austraLasia 1448
'Killing us softly': February 14 at Tan King Po
HONG KONG: 14th February 2006 -- 'Killing us softly' ...'with his song', you might want to add, if you know the song, or maybe you know the movie which wasn't about a song! But the line came this time from another bystander at events surrounding the Rector Major's visit, back in Hong Kong once more, at Tan King Po. It wasn't a complaint, just a recognition that this is a pretty hectic visit and our Chinese confreres have gone out of the way to try to soften the intensity of it all and help the main protagonists through it all. The one who is handling it best of all is none other than the Rector Major. Today the Salesian Family schools came together at the HK Convention and Exhibition Centre, the place where the handover from UK to China took place in 1997. Today, of the three halls available, the Salesian Family hired out only the small one....for 6,000 people!
600 students on stage, another 5,000 in the auditorium, plus staff, visitors and guests. It was some show. Music was composed by past pupils (Tan King Po has 10,000 of them). They presented a span from creation to the beginnings of Chinese culture and history, the arrival of the Salesians, Versiglia as Bishop, the growth of Salesian work in education and evangelisation. There was a devil, a big one, two pillars, Eucharist and Mary, and the final victory. Music, lighting and split-second choreogrpahy were the key to success, plus twelve months of work by students and teachers from 19 schools.
"I am deeply impressed. You have shown us how God created the world. He loves us, we are his dream! I am very touched, moved. I want to congratulate you - bringing together so many youth from 19 different schools throughout Hong Kong". The Rector Major was looking for superlatives to try to encompass what everyone had experienced. "China is now the greatest country in the world, so you have shown the greatest performance I have ever seen in my lifetime".
Earlier in the day the Rector Major had been at Tan King Po school, where he addressed the students and spoke, amongst other things, of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, using it as an image to spur them to greater growth and higher aims. He then opened the Don Bosco Discovery Centre in the nearby Catechetical Centre. Fr Carlo Socol took the Visitor around, showing him the display from Valdocco to China. It is set up and documented in a way that easily rivals the 'camerette' in Valdocco itself! There is the original statue of Mary Help of Christians, given by Don Rua to Versiglia, and the chalice, too. 22,000 Salesian Family school students will go through this display which is rich in multimedia and two-way communication experiences.
In the evening another musical and another 4,000 school students and 1,500 Salesian Family members. This time the Chief Executive, Donald Tsang and the Bishop of Hong Kong, Bishop Zen were present. Perhaps the only song missing was 'Killing us softly"!
_______________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For RSS feeds, subscribe to www.bosconet.aust.com/rssala.xml
'Killing us softly': February 14 at Tan King Po
HONG KONG: 14th February 2006 -- 'Killing us softly' ...'with his song', you might want to add, if you know the song, or maybe you know the movie which wasn't about a song! But the line came this time from another bystander at events surrounding the Rector Major's visit, back in Hong Kong once more, at Tan King Po. It wasn't a complaint, just a recognition that this is a pretty hectic visit and our Chinese confreres have gone out of the way to try to soften the intensity of it all and help the main protagonists through it all. The one who is handling it best of all is none other than the Rector Major. Today the Salesian Family schools came together at the HK Convention and Exhibition Centre, the place where the handover from UK to China took place in 1997. Today, of the three halls available, the Salesian Family hired out only the small one....for 6,000 people!
600 students on stage, another 5,000 in the auditorium, plus staff, visitors and guests. It was some show. Music was composed by past pupils (Tan King Po has 10,000 of them). They presented a span from creation to the beginnings of Chinese culture and history, the arrival of the Salesians, Versiglia as Bishop, the growth of Salesian work in education and evangelisation. There was a devil, a big one, two pillars, Eucharist and Mary, and the final victory. Music, lighting and split-second choreogrpahy were the key to success, plus twelve months of work by students and teachers from 19 schools.
"I am deeply impressed. You have shown us how God created the world. He loves us, we are his dream! I am very touched, moved. I want to congratulate you - bringing together so many youth from 19 different schools throughout Hong Kong". The Rector Major was looking for superlatives to try to encompass what everyone had experienced. "China is now the greatest country in the world, so you have shown the greatest performance I have ever seen in my lifetime".
Earlier in the day the Rector Major had been at Tan King Po school, where he addressed the students and spoke, amongst other things, of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, using it as an image to spur them to greater growth and higher aims. He then opened the Don Bosco Discovery Centre in the nearby Catechetical Centre. Fr Carlo Socol took the Visitor around, showing him the display from Valdocco to China. It is set up and documented in a way that easily rivals the 'camerette' in Valdocco itself! There is the original statue of Mary Help of Christians, given by Don Rua to Versiglia, and the chalice, too. 22,000 Salesian Family school students will go through this display which is rich in multimedia and two-way communication experiences.
In the evening another musical and another 4,000 school students and 1,500 Salesian Family members. This time the Chief Executive, Donald Tsang and the Bishop of Hong Kong, Bishop Zen were present. Perhaps the only song missing was 'Killing us softly"!
_______________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For RSS feeds, subscribe to www.bosconet.aust.com/rssala.xml
