Students find wealth of information as they study origins, development of SAR streets
Participants of a local history competition learned valuable information about the streets of Hong Kong by tracing their history and development.
The Study Projects on Local History, organised by the Hong Kong Museum of History, the Education Department and the Public Records Office, was launched in 1992. This year, a total of 76 entries were received.
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department's assistant director (heritage and museums), Tony Ma Kai-loon, said the contest aimed to help students discover the joy of studying history through exploring and collecting historical information and materials.
'This year's theme (Streets in Hong Kong) provided students with the opportunity to walk around and interview residents and dig up interesting stories,' Mr Ma said.
St Paul's Co-educational College won first prize in the senior division with its 'Bonham Strand' report. Wong Shiu Chi Secondary School and Ma On Shan Tsung Tsin Secondary School won second and third prizes respectively.
In the junior division, New Asia Middle School was first with its 'Ma Tau Wai Road' project. Wah Yan College and Diocesan Girls' School won second and third prizes respectively.
The St Paul's Co-educational College team comprised 10 Form Four to Seven students. Their project was the fruit of co-operation and teamwork. They shared the tasks of investigation, data compilation, analysis and report writing.
Chim Sau-wai, 18, a Form Six arts student, said the team chose Bonham Strand because of its blooming commercial activities.
'Bonham Strand is a miniature Chinese community. There are a lot of old temples, different types of stores, old-fashioned Chinese restaurants and residential buildings. The area has ancient origins and a long development history.'
Many of her teammates found interviewing the residents most challenging. Some of them started a conversation with storekeepers after making a purchase.
Sau-wai said working on the project had raised her interest in history and she hopes the Gov ernment would help preserve historical areas.
The New Asia Middle School team comprised eight girls. They were in Form Two and Three when they worked on the project last summer. Ma Tau Wai Road, which is near their school, inspired them to make a historical study of the neighbourhood.
Fourth formers Yu Man-lan and Chan On-ki, both 15, said sometimes shop-owners asked them to leave because they interrupted their business.
'But we were very sincere and asked for their co-operation and they eventually agreed,' On-ki said.
