Happy New Year 2023
20 January 2023
2022 might not be a happy year to many. The 5th COVID wave in early 2022 hit Hong Kong the hardest. The Russia-Ukraine war also broke out in 2022. Tragic sceneries of many COVID-stricken elderlies waiting outside Emergency Departments of Hong Kong and the war-stricken Ukraine popped up in my mind as I looked back to 2022. How things may evolve in 2023 are unpredictable. Will it turn out to be a happy year?
Last week, two young gentlemen from a church in Uganda came and shared at our first College activity of 2023. Uganda has been inflicted by AIDS and poverty for decades. One of them is Dennis, whose father died of AIDS when he was young. He was so poor then that his mother could not afford to buy him shoes to wear. His unhappy life was changed completely when he was somehow accepted into a loving community run by the church, where he received shelter, food, friendships, and education. Since his growth was blessed by this ministry, he decided to serve children with backgrounds similar to his own childhood. Supported by a scholarship awarded by Professor Patrick Yung (Chairman of Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology and member of our College), Dennis spent 6 months in Hong Kong in 2018 learning about prevention of sport injuries. Dennis is now a football coach for unfortunate children in Uganda. During his sharing with us, Dennis encouraged us to “use what we have to help others who are less fortunate to have a happy life”.
Brothers, sisters, and friends, although we are uncertain of what may happen this year, if we are thankful to what we have, open our eyes and hearts in seeing and feeling the needs of individuals around us, and serve according to our capacity, 2023 will be a Happy Year of the Rabbit to many!
