Wah Yan College, Kowloon [????- ] | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

Wah Yan College, Kowloon [????- ]

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Submitted by David on Tue, 2015-01-06 16:33

OldTimer writes:

Wah Yan College was one of the few famous English secondary schools in Kowloon in the 1950s.  I and hundreds of other young boys waited in long line just to get their Form 1 application form.  What impressed me on that day was their wide open grassland extending to the streets.  I didn't get accepted but fortunately another equally good college took me in.

Lawrence Tsui writes:

Wah Yan College (Kowloon) was established in 1924 by Peter Tsui Yan-sau and his partner Lim Hoy-lan.  Peter Tsui established Wah Yan College (Hong Kong) in 1919, which was a great success by this time, relocating to premises to the St. Joseph's cluster on Robinson Rd, adjacent the Catholic Cathedral.  WYHK was popular as an Anglos-Chinese Catholic school with some boarders who were off-springs of Overseas Chinese seeking a bilingual education. The Director of Education, Mr. A.E. Wood, made WYHK a Grant-in-Aid school in 1922/23; despite WYHK being a school not operated by foreign missionaries. 

This prompted Peter Tsui to recruit a partner, Lim, appointing him as Headmaster of WYHK, while he himself proceded to start up WYK; initially at No.70 Portland Street (j/o Pitt St) Yaumatei, eventually consolidating premises and residents at No.2 Nelson St (KIL2190) for classrooms, and No.61 Tung Choi St (KIL1568) for residences.  This school was again an immediate success.  The DoEducation again made it a Grant-in-Aid School in 1930.  

Peter Tsui & Lim embarked on other business ventures, meant to subsidise the educational entreprises.  These failed miserably, undermining the financial health of the two schools.  WYHK was handed over to the Jesuits in 1933.  The partnership desolved and Lim transferred to operate WYK.  When the Japanese invaded in Dec 1941, the school was closed.  In 1946, operation of WYK was also handed over to the Jesuits to restart. In the mid-50s, the Jesuits relocated WYHK to Queen's Rd East and WYK to Waterloo Road.  These premieses were allotted to the Wah Yans by the Governor Sir Alexander Grantham; no doubt in recognition of their success, but also the unique and wide-spectrum contribution to HK society by Rev. Fr. Ryan SJ. 

Lim rented the old WYK Mongkok premises from Peter Tsui to operate his own Tak Yan School until the early 70s when the premises were sold for redevelopment.  

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Submitted by OldTimer on Wed, 2015-01-07 00:10.

Hi Lawrence,  wasn't 61Tung Choi St at the corner of Nelson St the site of Tak Yan College in the 1950s?  I heard that was the former site of Wah Yan.   OldTimer

Submitted by Lawrence Tsui on Wed, 2015-01-07 01:04.

The site was Tak Yan School after 1954 when WYK moved to Waterloo Road.  I posted a picture of the premises separately.  I also noted the development of the two adjacent sites - one for classrooms and another for residences, both for the boarders as well as for staff, including Peter Tsui's extended family.  The sites were sold to a subsidiary of Henderson Land in the early 1970s.  There was an extended litigation involving the operator of TYS and the Government, prior to an adjudication by the Supreme Court clearing the way for the sale.  

I have the names of the Architect (...Lane...) and the contractor somewhere,