bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

SCMP Reporter

Secondary students delved back into Hong Kong's history as part of an annual competition.

  The Inter-school Competition of Study Projects on Local History attracted entries from about 20 schools.

  It was organised by the Hong Kong Museum of History and the Education Department.

    The aim of the competition was to prompt teenagers to learn more about the territory's heritage.

   The schools' teams had to choose an area of Hong Kong, or an aspect of its history, and conduct an in-depth study, tracing its progress over the years and tabling events of significance to the community.

   Speaking at the prize presentation, Mok Ying-fan, chairman of the Urban Council Museums Select Committee, said all the entries were packed with valuable information.

  He said they showed the students and teachers had put much effort and time into their projects.

  The students did not confine their search to books and libraries.

   They went out and visited sites and spoke to residents, to get first-hand information about their chosen areas.

   The teams presented videos, cassette tapes, slides and models to accompany their written reports.

   New Asia Middle School came first in the senior division with an outstanding study of Hung Hom.

  Student representative Wong Wai-hung said Hung Hom was a logical choice since its school was in the area and most students lived there. But digging up information was not that easy, he said.

  'What we found in the libraries was inadequate, so we interviewed different residents to get some background, but sometimes their versions of Hung Hom history weren't the same.

  'We had to be very careful as we sifted through the material.

  'As students, our job is to read textbooks. But on this occasion we were writing history that could become textbooks.

  'It was interesting work, but also very challenging,' Wai-hung said.

  Yuen Long Public Secondary School won the junior prize with a study of the development of Heung Yee Kuk village council system of Yuen Long.

  They traced the history of Yuen Long from when it was a little village, during the Sung dynasty, to its status today as a flourishing new town.

  'Yuen Long residents made a strong protest against the British invasion 100 years ago but failed.

  'They made peace with the British but had a say in the way Yuen Long was run.

  'They still preserve this proud sense of independence,' the winning team said.

   Second and third placed in the junior division were Ma On Shan Tsung Tsin Secondary School and Rosaryhill School respectively.

  STFA Tam Pak Yu College and Queen's College Old Boys Association Secondary School jointly won the second prize in the senior category.

   The winning teams each received cash prizes, up to $5,000, and a trophy. Schools interested in seeing the six winning entries should contact the Education Extension Unit of Hong Kong Museum of History on 2367 1124.



Schools delve into HK history