A Salute to
the Flag Raising Team
They have been the focal point of discussion for quite some time, yet we have rarely seen them in action during the past school year. Who are they? Remember the national flag raised in the hall? You’ve guessed it, we’re talking about the flag-raising team. I am sure you have loads of questions about this newly-formed team, so in an attempt to gain a deeper understanding of this seemingly elusive squad, we interviewed our Vice Principal – Mr. Keith Wong, who’s in charge of the team as well as some members of this cadre.
Why was the flag-raising team formed? During our interview with Mr. Wong, we asked the same question and were informed that the principal objective of the team’s formation is ultimately for the good of students, members and non-members alike. Compliance with the government regulations is definitely a crucial factor but the team itself has much broader goals.
The members, for instance, can bolster their leadership as they become more confident in communicating and expressing themselves. They’ll become more adaptable to various complex situations — capable of solving problems on-the-fly. Through the strenuous training sessions, members of the team have also established strong bonds among themselves and now know each other’s capabilities and shortcomings by heart. Of course, through the team’s efforts, the students in our school can better understand our nation.
The performance of the flag-raising team at the Form 1 bridging course was spectacular. We thought they must have gone through a lot of intensive training to put on such a stellar show, but we were still genuinely surprised when told of their hectic routines. Throughout 2021-2022, their training was mostly event-based, but members had to sustain 100% attendance — even during the mid-year examination, as it coincided with an important external event. Not many people can fulfill this kind of stringent requirement and the number of team members has slowly fallen from around 50 to just 10 core members.
Mr. Wong explained the rationale behind these stringent training sessions, “my policy is “Guaranteed Success”, and only through intensive and the strongest commitment can the members be ensured of resounding success at any event.’’ Mr. Wong said that this policy aims to avert the shock to members' confidence caused by catastrophic failures and to ensure that they would not be frustrated or feel defeated. In the coming year, the 10 core members will be subdivided into 3 “sub-teams”, and these will take part in organising regular training sessions, every other Friday; the events section will handle internal and external events while the administrative section will be dealing with the internal affairs of the team. This division of labour will allow members to specialise.
Did you know?
The foot drills for the flag-raising team and the scouts are different, because they follow Chinese and British foot drills respectively. One of the biggest differences between the two styles is the amplitude of the thigh-raises. Chinese foot drill requires marchers to raise their thighs by 45 degrees, while the British foot drill requires the thighs to be raised by 90. Scouts also have to stomp the ground when turning, while the Chinese approach prefers marchers to be quiet when they turn.
As well as interviewing Mr. Wong, we also had a chat with some of the team members. From their perspective, in addition to learning the skills and etiquette for raising the national flag, they believe that the flag-raising team has also fully equipped them to step into society. They’ve learnt to understand the importance of acceptance, since members of their team may have their personal limitations and face different challenges. As a part of the group, members have to embrace one another’s needs and lend a helping hand when one is struggling.
They have learnt to be adaptive in various scenarios, since marching in different places requires them to change their habits, their marching tempo being just one example of this. However, out of all the life-changing skills they have acquired, they believe teamwork is the key to success. While training, they always work together and think of ways to improve their team as a whole.
Besides this, they’ve also had to learn to coordinate people from different fields of expertise in order to create a quality team, where each and every member can shine in their own unique way. All this training was actually a major incentive for the members to apply for a position in the team in the first place.
Training to become a capable flag-raising team member is undoubtedly no easy task. We asked members to share some of the challenges they have faced so far. One of the challenges they have pointed out is the time when a coach was sent from the Association of Hong Kong Flag-guards to oversee their training. They recalled that the training sessions then were very time-consuming and they had to be highly disciplined since their coach was extremely strict and expected the highest-quality performance from them.
Photos by Mr. Boron Li
Did you know?
There are two types of Chinese foot drills: the Goose step and the Quick march. The Goose step is more formal and is designed to salute country leaders or government officials during inspections. The Quick march is less formal and looks more like walking. Since there is no government official at school, the Goose step can’t be used on its own, so the flag-raising team use a Quick March → Goose Step → Quick March combination at school.
After being in the flag-raising team for quite some time, there are sure to be some memorable moments, right? ‘’Absolutely,’’ the flag-raising team members recalled their first flag-raising ceremony. They remember not performing well in either the marching or flag-raising section. However, they were not put off, and were able to pull through with their training — going to an institution of higher education to train during the final exam period last year. Thankfully, such dedication and hard work eventually bore fruit in the F.1 bridging course organized in August 2022. In front of a crowd of parents and newcomers, the flag-raising team performed very well indeed.
Photos by Mr. Boron Li
Just a year old, the flag-raising team has certainly outperformed expectations. Mr. Wong, however, sees this as merely the end of the beginning, and in the new school year, the flag-raising team will take part in many more internal and external events, like Sports Day, Speech Day, and even inter-school flag-raising competitions. The members also plan to challenge themselves to earn badges through demonstrating their skills to the Association of Hong Kong Flag-guards.
We wish the flag-raising team the best of luck and that they continue to perform marvelously in the coming year.