Newsletter

Dear Donors:

The Year of the Ox is upon us and I would like to wish you 身體健康，萬事如意. 

With the target of raising 50 million dollars met before the end of 2020, Stage Two of the Enhancement Project will kick start in the first quarter of this year and if construction goes according to schedule, we will see its completion before the end of 2022. Let me refresh your memories on what this stage of the Project includes and the rationale behind each enhancement. 

Almost 50 years ago, St. Paul’s was one of the first schools in Hong Kong to proudly own a swimming pool. However, its exposure to the weather has limited its full utilization which alumni who graduated in the 70s and beyond must have their personal experience. To overcome this, the existing pool needs to be upgraded to a heated indoor pool, a facility that will allow St. Paul’s to develop aquatic sports, an important new dimension of physical education, throughout the year.

An additional benefit for covering the pool is the additional space created from the roof of the structure. This allows the much needed flexibility to rearrange the staff rooms so that the students can have better accessibility to the teachers, thus enhancing better communications.

Another major component of the Campus Enhancement for this stage is the relocation of the main entrance to a more architecturally balanced position with an aesthetic appearance worthy of St. Paul’s rich heritage. At the same time, the extended lobby will have space to hold exhibitions and to serve other functions.

The library is the heart of every educational institution. Over the years, the basic function has evolved to become more than a place to borrow books and study, it is also a meeting place where the mind is stimulated and ideas exchanged and discussed. To facilitate these activities and other new scopes, the design of the library will explore and incorporate new ideas. To provide some of the newest concepts, we are pleased to have our own alumnus, Dr. S K Fung ’63 who sat on the MIT library board, to suggest new ideas for the project group to consider. When this exercise is over, St. Paul’s will have a library that is different from convention ones, one that looks into the future as well.

The above are highlights of the second phase of the Enhancement Project and they are the result of the hard work by the project team. I hope you can realize that the enhancement is not window dressing but gives the boys of St. Paul’s an improved environment to receive their education. 

To complete this phase of the project, an additional funding of 70 million over the next 2 years is needed. This is a very challenging task for the Fundraising Committee to accomplish. However, we believe there are alumni and other parties who have the means, the generosity and who share the same vision of the school to support this meaningful project. I must stress that small contributions are just as welcome, every donation counts and is appreciated and is a token of your attachment to the school. Class donations are encouraged and which many classes have already done so. One measure of how intimately alumni feels about their schools for the US Universities is the participation rate of donations. For instance, one Ivy League School has an astounding 66% participation rate. For the current campaign, we are far from this level but we hope one day, with your support, we can reach our targets.

With regards,

Ian Chan Yau Nam ’67 *69

Convenor, Fundraising Committee

St. Paul’s College Foundation