Originally published in The Gateway Issue No. 28 (January 2011)
The benevolent side of Brother Patrick was shown in different ways. One such had to do with academic awards. For some years the school had no Speech or Prize-giving Days. At the end of the year, just before the final examination, he would go around to all classes from Form 1 to 4 and personally give away his “prizes”, exempting the top 5 students in each class from the final examination! This unique system of awards was never forgotten, especially by the recipients.
One of the students who happened to be in the junior forms at the time, and who was later to become a world-renowned iconic figure, was Bruce Lee. Bruce was hyper active, a veritable dynamo, a little dragon. The Head of the junior classes, Brother Henry Pang, did a pretty good job of reining in his exuberant spirits but occasionally Bruce became too much even for Brother Henry who would then send Bruce up to Brother Patrick’s office for cooling down. Brother Patrick, a man of few words, would point to a chair and Bruce would sit there quietly until Brother Patrick considered he had cooled down sufficiently. He would then be sent back to class.
All through these years Brother Patrick was directly caught up in the efforts to wrest back the grand old school on Boundary Street from the British army. As late as 1956 we find him writing to the relevant Government department: “We feel we have a right to expect from Government something more substantial, commodious and convenient than the flimsy structures we have had to work in during the past seven years.” He would, however, already be retired before his efforts bore fruit and would not witness the celebratory return to the old school.
Brother Patrick was a quiet, reserved, philosophical type of person but when he spoke he did so with authority. He commanded absolute obedience of the students who held him in awe. He liked animals, including cats, and some people said he moved like a cat! This kind of atmosphere was not conducive to indiscipline and so, by and large, the school ran like a well-oiled engine. A teacher recalls: “We used to call Brother Patrick ‘Gum See Mao’ because of his blond hair. Whenever we saw his golden head rising from his chair in the Principal’s Office or through the windows, everybody got down to work and behaved.”
As one of his students put it: “In the years he was with us as Principal, we never heard any speeches from him; he educated us simply by walking the corridors.”
After forty six years on the missions in the East, Brother Patrick returned to his native country in August 1957 to spend his remaining years. He was appointed to St. Patrick’s Community in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where he remained until his death in September, 1968. We are indebted to a Brother who lived with him during his retirement years for much of what follows.
Brother Patrick was not the man to sit back and enjoy a well-earned rest after devoted and arduous service in the Institute. Immediately at the start of the new year he took over part of the Office work dealing with the school accounts. His quiet and unobtrusive efficiency much endeared him to everyone on the staff. Nothing was too much trouble; his only desire was to oblige and render service to everyone. If some invoice didn’t seem to be in order or if there was some other such irregularity, he soon got it straightened out and with a charming smile explained the discrepancy to the particular individual concerned.
He was full of fun and thoroughly enjoyed a witty joke or literary pun. A serene gaity was one of his outstanding traits. The writer lived with Brother Patrick for about ten years and never in all that time had he seen him in a bad mood or heard from him the slightest criticism of any person or detail of community life.
He was a deeply religious man. For him there was no formalism or externality of religion. Living religious life was something to be truly happy about. His regularity at all the spiritual exercises was something, I am sure, every young scholastic passing through the Community must have admired and benefited from. Right up to the last few months before his death Brother Patrick was to be seen making his way feebly along the corridor to the Oratory or community room for one or other of the Community exercises. I think it was with no little difficulty that the Director was able to persuade him, towards the end, to make his exercises and prayers where and whenever he was able.
Reading was Brother Patrick’s pastime; and when he suffered from a stroke in 1963 its cruelest effect was its depriving him of this facility during his leisure hours. He was an extremely well-read man, but if some wag in the Community tried to draw him into argument, Brother Patrick always countered with a few gentle words and a pleasant smile.
Another of his amiable characteristics was his great fondness for animals. When he took his stroll around the grounds of an evening, as was his wont, the school dog watched for him and scampered off before him leaping and bouncing with delight. Even the farmyard cats, almost a dozen of them, rather wild and completely undomesticated outdoor creatures, rushed along the path to meet him at the very sound of his footsteps. Of course Brother Patrick always had some little tit-bit for them.
Brother Patrick made a wonderful recovery after a serious stroke in the summer of 1963. But a year or two later he began to get somewhat feeble. Nevertheless he tried to keep up an outward appearance of fitness and cheerfulness and never complained or sought the slightest extra attention. When some members of the Community offered him some little service or other, the usual reply was, “Oh! That will be alright, don’t trouble, you are too busy. I’ll manage alright”.
During the Summer of 1968 his health deteriorated a good deal and he was obliged to keep to his bed. The Bon Secours Sisters and the Brothers gave him constant attention, but all the while there was never a complaint or request for anything special. He accepted his infirmities with the serenity and gentleness that characterized his active years.
The end came at 11:45 pm on Friday 27th September, 1968. Brother Patrick just slipped away peacefully. The Community had been in and out of the sick room most of the evening, and all were around the bedside when he departed this life to the Heavenly reward awaiting him.
The 1968/69 La Salle College, Kowloon, school magazine paid Brother Patrick this tribute:
“He was a man of great affability of character, with a quick and ready wit, a keen mind and a fine sense of humour; a man of great intelligence, a first class teacher and a strict but fair disciplinarian. He made himself a scholar of no mean order. Reserved and calm, he was held in the highest respect by both pupils and parents.”
Life’s work well done
Life’s race well run
Life’s crown well won
Then cometh rest.
