In May, St. Markans from the LA area were invited to attend the St. Paul’s School Alumni dinner. I was chosen from our group to give a little speech at the dinner. It went as follows:
Hello, I am Andy Sae. Will my fellow St. Markans please stand and take a bow. We are honored to be invited to St. Paul's School Alumni dinner. We are St. Mark's School Alumni.

Personally, I feel very much a part of this group. I started my schooling in St. Paul's Kindergarten, then primary school at Glenealy. My cousin, Sha Yu Cheung, was there too. He was known as Big Snake and I was Little Snake. He later graduated from St. Paul's Co-ed. My sister, Susan, graduated from St. Paul's in 1963, and she is a good friend of Grace Hu who organized this dinner.

In 1955, I transferred to St. Mark's to start Form 1. It was still known as St. Paul's PM School, even though it was renamed St. Mark's School in 1953. St. Paul's English PM School was actually founded in 1949. Just a while ago one of you asked me why I transferred out of St. Paul's. I must admit it was not by my own choice. I did not make the cut. St. Mark's was a refuge for those who could not make it to the prestigious St. Paul's Co-ed.

However, St. Mark's continued to prosper. In 1956 it moved to a brand new school in Shaukiwan. I graduated there in 1959 and went to Form 6 at Queen's College. After finishing Form 6, I left for America. Fifty percent of St. Mark’s Class of 1959 studied abroad!

Later my sister, Mabel, entered St. Mark's and graduated in 1965, and my youngest sister, Violet, also graduated from St. Mark's in 1972!

In 2001, St. Mark's moved again to a new campus in Aldrich Bay. By now St. Mark's has become an academic powerhouse. In 2003, it reported the following:

1. 53 Form 7 students managed to get 30 distinctions and 97 credits. The top student had 4 distinctions and 1 credit was admitted to Oxford.
2. 148 Form 5 students, Class of 2003, had 64 distinctions and 489 credits. The top student had 6 distinctions and 1 credit
3. In the 56th HK School Music Festival, 2 students were Violin Solo champions, 1 was runner up in Piano Solo and another, 2nd runner up in Junior Flute.
4. In the Second HK Annual Mini Novel Competition, out of 2096 entries, a student from St. Mark's won the Senior High School Championship. In the Junior High Division, one student won a Distinguish Award and another won an Honorable Mention.

(The crowd applauded!)

So, I can proudly say that we are St. Mark's alumni. And, we can also proudly say that we carry the St. Paul's bloodline well. Again, thank you for inviting us, and enjoy the evening.

Andy Sae, May 15, 2004