Belilios Public School (, abbreviated as BPS) is the first government school for girls in Hong Kong, founded in 1890. It was also the first bilingual school in Hong Kong. It is in
Tin Hau
Mazu or Matsu is a Chinese sea goddess also known by several other names and titles. She is the deified form of the legendary figure Lin Mo or Lin Moniang, a Fujianese shamaness whose life span is traditionally dated from 960 to 987. Re ...
.
History
In 1890, the
Hong Kong Government
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government, refers to the Executive (government), executive authorities of Hong Kong Special administrative regions of China, ...
set up the Central School for Girls at
Old Bailey Street
Old Bailey Street is located in Central, Hong Kong. The name is derived from the Old Bailey, the Central Criminal Court in central London, United Kingdom.
Location
Old Bailey Street runs downhill from Caine Road in the south to Hollywood Road ...
as the counterpart to the Central School (
Queen's College, Hong Kong
Queen's College () is a sixth form college for boys with a secondary school and the first public secondary school founded in Hong Kong by the British colonial government. It was initially named The Government Central School () in 1862 and la ...
). Mr.
Emanual R. Belilios, a Jewish philanthropist donated
HK$
The Hong Kong dollar (, sign: HK$; code: HKD) is the official currency of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. It is subdivided into 100 cents or 1000 mils. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is the monetary authority of Hong Kong and ...
25 000 for a new building for the Central School for Girls in 1893, at the old site of Central School where a three-storeyed building was erected between
Hollywood Road
Hollywood Road is a street in Central and Sheung Wan, on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. The street runs between Central and Sheung Wan, with Wyndham Street, Arbuthnot Road, Ladder Street, Upper Lascar Row, and Old Bailey Street in the vici ...
and Gough Street.
The school was renamed ''Belilios Public School'' in honour of Mr. Belilios. In 1946 after the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, BPS moved to Hospital Road. In April 1965, the school moved again, to its present premises in
Tin Hau Temple Road. To mark the occasion, a new school motto (''Climb High, See Wide)'', a school song and a new school badge were created.
Founder
![Belilios Public School](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Belilios_Public_School.JPG)
The successful
opium trade
Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid m ...
r
Emanuel Raphael Belilios
Emanuel Raphael Belilios, (14 November 1837 – 11 November 1905) was a banker, opium dealer, philanthropist, and businessman, born in Calcutta, British India and active in Hong Kong. His father, Raphael Emanuel Belilios, was a member of a Jewis ...
was born in
Calcutta, India
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...
, on 14 November 1837. His father was
Raphael Emanuel Belilios, member of a Jewish Venetian family. Emanuel married Simha Ezra in 1855, and in 1862 he settled in Hong Kong and engaged in trade. Belilios had a house in the mid-levels, and another on the Peak of Hong Kong Island. He kept a camel at his peak residence.
In the 1870s, Belilios was chairman of the
Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Limited. In 1876, he became Chairman of the
Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation
The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (), commonly known as HSBC (), was the parent entity of the multinational HSBC banking group until 1991, and is now its Hong Kong-based Asia-Pacific subsidiary. The largest bank in Hong K ...
. Belilios died in London on 11 November 1905.
"Thirty years after he set foot on Hong Kong, he was appointed to the Legislative Council in recognition of his many contributions to Hong Kong society. However, Mr. Belilios was best remembered for being a great philanthropist. Before he made the $25,000 donation to enable our school to have a new 3-storeyed building, he had donated $5,000, one third of the total costs for setting up the
Alice Memorial Hospital
Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital (AHNH) is an acute district general hospital managed under the New Territories East Cluster of the Hospital Authority in Hong Kong. Established by the former London Missionary Society in 1887, it was the fir ...
, which served as one of the major teaching hospitals for students of the
Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese
The Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine or LKS Faculty of Medicine (HKUMed), formerly known as the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong, is a medical school which comprises several schools and departments that provide an array of tert ...
(which later became the Faculty of Medicine of the
University of Hong Kong
The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fi ...
). With a view to promoting the welfare and education of Chinese girls who were driven to crimes and prostitution by poverty, Mr Belilios also made available the funding for establishing a probation home for girls. There was and is also an abundance of scholarships established with Mr Belilios' donations either during his lifetime or upon death. They have enabled needy students to pursue education at the universities".
Class Structure
There are 24 classes; this includes 4 classes (B,P,S,H) each for F.1- F.6.
House
Achievements
BPS is one of the most prestigious secondary schools in Hong Kong. While its students generally achieve superb academic results, the school promotes also all-rounded development in different fields of arts, music and sports. Entrance hurdles are high and the school is reputed to have one of the toughest admission criteria in Hong Kong.
The following were its achievements in the year 2020/21 –
Student Honour List / Scholarship
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
The Faculty of Social Science Architectural Studies Head’s List (Service); Dean’s List
Admission Scholarships for Local Students; CW Chu Foundation Scholarship
Journalism and Communication Talent Development Scholarship
Global Communication Lanson Exchange Scholarships
Wu Yee Sun College -- Academic Excellence Scholarship; Social Services Award
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
School of Business and Management BBA(ACCT &IS) Dean’s List (2019-20 Spring)
BBA(FINA & IS) Academic Exchange – Queen’s University (2019-20 Spring)
BBA(GBUS & MARK) University Scholarship
BBA(IS & MARK) Dean’s List (2019-20 Spring)
BSc(QFIN) Dean’s List (2019-20 Fall);
Dean’s List (2019-20 Spring);
HSBC Hong Kong Scholarship;
The Joseph Lau Luen Hung Charitable Trust Scholarship
Business and Management Dean’s List (2019-20 Spring)
School of Engineering -- Dean's list Award 2019-20
Hong Kong Baptist University
Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) in English Language and Literature Dean’s List (Semester 1)
Bachelor of Business Administration (Hons.) (Applied Economics Concentration) Dean’s List (Semester 1, 2)
Bachelor of Business Administration (Hons.) (Finance Concentration) Dean’s List (Semester 1);
President’s Honour Roll (Semester 2)
Bachelor of Chinese Medicine and Bachelor of Science (Hons.) in Biomedical Science Dean’s List (Semester 1);
President’s Honour Roll (Semester 2)
Bachelor of Communication (Hons.) in Film (Animation and Media Arts Concentration) Dean’s List (Semester 1)
Bachelor of Communication (Hons.) in Public Relations and Advertising (Organizational Communication Concentration) Dean’s List (Semester 2)
Bachelor of Social Work (Hons.) Dean’s List (Semester 1, 2)
The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong
Bachelor of Business Administration (Honours) SPSS – Outstanding Performance Scholarship
Bachelor of Business Administration (Honours) in Management 2016/17 Entrance Scholarship (Scheme 2) – Sponsored by C H Chan Scholarship Fund
Academic Accomplishment Scholarship – Sponsored by C H Chan Scholarship Fund
Bachelor of Journalism and Communication (Honours) SPSS – Talent Development Scholarship
Bachelor of Social Sciences (Honours) in Asian Studies Dean's Award – Sponsored by C H Chan Scholarship Fund
SPSS – Outstanding Performance Scholarship (2019/20)
Bachelor of Translation with Business (Honours) Hui Hoy & Chow Sin Lan Charity Fund Limited
Computer and Business Translation Scholarship 2018/19
SPSS – Outstanding Performance Scholarship (2019/20)
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Bachelor of Science in Radiography First Class Honours
Academic
Hong Kong Virtual University (Department of Computer Science and Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) Chemists Online Self-study Award Scheme (COSAS) 2020 -- Diamond Award
Samsung Hong Kong
Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2020
-- Merit Award
Aesthetics
St. John's Cathedral Life Enrichment Centre 2020 Creative Art Contest -- The Most Promising Creative Talent Award
Hong Kong International Youth Artists Society International Painting Competition 2020 - Children's Group -- Excellence,
Most Creative Award
Others
Society of Japanese Language Education Hong Kong
2019-20 Society of Japanese Language Education Hong Kong Scholarship for Senior Secondary Japanese Language Subject Students
-- Certificate of Scholarship
Results of Public Examinations
Belilios Public School is one of the 38 schools that have ever produced top scorers in The Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE).
7 x 5** "Top Scorers" are described by media and HKEAA as candidates who obtained perfect scores of 5** in each of the four core subjects and three electives.
8 x 5** "Super Top Scorers" are described by media and HKEAA as candidates who obtained seven Level 5** in each of the four core subjects and three electives, and an additional Level 5** in the Mathematics Extended (M1/M2) module.
* 2017: Sze Yik Yan: awarded the “Charles Frankland Moore Award” presented by the Hong Kong Sino-British Fellowship Trust Scholars' Association for attaining the highest aggregated marks in HKDSE Examination 2017 and was admitted to HKU MBBS program.
Notable alumni
*
Lee Sun Chau
Lee Sun Chau (周理信, i.e., 周六姑, 1890-1979) was one of the first female Chinese doctors of Western Medicine in China.
Education and Medical Work
Lee Sun Chau was an alumna of Belilios Public School (庇理羅士女子中學). In the la ...
(周理信, 1890–1979) – One of the first
female Chinese doctors of
Western medicine in China.
*
Denise Yue
Denise Yue Chung-yee () GBS JP (born 1952) was a Hong Kong politician and Secretary for the Civil Service.
Yue graduated from the University of Hong Kong in 1974 and she attended Harvard University in 1988 obtaining an MPA during her civil se ...
– Former
Secretary for the Civil Service
The Secretary for the Civil Service is the head of the Civil Service Bureau in Hong Kong. Unlike other secretaries for bureaux, the Secretary for the Civil Service is filled by an administrative officer from the civil service, who may choose to ...
and former Permanent Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology (Commerce and Industry)
*
Nellie Fong
Nellie Fong Wong Kut-man, GBS, JP, FCA, FHKICPA, (; born 1949) is a Hong Kong legislator, health care activist and chartered accountant.
Early life and education
Nellie Fong was born and raised in Hong Kong. She studied at the Belilios Publ ...
(方黃吉雯) – Former member of the
Executive Council of Hong Kong
The Executive Council of Hong Kong (ExCo) is the cabinet of the Government of Hong Kong, acting as a formal body of advisers to the Chief Executive of Hong Kong that serves as a core policy-making organ assisting the Chief Executive. It is ...
and
Legislative Council of Hong Kong
The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (LegCo) is the unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under China's " one country, two systems" constitutional arrangement, and is the power centre of Hong Kong ...
*
Canny Leung
Canny Leung Chi-Shan () is a Hong Kong songwriter and author.
Biography
Leung is a graduate of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
Career
Leung was a model, an actor in television commercials, and an emcee on television and radio programs. ...
() – Entrepreneur, author, lyricist and screenwriter
*
Money Lo
Money Lo Man Yee (盧敏儀, born 19 November 1960) is a Hong Kong actress.
Filmography
* ''Web of Deception'' (1997) - Candy
* ''Mr. Mumble'' (1996) - Mistress of Ceremonies
* ''100 Ways to Kill Yourself'' (1996) - Cardin
* ''On Fire'' (1996)
* ...
() – Practising barrister and former actress
*
Charmaine Li
Charmaine Li (born January 8, 1983) is an actress, model, business owner, and spokesperson in the Hong Kong entertainment industry. She had a decade-long career in TVB. Li now focuses on business development and movies.
Early life
On 8 January ...
() - Actress
*
Gladys Liu
Gladys Liu ( yue, 廖嬋娥, ; born 6 April 1964) is a British Hong Kong, Hong Kong-born Australian former politician, who represented the Division of Chisholm in Victoria for the Liberal Party from her election in May 2019 to her defeat at the ...
() - Former member of the
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia.
The term of members of the ...
*
Lau Wai Ming () - Cantonese opera artist, Arts Advisor and Artistic Director
Hong Kong Performing Art Directory Categories/Xiqu Artist LAU Wai-Ming
/ref>
* Lily Leung
Lily Leung Shun-Yin (; 7 January 1929 – 13 August 2019) was a Hong Kong actress.
Born in Hong Kong Leung attended Belilios Public School.
Career
Leung started her acting career in 1957. Leung appeared for Rediffusion Television (1957 to 1 ...
(梁舜燕) - Late Hong Kong television actress
* Little Thunder (門小雷) - Cartoonist
* Jenny Kwok () - Adjunct Assistant Professor at The University of Hong Kong
The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fir ...
(School of English)
* Yoyo Kwok (郭曉妍) – member of Cantopop girl group Lolly Talk
See also
* Education in Hong Kong
Education in Hong Kong used to be largely modelled on that of the United Kingdom, particularly the English system. Since 2012, the overhaul of secondary school diploma has introduced changes to the number of school years as well as the two-t ...
* List of schools in Hong Kong
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
References
External links
Belilios Public School Official Website
Belilios Old Girls Association
Belilios Old Girls Foundation
The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Limited: History
Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch Newsletter, December 2004
{{Coord, 22.2849, 114.1932, display=title
Girls' schools in Hong Kong
Eastern District, Hong Kong
Educational institutions established in 1890
Government schools in Hong Kong
Secondary schools in Hong Kong
1890 establishments in Hong Kong