Queen's College, Hong Kong

Queen's College
Chinese: 皇仁書院
Location

120 Causeway Road,

Causeway Bay,
Hong Kong
Information
Type Public, single-sex
Motto

"Labor Omnia Vincit" (Latin)
"勤有功" (Chinese)

"Labour conquers all" (English)
Established 1862
Principal Ms. LI Sui-Wah
Staff About 60 staff
Number of students About 1000 students
Color(s) Red
Medium of instruction English, except Chinese Language, Chinese History and Mandarin, in which Chinese is the medium of instruction
Campus Size Approximately 2.5 acres (16,766 m²)
School Magazine The Yellow Dragon - First Published in June 1899. The first Anglo-Chinese school magazine in the world
Website qc.edu.hk

Queen's College (Chinese: 皇仁書院), initially named The Government Central School (中央書院) in 1862, later renamed as Victoria College (皇后書院) in 1889, is a sixth form college for boys with a secondary school attached. It was the first public secondary school founded in Hong Kong by the British colonial government. Queen's College obtained its present name in 1894 and is now located at Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.

Brief history

The Central School was established at Gough Street, Central. Dr. Frederick Stewart was appointed the first Headmaster of the Central School, as well as Inspector of Schools in the Colony.

The Headmaster of the Central School was responsible for supervising all schools in Hong Kong until March 1879 when the Government established a separate office for the Inspector of Schools, predecessor of the Department of Education, which was later incorporated into the Education Bureau.

During the school's early years, the student population consisted of a variety of nationalities. Whereas Chinese students enrolled in English, students from other nationalities were expected to study Chinese classics.

Secular schooling sparked much controversies among the Hong Kong Governor and religious leaders. In many occasions, the Governor personally scrutinized and intervened the school operations. The Government later established a grant program to put religious schools at the same funding level as the Central School. On 26 April 1884, Sir George Bowen, Governor from 1883 to 1887, administered the stone-laying ceremony for the new school building at Aberdeen Street. As a student, Sun Yat-sen also attended the ceremony. On the recommendation of the Governor, the Central School was to be known as Victoria College when it moved to the new site.

Queen's College, a photograph from 1908

The school moved to Aberdeen Street in 1889. At that time, the school was one of the largest and most expensive buildings in Hong Kong. In 1894, the school was renamed Queen's College. The Government originally planned to expand the College to an imperial university in the late 19th century, but it was abandoned due to the outbreak and Russo-Japanese War in 1904, when the British colonial government worried about the benefits it enjoyed in the Far-East may be jeopardised by the expanding Japanese power. Therefore, it was crucial to establish a university with the purpose to train graduates in war-related subjects, such as engineering and medicine, and this led to the establishment of the University of Hong Kong in 1910, while Queen's College remained as a secondary school in Hong Kong.

The Japanese invasion forced school closure in 1941. During the Japanese occupation, the school site was used as the Army Headquarters. As a result, the Aberdeen Street campus was destroyed by Allied bombing during the War. The two notable cannons at the current school entrance were found in the rubble at Aberdeen Street.

After World War II, the school re-opened in a temporary site on Kennedy Road in 1947, sharing a campus with Clementi Secondary School.

In 1950, a new campus of Queen's College was built in Causeway Bay for the expansion of the school. It moved to the present site on Causeway Road, opposite Victoria Park, on 22 September 1950. Sir Alexander Grantham, Governor of Hong Kong, announced the revival of Queen's College on 22 September 1950. Since then, the two-story high building served countless Q.C. students throughout half of the century. Until 1951 the lowest class at Queen's was Class 4 (equivalent to now form 3). In September 1951 two additional classes were provided at the bottom of the school. The lowest class at Queen's thus become Class 6 (Form 1 nowadays). The changes in organization and other factors consequent on the rapid growth of education resulted for a time in an uneven distribution of divisions. In 1950 for example, there were ten divisions of Class 4. In 1951, four of these divisions were transferred to King's College (英皇書院). From 1955, intending Arts undergraduates had been transferred to King's College and later to Belilios Public School for their Advanced Level year. From 1962, an extra Upper Sixth Form was provided to the arts students so that QC boys no longer have to studied in Belilios. Meanwhile, some Belilios Girls came to Queen's to study Science. After that, no more girls were admitted and Queen's College today remains a full-time Anglo-Chinese secondary school for boys.

A tourist tour on the history of Sun Yat-sen usually includes the location of the first site of the school at Gough Street, Central.

School song

School Song

Lyrics by: William Kay (1920)

Verse 1

Hail Alma Mater! Long Life to Queen's College,
Kindly instructor and guide of our youth,
Lighting the land with the bright beams of knowledge,
Teaching thy children to reverence truth!
Bound in close brotherhood all thy collegians,
Cherishing memories tender and strong,
Scattered asunder in various regions,
Q.C.'s and O.Q.C.'s join in the song.

Chorus

Q.C.! Q.C.! Q.C.! Q.C.! Q.C.!
In that cry what a magic is found.
Let us roll out the glorious sound;
Q.C.! Q.C.!

Verse 2

From the proud city and from the lone valley,
From the rich districts of Kwang-tung we come.
Hakka and Cantonese round thee we rally,
Far from our kindred in thee we find home.
Sternly we strive in our sports and our studies,
For the race goes to the wise and the strong.
Moulding our manhood, our mind and our bodies,
Q.C.'s and O.Q.C.'s join in the song.
(repeat Chorus)

Verse 3

Time speeds along. Soon our schooldays are ended,
Comes the sad hour when from thee we must part!
Thee who so kindly and skillfully blended,
Lore of the Orient with Western art.
We will not falter nor fearfully wonder,
Nurtured by thee we feel valiant and strong.
Sons of Cathay, raise your voices in thunder,
Q.C.'s and O.Q.C.'s join in the song.
(repeat Chorus)

The melody of the school song of Queen's College was adapted from the school song of England's Harrow School, with lyrics being filled in by Mr. William Kay, formerly a long-serving vice principal at the school. Heep Yunn School, an all-girls school in Kowloon, also shares the same melody for their school song. This rendition of the Queen's College school song is arranged by Dr. Lau Kai-chi, Anthony (Music Panel Head at Queen's College 1994 - 2009).

School Motto

The Motto of the school is "Labor omnia vincit". The school motto was later translated as "勤有功" in Chinese, which literally means "hard work brings merit". Many of the QC students and old boys live on these spirits and have contributed to the Hong Kong and the Chinese society. Dr. Sun Yat-sen and Mr. Fok Ying Tung, Henry are two of the examples.

The school also put strong emphasis on its five core values: Diligence, Integrity, Brotherhood, Responsibility and Pursuit of Excellence.

For Queen's College, School logos were only officially adopted after the Second World War, as prior to the War the School, similar to other government departments, used the Royal Emblem as their logo. Yet, Queen's College's first school logo was designed as early as the 1923, by Mr Ng Ping-un, Chief Chinese draftsman of the Architectural Office. The post-war school logo changed numerous times, all based on Ng's 1923 design, and the current school logo was adopted in 1997 after the Transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong.

Enrollment and medium of instruction

The College currently has 24 classes, with 4 classes per form and approximately 860 students on roll. Prior to the implementation of the 334 Scheme and Voluntary Optimisation of Class Structure Scheme, the College houses 33 classes with approximately 1200 students on roll, with 5 classes per form from Secondary One to Five, and 4 classes per form in Lower and Upper Sixth Forms. Secondary One students are allocated by the Secondary School Place Allocation System.

The Medium of Instruction is English (except Chinese Language, Chinese History, Putonghua, and cultural subjects); however, teaching in Cantonese is not uncommon, and is usually at individual teachers' discretion.

Activities and achievements

All students are divided into eight School Houses, namely: Stewart, Wright, Dealy, Tanner, Crook, de Rome, Kay, and Williamson (which was at first called School House when the house system was introduced by then Headmaster Williamson). The School Houses compete in Athletic Meets, Swimming Gala and other interhouse competitions. School teams regularly participate and excel in inter-school competitions.

There are also 49 clubs grouped under Sports, Recreational, Religious, Social Services, and Academic (Science & Arts) areas. Most clubs hold events and functions for the participation of all students and many of them organize joint events with sister schools throughout every academic year. They also actively participate in annual school Open Days. Last but not least, school clubs co-ordinate with and contribute to many charitable activities.

Queen's College students are known for excelling in the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE). Historically, more students at the school have received 10 A grades on the HKCEE (the highest grade possible on the HKCEE) than at any other secondary school in Hong Kong. Out of over 572 secondary schools in Hong Kong, fewer than 30 have ever produced these so-called "10A" students. In particular, between 1990 and 2006, 50 Queen's College students have received 10 A's on the HKCEE. This number represents over 26% of the 10A scores received during this period.

The stellar academic performance of Queen's College students has been reflected in its representation at many of the world's best universities. Many excellent Form 6 students continue their education at prestigious overseas institutions in the United States, the People's Republic of China and the United Kingdom, while most Form 7 graduates enroll in prestigious local universities such as the University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Queen's College counts a total of 21 winners of the Hong Kong Outstanding Students Awards,[1] ranking 2nd among all secondary schools in Hong Kong.

Publications

A school magazine named The Yellow Dragon.

First published in June 1899, the Queen's College school magazine, The Yellow Dragon (《黃龍報》), is now the world's oldest existing Anglo-Chinese school magazine. The Yellow Dragon is a priceless historical witness of the educational development of Hong Kong, as well as the social changes in Asia Pacific. The 100th volume of The Yellow Dragon has been published in 2005. In the Chinese section of the centenary volume, a brief conclusion of the past 100 volumes (百期回望專輯) was written by seven students in 2005 to commemorate the special centenary occasion.

Another regular publication of the school is the school newspaper, "The Courier"(《文苑》), which has been published since 1968. At the moment, 3 issues are produced per year with coverage on school's major functions and students' contributions.

Gwenneth Stokes, the first woman to become Associate to the Chief Justice of South Australia, and her husband John, the Principal of Queen's College from 1965 to 1970, spent two years researching at Queen's College, as well as in archives and libraries in Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom to compile the 494-page school history. The limited-edition book entitled Queen's College Its History 1862-1987 was published by Queen's College Old Boys' Association in commemoration of the school's 125th anniversary in 1987.

List of notable alumni

Politicians, judges, diplomats, and military staff

Dr. Sun Yat-sen

Medical doctors

Businessmen

Academics

Volunteerism Leader

List of Headmasters and Principals

List of Head Prefects

Queen's College History Museum

History

The Queen's College History Gallery was established in 2013 to illustrate the history of the school, and to act as an archive at the same time to store and restore school-related artefacts, documents and relevant publications. To give the 4000-piece strong collection and exhibition a more favourable environment, a new purpose-built museum converted from several classrooms was completed and opened on 23 January 2017. Renamed the Queen's College History Museum, it currently hosts a permanent exhibition titled "From Gough Street to Causeway Road: Change and Continuity of Queen’s College" curated by Old Boys Mr Joseph Yu (Curator), Mr John Kwok and Mr Justin Cheng (Assistant Curators). Mapping out the changes and continuities of curriculum, education policy, student activities and traditions over the century and a half’s time, it also shows the College's contributions and relations to the development of Hong Kong and China. Despite the ever-changing environment and emergence of new challenges, the core values and the spirit of Queen’s College stay the same. To encourage the public to learn more about their school history, the museum currently operates a website and a Facebook page.

Curatorial Methodology

Most of the surviving materials and records were collected by institutions and University Archives in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong, as well as private collectors and Old Boys. The help of internet presented both opportunities and challenges to the curators. Apart from being overwhelmed quantitatively by various materials previously not available for researchers, useful information is often fragmented and hidden deep inside these materials, which require specific historical knowledge and skills to detach them from their sources and connect them with the wider picture. As a result, materials and information previously unknown to the world were found and displayed, in the hope that visitors and researchers will benefit from a more holistic picture of the history of Queen’s College, and its relation to the development of Hong Kong and Greater China. In terms of curating the exhibition, the curators have adopted both chronological and typological display methods, tailoring to the specific nature of our collection. Organising the main exhibition in a chronological manner can effectively communicate in a simple and straightforward manner, allowing visitors from different steps of life to observe and fully appreciate the changes and continuities of school policies, curriculum, student experience and activities, and their relation to the broader socio-political development in Hong Kong and the World. The 8 typologically organised cases are aimed at showing visitors the ‘evolution’ and development of school-related items formerly used by students and staff from different eras, reflecting the response to changing demands across history. It is hoped that both displaying patterns will complement each other and inform visitors of a more holistic picture, thus reflecting changes and continuities of the Queen’s College.

Old Boy Curators and Staff

References

  1. ↑ Past Winners of the Hong Kong Outstanding Students Awards Archived 21 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑ Rebecca Chan Chung, Deborah Chung and Cecilia Ng Wong, "Piloted to Serve", 2012
  3. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/PilotedToServe
  4. ↑ Ng, James. "Benjamin Wong Tape". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  5. ↑

Coordinates: 22°16′51″N 114°11′30″E / 22.2809°N 114.1917°E / 22.2809; 114.1917

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