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Established in 1976 and one of Hong Kong’s leading international schools, Kellett School is a co-ed, through-train school with campuses on Hong Kong Island (four to 11 years) and in Kowloon Bay (four to 18 years). For over 45 years, Kellett has earned a reputation for offering an exceptional, British-style education. Outstanding public examination results (over 55% of A-level results at A*, and over 68% of GCSE results at A*) ensure that students go on to attend top universities worldwide. Kellett has evolved its educational approach to ensure that students are equipped with the right mindset and skill set to enable them to thrive and cope with the stresses of modern-day life. “While our examination results showcase the exceptional academic standard of our students, behind these results is a strong focus on wellbeing, known as Positively Kellett. We believe that wellbeing plays a central role in enabling students to reach their full potential, academically, outside their classrooms and far beyond their school years,” says the school’s Principal and CEO Mark Steed. In acknowledgement of its approach to wellbeing, Kellett was recently awarded the highest honour of Patron’s Accredited Membership by the Council of British International Schools (COBIS). While in 2020, Kellett was named ‘British International School of the Year’ at the Independent Schools of the Year Awards, with Positively Kellett highlighted as being key to that accolade. “Launched in August 2018, Positively Kellett saw the development of a bespoke Positive Education curriculum, which is now taught in weekly lessons to all year groups,” says Mark. “Carving time out of the curriculum to focus on wellbeing has been central to our approach.” Beyond the confines of the curriculum, Kellett students also study public speaking, innovation and global citizenship. “Global Citizenship and Critical Perspective lessons help students become informed, responsible and active global citizens,” says Mark. “We have a strong focus on how each of us can contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals, through advocacy, fundraising and community service. “The Senior School has a week off-timetable dedicated to global citizenship, known as GOW (Global Outlook Week). Year groups travel overseas to learn about different cultures and make a contribution through community service. In recent years, we have focused more on local issues, most notably on the asylum, refugee and ethnic minority communities in Hong Kong.” Kellett’s Mini-MBA programme, meanwhile, provides sixth-form students with a practical introduction to the world of business in an engaging, workshop environment. Year 12 students gain a deeper understanding of how businesses function, developing real world skills to help them in their future careers. Likewise, in Years 7 and 8, Innovation lessons allow students to focus on working collaboratively to understand and solve real-world problems in creative ways. These projects emulate the world of real work, with students harnessing individual strengths to contribute to one shared goal. Teams are also encouraged to experiment and learn from failure. “Kellett’s goal has always been to engender a ‘love of learning and confidence for life,’” Mark concludes. “Academics are of course very important, and we take great pride in our excellent results record, but we place far greater value in preparing our students for life’s opportunities and challenges, and seeing them flourish, now and in the future.” Kellett School will be adding a new bus route from Central Ferry Pier to its Kowloon Bay Campus in August. For more information about the school, email admissions@kellettschool.com or visit www.kellettschool.com .

It is almost five years since Malvern College Hong Kong (MCHK) opened its doors in the New Territories. As the school prepares to pass the founding stage and enter the “early history” stage, Headmaster Dr Robin A. Lister outlines ongoing achievements, upcoming milestones and the outlook for the years to come. “We are very proud of what MCHK has accomplished since launching in August 2018. We have built a thriving, vibrant school community that is growing into the space of our seven-storey, state-of-the-art campus. The summer of 2023 will not only see our first cohort graduate, but also our fifth birthday celebrations,” Dr Lister opens. Classes are now operating from Prep 1 (Year 1) to Lower Sixth (Year 12). By adding Upper Sixth (Year 13) in 2022/23, MCHK’s year groups will be complete. The school’s pupil body is still growing, and at full capacity, enrolment numbers will have reached approximately 1,200 pupils across all year groups. Only two years after opening, MCHK became an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School, authorised to offer all three IB Programmes, the Primary Years Programme (PYP), Middle Years Programme (MYP) and Diploma Programme (DP). The school has set out to build a caring, supportive and ambitious learning environment, and has high expectations of its first cohort, who will be graduating with the IB Diploma in May 2023. “We have every confidence that they will be successful, setting a great example for every other cohort to follow,” Dr Lister says. “Students are supported through our Sixth Form Tutor Programme, Leadership Programme and our newly appointed University and Careers Guidance Counsellor.” In May 2021, Malvern’s commitment to top-end yet holistic education manifested itself for the first time in actual graduation results: The entire Year 11 cohort (or “Hundred” in Malvern language) took the MYP eAssessments, a formal, internationally recognised Middle Years Qualification provided by the IB – and the outcome was excellent. “With a 100% pass rate, 60% of our pupils achieved 45 points or more, and 27% of our pupils achieved 50 points or more,” explains Dr Lister. “The highest possible score is 56 points, so our pupil’s average score of 44 points sits well above the world average of 38 points. 47% of the pupils were awarded the Bilingual Certificate, studying both English and Chinese (Mandarin) Language and Literature.” The current MYP eAssessments are ongoing with results notification expected at the end of the academic year. As Malvern’s student body continues to expand, so does its award-winning campus. “Our 26,000 square- metre campus houses the primary and secondary school including academic, sporting and recreational spaces,” says Dr Lister. “Recent additions include our Black Box theatre and a new outdoor play area. This year, we were also delighted to open the sixth floor, which houses design workshops, more classrooms and offices, and will eventually include a new Sixth Form Centre and examination hall.” MCHK operates in partnership with its parent school Malvern College UK, a co-educational day and boarding school founded in 1865 – and as such it’s part of the Malvern Family of Schools’ global network. With schools in the UK, Hong Kong, Qingdao, Chengdu, Egypt and Switzerland, the network continues to expand, and more sister schools will be added in September 2023: Malvern College Barbados and – closer to home – Malvern College Tokyo. “Malvern College Tokyo aims to be the first British- branded all-through IB school in Tokyo,” says Dr Lister. “Exciting times lie ahead, and we look forward to the boundless opportunities this will bring in terms of exchange programmes, inter-school collaboration and shared learning and teaching experiences.” Applications and Admissions: Tel: 3898 4688 Email: admissions@malverncollege.org.hk Web: www.malverncollege.org.hk

The Headmaster and a former pupil, Ethan – a DB resident – discuss the benefits of boarding at Forres Sandle Manor. Located in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, in the heart of the New Forest, Forres Sandle Manor (FSM) and its surrounding 35 acres provide girls and boys aged two to 13 (16, starting 2024) with a quintessential British education in a multicultural setting. “Despite all the global changes in the past few years, the demand from families living overseas to send their children to live and study in UK independent schools has remained as strong as ever,” Headmaster Mark Howe opens. “Year on year at FSM, we are seeing an increase in the number of such applications.” One such student is Ethan, a DB resident, who boarded at FSM from September 2021 to July 2022. “I chose FSM and schooling in England because I got to learn many languages, like French and Spanish,” Ethan says. “I loved the lessons on offer, including subjects I didn’t have in Hong Kong such as History, Latin, Geography and Design Technology.” Academic excellence is paramount at FSM, with families attracted by the outstanding teachers, broad curriculum and small classes – the current average is 12. “Small classes ensure every teacher is able to have one-to-one conversations with every pupil in each lesson, thereby maximising their progress,” Mark explains. “For those for whom English is not their first language, we create a personalised curriculum, which can include one-toone or small group English tuition where needed.” FSM also prides itself on providing a tremendous range of extra-curricular opportunities for pupils including music, drama, art and sport. Ethan’s favourite ‘after-school’ classes were archery, table tennis, swimming and cookery. Ethan is eager to reassure prospective boarders that they will quickly feel at home at FSM. “I didn’t feel homesick as I was kept busy with lessons, homework, sports matches and the activities. I didn’t feel any cultural differences because I was included from day one. I was also assigned a buddy to take me around and make sure I didn’t get lost.” In welcoming children from overseas, Mark makes it a priority that they feel safe, happy and well looked after. “We have seven staff who live in our boarding house to make sure that all our boarders (some of whom are as young as eight years old) are well cared for at all times. “While being a secure site, deep in the New Forest, our campus is well connected to all areas of Southern England and several major airports,” Mark adds. “FSM is under two hours from Heathrow where we can organise the collection and drop off of pupils using our security checked drivers.” “There may be 6,000 miles between Hong Kong and FSM but as a parent, you will feel so close. If you are looking for a place where happy, confident children succeed, we may be the school for you,” concludes Kate Chantry, FSM’s DB-based APAC Admissions Manager, adding that most FSM pupils transition to leading UK schools like Canford, Bryanston and Millfield. Ethan now attends prestigious Warminster School in Wiltshire, which was founded in 1707. For more on Forres Sandle Manor, visit www.fsmschool.com or email the school’s APAC Admissions Manager Kate Chantry at fsmapacenquiries@aol.com .

These iconic Chinese soups are packed with ingredients – and flavour – and they’re surprisingly easy to make HOT AND SPICY SOUP Serves 6 2 fresh red chillies, chopped 2 garlic cloves, chopped 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger 250g shiitake mushrooms, sliced fine 225g bamboo shoots, sliced fine 3tbsp soya sauce 4tbsp rice wine vinegar 1tsp runny honey 1.5l hot vegetable stock 1 egg white, lightly beaten 150g firm tofu, cubed 2 spring onions, sliced fine ½ bunch of chives, chopped Blitz the chillies, garlic and ginger with a pinch of salt to a rough paste. Heat a lug of oil in a large wok, fry the mushrooms for 4 minutes. Stir in the chilli paste and bamboo shoots and fry for a further minute. Meanwhile, mix together the soya sauce, vinegar, honey and a good pinch of white pepper. Stir the mixture into the pan and cook for a minute, then pour in the hot stock and bring gently to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Once reduced, remove the soup from the heat. Using a chopstick, stir the soup in a clockwise direction until you get a little whirlpool, then slowly add the beaten egg white, stirring continuously to form thin ribbons. Stir in the tofu and return to the heat for 1 minute to warm through. Season to taste with soya sauce and vinegar, then serve immediately with the spring onions and chives scattered on top. CRAB AND SWEETCORN SOUP Serves 4 1.2l chicken stock 2 corncobs 225g fresh white crabmeat 5tsp cornflour ¼tsp root ginger, finely chopped 2 spring onions, shredded 1tbsp light soya sauce 1tbsp rice wine 1 egg white, lightly beaten Bring the stock to the boil. Meanwhile, stand the corncobs up on a board and slice away the kernels. Add the corn to the stock and simmer for 5 minutes. Check over the crabmeat for small pieces of shell, keeping the meat in the largest pieces possible. Mix the cornflour to a smooth paste with a little cold water, stir it into the soup and simmer for 2 minutes. Stir in the crabmeat, ginger, spring onions, soya sauce and rice wine. Season to taste and simmer for 1 minute. Using a chopstick, stir the soup in a clockwise direction until you get a little whirlpool, then slowly add the beaten egg white, stirring continuously to form thin ribbons. Simmer for 30 seconds and serve immediately.

Surprise your mum with one of her favourite fruity desserts on Mother’s Day PAVLOVA Serves 6 3 large egg whites 175g caster sugar 275g whipped cream 350g raspberries, strawberries and redcurrants Preheat the oven to 150˚C. Whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until soft peaks form. Then whisk in the sugar 25g at a time. Take a metal tablespoon and spoon the meringue mix onto a lightly oiled baking sheet, forming a circle about 20cm in diameter. Spoon round blobs next to each other so they join up and form a circle all around the edge. Place in the oven, turn down t he h eat t o 140˚C a nd c ook f or o ne h our. Turn the heat off but leave the meringue in the oven until completely cold. Place the meringue on a serving dish, spread the whipped cream on top and put the fruit on the cream. CHERRY SORBET Serves 6 750g cherries 140g caster sugar 1 lemon, juice only ½tsp almond extract ½tsp salt Destalk, pit and dice the cherries. Place the cherries and all the other ingredients in a bowl; pour over 300 millilitres of boiling water. Leave to macerate until cool, then blitz until smooth. Push the purée through a sieve. Clear a shelf in the freezer and place a sided metal tray into chill. Pour the mix into the tray and cover with cling film. Freeze the liquid until it’s icy around the edges and slushy in the middle. Use a fork to break up the ice into smaller crystals. Return the tray to the freezer. Repeat the process every half hour (at least three times) until you have a completely frozen sorbet that’s the texture of snow. Scoop into individual dishes and serve with a sprig of mint.

LEMONADE POPSICLES Serves 10 2 lemons 100g granulated sugar 480ml water Cut one lemon in half lengthwise, then squeeze out the juice (120ml) by hand or with a juicer. Place the sugar and half the water in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the lemon juice and remaining water to the saucepan and stir. Pour the liquid into a jug and set aside to cool completely. Pour the lemonade into ice-lolly moulds. Cut the remaining lemon thinly and place one piece in each mould. Add the sticks and freeze for a minimum of eight hours.

COCONUT & CHOCOLATE ENERGY BALLS Serves 4 140g raw almonds 15 dates, pitted 30g unsweetened shredded coconut 50g unsweetened cocoa powder 1tsp vanilla extract 40g mini chocolate chips Blitz the almonds to create a fine almond meal. (Don’t blend the almond meal too long or it will turn into nut butter.) Add the remaining ingredients and blitz to combine. Then, scoop a heaped tablespoon of dough into your hands and roll it into a ball. Roll the ball in additional shredded coconut (optional) and place it on a baking sheet. Repeat until you’ve used up all the dough. Place the baking sheet in the freezer for 15 minutes and then transfer the energy balls to a freezer-safe bag. You can store these healthy bites in the freezer for up to 3 months.

PAD THAI Serves 4 250g pack medium rice noodles 2tsp tamarind paste 3tbsp fish sauce 2tsp sugar 2tbsp vegetable oil 1 garlic clove, chopped 3 spring onions, sliced fine 1 egg 200g prawns, cooked 75g beansprouts Tip the noodles into a large bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave to stand for 5-10 minutes until soft, then drain well. Combine the tamarind paste, fish sauce and sugar in a small bowl. Heat a wok over a high heat: pour in the vegetable oil, add the garlic and spring onions, and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Push the vegetables to the sides of the wok, then crack the egg into the centre. Stir the egg for 30 seconds until it begins to set. Add the prawns and beansprouts, followed by the noodles, then pour over the fish sauce mixture. Toss everything together and heat through. Serve the Pad Thai with chopped peanuts sprinkled over and wedges of lime.

Ask a bunch of entrepreneurs what drives them and most will say their passion, their belief in whatever it is they are sharing with clients. Visual artist MJ Lee is no exception. As co-founder of Peeps Studios and creative director for Nothing Much, MJ is all about proactive collaboration, and he finds himself in the right place at the right time. "Nothing Much is a marketing and entertainment company, and Peeps Studios is a creative, design and lifestyle agency,” MJ opens. “We aim to bridge the gap between art and business, and connect people together. We know how to party and we know how to bring people to the party! “Our motto is ‘Life Is Simple,’” MJ adds. “We can make everything from event planning and execution to social media management (Instagram to Xiaohongshu) easier. We have the skills to help clients create content, build brand awareness, find sponsorship opportunities... Our strength is that we operate a fully diversified business; our area of expertise is broad, so we can offer clients multiple solutions.” Partnered with local entrepreneur Paul Kohli, founder of Nothing Much and co-founder of Peeps Studios, MJ is currently working on creatives for Perrier-Jouët. The team are also responsible for bringing Naked Flowers to Hong Kong: NAKED Inc’s celebrated, fully interactive, digital-art exhibition is showing through October 27 at 1881 Heritage, TST. “We’ve worked with brands and local celebrities such as Audemars Piguet and Billionaire Boys Club, and in March 2023, I created paintings, key visuals and main event logos for the LACMA Art Basel party as a contributing artist,” MJ says. “This one-night-only event brought together the global creative community and is credited with restarting Hong Kong’s art scene after the pandemic.” On the entertainment side, Nothing Much specialises in securing professional, multi-talented performers and musicians for all kinds of events. “One of our key services is booking artists,” says MJ, “and there are plans to bring a roster of global artists to Asia in 2025.” Looking to the future, MJ hopes to keep growing the business. “We aspire to work with diverse artists, athletes and socialites, while also forging partnerships and collaborating with renowned global brands,” he says. “Simultaneously, I aim to host exceptional events and parties, all the while nurturing my own artistic growth and development. Anyone who likes the sound of what we do at Nothing Much and Peeps should know that we are currently looking for interns.” It’s clear MJ has a “work hard, play hard” ethic. So, what does the 23-year DB resident do to relax? “I find solace in a multitude of activities, including travelling, capturing moments through photography, painting, drawing and constructing terrariums for my pet reptiles,” he says. Life is simple.

The skills teens need to develop in order to excel in the workplace post-COVID may not be the ones they learn in university. Dorothy Veitch reports Living in Discovery Bay has fantastic advantages for teens. Young people growing up here acquire an international set of friends, excellent schooling, exposure to different cultures and, until very recently, amazing travel opportunities. As parents, we make every effort to prepare our ‘kids’ for life ahead. Before they fly the nest, we teach them to cook simple meals, use a washing machine, budget a monthly allowance – and to be both compassionate and resilient. But are we doing enough to ensure their future employability in a post-COVID world? With the pandemic causing a projected loss of 195 million jobs, along with dismaying interruptions to education, preparing young people to earn and thrive when they enter the world of work requires our immediate attention. Sought-after skills The world we live and work in is increasingly volatile, uncertain and ambiguous. Our children are likely to enjoy longer life spans and working lives, very different work opportunities and more career changes. The World Economic Forum predicts that more than 1 billion jobs, almost one-third of all jobs worldwide, will be transformed by technology in the next decade. Young people will need a highly specific skills set to respond to this reality with the ingenuity to earn an income. Traditional ‘hard’ skills, like writing, mathematics and science, continue to have a place in the worlds of academia and of work, but employers are increasingly focused on ‘soft skills’ that are applicable across multiple disciplines and careers. Soft skills include the ability to communicate well and adapt to changing circumstances, and the willingness to learn through experience, problem-solve and think entrepreneurially. The top five employment skills identified by The World Economic Forum as being most in demand by 2021 are complex problem solving, work, critical thinking, creativity, people management and coordinating with others. The top three skills are considered absolutely essential for all teenagers to cultivate. Creativity, now considered the third most important job skill, has jumped from tenth place in 2015. Emotional intelligence and cognitive thinking did not make the top 10 ranking in 2015, they now place sixth and tenth respectively. New ways of learning This changing environment calls for a transformation in how we think about learning. Young people must ‘learn to learn’ in order to develop the abilities required to gain new skills and adapt, which will help them secure work opportunities. They must also ‘learn to discern’ between reliable information and that which is false or misleading. Skill #1: Learn to learn: To participate and thrive in a rapidly evolving world, young people must become power learners. Learning to learn helps them rapidly gain skills and knowledge to adapt to changes and succeed. This skill is particularly important as the COVID-19 pandemic causes dramatic shifts in the work opportunities available. When it comes to learning performance, 40% is due to metacognition – organising and guiding one’s own learning processes, thinking and actions – but most teaching methods do not prioritise these skills as myths persist that learning relies on innate intelligence, rather than on developing skills and habits. Students need to be encouraged to take charge of their learning journey by applying a growth mindset which strengthens their agility and openness to learning. This helps them guide their own learning and translate this knowledge into action. Skill #2 Learn to discern: Bombarded by information, young people must have the skills to identify and resist manipulative content, in addition to the self-belief to call out misinformation when they see it. Learning to discern sets teens up to become resourceful employees, leaders and entrepreneurs. During the pandemic, perhaps as never before, young people are weighing information, including misleading information about health risks, to make decisions about their futures. Inability to recognise disinformation and misinformation can negatively impact real-life decisions and actions, target emotional triggers and feed confirmation bias. When young people receive information, they need to have the healthy information engagement skills to check those sources before spreading the information or pursuing opportunities. The secret of success In addition to becoming power learners and discerning thinkers, young people need to cultivate entrepreneurial mindsets. Exposure to reflective practice and problem-based learning will help them achieve this, and become better able to identify earning opportunities. Reflective practice is a teaching method that prioritises time for critical reflection. Young people need to be given opportunities to pause and reflect on their progress towards learning goals, and on their ability to apply skills learnt. Teens need to be given the opportunity to learn new concepts and skills over time through practice. Authentic learning takes place gradually, rather than at one discernible point in a curriculum or training programme. Young people with access to enabling conditions for learning – including critical reflection, feedback and support from peers – can develop the values, habits and self-reliance to become power learners. Problem-based learning sees teens engaged in solving relevant, real-world problems, and building a can-do attitude in the process. Real-world projects have the added benefits of providing concrete work-related experiences and building networks, which can help young people develop entrepreneurial mindsets to overcome barriers to earning and employment. Beyond the classroom Many of us spent the first third of our lives acquiring the college degrees we needed to find jobs. These degrees are the stamps on our professional passports that pave the way for the remaining two-thirds of our journey. This implies that the nature of our work, along with the skills and knowledge required to execute it, remains unchanged for a lifetime – which of course is no longer true. Our children can expect to have many different jobs and careers throughout their professional lives – perhaps even at the same time, with the maturing of the gig economy. Arguably then, the future of work will not be about college degrees; it will be about job skills. Finding the right people with the right skills and mindset is a serious challenge for any enterprise. Using a four-year degree as a proxy for employability means relying on talent with potentially redundant skills rather than lifelong learners with ever-relevant skills. If we shift our focus from degrees to skills, we’ll enable a bigger more diverse workforce, and we will help close the all too familiar opportunity and employment gaps. This will mean transitioning to a skills-based education and employment infrastructure that embraces not just credentials and certification but fitness-for-job and employment as outcomes. In recent years, many corporation giants, including Ernst & Young, Google and IBM, have embraced\ this kind of thinking and have increased hiring from alternate talent pools. Several more are investing in continuous learning for the workforce. Others, like Infosys, following COVID-19, have already created free, online platforms to provide job training and apprenticeship opportunities for job-seekers and to connect them with employers offering them new work streams and career pathways. According to the World Economic Forum’s Jobs of Tomorrow report (2020), we can expect a rapid influx of roles at the forefront of the data and AI economy, as well as new roles in engineering, cloud computing and product development. Emerging professions also reflect the continuing importance of human interaction in the new economy, giving rise to greater demand for care economy jobs, and people-oriented roles in marketing, sales and content production. These jobs need talent with relevant skills, and importantly these skills can be learnt either through apprenticeship programmes or on the job by those without college degrees.

Ever wondered why we celebrate Chinese New Year the way we do? Samantha Wong goes back in time to find out  First up, a few facts. Based on the lunar rather than the Gregorian calendar, Chinese New Year (CNY) begins on the first day of the new moon, which appears any time between January 21 and February 20 each year. Also known as Lunar New Year or the Spring Festival, this celebration dates back thousands of years and it is steeped in myth, legend and folklore. Chinese communities all over the globe celebrate CNY and it’s a major holiday here in Hong Kong (February 12 to 15 this year). During the festivities, we get together and welcome the new year through ancient customs that are believed to bring good fortune, prosperity and happiness. The Jade Emperor’s race If you’re familiar with the Chinese zodiac calendar, you’ll know that it has a cycle of 12 years, and each year has an animal as its symbol – and you’ll know the folk tale that explains how these animals came to be. It goes like this… Once upon a time the Jade Emperor called a race, decreeing that the first 12 animals to swim across a fast-flowing river would each have a year named in their honour. Thirteen animals lined up on the riverbank – the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig and Cat. The Cat was pushed into the water by the Rat, and excluded from the race. The Rat reached the opposite bank first, by riding on the Ox’s back, which is why he is the first of the 12-year cycle of animals in the Chinese zodiac. The animals always come in the same order – Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. So, 2021 is the Year of the Ox, 2020 was the Year of the Rat and 2022 will be the Year of the Tiger. The last Ox years were 2009 and 1997. Monsters and demons Have you ever wondered why on Lunar New Year’s Eve, we decorate our homes in red and wear new and festive red clothing? Well… it all goes back to ancient times when there was a monster named Nián, who lived at the bottom of the sea. Nián walked the land once a year, on Lunar New Year’s Eve, to terrorise villages and feast on animals and humans. One year, a beggar came to seek shelter when everyone was hurrying away to hide out in the mountains. An old woman took the beggar in and, in return, he promised to chase Nián away. While the villagers fled, the beggar decorated their front doors with red paper scrolls. At midnight, Nián lumbered into the village but stopped short when he saw the bright red decorations. He was afraid, and when the beggar started setting off firecrackers, he became even more afraid. When he saw the beggar, jumping up and down, dressed in red, laughing at him, Nián became so terrified, he ran away. The villagers came back the next day to find their homes intact and Nián vanquished. Since then, it’s become traditional to decorate our homes and doors in red on Lunar New Year’s Eve and to set off firecrackers (or attend firework displays). Over time the custom of hanging red paper scrolls at CNY spread since they were believed to provide protection not just against Nián but also from the many other demons who wander the Earth at night. These demons must return to the underworld at dawn, the entrance to which is under a giant peach tree. Two gods guard the entrance, and it is their job to feed any demons who have harmed humans during the night to the tigers. To safeguard their homes, people began to carve the gods’ names into peach-wood tablets. Placing them outside their doors was enough to scare the demons away. Nowadays, you can see these scrolls on the doors of nearly every household during CNY. Lucky red packets The origin of lai see giving harks back to a time when an evil sp named Sui would appear at children’s bedsides on Lunar N Year’s Eve. If Sui patted the heads of sleeping children three times, the children would get a terrible, often terminal fever. Fortunately, one couple happened upon a remedy. On Lunar N Year’s Eve, their daughter had been playing with some gold coins and when she fell asleep, they placed the coins on red paper a left them by her pillow. When Sui appeared, the coins flashed a frightened him away. This is why we give money wrapped in red paper (lai see) to children on Lunar New Year’s Eve. Gifts from the gods Hanging scrolls emblazoned with the 福 character , meaning happiness or good fortune, is another important tradition at CNY. What can we expect of 2021, the Year of the Ox? Importantly, the Ox is strong and robust, he is considered one of the most naturally healthy animals in the Chinese zodiac, so we should be in a good place to combat COVID-19. The Ox is hardworking, methodical and self-disciplined – if we follow his lead, we can expect good things. The Ox brings stability to relationships and casts a favourable eye on long-term financial investments. But you’ll rarely see the character hung upright. Why? Well, here’s another story for you… One CNY a very long time ago, the Emperor ordered every household to decorate their homes by pasting the character 福 on their doors. On Lunar New Year’s Day, he sent his soldiers to check that he had been obeyed. The soldiers found that one illiterate family had hung the character upside down. The Emperor ordered that the family be put to death, which is when the Empress stepped in. The Empress realised that hanging the character 福 upside down was in fact highly auspicious. This is because the character for ‘upside down,’ 倒 is a homonym of the character for ‘to arrive,’ 到 . So, by hanging the character 福 (good fortune) upside down, we are saying that good fortune is arriving. The explanation made sense to the Emperor and he set the family free. From then on, it’s become customary to hang the character 福 upside down at CNY, both for good fortune and in remembrance of the clever Empress. Another way that we attract good fortune at CNY is, of course, through the lion dance ceremony. The lion dance brings good fortune for the coming year to everyone who watches or takes part in it. But have you ever wondered why? Well, it all goes back to a dream the Emperor had one night after a day in battle. He dreamt of a fierce, strange-looking beast, playing. It was larger than a dog but smaller than a horse. The next day, the Emperor sent for his advisers and asked them about the beast. They told him it was a lion. That very evening, after another victorious battle, the Emperor had the same dream again. In the morning, he went to his most experienced advisors and asked them what the dream meant. They explained that the lion was a gift from the gods. Since there were no lions in China, the gods had given one to the Emperor – they wanted him to have everything. Believing that the lion empowered his army, the Emperor ordered his advisors to make a replica of the beast out of paper, cloth and bamboo. It was so big that two men could fit inside it, making it appear to walk. When the Emperor next went into battle, the lion came too and the army was again victorious. The lion was seen to bring good fortune, and this is why it remains a symbol of happiness and prosperity to this day. Kung Hei Fat Choy !

The benefits of bilingual education extend far beyond the acquisition of fluency in a second language. Elizabeth Jerabek reports Raising and educating children in a culturally and linguistically dense community like Discovery Bay is a privilege but it can often feel overwhelming. Many of us would like our children to become fluent in two languages, for instance Cantonese and English, but this can seem like too big an ask, particularly if we are considering an immersive learning environment where the child’s second language (Cantonese or English) would be the language of instruction. Can children learn enough in a second language in order to succeed and do well in school? The short answer to that question is ‘Yes,’ though you need to be in it for the long haul – it can take five or more years for a child to master a second language. The next question, then, is, ‘Is it worth it?’ Will the long-term benefits children gain from being bilingual outweigh the challenges of getting them there? Academic performance One of the leading proponents of bilingual education is Dr Virginia Collier, Professor Emerita of Bilingual/ Multicultural/ ESL Education at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. After years of teaching English as a second language in US public schools, Virginia – who grew up as an expat kid in Central America, speaking both her native US English and Spanish– set out to answer the questions: How long does it take non-native language learners to become academically able to do well in school in a second language, and what are the things that influence that process? Virginia and her research partner Dr Wayne Thomas spent 32 years examining 7.5 million student records in their effort to answer these questions. They designed a longitudinal study that allowed them to follow the academic progress of English learners of all language backgrounds from kindergarten through to the end of secondary school in 36 school districts in 16 US states. The results of their 2017 study demonstrate that English-only and short-term transitional bilingual programmes close about half of the achievement gap between non-native language learners and native language speakers. In contrast, high-quality, long-term bilingual programmes in both the students’ first and second languages close the performance gap after five to six years of schooling. The data also shows that students in these long-term bilingual programmes often do better in all of their academic subjects than do native language speakers who receive no bilingual training. Developmental psychology research into bilingual education attributes better academic performance in bilingual students to enhanced development of three cognitive functions: executive control, theory of mind and episodic memory. Executive control The Harvard University Center on the Developing Child defines executive control as the cognitive processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions and juggle multiple tasks. Like a stoplight at a busy intersection, the brain uses this skill set to monitor situations in order to filter distractions, prioritise tasks and control impulses. In other words, executive control is the brain’s ability to switch between tasks in order to prioritise the appropriate response to a set of stimuli while inhibiting inappropriate responses. Developmental psychologists believe that bilingual education helps stimulate the development of executive control as bilingual children have to continually monitor situations (such as which language is spoken when and by whom) in order to prioritise the appropriate response (speaking or responding in the situationally correct language), while inhibiting the inappropriate response (actively not speaking the other language). For example, a child may say goodbye to their mum in one language, but may say hello to their teacher and classmates in another language. Bilingual education provides greater opportunities for children to strengthen their executive control skill set, which can help them later in life in more complex situations that may require greater self-regulation and emotional control in order to sustain attention to complete the tasks required to achieve a desired goal. Theory of mind Perhaps one of the most interesting abilities that begins to emerge during early childhood is children’s ability to appreciate the perspective of other individuals. This ability to appreciate another’s mental state and, as a result, to explain and predict another’s behaviour is known as theory of mind. While executive control helps bilingual children monitor a situation and respond appropriately – I say ‘Goodbye’ to my mum in English but I say ‘Néih hóu’ to my teacher in Cantonese – theory of mind helps bilingual children socially understand which response is appropriate and why. When I say goodbye to my mum, I say ‘I love you’ because she’s my parent; but when I say goodbye to my teacher I don’t say ‘Ngo oi nei’ because my teacher is not part of my family. Studies show that language competence in children predicts the development of theory of mind– and that the acquisition of theory of mind is delayed in children with specific language impairment. In other words, the better a child can communicate, the better they can understand social situations and the mental state of another. According to a 2004 study of 31 bilingual and 29 monolingual pre-schoolers, bilingual pre-schoolers are better able to predict others behaviour in the future and they have a better understanding of why others behaved the way they did in the past. This ability may make it easier for bilingual students to understand when and why their teacher wants them to do something, and may make it easier for them to collaborate with and learn from their peers. Episodic memory In the same way that it may be easier for bilingual children to anticipate what might happen in the future based on the behaviour of others, it may also be easier for bilingual children to remember what has happened in the past. Psychologists categorise memory as either working memory or episodic memory. Working memory is active and relevant only for a short period of time, whereas episodic memory is longer lasting, it allows us to recall and re-experience a specific event or situation. Research indicates that bilinguals may struggle to remember information from verbal episodes if they are asked to retrieve that memory in a language other than the one they used to form and encode the memory. But for non-verbal episodes, which may be encoded as memories through some other stimuli such as sight, taste, smell, or touch, bilinguals are at an advantage, likely due to better executive control. In a 2012 study, designed to encourage the participants to encode a visual scene in their memory as a non-verbal episode rather than a verbal episode, bilingual and monolingual adults were asked to perform a picture recall task. Participants were shown a series of pictures depicting complex scenes that were not easily labelled or described, and the participants were not given much time to view each scene. Moreover, the participants did not know they would later have to recall the pictures, which decreased the chances of them labelling the pictures and using language as strategy to remember the scene later. The results of the study showed that bilingual participants recalled more pictures than monolinguals, and, within the bilingual group, early and more bilingual experience was associated with better recall. Similar research indicates that that bilingualism can also protect against memory decline, since bilinguals who have Alzheimer’s tend to show memory-related symptoms at a later age than monolinguals. So back to the original question: Will the long-term benefits children gain from being bilingual outweigh the challenges of getting them there? That’s for you to decide but I’m leaning towards a ‘Hai.’