DBSPTA Newsletter 2019 ver12

Extraordinary Achievement …
Extraordinary Commitment.
An interview with Headmaster, Mr. Ronnie Cheng.
The end of the academic year was such a busy period. There were the releases of the G12 IB and DSE results, the streaming of the G9s into IB and DSE
streams as well as the streaming of the incoming G7s. I counted no less than 5 celebration dinners that involved both the PTA and the Headmaster.
DBS also had the monumental 150th Celebration Concert, during which Mr. Cheng conducted a massive choir and orchestra to perform Beethoven
Symphony No. 9. In the week to come, he would be leading the Diocesan Choral Society to Tokyo to participate in the 2019 World Choral Championship.
The PTA managed to extract some precious moments from the Headmaster schedule to have a chat. No doubt, you have already known a lot about
boys’ achievements. In the following, you will read about the breath and depth of the school’s commitment that undergirds their efforts as well as the
headmaster’s own journey … and a few interesting trivia about this DBS graduate of ’83.
PTA: First of all, congratulations to this year’s extraordinary
achievements. We have certainly done very well in academics
with the large number of top-scorers in IB and DSE. In
sports, the school captured no less overall Champions compare
to previous years, with an astonishing 6 Grand Slams. In
music, it was just amazing results from year to year.
Headmaster: There are 7 top-scorers in IB and DSE, the
orchestras, choirs, 20 some sports teams and all the sciences
(competition team), the boys here are really very capable.
PTA: The other thing to congratulate the school is the 150th
Anniversary Concert and that grand performance of Beethoven
Symphony No. 9. It is amazing the a secondary school
can pull that off with its current students, alumni and parents.
We obviously have the participation of DGS …
Headmaster: … we are from the same Diocesan family …
PTA: … it was also very impressive when the MC introduced
the DBS old boys who came back to play together in the
orchestra. They are all graduates from the late 90s onwards,
since you have started teaching music here as “Cheng sir”.
Many are accomplished musicians. How many were there?
20?
Headmaster: Including the DBS parents (professional musicians)
there were about 40.
PTA: So, just the old boys alone, there were some 30 of them.
Headmaster: … and they have very closed relationships.
PTA: I understand that there were a lot more who could not
make it.
Headmaster: Yes a lot more. We can’t put them all in one
symphony orchestra.
PTA: Headmaster, you have a lot more grey hair this year.
Headmaster: Yes … a lot more this year.
PTA: That scares you a little … but it looks sharp … So, this is
the first personal question for you: do you dye your hair?
Headmaster: No … I’m just worry that I may forget to keep
dyeing.
Some Interesting Trivia about our Headmaster
PTA: With that, let’s have a few more personal questions to
know our Headmaster a bit more. Firstly, a question that may
get you into trouble: What is your favorite soccer team?
Headmaster: For English Premier League, it is Arsenal. Barcelona
for La Liga. Dortmund for Bundesliga … and there is
also Japan League … Cerezo Osaka.
PTA: You cover all basis. Who is the one player that you
admire the most? You can only name one.
Headmaster: This is a bit hard … Bergkamp, the invincible
No. 10 in Arsenal, he is Dutch.
PTA: Tennis Star?
Headmaster: Federer … Federer all the way. McEnroe. The
next one is Dominic Thiem.
PTA: What about basketball team that you root for?
Headmaster: If it is college basketball … it is Duke. For the
pros, there are a few teams … Golden State, Charlotte, Bulls …
different teams in different era.
PTA: What about now? And who will be the next champion?
It is a hard question to predict …
Headmaster: Next year ... for the Eastern Conference, it
should be Nets or the Celtics. For the West ... Lakers, but
hope the Warriors could stay strong.
PTA: We will follow up on your predictions … Did you follow
Linsanity?
Headmaster: Yes, I did. Did you know he trained here? He
was on tour to Hong Kong, partly to promote the game and
partly to share his faith. He had training everyday and he
needed a secluded location, so Nike contacted us. He came to
practice, and then he was gone. Nobody knew.
PTA: Not even our basketball team?
Headmaster: No … I don’t recall if one or two team members
met him, but we kept a low profile.
PTA: Here’s a question from your era. You like tennis … what
do you think of Michael Chang?
Headmaster: He fully utilized his skills … frankly, I wasn’t
following him closely … but like in a card game, one is dealt
with a stack of card … he fully utilized what he had been given
… his speed, endurance and smarts … and won the French
Open at a young age.
PTA: What is your favorite tune … the one your hum when
taking a shower?
Headmaster: I don’t know about favorite … but recently it is
Beethoven 9.
PTA: Favorite movie? And why that is your favorite?
Headmaster: Chariots of Fire. In the past, I used to watch
this movie every year during my birthday. (PTA: Why?) There
were two runners in the movie. Abrahams ran for himself.
Eric Liddell ran for God. I like his famous quote: “You can glorify
God by peeling a potato if you peel it to perfection.” He
also said: “Run in God’s name, and let the world stand back in
wonder.”
The Journey to His First Success
PTA: Well … let’s get to the kernel of our interview … When
did you start teaching at DBS?
Headmaster: 1989, in September.
PTA: When did you take up the headmaster role?
Headmaster: That was 2012. I became the Dean of Culture in
2006.
PTA: Since when did you start conducting the choir?
Headmaster: 1982.
PTA: Before you graduated from DBS?
Headmaster: Yes. Form 4 (Grade 10).
PTA: That’s trivia #1 today. How did that opportunity arise?
Headmaster: My voice changed later than usual. Typically,
you sing in the intermediate choir by Form 3 and 4. But my
voice wasn’t stable. So I couldn’t join the choir. Somehow
I had an idea that I want to try conducting. DBS had had a
treble choir, but for some reason had been discontinued. So
I had this idea to revive it and spoke to Mr. Kiang (our music
teacher) who was teaching me music theory. I was very nervous
during the entire lesson because I was going to ask him
if I could revive and conduct the treble choir because my voice
was not stable enough to join the intermediate choir. I finally
popped the question at the end of the lesson.
PTA: But you hadn’t learnt or had experience in conducting
up to that moment.
Headmaster: No, I hadn’t. But I had sung in Hong Kong
Children’s Choir under Dr. Yip. The conducting idea probably
stemmed from there.
PTA: How did Mr. Kiang respond to your question?
Headmaster: “Oh, okay” was basically the response. (PTA:
That’s the DBS spirit!) Yes, that’s DBS. So he helped audition
60 Form 1 and 2 boys, revived the Treble choir and put me in
charge of conducting. I still remembered the first rehearsal;
Mr. Lowcock (the headmaster then) was there too.
PTA (Henry): I remember that too. My younger brother
sang in that choir and I was watching from the back of the
hall. Mr. Lowcock pulled up a chair in front of the choir and
it must have been quite “intimidating”, though we are sure he
didn’t mean to be.
Headmaster: Yes. I was quite nervous. I still remember, at
that time, my conducting gesture was still developing. He felt
that my blazer restricted my movement. So he came behind
me to pull my blazer to try to help, but I didn’t know better
and I “fought against” it and keep conducting. So he left me
alone. It was really nice of him to be there for me at my first
rehearsal.
PTA: How do you feel about your first rehearsal?
Headmaster: Interesting. There were still many things not
really on track yet. There were two Form 6 big brothers there
to help. (PTA: Did they help with your conducting?) Not with
the conducting, but those two senior boys kept an eye on the
students, making sure they behave. One of them became a
judge.
PTA: In your years of teaching, was there one memorable
challenge you faced teaching the boys?
Headmaster: Not a lot in terms of specific case. Often, what
we found is that teaching secondary students is about sowing
seeds. One of the cases related to a student not wanting to
go to orchestra rehearsal. So we had to drag him to rehearsal
while maintaining a friendship and teacher-student relationship.
After his graduation, somehow something clicked and
he came back to see the orchestra competition every year.
He is probably in his 40s now. As boys, some are rebellious,
some are really arrogant, but I found that if you just maintain
the relationship and let them understand that you care, the
friendship would eventually blossom.
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DBS PTA Newsletter 5
2019
2019