Prof. TSANG Wah-tak, Kenneth
(1979 Alumnus)

Hard Work Is All Worthy

Genetics dictates your looks, physique and your intelligence! You bear the genes that your parents donated to you at the moment of conception, and you have no choice. Success is immensely difficult to qualify and quantify, and it is beyond the scope of this short article to discuss it. Success is, in my view, a fulfillment of one’s potential to have happiness and stability in everyday life. One is his or her own master to attain such. Gainful employment, harmonious marriage and supportive family network, economic affluence, physical independence, and confidence in one’s own ability are some of the key surrogate measures for success in our society today. This would be translated professionally as a good teacher who painstakingly inspires students, a brave police officer who tirelessly maintains the peace and order, a kind doctor who persistently heals the sick, and a just lawyer who ferociously defends the innocent……

How do you achieve success? How do you gain fame and fortune while at the same time be loved and respected by your peers and loved ones? How do you sustain success? There are stages of life that we all go through – infancy, childhood, teenage and adulthood before one becomes old and infirmed. Most wise old souls would concur on the utmost importance of teenage training and education in underpinning future success in society.

Primary education teaches you how to read and write. Secondary education exposes you to a variety of subjects in considerable depth that will mould your personality and allow you to grow up with your peers who shape you. University education orientates you for individualism and professionalism, hence preparing you to engage yourself into society as a worker. A good university graduate in a good professional subject stands a good career opportunity later on in life, especially in the current economy. In other words, if you do not have a good degree from a good university, you will have less chances of success in life! While it is perfectly possible not to go to university and still be successful in life in many careers, I think it would be a much easier start in life to do so.

We cannot change our genetic make up, and therefore there is only one thing we can do - work hard! Working hard means to be ambitious. You must set your goals now! When I went to a top English school after leaving Wong Shiu Chi in the late 1970s’ I was acutely worried! I was worried that my classmates were much cleverer than I was. I was worried that I would fail. My brother and I, who were at the same school, therefore translated our fear into action. Studying hard was the best anxiety-reliever. I still vividly remember the paragraphs in a primary school Chinese language chapter on an accomplished linguist who was able to speak eight languages fluently. The secret of his success – rising two hours earlier! These two hours are privileged and “longer” as there is no TV, phone calls or computer games. Who says you have no time? I also fondly recall a Hong Kong newspaper article by a professor urging youngsters to study hard. Durability to stay at the desk ranks supreme! Most children, like I was, find it hard to be glued to the desk and therefore cannot sustain a long voyage into the world of knowledge. Sit and endure, and knowledge shall be yours.

Most mortals like us are not blessed with a photographic memory. Sitting at the desk is actually against the nature of the brain mechanisms for learning. To kill the boredom, and to avoid the need to read out aloud, many scholars actually make notes. Notes in handsome notebooks, not electronic versions in computers, actually have to be written by hand. The process of making notes from textbooks or other sources, and then combining relevant information on the same subject later, will tattoo the knowledge and understanding in your brain forever.

Working hard could anaesthetize your mind. You also need to play hard. My father taught us to “study when studying and play when playing”. There is no doubt that short periods of relaxation during the “desk endurance” will help the brain in taking in more new knowledge. Enough opportunity to undertake exercises is also necessary to help build your physical and mental health. Health is the pre-requisite for success.

The year 2011 is a special year and it awaits you!

The Secrets of Success

Speech Delivered by Professor Tsang Wah Tak Kenneth on the Annual Speech Day 2011-2012

Dear Supervisor, IMC Managers and SSB Managers, Principal, respected teachers and colleagues, and all my fellow students,

It gives me enormous pleasure to be able to speak to you today, as an alumnus, as well as an older person who left university almost 26 years ago. I speak here with particular pleasure and privilege as Tai Po is my real home town and Wong Shiu Chi Secondary School is my Alma Mata or "mother school" if you like. I have done many interesting things and visited many fascinating places since I left Wong Shiu Chi, but I always remember my school fondly. I remember my time here, my classmates, and my teachers so vividly. How I wish I could do this all over again. When you get to middle age, you will always remember all the happy time in your youth. When you get to middle age, you have already done many things. When you reach middle age, you should wonder what you should do for the remaining part of your career. When you get to middle age, you begin to wonder what the meaning of life is.

It is, therefore, a good time for my own reflection. It is time to share with you on the experience of my past 51 hard years. I wish I could make you see how great your life could be, how much you could achieve and how happy you could be. It all must, nonetheless, begin with your determination to work hard. I would like to share with you some of my thoughts. I would like to firstly talk to you about this changing world, followed by some elaboration on the need to fulfill one’s own potentials to seek happiness, and then how one should go about achieving success. I have been teaching, since I graduated from medical school back in 1986, at various universities and institutes to medical students, medical professionals and fellow doctors, but never to young secondary pupils. How exciting for me to be able to share with you today.

Young people are the back bone to our society. Young people are creative and flexible, and therefore are the driving force for our society to change and improve. If I ask the adults in this room on whether or not if they would like to be young again, I am certain that they will all say "yes" without any hesitation. It is great to be young and have uncharted paths ahead - full of wonders to explore, full of fortune to gain, full of fame to enjoy, full of love to harvest, full of dreams to fulfill and full of opportunities to entertain ourselves from. It is great to be young.

Life is often hard! There are natural disasters such as tsunamis, earthquakes, disease epidemics, global weather changes, and more worryingly, exhaustion of natural resources such as fresh water and clean air. The world seems to be coming to an end. Young people find it harder and harder to find good jobs due to the changes in our financial structure. We have lived through two decades of very prosperous economic development when everything seemed so easy. People made easy money and acquired great wealth, so much so that we become accustomed to living in a rich materialistic environment. This environment spoils us. Young children, particularly those in Hong Kong, are used to growing up with domestic helpers, some even with drivers who take them round. This comfort in life makes them different from their parents. Armed with iPad, intelligent mobile phones, all kinds of musical instruments, and laptops, youngsters are privileged, but are they better equipped than their parents when they finally begin work?

Young people in Hong Kong, like their counterparts elsewhere, face many problems including family issues, particularly if the parents divorce or are in poor relation, peer pressure, bullying, discrimination, drug abuse, and physical illnesses. These cause depression, stress and anxiety for the youngster and thereby disturbing his or her growth and development. A Hong Kong survey undertaken in 2004 showed that the main problems and stresses for young people appear to centre on future prospects, examinations, self-expectation, job expectation and employment, individual finances, time management, parental expectation, poor economy, and relationship with the boss. This study suggests that it is not easy to be young, not happy to be young, and worrying to be young here in Hong Kong! However, young people in Hong Kong generally are positive and optimistic towards stress.

Everyone wants to be successful, and parents often expect success on their children thereby exerting pressure on them to study and do well at school. Do we know what "success" is? Success is immensely difficult, if not impossible, to define. Success is, in my view, a fulfillment of one's potential to have happiness and stability in everyday life. One is his or her own master to attain such. Gainful employment, harmonious marriage and supportive family network, economic affluence, physical independence, and confidence in one's own ability are some of the key surrogate measures for success in our society today. In real terms, success is good performance. Hence we should see that in work performance as a good teacher who painstakingly inspires students, a brave police officer who tirelessly maintains the peace and order, a kind doctor who persistently heals the sick, and a just lawyer who ferociously defends the innocent……

How do you achieve success? How do you gain fame and fortune while at the same time be loved and respected by your peers and loved ones? How do you sustain success? There are stages of life that we all go through – infancy, childhood, teenage and adulthood before one becomes old and infirmed. Most wise old souls would agree that education at youth is the key to future success in society. You need to start at school. You also need to have a dream and the dream needs to be big enough. When you dream is big enough, no one can stop you. A big dream requires big efforts.

Primary education teaches you how to read and write. Secondary education exposes you to a variety of subjects in considerable depth that will mould your personality and allow you to grow up with your peers who shape you. University education orientates you for individualism and professionalism, hence preparing you to engage yourself into society as a worker. A good university graduate in a good professional subject stands a good career opportunity later on in life, especially in the current economy. In other words, if you do not have a good degree from a good university, you will have less chances of success in life! While it is perfectly possible not to go to university and still be successful in life in many careers, I think it would be a much easier start in life to do so.

We often encounter immensely talented people. Some people have all the luck to be blessed with a superb memory, physical agility, mental strength, good looks, humour, and charisma. These qualities are often genetically determined and therefore "given". We cannot change our genetic makeup, and therefore there is only one thing we can do - work hard! Working hard means you have to be ambitious. You must set your goals now! When I went to a top English school after leaving Wong Shiu Chi in the late 1970s' I was acutely worried! I was worried that my classmates were much cleverer than I was. I was worried that I would fail. I, therefore, translated fear into action. Studying hard was the best anxiety-reliever. I decided to spare every minute of my time to study or do something academically constructive. I started getting up at 5:30 in the morning so that I have more time to revise.

I still vividly remember the paragraphs in a primary school Chinese language chapter on an accomplished linguist who was able to speak eight languages fluently. The secret of his success was also revealed? He was rising two hours earlier than everyone in his school! These two hours are privileged and "longer" without TV, phone calls or computer games. Who says you have no time? I also clearly recall a Hong Kong newspaper article by a professor urging youngsters to study hard, which I read when I was in Wong Shiu Chi. Durability to stay at the desk ranks supreme! Most children, like I was, find it hard to be glued to the desk and therefore cannot sustain a long and uninterrupted voyage into the world of knowledge. Sit down for longer and endure, and knowledge shall be yours.

Most normal people like us are not blessed with a photographic memory. Sitting at the desk is actually against the nature of the brain mechanisms for learning. To kill the boredom, and to avoid the need to read out aloud, many scholars actually make notes. Notes in handsome notebooks, not electronic versions on computers, actually have to be written by hand. The process of making notes from textbooks or other sources, and then combining relevant information on the same subject later, will tattoo the knowledge and understanding in your brain forever. I still make notes and of course still have my notebooks from decades ago. I would dispose of them as they are part of my life, my knowledge and therefore most precious.

Working hard could numb your mind and make you crazy. You also need to play hard. My father, who is a doctor, taught my brother and me from our young age to "study hard and play hard". There is no doubt that short periods of relaxation during the "desk endurance" will help the brain in taking in more new knowledge. Enough opportunity to undertake exercises is also necessary to help build your physical and mental health. Health is the pre-requisite for success.

My fellow pupils, my friends - work hard and achieve! The world is your oyster. Best of luck.