Personal Development and Human Relationship

分。」)
Clearly, no matter how talented one is, to succeed, one must work very hard. But working hard
and having talent, it appears, just may not be
enough, as the cases of Chan Yik-hei (陳易希) and
Aristo Sham Ching-tao (沈靖韜) illustrate.
Without doubt, Yik-hei and Aristo are both
extraordinarily talented. But the achievements in
their respective fields - science and music - have
apparently come at the expense of other areas of
development.
Their cases raise the questions: is it desirable to
focus just on the area of one’s talent to the extent of
neglecting other areas? And is all-rounded development just as important as excelling in one specialised area?
In the news
BOTH Yik-hei and Aristo have been in the news.
Yik-hei was thrown into the spotlight when he
was named “Youth of the Year” for inventing a
domestic security robot, Total Equip (全能機械人),
which won second place at the 55th Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Portland,
Oregon in 2004 when he was only 15.
He even had an asteroid, 20780 Chanyikhei,
named after him by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) centre for winning the
competition.
Last November, he was in the news when a
hydraulic rocket he invented was demonstrated
during the visit of China’s Shenzhou 6 astronauts
Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng.
He was accepted by the Hong Kong University
of Science and Technology
for a degree course
while he was a
Form Five stu-
dent at The Church of Christ in China Tam Lee Lai
Fun Memorial Secondary School (譚李麗芬中學). As
the first Secondary Five student in Hong Kong to
be accepted by a university before completing his
certificate examinations, he was again the subject of
media attention.
At the time, he described the news as “a dream”
and promised to do his best to justify the faith the
university had placed in him. This summer, when it
turned out that his results in the certificate examinations were less than satisfactory, with failures in
both English and Chinese, some criticised him for
setting a bad example of “overly indulging in a single area to the neglect of all-rounded development.”
Yik-hei admitted that he was stressed by becoming the target of criticism and pledged “to do whatever it takes” to make up for the inadequacy in his
language skills.
Ten-year-old Aristo Sham Ching-tao, meanwhile,
was dubbed a “gifted child” by the local media for
winning first place at the Ettlingen International
Competition for Young Pianists near Stuttgart, Germany (德國埃特林根國際青少年鋼琴比賽) in August.
Upon his return to Hong Kong, Aristo was presented to the press by the Academy for Performing
Arts together with another Hong Kong student,
Wong Wai-yin, 13, who finished third in the same
competition.
But for Aristo, a student of the Diocesan Boys’
Primary School, the time spent practising piano has
been putting pressure on his hectic academic
schedule. He admitted being late occasionally in
completing some of his homework.
Young Aristo has made “handing in homework
on time” his “new academic year resolution” and
will work hard to keep his top position in mathematics. To achieve this, he will be cutting back on
the time he spends on electronic games and on
watching TV.
Such are the prices these student prodigies pay
for their achievements.
Prodigal
problems
Is being extraordinarily talented in one subject
the key to future success, asks Janet Wong
Translated by Lon Yan
Let’s review some comments on the case of Chan Yik-hei
Editorial, Sing Tao Daily: “We appreciate the opportunity given to this young talented inventor by UST.
However, as tuition is conducted in English, the university should impress upon him the importance of
being competent in the English language. Otherwise,
he would not be able to comprehend academic papers,
nor would he be able to write his own. If this is the
case, he would be putting the scholarships he had
been awarded to waste, and would be a big disappointment to his supporters.”
Head of a parent-teacher association: “In terms of the
amount of time at our disposal, we are all equal. We
all have to make choices as to how to allocate our
time. It’s all about give and take. Some students may
Choices to make in learning
1) Do you think the achievements of
Chan and Sham are just one-time
luck? Your reasons?
2) Chan and Sham were not able to
balance their area of talent and their
overall academic work. What are
the reasons? What have they promised to do to
make up for the shortfall? Do you have any suggestions for them?
Time allocation
3) If you were Chan or Sham, would
you be willing to sacrifice your
leisure and study hours to develop
your talent? What are the main considerations?
4) What are the criteria by which you allocate your
E06
EDUCATION
I
NVENTOR Thomas Edison (愛迪生) used to
say: “Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99
percent perspiration.” (「天才是99分努力加上1分天
Personal Development and
Human Relationship
SYSTEM
SYSTEM
EDUCATION
Monday, September 25, 2006
choose to spend all their time on school work, and
miss the chance to develop a talent to its fullest. Likewise, Chan Yik-hei has chosen to focus on scientific
inventions, and in doing so he has given up certain
things.”
A veteran educator: “Chan Yik-hei should try to take a
more balanced approach to his work after he has started university. While being enthusiastic in science, he
must not lose sight of the importance of development
in other areas.”
A Form Four student: “I admire Chan Yik-hei’s
courage in breaking through the boundaries of the traditional mode of education and his effort in realising
his dream ... But of course, certain old rules are valid
daily hours? Set a practical timetable for your new
academic year. State the objectives you wish to
achieve this year.
Class discussion
5) Some say it is good enough to excel
in one speciality and it is not necessary for one to become a “generalist”. Do you agree?
6) Some say the fact that Chan Yik-hei has been
admitted to university despite unsatisfactory examination results shows that a good grounding in basic
academic knowledge is not important. Is this opinion valid? What do you think is the substance of
“basic academic knowledge”?
7) Debate the topic in groups: “School-based education stifles creativity and leaves no room for students to pursue their dreams.”
and must be followed, otherwise we will go down the
slippery slope of ignorance. A good foundation in English and Chinese is important.”
A columnist: “In a fast-changing world, knowledge
from books is hardly adequate.”
A Hong Kong Polytechnic University student: “The
present spoon-feeding style of education (填鴨式教
育) stifles the students’ creativity and the ability to
dream. Had Chan Yik-hei been spending all his time
chasing after examination results in a famous school,
he would not have achieved his goals in scientific
invention. One of his classmates said he had to give
up the competition (競爭) for his school work. That
classmate might be just as talented as Chan in
inventing things. It showed that it is a matter of give
and take.”
A newspaper editorial writer: “In the learning of music,
art and dancing, it is usually easy to start but difficult to
follow through. It is all too common for enthusiasm
(熱心) to be overwhelmed by the increasing pressure of
school work. In the end, only a few persevere.”
A primary school teacher: “It is a basic requirement
that students complete their school work. If a student
neglects basic academic work, excellence in a specialised area will be achieved at the expense of inadequacies in a solid grounding in general knowledge. A
student must acquire basic skills such as reading, writing and mathematics.”
Voting zone:
WHAT I hope to achieve most from my secondary
education:
A) Good language and communication skills
B) The ability to think critically
C) Interpersonal relations skills
D) Understanding oneself and concern for the world
References
Chan Yik-hei admitted by UST
http://hk.news.yahoo.com/060526/60/1o7ou.html
10-year-old Hong Kong pianist wins international contest
http://hk.news.yahoo.com/060813/60/1r8eg.html
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