NEWSLETTER January 2016 The Guild of St. Luke, St. Cosmas & St. Damian, Hong Kong

Chief Editor: Florence Siu Ting MokEditors: Michael Chi Ming Poon Rebecca Mei Wan Yeung Peter AuYeung Robert Yuen Leslie Fok Frances Yu Sally Luk

Contents- Words from Master

- Events

Graduation Mass

Annual General Meeting

Medical Sunday

Mass for the Deceased

Career Talk

Annual Retreat

- Bioethics Corner 19

- Members’ Corner

- Coming Events

Correspondence:Newsletter Editorial Board, PO Box 11302, GPO, Hong Kong

Home Page: http://doctor.catholic.org.hk/Email : guildofstluke@gmail.com

*Newsletter January 2016 *The Guild of St Luke, St Cosmas & St Damian, Hong Kong Page 1

Words from Master Ambrose LeungHappy New Year! A few months ago, our Cardinal Tong issued a pastoral letter on November 5, 2015. Cardinal Tong urged Catholics, “in coming District Council elections and further elections, to take into due consideration the stance of each candidate and that of the political party he/she might belong to with regard to the core values of marriage and the family, and the proposal to enact a Sexual Orientation Discrimination Ordination. ”

(ref: ).

What does our Church tell us?

“When legislation in favour of the recognition of homosexual unions is proposed for the first time in a legislative assembly, the Catholic law-maker has a moral duty to express his opposition clearly and publicly and to vote against it. To vote in favour of a law so harmful to the common good is gravely immoral.” <Considerations regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions between Homosexual Persons” by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, June 2003>

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So it is very clear even before Cardinal Tong's pastoral letter and he is right to remind us again. I felt sorry to see some response from response from friends in facebook and other media to oppose Cardinal Tong's letter. I remember the Bible teaching according to St John 6:66 “After this, many of his disciples went away and accompanied him no more. Then Jesus said to the Twelve, 'What about you, do you want to go away too?' Simon Peter answered, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the message of eternal life, and we believe; we have come to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

It is so good to be a Catholic!

http://www.catholic.org.hk/v2/en/message_bishop/20151105.html

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20030731_homosexual-unions_en.html

Events...Events...The gradation mass was held on 21st June 2015. It was celebrated by our spiritual advisor Fr Robert Ng. There were one graduate from HKU and four graduates from CUHK this year.

Fr Ng reminded students the road to be a doctor was never easy and there would be winds and storms ahead as mentioned on Gospel of the day (Mark 4:35-41). Faith is the most important element to keep them through.

Fr Ng blessed our graduates at the end of the thanksgiving mass. Professor Rosie Young represented our Guild to present souvenirs to our graduates.

After the mass, our graduates shared with us their happiness and sorrow being a medical student. Guild members also exchanged their experience with our graduates and wished them a fruitful year of internship full of God’s grace.

Graduation Mass21st June 2015

*Newsletter January 2016* The Guild of St Luke, St Cosmas & St Damian, Hong Kong Page 2

Kenneth Li

Events...Events...Annual General Meeting 26th June 2015

The Annual General Meeting 2015 was held on 26th June 2015 at Caritas Restaurant, Caine Road. After the annual reports by our Master Dr Ambrose Leung, our financial secretary Dr Anthony Leung, and various subcommittee coordinators, we were honoured to have Rev. Bishop Yeung Ming Cheung, our immediate past spiritual advisor Rev. Fr John Russell and our current spiritual advisor Rev. Fr Robert Ng to celebrate the thanksgiving mass and thank God for his unlimited grace for our Guild in the past 62 years.

Our guest of honour this year was Professor Gladys Tang. Prof. Tang was very kind to accept our invitation and even postponed her flight. Prof. Tang specialised in linguistics in university. With her faith in God, she launched a programme for deaf children to learn sign linguistics and language, which allowed them to learn together with normal children in ordinary schools.

So far the programme was very sucessfully held in a kindergarten, a primary school and a secondary school. Prof. Tang shared with us her difficulties in her work, but with God’s grace she got the strength to overcome. She truly believed that even deaf children could have a bright future as normal children, for they were all children of God.

For further details, please visit:

You are most welcome to support this meaningful programme. If you would like to support, please download the donation form at:

In 2006, she received funding support from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust to experiment on ‘sign bilingualism and co-enrollment’ in mainstream education.

http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/cslds/jcslco/events_en.html

http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/cslds/jcslco/documents/donation_form_20140407.pdf

A Short Introduction of Prof. Gladys TangProf. Gladys Tang has been conducting linguistic Jockey Club Charities Trust to experiment on

research on Hong Kong Sign Language (HKSL) ‘ s i gn b i l i ngua l i sm and co -en ro l lmen t ’ i n

and deaf chi ldren’s acquis i t ion of s igned mainstream education. So far a kindergarten and

language and spoken language since the 1990s. a primary school have been participating in the

With the funding suppor, Professor Tang has programme. Together with baby signing classes

launched a few diploma programmes and a and Chinese reading classes, the programme

higher diploma programme in sign linguistics and benefits more than 70 deaf children each year.

sign language teaching for deaf adults of Hong With the support of the Lee Hysan Foundation, a

Kong and Asia. These programmes aim to qualify mainstream secondary school will soon join force

deaf students for higher education; alternatively, with Professor Tang to provide secondary

they may become professional sign language educat ion for deaf s tudents and hear ing

ins t ruc tors . Some deaf graduates o f the students, allowing them to continue to learn and

programmes are currently part-time instructors grow up together. In six years, the first batch of

for the elective courses in HKSL at CUHK. students educated using the philosophy of sign

bilingualism and co-enrollment will be expected

For the betterment of deaf children, Professor to enter university together. It is hoped that some

Tang has been raising funds for educational and of them will become the next generation of

research endeavors. Her research in language professional sign language interpreters.

acquisition of deaf children has been supported

by Dr. Alex K. Yasumoto’s donation. In 2006, she

received funding support from The Hong Kong

Prof. Tang received Hong

K o n g H u m a n i t y A w a r d

2013 on 25May 2013.

(summarized from CUHK

official website)

*Newsletter January 2016* The Guild of St Luke, St Cosmas & St Damian, Hong Kong Page 3

Florence Mok

公教醫療日已於10月18日於薄扶林上智之座小堂舉

行，由吳智勳神父主祭。他在講道中講述了痛苦的積

極意義，就如依撒意亞先知作為上主的僕人，受苦但

令使別人成義。痛苦也是天主對我們說話的「米高峰

」，讓我們不可能聽不到祂的聲音，而天父會在痛苦

當中拯救我們。

彌撒後，歐耀佳醫生分享他參與紅十字會及無國界醫

生於加沙及也門的救援任務。他先介紹了當地的政治

背景，不說不知，原來加沙地帶作為以色列巴勒斯坦

佔領區，當地人在30歲前都被禁止離開加沙範圍，猶

如一所大監獄，令他們對自由及尊嚴有著強烈渴求。

去年7至8月加沙發生以巴衝突，死亡人數超過

2,200人。歐醫生前往紅十字會在當地設立的傷患診

所，為傷者清理傷口、敷料等，偶爾處理一些簡單的

外科手術。今年4月也門武裝衝突升級，他在無國界

醫生在亞丁的醫院協助處理武裝衝突傷者和創傷個

案。當地的醫護人員，即使家人在衝突中受傷，仍專

業地緊守崗位。歐醫生深感，在這些戰火紛飛的地方

服務，除了能把專業知識發揮，也讓他感受到人與人

之間的互相支持及關心；甚至改善了他和兒子的關

係，這全賴天父的恩典。

(載於2015年11月份公教報)

Medical Sunday公教醫療日 18th Oct 2015

Mass for the deceased 22nd Nov 2015

The mass for the deceased was held on 22nd Nov 2015 at Ricci Hall Chapel. The mass was combined into 12:30 regular mass. It was celebrated by our spiritual advisor Fr Robert Ng. There were around 10 guild members joining and prayed for our deceased members. It was a blessing that we did not have new deceased members this year. Please continue to pray for our deceased members for their eternal life in heaven.

*Newsletter January 2016* The Guild of St Luke, St Cosmas & St Damian, Hong Kong Page 4

Sandy Ng

Florence Mok

I

我們真是萬分幸運，原本退省前的一個月還沒有找到神師，

感謝天主，俯聽我們的禱告， 最後旨派關俊棠神父給我們。

關神父以 mindfullness的練習讓我們先安靜下來， 再讓我

們歸自己的心靈深處，回想自己曾遇的困難, 曾受的痛苦，

再從新出發，倚靠信德，以寬恕的眼光看真實的世界時，自

我痊癒便開始了。

原來當人因工作太疲憊，便對主的說話變得麻木，感受不到

主的愛，更遑論去愛人吧。所以，回歸自己的心靈深處，’

return to the land of our soul’，才能達至自我痊癒。

在Honeyville裡安靜下來，萬事萬物裡皆有天主，我感受到

自己是如此可愛。

我心裡的一句禱告：主，請給力量去寬恕和愛吧。

註: 神父請每一個退省者都想一句禱告的金句, 我們每人都有各自的

體會...

Virginia Chan: 祂未曾應許，天上蔚藍；祂未曾應允，花兒常開；

祂卻恩許，祂的慈愛永常在。

Sandy Ng: 天主是愛和慈悲的力量之源

Paul Lai: 與主同行，不忘初心

Emily Chan: 若16:32. 其實我並不是獨自一個，因為有父與我同

在。

Kenneth Li: 放下自在, 回歸心內.

Career Talk 19th Dec 2015

The Career Talk was held on 19the Dec 2015 (Sat) at QEH. There were total 7 interns joining our talk. After introduction of available specialities and general guides to write a good cover letter and curriculum vitae, we divided into small groups for discussion. We were happy to have Dr Assumpta Wong from QEH O&G, Dr Martin Lau from QEH A&E, Dr Sara Tong from TKOH Orthopedics, Dr Sally Luk from NDH Surgery, Dr Karry Yau from TMH Anesthetics and Dr Ambrose Leung from YCH Medical to share with our interns their experience in corresponding field. We wish our interns to find a job that allow them to serve God in the best way.

Annual Retreat Annual Retreat1-3 Jan 2016

*Newsletter January 2016* The Guild of St Luke, St Cosmas & St Damian, Hong Kong Page 5

Florence MokFlorence Mok

Kenneth Li

Af

Transplant Ethics, Two-Child Family Policy, LGBT Advocacy and Elections

There has been much local news about transplantation recently. One related to the precarious plight of a man whose liver graft procedure was halted due to the discovery of cancer in the donor. Another recounted how a young woman died waiting for a lung transplant. The sad plights of these two patients led to a call for a rethink on organ procurement, especially adopting the concept of presumed consent, or opt-out in the organ donation arrangement. Before touching on the latter, the issue of organs from patients found to have cancer deserves more analysis. According to a UK government report, “[o]rgans from deceased donors with some cancers may be safely used for transplantation,” noting that “[r]isks of cancer transmission must be balanced against the risks of dying without transplantation”, adding that the current “risk of donor-transmitted cancer in the UK is currently 0.06%.”

As for the “opt-out system”, this had just been started in Wales as far as the UK is concerned. But is opt-out really the answer? Even if it is, are the costs of changing the default from opt-in to opt-out worth the increased numbers of patients saved? Frist, opting out means it is assumed that if you do not document an objection to having your organs transplanted after death, it is presumed that you would donate. There might be an option for relatives to veto, just as there is now. But does a lack of objection really amounts to agreement? If one does not vote against something, it does not mean one votes for it; there is always the choice of not voting (or abstaining). So there is an element of manipulation here with presumed consent, or opting out. The change in “default” is also worrying: one would not want the Law to change from “innocent till proven guilty” to “guilty till proven innocent”. Besides there are implication that such a change has on the status of the body of a dead person which need further exploration.

Another piece of news is the abandonment of the one-child policy by mainland China. This is to be welcomed. However, one must note whilst the state, in exercising its “responsibility for its citizens' well-being … [can legitimately ] … intervene to orient the demography of the population … [it cannot do so] … by authoritarian, coercive measures. …It is not authorized to intervene in this area with means contrary to the moral law.” (CCC 2372) It is also to be noted that mainland China is not the only place where such abuses of power take place. The UK had announced in summer that from 2017, child tax relief would be limited to a maximum of two children; just as locally it had been the case (in the 1980s probably) that mandatory maternity leave pay only applied if the pregnant woman had no more than 2 surviving children at the time. I gather there were limits on child tax relief then too. These also count as coercive population control measures, by which two-child and three-child family limits are/were imposed by UK and local Hong Kong government respectively.

Cardinal Tong's pastoral letter on LGBT advocacy and voting in district council elections raised some eyebrows and evoked quite a few comments. Although I was not expecting such a letter from the Cardinal, the fact of a Bishop issuing such advice to his flock is not only unsurprising, but totally expected. Back in 2004 when Kerry was running for the US Presidency, there was the controversy about whether Catholic politicians who openly support abortions could receive Holy Communion. One point emphasized by the then Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI) was that no Catholic could licitly vote for a political candidate because of his stance of supporting abortion. There was a question of proportionality if one wants to vote for such a candidate because of his stance on other issues, but that issue must be proportionately so important that the unintended factual consequence of voting for a person supporting abortion could be excused under something like the principle of double effect. In everyday life, that virtually cannot happen. LGBT advocacy is a wrong that is just as serious as abortion or euthanasia. The advice about considering not to vote for such a candidate is what any shepherd would have a duty to dispense.

Bioethics Corner 19 Peter AuYeung

*Newsletter June 2015* Guild of St Luke, St Cosmas & St Damian, Hong Kong Page 4

Members’ CornerWedding News: Congratulations!

Dr Cora Yau& Mr George KwongSt. Teresa’s Church24th January, 2016

*Newsletter January 2016* The Guild of St Luke, St Cosmas & St Damian, Hong Kong Page 7

Dr Doris Yiu (Catholic Chinese Medicine Practitioner)

& Mr Jacky YuSt Cosmas & St Damien Church

10th January, 2016

Dr Sandy Ng (middle)has set off to Peru in January after the annual retreat for her vocation.May we all pray for her calling.

Dr Leslie Fok and Dr Coral Au St Anne’s Church, Stanley

21st November, 2015

Dr Frances Yu & Mr Peter TsangSt. Anthony’s Church15th November, 2015

Annual General MeetingDate: June 24, 2016 (Fri) Time: 6:30 pm AGM 7:00 pm Thanksgiving mass 8:00 pm DinnerVenue: Caritas Restaurant, Caine Road

Coming Events

New Year GatheringDate: Feb 21, 2016(Sun)Time: 12:30-5pmVenue: St Paul House of PrayerDetails: BBQ $200 per person

Date: Mar 20, 2016 (Sun)Time: 2-5pmVenue: Wah Yan College HKSpiritual Guide: Fr John Russell

Palm Sunday Retreat

Graduation MassDate: June 19, 2016 (Sun) Time: 3-4pmVenue: Ricci Hall ChapelCelebrant: Fr Robert Ng

Medical SundayDate: Oct 16, 2016 (Sun) Time: 3-5pmVenue: Ricci Hall Chapel

Mass for the deceasedDate: Oct 20, 2016 (Sun) Time: 12:30-1:30Venue: Ricci Hall ChapelCelebrant: Fr Robert Ng

Annual RetreatDate: weekend of Dec 2016Spiritual Guide: Fr Robert Ng ( details to be confirmed)

*Newsletter January 2016* The Guild of St Luke, St Cosmas & St Damian, Hong Kong Page 8

For further details, please visit:http://doctor.catholic.org.hk

www.facebook.com/catholic.doctor.hk