Written by There are some more recent watercolor paintings from our classmate Kam Wing Yip.
In memory of our teachers
We receive a message from Grace Tsang on May 25, 2021 saying that Ho sir 何敬謙老師在澳洲柏斯Perth逝世。
| Jeff Chan | The memories of Ho Sir sharing his knowledge and wisdom while we were growing up will remain forever in our hearts. |
| Patience Lyons | I will always remember Mr. Ho. May Mr. Ho Rest In Peace. Condolences to the family. |
| Wong Tak Kwong | May our respectful Ho sir rest in peace, and my condolences to his family. |
| Chau Hoi Kit | 永遠懷念💖尊敬的何老師！記憶中他還是第一代ICAC工作人員！ |
| Joyce Jern | Mr Ho will be greatly missed but his kindness and gentle spirit will be with us forever! |
| Angela Or | 想何Sir 在澳洲生活很好；還記得Dr Cheng 很欣賞他，在早會時說他勤力有幹勁（類似的話😅） |
| Clara Ho | RIP |
| May Kwok | RIP 永遠懷念！ |
| Mary Lau | RIP 永遠懷念！ |
| Robert Chu | 他教什麼呢？我不認出他。 |
| Adrian Hung | 教economic? |
| Chau Hoi Kit | EPA |
| Tak Kwong Wong | 對，是EPA，我們當時叫 Economic and Public Affairs. 不過我記得當時文科 EPA 和地理是蕭sir所教，何老師可能是教理科班，不知對否? 這已是半世紀之前的事我已記不清楚了。老實說我當時對 EPA 也不大感興趣，但相反我兒子是在密芝根大學主修經濟畢業，這大學也是以經濟在世界出名。 |
| Robert Chu | 我可能也算是那班对EPA 沒有興趣。畢竟，何老師留下許多美好回憶。事實上，每位老師也对你我影響很大。感恩！ |
| Jeff Chan | I can’t agree with you more, Robert. |
| Chow Ho Wai | 如果我沒有記錯，何老師應該是教完我們F3(?) 後就離開了大成中學的。 |
| Jeff Chan | I believe you are correct !He taught us the basic understanding of the significance of economic in our society. |
| Adrian Hung | My narrow escape
Before our exam in School, boys had to take the chairs from the classroom to the Hall while girls took the chairs. We were warned not to run along the corridors in school and there would be penalty for those against the rule. At Form 2, after I took the first table to the Hall, I ran along the corridor to go back to the classroom to pick up the second table. Unfortunately Ho sir came out from a classroom suddenly and I hit his hand. He rubbed his hand and ordered me to see him at the hall after moving the second table. I knew I was in trouble and likely to be punished with a minor or major demerit. When I finished my task, I went to see Ho sir at the Hall with my head down and tears on my eyes. I said “Sorry Ho sir, please give me a second chance”. He said, “If I punish you with demerit, you won’t have the mood to prepare for the exam. Go home and study hard!”. I said, “Thank you very much Ho sir”. Ho sir was really kind and considerate! |
| Irene Ko | I also have a story to share: At form 1 or 2, he once drove me home (not feeling well), accompanied by Miss Chan. I am not sure if the car belonged to him or the school. |
| Simon Fan | So much more caring than just calling a taxi for you. |
| Irene Ko | 哈哈!佢喺教務主任。Indeed. |
| Jeff Chan | I recall I was appointed 班長by 班主任 Yeung Sir in Form 3B. After all these years I don’t know why…… |
| Simon Fan | Yeung Sir repeated me in Form 1, and I know why. 😝 |
| Grace Tsang | 他想見你多啲？ |
| Simon Fan | 😯😆 |
| Jeff Chan | Right on !!! |
| Cheung Wan Loi Roni | 大部份留班的都是男仔（包括我），我想男仔較貪玩，懶讀書。☺ |
| Simon Fan | 🤣😂 很敬佩你顧家👍👍 |
| Robert Chu | I remember him and he has an iron face (the one in the right). His brain is like a computer with unlimited memories , cashe, too. Ha! Ha! What has happened to him? |
| Chau Hoi Kit | Mr Ching told me that one of his students in his native place in China saved him from being caught by the Japanese troop. |
| Jeff Chan | Yes. like to know as well. He was the complete opposite of Mr. Yim Tse Choi who was the other Chinese history teacher who went by the book only. He reprimanded me on many occasions for having long hairs by standing beside the teachers office entrance door for 30 minutes or so… those memories linger…. |
| Tak Kwong Wong | From my recollection both Ching sir and Yim sir had passed away many years ago. Please correct me if my understanding is wrong. |
| Jeff Chan | All things must pass, memories forever remain. |
| Joyce Jern | Mr Ching was very good at stimulating students’ learning interest. Mr Yim was capable to drift many students into a dreamy afternoon. Anyhow, under Mr Yim’s guidance, 10 of us got distinction (A) in Chinese Language & Literature at the HK Cert of Education 會考 1971. |
| Jeff Chan | I must admit I was more interested in after school activities than studying for exams….
I recall Mr. Yau Kin Ming had distinct interest in classical music. |
| Robert Chu | What did the above teach as well as his name? |
| Jeff Chan | I couldn’t remember exactly the subject he taught…. perhaps other classmates might remember….?? |
| Adrian Hung | Mr Yeung taught Chinese and Chinese History? |
| Chau Hoi Kit | And also taught F.2 boys handcrafts, such as baskets! |
| Cheung Wan Loi Roni | F.1- F.3 Chinese. Mr. Yim taught F.4 – F.5 Chinese. |
| Robert Chu | We were really blessed with all the good teachers. |
| Jeff Chan | They turned our innocent mind into thinking like a lawyer. |
| Chow Ho Wai | Not exactly, Mr. Yim taught us F3 Chinese when I was in F3B class. |
花藝的創作技巧
Written by 多謝孔教學院大成中學1971年畢業同學的鼓勵，使我有機會寫下一些關於花藝的創作技巧，所謂「學到老，做到老。」令我獲益良多，現寫下我的感想及從這些課程學到的一些技巧。
- 古典同心圓捧花
製作花束前，花材應充份吸水。然後，確定花體部份的長度。長度應要是長春籐圓圈為度量依據。首先完成長春籐框框。然後開始做長春籐框裏的花束。把花枝順一方向傾斜順序排列成螺旋狀手綁式花束，花腳方向呈一致。花枝相交在一交义點，排列時花體向外仲展，花材位置適度調整。然後，綁扎花束。長春籐在做花束時已定位在花支叢中。綁扎花束要求一手拿花，另一手用麻繩綁扎，由一人獨立完成。
古典傳統同心圓花球花材緊密結構，象徵圓滿、團圓意思。
- 花藝設計之元素是線條，空間、質感，色彩，外形。
- 宴會桌面花飾佈置的技巧
桌面佈置以精緻簡約，選擇低式桌花，以淺色為主，用玫瑰花，象徴純潔愛情。百合花象徵百年好合。天堂鳥象徵比翼雙飛，洋桔梗(紫色)，紫色表示愛的神秘。
表現形式上，由於就餐需要，因此，婚宴桌多探用高架型作花器，在花器上部插作半球形花飾， 共以常春籘或其他下垂式葉材，從花器上垂下來，增加線條美。桌面花不佔用太多平面空間，不會遮擋賓客視線，以直立形豎向造型為主，節省空間，滿足就餐空間需要。
4. 婚禮拱門
5. 新娘捧花
劉素清 2020年7月17日
My watercolor painting
Written by Many of my paintings were inspired by Mr. Shibasaki’s watercolors channel on YouTube. I am interested in learning how to use colors for a vibrant drawing. Watercolor painting is a hobby that was started as something to do when I retired and it is both a challenging and rewarding medium. For me, a good painting can be done maybe one in five attempts. I am still learning to paint and like to share a few paintings that were done in the last five years with you. Hope you will enjoy them too. Thanks!
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Simple object showing light and dark effects A still life apple copied from YouTube |
| An European Bee-Eater bird with colorful feathers copied from a calendar |  |
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A river flowing in a grassland from imagination |
| Sunrise over the bay with glowing sunbeams |  |
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Winter sunset in the meadow with dark forest silhouettes Copied from YouTube |
| Lake view near the coast based on a magazine photo |  |
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From a photo of Lake Tahoe in California with snow mountains |
| Changed an autumn scene to a green summer landscape Based on a YouTube painting tutorial |
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A pumpkin painting from YouTube with contrasting shadows |
| A colorful sketch of a beach sunset from YouTube |  |
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A forest in the twilight with stars overhead from YouTube |
| A painting class exercise on mixing colors |  |
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A botanical illustration for a painting class project |
| A Chinese painting class exercise for a peony flower |  |
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A cold snowy morning in a village from YouTube |
| Cherry blossoms in a Japanese town from YouTube |  |
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A horse in a colorful forest from YouTube |
| Driving home in early evening from a photo |  |
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An acrylic painting for an imaginary moon rise over the horizon at sea |
| A grandmother and grandson walking home from YouTube |  |
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A marshland in a national park from YouTube |
My Watercolor Painting Experience
The last time I painted in school in HK was in primary school. I did not remember what grade I was in but Mr. Lo was teaching the painting session. All my school subjects were not art related and I was not particularly interested in paintings then.
When my children were young, we went to bookstores and my oldest daughter was often collecting short stories and young readers fiction books. She also bought colorful comic books and cartoons. However, my second daughter really likes to draw, especially the Disney characters and even took drawing classes in college.
A few years ago, my oldest daughter decided to try those “wine and canvas” and “paint nite” sessions held in restaurants where you can buy a drink and paint acrylics on canvas in a group setting. She showed me some of her paintings and they were colorful and pleasant. I thought maybe I can try it. I painted a few acrylic sketches but did not like cleaning up the paints afterwards. So using watercolors are easier for me.
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My beginning in watercolor painting started 4 years ago by following some tutorials on YouTube. My first painting was a rose and it was easy. YouTube was my first art teacher.
Gradually I posted more paintings on Facebook to share them with my friends and surprisingly they liked them. Even more so are my Tai Shing classmates who gave me compliments. It is something casually that I was doing for fun and not being serious as an artist at all.
About 3 years ago I decided to sign up for a pencil drawing class in an adult school. It was my first real experience in an art class.
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My second class was in Chinese Brush Painting. It was not my first choice but the watercolor class was full. It was different from western paintings and often used single brush strokes and simple compositions.
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I like to paint landscapes in general and occasionally some animals. My paintings got better thanks to the encouragements from my friends. There are about 100 paintings posted on my Facebook page. To paint watercolors as a hobby was not my intention and it happened by chance. I do a few paintings now and then and the difficult thing is to start an idea or inspiration on what to paint. I spent more time that way than in doing a painting.
This is my experience in learning to paint watercolors. It would be interesting to see other classmates’ hobbies and leisure activities and share them in the class webpage.
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Thanks,
Kam Wing Yip
Administrator note:
To see more paintings from Kam Wing Yip, please visit his Facebook page.
Unforgettable Vacation Times in 2017
Written by It has been a year since I last posted an article in the blog of CTSS website and since then the website had been dormant. To make our website active, I decided to write a short article again.
Recently, I made two trips for visiting Toronto and places in California, and the purpose of the trips was not just for vacation but an opportunity to meet with those long missing schoolmates who reside there.
The Toronto trip was in early June, and it was accompanied by our classmate Paul Chan and his wife, Stella, who came from California. I stayed in Toronto for only two days and had an enjoyable dinner with many teachers and schoolmates.
June 4, 2017 Toronto
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In mid October, I made another trip for about ten days to California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah, and needless to say it was also exciting. Paul Chan, who resides in San Francisco, did a good research and recommended a local tour for me to join for sightseeing in Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon, and Lake Powell.
Los Angeles gathering
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San Francisco and Golden Gate Bridge
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14 Oct 2017 Las Vegas |
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15-16 Oct 2017 Grand Canyon and Antelope Canyon
Grand Canyon |
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Antelope Canyon |
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It is not my intention to write exclusively in this blog to tell about my personal vacation but just want to post some beautiful pictures of these famous attractions taken while I was there, and the gathering photos at the dinner which I had not only with our dear classmates but also with those senior schoolmates who graduated before the year of 1971. They are all eloquent people! When seeing these long missing faces in the photos, I do hope it can bring back the good memory we had in the old school days to all of you.
Because we had to pay for renewing the website last year, I hope my article will encourage more classmates to write not only to add fun but to prove the value of the existence of CTSS website.
Knowing that there will be a hiking forthcoming on November 12, which will be joined by many classmates, plus another whole day of activity to welcome the return of Aida Wong back to Hong Kong for visit, I am looking forward to reading some interesting articles from these events so that I can share the joyful moment with you from the other side of the globe.
Thanks and regards,
Wong Tak Kwong
An Exciting Memory for Celebrating the 45th Graduation Anniversary
It is good to know that the website of CTSS 71 has been renewed for another 5 years to allow the classmates to stay in touch closely with each other and to be informed of any activity which we may have in the future.
Since I last posted an article in the blog in 2013, I was thinking it should be time for me to do it again. Coincidently, it happened that we recently had a 45th year anniversary class reunion celebration which was a tour on Lantau Island for 2 days on October 13 & 14, 2016. Also, the celebration was followed by an anniversary dinner on October 15. Since a lot of things had happened during the two events, I decided to simply describe the events and tell something about my feelings in order to share them with other classmates who were unable to join us for the fun.
The itinerary started on October 13, met the group at Tung Chung where we were transported by a cable car to Ngong Ping for about 25 minutes to the top of the plateau. The cable car ride is a 5.7 km long crossing the Tung Chung Bay in the air towards North Lantau, browsing various views such as close distance from South China Sea, the Tian Tan Buddha Statue, a grassland slope and a mountainous terrain of Lantau Island. The cable car I rode was a crystal cabin equipped with a glass bottom, and riding inside enabled me to experience an astonishing bird’s eye view so it was quite a soaring experience but scary.
The cable car ride ended at Ngong Ping Village which is just adjacent to the cable car terminal. The village is an impressive cultural themed village that comes with many attractions such as “Stage 360”, “Motion 
360” (which is a 5D movie theatre for visitors to experience amazing and breathtaking effects), a path for hiking which is called “Walking with Buddha”, and of course restaurants and souvenir shops to satisfy visitors’ demands.
The second day on October 14 was a tour in Tai O, which is famous for its natural scenes and historical sites, and we also took a motorboat ride sailing around the bay of this fishing village.
In general, the exclusive spots being picked by the organizing committee were top picks which allowed me to refresh my memory of a camping at YMCA with my classmates from art class on Lantau Island, led by our class master Mr. Siu during the final year of my secondary school. For the October 2016 trip, I was so excited that this time it was also joined by many classmates from science class. Classmates who returned from overseas were Kimball Yip, Paul Chan, Johnny Shum and me.
The anniversary dinner on October 15 was a very successful one, filled with joy and affectionate speeches from the teachers and oversea classmates, including myself, ha ha! There were lucky draw at the dinner with gifts sponsored by the enthusiastic classmates although I was not lucky enough to win one.
Before I end this message, I wish to see that more articles to be posted by other classmates in the website, not necessary to be for a specific topic, but just something interesting, or to express a feeling on what has happened to them which can be shared with other classmates in order to make the existence of this website valuable.
Thanks and stay in touch.
Tak Kwong Wong
深圳唱K 2016年11月23日
Written by 今天 是K 場歡聚之日，大家凖時齊集深圳福田口岸。可惜天不造美，連綿下雨，但不減熱情，我們擔著雨遮，步行約十分鐘到深圳時代廣場的春滿園飲早茶。點心尚算過得去，令人驚喜的是那個蒸魚頭，內有酸筍及紅椒，而大家都喜好。
餐後雨勢未停，但無阻我們掃街的熱情，先後買了炒栗子，蒜茸花生，及豆腐花。
到了今天的主角，加卅紅 KTV, 即時入會，選擇了可容納 20 多人的 VIP 房，由中午到晚上七時，房租只收八十元人民幣，飲品及食物另計。
回說那個 VIP 房，有一支企咪，另外兩支無缐咪，三個相對的電視，四個哪叭，音量足夠，地方寬闊，燈光媲美夜總會，興起時甚至可以起舞。一句到尾，抵玩。
晚飯到了東方御宴酒樓，㸃了一個十人的豪華套餐，結果要打包五盒回家，都不用一千元人民幣。
因此，在晚飯時間，大家即時約定十二月一日（星期四）再來一次。歡迎各位報名參加。
深圳一天旅遊 2016年11月3日
今日天朗氣清，風和日麗，早上氣溫20 度，午後23 度，極度適合郊遊。十四位團友準時在關口集
合。食brunch 的金皇廷酒樓裝修豪華，地方寬闊，點心尚算精美。
東門是深圳最早的市集，有第一間的深圳戲院，更是全國第一間的McDonald 所在地。鄰近的京基100大廈，狀似鬚刨，樓高100層，現為深圳最高的樓宇。東門步行街現在是購物熱點，更是港人做窗簾及衣服的首選。亞Paul 在地下商場以驚喜價 ￥115買了支「容祖兒金咪」，值得慶賀。
到蓮花山公園時，兵分兩路，一支上山觀看鄧少平銅像及俯望深圳地標之市政府大樓，另一組沿平路到蓮花湖看錦鯉及水上單車。上山組員以驚人速度，不消半小時便匯合山下隊友。
下午茶時間，快餐店的雲呑麵不合格，雲吞不是用鮮蝦，麵身不夠爽，燒雞亦稍為過燶，唯送餐服務值得讚賞。到了大出血的Sams Club 時間，以團購方式買雲南雲耳，亦不忘參加各種試食。
晚飯在皇軒酒店的福鼎軒酒樓食海鮮，有茶葉蝦，薑蔥蟹，椒鹽九肚魚，片皮鴨，石頭窩海鮮豆腐等，又有啤酒及汽水，算是過得去。
全程坐了三次地鐵及兩次巴士。不計個人消費，三餐共用了約二千元（人仔）。沈正成同學其實亦已探明下次聚會之K場高歌，其中唱K 的消費和環境對比香港更具吸引力。我們隨意選了加卅紅作瞭解，它們在平日由中午12 時至晚上七時會員價豪華大房(可容10-12人）收費是￥90。食品和飲料自理。這￥90不是按小時計算而是整個時段，房間寛敞又有衛生間。因此我們願意進行實地驗證，稍後高國芬會在群組發出通知何時擇吉出發，歡迎大家踴躍參加。
網誌由蕭sir及沈正成提供，洪耀光插圖
