1 March 2023

We had a scary false alarm in late-February. The fire alarm roared and all King Ling members assembled in the square.  Not knowing it was a false alarm, teachers and staff ran around to see what happened, reported to each other, and helped students move to the square as quickly as possible.  Teachers who were already in the square confirmed that no fire or smoke was seen in corridors of our U-shape building, and perceived it safe to gather everyone on the ground floor.

 

It was not until minutes after all had gathered on the ground floor that we confirmed the false alarm; students were sent back to the classrooms.  But I would like to elaborate a bit on the state of mind when nothing was confirmed: bell roaring loudly, teachers running around checking, students waiting anxiously, etc. Just imagine if a handful of people did not cooperate, or spread false information on the “invisible tasteless poison” and the crowd believed in it, chaos and pandemonium would be afoot. And imagine this happened in a small community, or in a district in the city.

 

Needless to say, the public security is the concern here: Was there a real danger? Did people take advantage of others’ fear and create more fear? Etc. The possible real danger of fire and poison, and the rumored danger are both examples of public security concerns which should be carefully handled or prevented. Good that our students are all disciplined and are willing to follow instructions when there is potential danger.

 

I hope students continue to exercise vigilance; the vigilance to protect oneself and people around them should always be at the highest priority in our waking hours. We do it through concerning each other, and through working in social services where we understand how people from other walks of life think and operate.  By realizing where others stand, we can understand where their action and reaction come from, and go about protecting ourselves and people around us.

 

Anson Yang