Goodbye Old Campus
On a fine sunny Sunday, 2 January, 2011, over two thousand Josephians of all ages and their friends and family turned up at the old Kwun Tong Road campus to bid farewell to this very building that has meant so much to so many.
With the support of Principal Yeung and the school’s staff, the Josephian Association was able, at short notice, to form an organizing committee for this special ceremony (see official Program below). Led by Rino Lam and Anthony Mak, the Committee swung into action and quickly put in place the necessary preparation, including, most important of all, advertising the event so that Josephians could be made aware and come on the day. They were not disappointed. Many came…
All through the day, Josephians and members of the greater St. Joseph Family kept coming. The pre-arranged mini bus was fully engaged to provide non-stop shuttle for passengers to and from the new campus up the road.
To commemorate the occasion, a special leaflet had been meticulously prepared for distribution on the day and so that Josephians would have some memento to take home and remember by. In this leaflet, we are reminded of our past, our present and our future - as a school, an alumni and the Family of St. Joseph’s.
Ball games were organized and visitors were free to mingle and take a last look around the classrooms and campus grounds. Many photos were taken to take advantage of the last opportunity to stand on the old campus.
Many teachers as well as old ones showed up to talk to past students they had not seen for years. It was also a time to renew old friendships. Among others, long-absent Josephians included Rudolf Kam (Class of ’69) and Anthony Chan (Class of ’71).
Amid the music of the School’s marching band, the closing ceremony began. Russ Ko (Class of ‘92) acted as MC. Guests of honor were summoned on to the stage, including Mr. Paul Yeung, Principal, Mr. Kenneth Chan, former Principal and Mr. Peter Yeung, Chair of JA. The gathering sang Auld Lang Syne, as the School flag was lowered – for the last time. Then, the lights went off floor by floor, as the last phase of the closing down ceremony. All in all, it was a most fitting finale for the old campus, a last farewell.
This was followed by a party in the School hall. While food and drinks were served, the JA took advantage of the chance to hand out trophies and medals for the recent football and basketball tournaments to raise funds for Rev. Bro. Paul Sun Education Foundation. Saying goodbye is never easy and so many stayed behind to relish the last hours of a grand evening.
A video was shot by a professional studio led by Billy Wong (Class of ’96) on the day and copies would be made available for purchase in due course. So, watch out for this and don’t miss out!
Postscript: The Committee has in the process stumbled onto some treasures, artifacts and memorabilia, such as old trophies and banners. There was also some old furniture that they were able to salvage and put in storage. These would become excellent materials for the proposed School Museum (being planned by the Principal).
