They are the Only One

    Lester Sin, Billy Ma and Yuen Ka-fat are the only three male Form Six students in Madam Lau Kam Lung Secondary School of Miu Fat Buddhist Monastery, a girls-school in Tuen Mun. While Lester Sin and Billy Ma are in the science class, Yuen Ka-fat is the only one boy in the arts class.

    Ellen Fong, an undergraduate of Hong Kong Baptist University, once studied in a boys-school, Kwun Tong Maryknoll College, in matriculation. She was the only one girl there.

Q: Why did you choose a single-sex school in matriculation?

Lester: "My sister and cousin are the graduates of this school. They strongly recommended it."

Billy: "The reputation of the school was the most important. Some of my friends once studied here. Their feedback on this school was positive. Besides, it is an English school."

Ellen: "I could study Mathematics there but I expected there would be two or three more girls.

Q: Have you considered dating as a factor when you made decision to enter a single-sex school?

Lester: "This is really what many people may think. They usually think that we have chosen this school intentionally."

Billy: "If we do want to date with our classmates, we have no need to wait till now."

Ellen: "You know, boys like joking. Even if they asked me a lot about my past, it didn't mean anything. They were just curious."

Q: Are there any difficulties in participating in extracurricular activities?

Lester, a committee member of the Student's Union: "Taking part in school activities is my responsibility. It is a must."

Billy, a committee member of the Student's Union: "It is beneficial for us to learn through practice."

Yuen, the chairman of Putonghua Club: "There is actually no difficulty in cooperating with girls. Just let them choose the jobs for which they want to be responsible."

Q: How about getting along with your classmates?

Lester: "The girls are serious during discussion so that they can work efficiently."

Billy: "The girls are just like boys. They are independent. They do all the things themselves without any help from us."

Yuen: "My classmates usually take an active role to talk with me."

Q: Do you have any complaint?

Lester: "There is no classmate playing basketball with us. The girls are not powerful enough to play it."

Billy: "I think the lunch boxes are designed for girls only. They are not adequate to fill me up. Even worse, we are under pressure because the girls tend to compare with us in all aspects."

Ellen: "During the physical education lessons, the boys liked to play football, a game that I didn't like. Also, during camping, I was required to stay with female teachers in the same room. I was very bored that night."

    As the only boy in the arts class, Yuen, in fact, had not realized it was a girls-school until the first day of the semester.

    He moved to live in Tuen Mun right after finishing Form Five. His teacher of the former school asked the vice-principal of Madam Lau Kam Lung Secondary School to get a place there.

The First School Day

    Before the first school day, Yuen was innocent about the school.

    Said Yuen: "I went to school earlier that day. On the way, I couldn't find someone wearing the same uniform. I doubted I might be in the wrong place.

     "Entering the school door, I found all the students around me were girls. Only by that time did I realize my situation."

    Even Lester and Billy who had known that in advance felt embarrassed too.

    Lester remembered clearly that Billy and he were quite late when they arrived the school. All the girls had already queued up, waiting for the morning assembly.

     "When we came in, thousands of girls stared at us," said Lester, "We felt really strange and uncomfortable."     "But not scared," Billy concluded.