35th Anniversary Kick-off Ceremony

by 3E Methdy Leung

Last month, our school held its 35^th Anniversary Kick-off Ceremony. A lot of students performed in the ceremony and the performances were wonderful.

First, we had a ribbon cutting ceremony. We invited our principal, and some teachers to cut the ribbon and start our ceremony. After that, we watched a video which was made by Campus TV.  Students from each class stood on the playground forming the shape of a number. This video showed that students in our school are very united.

Then, our school wind band performed three pieces. They did a good job and everyone in the audience enjoyed listening to the music. Next, we watched a shadow puppet show, which was about a war. It was very exciting and everyone clapped after the performance. The show was fantastic.

After that, the members of the dancing club performed. They danced to some pop music from Korea. The highlight of the ceremony was the stop-motion animation. In the video, things floated in the air and dolls could move anywhere by themselves. This video was very interesting and the maker of this video was creative.

Members of the audience howled with laughter after they watched the video; the atmosphere was very good.

Finally, the ceremony ended. Everyone left with a smiling face because they had watched such a wonderful show.

A memorable anniversary kick-off ceremony

by 3D  Leung Kwan Pui Ryan

21^st December 2012 was Valtorta College's 35^th Anniversary Kick-off Ceremony. All students and teachers were glad on that day.

The starting time of the ceremony was 9:20 a.m. Some parents were invited to attend it too. At the beginning of the ceremony, our school supervisor and guests held a ribbon cutting ceremony, which symbolized the start of the celebration. After cutting the ribbon, the screen above the stage showed a count-down slide of 10, 9, 8... and then the program started.  The audience all took a breath in anticipation of the performances to come.

First, the school orchestra performed three songs. They had trained hard before the ceremony. It was great! Then, the second performance was a shadow puppet show, which is a form of traditional Chinese entertainment. A story about Chinese history was told; it was interesting. After that, the dance club performed a jazz dance. Their dancing was beautiful and stylish, and their costumes were very attractive.  Altogether, it was a very festive atmosphere.  I enjoyed the music as it was a Christmas song, combined with a popular Korean song “Gangnam Style” to form a medley.  As for the birthday greetings, many schoolmates, teachers and even the pop star, Kay Tse said “Happy Birthday” to our school.

Then, Campus TV showed a touching and meaningful video which linked all the performances up. Next, the magic club performed an amazing show which for me was the highlight of the ceremony.  All of us were in a 'hyper' mood. We enjoyed the wonderful atmosphere very much. However, of course the ceremony came to an end after all those amazing performances, and all students, teachers and guests clapped loudly. The 35^th anniversary ceremony ended in a burst of prolonged applause.

We really did appreciate the excellent show! Thanks to all of the performers for their hard work preparing for it, and the excellent teamwork of all the students involved! I look forward to seeing our successful 40^th anniversary ceremony!

35th Anniversary Kick-off Ceremony was a 'must-see'

                                                                            by 3D Chau Pok Man, Bosman

Last month, our school held an extremely important event – the 35^th Anniversary Kick-off Ceremony. This year’s ceremony was especially meaningful, and involved all of us: teachers, students and even non-teaching staff.  Our school invited many guests to join our ceremony, for example, our school supervisor, Mr Chan and parents of F.1 to F.6 students.

On that day, the Student Association prepared many awesome shows to entertain us. First, there was a ribbon cutting ceremony. Our school supervisor, principal, teacher representatives, Chairperson of Parent-Teacher Association, and Chairperson of the Student Association went to the stage to cut the ribbon which started the ceremony. The audience clapped happily.

Suddenly, music started – it was the hit song of the year, “Gangnam Style”. When the curtain rose, we saw the members of our school’s Dance Club. They wore beautiful costumes. The club has won a lot of prizes in external competitions. They re-designed the moves of the song and performed it in a jazz form.  Their performance was outstanding and amazing. Every move was perfect. I think no team could do better.

After the Dance Club’s performance, it was the turn of the wind band. They performed a Christmas song which was excellent! They made no mistakes. When we listened to the music, you would feel the atmosphere of Christmas and follow the beat!

The next event was the shadow puppet show which was performed by Form 5 students who are studying Visual Art. They supported the little paper puppets with bamboo sticks to control their moves. They performed some stories chosen from Chinese opera. Although we didn’t know the name of the story, we still enjoyed the show very much.

Then, here came the stop-motion animation! It was my favourite part. Stop-motion animation doesn’t mean everyone stops moving. It means the performers use one shot ('freeze-frame') or a few shots to do the whole animation; they use one scene as one shot, like taking a series of photos and sticking them together. You may still see people moving, or not; you could see some incredible action through the animation. For example, you could see the 'mime artists' give the illusion of moving while they were sitting on the floor! The F.4 students thought of many creative and interesting actions to perform.

Finally, the ceremony came to an end. Every performer stood at the front of the stage thanking us all. We stood up and clapped long and loud. After we stopped clapping, the music for the school song started. Everyone sang our school song in high spirits. We were sorry that the ceremony had ended but we still had happy faces because we were celebrating our school’s 35^th anniversary.

“Happy birthday, VC!”

We Reap What We Sow

                                              by 6B Wong Sze Wai 

Have you ever imagined you could travel through time?  To me, this dream has always been just that, a dream - until that night.  Then everything changed.

Last Saturday night when I was going home, a thunderstorm suddenly came. I had no choice but to shelter from the heavy rain under a building. All of a sudden a spark of light appeared in front of me.  When I realized what had happened I felt some force engulf me in darkness; I think I fainted for few seconds.

When I became conscious again, I found that I was standing in an unknown place.  Around me were a few buildings, just like the flats in Hong Kong.  Oh, no!  Looking at the buildings more clearly, they were all skyscrapers with over 60 floors!  And there above the sky were cars travelling on the highways!  Where was I?!

While I was standing there, confused, a young man walked towards me.

“Are you Charles? Charles Ho?” the man asked excitedly.

“Yes, I am Charles Ho. May I ask a question? Where is this place? And what year is it?”  I just wanted to go home as soon as possible.  The young man replied, “You are now in Hong Kong; the year is 2060."

"What!" I exclaimed. "2060!"  I had travelled 48 years forward in time!

“Let me introduce myself", he continued.  "I am junior Charles Ho junior. I am your grandson!

”Oh my god", I thought, "he must be kidding!"

“Grandpa, you came here for a reason. Hong Kong is dying!  You must save our home!  For decades, Hong Kong people have been destroying their home. Pollution, deforestation and over-use of resources have made this city unsuitable for living. Look around, look at the ash everywhere, Look at the black fumes shutting out the blue sky!  Many people have moved out of this city… they just gave up hope.”

  

“There is nothing I can do", I said.  "I am just a student, and the year is 2013!”  Actually, I really believed that this was a dream.

“No, Grandpa. There is a lot you can do. When you go back to 2013, you must urge the government do something to protect the precious environment. Hong Kong people still have the chance to change their lives. It depends on you. Please! Help us!”  His pleading voice began to fade in my ears.

Dark again…

I was standing under the building. I look upon the sky; the sky was gleaming with stars. Was what just happened real, or not?  

I didn’t know - but I knew I had to do something!

Ruined Face Ruined Day

by 2D Pun Siu Chi 

 

Today, a terrible thing happened to me and Jonathan. It started when we attended the Career Expo.
 

We worked in different companies, so I chatted to Jonathan on the phone. When I was about to ask him out for dinner, I heard someone scream loudly.
 

“Somebody has stolen my handbag!”
 

I was able to see the suspect, so I told Jonathan, “A short spikey haired thief with big sunglasses and cap who stole a handbag is running away!”
 

I was so scared that I said everything in one sentence.
 

Anyway, Jonathan was able to find the suspect. He tried to stop him by pushing him onto the floor. Then, the suspect started to struggle. First, Jonathan was winning, but then, the suspect elbowed Jonathan’s face quite a few times, and Jonathan let go because his handsome face was ruined. The suspect ran away in a blink of an eye.
 

Now, the police are still looking for the suspect, and Jonathan is saving money for plastic surgery. I hope everything can be back to normal and I can ask Jonathan out for dinner.

Lance Armstrong

by 6A Wong Tsz To Charlotte    The famous cyclist Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France seven times consecutively, from 1999 to 2005. Unfortunately, an investigative journalist found that he and his teammates had been systematically doping for years.  I feel really disappointed in him. Since he was a professional athlete in the public eye, I thought he was a great and successful cyclist. However, he only relied on drugs to win the competitions. It was not fair to the other cyclists in the competition. In 1996, Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer, which spread to his brain and lungs. The doctors told him that he only had 50 per cent chance of surviving. Due to his strong faith and spirit, he recovered eventually and began cycling again. I appreciate his resolute passion and his enthusiasm for cycling very much. I thought he would cherish the opportunity to be a cyclist even more than before. At first, I did not believe he would dope in order to be strong enough to win the competition. I thought he was just a very strong and healthy athlete, but he let me down completely. Successful athletes should win competitions by their own strength and stamina, not by doping. All the articles that reported Armstrong’s bad behavior will damage his reputation and image. It was not clever for him to take anabolic steroids before competitions. Moreover, this behavior harmed others. Although he won lots of money and had a good image before, he has lost all this now.  He had to give back the money to the Tour de France organizers and everyone feels disappointed with him. He gained nothing in the end. I supposed he could have won those competitions if he had relied on himself. Since he had fought cancer with his strong faith, he could be the best cyclist too. It was a shame that he took the wrong path. The sports community should do something to avoid this happening again. First, they should enforce the rules more strictly. For those who break them, they should pay a big fine to the community or even be sent to prison - for at least two years. This would discourage athletes from doping before competitions. Also, the sports community could have a ‘black-list’ system for those who are found guilty of doping. Offenders would be banned from any other competitions or related activities. I think these harsh punishments could deter athletes from doping.  Finally, the sports community could assign doctors to the teams. The doctors would have to be professional and trustworthy enough to help the athletes remain healthy and fit, and prevent 'crooked' athletes and their co-conspirators from using sophisticated doping methods to deceive the public. Lance Armstrong is a failed role model for other athletes.

A Rock Concert

                                       by 1A Tiger Pun

Last week, I needed to do an English project with my best friend Kenny. When we finished the project, it was about 6:30p.m. Then we went jogging. We heard some girls say, "Tiger Bad Boy 4" will show up in today's concert! Tinco is so handsome……’ At that time, I really wanted to ask them where the concert was held because ‘Tiger Bad Boy 4’ is my favourite band. They sing very well. Kenny agreed with that, so he decided to follow those girls!

We had to line up to attend the concert. The line was really long but if I wanted to see my favourite band, I needed to be patient so I waited. After 45 minutes, we got into the concert area. The first show was performed by a pop group. Four pop singers sang pop songs on the stage but I didn’t like them much. I only wanted to see my favourite band. Afterwards, it was my favourite band's show time. I was so happy. They were so handsome. Everyone was dancing and singing along with them. The concert was full of happiness. My favourite song was ‘Baby’.

At the end of the concert, I was very tired. Although the concert was the best concert I have ever seen, I was a bit disappointed because I didn’t get the autograph of ‘Tiger Bad Boy 4’. Next time, I must get it!

Nature of Human

                                                                                        By 4B Lung Hiu Fung   

Confucianism is one of the most important Chinese philosophical beliefs, and its values still affect us a lot nowadays; for example the ideals of loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness, but I still disagree with one thing, which concerns the nature of humans.

There are two opposing schools of thought about this: the “good human-nature theory” by Mencius and the “evil human-nature theory” by Xunzi.  However, I disagree with both of them.

Firstly, Mencius believed that humans are born naturally good because when they see a child falling down a well, for example, they want to save it at once - not because they want to seek appreciation from friends and neighbours, nor even improve their own reputation, but because they have an innate tendency towards goodness. Nonetheless, I think the reason for people wanting to save the child is that he is just a stranger. If a person saw someone he regarded as a competitor fall down a well, that person would hesitate to save him, as humans are motivated most by self-interest. Therefore, I think humans only have compassion towards strangers, not their competitors, so they are not really born naturally good.

On the other hand , Xunzi believed that humans are born evil and he thought conflicts would occur if there were no rules to manage society.  However, humans can become good through education, which could be considered hypocritical in a way.  Personally, I agree with the latter view: humans will act unnaturally because of social pressure. For example, the reason that some people obey laws is that they know others will discriminate against them if they break the law. For example, theft: people steal things sneakily because they are aware of the possible penalties, not because they know their behavior is wrong.  However, I don’t think humans are born evil because one of the reasons humans are so different from other animals, is that they can think critically, so they won’t usually hurt someone for no reason as it might have adverse effects on themselves.

To conclude, I think human nature is neither inherently good, nor evil - just selfish.  They value themselves above all else and are likely to harm others who threaten their position.