Because of work, I have to find some survivors to speak to. And I found a student who has been infected with SARS with his parents. He and his mother survived but his father had died.
He was only 15 years old when he got sick. The day he was released from hospital was the day when he said goodbye to his father. He told me his story and how he went into deep depression, and got out of it.
Then I talked to his mom who lost his husband. She told me how she remembers him: gracious, humble, loving. She also told me how she wanted her children to understand how important it is to treasure every opportunity they can be together, as they never know when it will all end.
And I also talked to his teacher who lived in a residential area badly infected with the disease. That year, he witnessed it all before his eyes while fearing he or his wife could be next. He became paranoid and washed his hands all the time.
Then another mother told me she got sick with flu and she knocked herself in her room for days, not allowing her two children to go near her.
10 years on, our SARS memories may vary but every one of us still remember it. We have fought it together in Hong Kong.
If there is anything we've learnt through this sad experience, as many have told me, is that:
Life is very short.
Value those in your life - now,
More that you value your work and money.
There is sometimes no reason - and I think, even no meaning in what happens to us.
But there is always hope
and love around us
