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Living is not only for subsisting

Cheung said it was a coincidence that she got a chance to teach in UM. There was a vacancy of a General Education (GE) course in UM and the course content was very similar to what she is specialized in. Because she loved the course and UM had a high degree of freedom in teaching, she could design the main direction of the course and enjoy the teaching process.

When talking about differences of the courses between UM and the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), Cheung mentioned that the courses she teaches at UM are in general education, and most of the students have just a relatively simple grasp about concepts of religion. Compared with the high requirements for students from the "Department of Culture and Religion" of CUHK, she would design easier content for UM students so that they would not find it difficult to understand and lose interest.

When Cheung learned that she received good comments from many students, she was very grateful for their support and encouragement. She believed that being a teacher also requires support and if students ignore the teacher in class, she will become increasingly bored. She firmly believed that even if only a few people in a class study hard, it is also a great encouragement for her.

When she was a child, Cheung was always skeptical about religion. Although she studied in a Catholic school and her family members were all Christians, she would often argue with her family and disagree with the context in the Bible. Later, she learned more about Buddhism, she developed a strong interest in it. But after an impressive experience, she knew about the existence of Jesus, and linked her life with religion, and finally chose to embrace Christianity. Someone asked, "Why don't you study theology about Christianism?" Cheung said that God was not to be studied, but for belief. "Because if you study something, you have to take it apart and analyze it, just like you would dissect a frog by studying biology. I want to keep my respect to God," she said solemnly.

Cheung has written some books about women. She said that in matriarchal societies, women dominated the world. But the position of women had been declining in patriarchal societies. It was around the 1920s, the status of women began to rise. These led her interest in the study of gender. Although she chose religious studies for her doctorate, she often combined gender studies with religious studies. She wrote books about these subjects. There are also many difficulties in the process of writing a book. For example, it is very difficult to do research and discover something new. But for Cheung, doing what she likes brings her happiness.

Cheung loves traveling and has traveled to many corners of Asia and Europe, especially to places with profound cultural deposits. She likes to visit places related to history and religion. Last year she visited the mountain where Indian Buddhists and Jains do worship. Although for others this type of sites may be too serious and boring, they satisfy her pursuit of life.

Cheung has her own understanding of movies. Because she studies the relationship between religions, she can often find deeper explanations in some movies, such as "Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds" and "COCO", both were popular. She is also willing to use movies as examples of analysis in class. Cheung said that she had an enjoyable experience in the cinema. "In the dark environment, only the movie communicates with me, and I can have a peaceful mind." She calls it "Cinema Experience".

When asked about her expectation in the future, she said, "Focus on what I love." Books and movies are Cheung's most favorite things. Teaching takes her a lot of time, but teaching is something she cannot give up. She loves this job and her students. But sometimes she wants to "fast-forward" to retirement life so that she can immerse herself in books and movies. If one day she needs to carve inscriptions, she will carve "She lived", since she thought that living is not only for subsisting as people should enjoy their lives but not to waste the time.