Wah Yan College

Hi there,

I had been trying to match up this photo with Class Photos in old school magazines to no avail.  I could only recognized the priest and the background.  That was Fr. Joseph Foley SJ (24th April 1921 - 4th September 2006).  The background was the corner of the school hall and the music room, at the lawn in the current Mount Parish campus.   The school hall is in the final stage of redevelopment.  The music room and the small chapel above it had already been rebuilt.

Maybe this photo wasn't used in the school magazine.  There is something else though.  I recognized the boys didn't seem to be wearing the same tie.  Maybe there wasn't a school uniform tie back then?  The colour of their trousers weren't the same either.

Thanks & Best Regards,

T

The new uniform blazer of WYHK changed to the lighter Royal Blue some time around 1960.  Prior to that, it was the darker Navy Blue.  I should think the school tie was changed at the same time. The pants were various shades of grey.

Fr. Joseph Foley SJ became Principal in 1963 when I entered F.1 of WYHK.  Prior to that was Fr. Barrett SJ.  Foley would not be Form Master after he became Principal.

The first boy sitting front row on the left looks like my cousin Vincent Ng Wing-fun (son of Madam Agnes Ng - WYHK sole female teacher at the time).  He graduated F.5 in 1958. 

Hi, the Wah Yan class photo could not have been taken in 1950 for the following reasons:

In 1950, Wah Yan was still situated at No. 2, Robinson Road. The back ground in the picture was not at the old address.

The students did not have school jackets till later in the new school at Stubbs Rd.

I was matriculated in 1952 from the old school . So I knew things about Wah Yan at Robinson Rd.

Wai Wor Phoon

Hi 師兄

We know that.  The photo was just tagged with 1950 to the nearest decade because we are unable to pin-point which class and year was it taken.  The photo could be taken any time between 1956 until the school blazer was changed to a lighter shade, as mentioned by another fellow Wahyanite, Lawrence Tsui.

Do you have anything about the old Robinson Road campus to share with us please?

Thanks & Best Regards,

T

Dear fellow Wahyanites 各位師兄,

All school magazines up to the mid-2000s were scanned and put on several disks that were for sale at the office of Wah Yan College Hong Kong. I wonder if someone can compare the class photo to those that have been scanned?

Is someone writing the history of the college? The centenary is coming up in two years.

Hi Schoolmates,

This is a photo of the class I was in but not the same Form ( This may be From 4A). We graduated 1962 with classmates Sir Donald Tsang. Those were the days of Fr.s Grogan, Barrett, Tai, Dynan etc. I have a year book from my Alumni and will double check.

Francis Chau (Australia)

The school uniforms are so non-uniform. They have so many different patterns on their ties. It was the 1950s in a Jesuit school. In my school, the students would have been killed by the teachers.

Even in this 2007 google map street view, the Wah Yan students seemingly are adhering to a strict dress code.

https://www.google.com/maps/@22.2757547,114.1767366,3a,18.3y,165.58h,89…

One possible explanation is that in the 1950s, it was not like after the 1960s. There were school uniform makers appointed by the school so it was easier to maintain standards. It must have been difficult to find the right tie. But there is no excuse not to put on the school badge:)

Greetings!  I remember in my school years,  there were water rationing which led to schools relaxing their requirements.  This photo could be from one of those events.  Regards,  Peter