In Memory of Mrs. Mia Downer

Morning Assembly, October 9, 2006

Good morning guests, principal, teachers and students,

It is with profound sadness that we mourn the passing of Mrs. Maria Elizabeth Downer, our former NET teacher, who died of skin cancer last SaturdayonOctober7, 2006.

Mrs. Downer joined Ying Wa College as a NET teacher in 2000,teachingEnglish. A gorgeous Australian lady, Mrs. Downer loved Chinese culture very much, and she integrated into the big family of YingWaswiftly.

In the three years, Mrs. Downer had been very caring to all YingWa boys and supportive to teachers, office staffs and janitors alike, which won her affection and great respect among us. Those who have spent time in the Oxford Road campus can certainly recall Mrs. Downer’s warm smile. Mrs. Downer was truly loved by all of us.

I was particularly close to Mrs.Downer, or ‘Mia’ as we teachers would have called her. In the old campus, Mia and I were sitting back to back next to the side door in the staff room. She always called me son and I called her mother. And she was really a great mother to me. In my first two years of teaching, Mia had led me through the difficult stages of being a new teacher. She had been a great mentor and had shown me the qualities an excellent teacher should possess – professionalism, devotion, care and love. Her image still remains and will remain in my heart forever.

Mrs. Downer returned to Australia in 2003, after serving YingWa for 3 years to take care of her parents. But this didn’t stop her support to our school. In past years, she helped with our school’s exchange visits to Sydney as a tutor. Last summer holiday, Ms Nancy Tseng, our former Music teacher, brought a group of YingWa boys for another educational visit to Australia. Ms Tseng visited Mrs. Downer, just to know at that moment that Mia was in the final stage of skin cancer. Mrs. Downer had been keeping this dreadful news to herself so as not to worry her friends in Hong Kong. But even though her body was ailed by that fatal illness, Mia’s eyes brightened up when she talked about the gold old days she spent with YingWa, and in God she showed great determination to fight her sickness.

Sadly, cancer has claimed Mia’s life. But this lady’s loving spirit lives on. Her family passed her wish to us that she wanted us not to spend money on buying flowers for her memorial service, but to make donation to the Leukemia Foundation in Australiawhereby more cancer sufferers and their families could benefit.

Time is too slow for those who wait

Too swift for those who fear

Too long for those who grieve

Too short for those who rejoice

But for those who love, time is eternity.

Dear teachers and students, now a great woman of integrity is gone. The passing of Mrs. Downer is certainly a great loss to Ying Wa College, and she will be sorely missed by all of us.

It is certainly a difficult time for Mrs. Downer family and I sincerely wish them peace in the midst of sorrow and strength in the midst of pain. May the Lord be with Mrs. Maria Elizabeth Downer. Mia, you are in our prayers.

Joseph Tsang Chi To

English Teacher

YingWa College

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