Originally published in The Gateway Issue No. 49 (November 2013)
‘Principal of Principles’ declares one.
‘A tough cookie’ says another.
‘Order and discipline’ says another.
‘A man of steel’ says another.
One thing for sure. When it came to learning, Brother Alphonsus never took no for an answer. All pupils could learn; all pupils would learn; and all pupils did learn.
Brother Alphonsus was born in Ipoh, Malaysia in 1928, a famous tin-mining city. He was the sixth child in a family of 5 boys and 5 girls. He started his studies in the prestigious St. Michael's Institution (SMI) run by the De La Salle Brothers. His studies were interrupted during the War during which time he stayed at the farm of his father in Ipoh. He spent his time planting potatoes and vegetables. After the War, he resumed his studies in St. Michael’s.
His Leaving Certificate Report from St. Michael’s has the following remarks: “A reliable Prefect, a keen sportsman and one who gave full satisfaction to his teachers by his obedience, diligence and exemplary conduct, and was a source of continual edification to his fellow students.” It will not surprise those who knew him that he was diligent and of good conduct, but it will be surprising to learn that he was a good sportsman. In fact, he would later take physical education courses and became a qualified athletics coach.
In January 1948, soon after graduation, he started his teaching career in St. Michael’s. He would be termed a ‘student teacher’ at this stage. While studying and teaching there, he became attracted to the Catholic way of life. He and his family, apart from his father, were converted to the faith. Brother Alphonsus was baptized on the 2nd December 1949 at the age of twenty one. It was not only the Catholic way of life that attracted him. He also became attracted to the Brothers way of life, especially to their regular and harmonious lifestyle. He was impressed by the devotion, kindness and dedication of the Brothers who taught him. In 1954, rather against the wishes of his father, he asked to join the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools.
This necessitated a move to Penang for his Novitiate and further scholastic and teacher training. His first teaching assignment as a Brother, in 1957, was in St Xavier’s Branch School, Penang, and to this day his former students can remember him very well. The school catered mainly to the less well-off pupils. Right from day one, Brother Alphonsus insisted on hard work and the learning of each topic fully. If success in examinations required relentless drilling then relentless drilling it would be. This is how one of his students at the time puts it: “I never did the work assigned to the class and never opened the books to read. Each week report card had a string of marks in red and each Monday I had to face Brother Alphonsus. I was a stubborn boy and no amount of scolding by Brother could change my habits. It was a test of patience, and this went on for nearly half a year”. That is, until Brother Alphonsus won out!
He would play badminton with the staff and was the teacher-in-charge of the school football team. He was proud of its achievements because it could sometimes even beat teams from its big parent school, St Xavier’s.
His superiors were far-seeing enough to realize the importance of academic qualifications and sent him to Sydney to study for a degree. He went to the University of New South Wales in 1963 and obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in 1967, majoring in Pure Mathematics. Then it was back to teaching in Singapore and Malaysia, concentrating mainly on Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry.
The major transfer of his life occurred in 1968 when he was sent to La Salle College, Hong Kong. And, apart from two years, there he remained for the rest of his life. He became the Principal of De La Salle Secondary School, Fanling in 1971. This post probably came too early in his career and, after one year, he returned to regular teaching in La Salle College.
As a teacher, he was serious, meticulous in every detail and did not joke in class. He firmly believed in the necessity of good order and discipline as well as hard work. Students were drilled, and sometimes grilled, until they understood the subject. They might at first have thought he was very strict but when they did well in examinations they saw the whole purpose of the exercise. He also found time for two extra-curricular activities, taking charge of a Legion of Mary Praesidium and becoming teacher-in-charge of the school tennis team.
Life was moving along predictable lines when, pretty suddenly, in 1977, he was drawn into a massive project involving the demolition and redevelopment of the original La Salle College building. The Brothers had taken the hard decision that demolition of the much-loved old school was preferable to repairing and/or building an extension. Brother Alphonsus himself puts it this way in an article he entitled ‘A Bold Venture – Crossing the Rubricon’: “There were several options on how best to do it and each had its own merits and demerits. There was even tension between ‘sentimentalists’ and ‘functionalists’. The former would like to preserve the ‘Majestic Dome’ while the latter was ready to sacrifice it in order to proceed with the best option. The prime determining factor was funding. What followed has become history!”
Brother Alphonsus and Brother Thomas Lavin were detailed by the school principal, Brother Raphael Egan, to look into every detail and to oversee the entire project. They took the assignment very seriously, checked every detail, studied what they did not understand until understanding came and followed up with architects and contractors. Brother Alphonsus pored over drawings and blueprints and examined all furniture and equipment. There was hardly a nut or bolt, a pipe or conduit, a desk or chair that he did not know about. He never sought the limelight but worked tenaciously behind the scenes. He wanted the best for La Salle and got it. The new school building, though lacking the majesty of the dome, was seen by many as the most modern and functional of any school in the region. In fact, many passers-by thought it was a university.
The countless hours of toil and concentration took its toll and there were times when Brother Alphonsus felt that all his efforts were not appreciated. Perhaps this was because he tried to do everything himself and to be on top of everything. Such could be a lonely role. In this situation, a poem by Helen Steiner Rice seems to have sustained him. He had circled the title and underlined a number of lines. The poem is as follows:
Talk It Over With God
You're worried and troubled about everything,
Wondering and fearing what tomorrow will bring,
You long to tell someone, for you feel so alone,
But your friends are all burdened
with cares of their own.
There is only one place and only one Friend
Who is never too busy, and you can always depend
On Him to be waiting, with arms open wide
To hear all the troubles you came to confide . . .
For the heavenly Father will always be there
When you seek Him and find Him
at the altar of prayer.
The next big assignment came with the changing of the guards in September 1984. This time he was asked to be the Principal of La Salle College. The 1980’s was a restless time, characterized by the migratory phenomenon caused by the impending return of Hong Kong to China. Teachers came and went. Many preferred the greener pastures of the private sector. Despite the times, the school managed to maintain high academic standards with a number of pupils achieving the coveted 9A’s in the public examinations. Good discipline and order was maintained. La Salle College captured the Overall Championship in the Interschool Athletics Meet for 5 consecutive years. The soccer team, volleyball team, squash team, fencing team and the swimming team dominated the interschool competitions. By 1991, the Omega Rose Bowl, the symbol of overall supremacy in sports, remained the school’s prized possession for 17 consecutive years.
Brother Alphonsus paid particular attention to the Catholic life of the school, establishing the Catholic Society and supporting the Legion of Mary. Rosary was said before school in the chapel and the monthly Mass was attended by all Catholic pupils.
As mentioned, he believed in or¬der and discipline. Routine must be adhered to. He accepted no excuses. However, the following little story shows that his bark could be worse than his bite.
In 1988 a Form 7 boy was leaving Hong Kong for the USA. Two boys were ‘selected’ by their classmates to speak to Brother Alphonsus. “We went to the Principal's Office early in the morning, hands and feet trembling. What we had in mind were: "Why the two of us?" Brother Alphonsus asked why we wanted to speak to him. I answered, ‘Master Y is leaving today and ...’ Well, I dared not continue but my companion finished my sentence saying, ‘and we want to wish him farewell at the airport.’ We waited quietly for his answer. After one or two seconds Brother Alphonsus asked quietly, ‘What is his departure time?’ ‘About 3 o'clock and we want to skip the last lesson.’ We stood there for another 5 seconds. ‘Boys of F.7C can go. Give me the names of the other students who wish to go. You can leave after lunch time.’ Well, now I know what the Bible means by ‘Ask and you will receive.’”
The two terms as Principal were up in 1990 and Brother Alphonsus retired from the job. As he puts it himself: “I took centre stage without any fanfare in September 1984 and retired in similar fashion in September 1990.” Not quite full retirement. There was a further year of teaching at Chong Gene Hang College on Hong Kong Island before he hung up his boots.
While he did not go around smiling all day, you would often see him smiling broadly in the company of old boys. Somehow they had a way of bringing out his human and even humourous side. He often enquired about them and their families and was very pleased when they were doing well. The same went for the school auxiliary staff, the janitors and security personnel with whom he frequently chatted.
As a member of the Brothers Community, we could be certain that Brother Alphonsus would always be where he was supposed to be, be it in the chapel for prayer or in the dining room for meals. He followed a regular and predictable timetable. Brother Patrick has this to say:
“Since I was living in the next room for twenty three years, I knew I could set my watch by him. In fact there was hardly any need for a watch. He would rise early and, after ablutions, head for the chapel. If he were not around we would ask questions. I don’t know how he spoke with God, but every day he would be at his place in chapel. He took his religion seriously and loved the Mass and the Rosary. His special devotion was to our Lady and the Legion of Mary therefore appealed to him.”
On the personal preference side, Brother Alphonsus was never seen to take soup, eat dessert or sing a song. He felt that all sweet stuff was not good for the health. As for singing, we don’t know if he had a note in his head. In leisure time, he very much liked to read Catholic magazines and newspapers and spent time emailing.
The first indications that his health was not so good came a good many years ago when we learned that he had contracted a form of leukaemia. He got good medication for it but developed a hard, raking cough which took a lot out of him. He fought his condition long and hard but had to be hospitalized every so often, received occasional blood transfusions and gradually began to physically weaken.
In early June of 2013, his doctor indicated that Brother Alphonsus was declining fairly rapidly, because his major organs were weakening. He was in and out of hospital a number of times. He disliked staying too long in the hospital and returned to his Community room as quickly as possible. The final hospitalization, this time in Queen Elizabeth Hospital, came on the night of the 3rd August 2013 when he passed to his Maker.
The funeral Mass and burial were held over to enable relatives to assemble and arrive in Hong Kong. Eleven of them were able to make the trip from Malaysia, including a nephew and a niece. The last rites were held on the 13th August with funeral Mass in St Teresa’s Church followed by burial in St Michael’s Ceetery, Happy Valley. Despite heavy rainfall, there was a large turnout of the Hong Kong Lasallian Family. Fr. Marciano Baptista, S.J., an old boy, was the chief celebrant and Brother Patrick Tierney delivered the eulogy.
