Good evening to you
Dear ex-students of Class of Form 1 to Form 5 of St Francis Convent Secondary School, and all the “Golden Girls” who have initiated this Gala Reunion Dinner.
I am happy to witness your reunion and to see you enjoying each other’s company. Fifty years ago you were studying together in the same school; and then you went your separate ways, built your own lives, and pursued your own dreams. Now, fifty years later, you meet again and are thrilled to see how each one has grown wiser, more patient, more loving, more caring, and above all, is still alive! Indeed, time flies! I am sure in the heart of each of you, you are thankful to God for this reunion.
Dear ladies and your spouses,
I have shared my thoughts about this reunion of yours in my message in your souvenir booklet, and I don’t wish to repeat it. I just wish your “down memory lane” is bringing you closer, and hopefully will inspire you to do something concrete for your alma mater.
Today is Mother’s Day. I would like to wish all of you, mothers and grandmothers, a “joyful and blessed Mother’s Day.”
We are thankful that in our Asian culture, we still honour and respect our elders, especially our parents. In some societies, the children are no longer calling their parents “Mommy” or “Daddy.” They simply call their names! Some even don’t make time to visit their sickly and lonely parents.
I don’t know how you feel when your children do that to you. You must be feeling sad. It is not that you want to hold on to your status as a parent, but I think you feel sad because somehow you feel you are not being appreciated as a parent. You feel that the tradition of respect to the elderly is no longer there. I am afraid that once such tradition is lost, the society will be off balance. That is why we see in modern societies where children no longer respect and care for their parents, social problems multiply. Just like nature, if you respect and take care of it well, you will live a peaceful life. But if you go and disturb the environment, you cut the trees and bulldoze the hills, nature becomes off balance. That is why you find natural calamities here and there.
As we celebrate “Mother’s Day” today, it is my prayer and hope that our society will continue to uphold and defend the tradition of respect and care for the elderly.
Many of you are already at your prime time in life. I wish you more blessed years ahead, more time to enjoy the beauty around you, and more prayerful days.
God bless each and every one of you. Thank you.