bateson Wright in 1909, when the Government's educational system was reunited and renamed the Education Department, headed by a Director of Education in place of the Inspector of Schools.11 Stokes (1962), p. 47. 31 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g 223 'LIMERICKS, OR LINES WRITTEN IN THE BACK OF A 'BUS Travelling around in a bus There were 27 of us. I sat and wrote down These lines of my own. I hope you find they're humorous. 3 Russell No group, it seems, is complete Without one who, to judge by his feet, (Which, while we were talking Were off again, walking) Would feel more at home on the beat. 5 Jean and Ian 7 There's one chap who went for a swim, And his wife just sat and watched him. I think he was silly. Coz he lost his willy. At least - it went terribly thin Laura and Clark For Brits, it is always quite pleasing To have Americans around, just for teasing. But hey - let's be fair, They're a jolly nice pair. (Do you think that I sound too appeasing?) 9 Andrew He's tall, unassuming and blond. Of food, he's inordinately fond, Though you'd never know, Coz it just doesn't show. He's not what the French would call "ronde". 11 Gaye and Peter There's one couple, they're quite romantic. I'd describe them as "transatlantic". The long and the short 2 I've described all the members in verse. Some are better but some are much worse. If any feel cheated By how they've been treated The complements they may reverse. 4 Mary 6 This next lady don't make a fuss. She just sits at the back of the bus. 'It's comfy,' she said But she's banged her head On the roof more than any of us. Marlene This lawyer from Lancaster-shire Has the nicest accent you'll hear. I'm afraid it would grate If I tried t'imitate, So listen to her, she's just here. 8 Gillian and Peter The next one is also a pair. They've travelled a lot, here and there. 'When we were in Iran We lived in a barn. It was much worse than this. So there!' 10 Leona and Victor She bought an ethnic cardigan, And hardly took it off again. He has more endurance. Perhaps it's insurance, Or maybe he's terribly vain. 12 Janet wwwwwwwwana+m The next lady's also a Yankee. She don't stand for no hanky-panky. She keeps getting passes ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g 364 BIBLIOGRAPHY The Origin of Plants, Maggie Campbell-Culver, (Headline Book Publishing, 2002. ISBN 0 7472 7211 X) Peonies, The Imperial Flower, Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall (Seven Dials, Cassell and Co, 2001 ISBN 1 84188 081 7) Magnolias, J.M.Gardner (The Globe Pequot Press, 1989. ISBN 0 87106 644 0) Travels in China: A Plantsman's Paradise, Roy Lancaster, (The Antique Collectors Club, 1989. ISBN 1 85149 1759) Hong Kong Trees (Urban Council Publications, 1988) ================================================================================