Few are royal or could become royal by marriage, and being royal does not mean that the beings have to exhibit the air of a monarch. Royal also means a mast right above the topgallant mast and sails of a big sailing ship. When I began my post-secondary studies at NT Heung Yee Kuk Secondary School in 1971, my classmates believed that life was like sailing and we labelled ourselves as "Sailingers".
Young and free, we were romantic in our thoughts but did not quite know which direction we should be heading. Most of the time, we simply followed our hearts and did the things we believed them to be right. While there was strong bondage among us - boys and girls - our main challenge was that we could not predict our future, particularly what would be our fate when the school terms were over.
It turned out that many of us achieved the objective to get admitted to higher institutions like the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong University, or Schools of Education. I was one of the few who had to begin full-time working. After a spell as a bar tender in Lido at Repulse Bay, 10 months as a teacher in Pak Kau Secondary School at Kam Tin, I settled down as a Housing Assistant in the civil service.
May 19, 2018 was the date chosen by our Alma Mater to celebrate its 50-year anniversary and some Sailingers decided to seize the opportunity to meet. What I have documented visibly and tangibly was a tri-lingual song entitled "Sailing". While both the music and lyrics are non-commercial, the raw and real song tells who we were, and I believe we would stay royal in our own way!