The Diocesan Boys' School (DBS) is a day and boarding Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui boys' school in Hong Kong, located at 131 Argyle Street, Mong Kok, Kowloon. Having run as a grant-aided school since it was founded, the school commenced operation in the Direct Subsidy Scheme in September 2003. It uses English as the medium of instruction. As of 2026 the headmaster was Ronnie Cheng Kay-Yen.
Contents
History
The first foundation
In 1860, Lydia Smith (wife of the Bishop of Victoria) and the Society for the Promotion of Female Education in the Far East (Also known as Female Education Society, or "FES") set up the Diocesan Native Female Training School, a day-school turned boarding school for native girls, affiliated with the Diocese of Victoria. As stated in its first annual report, the purpose of the school was "to introduce among a somewhat superior class of native females the blessings of Christianity and of religious training". The school sat on Bonham Road, a small concrete house on a paddy field. Lady Robinson (the Governor's wife) became the patron.
The school had a difficult existence. The Second Opium War aroused strong anti-British sentiment and so it was very unpopular for Chinese girls to learn English. The school was closed and then reopened under the name "Diocesan Female School", but its finances did not improve. In 1868, Bishop Charles Alford took the school under his immediate superintendence.
The second foundation
On 30 January 1869, in a bid to gain popular support, Bishop Alford issued an appeal to admit boys into the school and to turn it into an orphanage. The appeal was well received by the public. In September, the Diocesan Home and Orphanage, for boys and girls, both foreign and Chinese, was established.
In July 1870, William Arthur, formerly of the Garrison School, was appointed as the headmaster and his wife as the matron.
In 1878, the school was placed in the grant-in-aid scheme by the Education Department.
In March 1878, Arthur resigned. Bishop Burdon proposed to stop admitting boys into the school and to bring it under the FES. In July, he withdrew his proposal following pressure from William Beswick, honorary treasurer of the DHO, although the Bishop still thought it inappropriate to have boys and girls boarding in the same school campus.
On 1 November 1878, George Piercy, then master of the Government Central School, was appointed to be the new headmaster. Piercy focused on the students' academics, and the school attained satisfactory results in the Cambridge and Oxford Local Examinations scholarships.
On 31 May 1879, the school committee resolved to stop accepting girls as boarders.
In 1891, the school was renamed the Diocesan School and Orphanage. In 1892, the remaining girls were transferred to Fairlea Girls' School (a forerunner of Heep Yunn School). The Diocesan School and Orphanage was transformed into a boys' school.
In 1902, the school was renamed the Diocesan Boys' School and Orphanage. It is unclear when the school was renamed the Diocesan Boys' School, although the name was used as early as 1918.
Rev. William Featherstone, headmaster from 1918 to 1931, introduced the prefects' system, a house system and Speech Day. He also moved the school from Bonham Road to a hill site in Mong Kok. Construction was completed in 1926. In February 1927, the British military authorities took the school for use as a hospital for one year.
Campus
The school is located on Kadoorie Hill in Ho Man Tin, Kowloon City District.
21st century
In March 2009, the school received media attention when a Form 4 student complained that he had had a nude female model as a subject in his art class, and alleged embarrassment. The visual arts teacher, employed for 27 years, told reporters that he had been inviting nude models without any complaint for nearly ten years. Then-Headmaster Terence Chang said it was a "big fuss about nothing".
National security education
In December 2022, DBS said that it had already implemented national security education into its curriculum. The school stated that "The objective is to deepen students' understanding of the country's development and national security, enhance their sense of national identity and nurture them as good law-abiding citizens."
Music
2025
3rd in the Grand Prix in the Taipei International Choral Competition
2024 & 2025
Instrumental Grand slam in the 76th and 77th Hong Kong School Music Festival
Alumni
Politicians
Sun Yat-sen (孫中山) (1866-1925), Chinese revolutionary and statesman, "Father of Modern China"
Sir Robert Kotewall (羅旭龢) (1880-1949), colonial businessman and politician
Yeung Kai-yin (楊啟彥) (1941-2007), chairman and chief executive of Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC), Secretary for Education and Manpower, Secretary for Transport and Secretary for the Treasury
James Tien Pei Chun (田北俊), former chairman of the Liberal Party and member of the Legislative Council
Michael Tien Puk Sun (田北辰), member of the Legislative Council and former chairman of the board of the KCRC
Tommy Cheung, Leader of the Liberal Party and member of the Legislative Council
Dominic Lee, member of the Legislative Council and former member of the Sham Shui Po District Council
Kenneth Chen Wei-on, Secretary-General of the Legislative Council and former Undersecretary for Education
Eddie Yue Wai-man (余偉文), Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority
Patrick Ho, former Secretary for Home Affairs, convicted of bribery offences in a U.S. federal court in 2018
Timothy Tong, former Commissioner of the ICAC and Commissioner of Customs and Excise
Joshua Law Chi-kong, Former Secretary for the Civil Service, Permanent Secretary for Security, Permanent Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, and Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization
Law
William Ngartse Thomas Tam (1900–1976), barrister, magistrate, member of the Legislative Council
G. S. Zimmern (施玉麒) (1904–1979), barrister, magistrate, headmaster of DBS
Kwan Cho-yiu (關祖堯) (1907–1971), judge, member of the Executive and Legislative Councils
Kan Yuet-keung (簡悅強) (1913–2012), solicitor, member of the Executive and Legislative Councils, banker
Oswald Cheung (張奧偉) (1922–2003), barrister, member of the Executive and Legislative Councils, acting headmaster of DBS
Henry Litton, former Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal, Hong Kong
Aarif Barma (鮑晏明), Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal
Pang Kin-kee (彭鍵基), former High Court judge and former chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC)
Azizul Rahman Suffiad (石輝), former High Court judge (1997-2014), former Commissioner on Interception of Communications and Surveillance (2015-2021), Chairman of the Islamic Union of Hong Kong
Commerce
Lam Kin Ming (林建名), chairman of Lai Sun Group
Henry Fan (范鴻齡), Chairman of the Hospital Authority, former Unofficial Member of the Executive Council, former managing director of CITIC Pacific and former vice-chairman of Cathay Pacific
Canning Fok (霍建寧), group managing director of Hutchison Whampoa
Daryl Ng (黃永光), deputy chairman of Sino Group
V-Nee Yeh (葉維義), founder of Value Partners (asset management) and member of the Executive Council
Education and academia
Chan Wing Tsit (陳榮捷) (1901–1994), sinologist, professor of philosophy at Dartmouth College and Columbia University
Tam Sheung Wai (譚尚渭), president emeritus of the Open University of Hong Kong
Robert Chung Ting Yiu (鍾庭耀), director of the Public Opinion Programme at HKU
Chan Hing-yan (陳慶恩), chair of the Department of Music at HKU
Lai Ching Lung (黎青龍), professor of medicine at HKU
Benny Tai Yiu-ting (戴耀廷), associate professor of law at HKU, initiator of Occupy Central
Sir David Todd (達安輝) (1928-2017), professor of hematology at HKU, founding president of the Hong Kong College of Physicians
Arts and entertainment
George Lam (林子祥), Cantopop star
Li Chuan Yun (李傳韻), violinist
Andrew Hin Yau Ling (凌顯祐), violinist, violist, conductor
Aristo Sham, pianist
Chapman To (杜汶澤), actor and entertainer
Vivek Mahbubani, stand-up comedian
Hubert Wu (胡鴻鈞), Cantopop singer
Lo King-man (盧景文), performing artist and director, "Father of Hong Kong Opera"
Byron Mann (文峰), actor
Mass culture and journalism
Alex Law Kai-yui (羅啟銳), film director
Josiah Lau Ka Kit (劉家傑), host of "One Minute's English" (RTHK)
Sports
Roy Lamsam (伍劭雄), cricketer
William Hill, Olympic sprinter (1964)
Denis Cunningham, Olympic fencer (1976, 1984), chairman of Hong Kong Fencing Association
Lai Chun Ho (黎振浩), Olympic sprinter (2008, 2012)
Chan Ming Tai (陳銘泰), Olympic long jumper (2016), holder of the Hong Kong record
Ng Ka Long (伍家朗), Olympic badminton player (2016, 2020)
Tan Chun Lok (陳俊樂), footballer, member of Hong Kong National Football Team, current plays for Hong Kong Premier League club Kitchee, formerly played for Chinese Super League club Guangzhou City
Timothy Stephen Chow (周子謙) footballer, member of the Hong Kong national under-23 football team, currently plays for Hong Kong Premier League club HKFC.
Yue Tze Nam (茹子楠), footballer, member of Hong Kong National Football Team, current plays for Chinese Super League club Beijing Guoan
Sun Ming Him (孫銘謙), footballer, member of Hong Kong National Football Team, current plays for Chinese Super League club Tianjin Jinmen Tiger.
Ng Yu Hei (吳宇曦), footballer, member of Hong Kong National Football Team, current plays for Chinese Super League club Chongqing Tonglianglong.
Lawrence Ng Lok Wang (吳諾弘), Olympic foil fencer (2020)
Coleman Wong Chak Lam (黃澤林), tennis player, winner of the Boys' Doubles titles at 2021 US Open and 2022 Australian Open