Let our love overflow everywhere by Sincere Yeung

　　Have you ever been quarantined? In November 2002, there was a mainland doctor who arrived from Guangdong, China. He had a disease called SARS, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. He stayed at the Metropole Hotel, and then the disease turned to a horrible pandemic. SARS was a dangerous disease that spread to thirty-seven countries in the world by animals and humans population in just a few months. In Hong Kong, 1755 people had the disease, 299 people, including doctors, died because of this big pandemic. During the epidemic, I felt uncomfortable and distressed, but at least I learned the meaning of love by the people who fought against SARS.

　　At the beginning of the epidemic, the only feeling everyone had was uncomfortable. The government did not publicize information about SARS before the citizens’ website posted the news. People were angry about the decision made by the Hong Kong government. Then, this event became a cause of the July 1st marches. Since SARS was a big pandemic, schools were closed for a few weeks during the peak season. Some students may have thought it was great because they did not have to study during that time, but the truth is they had nothing to do due to the pandemic. No school but no fun either. We needed to stay home in order to stay safe. There were no more outdoor activities. If we wanted to go out in public, we had to wear a mask. After the peak season passed, we still needed to wear masks. Every day at school, the mask made me feel sick, my nose grew pimples, and I could even smell my breath. When I got sick and had to sneeze, after I sneeze, my mucus came out, but I couldn’t even clean it up because I could not take off my mask. It was disgusting!

　　This epidemic caused a common experience for everyone living in Hong Kong. If I had the flu during the SARS epidemic, people around me would fly to ten miles away from me because they thought I may have SARS. People were scared of SARS. They all turned into haematocryal vertebrates. They did not get SARS but their hearts were as cold as ice. The relationship between people was decreasing because we did not want to be that close, nor did we want to touch each other. I felt distressed about this change. I think we should help each other when we face a problem. Since it was hard for us, we should fight together and helped the people who needed us. Not just think about ourselves.

　　Hong Kong was full of negative emotions during the epidemic; however, I learned something about love. There were many lovely stories published during SARS to cure the negative emotions, and the most impressive one was Dr. Tse Yuen-man. Yuen-man was the first doctor who died fighting SARS. A young female doctor did not give up because she knew that she was the one who could use love to heal the patients. Yuen-man’s story was turned into a movie called Miracle Box. The theme song, Unreserved Love, became a wonderful, passionate worship song. The lyrics include a line, “But I still believe love can last, it’s your unfailing love that gives me rest, you were there when I needed you most, I'll never walk all alone.” It is the truth that SARS was a horrible pandemic, but people overcame it by having the power of love.

　　SARS is regarded as a negative event, but it also caused many positive effects. I felt love from people who believed in love. They taught me that we should never give up if we are facing problems, and we should love one another like the people who fought for SARS. In the future, I will tell spread the power of love, and let the message of love overflow everywhere.