text:
WebObjects/Web Services/Problems

Problems
This section describes some problems and bugs that sometimes occur when using WebObjects Web Services.

DirectToWebService can't return a WSDL with secure HTTPS references in it

 * Authors: Francis Labrie
 * Affected products: WebObjects 5.2.x, 5.3.x
 * Bug reference: rdar://3546304

Problem:
A DirectToWebService defined Web Services doesn't return correct WSDL document, even if the correct procedure (see Secure Web Services) is followed. So only classes oriented Web Services manually registered with the  class seems to generate a correct WSDL.

Solution:
Darel Lee from Apple told me that right now, the dynamic WSDL generation is not exposed to developers so there currently isn't a clean solution to perform this. One workaround is to hardcode rules (of  type) with the   key for each operation that you want to use secure HTTPS references. For instance:

((operationName="anOperation") and (serviceName="Service")) -> serviceLocationURL="https://host.net/cgi-bin/Service.woa/ws/Service"

If you need all operation to be called using the secure protocol, you can also define a more generic rule like this one:

(serviceName="Service") -> serviceLocationURL="https://host.net/cgi-bin/Service.woa/ws/Service"

SOAP serializers and deserializers registered with class doesn't appear in the WSDL schema

 * Authors: Francis Labrie
 * Affected products: WebObjects 5.2.x, 5.3.x
 * Bug reference: rdar://3546330

Problem:
Custom SOAP serializers and deserializers registered to Web Services with  class are never added to the types / schema definition of the WSDL. The only type definitions shown are the following:

                <complexType name="EOEnterpriseObject"> <element name="entityName" type="xsd:string"/> <element name="globalID" type="webobjects:EOGlobalID"/> <element name="properties" type="soapenc:Struct"/> </complexType>

Solution:
I don't know any dynamic workaround right now... But a static and complete WSDL can be shared through a direct action. It's not very handy though...

DirectToWebService can't return a WSDL with custom namespace and definitions name in it

 * Authors: Francis Labrie
 * Affected products: WebObjects 5.2.x, 5.3.x
 * Bug reference:

Problem:
A DirectToWebService defined Web Services can't return a WSDL with custom values for properties like namespaces and definitions name. Worse, the generated namespace can even contains WebObjects application instance number or the wrong hostname.

Solution:
Base on a tips from Darel Lee, I've found in the  class some extras key definitions read from the user.d2wmodel DirectToWebService rule file. For instance:

 * serviceLocationURL: a key that allow the setting of the location URL for an operation. This is usefull if you need your WebServices to be reached using a secure HTTPS reference;
 * WSDLDefinitionName: a key that allow the definitions name change. So instead of having "ServiceNameDefinition", you can set this value;
 * WSDLTargetNamespace: a key that allow the namespace change. This is the most usefull: you can avoid dynamic generation depending on WebObjects HTTP Adaptor? with this.

Here is an example of rule definition changing the above values:

(serviceName="Service") -> WSDLTargetNamespace="https://host.net/cgi-bin/Service.woa/ws/Service" (serviceName="Service") -> WSDLDefinitionName="AnotherDefinition" ((operationName="anOperation") and (serviceName="Service")) -> serviceLocationURL="https://host.net/cgi-bin/Service.woa/ws/Service"

WOWebServiceClient class can't connect to a server that requires an authentication (WO 5.2.x, Bug ID 3568441)

 * Authors: Francis Labrie
 * Affected products: WebObjects 5.2.x, 5.3.x
 * Bug reference: rdar://3568441

Problem:
The  class can't connect to a server that requires a Basic HTTP Authentication despite the fact this class offers a way to register a security delegate (see   instance method).

Normally, the  delegate method (see   interface documentation) would allow an easy way to set a username and a password to the message context. But there is a problem related to the design of the class: to register a security delegate, the  class has to fetch the Web Services Definition Language (WSDL) XML document. But to get access to this WSDL, an authentication header must be set. This is the classic chicken and egg problem...

Solution:
The best would be to add a default method to  class to register a default security delegate that is not related to a service name before the class fetch the WSDL. But unfortunately, all key methods that would allow this kind of behavior change are privates, so subclassing is not a solution...

But a workaround is still possible:

 * 1) Fetch the WSDL document yourself and store it to the local filesystem, using the java.net.URL instance and setting up the Basic HTTP Authentication header field of the   yourself;
 * 2) Instanciate another   class that refer to the local WSDL document file;
 * 3) Instanciate the   class using the file URL;
 * 4) Set for each service a security delegate that will add the proper credential information for the Basic HTTP Authentication.

That's it. It looks like a big hack, but it works...

Web Services can't return a WSDL with secure HTTPS references specifying port other than the default 443

 * Authors: Francis Labrie
 * Affected products: WebObjects 5.2.x, 5.3.x
 * Bug reference: rdar://4196417

Problem:
HTTPS protocol references can be published in Web Services WSDL. But unfortunately, WebObjects seems to ignore ports other than the default 443.

This problem is related to the bad way  build the URL prefix: if the protocol is secure and no port (i.e. 0) is set when calling the   method, the port will always be 443. Unfortunately, Web Services  class seems to call this method without setting the port number.

Solution:
To work around this bug, you can subclass the  class like this:

package com.smoguli.appserver;

import com.webobjects.appserver.WORequest; import com.webobjects.foundation.NSData; import com.webobjects.foundation.NSDictionary;

/** * This class provide fixed {@link com.webobjects.appserver.WORequest} methods. * To use it, just overload the {@link com.webobjects.appserver.WOApplication. * createRequest(String,String,String,NSDictionary,NSData,NSDictionary)} method * to instanciate this class instead. * * @author		Francis Labrie <francis.labrie at smoguli.com> */ public class WOFixedRequest extends WORequest {

/**	 * @see com.webobjects.appserver.WORequest#WORequest(String,String,String,	 * NSDictionary,NSData,NSDictionary) */	public WOFixedRequest(String method, String url, String httpVersion, NSDictionary headers, NSData content, NSDictionary info) { super(method, url, httpVersion, headers, content, info); } // WOFixedRequest

/**	 * This method builds the URL prefix into the  buffer * with the appropriate protocol ( or  ) * and the right TCP port. But unlike the {@link com.webobjects.appserver. * WORequest#_completeURLPrefix(StringBuffer,boolean,int} method, it 	 * supports secure HTTP protocol with port other than 	 * , even if the   parameter is set 	 *  .	 *	 * @param urlPrefix				the buffer that receives the contructed URL.	 * @param isSecure				a flag indicating if the protocol is secure.	 * @param port					the port number.	 */	public void _completeURLPrefix(StringBuffer urlPrefix, boolean isSecure, int port) {		if(isSecure && (port == 0)) {			String serverPort;

serverPort = _serverPort; if((serverPort != null) && !serverPort.equals("443")) { try { port = Integer.parseInt(serverPort); } catch(NumberFormatException exception) {} // catch } // if		} // if

super._completeURLPrefix(urlPrefix, isSecure, port); } // _completeURLPrefix } // WOFixedRequest

title: WebObjects/Web Services/Problems


text:
WebObjects/Web Applications/Development/Custom Templates

Petite Abeille
[The following solution is more involved than what is strictly needed. It may avoid the debug message, he is using some quasi-private stuff.

It can be quite easy
protected WOElement myTemplate = null; public WOElement template { if ( myTemplate == null ) { myTemplate = WOComponent.templateWithHTMLString( html, wod, null ); }   return myTemplate; }

A More Involved Solution:

Here is a little example on how to overwrite WOComponent.template so you can load the html template and wod from wherever you want )eg a jar file):

 * First you will need to overwrite WOComponent.template

public WOElement template { return Component.templateForComponent( this ); }

 * Now, templateForComponent could look like this:

public static WOElement templateForComponent(WOComponent aComponent) { {   String aName = aComponent.name; WOElement anElement = (WOElement) _elementCache.get( aName ); if ( anElement == null ) { String anHTMLString = Component.componentTemplateWithExtension( aComponent, ".html" ); String aDescriptionString = Component.componentTemplateWithExtension( aComponent, ".wod" ); anElement = WOComponent.templateWithHTMLString ( anHTMLString, aDescriptionString, null ); if ( aComponent.isCachingEnabled == true ) { _elementCache.put( aName, anElement ); }   }    return anElement; } throw new IllegalArgumentException ( "Component.templateForComponent: null component." ); }

 * The componentTemplateWithExtension method could look like the following:

private static String componentTemplateWithExtension(WOComponent aComponent, String anExtension) { if ( anExtension != null ) { String aResource = aComponent.name + anExtension; InputStream anInputStream = Component.componentStreamForResource( aComponent, aResource ); if ( anInputStream != null ) { StringBuffer aBuffer = new StringBuffer; try { BufferedInputStream aBufferedStream = new BufferedInputStream( anInputStream ); InputStreamReader aStreamReader = new InputStreamReader( aBufferedStream ); int aChar = -1; while ( ( aChar = aStreamReader.read ) != -1 ) { aBuffer.append( (char) aChar ); }         anInputStream.close; } catch(Exception anException) { Log.warning( anException ); }       return aBuffer.toString; }     throw new RuntimeException ( "Component.componentTemplateWithExtension: resource not found: '" +  aResource + "'." ); }   throw new IllegalArgumentException ( "Component.componentTemplateWithExtension: null extension." ); } }

lines:
 * And finally componentStreamForResource could be something along these

private static InputStream componentStreamForResource(WOComponent aComponent, String aResource) { if ( aResource != null ) { File aDirectory = new File( System.getProperty( "user.dir" ) ); File aFile = new File( aDirectory, aResource ); if ( aFile.exists == true ) { try { return new FileInputStream( aFile ); } catch(Exception anException) { Log.warning( anException); }   }    return aComponent.getClass.getResourceAsStream( aResource ); } throw new IllegalArgumentException( "Component.componentStreamForResource: null resource." ); }

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text:
User:Great Legacy~enwikibooks

About Me
I live in Providence, Rhode Island and I'm greatly fascinated with history. I am also a huge fan of the Final Fantasy videogame series. I am a big fan of the black mage Vivi Ornitier. My favorite music artist is Nobuo Uematsu, who composes the music for the Final Fantasy games. My favorite game is Final Fantasy IX. I am into computer role playing games and watching animes such as Dragonball Z. One of my favorite movies is Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Current projects:

 * Helping with the Wikiproject Final Fantasy

My favorite articles

 * Military history of France
 * Cardinal Richelieu
 * Byzantine Empire
 * Roman Empire
 * Joan of Arc
 * Attila the Hun
 * Oliver Cromwell
 * Third Crusade
 * English Bill of Rights
 * Louis XIV
 * Parliament
 * Julius Caesar
 * Augustus Caesar
 * Genghis Khan
 * Charlemagne
 * United States Bill of Rights
 * United States Constitution
 * Richard the Lion Heart
 * Battle of Hastings
 * Second Punic War
 * Thirty Years' War
 * Wars of the Roses
 * El Cid
 * Galileo Galilei
 * Isaac Newton
 * Viking
 * Alexander the Great
 * Manuel I Comnenus
 * Roman Republic
 * Ancient Greece
 * Sword
 * Sun

 * Middle Ages
 * Sirius
 * Colosseum
 * Hundred Years' War
 * Trojan War
 * Lucius Cornelius Sulla
 * Plato
 * Socrates
 * Aristotle
 * Peloponnesian War
 * Persian Wars
 * Estates General
 * National Assembly
 * French Revolution
 * Mark Antony
 * The Chronicles of Narnia
 * The Lord of the Rings
 * Harry Potter
 * Jedi
 * Sith
 * Final Fantasy
 * Final Fantasy I
 * Final Fantasy II
 * Final Fantasy III
 * Final Fantasy IV
 * Final Fantasy V
 * Final Fantasy VI
 * Final Fantasy VII
 * Final Fantasy VIII
 * Final Fantasy IX
 * Final Fantasy X
 * Final Fantasy XI
 * Final Fantasy XII
 * Final Fantasy XIII

Video Games in progress

 * Final Fantasy I
 * Final Fantasy II
 * Final Fantasy IV
 * Final Fantasy V
 * Final Fantasy VI
 * Final Fantasy VIII
 * Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
 * Final Fantasy Tactics
 * Chrono Trigger
 * The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
 * Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi

Video Games I've beat

 * Final Fantasy IX
 * Final Fantasy X
 * NBA Street
 * NBA Street Vol. 2
 * Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3
 * Super Smash Brothers Melee
 * The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
 * The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages
 * The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
 * Super Mario Brothers Deluxe
 * Mario Party 7
 * Mario Kart: Double Dash
 * Age of Empires
 * Age of Empires II: The Conquerors Expansion
 * Gauntlet: Dark Legacy
 * True Crime: Streets of LA
 * True Crime: New York City
 * Need for Speed Underground
 * Swing Away Golf
 * Def Jam Vendetta
 * Def Jam: Fight for NY
 * The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
 * The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
 * Smuggler's Run
 * Tekken Tag Tournament
 * Midnight Club 2
 * Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition
 * NBA Live 2002
 * NBA Live 2003
 * NBA Live 2004
 * NBA Live 2005
 * NBA Live 2006
 * Madden NFL 2003
 * Madden NFL 2004
 * Madden NFL 2005
 * Madden NFL 2006
 * NCAA Football 2004
 * NCAA Football 2005
 * NCAA March Madness 2004
 * The Simpsons Road Rage
 * Pokemon Blue
 * Pokemon Red
 * Pokemon Yellow
 * Pokemon Gold
 * Pokemon Silver
 * Pokemon Crystal
 * Pokemon Pinball
 * Future Cop
 * Dragonball Z Budokai 3

Video Games I want

 * Final Fantasy III
 * Final Fantasy XII
 * Final Fantasy XI
 * The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
 * The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
 * The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
 * The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
 * The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
 * The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
 * Halo (video game series)
 * Halo 2
 * Star Wars: Battlefront
 * Star Wars: Battlefront 2
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
 * Age of Empires III
 * Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
 * Soul Calibur II
 * Luigi's Mansion

Favorite Video Game Characters

 * Vivi Ornitier (Final Fantasy IX)
 * Auron (Final Fantasy X)
 * Pojo the Chicken (Gauntlet: Dark Legacy)

Favorite Books

 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * The Hobbit
 * The Fellowship of the Ring
 * The Two Towers
 * The Return of the King
 * The Republic
 * The Gallic War
 * Peloponnesian War
 * The Histories
 * Redwall
 * The Catcher in the Rye
 * The Magician's Nephew
 * The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
 * The Horse and His Boy
 * Prince Caspian
 * The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
 * The Silver Chair
 * The Last Battle
 * The Golden Fleece
 * The Long Patrol
 * The Wind in the Willows

My Favorite Foods

 * Pico de gallo
 * Egg drop soup
 * Mongolian beef
 * Egg roll
 * Fried rice
 * Lo mein
 * Pizza
 * Taco
 * Chips
 * French Fries
 * KFC
 * Boston Market
 * Nim Chow
 * Fried Ravioli

My Art
http://greatlegacy.deviantart.com/

title: User:Great Legacy~enwikibooks


text:
NET Teacher Survival Guide

Introduction
If you are reading this guide, you have probably been offered a job in Hong Kong. If so, we hope that the information in this guide will help to make your stay in the HKSAR as enjoyable and problem-free as possible. Adjusting to life and work abroad is not always easy and we know that many challenges lie ahead for you. However, the majority of NET teachers find their time here professionally and personally rewarding, and only a small proportion of NETs decided not to renew their contracts last year.

If you are reading this guide because you are considering working in Hong Kong, we hope that it will give you some idea of what to expect and of how to go about finding a post.

This wikibook is based upon a guide which is published with Content Writing Services the support of the Native English Speaking Teachers' association (NESTA), and which is provided free of charge to all new NETs. NESTA is an independent, non profit-making organization, which was founded in 1998 by NET teachers. It provides its members with professional support and advice, social activities and a forum for the education system in Hong Kong. NET teachers are under no obligation to join NESTA and NESTA does not make any claim to represent the opinions of all NET teachers in Hong Kong.

Things to consider before you come to work in Hong Kong
Finding a Teaching Job in Hong Kong

The Education Bureau recruits NETs on behalf of local schools annually. Usually, the recruitment exercise is announced in January on the EdB website and in the press, and applications must be submitted by the end of February. In the spring, interviews are held in Hong Kong and in a number of locations around the world. Details of terms and conditions for applicants, application forms and deployment guidelines for NET teachers in primary and secondary schools can all be found on the [http://www.edb.gov.hk/index.aspx?nodeID=262&langno=1 EdB. website]. Some schools choose to carry out their own recruitment rather than accepting a NET from the EdB pool. Advertisements for such jobs can be found in the South China Morning Post throughout the year, but with the greatest number of vacancies being advertised in the spring.

Work

Make sure that you have a very clear job description before you accept a job offer from a Hong Kong school. Ask about the number of classes you will have to teach, how many students there will be in each class, how many periods per week or cycle you will have to teach, whether you will teach oral classes or cover all skills with your students, whether you will teach alone or team teach, and what extra-curricular and administrative duties you will be expected to perform - especially duties outside of normal school hours. Ask about the level of English skills in the school; in a lower stream school many students are unable or unwilling to engage in English lessons led by a non-Cantonese speaker and this can pose discipline issues as well. You may be expected to perform duties during weekends and school holidays including the summer holiday. You may wish to negotiate with your principal to ensure that these duties fall close to the beginning or end of the holiday.

Working conditions differ vastly between schools. While some schools give teachers opportunities to be creative and engage their students in stimulating work, many others are very conservative and some NETs do not find their time in Hong Kong professionally rewarding. There is little or no chance for career advancement for a NET within the local system. Try to talk with the NET teacher you are replacing so that you have a realistic picture of what to expect. If the school you are applying to is unwilling to put you in touch with your predecessor, this may be a warning signal. However, you may be able to track down the current occupant of the post through the NET association website.

Life

Hong Kong is a very crowded city and while many people find the lifestyle here exciting, you may also feel stressed or isolated.

Be prepared for culture shock. While Hong Kong promotes itself as 'Asia's World City' it is much less cosmopolitan and more segregated than, say, London or New York - or even Singapore. You may be surprised for example by how few people speak fluent English.

Pollution is a negative issue for many people who come to work in Hong Kong, and air quality has deteriorated in recent years. If you or your family members suffer from heart problems or respiratory illnesses, you should think carefully about the effect that Hong Kong's pollution may have on your health. Expat GPs and private hospitals charge high fees and although there is a public health system which is almost free,local doctors and hospitals may not provide the kind of care or facilities you might have come to expect elsewhere. The NET scheme medical fringe benefits ,and indeed, many local medical insurance schemes may not cover you adequately in the event of a major illness or medical emergency. Also many Western countries have a cutoff point beyond which they will no longer provide public health care to their expat citizens, so check these and the relevant tax considerations carefully.

Where should I live and what will it cost me?
Your most important consideration when choosing a flat will probably be how close it is to your school. The school day usually starts quite early in Hong Kong (often before 8 am) and this deters some people from commuting a long distance. That said, Hong Kong's public transport system can take you a long way quickly and cheaply as long as you don't mind the standing-room only crowds during the rush hour. Cars can be purchased very cheaply, but running costs such as petrol, insurance, road tax, parking and road tolls can make this quite expensive. However, the cost may be defrayed if you commute from a more pleasant, albeit isolated part of Hong Kong, (such as the New Territories or South Lantau) where rents can be as low as $7000 per month for roomier low-rise flats. Popular areas for expatriate residents in Hong Kong include the Mid-Levels of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon Tong, Sai Kung in the Eastern New Territories, the Gold Coast near Tuen Mun in the Western New Territories, Discovery Park and other housing estates in Tsuen Wan, Discovery Bay on Lantau Island and parts of Shatin in the New Territories. Many people are attracted to these areas by the prospect of living in the company of other English speakers and of having access to international style shops and restaurants. However, Hong Kong is an increasingly cosmopolitan city and there are now few areas of Hong Kong where it is difficult to find goods and services to suit western tastes. The cost of living in an ex-pat enclave is usually higher than that of living in a more local area. While a traffic free, quiet location like Discovery Bay may appeal to a family with young children, many NETs complain that such areas lack the buzz of the city.

The vast majority of people in Hong Kong live in high-rise flats, and most expatriates coming to work in Hong Kong will find that the accommodation that they can afford to live in while they are here is considerably smaller than what they are used to.

Rental accommodation is expensive, and rents have been increasing very quickly over the past two years as many wealthy mainland Chinese have been speculating in the Hong Kong property market. For a 750 square foot three bedroom flat close to the MTR (underground express rail service) on Hong Kong Island you should expect to pay about $25,000 - $30,000 per month. Prices are considerably less in the New Territories, but the special allowance, currently $19,081, still may not be enough to cover your housing needs unless you are single and prepared to live in a very small flat in a less sought out district. The special allowance is reviewed every two years and is pegged to the government's estimates of average rental prices, but there has been concern that the mechanism which the government uses to calculate the allowance underestimates changes in rents and uses out of date statistics.

Many NETs, especially those who are single, choose to rent serviced hotel apartments during the first few months of their stay in Hong Kong. This can be a good option as hotels across the city offer long-term stay packages and once fringe costs such as electricity and gas bills are thrown into the equation, staying in a hotel is usually not much more expensive than renting. The hotel apartment option also gives you more time to look around for accommodation and find a place to rent that suits you. Because of these advantages, some hotels such as the Royal Plaza Hotel in Mong Kok and the Panda Hotel in Tsuen Wan previously became virtual NET colonies. Recently, however, prices for many serviced apartments and hotels have escalated in line with rental levels generally in Hong Kong. In addition, increased tourism has made it more profitable for hotels like the Panda Hotel in Tsuen Wan to suspend its practice of offering long term stay.

What's the procedure for renting a flat in Hong Kong?
Rental contracts in Hong Kong are usually for two years. The tenant must usually promise not to break the tenancy for the first twelve months and then during the second year of the tenancy he or she must give the landlord two months’ notice of any plans to move. Currently many landlords are selling their tenanted flats and as the tenancy laws have changed to reflect a more landlord friendly slant, you may find that you have to move flats several times over only a few years.It is worthwhile inspecting prospective flats carefully for defective plumbing, leaks, electrical problems and neighbourhood noise before signing a lease, as maintenance can be a fraught issue once you are in residence.

The start-up cost of renting a flat is high as the tenant has to pay the first month's rent in advance, pay half a month's commission to an estate agency and pay two month's deposit to the landlord. The deposit is refunded at the end of the contract without interest. Therefore if the monthly rent for an apartment were $12,000, the tenant would have to pay an initial lump sum of $42,000 before moving in.

A salary advance is promised to NETs in their contracts. This is intended to help them with the initial costs of renting a flat. However, occasionally in the past there have been administrative delays in the payment of this advance. To be on the safe side therefore, NETs should bring as much money with them as they anticipate they will need during their first month in Hong Kong.

How expensive is living in Hong Kong?
There is no simple answer to this question because the cost of living Hong Kong is so dependent upon the type of lifestyle that you expect to have while you are here. Many expatriates in Hong Kong dine exclusively at Western restaurants, take up golf, join a yacht club or spend their nights drinking in trendy areas like Lan Kwai Fong and then complain about how much it has all cost them. At the other end of the spectrum, it is certainly possible to buy your food from local markets, eat out at Chinese style cafes and spend very little money indeed (although you might miss out on the fun. For NETWIKS (NETS with kids) and those living in cheaper, more spacious flats further out of town, engaging a domestic helper or maid(currently c.$3,700 + costs per month) can make life much easier for expats working long hours.

Most people will fall between the two extremes. Prices have risen in Hong Kong over recent years, especially in the cost of food, fuel and eating out. Even so, meals in local restaurants are inexpensive compared with eating out in major cities in the west. With the exception of rent and of top-end luxury goods, most goods and services cost much less than they would in Britain and Europe and only slightly more than they would in Australia or North America. The Hong Kong dollar is pegged to the US dollar, and as the US currency has fluctuated dramatically in recent years, so the cost of living has seemed to rise and fall considerably for visitors from overseas.

Be prepared to be asked, very directly, a lot of questions about your lifestyle, finances, holiday plans (for which you may subsequently be asked to seek permission from your Principal to leave Hong Kong) and other queries of a rather personal nature. The NET Special Allowance is one issue which  has  captured the attention of Hong Kongers. Such issues may not be considered as 'private' as they would in a Western country, but you may not find your colleagues as forthcoming about their own situations.It is probably wisest to keep your responses vague or non-committal in the interests of harmony and discretion.

Where can my kids go to school?
Local schools are not usually an attractive option for NETs because the majority of them teach in Cantonese and because even in English medium schools non-Chinese speaking students are few and far between and are consequently at a disadvantage. The Education Department publishes a list of English medium secondary schools that offer students another language option as an alternative to Chinese (usually French) and that encourage applications from non-Chinese speakers. However, these are almost all elite schools that are heavily over-subscribed, so last minute applications stand little chance of success, the exception being a very small number of state subsidized schools which cater primarily to the South Asian community but which are happy to offer places to students from other backgrounds. As the new senior secondary curriculum which is due to be introduced in 2008 will include Chinese Language as a compulsory subject, it is likely that even fewer non-Chinese speaking children will be able to study at local schools beyond that date.

Most expatriate parents of school age children opt to send them to fee paying independent International schools in the territory or to an English Schools’ Foundation school. The latter are partially subsidized by the government but still charge a fee. ESF and other international secondary schools typically charge fees of between $70,000-$120,000 per year, with places at ESF primary schools costing about $50,000 per year. Another option is to enroll your child in a Direct Subsidy Scheme school as although these schools receive government funding, they enjoy much greater freedom over the syllabus that they offer and the students that they can accept than other schools, and they charge lower fees than independent or ESF schools. Note, however, that the Hong Kong government is intent on reducing or eliminating much of its funding for these private kinds of school. NETS also complain about the application fee to seek a place, and the competition to secure a place over local students and those coming across the mainland border for schooling.

Be aware that the school year in Hong Kong runs from September to July. This may mean that children coming to Hong Kong from the southern hemisphere have to repeat part of the school year.

A less expensive option is distance learning, but this presents the problem of potentially leaving your child socially isolated in Hong Kong if you do not arrange enough compensatory outside activities such as clubs, etc. If your child is between the ages of 6 and 15 then home schooling is strictly speaking illegal although in practice the authorities turn a blind eye. There are an estimated 100+ school age students enrolled in various distance learning programmes, often those offered by Australia or America.

How much will I be paid?
Teachers' salaries in Hong Kong are based on the civil service master pay scale:

Master Pay Scale.

Teachers start on point 17. A teacher with a post-graduate teaching qualification, B. Ed or equivalent receives two salary points. No additional points are awarded for Masters degrees, PhDs or other higher degrees. Each year of continuous full-time service in a recognised school will qualify you for an additional salary point, but teaching in private tutorial schools does not count and you must be able to provide documentary proof of service. Primary NETs cannot proceed beyond point 30 on the pay scale, and secondary NETs do not proceed beyond point 33.

Special Allowance

In addition, NETs employed on expatriate terms receive a special allowance, which is currently $20,989 per month. This allowance is to cover the costs of living overseas, and in particular the cost of renting accommodation. NETs are required to make a declaration that their primary family or social ties are outside of Hong Kong, and may be asked to provide evidence that this is the case, in order to be eligible for the allowance. NETs are also required to inform the EDB of any change in their personal circumstances that may affect their eligibility. NETs have married Hong Kong residents and have acquired Hong Kong permanent resident status without being disbarred from receiving the special allowance. However, it remains at the EDB's discretion how to determine whether a NET is eligible for this benefit. The special allowance is reviewed every year. The most important factor which the EDB considers in deciding what rate of special allowance to recommend to the government is whether the residential rental index has moved up or down; a movement of at least 10% is required to trigger the need for a change. In theory, the EDB recommends a rate of special allowance that would be equivalent to the average cost territory-wide of 70 sq. m. apartment. In practice, the allowance has not always kept pace with changes in market rents.

Incentive Bonus and Gratuity

A NET in his or her second two-year contract without a break in service receives an incentive bonus equivalent to 5% of base salary; a NET in his third or subsequent contract receives an incentive bonus equivalent to 10% of base salary.

Upon satisfactory completion of each contract, NETs receive a gratuity equivalent to 15% of base salary.

The allowance, bonus and gratuity all count as taxable income.

What about taxes? How much will I have to pay and when?
See also Inland Revenue Salaries Tax Calculator

Salaries tax is charged in arrears on the income earned during a tax year. The tax year runs from April 1st to March 31st. Usually you will receive a tax return form from the Inland Revenue in May or June directly following the end of your first tax year in Hong Kong. Once you have sent back this return you will usually receive a tax demand a few weeks later but the tax will not usually be payable until a few months later. Tax is payable in two installments and, in addition to including the full tax payable for the completed tax year, your bill will include a provisional demand for the subsequent tax year. Thus a teacher who arrives in Hong Kong in August 2011 would normally receive his first tax demand in May or June 2012 and would not pay any tax until around January 2013. The top marginal rate of salaries tax in Hong Kong is 17% and the top average rate is 15%. However, the first $108,000 of income is tax-free and the next $105,000 of income is taxed at low marginal rates. There is also a tax exemption of $50,000 for each dependent child. As a result, only a very small proportion of tax-payers pay the full 15% tax rate.

The special allowance and the gratuity count as taxable income.

Tax Reserve Certificates: These can be accessed online at the Inland Revenue Department website. The basic idea is that you organise a direct debit for each month so that your tax will be covered and paid when it is due.

What's the MPF and how will it affect me?
In December 2000 the Mandatory Provident Fund regulations came into effect so now all employees in Hong Kong are required to pay 5% of their monthly income up to a maximum of $1,000 into a pension scheme. Their employers also contribute an amount equivalent to 5% of monthly income up to a maximum of $1,000 into this pension scheme. It is not possible to terminate the scheme and draw out the benefits from it until you retire at the age of 60 or permanently leave Hong Kong.

NET teachers who are not Hong Kong permanent residents and who can provide evidence that they are participating in a pension scheme in their home country are entitled to opt for exemption from the Mandatory Provident Fund. If you wish to be exempted from the scheme, you should inform your school office as soon as possible. As expatriate teachers have traditionally been paid a gratuity instead of receiving pension benefits, the Education and Manpower Bureau has decided that employers' contributions to NET teachers' MPFs should be deductible from their gratuities. Therefore, if you participate in the MPF then when you receive your gratuity at the end of two years service you will find that up to $1,000 per month will have been deducted from what you would have originally been entitled to. This money will have been paid into your pension fund and you will only become entitled to it when you leave Hong Kong permanently or when you retire. Some MPF investors (including NETs) complain that the financial institutions which manage the funds take too much away from investments in their charges, or that the financial return is poor.

On the positive side, the MPF contribution is not taxed unlike your gratuity. For example, after a 2 year contract your gratuity is $100,000HK. If you opted out of MPF, you would be taxed 17% on the entire $100,000 leaving you with $83,000. If you had opted into the MPF, $24,000 (24 months @ $1000 /month) will have been taken from the gratuity and put into your MPF account. This leaves you a taxable gratuity of $76,000: $63,080 after tax. Add on the MPF of $24,000 & you have $87,080 - $4,080 more than not being in the MPF. This doesn't include any return on the MPF during that time. Your $1000/month MPF contribution taken from your monthly salary is also untaxed. This saves you a further $4080 over those 2 years for a total of $8160 less in tax.

Finally, if you stay in Hong Kong long enough (7 years) and opt for permanent residency, you are then legally obliged to start paying into an MPF fund.

What about health insurance?
Your contract entitles you to reimbursement of medical insurance of up to $1,400 per year if you are single or $5,400 per year if you are married. Hong Kong has a comprehensive public health system. Emergency treatment at accident and emergency wards, non-emergency hospital treatment and G.P. consultations carry only a nominal cost. However, while many people comment favourably on their experiences of Hong Kong's public hospitals, non-emergency patients at public hospitals and clinics sometimes have to wait a long time for treatment and some people have reservations about the standard of the public health service here. General wards are Spartan at best and hospital catering is extremely basic. It is however basically comparable to the UK's National Health Service and can be used as such, so if this type of service is acceptable to you then private medical insurance is not required at all.

When you take out health insurance in Hong Kong you should be careful to check how comprehensive the cover is since many policies will only cover the cost of certain types of treatment up to a fairly low limit and will have a large number of exclusions. In non-emergency cases it is also important to get an estimate from a hospital and to double check with your insurer that the treatment you intend to receive is covered before being admitted. Also, make sure you know how much the hospital charges for 'extras'. Some private hospitals in Hong Kong will even charge you for tissue paper!

Several NETs have complained that despite having insurance they were left seriously out of pocket after routine hospital treatment. This is an area where it is best to be forewarned and to exercise caution.

My spouse in coming to Hong Kong with me. Can they get a job here too?
Spouses and children are admitted to Hong Kong on a dependent visa. As of 15 May 2006, dependants of people on employment visas are allowed to work in Hong Kong without having to apply for a new visa (see Q5 of the Immigration Department's Visa FAQ's.)

If you wish to claim the passage allowance for your spouse or children, they will have to travel to and from Hong Kong within two months of your arrival and departure.

What can I do with my free time?
Hong Kong provides residents from overseas with a wide range of options to fill their free time, but some of these are expensive.

As Hong Kong is very mountainous and only 20% of the territory is built up, it provides fabulous opportunities for hiking and climbing. When the city is choking in smog it is always possible to get some fresh air by heading for the hills. Hong Kong's country parks have many trails to suit walkers of all levels of ability and also have barbecue pits, picnic areas and free campsites.

There are also many options for those who enjoy water-sports. Many of Hong Kong's beaches, particularly those near the city, are very crowded, but it is possible to find places in the New Territories where you can have miles of sand to yourself. It is also possible to try out windsurfing, canoeing or simply to club together with friends and hire a junk for a day.

Hong Kong has many cinemas that show the latest Hollywood releases and a small number of venues that show 'art-house' films. Cantonese and Mandarin language films are almost always subtitled in English but Japanese films are often only subtitled in Chinese so it's best to check before you buy your tickets.

The Hong Kong government has been striving for some time to improve the standing of the arts in the territory and while the range on offer is by no means comparable with London or New York there are still plenty of opportunities to see opera, ballet and classical music here. Look out for the following events: Fringe Festival (Jan); Arts Festival (Feb/ Mar); Le French May (May); Arts Carnival (July- Aug). Major productions of classical drama in English are less frequent, however, and it is often difficult to get tickets for cultural events unless you plan well in advance.

As for museums, Hong Kong isn't exactly comparable with London or Paris, but the local museums do have fairly frequent travelling exhibitions from major European and American museums and galleries. These can get very crowded and attract long queues. An annual museum pass ($100 for individuals; $200 for a family of four) is well worth getting as the pass includes general admission and all special exhibits, and also lets you avoid queuing for tickets when something big comes to town. Highlights in the permanent exhibits of local museums include the 'Hong Kong Story' at the History Museum and the hands on displays aimed at younger visitors at the Science Museum.

There are several major events in the cultural calendar in Hong Kong including the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens (March), the Salem Tennis Open (April) and the Folk Festival (November). Traditional Chinese festivals such as the Mid-Autumn Festival and Tuen Ng (the Dragon-Boat) Festival also provide opportunities for entertainment.

Eating out is one of the main attractions of the city as a variety of regional and international cuisine is represented by Hong Kong's many thousands of restaurants at prices to suit every budget (though prices have been going up recently). Tsim Sha Tsui, Lan Kwai Fong and Wan Chai also have pubs and night-clubs which stay open until very late. However, it is probably wisest to avoid the infamous go-go bars in the territory as many of these overcharge their customers.

For NETs with kids and those who are young at heart, annual passes to Hong Kong Disneyland (from $650) and Ocean Park (FROM $500) are well worth considering.

What are my leave entitlements like?
Your contract will specify how many days of paid sick leave you will be entitled to; this will depend on the number of years of continuous service at your school that you have given. It is usual for employers to require a doctor's letter when two or more days of sick leave are taken. Some schools require it for a single day. Many schools are particularly strict about sick leave being taken immediately before of after holidays. If you take unpaid discretionary leave immediately before a school holiday, you will lose all the pay and benefits for the holiday period.

Expectant mothers who have been in continuous employment for at least nine months are entitled to ten weeks of maternity leave and must begin taking this leave between two and four weeks before their expected delivery date. There is no statutory paternity leave in Hong Kong.

At the end of each contract you will be entitled to terminal leave: your school cannot require you to perform duties outside of term time during that summer holiday. The EMB also advises schools to arrange mid-contract summer holiday duties for NETs in such a way that they will have at least four continuous weeks of holiday, but unfortunately not all schools follow this advice.

Your school is allowed to grant you up to two days of paid discretionary leave each year to attend to urgent personal business such as a birth or bereavement. Any personal leave above this two-day limit is unpaid and may even affect your entitlement to a pay increment at the end of the year. Obviously, two days' leave may be inadequate for a NET who is flying back to his or her home country in order to attend a funeral and NETs have been lobbying the EMB to be more flexible on this matter. Some school principals are more understanding than others when it comes to granting leave. Some even go as far as advising the NET to take sick leave in such circumstances in order to avoid losing pay. Schools in Hong Kong do not all 'break up' on the same day for holidays and their term dates can vary quite widely from school to school. Ask for the school calendar in English but be aware when booking fares that official school dates can change without much notice.

Can I take on a part-time job in my free time?
The Immigration Department only issues you a work visa for the specific job for which you come to Hong Kong, so if you want to take up part-time work you have to get permission from the immigration department first. You will also have to get permission from your principal and a letter from the part-time employer. Nonetheless, many have taken on duties such as adult education, exam marking and private tuition which have helped to enhance their professional development.

The Education System in Hong Kong and Your Role as a NET
Please proceed to next page:The Education System in Hong Kong and Your Role as a NET.

Recommended Websites and Wikipedia Pages for Language Students
A larger repository of links and samples of students' work can be found at Englishplace, a wiki which is maintained by the creator of this guide.

Grammar and Writing
Skillswise This site has a wide range of authentic situational exercises, quizzes and games to develop grammar, vocabulary, punctuation and writing skills. Should be particularly useful for junior forms.

Ambleside School, Cumbria An extraordinary site put together by students at a school in the Lake District - limerick and haiku generators, a silly story engine, exercises on easily confused words, homophones, comprehension and lots more. Fun stuff for junior students. The site also has links for many other subjects across the curriculum.

World English Website Grammar, vocabulary and comprehension practice, quizzes, games, writing guides, lists of the most common words in English, speaking and listening resources.

English Grammar Online An online resource with a lot of exercises similar in nature to Tensebusters.

A fun prepositions exercise

Flash animated grammar exercises

Reading and Phonics
American Stories - Comprehension Exercises Giggle Poetry Fun poetry lesson plans, games and activities.

Nursery Rhymes

Starfall Online books for less confident readers, with animation and audio.

Created By Teachers Resources for early learners and remedial classes including basic vocabulary and sight-reading lists, flashcards, word searches and crosswords.

Usborne Quicklinks A directory of websites recommended by the educational publisher across the curriculum, including a number of sites for English language and literature.

Storyline-Online It's a great pleasure to have a story read out loud to you - especially by a talented actor! At this site, there is video-feed of actors and actresses reading from young people's storybooks, together with printable activities.

Short Stories

Listening
Living English The Australian Broadcasting Corporation's programme for elementary level English listening.

Listening and Multimedia
BBC World Service Learning English

English Bites The Australian Broadcasting Corporation's programme for language learners with documentary and general interest videos,transcripts, glossaries, explanation of grammar and usage, tips and practice for speaking and writing.

Nexus Online video documentaries and transcripts for intermediate language learners.

Listening Lab Online Over 700 audio clips with slide shows, quizzes, songs, listening games and transcripts; a wide variety of regional accents; can be searched by level of difficulty.

Writing and Grammar
Sentence Sense This is a self-taught online guide to writing coherent sentences and organising ones ideas in writing.

Web English Teacher A very extensive directory of online resources –everything from elementary English to Shakespeare

Grammar Book More advanced grammar exercises.

Teaching English Activities and lesson plans.

Advanced
OWL Online Writing Guide

Rhetoric and Composition: This is a very in depth but clear and straightforward guide to how to plan, draft, organise and review your writing. Lots of helpful tips and exercises. Especially helpful for argumentative writing and for students who nhave to write analytical compositions for other subjects.

University College London Internet Grammar This site offers a formal analysis of English grammar and a wide range of exercises on identifying parts of speech, subject and object, verb form, aspect and voice, clauses, etc. Perhaps dry and technical, but should be useful for senior students seeking to polish their grammar, or even for teachers who could use it to look up clear explanations for grammar rules.

Linguarama Postscript Magazine Online resources with a focus on English for business and the world of work - particularly useful for senior students.

Parts of Speech Directory

Debate Resources

Reference Materials
Cambridge Learners' DictionaryThis has to be the best online dictionary available. It provides examples of usage from the corpus, all words derived from any root words that you enter, collocations and set phrases, pronunciation, differences between American, British and Australian usage and many other features.

Pronunciation - IPA Phonetic Symbol Chart for English

Online Dictionary

Online Thesaurus

Online Rhyming Dictionary

Idioms Dictionary of idioms with examples of usage in context from literary works.

Online Instant Translator

BBC News

The South China Morning Post

Crossword DictionaryUse it to search for words with the same sequence of letters

Puzzlemaker Build your own printable crossword puzzles.

Linguist List Includes "ask a linguist" discussion board.

/ Makeityourring Diamond Engagement Rings

Shakespeare
Folger Library The US Shakespeare library has a large portfolio of lesson plans. Bardware Lots of useful links for Shakespeare students.

Shakespeare Online

Shakespeare's Sonnets

Clicknotes Shakespeare Navigable texts of several plays including Hamlet and Twelfth Night, with extensive notes and commentary.

A Study Guide to Sonnet 73

Shakespeare's Life and Times

Sparknotes Shakespeare Study Guide

Shakespeare's Globe See how Shakespeare plays are still being performed in a replica of the original open-air Globe Theatre and read rehearsal notes from recent productions.

Royal Shakespeare Company Educational resources from one of the world's most prestigious theatre companies.

Hamlet Haven An extensive collection of extracts from academic texts on every aspect of Hamlet, from every conceivable critical perspective.

Shakespeare Insults 'Thou art a stinking pigeon-livered maggot-pie!'

Writing Guides
Online Writing Guide Includes guidelines on how to make notes and plan and draft literary analysis essays

Glossary of Literary Terms

Rhetoric and Composition Wikibook Guide to writing analytical humanities essays.

Poetry
Aspirations English Literature A Level Resources for practical criticism, close reading of poetry and Shakespeare.

Poets Exhaustive resources on poetry and poets.

Poetry Please Poetry on the radio - an archive of webcasts of actors reading poems requested by the audience of this popular BBC Radio 4 programme.

Poetry Foundation The archives of poetry accompanied by refreshingly unpretentious discussion of poets' backgrounds and of the themes and style of their work are terrific. There's also featured essays about how to write, about the difference between poetry and doggerel verse, about why poetry is still relevant to everyday people's lives, about children's poetry... and lots, lots more.

Poetry Magic Resource centre for the theory and craft of writing poetry.

Wandering Minstrels A poem a day by e-mail service. Get a poem sent to your inbox every day accompanied by critical commentary - for free. The commentaries are insightful and entertaining, and the choices of poems range from canonical classics to contemporary song lyrics - from Keats to Cole Porter. There's a big archive, too. American Poems Large archives of poems and discussion boards - some users' comments are helpful but some are rather trivial.

Chaucer4All Lots of stuff on Geoffrey Chaucer including video and audio recordings of the Tales retold as hip-hop raps.

Open Source Wikibook for Collaborative Practical Criticism Practice

Short Stories
Brit Lit Downloadable short stories, activities, worksheets and lesson plans.

Famous short stories

Short Stories Web An archive of classic and contemporary short stories together with teachers' notes, study questions, online games and activities.

Films
Internet Movie Data Base Resources on films.

Variety Film Reviews

Cinematography

Speech
Hong Kong Speech Festival

American Rhetoric A database of famous speeches from politicians and Hollywood actors, audio and video files, transcripts and analysis of the use of rhetorical devices.

Audio Bible Speech festival participants taking part in bible reading can log on and listen to an actor reading their passage.

Free Online Books of Oral Activities - Games, Situational Task-Based Activities, Role Plays, Drama, Rubrics for Self Assessment. Lots of stuff!

Hong Kong Toastmasters A social club for people who are interested in public speaking, Toastmasters also organises public speaking workshops for schools.

The English Speaking Union A registered charity, this organisation promotes the wider use of English. Organises talks, language clinics, poetry readings and debates.

Theatre Garoupa Word Up - performance poetry recitals and workshops. For more details, contact jhcaplan@hotmail.com

Debate resources

Drama
Creative Drama Lessons

Drama Lesson and Curriculum Plans

Hong Kong Schools' Drama Festival Rules and regulations and an archive of winning scripts.

Community Theatre Discussion Board Articles, tips for actors and directors, scripts and discussion boards.

Drama Activities

title: NET Teacher Survival Guide


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text:
NET Teacher Survival Guide/The Education System in Hong Kong

How is the education system structured?
(see Education in Hong Kong) All children of Hong Kong residents are entitled to twelve years of universal basic education and are expected to attend school between the ages of six and eighteen. Most children attend kindergartens from the age of three onwards although there is only limited public funding for pre-school education in the form of means-tested subsidies. Although after the age of fifteen education is no longer compulsory, only a small proportion of teenagers drop out of formal education entirely at this stage.

Primary education lasts six years and the vast majority of primary school students are taught in Cantonese. Secondary education is divided into two stages. Secondary Form One to Three are a foundation stage; Form Four to Six prepare students for the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination. The exam replaced Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination and Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination from 2012 onwards. Students only need to take one examination. A minority of school also offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program for students as the alternative choice.

A very small number of less academically able secondary level students and students with learning disabilities or behavioural problems have the option of attending prevocational schools, technical colleges and special schools where they can follow a curriculum which is modified to suit their needs and take vocational courses alongside a core of conventional academic subjects. However, most such students attend mainstream schools as there has been a drive by the government to integrate such students into the normal curriculum.

From Form Four (usually age fifteen) upwards, students are required take at least one elective subject which it is believed would lead logically to certain degree and career choices. They also need to study the core subjects, including Chinese, English, Mathematics and Liberal Studies. Students usually take two to four elective subjects. However, it has been suggested by the government to reform the curriculum again and trim the class time of the core subjects since 2020. Liberal Studies was renamed "Citizen and Social Development" from the 2021-2022 academic year for Form 4 students.

Promotion between forms in a school is not automatic and usually depends on a student's performance in coursework and exams having met certain minimum requirements. Thus it is not that unusual to have to teach a seventeen year old in a class of predominantly thirteen year old.

What different types of schools are there in Hong Kong?
Schools in Hong Kong fall into four main categories according to how they are managed.

Of the 430 secondary schools in Hong Kong, about 30 are government schools and are directly controlled by the Education Department. Teachers at these schools are often employed on civil service terms and are recruited and deployed through a central allocation system. Nonetheless, the principals of these schools have considerable freedom to make decisions about the day to day running of the school.

The vast majority of schools in Hong Kong are subsidized schools. These are often also called sub-vented or grant schools. They are independently owned and managed by a board of governors but they are dependent upon government funding. Most of these schools were originally founded by Christian or Buddhist religious orders, by charitable bodies, or by organizations representing people with a shared ancestry or who migrated to Hong Kong from the same part of the mainland.

Direct Subsidy Schools are schools that receive government funding but are also allowed to charge fees, subject to the requirement that they fully or partially subsidize places for a set proportion of their intake. These schools generally follow the local curriculum but enjoy greater freedom over staffing, class size and admissions. Schools in the DSS scheme are largely subject to market forces and in some cases the competition between them has led to more innovative teaching practices.

There are also a number of independent fee paying schools in Hong Kong, some of which cater mainly to the international community and some of which cater mainly to post Form Four students who were unable to obtain a place in a government or subsidized school. NET teachers will only be posted to government or subsidized schools. Schools are also categorized by the type of syllabus that they follow and (unofficially) the typical level of ability of the students on roll.

The majority of schools in Hong Kong are technically also categorized as 'grammar' schools. 'Grammar' schools are attended by 91% of secondary students in Hong Kong. This category may be confusing to teachers who are used to the term being used to describe elite selective schools which traditionally prepared students for university matriculation. In Hong Kong, the term 'grammar' school simply denotes that the students follow a conventional academic syllabus and are prepared for the HKDSE (post-17).

Students in secondary schools are placed into three 'bands' according to their performance in school based assessment at the end of their primary education, and there is a considerable amount of competition among students for places at the most prestigious schools. Schools are for the most part filled by students who fall within the same banding and so you will often hear people talking about the banding of their school.

The fact that conventional schools are often called 'grammar' schools is indicative of a major problem in the education system. Universal free secondary education came about comparatively recently in Hong Kong, as recently as the 1960s and 1970s New schools set up at that time attempted to closely imitate the syllabus taught at the elite schools despite the lack of financial resources and the fact that the syllabus was too demanding for most students to be able to cope with.

Other types of schools include:

1. Prevocational and technical schools where students follow a less academic, more vocational syllabus,

2. Skills opportunity schools and practical schools for demotivated students and slow learners; and

3. Special needs schools which cater for students with a physical or mental handicap.

However, the government has adopted the policy of integrating students with special needs into mainstream schools and so these special school categories are rapidly being phased out.

What are the main problems in the education system in Hong Kong?
Over the past few years, the government has been eager to convince the public that it is treating education as a priority. A number of governmental and semi-autonomous bodies, including the Curriculum Development Council, the Education Commission, the Standing Committee on Language and Research, the Quality Assurance Inspectorate, Education Convergence and so forth, advise the government on education issues. The result of this is that a large number of initiatives in education have had to be implemented by schools at the behest of these bodies without sufficient reflection about whether teachers are ready for them or about the workload involved. New initiatives often require schools to set up committees or to do the paper-work in order to be able to prove to the Education and Manpower Bureau and to school inspectors that they have responded to government recommendations; the result of this is that teachers are weighed down with bureaucracy and often complain that they have insufficient time to prepare lessons, help individual students, or simply enjoy a life outside of school. These top-down initiatives have also often demoralized teachers because they seem to have been based on the assumption that teachers are not sufficiently professional to be able to judge for themselves what is in the best interests of their students.

Another significant problem faced by teachers and students in Hong Kong is a shortage of funding. Although the past decade has seen dramatic increases in the amount of money spent on education by the government, schools are still under-funded in comparison with their counterparts in the west.

The typical class size in secondary schools in Hong Kong is 40 to 42 students. These students often have to be accommodated in cramped classrooms that do not lend themselves to innovative teaching methods, and having such large classes makes it difficult for teachers to get to know their students well. The government has decided recently that it will reduce the maximum class size in secondary one classes to 38 in September 2008 and to 36 in September 2009.

Many schools also suffer from a lack of equipment and resources. There are huge discrepancies between the facilities in long established schools in affluent areas which are able to benefit from the financial support of alumni and parents and schools in poorer neighbourhoods which depend solely on government funding. Despite massive government investment in education, some schools have only one photocopier and there are even a few schools where the budget is so tight that teachers are required to provide their own toilet paper!

Due to the economic downturn in recent years, the government had to delay providing funds for essential maintenance work at some schools. Recently the media has reported cases of students having to be taught in rooms affected by damp and leaking ceilings. More recently, the government has been enjoying record surpluses and has been catching up with renovation work, but it will be some time before the effects of this are felt in all schools.

Perhaps the biggest worry for teachers is the very low birth rate in Hong Kong. Over the past decade, this has fallen very rapidly so that now each couple in Hong Kong has on average only 0.9 children. As a result, the school population has begun shrinking. Many primary schools have not been able to enroll enough students into their Primary One classes in order to satisfy government funding requirements, and are consequently facing the prospect of closure. Even though the government has begun to phase in small class teaching, the proposed reduction in class sizes will not be enough to prevent secondary schools running into the same problems, and it is expected that as soon as 2010 some secondary schools will fail to recruit sufficient numbers of students to be allowed to continue operating.

What are the major concerns for English language teachers?
The Education and Manpower Bureau has identified a number of major concerns which it encourages schools to focus on, and teachers and subject panels are encouraged to incorporate responses to these concerns into their lesson plans. Most of these concerns are relevant in some way to the teaching of English. They include: fostering a reading culture; instilling positive attitudes towards life-wide learning; enhancing moral education; using IT for teaching and learning; and developing civic and national education. You will almost certainly be asked to contribute ideas for how to achieve some of these objectives in your panel.

Since 2007 HKCE English students all sit the same exam and the examination authority has also switched from normative to criterion-based assessment of English. 15% of the examination marks are determined by school-based assessment. For this assessment, students are required to read two books and watch two videos, including fiction and non-fiction, and then discuss these with classmates as well as giving individual oral presentations. Teachers are required to report oral marks at the end of Form Four and at the end of Form Five. There has been considerable concern about the impact that this has had on teachers’ workloads.

How is the education system changing?
The government has already initiated several major changes in its education policy in the past few years. The most significant of these has been the decision to require the majority of secondary schools to use Cantonese as the medium of instruction instead of English. It is hoped that this will make it easier for students to understand what they are being taught and so will enhance student motivation and the quality of teaching and learning. However, one third of schools (those at which a minimum proportion of students are sufficiently strong at English in order to be able to cope with using the language as a medium of instruction) have been allowed to keep teaching in English. As parents associate English medium of instruction with better English and better career prospects for their children, these EMI schools have become heavily oversubscribed. Only recently, the government decided to introduce new criteria to determine whether schools can remain EMI, with a view to putting these in place in 2008. In order to use English, a school would have had to ensure that 85% of its students fall in the top 40% for English, Maths and Chinese. These requirements would mean that English medium schools are penalized for offering places to children who are native English speakers but who are less academically inclined or who do not speak or read Chinese. However there is some confusion at the moment as the government has suggested that it may be willing to be more flexible in deciding whether schools should be allowed to use EMI, even suggesting that some schools may be allowed to use EMI for some classes and CMI for others. Schools will also have to prove that their teachers are capable of teaching in English; older staff members who entered the profession before the Use of English A-level exam was created may find it difficult to prove their language ability on paper.

The government has launched a Quality Education Fund, which allocates resources to schools on a competitive basis; in order to be awarded funds, schools have to demonstrate that the money will be spent in an innovative way and will enhance learning. Many schools have used these funds to develop original and forward-looking schemes in fields such as information technology and multimedia but a criticism of the QEF is that it has led to an uneven distribution of funds.

The government is also determined to promote the use of information technology in schools and has put large amounts of money into pilot I.T. projects in selected schools. The government also requires every teacher to pass a benchmark in order to demonstrate that he or she has attained basic information technology skills. In order to comply with this requirement, you may find that you are expected to attend very lengthy I.T. courses. Some teachers have complained that they have been required to waste hours being 'taught' very basic I.T. skills that they had already mastered. Others have expressed the concern that the more advanced courses that their schools want everyone to pass don't fall far short of qualifying those who take them for working for NASA! In the early stages of this scheme, schools conducted in-service training to enable their staff to reach the IT benchmarks; now if you need IT training it is more likely to have to take place in your own time and at your own expense.

Another major change is the drive to promote professionalism in education. At present a significant proportion of teachers do not hold a first degree or do not have a teaching qualification. The government intends that in the future all teachers will have a university degree and hold a teacher’s certificate, but a shortage of funds and recent salary cuts may make it difficult for the government to attract a sufficient number of graduates to the profession over the next few years.Therefore, the government has decided to require teachers who do not hold a degree in the subject that they teach to complete extensive ‘subject knowledge’ courses – English teachers are being required to take these courses even if they have passed the language benchmark, and many of them complain that they are expensive, time-consuming and of limited practical relevance to their needs in the classroom.

In addition all serving teachers are also required to complete 150 hours of continuing professional development over a three-year period, although what counts as CPD has been defined very broadly and is at the discretion of individual schools. A common concern is the poor quality of training provided for teachers by the Education and Manpower Bureau and the lack of consultation with teachers over what they perceive to be their training needs.

Prospective English teachers are now required to sit benchmarking tests or take courses in order to demonstrate their proficiency in the language. NETs, together with local teachers who have a degree or PCEd. majoring in English, are exempt from benchmarking.

The most dramatic changes to the education system, however, are those that have been proposed recently by the Education Commission. The commission wants to replace the HKCEE (post 16) and HKALE (post 18) exams with a unitary exam and wants to reduce senior secondary schooling from four years to three in order to make it possible for university courses to be extended from three years to four. Under the proposed new senior secondary syllabus, all students will be required to study a three-year senior secondary course leading to a diploma. This will include compulsory English, Maths, Chinese and Liberal Studies as well as either two or three additional optional subjects. Both traditional academic subjects and more career-oriented courses will be on offer. A significant proportion of marks for every diploma subject will come from school-based assessment. This reform is aimed at giving a greater number of students access to a complete high-school education which will potentially equip them for university; at present only 18% of students continue their education beyond Form Five. However, the new syllabuses and the requirement to conduct school-based assessment will greatly increase teachers’ workloads, at least during the transitional period.

Is there more information about the Hong Kong Education System?
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Hong_Kong for further information regarding the Hong Kong Education System.

What will a typical day be like?
A school day in Hong Kong typically starts at some time between 8 a.m. and 8.30 a.m. You will probably be expected to sign in on a staff list when you arrive at work. As a NET it is unlikely that you will be assigned a form or homeroom, although you may be asked to assist a homeroom teacher with his duties which will usually only entail substituting for him when he is unable to take the class register.

At most schools, assemblies only take place once per week or once per teaching cycle, but some schools hold them every day. A large proportion of these assemblies may be taken up by announcements. As some schools do not have a sufficiently large hall for all the students they either arrange assemblies in shifts or hold their assemblies out of doors.

Your school may use a six-day or seven-day cycle in order to accommodate minor subjects into the timetable and may change the sequence of cycle days from time to time in order to accommodate special events and activities, so it is wise to double-check which day of the cycle it is when you arrive at work.

Classes will usually last between thirty and forty-five minutes. You will probably find that if you teach senior forms these are allocated some double or even triple periods of English on their timetables in order to allow teachers sufficient time to conduct exam practice.

At some schools there are two short recesses before lunch, but you will find that much of your recess and lunch times are taken up with dealing with disciplinary matters, with giving help to individual students or organizing extra-curricular activities.

The school day usually ends between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. but you will probably run extra-curricular activities, teach supplementary classes or attend meetings after school.

With a bit of luck you will have had enough time during your free periods to mark at least some of your students' work, but there will always be times when you may have to take books home with you.

How does the role of a Primary NET differ from that of a Secondary NET?
Primary NETs are provided to primary schools operating 6 classes or more on an individual basis, i.e. 1 NET serves 1 school. A NET may be shared between 2 schools, but this arrangement is being phased out. The Primary NETs are required to -

(a) undertake teaching duties and try out good teaching models/practices related to the learning, teaching and assessment of English;

(b) organize and conduct extra-curricular activities related to English learning and teaching such as plays/skit performances, school-based English camps, English language games (day), story-telling activities, songs and dances, verse speaking, and extensive reading; and, if applicable, to contribute to other extra-curricular activities such as IT, art and craft activities and sports;

(c) provide support for the English panel, including contributing to school-based curriculum development and professional development of fellow teachers as well as developing and preparing learning/teaching materials; and

(d) act as an advisor on language teaching and learning for the principal and teachers in the school.

What are the objectives of the Primary NET Scheme?
It aims to support and strengthen English language teaching and learning in one form or another by -

(a) providing an authentic environment for children to learn English and developing their confidence in using English for communication;

(b) developing innovative teaching and learning methods, materials, curricula and activities suited to the needs of local children;

(c) promoting the professional development of local teachers; and

(d) disseminating good practices in language teaching and learning developed within the scheme through regional teacher development programmes such as experience-sharing seminars/workshops and networking activities.

What support is available to NET Teachers?
Support Mechanism in Primary Schools

Each school is required to assign an experienced school English teacher (SET) to work in partnership with the NET. The SET acts as a bridge between the NET and the school management and other English teachers so as to facilitate institutionalization of innovative/effective teaching methods and curriculum resources developed collaboratively with the NET in the school.

The Government provides support for the Scheme by way of an Advisory Teaching Team (ATT), which comprises 20 NETs and 20 local English teachers (LETs) seconded from primary schools. The ATT designs and operates regular staff development programmes for the NETs and the SETs and conducts school development visits to monitor the deployment of NETs in individual schools. It provides support for the development of innovative/effective teaching methods and related curriculum resources and disseminates good teaching practices in primary schools. The ATT also provides peripatetic support for schools with fewer than six classes.

In addition to setting up the ATT, professional support teams (PSTs) are formed to provide pastoral care for the NETs and monitor and evaluate the Scheme.

Support Mechanism in Secondary Schools

A Secondary Advisory Teaching Team is currently under discussion and information will be added here when it becomes available.

Of course, there is also the support offered by NESTA. In particular, the NESTA liaison officer holds regular meetings with government officials and when necessary is able to pass individuals’ concerns on to the relevant authorities.

What will a typical year be like?
Although the term starts in early September, the school year really starts during the last week of August when you will probably be expected to attend whole school and departmental meetings. The first term of the year is by far the longest and most demanding as it lasts seventeen weeks and there are no half term holidays, although several public holidays fall during this part of the year.

The autumn term is also the most demanding for English teachers in terms of extracurricular activities as it is during this term that the speech festival and preparation for other major drama competitions take place. You will probably be expected to train students for poetry recitals, prose reading or choral speaking as well as possibly having to direct a play, coach a debating team or run top-up classes for students who are planning to retake public exams.

As Hong Kong usually gets its best weather during the autumn this is also the time of year when you are most likely to be expected to attend and help out at sports days and swimming galas. Many schools also schedule a picnic day during this term. On picnic day you and your colleagues will be expected to accompany a group of students to a country park or outlying island; the most popular activity on picnic days is barbecuing . Toward the end of the first term you will be expected to process reports for your students. At most schools report writing only involves entering a grade into a computer based on the students’ average performance in written assignments during the term. These grades are often then used to rank students against the rest of their year-group (which must be demoralizing for those unlucky souls who receive a report telling them that they have come 242nd out of a year group of 242 students). In some schools you will be asked to give comments using a code system. It is unusual for schools to expect subject teachers to write out comments. At around the same time you will also be expected to set papers for the mid-year exams which take place in January.

The short term between Christmas and Chinese New Year usually lasts between four and six weeks depending on the vagaries of the lunar calendar. Usually two weeks of this period are taken up by invigilating and marking mid-year exams and another week is taken up by going over exam papers with students to check that your marking is correct and to help them to understand what they did right and what they did wrong. At around this time you will probably find that you have to wear thick clothing to school as Hong Kong's winters are surprisingly cold and schools usually do not have any heating. Around this time, parents come into the school to meet their children's homeroom teachers and to collect report cards. You may have the chance to meet parents at this time, but it is not normal for parents to meet all their children's subject teachers and parents who have limited English are often reluctant to arrange meetings with expatriate teachers.

From February onwards life at school usually gets progressively less stressful. Extra-curricular activities usually place less of a demand on teachers' time in the second half of the year as students are too preoccupied with preparing for their final exams or for public exams to have time for extramural activities. If you are teaching Form Seven students you will find that your timetable becomes lighter in the middle of March when they have their last classes before their A-level exams. If you are teaching Form Five classes then life will become easier for you when they leave school in April. However, you will probably be called on to invigilate public exams during this period.

During the summer months, many schools adopt a summer timetable in order to save on the costs of air conditioning during Hong Kong’s extremely hot summer afternoons. If you are extremely lucky, you may even be able to go home by 1:30 p.m. Late May and early June see another round of report processing and of setting, invigilating and marking internal exams. After the final exams are over, most schools have post exam activities running from late June to the end of term in the middle of July.

During this period, normal classes are suspended. This allows the school some time for administrative matters, the most pressing of which are promotion meetings. At promotion meetings, homeroom and subject teachers will be called upon to discuss their students' performance and to decide on which students would benefit from being required to retake the school year.

The post-exams activities period also gives teachers the chance to run extra-curricular activities and it is common for schools to schedule dramas, competitions and fetes at this time of the year.

What should I do in order to get on with my local colleagues?
Do not be surprised if some local colleagues are suspicious of you at first or feel nervous about approaching you. It is not unusual for local teachers, however good their English may be, to feel embarrassed about their English when faced with having to speak to an expatriate. Bear in mind that many local teachers may feel that as a NET you are in a privileged position both financially and in terms of the duties that you are expected to fulfill. It is important to make sure that you are perceived as a friend rather than a threat and are welcomed rather than resented. Therefore the onus is on you to break the ice.

There are several ways that you can do this. Teachers in Hong Kong seem to greatly enjoy sharing snacks with each other, and going around your immediate neighbours in the staff room in order to offer them biscuits, chocolates and so forth is a good way of befriending them. You might also consider asking people where they recommend that you should go for lunch as this will increase your chances of getting a lunch invitation.

However much you may find the way in which your school is run frustrating, it is probably wisest to avoid voicing your criticisms on sensitive matters. The Chinese resent it intensely if anyone makes them lose face, and although people may put on a show of not being offended by your criticisms, if you have hurt their feelings you can be sure that they will bear a grudge against you for a long time. By all means make constructive suggestions for how things could be done better and by all means put forward your new ideas, but don't assume that you can make things change overnight; otherwise your colleagues will think that you are arrogant and will probably ignore you.

Try to make your local colleagues feel that you appreciate them by asking them for advice about students and about the local culture. Try to encourage them to share their teaching ideas and lesson plans with you; if you do this first there will be a much greater chance of them being open to your suggestions. Find opportunities to praise and encourage your colleagues whenever possible.

How much English will my students already know?
(See Hong Kong English)

Your students' competence in English and their willingness to learn will vary tremendously depending on which school you are assigned to.

If you are assigned to a prestigious Band One school you may find that even your youngest students are performing competently at upper-intermediate or even advanced level. However, this will not necessarily mean that they are particularly keen on English. Maths and the sciences are often considered by students to be more prestigious subjects, and so you may find it difficult to foster enthusiasm for English among your brighter students - although girls seem to enjoy English more than boys do.

Cantonese, which is the mother tongue of about 90% of Hong Kong residents, is usually referred to as a ‘dialect’ of Chinese. In fact, it is as different from Mandarin/ Putonghua, China’s official language, as English is from German. As Chinese is a non-alphabetic language, students find phonics surprisingly challenging. As the language has no cognates with English and does not even have many loan words, students have little in their own language to help them to learn English vocabulary. However, the biggest challenge for Chinese speakers who are learning English is grammar. Cantonese, like all other Chinese dialects, is an isolating, non-agglutinative language. It has no suffixes or prefixes, no system of changing word-endings to mark plurals, declension or tenses, and nothing that resembles English phrasal verbs – so all of these grammar items present a challenge for Chinese students. Cantonese has no /sh/, /zh/, /z/, or /v/ sounds, very few consonant blends and fewer diphthongs than English, so pronunciation and distinguishing between similar sounding words can also be hard work for students. Most terminal consonants in Cantonese words are semi-silent or resemble glottal stops, a pattern which is maintained when Cantonese speakers speak English. Also, as Cantonese is tonal, it does not make use of stress and intonation to support meaning at sentence level in quite the same way as English. Even the Chinese concept of what constitutes a word is different from that in English; the Chinese language has no word for “word” distinct from the word for “character” even though Chinese monosyllabic characters usually have to be combined into pairs to form what English speakers would think of as a single word.

Because English is so different from Chinese, if you are in a Band One school you will probably find that whereas your junior students cope very easily with the simpler tasks you assign to them, senior students find it hard to make the transition to writing extensive formal prose which is expected of them in the Advanced level exam. As there is such a leap between what is expected of students in Form Five and what is expected of them in Form Six, it is easy to be misled into thinking that students in Form Six are less fluent than their counterparts in Form Five.

In lower band and non-banded schools you will find a totally different situation. Often students in these schools will be aware that they stand no chance of passing formal exams in the subject and will not see English as having any relevance to their own future needs, so they will be indifferent or hostile to the idea of learning. In the very worst cases, NETs have had to cope with classes in which most students do not know the alphabet, find it hard to cope with even very elementary English and have little interest in anything in English except for swear words. Obviously in these cases the need to establish authority, build trust with students and tailor the curriculum to meet their needs is paramount and probably easier said than done. Support is available for teachers in these difficult situations, but when your students have very little English the most important thing is to build relationships with your local colleagues.

What is life like for teenagers in Hong Kong?
(See Hong Kong's Economy)

Hong Kong has an extremely wide disparity in income between the richest and the poorest sections of the community, so that while the top 20% of the population enjoy a standard of living that easily rivals that of middle class Europeans and North Americans, the bottom 20% of the population live in near third-world conditions. It is little wonder, therefore, that many people in Hong Kong highly value education as a means towards attaining success in exams and ultimately securing social advancement.

Like the rest of the world, Hong Kong has been affected by a severe economic downturn since 2008. Although still at very low rates by western standards, unemployment is rising, and property prices have seen a marked decline. Teenagers are keenly aware of these issues.

Parents often have to work long hours so some students have little contact with their parents and do not receive the guidance and support that they need. The children of migrants from the mainland are often particularly isolated from their parents; there are many cases of children living with one parent while the other parent has to stay on the mainland waiting for an exit permit.

About half of the population of Hong Kong lives in public housing, most of which is extremely crowded and in a poor state of repair. It is not unusual for a family of six to have to share a 400 sq. foot flat. This overcrowding has an adverse effect on students' studies as in such crowded conditions it is often impossible for students to find a quiet place at home where they can do their schoolwork. Some public housing estates are particularly targeted by triads and there are some areas of Hong Kong where drug abuse and prostitution are widespread. Obviously, living in close proximity to crime adversely affects young people's education.

Hong Kong is a culturally complex society where the traditional Chinese religions - Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism - coexist with increasingly popular Christianity and there are also sizeable Muslim and Sikh communities, but the most pervasive value system in modern Hong Kong is secular materialism. The complexity of Hong Kong's cultures and Hong Kong's confusing status as a Special Autonomous Region have left many teenagers feeling confused about their values and uncertain as to where their loyalties should lie. In Hong Kong it is not unusual for people to shift between cultural loyalties depending on the circumstances. You may find for example that your students hold the opinion that problems such as drug addiction or sexually transmitted diseases are 'western' problems that could be prevented in Hong Kong if people were to adhere more closely to traditional Chinese values, but you are just as likely to hear Hong Kongers criticizing the supposed 'backwardness' of mainland China. Many people in Hong Kong hold simplistic views about Chinese cultural and racial superiority but at the same time aspire to an American lifestyle.

Popular Culture in Hong Kong
(See Hong Kong Culture)

Popular culture in Hong Kong is fast moving, dominated by brief fads, eclectic, highly gender-based and at times may seem infantile to an outsider. Trends come and go very quickly. Teenage girls and even young adult women often have an affection for stuffed toys and cartoon characters that would surprise their peers in the west. Teenage boys and even many male adults seem to be fascinated by comic books, which are often violent or sexually explicit. Many boys are enthusiastic followers of NBA basketball, while British league football seems to have attracted a large female audience. Many people seem to have a morbid curiosity about the personal lives of film-stars and pop singers. Chinese- language network television in Hong Kong is dominated by tabloid style magazine programmes, soap operas and, especially, period costume dramas, while children's programmes on Chinese channels are mostly dubbed cartoons and latex monster versus superhero dramas imported from Japan.

General Information on Hong Kong
www.hongkong.com

News and current affairs in Hong Kong:

South China Morning Post

Information on rental properties:

Squarefoot

Centaline Property Agency

Information about education:

Hong Kong Education and Manpower Bureau

Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union

English Schools Foundation

IMPORTANT TELEPHONE NUMBERS:

Emergency: Police/Ambulance/Fire: 999

Police: General Police Enquiries: 2527 7177 Directory enquiries 2860 2000

Ambulance: Free ambulance [St John's]: Hong Kong 2576 6555 Kowloon 2713 5555 New Territories 2639 2555

Weather (storm warning): 1878 066

Home Affairs Emergency Hotline: Emergency Hotline-2835 1473 Operational during tropical Cyclone, Landslip, and Red & Black Rainstorm warnings

Directory Enquiries: 1081

Community Advice Bureau: 2524 5444

Collect telephone calls: 10010

Inland Revenue Department (tax): 187 8022 / 187 8033 www.immd.gov.hk

Immigration Department: 2824 6111

Taxi services in Hong Kong: 2574 7311

Taxi Union lost report (Union will contact all drivers to report articles lost in a taxi.): 2385 8288

Transport Department Enquiry Phone: Hotline - 2804 2600

COMMUNITY GROUPS: Arts.

Hong Kong Folk Society email: papper@netvigator.com (Folk music listeners and players!)

Hong Kong Players, (the longest running community theatre group in Hong Kong; a dynamic and vibrant theatre company that endeavors to bring excellent theatre to its audience) www.hongkongplayers.com 2331 2005

Salsa Dance Classes 9410-8652 / 2521-7251 email: salsaman@netvigator.com

Charity:

Samaritans (Crisis intervention): 2896 0000

Hong Kong Red Cross 2802 0021 email: info@redcross.org.hk

Oxfam Hong Kong 2520-2525 email: info@oxfam.org.hk

UNICEF 2833 6139 email: info@unicef.org.hk

HK Society for Prevention of cruelty to Animals 2802 0501

Worldwide Fund for Nature [http:/www.wwf.org.hk] 2523 2316 email: member@wwf.org.hk

Earthcare 25780434 email: care@earth.org.hk

Miscellaneous:

Rotary Club of Hong Kong email: webmaster1@rotary3450.org

YWCA 3476 1340 email: esmd@ywca.org.hk

YMCA 2782 6682

Asia Expat.com

Social:

Australian Association 2530.4461 email: membership@ozhongkong.com

Sport:

Hong Kong Cricket Association 2504-8102 email: hkca@hkabc.net

Hong Kong Tennis Association. 2504 8266 email: info@tennishk.org

Hong Kong Yachting Association 2504-8159 email: HKSF@sailing.org.hk

ScubaNetwork Hong Kong email: service@scuba.net.hk

Walking With Hong Kong 9359 9071 / 9187 8641 email: walks@walkhongkong.com

Hiking: saturdayhikers@yahoo.com

Teaching:

HK Professional Teachers' Union 2780 7337 email: feedback@hkptu.org

CONSULATES IN HONG KONG:

Australian Embassy:

23/F, Harbour Centre, 25 Harbour Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong

Tel: (852) 2827 8881

Email: acghkadm@netvigator.com (for general enquiries only - not for visa & migration enquiries)

Visa & Migration office Opening hours: 9:00am to 12:00noon (Monday - Friday)

[www.immi.gov.au Website]

Passport & Consular Services office Opening hours: 9:00am to 5:00pm (Monday - Friday)

Passports may be lodged from 9:00am to 4:00pm

Witnessing Documents - 9:00am to 1:00pm each Wednesday Email: consular.hkng@dfat.gov.au

British Consulate General:

consular@britishconsulate.org.hk

Tel: (852) 2901 3281 Fax: (852) 2901 3204

Address:

Consular Section, 4th Floor, British Consulate-General, 1 Supreme Court Road, Hong Kong.

The Consular Section opening hours are: personal callers: 8.45am - 3pm Monday - Friday telephone enquiries: 8.45am - 4.30pm Monday –Thursday 8.45am - 4.15pm Friday Out of office hours Emergency Service: 2901 3000.

Consulate General of Canada:

Immigration Section Tower One,

Exchange Square,

12th Floor 8 Connaught Place Hong Kong Mission

Tel.: (852) 2810-4321

Immigration Tel.: (852) 2847-7555

Monday: 08:00 - 17:00 Tuesday: 08:00 - 17:00 Wednesday: 08:00 - 12:30 Thursday: 08:00 - 17:00 Friday: 08:00 - 17:00 Comments: Open to public - Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 8:00 to 11:30.

Honorary Consul of Ireland

Address:

22/F Prince's Building Central Hong Kong

Phone Number: 28262798

New Zealand Consulate

2525 5044

New Zealand Immigration Service 6508 Central Plaza 18 Harbour Road Wanchai Hong Kong

Tel: +(852) 2877 4488 Fax: +(852) 2877 0586

Email: nzis.hongkong@dol.govt.nz

Website:

South Africa Consulate-General of the Republic of South Africa:

Hong Kong Address: 27/F Sunning Plaza, 10 Hysan Avenue, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.

Phone Number: 25773279

US Consulate:

26 Garden Road, Hong Kong

Tel: (852) 2523-9011

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