HONG KONG (SE): “You are part of our Church here in Hong Kong. I know we can make you feel better. We can make you feel more involved and included. We are all learning. We all need to become better. And I hope that you can feel at home with us,” Hong Kong’s new bishop, Bishop Stephen Chow Sau-yan sj, told the non-Chinese-speaking community on the Catholic Way YouTube channel.
Every Thursday since November 18 the channel, produced by the Diocesan Audio Visual Centre, has uploaded interviews with the newly-ordained Bishop Chow in which he chats with guests, or shares his views on different aspects of life in casual conversations.
In a video uploaded at the end of November entitled, One Fold, One Faith, he said he asked for the video to be made because he wanted to express his high regard for the non-Chinese-speaking communities in Hong Kong.
“I have learned that for our expatriate community, the way they celebrate faith is more lively and more dynamic. And I appreciate that,” he said, adding that he hopes it will also help the Chinese-speaking community to have a more lively faith life.
Bishop Chow said that he understands the feeling of homesickness which he himself experienced when he went to Minnesota, in the United States, for his undergraduate studies in 1979. He remembered that at the time, communication was by long-distance telephone calls, which were limited to three minutes, and there was only one Chinese grocery store nearby to buy the daily necessities he needed.
He said that as he grew up overseas, he regarded himself as an international person who need to appreciate different cultures and should not judge other culture by using his own experiences or perspectives.
In another video, while speaking with an alumnus of Wah Yan College and a coffee roaster, Lam Wing-kwan, the bishop, who studied psychology and philosophy in university, expressed his views about coffee and philosophy, which are both a kind of science.
“Philosophy helps us to communicate. A professor who taught me once said a good philosopher can make even children he meets on the streets understand what he says,” Bishop Chow said.
He said he often prepares his homilies in a coffee shop, as he likes the feeling and the taste, which can stimulate thoughts.
The bishop also spoke about the Jesuit community with Father Stephen Tong Chak-long and Father Robert Ng Chi-fun. “I appreciate the Jesuits for their human touch. We do not rely on rules. Even when we are proceeding, we do not follow the listed steps,” he said, adding that loves the order because of the trust among fellow Jesuits.
He has abstained from eating meat, except for fish, since 1989, the year he came back from Ireland after years of diets full of meat. In 2006, he stopped eating fish as well because he felt sad when he saw someone kill a fish for him. Eggs are the only animal product that he consumes at present. From his point of view, being a vegetarian helps him maintain his spirituality, and shows his compassion for animals and respect for nature.
Bishop Chow likes to make salad. He said he likes reading recipes but will not follow them strictly as cooking is a creative hobby.
The bishop also likes to mingle with young people which helps him to understand them. “We work together with our hearts, which helps us find our common points,” he said.
