School: La Salle College
    Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

20 S students, ages 12-18 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 10, 2003. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): N/A

Classes and Teachers: Mr Gary Ho, Mr Robert Wong

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://lasalle.school.net.hk

1. Description of Our Community

What’s a community? A community can be defined as an area in which a group of people live sunder the same locality and under the same government. But Hong Kong is more than that. Hong Kong was a fishing community. Today, Hong Kong is a world-class, multicultural tertiary-production-based community. Situated on the southeastern coast of China, spreading out over 1100 square miles and comprising over 260 outlying islands, Hong Kong has proven herself worthy of turning a small fishing village into “Asia’s World City”—that’s from a “barren rock” British colony in 1841 to a never-sleeping metropolis by the turn of the millennium. Hong Kong is one of the world’s most densely populated areas, being able to fit a whopping 7 million people into such a small area. Hong Kong lives up to its fame for also being a shopper’s paradise. With her sovereignty returned to China in July 1997, Hong Kong now, with its highly connected transportation system, heads into the 21st century with tourism as its trump card.

2. Summary of Our Project

Hong Kong is a world-class, multicultural, tertiary-production-based community, and the tourism industry has always been playing an important role in the Pearl of Asia. CyberFair 2003 gives us an opportunity to explore another side of our home city. To really get to know Hong Kong and its environs, you have to get out and explore. Hong Kong is full of unexpected sights that are best explored on foot and at our own pace. We believe that these diverse and fascinating walks have introduced us to many of the delights in this “City of Life”, from traditional culture and heritage, to out of the way places beyond the city's bustling urban areas.

By doing the researching works for this project, we were all amazed by what we can discover about Hong Kong. This cosmopolitan city is a fusion of East and West steeped in 5,000 years of Chinese history and imbued with over 150 years of colonial heritage. From its origin as a fishing village to its present-day status as a world financial center, Hong Kong has mesmerized us with its energy and left us awed by its diverse splendour.

We learned a lot throughout this project; it made us to discover another aspect of our true home. By researching over 30 local attractions in this project, we finally noticed that there is a more beautiful side to Hong Kong than its clusters of billboards and high-rises. The natural sceneries are as alluring as the man-made attractions of Hong Kong.

We believe that through this interactive educational project, we, as well as other comrades from the across the globe, will be able to learn more about our history and heritage. And as an added bonus, we noticed the power of team spirit and learnt how to treasure our natural environment! We cordially hope that Hong Kong will recover from the Atypical Pneumonia hype. We believe that as long as we unite together, we will be able to win this "war"! The rivers will continue to flow…and the Pearl of Asia will continue to shine over everyone.

3. Our Computer and Internet Access

A. Percentage of students using the Internet at home:more than 50%

B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:more than 6

C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dedicated connection

D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:2-3

E. Additional comments concerning your computer and/or Internet access (Optional):

In this 21st century, digital technology is becoming more and more essential to us; the use of Internet plays an important role in this great project.

With the help of teachers and old boys of our school, we started using Internet video conferences as the media for our meetings, discussions or even interviews. The Internet has always made our lives much more convenient.

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

In this project, there are many problems that we encountered. Sometimes the problems look like rocks that block our roads, sometime it looks like a math questions that we don’t know how to solve. But after this project, we learn that getting problems are good experiences for us. (1) As we are the first time to join this Internation School CyberFair, we planned seriously on everything in order to achieve the best. We have to spend many time on discussing such as which topic we are going to do, what local attractions we are going to introduce ...etc. We always remind ourselves the main aim is getting unite and educate, which is the main them of CyberFair 2003. By the way, with our unite school spirit, we settled problems in the end.

(2) After this project, we noticed the biggest enemy to men! It is neither poverty nor Atypical Pneumonia! It is our time! Since it is a very great project, we need to spend a lot of time on interviewing our Community member, going everywhere to do the researching works ...etc. Remember Napoleon had said that, 'I can lose the victory, but cannot lose a second!' It proves how important time management is!

(3) As you may notice, the Atypical Pneumonia (SARS) has broken out serve in Hong Kong, as a result, many of our comrades grew sick or not feeling well. That was the biggest problem! Seeing the time of deadline of this project is passing from time to time, minutes to minutes, but many of us were still not able to be recovered, how can we finish it then!? We cannot give up! We were all very anxious. But again, miracle was worked out by our unite LaSalle school spirit, so we are able to finish it at last.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

Since this is our first time in entering the International Schools CyberFair, all of our students and teachers are greatly enthusiastic and spirited over this project. Besides, it is an internation project, we hope we can have the opportunity to learn from others over the world. We are looking forward for the peer review section.

6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?

While working on this project, many of us learnt a lot, especially in the fields of interviewing and presentation. Another key factor of this project is cooperation. Our team of about 30 worked very well together. Our work was spreaded out very evenly, but although we faced some difficulties when many of our colleagues grew sick from an atypical pneumonia that arose in Hong Kong, we finally finished our work with much satisfaction. Our hard work paid off and nothing seemed impossible. We had much support from our teachers and other community members after seeing how much we could learn about Hong Kong's hertigae from this project. Our school promotes group projects and projects involving the use of Information Technology. How does this project involve Information Technology? Well, in order to build a website, we had learn how. We exchanged information over the Internet and also had many of our meetings online. This project fulfils both of our school's demands and is a perfect choice as school-wide project.

1) What information tools & technologies did you used to complete your CyberFair project?

During the course of the project, we have utilised many tools and technologies. As our main internet browser, we used Internet Explorer. Searching and downloading software needed was a hassle. Some of the programs we chose for these functions include Morpheus and Flashget. As for graphics design, our list included Adobe Photoshop, Ulead Photoimpact and Macromedia Fireworks. We used Macromedia Dreamweaver as our solution to web development and couldn’t miss out Microsoft Word as our main word processor. Thanks to the great invention of internet, we could now relay information between one and other instantly. For this, we used the world-renowned ICQ, along with MSN Messenger and e-mail. Other practical tools included cameras of video cameras.

The above are just some of the many tools and technologies we used. We live in the 21st century and computer technology has become very important. These software we chose gives our project an overall informative, well-structured and “cyber” look. But however advanced we become, we mustn’t forget about photos. Although they’re nothing new, they are the only way we can truly trace back into our memories…

2) In what ways did you act as "ambassadors" and spokespersons for your CyberFair project both on-line and in person.

The aim of our project is to promote our home, Hong Kong. In order to enhance our knowledge and have a deeper understanding of our subject, we had requested interviews with many public figures and departments of our community. Some of the things we have done include posting in newspaper and announcing over the radio information on our participation in the International Schools Cyberfair. Our team leaders also contacted members of our community, such as Hong Kong Tourism Board, Po Lin Temple, Hong Kong Heritage Museum..., either through e-mail, fax or phone requesting information or interviews. We also made use of technology by having some of our interviews through video-conferencing on the Internet.

3) What has been the impact of your project on your community?

During the process, more and more students knew that we are working on this topic. They think that the topic is very interesting as tourism is one of the most important factors in Hong Kong. They would love to have more information on that which we think that we have successfully draw their attentions. Parents after seeing our project also gave us some comments like, ‘How amazing! I did not know there are so many great places in Hong Kong. Son, could you bring me there?’ This reflects that this project did have a certain influence about promoting Hong Kong local attractions.

4) How did your project involve other members of your community as helpers and volunteers?

As far from what I can see, when we show our project to our schoolmates, teachers, neighbours, parents etc, Almost 80 percent of them gave us a surprised facial expressions. Lots of them also willing to help us in promoting Hong Kong tourism by telling more people about this project as well as getting some pamphlets from the departments. The officers of the tourism department also agreed that they will give us updated information once a month. At this point, with the help of them, we have finished our project. We would like to thank them for their valuable guidance and support.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

Throughout the whole project, many of us learnt a lot, especialling in the field of I.T. We also gained interviewing and presentation skills. We also rediscovered much of Hong Kong's past. From once being a British colony, Hong Kong is a city of mixed culture - Oriental and Western. The confused culture in Hong Kong confounded us, and in order to understand more, we had to interview some local villagers who had been in Hong Kong since it was a fishing village. They told us their stories of how from a fishing village, Hong Kong became a colony, then an entrepot, and now "Asia's World City". We also had video conferences over the Internet with some experts on Hong Kong's heritage. After finishing this project, we finally saw the other side of Hong Kong. A side rarely seen - Hong Kong's natural side. There was a actually a more beautiful side to Hong Kong than its clusters of billboards and high-rises. Normally, we only saw half of Hong Kong. We did much research on Hong Kong's natural landmarks, including research on Hong Kong's marine parks, Mai Po Natural Reserve and various walks and trails, and each bit of research was a piece of a puzzle that completed Hong Kong. Now that we have completed this thousand-piece puzzle, we truly know why Hong Kong is "Asia's World City", "City of Life" and "Hub of Asia".