Dear Teachers and Students,
Good Morning! Happy to see you all!
Praying to God is a perfect way to start each day.
Let’s
bow our heads and pray…..This morning, I would like to share a story with you.
Once upon a time, on a freezing cold day, a lady came out of her house and saw three old
men standing in her front yard. They were strangers to her but the lady said politely, ‘I don’t
think I know you, but you must be hungry. Please come in and have something to eat.’
‘We will not go into a house together,’ they replied.
‘Why is that?’ She wanted to know.
One of the old men explained, ‘his name is Wealth,’ pointing to one of his friends, and
said pointing to another one, ‘he is Success, and I am Love.’ Then he added, ‘now go back and
discuss with your family which one of us you want to invite in your home.’
The lady was delighted. She went back and told her husband what was said. Her husband
was overjoyed. ‘How nice!’ he said. ‘Let us invite Wealth. Let him come in and fill our home with
wealth!’ his wife looked puzzled and asked ‘my dear, why don't we invite Success? Isn’t that what
you have always wanted?’
Meanwhile, their 10-year-old daughter was listening from the other corner of the house.
She jumped in joyfully with her own suggestion, ‘Mummy, Daddy, you have been so busy working
without spending time together for long. Wouldn’t it be better to invite Love? Our home will then
be filled with love!’
Looking at their daughter’s eyes, the husband hesitated but then he smiled. ‘Let us heed
our daughter's advice,’ said the husband to his wife. ‘Go out and invite Love to be our guest.’
The woman went out and asked the three old men, ‘which one of you is Love? Please come
in and be our guest.’ Love got up and started walking towards the house. Unexpectedly, the
other two also got up and followed him. Surprised, the lady asked Wealth and Success, ‘I only
invited Love. Why are you coming in?’ The three old men replied together, ‘if you had invited
Wealth or Success, the other two of us would have stayed out. But since you invited Love,
wherever he goes, we go with him. Wherever there is Love, there is also Wealth and Success!’
My dearest Lutheranians, do you know the underlying meaning of this story?
To many people in the society, no matter what they do, from studying to taking public examinations
or to working, they do it simply because they aspire to have a brighter future and better quality of life.
However, if you have earned success but you don’t know how to love yourself, your classmates, friends,
family, the society … Does success still mean a lot to you? Is wealth still so important to you?
Since love is the most crucial value of all, we, educators must pass on to you this invaluable virtue.
The belief, ‘Excellence with Love, Justice with Care’, which I have always been promoting is exactly about
the combination of success and love. Because of love, teachers are motivated to put industrious effort in
preparing lessons, marking assignments, delivering extra classes, and planning on curriculum development.
Because of love, parents are worried day and night about your health and growth. Because of love, our
alumni are willing to spare some time to return to their alma mater to share with you the valuable lessons
from their lives. Love is the only source of motivation and happiness.
The education reform in recent years has set the goal towards nurturing all-round talents in the
globalized society. Learning is not only confined to classroom setting under the new education policies. It is
true that students receive more learning opportunities, but, at the same time, it may add up the financial
burden to some students with a disadvantaged background.
We always believe that every Lutheranian is gifted and is able to succeed. It will be most unfortunate
if they are hindered because of financial difficulties. In the past, some teachers subsidized students who
were in need out of their own pockets. I would like to express my gratitude for their anonymous financial
assistance which has not only helped students financially, but has also allowed the students to concentrate on
their studies. Now, we hope this loving deed can be kept and spread to among Lutheranians. Therefore, we
have launched the campaign ‘Walk with Lutheranians in Love’, having the belief that all Lutherianians are
willing to help each other selflessly and “love” as the core binding value among us.
Mr. Chan Kim Hung will be leading the campaign, and in the past two months, we have introduced
the campaign to parents, alumni and the school managers. The feedback is all affirmative and supportive. In
the coming months, we will be organizing a series of activities including Bible sharing, ‘One Person, One
Red Packet’, and the school anniversary fund raising. We hope that you will get involved in these activities
and you may realize that it is a blessing both to give and to receive. We also hope that love will become the
common language and the core value among all of us no matter who we are.
At last, I would like to share with you a quote from the Bible: ‘If I speak in the tongues of men or of
angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or clanging cymbal.’
(Corinthians 13:1)
I wish you all have a life full of love.
May God bless you all.
Wan Ho Yin, Hairo
Principal