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sharing content Hong Kong after SARS Oct 03 The outbreak of SARS came about in Hong Kong in March 2003. Amoy Garden was listed as a “heavily-affected area”. My residence in HK is only a few minutes walk from there. Thus during that period, I called home every second day to find out what was the latest situation and checked the list of affected buildings on the internet each day. Being so far away from home, my anxiety was beyond description.
Therefore, once SARS began to die down, I looked forward to going home to see my family as soon as possible. I went back at the end of June. Initially, I did not expect much, “just another summer holiday as usual”, I thought. However, during these two months, a deep experience of the current HK situation, as well as the amazing work God was doing there moved my heart.
At first glance, HK appeared to be in a very disadvantageous position. Since the beginning of the “Financial Crisis”, the prices of commodity got lower and lower each year; the unemployment rate reached higher levels season after season; declaring bankruptcy was no longer a rare occurrence; businesses struggled to survive; even for middle and lower class people, the fear of being made redundant haunted them day and night; new graduates may suffer double-losses, being jobless after investing time and money to obtain a degree. The economy was so poor that people became dismayed. To make matters worse, a disease as contagious and as lethal as SARS appeared. Owing to the fact that even sneezes can transmit it, barriers were erected between individuals, the fear index had never reached such unimaginable heights before. Once one was confirmed to have SARS, he/she would be nursed in isolation rooms, and may well be separated from his/her family forever. This was no doubt a cruel and heartless disease. Besides, there were political reasons, such as the introduction of Article 23, in which the government’s disregard for public opinion was felt by the majority of the people. All these factors added up to incite the stunning demonstration on the 1st of July, where five hundred thousand people protested on the streets to reflect their resentment against the current social environment as well as the government. However, I wonder, given the pressures of living in HK nowadays, how many more people were in fact full of worries, fears, unrests and even despairs in their hearts?
Indeed, the situation looked negative and disappointing. Yet, it was also because of SARS that hope was reignited. The death of Dr. Joanna Tse touched so many lives in HK, including mine. The selfless and sacrificial compassion was in stark contrast with the selfish and closed up attitudes that was so prevalent. Life can be so beautifully lived with meaning and value. It should not just superficially seek after possessions or a steady lifestyle, but it should rather be filled with splendour and blessings. Dr. Tse was an ordinary doctor, a respiratory physician, and yet her extraordinary life was revealed in her action responding to God’s love. Love is God’s precious gift to us, and it is also a gift which we are able to share with others. Precious because God gave His only son for our sake, to make atonement for us; a gift because God gives it to us freely – i.e. grace. Through this gift of love, Dr. Tse’s life, embodied into a seed of God’s love and hope, was sown in each one of those who heard her story. The work of irrigation was done by God the Father, and it is He who makes the seed grow – to ask us to open our hearts, to let God work in us, to be spurred by His love, to go and take part in the ministry of caring, to tell the people around us the meaning of life – we should no longer look at how we live, but what do we live for. Just as what King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes, all things are “meaningless, a chasing after the wind,” and in Proverbs “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.”
In these two months, I was witnessing God’s work in the midst of HK people, through all the external circumstances, He was knocking on the doors of their hearts. Christians responded faithfully to His calling as they were diligently harvesting the crops. I had the opportunity to attend a few evangelistic meetings and ‘caring-theme’ music concerts. They led me to realise that this is the time for His work: not to struggle to survive or maintain a steady life, but to do the work of caring – to let love overflow, and to embrace people around us so that they too may experience God’s love and hope.
May God also work in the hearts of non-believers, to open their eyes to see – not a grey and uncertain life ahead, but the road towards eternity where God is with them always.
P.S.
I have written this sharing originally in Chinese, here is a copy of the Chinese version
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