Text: Xunxing
Edited by Sven Talk
Sources: All of the information stated in this article is based on reliable sources, and is detailed at the end of the article
Preface
On an ordinary day in 2009, the University of Hong Kong (HKU) held an Honorary Fellowship Award Ceremony as scheduled.
As the world's top university, the title of Honorary Fellow of the University of Hong Kong has always been exclusive to elites, but one year the recipient of the Honorary Fellowship of the University of Hong Kong is very special, she is not a political elite, an economic predator, and has nothing to do with the upper class.
is just a working woman who has not even gone to elementary school, and can only write 5 Chinese characters in her life, it is Yuan Sumei, for Hong Kong, Yuan Sumei is just a tiny speck of dust. How did you get the title of "Honorary Fellow" of the University of Hong Kong?
"Third sister-in-law" Yuan Sumei
Yuan Sumei was born in 1927 in a small fishing village in Guangdong, her father was a master carpenter, and her family was poor.
"The children of the poor are in charge of the house early", the mother died at a young age, Yuan Sumei mastered the skills of independent living early, and she can do some housework within her ability.
Soon, Yuan Sumei had reached the age of going to school, but the war burned to Guangdong, Yuan Sumei followed the fleeing people to Hong Kong, and it was because of the escape that Yuan Sumei lost this precious opportunity to receive education.
Yuan Sumei did housework early to help her father share his worries, she could cook, do some simple sewing, and do laundry, she had already started to do it before she fled, and became her father's little helper to relieve the pressure of life.
Yuan Sumei is affectionately called the "third sister-in-law" by everyone, and because her husband is the third in the family, she is called the "third sister-in-law".
When she was 29 years old, because her husband worked as a canteen chef at HKU, Yuan Sumei also followed her husband to work at HKU as an assistant chef in the student canteen.
Although she is only an assistant chef, she loves her job very much because she learns to cook every day with energetic students who learn how to make pastries.
Later, she transferred to logistics and became a dormitory attendant, which is what we often call a dormitory aunt.
At that time, the students who were able to study at the University of Hong Kong either had an excellent family background, or had knowledge beyond ordinary people, and it can be said that they were the pride of the sky, and there was a huge class gap between the dormitory aunt Yuan Sumei and the students of the University of Hong Kong.
Special contributions
How could Yuan Sumei, who had no education, be admired in such an institution? Because although she was illiterate, she had special respect for the students studying in this world-renowned university, and she cared for these young people from the bottom of her heart.
As long as Yuan Sumei learns the news that a student is sick, she will immediately make him a bowl of tonic soup to help the student recover
Now Chen Xiangrong, a famous lawyer in Hong Kong, has always been grateful to Yuan Sumei, because when he was a student in Hong Kong, he had a high fever, and after the "third sister-in-law" found out, she spent several hours carefully brewing a bowl of herbal tea for him to drink, helping him get better quickly.
In addition to caring for the students' bodies, Yuan Sumei is also the spiritual support of many students, and young students always have a lot of things on their minds, such as unsuccessful exams, unsatisfactory emotions, and conflicts with classmates and friends.
These teenagers in their youth have a lot of trivial worries, they have no one to talk to, classmates and friends of the same age are busy with their own affairs, parents are even more busy with their own work, and the third sister-in-law Yuan Sumei, the dormitory manager, is willing to listen.
For these outstanding students of the University of Hong Kong, the University of Hong Kong is only the starting point for them to enter the society, and their future is infinitely broad, while in the school, they are a young student who is in a state of confusion and difficulty
In their confused and uneasy youth, although the third sister-in-law was uneducated and did not have much achievement, she was able to provide these students with motherly warmth and meticulous care at their most vulnerable age.
Yuan Sumei has worked diligently at HKU for more than 40 years, providing generations of HKU students with a warmth in their youthful memories.
In 2009, Yuan Sumei was awarded the title of honorary academician, which is the only "illiterate" academician in the world, and it is only a grassroots faculty member of the school, which is unheard of.
Historically, HKU has been awarded this distinction either for significant contributions to the University or for outstanding academic standards.
Yuan Sumei was not only the first "illiterate" academician in the history of HKU, but also took care of her inability to understand English, and first spoke the award speech in English and then in Cantonese when presenting the award.
This is a reflection of the humanistic spirit of the University of Hong Kong, and it is a heartfelt expression of respect and gratitude to this aunt who has made special contributions.
When Yuan Sumei accepted the award at the ceremony, many well-known alumni in the stands were excited and even burst into tears.
Yuan Sumei not only brought hope and warmth to the sick and mentally exhausted students, but her actions also touched every faculty member and other students of the University of Hong Kong who did not know her.
Unfortunately, the third sister-in-law, Yuan Sumei, passed away in 2017 at the age of 90.
epilogue
For institutions of higher learning such as universities, academics are only basic requirements, and morality, as an invisible constraint, is the most easily ignored.
Nowadays, many colleges and universities have students "stealing other people's takeaways" such a low-morality and low-quality thing every day, and it is rumored that the students who steal takeaways have been poisoned to death, which is the fierce outbreak of this contradiction.
There is also a saying in the Book of Rites, "The way of the university lies in Mingmingde", which means that the purpose of the university is to promote the moral character of fairness and integrity, so that people can develop in all aspects to reach the realm of "supreme goodness".
Although this university is different from the other, there are some things in common. This sentence is also applicable to universities today, and the school motto of Hong Kong is "Mingde Gewu", which is to first "Mingde" (promote the moral character of fairness and integrity), and then "Gewu" (to understand and study things).
Honorary academicians are also fundamentally different from academicians, not based on academics as the only criterion, and noble character should also be part of honor.
This is an incentive for building a harmonious society. And when a university or even a society notices the glamorous people standing in front of the stage, it should also pay attention to those who are silently working behind the scenes.
They may be from poor backgrounds and humble status, but they still have a pure heart that loves life, which is especially scarce in this era of quick success.
Reference:
Baidu Encyclopedia - Yuan Sumei
"People's Daily Online" - December 05, 2017 Qianjiang Evening News: Respect for every hard-working worker