1 February 2016

I shared the following message at a morning assembly, but wanted to recycle it here.  Being the head of a school promoting Chinese heritage, I have stronger antenna for related materials, especially when they are related to my family.  My niece Claudia will get married this June to Andrew, an American boy. This well-travelled lad secretly sat the future in-laws down in November 2014 to ask for their permission before he proposed to Claudia.  Andrew had composed a speech in English, google-translated it into Cantonese and delivered it to his future in-laws who pretended to understand every word (well, they did understand, but not every word).  The in-laws lectured him on three things: religious faith, family bonds, and solid plans for the future. The couples then came to Hong Kong to “serve tea” to the older generation, receiving a lai-see at each cup offered.  I was impressed, and touched, listening to the recount of the permission speech, and witnessing the tea serving to each elderly in the family.  He wanted to do these foreign cultures, without gunpoint, to be a part of the Chinese family.

 

There are a lot we can learn about our own heritages, one of which is learning more about the world heritage sites in China: Imperial Palaces, Mausoleum of Qing Emperor, Peking Man site, Great Wall, Huangshan, Jiuzhaigou Valley, Wudang, Potala Palace, etc. There are a total of 48 world heritage sites in China, ranking it second after Italy which has 51 sites.

 

I am sure this list will snowball.  I hope I will be able to visit some of these sites to learn more about what shaped me; I hope I can share the same passion as Andrew who is willing to learn so much.  And I hope our students will have opportunities to do the same on their own, with their teachers, and on grand tours.

 

Have a good year of the monkey.

 

Anson Yang