Belilios Public School

Belilios Public School
Climb High See Wide
Location
51 Tin Hau Temple Road, Hong Kong
Information
Type	Public
Established	1890
Principal	Ms. Ho Fung Ping Wendy
Enrollment	31 classes
Number of students	1300 students
Colour(s)	Green and Orange
Information	+852 2571 8018
Medium of instruction	English
Website	http://www.belilios.net/

Belilios Public School (庇理羅士女子中學, abbreviated as BPS) is the first government school for girls in Hong Kong, founded in 1890. It was the first bilingual school in Hong Kong.

History

In 1890, the Hong Kong Government set up the Central School for Girls at Old Bailey Street as the counterpart of Central School. Mr. E. R. Belilios, a Jewish philanthropist donated HK$ 25 000 for a new building for the Central School for Girls in 1893, at the old site of Central school (Queen's College, Hong Kong), a 3-storeyed building was erected between Hollywood Road and Gough Street.

The school was re-named Belilios Public School in honour of Mr. Belilios. In 1946 after the Second World War, BPS moved to Hospital Road. In April 1965, the school moved again, to its present premises in Tin Hau Temple Road. To mark the occasion, a new school motto Climb High, See Wide, a school song and a new school badge were created.

The founder

Belilios Public School in 1897.

Belilios Public School in 2005.

Successful opium trader Emanuel Raphael Belilios was born in Calcutta, India, on November 14, 1837. His father was Raphael Emanuel Belilios, member of a Jewish Venetian family. Emanuel married Simha Ezra in 1855, and in 1862 he settled in Hong Kong and engaged in trade.

In the 1870s, Belilios was chairman of the Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Limited. In 1876, he became Chairman of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. Belilios died in London on 11 November 1905.

“Thirty years after he set foot on Hong Kong, he was appointed to the Legislative Council in recognition of his many contributions to Hong Kong society. However, Mr. Belilios was best remembered for being a great philanthropist. Before he made the $25,000 donation to enable our school to have a new 3-storeyed building, he had donated $5,000, one third of the total costs for setting up the Alice Memorial Hospital, which served as one of the major teaching hospitals for students of the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese (which later became the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong). With a view to promoting the welfare and education of Chinese girls who were driven to crimes and prostitution by poverty, Mr Belilios also made available the funding for establishing a probation home for girls. There was and is also an abundance of scholarships established with Mr Belilios' donations either during his lifetime or upon death. They have enabled needy students to pursue education at the universities.”

Achievements

BPS is one of the most prestigious secondary schools in Hong Kong. While the students generally achieve a high academic performance, the school promotes also all-rounded development in different fields of arts, music and sports. Entrance hurdles are high and the school is reputed to have one of the toughest admission criteria in Hong Kong.

The following were achievements in year 2003/04 -

Performing arts

• The 55th Hong Kong Schools Speech Festival: 17 Champions, 23 First runners-up in the English section; 28 Champions, 25 First runners-up in the Chinese section.
• One pupil was awarded the Champion in English in the Air 2003-2004 (Lizzie McGuire)
• In the 2004 Hong Kong Odyssey of the Mind Competition: Second runner-up, Best Creativity and Merit Prize.
• 2004 Hong Kong Student Science Project Competition: two groups of pupils entered the final round and one of them obtained the Honourable Mention; one pupil won 2nd Prize in the Award Scheme for Tomorrow’s Scientists of the Nation.
• The 40th Schools Dance Festival: the Honour Award in the Chinese Dance Section.
• The 56th Schools Music Festival: 14 Champions, 19 First runners-up
• Two pupil won 2nd and merit prizes respectively in the Environmental Protection Essay Competition organized by the International Lions Club

Sports

• The school Athletics Team was promoted to Division Two in the 2004-2005 school year;
• The Basketball Team and the Badminton Team : First runner-up in Division One of Hong Kong Island.
• The Table Tennis Team : Second runner-up in Division One
• The Squash Team : Overall Champion; a member of the Squash Team received the Outstanding School Athlete Award 2003-2004 and was elected Outstanding Athlete in Squash in the BOCHK Bauhinia Bowl, and First runner-up in the “Student Sportsperson of the Year” organized by the South China Morning Post.

Notable alumnae

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

• Denise Yue - Secretary for the Civil Service and former Permanent Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology (Commerce and Industry)
• Nellie Fong - former member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong and Legislative Council of Hong Kong
• Money Lo - Former Actress
• Cecilia Wong - Distinguished writer and novelist
• Charmaine Li - Actress and model
• Lau Wai Ming - Cantonese Opera Actress
• Canny Leung Chi Shan - Writer, novelist, lyricist
• Donna Chu Kit Yee - Miss Hong Kong 1989 1st Runner-up
• Gloria Tsang Yan-Yan - Nationally recognized dietitian and book author.

See also

• Education in Hong Kong
• List of schools in Hong Kong

External links

• Belilios Public School Official Website
• Belilios Old Girls Association
• Belilios Old Girls Foundation
• The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Limited: History
• Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch Newsletter, December 2004