Confessions of a Cat-holic (140)

So I concurred with whatever Sharon had to say about her unique world views. That was what I had been doing since I knew her in grade 1. I just went along with what she said without adding any truths to it. Again, I didn't like her enough to bring her to disillusionment. I didn't want to tell her what I knew. I heard that was what happened in World War I and II. The soldiers didn't know they were brought to the frontline to become cannon fodder. They were beguiled onto the most brutal and cruelest battlefields without knowing what really happened.

Of course I would not tell her what I observed in my new school. But deep down I knew very well that whatever prestige or fame that came along with the new school brand was a mirage. So I took her to the Green and White Ball. I told Sharon that St Joseph students were among the most wealthy in my circle. You know, apart from the popular athlete-celebrity Alex Fong whom everybody knew in Hong Kong, there were indeed quite a lot of eligible bachelors from that school, just a few minutes walk away from our alma mater's campus. That proximity blinded Sharon from this city's hidden gems. She believed that the wealthy and the rich must be somewhere far away and out of reach, something that needed to be chased and pursued incessantly.

Apart from Alex Fong, the lyricist / composer / singer Terence Lam went to St Joseph. That public figure / singer / manager / artist / producer / designer / CEO of Chibi Maruko, Ivan Wang, went to St Joseph. Hey, I actually kind of knew him in person. He was the godbrother of my childhood friend, Lulu Ngai from St Paul's Secondary, whom I knew very well from our Wanchai neighborhood. Nicholas Yau, Tracy's ex boyfriend, went to St Joseph. I heard he lived in a single house in Sai Kung and was allegedly the grandson of Hong Kong's reputable Yau family. Michael Pau, my schoolmate from LPCUWC and also from St Joseph, was the grandson of Sir Yue Kong Pao. Then there was Kenneth Mak from the basketball team who became a pilot in his 20s. Charles Kao, the father of optic fibers, went to St Joseph. Jan Lamb went to St Joseph. Andy Leung from C All Star went to St Joseph. The producer / composer Chiu Tsang Hei went to St Joseph. Alfred Hui, the dentist / singer, went to St Joseph. Kelvin Kwan Chor Yiu, the singer and the son of the CEO of a record company, went to St Joseph. And I had to say, these famous alumni were not just talented, but also rich and hella good-looking. I was not exaggerating.

And then my neighbor next door from South Horizons, Sunny, also went to St Joseph. His family owned more than 10 apartments in Hong Kong and in Taiwan. My other neighbor from South Horizons, Jeff Leung, went to Oxford and now owned a complex in Tai Hang by his 30s with his earnings as a credit trader. The guy I considered the most attractive in my high school and at Columbia, Ian Chan, also went to St Joseph. And then there was Edward Leung Hei, my friend and my schoolmate from LPCUWC / columnist for AM730, also went to St Joseph. He was a rich second generation and he ran his family business as a real estate developer in the Guangdong province. Vivian Kwong went out with Kevin Lai, a Canadian graduate from UT who worked at Merrill Lynch as an equities sales and ran a start up called Central 4 Change. Then there was my other neighbor from South Horizons, Andrew from LPCUWC who went to Cornell and had since become one of the most successful bankers after graduating from INSEAD MBA. And there was Jason Lau, who lived in Baguio Villa, with a degree from Tufts, Tsinghua and MBA from Columbia. I considered Jason very good looking too, with a look that resembled Wilfred Lau Ho Lung, who also went to St Joseph.

Now what, out of the less than twenty people I personally knew from St Joseph, a majority of them and more than a handful were actually rich second generation, with a grandfather who could be a household name for every citizen in Hong Kong. The "common" people actually were my neighbors from South Horizons, but they also owned multiple flats in different complexes in Hong Kong. The least competitive ones from that school could be a Cornell graduate, Columbia MBA or Oxford credit trader.