City Polytechnic to City University

It was summer 1992 in Hong Kong. I had now applied to many universities in Hong Kong to enroll in undergraduate or diploma courses. I was kind of desperate. During the previous year, in 1991, I made the mistake of applying to only one university, Hong Kong University. They first gave me provisional approval to study civil engineering. Then something crazy happened. The UK and HKG authorities signed the agreement to build the new, current airport and the whole infrastructure, including bridges and roads leading to it. Suddenly, an overwhelming number of HKG students wanted to study civil engineering. This resulted in me losing my place and the opportunity to study civil engineering at HKU. How do I know this? A professor of civil engineering at HKU explained to me with regret that they had to prioritize HKG students over overseas ones.

Then, in the summer of 1992, I got a letter from then City Polytechnic, later City University or CityU, saying that they had accepted me to the Higher Diploma in Computer Studies, or HDCS. Computer Science was a filler, as I had to put something as my third choice. My first choice was civil engineering and the second was architecture. But that was what they offered me. I accepted, as I had to start studying something.

I was excited to begin my higher education. I had been accepted to study Bachelor of Physical Science at the University of Colombo in Sri Lanka. But I left the country during a volatile period when being young could cost you your life. There was a southern youth insurrection, and youth were being abducted, tortured, killed, and made to disappear in thousands. I left for HKG during that period. And after doing volunteer work with a small stipend for over three years, I finally managed to restart my education at a higher education institute.

First day at City Poly

I remember going there and getting my student ID card, then credentials to access the computer centre and Express Terminal, a number of public computer terminals, like ATM machines, but with a monitor and a keyboard, which we could use to access the university computer network and then, very new, the Internet. We were accessing text-based Gopher servers and bulletin board services organized under different subjects.

I attended my first lecture and then the tutorial group discussion. I do not remember which subject it was, but our tutorial group was for the whole year, or perhaps the whole course period. In any case, my first tutorial group had about 18 students. During the lecture, in relatively modern lecture theatres, among 225 students in the class, I was the only foreigner, and with my dark skin, I was very noticeable.

Then, during the first tutorial session, I remember going through the name register of the tutorial group, where we had to mark our attendance. Someone had handwritten an English name at the end of his Chinese name as Hinne. Later I learned that he wanted to have a new English name, Henry. But he did not know how to spell it, and he wrote it as it sounded to him: Hinne. There were others who already had English names or had decided on them in advance. There was Cliff, Wesley, Sam, Alain, Fecilia, Jackie, Leo, Tweety, Fung, who carried only his Chinese name, and Hinne. After realizing this was not the correct spelling, and failing to figure out the correct spelling, he went for his second choice, Dick. And my name, with my four long names, was too long to be included in the register. I scribbled on it to write Sanjee, shortening my first name, Sanjeewa. It worked, as it was easy for my new classmates to call me.

Then came a crucial decision at the beginning of our tutorial class about the language. While lectures were to be conducted in English or Cantonese, all tutorial groups, except for English, were being conducted in Cantonese. Suddenly, we had a problem. I did not speak Cantonese. So, we had to conduct our tutorial group in English. I really felt bad for my other classmates in the group. Here was an extra burden for them. Not only did they have to listen and talk, now they also had to make presentations in English. I know some were doing fine, but some were struggling. It was an awful feeling for me to see that.

And I was worried! How would this group of people treat me? By that time, I had lived in Hong Kong for four years and had faced many incidents of racism and discrimination. I was really worried. But what happened was something unbelievable and amazing. I was expecting to be left alone or isolated. But my groupmates took a whole different approach. They wanted to help me in whatever way they could. They were concerned about me, how I would get on with the environment. They showed me that they truly cared about me. That was moving and heartwarming. And relieving too. I felt so lucky to have met this group of persons.

Some could not speak English well but would still try to talk and check on me. Dick would come and ask me, “Sanjee, are you boring?” I knew he wanted to know whether I felt bored. I did not try to correct his English. Instead, I responded, saying I was fine, and thanked him for his kindness and concern. Some spoke more English than others, like Cliff, Wesley, Leo, and Tweety. But most of them could speak English, though they had not practiced enough. Now they were forced to practice, during tutorials and small talks with me.

They often included me in social gatherings, like lunch breaks, during which we often went for yam cha at a Chinese restaurant in Nam Shan Chung public housing estate, towards the rear entrance of the school. It was a kind of contrast. In the front, a huge shopping mall was being built. I kind of hated it, as we had to take a detour around the construction site of the new Festival Walk. We had to walk through a wooden tunnel created around the construction site from Kowloon Tong MTR station to our school. Then the front area was also close to a relatively new, quite upper-class low-rise housing scheme called Yau Yat Chuen. Yau Yat Chuen and Nam Shan Chung were worlds apart.

So, when we went to have yam cha, my groupmates helped me order and often took care of me. I felt very at ease in their company. I had now found my first group of HKG friends outside the Catholic Church circle.

And this group came mostly from ordinary families in Hong Kong. Therefore, I was connecting to real HKG life through them. They were practical and down to earth, or at least a few of them I became closer to than others: Cliff/Rix, Sam, Alain, and Wesley. These four people would become my lifelong friends!