When Rules Break People
Thursday, September 18, 2014 at 04:25PM | Share Article 
Wai Fan and her brothers and sisters attended summer school at Mong Kok Service Centre
Rules are usually good. After all, God gave us Ten Commandments to live by - the majority of them aimed at preventing other people being hurt. But there are times when rules that are meant to protect people end up hurting the most vulnerable among us. A year ago we discovered one such case.
Early in their marriage Mr and Mrs Pang decided to have a big family. Two years ago they had their fifth child - Chi Keung. The older children adore their little brother, and shower him with attention. Sadly, Mrs. Pang suffered post partum depression and finally took her own life. The family reeled from shock and Mr. Pang's elderly mother stepped in to assist.
Tragically, Mrs. Pang Snr. caught a virus and died just four weeks after her daughter- in- law's death. Devastated at the loss of his wife and mother, Mr. Pang was on the verge of breakdown. Unable to cope, he placed Chi Keung in foster care.
Observant social workers at school noticed the effects of the tragedy on the older children, particularly the eldest, 13-year-old Wai Fan. The social workers directed Mr. Pang to Christian Action. Gratefully, he sent his four older children to our summer school in 2014. They now regularly attend our after school classes. Wai Fan is like a little mother to her younger siblings. Always a smart student, she enters Junior High school in September 2014.
And here's where rules are adding pain to this child's life. HK schools accept children according to a points system. Because she was late for school more than 40 times during her last academic year, Wai Fan scored poorly on 'behaviour' so it lowered her average grade to a 'B'. Therefore she will be studying with students whose academic performance is much lower than hers. To attend the school of her choice Wai Fan requires a B+ grade.
Social workers from Christian Action have done their utmost to plead her case with her primary school, but the school has refused to consider Wai Fan's extenuating circumstances.
In the face of such tragedy and injustice, would you please pray that there would be a change of heart somewhere in the system? It would be a huge encouragement to Wai Fan who has the potential to help her siblings in future years.
Reader Comments (1)
If Wai Fan enters a so-called less competitive high school, she can then help the less smart classmates and train herself to be a decent leader. So even if the primary school would not consider her extenuating circumstances, love will always find a way out though..... Let's pray for her.