Club reaches for the stars
RAIN and clouds may get in the way of star-gazers but will never dampen the spirit of St Paul's College boys in their quest for answers to the 'mysterious' universe.
Philip Chiu Pit-lap, the chairman of the school's Astronomy Club, said even the members' No 1 enemy - bad weather - could not lessen their enthusiasm in studying the sky.
'Bad weather only leads to the cancellation of our star observation nights; it does not affect our enthusiasm in gaining a better understanding of astronomy, which is one of the world's oldest sciences,' the 17-year-old student said.
Philip said the club had been replacing unsuccessful star-gazing nights with talk shows and meetings because of the unstable weather recently.
Established in 1965, the club aims to promote astronomy among students and help them gain a better understanding of the subject. Talks, observation nights and observation camps are held throughout the year in addition to a quarterly bulletin, Polaris.
Philip said the club tried to make Polaris as simple and fundamental as possible because many students tend to reject the subject because of its complexities.
He added that although many view astronomy as a remote and distant subject, it could be 'a matter of life and death'.
The possibility of a comet crashing on to the earth is one of Philip's concerns.
'Knowing beforehand when a comet is going to crash gives us time to work out solutions. One of the remedies is to launch a rocket to destroy the comet,' he told Young Post .
The urge to seek knowledge of the unknown seems to be the driving force behind most of the club's members.
'Astronomy is one of the oldest science subjects, but still remains the most intriguing and mysterious,' said executive committee member Norman Hau, who joined the club a year ago.
Fellow committee member Alan Chiu Pit-hong agreed, saying that he was drawn to the club by the 'mysteriousness' of the universe. 'I never wanted to go home on the observation nights.' Former chairman of the club Lau Yin-fai had another interesting opinion.
'Realising the universe is so big, one tends to view things in a broader way and is able to let go of the trivial things in life,' he said.
The immediate work of the club is to set up a mini-library to give members access to books and information on astronomy.
The club, which has 127 members, was recently selected as the Overall Best Club (September to December '94) by the school's student association.
At present, less than 25 per cent of the over 400 secondary schools in the territory have an astronomy club. DO you have a friend with an unusual hobby? Does your school have a unique club or association you would like other students to know about? If so, drop us a line with a brief summary. Address it to Novelty Shop, Young Post, GPO Box 47, Hong Kong, or fax us on 2811-1048 Novelty Shop is co-ordinated by CHARISSA CHAO
