It is very hard to put across the shock of seeing buildings towering above the DBS campus. Most of you will have known nothing else. My mind sees only the parched soil of the NT hills stretching for miles. The nearest buildings were three story houses below the retaining wall at the site’s periphery. We boarders would perch there to watch the Harbour or kites fighting in the grey sky of an overcast evening.
A speaker on the video talked of chivalry being the enduring gift of DBS to its alumni. I feel I recognize that as indeed a legacy from my contact with DBS. In addition the film showed the cultural richness that was only foreshadowed in my short time at DBS.
A pop-up on the site lists the Achievements of the school. Who would have thought that there would be choral competitions won? The copy of ‘Steps’ beside me from December 1948 reports that the term’s ‘Gossip’ included that ‘people say that during singing lessons many boys creep out of the Hall’ and ‘that nine out of ten boys are found somewhere on that "famous Jordan Road"’.
The live performances at Chi Track’s opening celebrations of a Schubert quartet piece and of Classical Chinese music – not to mention Cliff Richard? – take to a different level Mr Du Toit’s gramophone recitals of Beethoven piano concertos in the Hall. But, those long ago evenings included members of the public as well as pupils and staff – a contribution to the total cultural fabric of Hong Kong society.
In that sense, it seems that little has changed in the significance of DBS, merely expanded many times. Even then, former pupils distinguished themselves in their contributions to the re-birth of public life after the chaos of the WW2.
I had not foreseen nor understood that an organisation like DBS would grow and thrive. I imagined that the land might have been sold and shopping malls have been built in its place. I was sure more recently that there was no place for a faith school in an officially atheist society. How wrong I was.
What I have discovered is a dynamic, welcoming community with a vibrant, distinct identity. I hope that my planned trip to HK and China takes place in 2007,so that I can re-visit DBS and renew contact with one or two at least of the people I knew. Then memories of new realities will be laid down alongside ancient shadows, and new relationships replace the ghosts of the past.
(Thanks to Daniel Ma for his research and encouragement.)
Tom Richardson 1949
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