Maryknoll Convent School

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Maryknoll Convent School
Chinese :瑪利諾修院學校
Maryknoll Convent School badge.jpg
School Crest
Location
Maryknoll Convent School
(Primary Section) 130 Waterloo Road, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon
(Secondary Section) 5 Ho Tung Road, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon

Hong Kong
Information
Type Grant School
MottoSola Nobilitas Virtus(Latin)
(Virtue Alone Ennobles)
Religious affiliation(s) Roman Catholic (Maryknoll Sisters)
Established11 February 1925;99 years ago (1925-02-11)
School district Kowloon Tong
PrincipalADA Chan (Primary Section) Meimei Chan (Secondary Section)
SupervisorOphelia Ngan
Staff71 (2022-2023) (Secondary Section)
YearsP1–S6
Gender Girls
Number of students809 (2022-2023) (Secondary Section)
Campus type Urban
Website mcs.edu.hk/
Maryknoll Convent School
Traditional Chinese 瑪利諾修院學校
Simplified Chinese 玛利诺修院学校
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin Mǎlìnuò Xiū​yuàn Xuéxiào
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutping maa5 lei6 nok6 sau1 jyun2 hok6 haau6

A Norfolk Island Pine tree used to stand at a corner of the school lawn, facing the Waterloo Road Gate of the Primary Section. It was 71 years old and 23 metres tall. Known as the Ghost Pine among students, it has come to be seen as a symbol of the school.

On 10 July 2009, the Former Students' Association issued a circular inviting former students to take photos with the ghost pine and bid farewell, citing the school management's decision to cut it down in two weeks. It was understood that the school management was worried about students' and public safety should the tree collapse, as explained in Sr Jeanne Houlihan's letter to former students.

Several former students, some being specialists in landscaping and environmental science, proposed solutions to save the tree while making it safe for current students and the public. They were supported by over 2,000 students who signed a petition on Facebook to conserve the tree. The school's suggestion that the tree be chopped into smaller pieces to make souvenirs for students and former students was denounced by many former students as gruesome and analogous to ripping body parts from a corpse and sharing it among accomplices. Experts in the area, most notably Professor C.Y. Jim, Chair Professor of Geography at the University of Hong Kong, and Mr Ken So, of the Conservancy Association, were also involved in assessing the tree's health. It was assured that the tree, although tilting slightly, did not pose any immediate danger. It was later revealed that the consultancy appointed by the school earlier that year, which suggested removing the tree, had a conflict of interest, because the consultancy itself was also in the tree removal business. The company would potentially benefit from the removal works later on by presenting the case in a certain way. The claims that the consultancy made about termites were dismissed by academics and independent experts. The observation of excessive tree sap was also interpreted as safe, contrary to the consultancy report.

Some solutions put forward included fixing the trunk against the school building and installing a stabilising system for trees. The former was rejected by the school management, as the school building was declared a monument a year before and fixing the tree to the building might risk damaging the building itself.

In the end, the Government intervened and it was agreed that the tree would be conserved. The Development Bureau allocated about HKD500,000 to fund the cause.

On 4 February 2010, the school announced that due to drainage works, the roots of the tree were severely damaged beyond repair, and it was decided that the tree would be felled. The announcement caused outrage among many students, who thought that the decision was hasty and did not take into consideration expert advice. On 5 February, Mrs Helen Yu, the Supervisor of the Primary Section, herself a former student, reiterated in a Press Conference that the decision was a painful but necessary one. She also alleged that some former students were irresponsible for putting forward a conspiracy theory. On the same day, a former student issued a letter through a solicitor to the school, claiming that the school did not have the legal grounds to cut the tree.

Through an indirect channel, the former students were informed that the decision to cut the tree down had been made even before the two experts appointed by the Government had completed or submitted the report. The lack of transparency in the decision-making process and the school management's unwillingness to conserve the tree disappointed the former students.

On 6 February, at around 4 am, the Police sealed off a section of Waterloo Road between Flint Road and Boundary Street. At 6 am, the logging staff from the Leisure and Cultural Services Department started to cut down the tree in sections over the course of three hours. When the former legislator Ms Tanya Chan and a former student asked the staff to show them the permit to cut down the tree, a government official from the Development Bureau, Mr Alan Au, refused. He also refused to show the permit to the Police. At about 10.30 am, more than fifty students gathered at the Waterloo Road Gate to mourn for the tree through prayers and singing the school song.

Several former students lodged a complaint to the Ombudsman on the same day for maladministration by the following government departments, namely, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (which oversees the Antiques and Monuments Office), the Development Bureau, the Drainage Services Department, and the Buildings Department. The former students challenged the authorities who had permitted the drainage works and whether the impact on the tree had been thoroughly considered and sufficient measures were taken to mitigate the risks. It was argued that the government departments were either not informed immediately, or left it to the school without taking remedial measures. Moreover, the decision to issue a permit to cut down the tree was in contradiction with the conclusions drawn by experts, who recommended erecting permanent support instead of cutting down the tree. The former students also questioned whether the school or the government departments had the necessary legal support to back up their operation, since neither was able to present the permit with the authorisation from the responsible authorities.

It was later reported that the school could be prosecuted for breaching requirements of the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance in carrying out the drainage work that ultimately led to the tree being cut down. After an investigation, former Secretary for Development Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor told LegCo members that the school had not fulfilled the conditions of the permit issued for its drainage work that had resulted in damage to more than half the roots of the 70-year-old pine which the school felled. In addition, Carrie Lam said the school had also felled 18 trees in December 2008 without submitting a removal plan to the Antiquities and Monuments Office. [5]

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References

  1. Details of school banding and ranking Archived 15 January 2024(Calendar) at the Wayback Machine
  2. Past Winners of the Hong Kong Outstanding Students Awards Archived 21 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Maryknoll Convent School declared a monument Archived 30 March 2009 at archive.today
  4. "SSP2019/2020 Maryknoll Convent School (Secondary Section)". SSP2019. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  5. Olga Wong, School may be charged over landmark tree, The South China Morning Post, 4 March 2010.
  6. Orchestra, HKFO Limited and Hong Kong Festival. "HKFO". hkfo.org. Retrieved 12 August 2020.

22°19′40″N114°10′47″E / 22.3279°N 114.1796°E / 22.3279; 114.1796