Lilian Lui Lai-hung is a Hong Kong kindergarten principal known for saving Yuen Kong Kindergarten while earning what was described as the lowest principal's salary in the city. An article published by the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui's Project Act of Love in November 2010 records that she had worked in early childhood education for more than 20 years and took early retirement in 2008, intending to volunteer and care for her family. When she learned that Yuen Kong had only five pupils, that its previous principal had resigned on health grounds and that the school council could offer only HK$4,500 a month, she applied. She started on 1 April 2009. With no janitor, she combined the roles of principal, teacher and cleaner and at first had to boil water herself; her husband, an exhibition designer, helped repair and repaint the school, and her family pitched in. She adopted a mixed-age model from overseas so that children of different ages learned together, and invited government bodies and non-profit groups to perform at the school so that pupils could broaden their horizons without travelling far. Yuen Kong's own website records that it is a village kindergarten on Kam Sheung Road in Pat Heung, Yuen Long, more than 40 years old, that only five pupils remained in 2009 and that after expenses the school could offer a principal's salary of HK$4,500; it hired a principal on 1 April 2009, and by the new term of 2011 enrolment had risen to 44, with 22 in the morning and 22 in the afternoon class. A principal's message on the site sets out her hope that children would build a good foundation for life, establish sound values and learn to respect and care for others. Because Yuen Kong's current website can no longer be read, this entry relies on the school's 2015 archive and the 2010 Sheng Kung Hui article and does not assert her present employment.
Achievements
- 2009 · Became principal of Yuen Kong Kindergarten on a monthly salary of HK$4,500
- 2011 · Enrolment at Yuen Kong Kindergarten rose to 44