Letter from Thomas Wong (LSC PTA Chairperson)
Dear Parents,
1. I want to share with you a story, about Brother David Liao.
2. Brother David is stationing in Changjiao, China.
He has established a study centre in his ancestral home in Changjiao few years ago. He teaches English to the poor children in the village.
3. I visited this centre, called the La Salle Study Centre, during the summer vacation. About 400 children enrolled in a Summer Course English Programme organised by Bro David this summer. The programme lasted for 3 weeks. Five Form 5 boys from our School came to Changjiao and helped Bro David on the programme. A few La Salle teachers also sacrificed their valuable time and came to the Centre too.
4. I took the trip on July 20. My wife and my younger son came with me too. Two other families joined us. The trip was a good combination of interesting rural life in China, a return to nature, and the experience of a unique teaching method adopted by Bro David.
As I now look back on the trip, I am sure my son and the two boys from the other two families would learn something. I think they have learnt that life is so difficult for the children in the poor village of Changjiao. And I am sure, they have also learnt that the poor children in China have a strong quest for knowledge compared to them.
5. The two families and mine arrived Changjiao on the evening of July 20. We checked in a hotel, thanks to Chan Tong Sir, who pre-arranged the check-in formalities for us. The hotel rental per night was RMB 180 for a room, quite decent.
6. July 21 morning - the three families went to the La Salle Study Centre together with Chan Tong Sir. It took us about 20 minutes to arrive at the Centre.
7. There, at the Centre, we saw an energetic man, jumping and singing a song from Glen Campbell. Underneath his T-shirt and his dark hair were a heart and a brain and most of all, a strong voice that sympathized with the poor children who were learning English from him, through the song, Try A Little Kindness. This man is Bro David Liao.
Try a Little Kindness
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If you see
your brother standing by the road
With a heavy load from the seeds he's sowed
And if you see your sister falling by the way
Just stop and stay you're going the wrong way
You got to try a little kindness
Yes show a little kindness
Just shine your light for everyone to see
And if you try a little kindness
Then you'll overlook the blindness
Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets
Don't walk around
the down and out
Lend a helping hand instead of doubt
And the kindness that you show every day
Will help someone along their way
You got to try a little kindness
Yes show a little kindness
Just shine your light for everyone to see
And if you try a little kindness
Then you'll overlook the blindness
Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets
You got to try a little kindness
Yes show a little kindness
Just shine your light for everyone to see
And if you try a little kindness
Then you'll overlook the blindness
Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets
8.
Certainly Bro David, whom I have known for a few years, is a kind man for whom
I and a lot of La Salle old boys have developed real affection and respect. Bro
David always, try a little kindness, shows a little kindness and shines his
light for everyone to see.
9. I often admire those people who send their warmth, love, joy and happiness to their friends or loved ones. And their practice of loving kindness, gradually widen the circle of their compassion to embrace to people they don't know. Bro David is this type of people.
10. It was certainly of those priceless moments that my son and two boys would remember that learning could be achieved by whatever means - even by singing. And I hope they would try a little kindness in their life. And do we, as parents, also try a little kindness? Sometimes, I wonder that if we could skip a lunch or a dinner in a restaurant, we can save the money and 'try a little kindness' by donating it to worthy causes.
I have been trying to promote the Reading Club recently. The parents can try a little a kindness, by helping the Club to promote a good reading culture to the kids. I would also like to promote the Parent Community Service Club a bit more and involve the parents with more community services, as I hope more parents can try a little kindness.
11. July 21 lunch - my kid and the two boys had lunch with the volunteers, working at the Centre. The five Form 5 La Salle boys and some volunteers that Bro David recruited from overseas ate together with us. We had vegetables, soup and rice - perhaps the first taste of simple food for my kid and the two boys, just for the sake of filling up their stomach. We all know that simplicity is good to all of us, but we never try.
12. July 21 afternoon - lessons began. The children were divided into groups. The volunteers conversed with them in English. They discussed a wide range of topics. Perhaps, this brief encounter would have a big impact on the children in their future endeavors. The children know they need to study and always get ready and perhaps their chance will come. To the volunteers, including the five La Salle Form 5 boys, this summer at the Centre, brought a new whole set of experiences and challenges to them, as they had learnt more about the plight of the poor children in the village; the bigger world, not just only Hong Kong, and the meaning of life. They had to cope with the lower living standard of the village and the friendly visits of mosquitoes to their dormitory every evening.
13. Seven children in the village were lucky enough to get enrolled into different university, in Guangdong Province. They know that knowledge could change their fate, but they had an obstacle - to pay the tuition fees. Luckily, with the help of a few parents from La Salle College, who subsidized half of the fees, they could continue their tertiary education. Brother David played a pivotal role in this regard, appealing to friends of La Salle, to give a little kindness to the children.
14. July 21 evening - back to the hotel, with my wife, my kid and the other two boys. Had dinner in the hotel and the boys played for a while before going to bed.
15. July 22 morning - had breakfast in the hotel. Chan Tong Sir was ready to leave in the afternoon, with two La Salle teachers, Alfred Lam and Robert Wang, coming in the afternoon to take his place.
16. Went to a supermarket, after breakfast, to buy a few things for the children and the volunteers of the Centre. There, a saleslady chatted with me and I told her that I was going to the Centre afterwards. She asked me whether I was a teacher from the Centre and enquired the possibility of getting her son to enrol into the summer course. She spoke highly of Brother David. The Centre proves to be an ideal place for the children of the village to learn English, teamwork, discipline and other soft skills. It is the only place where a lot of children would like to spend a fruitful summer, where they could make new friends and learn something that they could not learn from school.
17. Arrived the Centre at about 10:30 am. Brother David was teaching, the children were listening and the volunteers were helping. Brother David told me that a lot of time was required to prepare for the summer programme and luckily he had a retired secondary school principal from Malaysia helping him this year. Brother David loves the children more than his life. He teaches the children and even the volunteers, by example, including appreciation for the gifts of daily life and the problems of other people. I reckon this would certainly turn them into a better people.
18. Brother David got a sore throat the day before and he told me that the joy and the laughter of the children kept him moving and he had no time to think about his voice - what a man! I really don't know how he keeps his energy and spirit, always filling his days with work, always being there for the children, finding time for the villagers, and keeping all his troubles to himself. I am sure it's the power of God.
19. Had lunch in the Centre - simple lunch. What else does a man want in life - simple food, enough clothes, a shelter to live in and some leisure time to do things he wants. Isn't that what life is all about? I really admire Brother David doing things he wants.
20. July 22 afternoon - asked a few volunteers from overseas to talk to my son and the two other boys. I hope the boys had learnt something.
21. July 22 evening - the volunteers arranged a special entertainment programme for the children. The children had games and they all had fun. My kid and the two other boys played with the children too. Different children from different backgrounds with different stories, played together. The La Salle Study Centre is a good platform, providing not only an opportunity for the children to get together, but also for the villagers as well. Some villagers have been estranged for years and through the Centre their rivalry is melt down by the love, permeated from Brother David. No one is perfect but most people are good and they cannot be judged only by their worst moments. Brother David shows them that sincerity and perhaps laughter is often the best, and sometimes the only response to wipe out unnecessary rivalry.
22. The programme ended at about 10:00 pm and the children still wanted to stay. I believe everyone has a story. I have mine and you have yours. The children have theirs. I hope the Centre could help the children to write better stories in their life - of dreams, hope, love, courage and sacrifice or maybe help them to lead a life in the spirit of Faith, Service and Community. Back to the hotel after the programme. My kid and the two other boys ended the day with a happy note.
23. July 23 morning - had breakfast in hotel. After breakfast, we headed straight home - back to Hong Kong. The trip to the Centre ended quickly but my kid and the two other boys learnt a lot from the visit. They enjoyed being together with the children and the volunteers at the Centre and they learnt to be grateful for every day and greet it with a smile. They were ready for Form 1 the Summer Bridging Programme which started on Aug 10. They didn't know much what they had to prepare for the Programme, but they were full of anticipation to start a new life with the College. I hope they have learnt something from Brother David and that in the end, love and kindness prevail over everything.
24. Like the Brothers of La Salle, I hope they will always try a little kindness.
I took some photos during this trip and they are contained in the following photo-link :
I hope you like the photos and seeing the happy faces of the children in the Centre, I am sure you and I would agree that we have so much more to give in life.
25. For more information about La Salle Study Centre, you may wish to visit the following link -
I sincerely hope and trust you would love this brief account of mine about the La Salle Study Centre and one thing, we should thank our Lord for all the blessings He has continuously bestowed on the Brothers, who have been preaching and spreading the LaSallian values to all corners of the world all these years.
We stay in touch.
Every good wish,
THOMAS WONG
LSCPTA
Sep 24, 2008