Newsletter No. 28

No.28 March 1992- • CUHK Newsletter ChungChi College NewAsia's electric bell system janitor had to press a master button by hand to trigger off the electric bells, and he had to rely on his own wrist watch to keep time. According to a senior college member, the electric bells never rang very punctually. He suspects that either the janitor was forgetful or his watch was capricious. As a matter of fact, there was an electric clock in each classroom but annoyingly such clocks did not show a uniform time. To solve the problem once and for all, New Asia College installed a new set of fully-automatic composite bells, and thereafter classes were announced punctually. Upon relocation to Sha Tin, New Asia College had to rearrange the system according to the location of classrooms. A 'principal bell' was installed at Cheng Ming Building, and it was linked to loudspeakers on every floor of major buildings on the New Asia campus. When the principal bell rang, its peal would be channelled to all the floors via loudspeakers. One shortcoming of such a system was that the peal of bells that came through the loudspeakers was too loud. Passers-by were frequently startled and some elderly teachers simply couldn't stand such ‘excitement'. Complaints prompted the college office to add a musical bell, turning the continuous peal of electric bells to five melodious tinkling notes, similar to what we hear near the Star Ferry. The New Asia system which comprises a principal bell, a loudspeaker network and amusical bell was originally designed and set up by one single company. When the company later closed down, the college was unable to find a single successor to be responsible for its maintenance, which was then contracted out to three different companies. Whenever something goes wrong and the problem cannot be identified, the college has to call in three companies for help. Such experience is what has deterred United College from installing a similar system for its classrooms. The Old and the New Coexist at Chung Chi In its early days Chung Chi College also rang bells by hand to announce classes. A bell slightly bigger than its United College counterpart was installed at Teaching Block Two for the purpose. With the increase in student numbers over the years and as more classrooms were built on the campus, its voice was no longer loud enough to be heard everywhere. The college therefore decided to go electric. The system at Chung Chi is less complicated than the one at New Asia. A principal bell is connected to three subsidiary bells at the teaching blocks and they ring like synchronized fire alarms. Quite coincidentally, the electric bells at Chung Chi have also caused complaints from college members. Those living in college quarters have been roused from their sweet dreams by the faithful ringing of the bells on Saturday mornings and holidays. Upon popular request, the principal bell is now turned off on Saturday and when classes are not in session. Since many teaching blocks on the Chung Chi campus are being redeveloped, bells ringing for lessons can now be heard only in classrooms at Block Eight. The college has not yet decided whether or not to use the existing system when the new buildings have been completed. What it has decided, however, is that the old bronze bell will be retained permanently, both for contingencies and as an object of historical value. Any Other Bells on the Campus? At other locations on the campus, electric bells with ordinary doorbell sounds can also be found, e.g. at Wen Lan Tang of Shaw College, the Science Centre, and the Lady Shaw Building. In fact, similar bells were used at the Fung King Hey Building and the Y. C. Liang Hall as well for quite some time but they were later Tired' by the Mall Buildings Management Office at the request of teachers who had been disturbed in the course of double lessons. There are also a few seminar rooms and lecture halls at the Leung Kau Kui Building, the Choh-Ming Li Building for Basic Medical Sciences and the Prince of WalesHospital. Not designedprimarily as teaching buildings, these facilities are not fitted with electric bells. When attending classes there, teachers and students alike have to rely on their own watches to keep time. J