INS I D E TH I S I S S U E :

Let’s get active!! Sports for BSTC students

2-3

News from the debate team

4

Fun with English Giggles and Riddles

4

Chocolate Truffle Recipe

5

It’s show time! News from

the English Drama Club

6

On Saturday, February

18, our group was invited to

participate in a book carnival

at the University of Hong

Kong. This event was

organized by “Hong Kong

Reads”, a non-profi t

organization that promotes

English literacy to students

in Hong Kong.

The reason why we

were invited to this event

was that we had entered a

video-making competition in

which we had to present an

English book. We had

chosen Ronald Dahl's More

About Boy: Tales of

Childhood, and eventually

our video was shortlisted as

one of the 40 finalists. Thus,

we were invited to take part

in the book carnival and the

prize presentation ceremony.

SIN TAK SPIRIT

B u d d h i s t S i n T a k C o l l e g eB u d d h i s t S i n T a k C o l l e g eB u d d h i s t S i n T a k C o l l e g eB u d d h i s t S i n T a k C o l l e g e

Volume 1 , Issue 4 March 12, 2012

S3 STUDENTS PROMOTE L ITERACY AT HONG KONG UNIVERS ITY

On the day of the book

c a r n i v a l , w e w e r e

responsible for hosting a

game booth for visitors to

learn about More About Boy:

Tales of Childhood. We had

p r e p a r e d 2 g a m e s :

crossword puzzles and

matching. Because of some

misunderstanding, the

crossword puzzles turned

out to be extremely difficult,

and no one wanted to

complete them. We were a

bit disappointed about this

because we had spent

around 4 days preparing the

crossword puzzles, but they

were not popular. Luckily,

many children liked the

matching game.

B e f or e t h e b o o k

carnival, we had thought

that this event would be

boring. To our surprise, we

had a lot of fun, and we

enjoyed it very much. We

enjoyed interacting with the

c h i l d r e n , w h o w e r e

extremely cute and adorable.

Our game booth was more

popular than we had

predicted. In addition, we

had the opportunity to

c o m m u n i c a t e w i t h

foreigners and fellow

participants in English. All

in all, we gained a variety of

experiences. If Hong Kong

Reads holds similar activities

in the future, we will

definitely participate again.

Participating 3A students:

Hung Yee Ki

Lam Ka Yee

Lau Ka Po

Law Ho Fai

Lee Lok Sang

Leung Ming Lun

Lo Yat Hei

Tang Sin Kit

Below is the experience of a group of 3A students who attended the Hong Kong Reads

Book Carnival last month. Read about how they represented BSTC, organized a game booth,

and promoted English literacy at the same time!

Page 2 November 28 , 2011 Sin Tak Spir i t Page 2 March 12, 2012

MEET THE BSTC SPORTS TEAMS :

Sin Tak Spir i t

Basketball

BSTC has boys’ basketball teams that

compete in 3 Grades. They have

practice every Tuesday and Thursday

in the schoo playground.

Our Grade C basketball teams are

currently competing in inter-school

games. After playing two matches,

they now have a 1

win - 1 lost record.

They still have a

few more matches

this month.

Football Football is a popular sport among boys

at BSTC. On Tuesdays and Thursdays,

you can find the football team practicing

at the Osman

Ramju football

pitch near our

school. It is

impossible to

miss them

with their eye-

c a t c h i n g

electric-pink

uniform!

Cheung Ching Yee

Community News Reporter

Spring is here and so is the beginning of swimming season! Have you

ever wondered where the best swimming pools are located? As a

swimming fanatic, I am happy to provide you with the following

information about swimming pools in the Kwai-Ching district. And for

those who are not interested in swimming, it’s okay… you might love

it once you give it a try at these great pools!

SWIM , SWAM , SWUM !

(1) Kwai Shing Swimming Pool

Address: 306 Kwai Shing Circuit, Kwai Chung

Cleaning day: Every Friday

Facilities: Main pool, secondary pool, teaching pool, diving pool,

children’s pool and the toddler’s pool

Since this swimming pool is quite near our school, you

can go swimming with your friends after school! It just

takes 10-15minutes to walk there from school. The BSTC

swimming team trains there before competitions.

(2) Tsing Yi Swimming Pool

Address: Tsing Yi Road, near Tsing Yi MTR Station, Exit C

Cleaning day: Every Thursday

Facilities: Main pool, teaching pool, leisure pool

and toddler’s pool

This swimming pool is near Maritime Square,

where you can have some snacks after swimming.

As it is near the Tsing Yi MTR station, it is quite

convenient to go there from Kwai Fong, Kwai

Hing, Kwai Shing, Tsing Yi, or even Tung Chung. (3)Shing Mun Valley Swimming Pool

Address: 21 Shing Mun Road, Tsuen Wan

Cleaning day: Every Monday

Facilities: Training pool, teaching pool, fun pool/leisure pool

This swimming pool is perfect for the swimming fanatics

as it opens all year round, even in the winter! One

disadvantage of this pool is that it is quite far away from

the closest MTR station (Tsuen Wan station).

Admission fee for all three pools

Monday – Friday: $8 for students

Saturday, Sunday, and public holidays: $9 for students

There are no weekly / monthly/ annual entry passes available.

Opening hours :

Summer hours for all pools: April to October, 6:30am-10:00pm

Winter hours for Shing Mun Valley: November to March, 6:30am-9:00pm

Chan Yuen Ching

Hui Ka Chun

Hung Ka Wai

Leung Lap Hin

Tse Ka Wai

School News Reporters

November 28 , 2011 Page 3 Sin Tak Spir i t March 12, 2012 Page 3 Sin Tak Spir i t

Outstanding BSTC athletes in 2011/2012

Chan Pui Ying (6A)

• Member of the BSTC swimming team

• Good results in competitions this year

I'm ready to get active! So how do I start? BSTC has six basketball hoops for students to play basketball. Students can

borrow basketballs from the Student Union office. You will need to leave your

student card at the office as a deposit, and you may get back your card when you

return the ball.

You can also use the space around the basketball courts to play volleyball.

BSTC girls, please remember that you are not allowed to play basketball in your

uniform dresses, but you may choose to play volleyball instead!

Opening and closing hours of the playground:

Our school opens at 7:30am and closes at 5:00 pm. All BSTC students can use the

school’s outdoor and covered playgrounds during these hours. In addition, you

may play ball games during recess and lunchtime.

Badminton

Our badminton team is quite

mysterious to students as they don’t

usually have practice at school. They

have regular practice in Tuesday and

Thursday in the Osman Ramju

Memorial Sports Centre near BSTC.

Track and Field/ Athletics

In the Inter-School Athletic Competition

held in February, Wan Chi Kwan (5C)

became champion in triple jump with his

record-breaking jump of 12.81 metres.

This distance broke BSTC’s triple jump

school record. BSTC athletes also

achieved good results in the high jump

and relay competitions. Volleyball

The volleyball team of our school is

well-known in the district. They have

practice every Monday, Wednesday,

Friday, and Saturday in the school play-

ground. The Grade C girls’ team will

have inter-school games this month. The

Grade A Boys’ team recently won an

invitational tournament that involved

three other Buddhist secondary schools.

Congratulations!

Table Tennis

Congratulations to the Grade C

table tennis team, who won an

inter-school competition in early

February.

Swimming The swimming team has practice early in

the school year, just before their

competition. If you are interested, you

may go to see them at the Shing Mun

Valley Swimming pool!

Wan Chi Kwan (5C)

• BSTC record holder in triple jump

• Participates in several sports

Pang Chun Ho (3E)

• Member of the basketball team

• Participates in track and field competitions

Page 4 March 12, 2012 Sin Tak Spir i t

The personal experience of a Debate Team member

Debating: ‘Arguably’ the most unforgettable event in my fifth year of secondary school

Last October, I agreed to join the debate team as I have always enjoyed discussing social issues with others. The first debate that I participated in was against Yew Chung International School on October 26. We were assigned to argue in support of the abolishment of the death penalty in mainland China. We felt that the motion favoured us, as it is well known that the death penalty is against human rights and therefore should be abolished. Nonetheless, I felt nervous since our opponents were from a famous international school.

On the day of the competition, we were shocked by how the experienced Yew Chung debaters argued for their case. They talked about mainland China’s “conditional death penalty”, which we had never heard of before. My heart did a somersault when I heard this argument. My teammates and I still did our best to give rebuttals and deliver our points, but finally… we lost the debate. This has taught me to do more research relating to the motion in future debates.

Debating turned out to be an even better experience than I had imagined. Participating in debates has greatly improved my English speaking and writing skills. I want to thank all of the hard-working and patient teacher advisors and my friendly classmates for creating such a wonderful experience for me!

Shirley, Lee Ho Ying

BSTC Debate Team member

In the past few months, eight S5 students have been

participating in a series of friendly and competitive debates.

After having won the first two rounds of the 27th Sing Tao

Inter-School Debating Competition, the BSTC team lost to

South Island School, which is an international school as well

as last year’s champion of this competition.

On the day of the competition, Principal Ho came to

support the debate team. “The advantage that our opponents

have is that they are native speakers. We have to admit that

our English level cannot be compared to theirs. However, I’m

still happy to see that our students can have this sort of

experience,” said Principal Ho after the result of the debate

was announced.

Experience is more

valuable than prizes. From

participating in debates, the

debate team members

acquired self-confidence,

critical thinking skills, as

well as the skills to

immediately respond to

questions.

In addition, we

congratulate the debate team

for defeating Ho Fung

College in the NESTA-SCMP

Debating Competition on

March 1. BSTC will move on

BSTC DEBATE TEAM Kong Wai Yan School news reporter

Just the beginning

On February 25, members of the BSTC Debate Team, under the guidance of Mr. Dunlea, Miss Ng, and Miss Wai, debated about public funding for private universities. Principal Ho witnessed their intense battle against South Island School.

FUN WITH ENGLI SH– G IGGLE S & R IDDLES

A high-school student came home from school

seeming rather depressed.

"What's the matter, son," asked his mother.

"Aw, gee," said the boy, "It's my grades.

They're all wet."

"What do you mean `all wet’?"

"I mean," he replied, "below C-level."

Test your wits with the following riddle! Answers

are at the bottom of the page.

1. Which two words contain thousands of letters?

2. What begins with T, ends with T and has T in it?

3. Which room has no doors and no windows?

4. Which is faster, heat or cold?

5. What do you call a witch at the beach?

1. Post office 2. a teapot 3. a mushroom

4. heat, because you can catch a cold 5. a sandwich

Lee Ho Ying, Leung Sai Lam, Lee Sui Bing Expression and Learning reporter

March 12, 2012 Page 5 Sin Tak Spir i t

CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE RECIPE Do you know that March 14 is White Valentine's Day ?

Did you miss the Homemade Valentine’s Chocolate activity

held by the Home Economics club last month?

Don’t Worry! Follow the simple recipe below to make this special gift at home.!

Ingredients and equipment

Chocolate Shell:

Chocolate 50g ( ~1/4 cup)

Truffle Filling:

Chocolate 72g ( ~2/5 cup)

Whipping Cream 36g ( ~2.5 tablespoons)

Rum 2 teaspoons

You will also need: A pot

Several bowls

Mold for chocolates

Spoons for mixing This recipe will yield about 8 to 12 small chocolates.

Steps:

1. Boil water.

2. Melt 50g of chocolate by setting it over the simmering (=boiling) water.

3. Spread a layer of melted chocolate on the mold. Use about

half of the melted chocolate to do this.

4. Put the mold in the refrigerator for 5 minutes.

5. Prepare the truffle filling:

a) Melt 72g of chocolate by setting it over a bowl of

simmering water.

b) Add whipping cream into the melted chocolate. Stir for

5-10 minutes so that the ingredients are well-mixed.

c) Add Rum. Mix well.

6. Put the truffle filling into the chocolate-covered mold.

7. Spread the remaining melted chocolate over the truffle filling.

The filling should now be completely covered by chocolate.

8. Place the mold in the refrigerator until the chocolate is solidified

(around 30 minutes).

9. Once the chocolate solidifies, take it out of the refrigerator and remove

the chocolates from the mold.

10. You may decorate the chocolates with nuts or other ingredients.

11. Enjoy your delicious chocolates!

Step 2

Step 7

Step 4(b)

Step 3

Step 9

There are different molds available in

the market for all occasions and

purposes. Experiment with different

shapes, flavours, and additional

ingredients to make your chocolates

unique!

Recipe submitted by: Yip Wing Shan & Li Shuk Ying

Sin Tak Spirit This student newspaper is produced with the enthusiastic contribution of

the following students and staff members of Buddhist Sin Tak College.

Managing Editor

Li Yee Lam

School News

Kong Wai Yan

Hung Yik Ki

Chan Ting Yi

Lai Chun Yee

Chan Ka Yiu

Expression

Lee Ho Ying

Ng Sin Yu

Community & World News

Wong Tsz Wai

Leung Lap Hin

Chow Shi Shun

Wong Tak Shuen

People &

Campus Life

Leung Sai Mui

Chan Yau Yu

Hui Ka Chun

Tse Ka Wai

Learning

Chu Siu Wa

Design & Layout

Ng Hok Chun

Kwan Wai Ho

Chan Wing Hei

Shimizu Itsuo

Li Shuk Yung

Photo & Art

Choi Yeuk Tin

Hui Ka Chun

Kong Shu Ting

Kong Sze Man

Fung Tsz Wai

Lee Sum Ying

Yip Wing Shan

Yip Choi Ying

Law Ho Hin

Distribution & Advertisement

Lau Ka Ki

Hung Ka Lung

Hui Yuk Yuen

Lam Tsz Hin

Leung Sai Lam

Lee Sui Bing

Staff Advisors

Ms Helen Ng

Ms SW Chan

Ms ML Hau

On January 19,

members of the English

Drama Club put on a

mesmerizing show in the

Student Activity Centre.

As this was our first

performance of the year,

we devoted ourselves to

preparing the best possible

p e r f o r m a n c e . W e

performed to a supportive

audience of about 50

parents and students that

evening.

The show featured

story lines set in two

different locations --- Hong

Kong and Taiwan. Both of

the plays are about gender

stereotypes, such as “boys

must be strong” and “girls

are supposed to be weak”.

The play that is set in

Hong Kong is named “The

Perfect Boys and Girls”,

and it refutes the

stereotypes mentioned

above. In the play, a school

holds an election, and the

four candidates dislike one

another at first. Eventually,

they discover that no

matter what characteristics

a boy or a girl had, people

should not discriminate

against them. Boys can be

weak while girls can be

brave too.

As for the play set in

Taiwan, it is called “Wing’s

Story“. The play is based

on the true story of a boy

named Wing. As he is

introverted, everyone in

the school mocks

h i m , w h i c h

indirectly causes

his death. The

play shows that a boy, even

when he is weak, should

still be treated fairly.

Otherwise, there may be

serious consequences.

I am proud of the

English Drama Club

members, who have done

extremely well in the

performance. Through

these plays, they have

learned about how the

important issue of gender

stereotypes can affect

teenagers’ lives. This is

only the first performance

of the club, and I can

already feel the passion of

our members.

We must also thank

all of the parents, teachers,

and mentors who have

dedicated their time to

help us. We really

appreciate their guidance

and support.

The English Drama

Club will hold more

performances this year.

Preparing a play requires a

lot of effort, so I sincerely

hope that other BSTC

students will come support

us in our next show!

Words that you ought to know!

gender stereotypes

- ideas that people have about men

and women (ie. what they should

look like and how they should act)

to refute

-to prove that something is not true

or not correct

to discriminate (against someone)

-to treat someone unfairly

consequence

-the result of an action or situation

IT ’S SHOW TIME !

Wong Chin Ho

English Drama Club chairperson

English Drama Club’s first performance of the year a success

Page 6 March 12, 2012 Sin Tak Spir i t