Little Big Master 2015

Lui Wai-hung, [Miriam Yeung], is the headmistress of an international kindergarten who has grown disillusioned with the education system. She leaves her lucrative principal job and dreams of travelling the world with her husband Tse Wing-tung, [Louis Koo], but a television news report soon yanks her back to the classroom. The segment shows Yuen Tin Kindergarten, a small school in Yuen Long, teetering on the brink of closure with only five students left and a bare HK$4,500 budget to hire a headmaster and staff. This glimpse of vulnerability rekindles her passion for teaching, and she decides to return to the frontline by applying for the job in the hope of helping the five children transfer to a new school.

Once she steps into the role, Lui discovers that each student carries a heavy personal burden that bleeds into their school life. Ka-ka’s father, [Philip Keung Ho-Man], is crippled from an accident and lives under the shadow of eviction threats from property developers, a pressure that strains the family’s already precarious finances. Mei-chu’s world is scarred by tragedy—the loss of her parents in a traffic accident during a thunderstorm night—and her aunt, [Anna Ng], acts as her guardian, trying to keep her attached to routine and care. Siu-suet’s family faces the opposite problem: her mother’s residency status complicates their life, and her elderly grandfather, Mr Ho, who [Richard Ng Yiu-Hon], scrapes by selling metal scraps, does what he can to keep the family together. Kitty and Jennie’s father [Dhillon Harjit Singh] does not see education as a priority for girls, and when school bus prices rise, he simply refuses to let his daughters continue their schooling.

Facing these intertwined struggles, Lui goes beyond teaching to become a steady lifeline. She personally picks up Kitty and Jennie for school, and she works to untangle Ka-ka’s family issues while juggling administrative duties and the janitorial tasks that keep the school alive. Her approach blends practical support with a relentless belief in the students’ ability to shape their own futures. She encourages both children and parents to set concrete goals, underscoring her own steadfast philosophy: to be a teacher who never gives up. As the months unfold, she realizes that simply keeping the four walls open isn’t enough; she decides to widen the classroom by recruiting new students to ensure the school’s survival and to give more children a chance at stability and growth.

Yet personal health shadows the mission. Lui confronts a wrenching turn as a recurrence of an old tumor resurfaces, adding a layer of personal risk to her professional journey. The film then threads these threads together, portraying a community rallying around its most vulnerable members and a teacher who channels heartbreak into hope. Through Liu’s dedication, the story explores themes of resilience, community, and the transformative power of patient, persistent care in education.

• Note: This summary highlights the central characters and their intertwined challenges as presented in the film.