Pao School commemorates Mr. YK Pao on Founders' Day

I have a question for you all: What should the students of Pao School be like? What kind of values should they have? In my opinion: Our students should live simple lifestyles, stay grounded, and contribute to society. Nurturing the soul is more important than material enjoyment, because there are many things money cannot buy. For example, you can enjoy the true meaning of life when you work together with your classmates, strive to accomplish the same goal, encourage and help each other, and finally savour the joy of success as a team. This joyful feeling is your reward for contributing to the school's community, and it also represents the beginning of your future contributions to society and the country.

——Professor Anna Pao Sohmen

YK Pao School Founders' Day 2020

Professor Anna Pao Sohmen Speech

Professor Anna Pao Sohmen

Hello everyone! It's our annual Founders' Day. In past years, everyone would gather together to commemorate Mr. YK Pao by watching videos about him and putting on performances. This year, due to the pandemic, I am unable to return to Shanghai to reunite with you all. I can only communicate with you through the screen.

2020 has been an extraordinary year. Fortunately for you, the pandemic in our country was soon brought under control, and Pao School also opened smoothly in spring.

I have a question for you all: What should the students of Pao School be like? What kind of values should they have? In my opinion: Our students should live simple lifestyles, stay grounded, and contribute to society. Nurturing the soul is more important than material enjoyment, because there are many things money cannot buy. For example, you can enjoy the true meaning of life when you work together with your classmates, strive to accomplish the same goal, encourage and help each other, and finally savour the joy of success as a team. This joyful feeling is your reward for contributing to the school's community, and it also represents the beginning of your future contributions to society and the country.

When I was 14, I worked in a delinquent girls' shelter in Hong Kong. It served as a rehabilitation centre for underage girls who had violated the law. When I visited their homes, I realised the sheer poverty they were living in. Most of them were new immigrants to Hong Kong, and they lived on the hills in poorly constructed huts with no running water or sanitary facilities.

On one of my visits to a girl's home, I met a girl who had stolen money and was caught and put in the shelter. She also had a young sister. When I saw her, she had a little brother strapped to her back and was carrying two buckets of water up a hill. Her father had suffered a work-related injury and was hospitalised. Her mother had to work, leaving her children at home to fend for themselves. The little girl took on the responsibility of a parent every day, cooking and washing for her siblings every day, and taking care of them.

During those trips, I also visited a family who lived in a damp, dark tunnel and another family of five living in a loft with no windows. The conditions were appalling. These families lived in abject poverty. This was Hong Kong in the late 1960’s. There was no compulsory education, no workmen’s compensation, no prohibition of child labour, and no support for the unemployed.

When the new governor, Sir Murray MacLehose, arrived in Hong Kong in 1971, he came to my father’s house for dinner. During the dinner, I drew Sir Murray's attention to the poverty I saw. I told him that the housing and living conditions of labourers were worse than those in the UK prior to its Industrial Revolution, almost like what is depicted in the Charles Dickens’ book “Oliver Twist”. I even boldly suggested to him to visit the huts on the hills that exposed the families living in them to dangerous fire hazards.

Later, Sir Murray became the first Hong Kong governor to address housing problems in the city. He launched the public housing programme, resolving the housing crisis and helping to create the city's middle class. He also implemented compulsory education, introduced a compensation mechanism for work-related injuries, and prohibited child labour. The well-known Independent Commission Against Corruption in Hong Kong was also established at that time, helping to address corruption issues and clean up the police force.

Today in China, the eradication of poverty is still a priority. In the hills of Sichuan and Yunnan, there are still many left-behind children and elderly people. President Xi has highlighted a national goal of poverty alleviation to resolve many grass-roots problems in China. I hope through education and literacy programs, China will eradicate poverty and I hope that you will work hard and one day become leaders while at the same time focusing on social stability. Only with social stability can we develop and prosper.

Student Question 1: Why  do you want to build  YK Pao School?

In 2006, my son, Philip Sohmen, and I felt that China very much needed to both embrace its own roots - Chinese culture, literature and history - and a global outlook that would allow it to better understand the perspective of other countries. We hoped that one day on the international stages, such as the United Nations and the World Health Organization, Chinese people could rise up and communicate in fluent English to engage with the world.

The second reason we established YK Pao School was because we hoped that there could be a world-class made-in-China education. What we are striving for is not only knowledge-based education, but also the development of key skills – organizational skills, financial skills, self-management skills, and skills in relationship management.

Student Question 2: Pao School spent the first ten years cultivating its first batch of graduates. What is the school’s plan for the next ten years?

The goal of Pao School is to become recognized as a brand name all across the world. We also hope YK Pao School explores new ways to both educate children and train teachers. And we have indeed been successful in building a bilingual training center, and made a contribution to bilingual and bicultural education. Thank you.