Experience sharing on reading by Mr. Wong Yuk Man

On the 7th March 2007, our school invited Mr. Wong Yuk Man, a famous political commentator in Hong Kong, to share some of his experiences on reading during the assembly. During the sharing, Mr. Wong said that he liked reading because it helped him to think in different angles. He emphasized the importance of reading. Pictures can only stimulate our thinking. "The development of new communication technology, from newspaper, radio, television, computers to 3G mobile phones, has changed the social culture and our lifestyle a lot. However, we still have books in our hands. Books are so important that we cannot live without them. Unlike the other new gadgets, books are not limited to a particular time or place. You can easily acquire knowledge through books," Mr. Wong said. After that, Mr. Wong talked about how the media affects us. Some magazines usually create some fake news about the artists to increase their sales. Sometimes, they even infringe on the privacy of the stars. All these behaviours have been regarded as a habit. As a result, people, especially teenagers, can't distinguish whether it is true or not. Mr. Wong gave the example of a singer, Gillian Chung. A few months ago, a magazine published some photos taken while she was changing clothes. The magazine was sold in no time. "From the news, we can see the bad behaviour that the media has accumulated in the society", Mr. Wong said. He analyzed the news from three different angles: the law, the morality and the development of the media. For the law, Mr. Wong criticized the government and the judges in Hong Kong. They should play a better role in media control. Mr. Wong also mentioned that in Hong Kong, the public would come out and make criticisms to the media in the past. It is not the case now. In Western countries, some consumer groups would stand in front of the public and react against the media when it doesn"t do well. They even take to the street to show their resentful feelings. Although the media has their freedom of speech and press, they are still being watched by the society. Mr. Wong said Hong Kong people didn't make good use of their power to control the media. He also told us a story about hell. It showed that journalists play a crucial role in the society and influenced the public the most. After school, Mr. Wong visited our library and we had a sharing session there. He said that it was difficult to be a Chinese of his age. He also pointed out that in this day and age, students become less interested in history and politics. "In fact, history is very interesting. Every one likes listening to stories!" He suggested that schools should discuss with the Education and Manpower Bureau (EMB) so as to make the learning programme of history more interesting. After the talk, students and teachers took photos with Mr. Wong. They could get his new book autographed and discounted. It's our pleasure to have Mr. Wong in our school to give us speech and we learned a lot from him. What you have to do now is to broaden your horizons through reading. So, start to be a good and hard-working student today! 4A Lee Hiu Lam, 4A Kwong Hiu Tung and 4B Yuen Mei Ha