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| December 1999 Hong Kong-wide Student Force Student Union on Air By Larry Chan Article from
the same section: Student unions are common in Hong Kong, but a student union with DJ training, an advertising workshop and its own territory-wide radio channel is rare. Bert, Alan Kan and Gela Yau are three Hit Radio disc jockeys responsible for the C&C 997 Union, which is open to all Hong Kong secondary school students. “The aim of the Union is to develop the students’ potentials, build up their confidence and let them understand themselves,” Bert said. The Union aims at making students enjoy their school life, Alan added. The non-profit organization was set up on 1 May this year, but the idea of setting up such a Hong Kong-wide student council came up much earlier than that. “The Educational Department raised a fund last year that aims at providing better education and a wider scope of knowledge to students,” Bert said. “Some secondary schools used the fund to promote a school radio station. “Schools invited us to give talks on this topic. We discovered that many students are interested in this area, but they lacked the opportunity to do so,” he said. Since the Union’s establishment in May, Bert said, the “teaching room” series and the camp held in Cheung Chau last summer were the most remarkable events. “The ‘teaching room’ series contains various topics such as roller-blading, ice hockey, fashion design and advertising. Students are interested in these topics because they are new to them,” Bert said. The Union invites experts to teach the students. For instance, Walter Ma teaches fashion design, while Leung Chi San lectures on lyrics. Bubble Ng, 15, is a Form 4 student and Suki Tsui, 16, is in Form 5. Both of them are disc jockey trainees in the Union. “I won the DJ competition organized by the Union and therefore became a DJ trainee,” Bubble said. “I participated in one of the ‘teaching room’ series which is for DJ training. I did well in the assignments and got the chance of being a trainee,” Suki said. Lessons in pronunciation and ways to attract the audience are provided before they get their own programmes. Although they had to overcome many obstacles, they somehow benefited from being a DJ trainee. “I can see more and know more things. I also meet more people from all walks of life in society,” Suki said. “My teacher has already heard about my programme. She asked me to record the programme and let her know more about my programme,” said Suki. The two would-be DJs have different expectations of their jobs and the Union. They said that they would like to see the Union be widely accepted by other people. “I hope my teacher will also become my audience in the future,” Bubble said. “I hope more people know and understand what the Union is. “When I organize activities, I hope my friends and schoolmates participate in them because this means that people around you are beginning to accept and support the Union,” Suki said. Apart from the “teaching room” series, summer camp is another important activity. “For the summer camp, we want to achieve the goal of ‘doing it by yourself’. The students have to learn to be independent in this camp as we only provide them with the basic daily needs,” Bert said. The Union also organized academic activities. “There are free mock examinations for our Union members who are going to sit for the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination,” Bert said. “On the day of distribution of the examination results, we provided the students with lists of vacancies in other schools. “Moreover, we provided the students with hotline and Internet services for inquiries about vacancies,” he said. The Union runs two related radio programmes. “The programmes are mainly used to promote activities of the Union. But sometimes our members will promote their school activities through the channel,” Bert said. The Union is different from the ordinary secondary school student councils in three ways. “Our Union organizes activities in a more professional manner. “For instance, we taught the students that the master of ceremonies should be onstage when a singer finishes a song. “Awareness of tiny things makes things perfect,” he said. The union also offered a place called “C Headquarters” for students’ meetings and gatherings. Said Bert: “The most distinguishing point is that we have more resources, since we have a radio station for backup.” They are optimistic about the future of the organization. They have a lot of plans in mind. “We are planning to form a committee of 460 students from different secondary schools. “They will gradually take up our job. Nevertheless, this is a long-term plan,” Bert said. “Other plans included the establishment of the 997 Union’s own homepage. Students will be wholly responsible for the design,” he said. “Also, we are planning to gather the Hong Kong secondary students to break the Guinness Record,” Bert said. Many people think the activities organized by the Union are similar to those organized by the 903 I.D. club, an association for the teenagers set up by Commercial Radio 2. It provides different activities for young people from time to time. “I think the ‘teaching room’ series is similar to the some activities organized by the 903 I.D. club during the summer holidays. “However, students need to pass an interview for those activities, since their class quota is limited,” Bert said. The Union never requires students to pass any interviews or tests for the class. “If the students can handle the skills, these classes become meaningless. “We try our best to organize as many activities as we can,” he said. |
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