The camphor tree by the creek at the Divinity School of Chung Chi College has earned my respect and admiration for its resilience and vitality. It grew strong out of the cobble bed of the creek with little nutrients and became a spacious home for birds, insects, and creeping plants. This camphor tree was almost felled when its home was chosen as the site for the new Divinity chapel in 2006. I even uttered a little prayer grieving over its imminent death and thanking it for the contributions it made to the environment and the wellbeing of other living things in its surroundings. Fortunately, it survived due the change of the chapel construction site. I then went to hug this old friend with exhilaration.

Professor Wong Kwok Sonia // Divinity School of Chung Chi College