Dear Editor,
I am a student of Hong Kong Secondary School which is located in To Kwa Wan. My school building is going to be pulled down as part of the redevelopment of the area and my school will be relocated to a new school building in the district. The purpose of the redevelopment is to provide better transport networks, community facilities, larger green areas and public spaces for residents in To Kwa Wan. I am writing to express my support for the pulling down of my school building.
One of the reasons for me to support the plan is that the success of the redevelopment of To Kwa Wan hinges on the scrapping of my school building. My school building is located at the centre of the district. Unless my school building is pulled down, a shopping mall, community centre and park cannot be built at the site. Hence, the accessibility of these facilities cannot be maximized. Some To Kwa Wan residents will have to spend a lot of travel time reaching these facilities. My school building also blocks the road which is planned to run straight through To Kwa Wan. If the building is not demolished, the road will need to bypass the area, which lengthens the transportation time of To Kwa Wan residents. That is why the removal of my school building is crucial to the success of the redevelopment plan, providing better facilities for all residents in To Kwa Wan to improve their lives.
Another reason is that the scrapping of my school building provides an opportunity of relocating my school to a new building. It perfects the facilities of my school. The new building has a larger library. More books can be bought. Schoolmates can choose from a variety of books to read. There is one more playground in the new school too. We can have more places to play ball games as a result. After the relocation of my school, we can have a better learning environment. We also need not be troubled by the air pollution caused by the construction works of the redevelopment at the same time.
Undoubtedly, my school building is a collective memory of present and former students. However, residents in To Kwan Wan can have a better life after a successful redevelopment, which hinges on the pulling down of the building. Students can also have a better learning environment in a new campus. Our school motto is “Offer your help when you can”. We not only can help residents in To Kwa Wan, but can also improve the learning environment of our school by supporting the redevelopment plan. To keep a record of the collective memory of students at the same time, my school can invite students and the alumni to take photos of the current building. Those photos should be able to retain our collective memory. They can then be posted on a board in the new school building.
I hope my schoolmates and the alumni can follow our school motto and offer help to residents in To Kwa Wan.
Yours faithfully,
Chris Wong
Chris Wong