Mrs. Wu Pong Sin Yu, Monique is co-founder and artistic director of the Hong Kong Music Children Foundation. She obtained her Bachelor of Music from Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts (majoring in piano and music pedagogy) with outstanding academic results. Upon her graduation, she became a music teacher and subsequently advanced her studies in École Normale, an elite institution for teacher training. Mrs. Wu has always been an enthusiastic and devoted music educator. She has over 25 years experience in child education, teacher training, music education and conducting.
Mrs. Wu is very enthusiastic in charity work and launched the Music Children@Shamshuipo Programme in 2013 to provide comprehensive music education for underprivileged students. Through the training of young people to play music instruments, music appreciation, and attendance of music and other multi-dimension arts performances, the joy of music is spread and shared within the community.
Festive Chamber was delighted to interview Mrs. Wu Pong Sin Yu, Monique on 13 December 2019 and had the opportunity to know more about this very interesting and passionate musician.
(I): Interviewer
(W): Mrs. Wu Pong Sin Yu, Monique
W : First of all, I think music is a gift to children, and now we can also extend it to parents and siblings. I believe music is universal, without boundaries. However, in Hong Kong, music is a kind of luxury and may not be available to every child. That’s why I think if I have the resources to help the community, I would like to emphasize on music education. It is a key to open a child’s heart, to improve their self-esteem. I think it is really essential for them.
Hong Kong is a unique city where you can see all around us both private housing and subdivided flats. Ninety percent of our children are from low-income families, living in subdivided flats. Their parents are also not well educated. Some come from single-parent families and may suffer from home violence; some may not live with their parents. Under these circumstances, you could imagine how the children lack a sense of security. They may think the world is unfair to them, and society cannot provide what they need. So when they become teenagers, there will be more anger and dissatisfaction. I often think to myself: what can we do to stop the above situation? Then I thought of implementing a music programme. That’s why our students begin to learn music from ages six to twelve. Our targets are the underprivileged primary children, where learning music can nurture a sense of belonging and positive values, and so hope to dissolve any resentment in the future.
Every student in MCF learn a single instrument, expect the piano because the fee is too expensive and because they do not have the space for a piano at home. They can take their instrument back home for practice. After six months, we will divide them into different ensembles. Music becomes a “language” for them. Even though some children do not know how to express their feelings, they will use music and their instruments to communicate with others. It is a wonderful feeling to see children playing music, no matter the quality.
We also provide many opportunities for children to perform during the year. Parents are also surprised and delighted to witness their children’s hard work when watching them perform in the City Hall. It becomes an excellent way for parents to realize that what their children are doing is not worthless nor a waste of time. Some parents are always complaining about their own fates, saying that raising the children is troublesome. I hope to give chances for children to shine on the stage so that both children and parents realize that they can have equal opportunities just like other children. So this is my belief in music education.
W : One of the prevalent challenges that I encountered was the difficulty of explaining to parents the value and importance of music education. I often receive complaints from parents, because they think it is time-consuming for their children to learn music in our Centre three times a week, or they may not even be satisfied with the poor sound quality of the beginners.
Another big obstacle is that we don’t have enough space for children to practice music. It is very difficult to pack over 60 students into just 700 square metres of space. Although the place will become very noisy when all children are playing their instruments, I think it is still good to provide an opportunity for children to appreciate each other’s hard work and enjoy the music. It’s surprising to see that our children really focus during their practice and parents also soon find how their children have changed – such as they become more self-disciplined, especially academically.
One of the biggest problems is the parents themselves. Most of them are not Hong Kong citizens. They may have to return to the Mainland every three months. Their children may have to be taken care of by their relatives, who may not bring them to the Centre to continue their music lessons. So I think the problems of attendance and behaviour of the children are a challenge for us. Eventually, we solved the issues by providing an opportunity for children to perform on stage. It’s also an excellent way to exhibit the achievements of the children to their parents. Parents will then understand all the hard work and time their children have devoted to their music have not been wasted. I often think we need to educate the parents also, while dealing with problems of their children.
Also, parents and children may not appreciate our work because our music training programme is free. The children may not persevere with their musical training. There are many difficulties for children to learn music as they live in subdivided flats with very little space to practice their instruments, or they may not be able to attend the two practice sessions and music lesson weekly. Luckily, many of our volunteers are willing to talk to the parents and take care of the children.
In the first year, it was hard for us. My sons were young and I had to take care of them too. I often had to choose between staying home or going back to the Centre. It was a kind of sacrifice. But when the parents realized that even the founder was willing to take care of their children, they started to appreciate our work and support their children. As a parent, I’m always happy to have the privilege to communicate with parents of the students and to understand their needs. I even encourage my young sons to go to the Centre to learn music. The parents and I must speak the same language and share the same values in the education of children so that we could understand each other in the end.
W : I still remember once when my son was sick in the winter of the first year when I launched the Programme. He needed to stay at home and to use a machine for breathing and it was a freezing 2 °C that day in February. The volunteer told me to stay at home to take care of my child, and that he would deal with the things at the Centre. At first, I assumed there would be no one coming to the Centre for lessons on such a day.
However, I still decided to leave my son at home with the maid, and to take the 50 minute-trip back to the Centre just to make sure of the safety of the children there. I almost cried when I arrived because I could hear music ringing in the air. I saw that most of the children had already started practising their instruments. We then happily played some music together. Even though it was out of tune and the rhythm was not quite correct, we still enjoyed every moment of the lesson. I was touched and glad to see how students treasured the opportunity even under such inclement weather. It was a meaningful night for me.
W : There are many pedagogies in teaching students, but I have a special one. I was a piano teacher for 25 years. I started my teaching career when I was 13 and I kept teaching even though I later studied at HKAPA. I found that it is vital to make the lesson fun if I want the students to learn something.
I still remember that whenever I meet my students, I mix some interesting Cantonese lyrics into the melody instead of just playing the classical pieces properly. We then sing together, and both my students and I enjoy the fun of playing the music. I soon realized if we could have fun as well, I’m sure the students and children will like learning music a lot more.
That’s why I started to design my curriculum called “Music Cradle” for three to six year old children when I started the foundation. I created a musical titled, “Amazing”. It was a mixture of classical music pieces and Cantonese lyrics. I put classical music into different forms, like rewriting the “Carmen Toreador Song” into Jazz, and Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake” into Hip Hop. I developed my core curriculum with elements from daily life based on classical music tunes. I believe that we can make the lessons fun and make music more enjoyable.
W : Our Programme has already started to expand to other districts since 2017. The Sham Shui Po Programme was our starting point because I think Sham Shui Po is a unique community, with extreme disparity between the rich and the poor in Hong Kong. Many families are living in subdivided flats. Some people may ask why don’t I launch the programme in Tin Shui Wai or Tuen Men? Well, most of the families there are already settled in public housing, whereas children in Sham Shui Po still need our help.
Another reason for me to share music with all poor children was because of my own impoverished childhood. I also lived in a subdivided flat at that time. I grew up in a grassroots family, and I spent seven years living in a squatter area. I understand how desperate children feel when raised with inadequate materials, live in a poor environment and have few opportunities for learning.
I also started to learn piano at 10, which is very late compared to other musicians. So I want to help the children through staging performances in different places and to remind them that they are not underprivileged. Through learning music and performing, they no longer regard themselves as poor kids, but instead, have stronger self-esteem. This is what I could provide through my music training programme.
W : In my opinion, you will have to consider the vision and mission of your group. Imagine in another ten years, what long term or short term goals do you want to achieve? There is a lot of possibilities for your group to try, such as planning to expand the service in the community, recruiting more members or even to set up a parents’ choir. Designing the vision and mission clearly are always vital, and your group should have a detailed proposal to implement the goals step-by-step, like organizing the fundraising of the concert every year.
Ten years is a milestone. I think you should also look back on what you achieved in the past ten years. So if you compare the past and look to the future, you may come up with a new theme to contribute to society. I think there are milestones for an NGO to review their work, namely, during the third year, the seventh year and the tenth year.
The first three years are for the group to explore the goals they want to achieve. On the seventh year, the group may start to lose passion and feel tired, so there is a need to reform and review. From ten years and beyond, the change must be implemented to ensure the continuation of the organization. As an outstanding community choir, I believe your group will soon locate your vision, mission and position in the community.
