Private Tutors Turned Babysitters

May 4, 2022

Private tutors help ease family tension during the pandemic.

Phoebe Chu

University student Ruby Chu Ka-chin’s working hours of doing physical private tutoring has jumped from three hours a week to six, as a mother finds it difficult to manage her ten-year-old son who stays home most of the time during the pandemic.

“My salary has increased from HKD$1,550 to HKD$3,500 a month. My student is a Primary Five pupil, Hei Hei, and his mother has no patience supervising him to do homework and revision with him,” the Business Administration student, who started doing private tutoring in 2021, says.

“It takes three to four hours for Hei Hei to finish his homework as he cannot stay focused. He becomes even more distracted as he has to attend online classes during the pandemic. He always daydreams and forgets about what I tell him even when I just ask him to recite what I said ten seconds ago,” the 19-years-old says.

Physical classes in kindergartens and primary schools have been suspended for a few times since 2020. The latest round of suspension started from January 11 until April 19, 2022.

The private tutor says Hei Hei takes out his Demon Slayer toys to play when his mother is not home during physical tutorial sessions.

“The mother has no patience teaching her own son. She told me to write down answers on a piece of paper and then she asked her son to copy all of them. I feel like a babysitter rather than a private tutor. My other university friends working as private tutors feel the same way,” she adds.

“I feel like a babysitter rather than a private tutor. My other university friends working as private tutors feel the same way.”

Another private tutor, Coco Ma Wing-Yee, also shares Chu’s experience.

Ma used to work part-time in a restaurant. She now works as a private tutor and her monthly salary has jumped from HKD $2,500 to HKD $3,280 during the pandemic.

“My student is a Primary Five pupil. He keeps playing and I have to ask him to sit down and focus over 10 times in one and a half hours,” the 21-year-old university student says.

Exercise given to Coco Ma Wing-yee’s ten-year-old student. (Photo Courtesy of Coco Ma Wing-yee)

Ma says that her student’s parents leave everything to her and other tutors.

“The mother has also hired two other tutors to deal with her son’s homework and revision. The ten-year-old child spends more than seven hours on private tutoring every week. His parents only help him to do revision a day before examinations,” the hotel management student says.

“The parents ask me to stuff the kid with lots of homework. I feel like the parents just want me to do something to occupy their son’s schedule so that they can be free,” she adds.

“I feel like the parents just want me to do something to occupy their son’s schedule so that they can be free.”

Leung Lai-wa, a mother of three daughters, is one of those parents who seeks help from private tutors so that she can have some free time.

Leung increases private tutoring sessions for her elder daughter from one and a half hours to three to four hours a week. She spends more than HKD$1,800 a month for her child’s private tutoring sessions.

“I have to shout on top of my lungs to get my kids to do homework,” Leung says.

Her nine-year-old daughter cannot focus on her study whenever physical classes are suspended during the pandemic.

Leung’s elder daughter “distracted” by mask filter on ZOOM while having online class.

“My elder daughter always ignores what I say. She keeps procrastinating and always forgets to do her homework, especially when having online classes, as she thinks uploading her homework is annoying,” Leung says.

By hiring private tutors, Leung says she feels relieved and she can spend more time on her two younger daughters instead of only struggling with her elder daughter’s schoolwork.

Professor Ma Lai-Chong of the Department of Social Work at the Chinese University of Hong Kong points out that tension grows in families during the pandemic.

“Private tutors can play an important role in easing family tension by arranging some activities for children so they can have something to work on. Private tutoring is not solely for education but to give the parents a break as they can do other stuff when the kids are having tutoring,” Ma says.

Ma thinks if parents are not “smart enough” to handle tension with their children, they might take it on their children, especially for families with less social resources as they have no one to help them.

The number of child abuse cases rose to 1,232 in 2021, which is a 60 per cent increase from 2020. In more than half of the cases, the parents were found to be the abusers, according to the Hong Kong Police Force.

Ma points out it is even more difficult for parents working from home to handle their children during the pandemic.

“As the boundary between their work life and family life becomes vague, it is hard for most parents in Hong Kong to find a separate room to work alone as living space is so limited,” Ma says.

“Children seek for more attention from their stay at home most of the time during the pandemic. They might disturb their parents while they are working,” she adds.

Edited by Leung Pak-hei
Sub-edited by Kajal Aidasani

Google Says I Am Sick

May 4, 2022

Online self-diagnosis might lead to unnecessary stress.

Christine Tang

May Wong* has been searching for medical information and doing self-diagnosis since 2016 because she suspects that she has depression. She also looks for other health information online and does online diagnostic tests whenever she has health concerns.

“You may describe my personality as anxious and pessimistic. The more health information I read, the more I feel anxious,” the 18-year-old student says.

The student has always struggled with peer relationships, leading to her depressive mood.

“I sometimes spend around five to six hours a day looking for health information like different forms of clinical depression and diagnostic criteria, and I spend one or two hours looking for health information three times a week,” Wong says.

“I have done most of the tests about depression I find on Google since 2016. I think they (the results of high possibility of having depression) are credible,” she adds.

Wong’s symptoms of sickness include abnormal menstruation, suicidal ideation, anxiety and self-abasement.

Despite having those symptoms, Wong prefers diagnosing herself on her own to seeking medical consultation from professionals.

“I do not like chatting with strangers about my privacy. I do not think my personal matters are good stuff that I can tell others. Also, I am worried that my family will be upset if I am really diagnosed with depression,” she explains.

“I do not like chatting with strangers about my privacy. I do not think my personal matters are good stuff that I can tell others.”

May Wong* drew herself searching for health information when she was finding ways to cope with her disinterest in life. (Photo courtesy of May Wong)

Due to her doubts about depression symptoms, some of her friends have kept a distance from her instead of caring for her.

Until now, she still has not sought help from professionals and is still checking information about depression online.

Rao Haiyu, who underwent plastic nose surgery in a small private clinic in China in 1993, shares similar experiences of conducting online searches about symptoms of diseases and making self-diagnosing.

“The upper part of my nose started feeling itchy in 2019 and I feared that I might be suffering from serious diseases, so I started Googling my symptoms,” she says.

In 2019, she started doing Internet searches about the long-term side effects of nose jobs. She learnt that some kinds of injectable soft-tissue fillers may lead to serious complications like foreign body reactions from the Google search.

She has then attributed her itchiness to complications of the nose job.

“I believe there is something wrong in my nose because of the surgery, and I learnt from the Internet search that the unknown harmful fillers injected may lead to blindness if they migrate,” Rao says.

“I do not trust doctors I consulted who say I am alright because I think they are not knowledgeable. There are not many cosmetic surgery specialists in Hong Kong and most are not experienced enough to make the correct diagnosis and perform suitable removal surgery,” Rao adds.

The fear generated from her Google search made her do numerous visits to doctors, because she trusts search results more than doctors’ diagnoses.

She travelled back and forth from Hong Kong to the Mainland from 2019 to 2021, in hope of having removal surgery performed by specialists. She left her family in the city where her eight-year-old son stayed with his dad.

Until March 2022, she has seen more than 15 doctors in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangdong and over five doctors in Hong Kong.

“I do not think I am mentally ill. I just care about my health,” Rao says.

Rao Haiyu’s medical consultation records. (Photo courtesy of
Rao Haiyu)

Dr. Greg Mak Kai-lok, an honorary consultant psychiatrist at Gleneagles Hospital Hong Kong, thinks that information overload makes it hard to tell right from wrong when patients conduct online self-diagnosis.

He believes people with anxious temperaments and health concerns are particularly vulnerable to self-diagnosis. As some fields are especially prone to social stigma, like the field of mental health, patients may thus be less willing to seek help.

“If their health concern becomes overwhelming after doing online searches, they may feel more stressed, resulting in physical symptoms. This creates a vicious cycle of mental and physical health influencing each other,” the private practising psychiatrist says.

“If their health concern becomes overwhelming after doing online searches, they may feel more stressed, resulting in physical symptoms.”

Mak recommends getting a proper diagnosis from doctors instead of doing self-diagnosis. Even when they consult a doctor, they may not get diagnosed with any illnesses. One does not have to be ill to seek professional advice.

“When people make their own diagnosis based on information they find online, they might add their subjective feelings. If they believe they are depressed, they may fill in questionnaires in a way that they can test positive, so the accuracy of test outcomes is in question,” Mak says.

“Also, there is no empirical evidence and validation for online tests,” the psychiatrist adds.

*Name changed at interviewee’s request

Edited by Kajal Aidasani
Sub-edited by Winkie Ng

Life Without Vaccine Pass

May 3, 2022

The unvaccinated have to pay a higher price under tightened pandemic restrictions.

Amelie Yeung

Reyna Wong*, a student from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), says she lost her part-time job as she insisted not to be vaccinated due to fears of the vaccine’s side effects.

“I used to work as a part-time teacher in a tutorial centre which is located inside a shopping mall, but I cannot work there now because I don’t have the vaccine pass. I resigned in February and am losing HK$8,000 per month, 40 per cent of my original monthly income,” she says.

To make up for the loss, Wong is looking for other part-time jobs.

Unvaccinated people like Wong are also forbidden from going to hair salons under the scheme.

“My hairdresser comes to my home directly now. The price for home appointments rises to around HK$1,700. It costs HK$400 more because of extra transportation fees,” the CUHK student says.

In the past, she visited the salon every two months. But she cut down the visits to once every three months due to the rise in costs.

Implementation of the Vaccine Pass

On February 24, the Hong Kong government launched a vaccine pass scheme in a bid to tighten COVID-19 social distancing rules amid the city’s worst outbreak since 2019.

Under the scheme, all persons over the age of 12 must show their vaccination or exemption records to enter certain premises, such as restaurants, sports premises, and entertainment facilities.

To enter restaurants, customers are required to scan the provided QR code with their mobile phones.

Impacts of the Vaccine Pass

Rachel Lee*, a final year student at CUHK, also shares Wong’s fears of the side effects of COVID-19 vaccines. She panicked when CUHK announced that all students should be vaccinated for both physical and online classes in February.

“I was frustrated because I would not be allowed to take any courses in the second term. If I didn’t take the jab, I would not be able to graduate on time,” she says.

“I got vaccinated in February because of pressure from my university and vaccine pass,” Lee continues, adding that she has not had any side effects so far.

CUHK changed its policy in late February to allow non-vaccinated students to attend online classes.

Lee admits she must submit to the reality sooner or later.

“After I graduate, most companies will probably require employees to be vaccinated, so I got vaccinated in the end, even though I am scared of the side effects of the vaccine in the long run,” she says.

“I feel resigned. I have no choice,” the final year student adds.

On March 16, the Legislative Council had a second reading of a bill to amend Employment Ordinance, which if passed, will allow employers to fire unvaccinated employees.

Software engineer Henry Shi Yukun, 26, is also unvaccinated. His shopping and dining habits have changed under the vaccine pass scheme.

“I cannot enter supermarkets or shopping malls, so I buy what I need from convenience stores like 7-Eleven, or order from online shopping platforms,” he says.

“Even though I cannot eat at restaurants, I can still buy takeaway, or cook at home. It is a bit annoying, but I can live with the changes,” Shi says.

While some companies require employees to be vaccinated, Shi’s employer does not.

“Vaccination is not mandatory for my company, and since I work from home without physical contact with my colleagues, there is no need for me to be vaccinated,” he says.

Shi tested positive for COVID-19 in early March, but he has no plans to get the jab in the future.

“My fully vaccinated mum also got COVID-19, but her symptoms were the same as mine, like coughing, having a fever and a sore throat. Being vaccinated or not does not matter,” he says.

Shi refuses to get vaccinated because he thinks the protection rate of the vaccines available in Hong Kong, which are BioNTech and Sinovac, are too low.

“If the vaccine is truly effective, the Omicron wave would never have happened,” he says, referring to the latest variant of COVID-19 that has caused an unprecedented peak in positive cases.

The importance of vaccination

The city has reported more than 1 million COVID-19 infections and about 9,318 deaths till 3 May, 2022. More than 90 per cent of the population have had at least one dose of vaccine and most of the fatalities are among unvaccinated senior citizens, according to government data.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in the US states while vaccines are not completely effective against preventing infection, people who are vaccinated are less likely to develop serious symptoms when they get COVID-19 than those who are not.

Professor Lancelot Mui Wai-ho, a lecturer at CUHK’s Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, thinks that Hongkongers should get vaccinated as soon as possible to protect the society.

“The present situation of society-wide lockdown cannot continue indefinitely. Sooner or later we will have to resume our connection to the rest of the world, which for most of the parts have decided to live with the virus,” he says.

“Once that connection is re-established, the virus will inevitably come along and we will have to live with the virus like the rest of the world,” the professor adds.

*Names changed at interviewees’ request.

Edited by Angel Woo
Sub-edited by Leung Pak Hei

Goodbye Hong Kong!

May 3, 2022

International students have left Hong Kong before the school term ends because of the Omicron outbreak.

Yap Ying-ye

Marcus Singh*’s study plan in Hong Kong has been greatly disrupted by the Omicron outbreak. The Indian student from the University of Hong Kong (HKU), had to leave the city before the school term ends.

“I am planning to fly back to Hong Kong during June. I really hope the situation will get better and there will be physical classes next semester. I have been studying at HKU for two years, but I have yet to attend any in-person classes,” the 19-year-old student says.

“I miss the campus life and the campus environment. In-person lessons are a lot better than online ones because there are a lot of technical difficulties,” Singh adds.

The engineering major student spent HK$15,500 for 21 days of quarantine at a hotel and HK$1,200 for another seven-day self-monitoring period as required by HKU, from December 2021 till January 2022. He left for India in February 2022 due to the Omicron outbreak.

Singh says it is a heavy burden for international students to cover expenses related to anti-epidemic measures such as hotels and tests.

“International students already pay higher tuition fees. Universities should at least cover some expenses related to Hong Kong quarantine measures for international students,” he says.

Frustrations at Inconsistent Policies

Like Singh, Linn Wu, a Year Four Taiwanese student at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), also left Hong Kong in a rush due to uncertainties arising from the Omicron outbreak and CUHK’s quarantine policy.

“I wanted to stay initially because it is my last semester here. Even though all classes have been switched to online mode, I wanted to enjoy campus life,” Wu says.

“I wanted to stay initially because it is my last semester here. Even though all classes have been switched to online mode, I wanted to enjoy campus life.”

“What frustrates me is that students who are still staying are mostly international students who do not have a choice. They have nowhere else to go and have to accept the university’s arrangements. Yet, the university is extremely unclear about their policies,” she adds.

On February 8, 2022, CUHK announced that all residents, including international students, had to vacate their hostels the following weekend unless they had a compelling reason to stay. Students who wished to stay would have to fill out a form specifying their reasons.

The Chinese University of Hong Kong announced on February 8 2022 that there would be online classes for the rest of the semester and the new hostel rules.
(Photo Courtesy of CUHK Emergency Response Group)

Other universities, such as HKU, Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), also encouraged hostel residents to leave in the same week.

Wu was granted permission to stay on campus. But she was asked to move to another floor where a confirmed case was reported.

“The request did not make sense. The hostel wanted to reduce crowd density, yet they asked more people to live together on the same floor. That’s when I started to feel unsafe,” Wu says.

Wu left Hong Kong on February 20.

“I quarantined seven days at a hotel and seven days at home. I could go outside for necessities in the third week. After that, I was free and allowed to leave my house,” Wu says.

Quarantine on Campus

Eve Lee, a CUHK Year Four journalism student from South Korea also wanted to stay in Hong Kong, but she left the city after going through some ordeals on campus.

On February 19, Lee’s roommate tested positive for COVID-19. Lee was required to undergo an isolation at a separate building at CUHK, but she was not informed about how long she had to stay in isolation.

“There were no specific guidelines for close contacts. I could not have a lot of my belongings as I was required to pack in a hurry,” Lee says.

“I contacted my college and was directed to the University Health Service (UHS), then to emergency services, who directed me back to my college. I even contacted the School of Journalism and Communications for help. Nobody could give me a clear answer. The lack of communication made it really difficult for me,” she adds.

Apart from poor communication, living conditions in the isolation facilities were far from ideal.

“It was cold and raining. Yet, I did not have my pillow and they only gave me a blanket later on. On the first day, the college gave me a bag of cup noodles, but it was hard to live with only that. I had to ask my friends to deliver food for me,” Lee says.

“The quarantine experience was really bad. I do not want to come back to Hong Kong for at least a few years because of this,” she adds.

“The quarantine experience was really bad. I do not want to come back to Hong Kong for at least a few years because of this.”

Lee completed her isolation on February 23. She then left for South Korea on March 13.

“Luckily, it was easy for me to book flight tickets, and the Korean government recognizes rapid antigen testing (RAT) results, so the process of leaving was quite smooth. Compared with Hong Kong, quarantine policies in Korea are not that strict. During home quarantine, I could go out two hours a day to buy necessities and food,” she says.

Quarantine policies and COVID situation in India, Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong

Country	Status	COVID situation	Last updated
India	Unvaccinated travellers are required to upload a negative COVID test conducted 72 hours prior to boarding the flight. All travellers are required to undergo thermal screening and self-monitor their health for 14 days upon arrival.	43,040,947 confirmed cases 521,776 deaths	April 16, 2022
Taiwan	Arrivals are required to go through a 10-day mandatory quarantine. Arrivals can choose to complete their mandatory quarantine at home, quarantine hotel, or a designated quarantine facility.	31,857 confirmed cases 854 deaths	April 16, 2022
South Korea	Fully vaccinated travellers are able to enter South Korea without any quarantine period.	16,212,751 confirmed cases 20,889 deaths	April 16, 2022
Hong Kong	Fully vaccinated residents have to obtain a negative PCR test 48 hours prior to boarding the flight. All arrivals will have to complete a 7-day mandatory quarantine at a designated quarantine hotel.	1,196,285 confirmed cases 9,069 deaths	April 16, 2022

Panic and Confusion

Soumyadeep Das, former president of the International Student Association of CUHK (ISA-CUHK) says many students have reached out to them for help.

“The university did not make any direct statements indicating what would be done for international students.” Das says.

The student group made social media posts about hostel policies of different colleges, and advised students what to do if the university denied their request to stay on campus.

The International student association of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (ISA-CUHK) put up social media posts giving international students information following CUHK’s announcement.
(Photo Courtesy of ISA-CUHK)

Das points out that the university made the announcements in very short notice.

“Not everyone is able to leave due to different personal issues. It is stressful for international students to navigate a foreign place in the midst of the Omicron outbreak,” Das says.

The International student association of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (ISA-CUHK) compiled information regarding each hostel’s deadlines on their social media posts February 10, a few days after the announcement.
(Photo Courtesy of ISA-CUHK)

Varsity has reached out to the Office of Student Affairs (OSA) about plans for the next academic year and arrangements for international students, but has yet received any reply from the OSA.

*Name changed at interviewee’s request

Edited by Winkie Ng
Sub-edited by Angel Woo

Back in the Saddle Again

May 2, 2022

YouTuber and singer Boris Wong Tsun-ming shares how he is getting back on track and is bouncing back even stronger after overcoming his anxiety.

Yika Ng

YouTuber and singer Boris Wong Tsun-ming has recently celebrated the success of his latest work in which he collaborated with singer Alfred Hui Ting-hang as a director for a music video after suffering from anxiety for nearly two years.

The music video “Nobody But Yourself”, premiered on 10 March, 2022 on YouTube, had over 300,000 views in a month.

“I have received a lot of positive feedback and won recognition from viewers for my work. It is a huge confidence booster for me. I feel so honoured to work with the songwriter Albert Leung, Alfred Hui Ting-hang, and the crew. They taught me to explore different possibilities about myself,” the 22-year-old YouTuber says.

“As a YouTuber, I used to feel insecure and fear that I might be left behind when I was not posting new content as quickly as others. The success of the music video project has taught me that it takes time to create quality work. I just need to work at my own pace,” Wong says.

“The success of the music video project has taught me that it takes time to create quality work. I just need to work at my own pace.”

Depressing Days

Wong was a different man two years ago when he suffered from anxiety.

He started suffering from stage fright and lost his confidence after being heavily criticised for his performance in a talent contest King Maker II, hosted in September 2019 by a Hong Kong TV station, ViuTV.

“I joined the show because I joked to my friend that I would be participating in it then we ended up joining together,” Wong says.

Boris Wong Tsun-ming took part in a talent contest King Maker 2 in 2019.
(Photo Courtesy of ViuTV)

After the talent contest was aired, many people left harsh comments online and criticised his performance.

The viewers left messages saying his singing was so poor that he should not sing in public and criticised him for his lack of preparation for the contest.

“I felt so ashamed about my performance because I did not prepare well. I felt guilty and embarrassed. I dare not sing Karaoke in front of my friends after reading all those comments. I just stayed at home and did not want to meet anyone. I felt like there was a voice scolding me saying I was a loser,” he recalls.

Wong even had suicidal thought around the end of 2019.

“The thought was so intense that it got to a point where I felt that my whole being was wrong and I wanted to end my life,” he says.

“The thought was so intense that it got to a point where I felt that my whole being was wrong and I wanted to end my life.”

When Wong was trying hard to stay strong to sail through the difficult time, his brother, who shared the same bedroom with him, was diagnosed with depression and anxiety in late 2020 and was hospitalised a few times.

“I could not communicate with my brother and I did not know how to help him. His condition made me feel bad. I had to move to my friend’s home to find peace,” Wong recalls.

“At that time, I barely had any motivation to do anything. I had insomnia and no appetite. I had panic attacks. I sat under a shower to soak myself in water to calm myself down. It happened almost every day in the first few months of early 2021. It was the hardest time in my life. I tried to carry everything on my shoulder, but I could not help my brother. I had no confidence in doing anything. I felt worried about my future,” he says.

In late October 2021, life took a turn for Wong when he received an invitation to perform in a music event.

“I felt like it was about time to overcome the fear that had haunted me for so long,” Wong says.

He started taking vocal classes and busking in a pedestrian zone in Mong Kok in November 2021 to get ready for his comeback performance.

“I took busking as a good practice for the event. I also sang songs that I performed in the talent contest in 2019 during busking to drive away my fear. The crowd loved my performance. It was great singing together with my audience and I began to enjoy performing again. It was a breakthrough that brought me to a new start after two years of tough time,” Wong says.

Boris Wong Tsun-ming performed in Sam Gor Chill and Chili Music Show in November 2021.
(Photo Courtesy of Boris Wong Tsun-ming)

Wong looks up to Deku, an anime character from My Hero Academia.

“Deku wants to be a hero but he does not have any superpower. When everyone thinks that he cannot do it, he still has faith in himself that he will become a hero one day. I admire his attitude,” he says.

Finding strength in Deku’s spirit, Wong feels encouraged to carry on pursuing his dream in stardom.

“Don’t be bounded by your own mind or the environment. You never know what opportunities will come to you. Stay true to your dream and learn from mistakes and be sincere to people around you,” he says.

“Don’t be bounded by your own mind or the environment. You never know what opportunities will come to you.”

Boris Wong Tsun-ming and his family members all had a tattoo in June 2021.
(Photo Courtesy of Boris Wong Tsun-ming)

Edited by Kajal Aidasani
Sub-edited by Angel Woo

Hong Kong’s Tourism Ice Age

May 2, 2022

Hong Kong tourism industry grapples with COVID-19 isolation protocols.

Charlie Chun

Travel agency operator Cheng Kwei-shing is working as a weight management trainer, while his partner has found a job in the security industry due to the pandemic.

“I now teach people how to improve their health by changing their lifestyle and eating habits. My courses are mainly conducted online,” Cheng, who started his travel business in 2010, says.

His travel agency used to host one to two groups of outbound tours every day before the pandemic.

“We are not able to host any outbound tours now. When the situation improved in May 2021, we hosted local tours to sustain my business, but the revenue was insufficient to maintain daily operation. With the Omicron outbreak, local tours have been suspended. I have to live on my own savings,” he says.

The government has lifted its COVID-19 flight ban from April 1. Fully vaccinated residents are required to undergo a seven-day quarantine upon arrival in Hong Kong.

“The flight ban has been lifted, but travellers still have to quarantine when they return. I do not think this will lead to a drastic increase in travelling. Anti-pandemic policies change every day, making it difficult for the industry to adapt,” Cheng says.

“Anti-pandemic policies change every day, making it difficult for the industry to adapt.”

“My travel agency is not preparing for any resumption of tours, but I will resume business when all anti-pandemic measures are removed. I am using savings to cover company operation expenses. I will do anything to keep my travel agency alive,” he adds.

Until March 2, 2022, 100 licensed travel agencies have shut down due to COVID-19, according to the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong.

Frontline Struggles

Apart from business owners, frontline workers in the travel industry are also badly affected by the pandemic, and one of them is Kenneth Mok Cheuk-nam.

“I used to have two to three tours for overseas tourists every week. Now the number of tours is down to zero,” the 25-year-old tour guide says.

Mok has started working as a part-time office worker doing clerical work at a social enterprise since May 2021.

“Some of my colleagues find jobs in security services, property management and office work,” he says.

The government introduced the Employment Support Scheme in 2020, providing subsidies to affected industries, due to the outbreak of COVID-19. The seventh round of funding allows each eligible applicant to receive a one-off subsidy of HK$7,500 (US $955.7).

“The amount is better than nothing, but that is not enough for some tour guides who have families to take care of. I am waiting for news from my company. The relaxation of anti-pandemic policies is carried out in three stages, and there is no exact date about when local tours will resume,” Mok says.

Like Mok, Danny Wong Chung-hang also has to take up part-time jobs to make a living.

“I was sacked in 2021. Then I work as a part-time office worker and a staff at COVID-19 testing centres helping with booking registrations,” the former tour escort says.

“My monthly salary now depends on how many days I work. My salary now is similar to what I used to have when working as a tour guide, which is around $10,000,” he adds.

Danny Wong Chung-hang hosting a tour to Hailuogou in 2019 when outbound travelling was possible.
(Photo courtesy of Danny Wong Chung-hang)

Wong says other staffs either take no pay leave or get paid by days of work in branches or back offices, and many former colleagues have taken up jobs in isolation facilities, vaccination stations and COVID test centres.

“The travel company has developed an online market business from July 2020 mainly selling imported food from Japan and Taiwan. But I do not think staffs who have been sacked want to take up other posts even if the company offers them, as the salary is really low. We are all waiting for tours to be resumed,” Wong says.

He believes the travel industry will be revived once the anti-pandemic measures are removed.

“I am sure that the company will rehire sacked employees again. I will look for jobs in other travel agencies if I do not get my job back,” Wong says.

Wing On Travel has developed online market business selling imported food.

Tourism Ice Age

Lawmaker Perry Yiu Pak-leung, representing the tourism industry, thinks the industry is going through an “ice age”.

“The Omicron outbreak has hit the industry badly. Many frontline workers have to seek temporary jobs at vaccination centres to make a living,” Yiu says.

Over the past two years, the government has rolled out measures of more than HK$3.8 billion to support the tourism industry.

“The main goal of travel agencies is to avoid shutting down and massive manpower loss. The industry will be able pick itself up quickly once all anti-pandemic measures are removed,” he adds.

“The industry will be able pick itself up quickly once all anti-pandemic measures are removed.”

Current Status of Major Travel Agencies in Hong Kong

Travel agency	Status
Morning Star Travel	Shut down on January 27, 2022
EGL Tours	Developed online market business in May, 2020
Hong Thai Travel	Developed online market business in April, 2020
Wing On Travel	Developed online market business in July, 2020
Wincastle Travel	Shut down on April 23, 2021

Edited by Kajal Aidasani
Sub-edited by Winkie Ng

A Long Way Home

April 30, 2022

Mainland students struggle under the lockdown policy in different cities.

Lily Wang

It took mainland university student Long Yuqi 30 days to go back home to Shenzhen from Hong Kong. She left Hong Kong in February fearing a possible lockdown in the city and later ended up being locked down in her hometown when she finally reached home in mid-March.

“My mother had to wake up very early to buy fresh food for the family during the lockdown because wet markets were open in the morning only. All food would be sold out if she went there late. Now my family and I still need to do COVID-19 tests every day,” the 20-year-old student studying at the Chinese University of Hong Kong says.

The lockdown in Shenzhen started on March 13 and ended in Futian District, where Long and her family live, on April 12.

She was desperate to leave Hong Kong and return home in early February when the Omicron outbreak began to sweep across the city.

“My mom was worried that the central government might take control of Hong Kong and impose a lockdown on the city, so she kept urging me to go home,” Long says.

In total, Long has spent around RMB ¥10,000 (US $1,572) to buy a few plane tickets and change the departure dates and destinations of her tickets, hoping to leave Hong Kong as soon as possible.

“I was not able to directly return to Shenzhen, as I was unable to be part of the 800-people quota for that, so I had to fly to Beijing first,” Long says.

“I finished 28-days of quarantine in Beijing and flew back to Shenzhen on March 13. Then I found myself trapped in a lockdown,” she sighs.

After all the ordeal she has been through in the past two months, Long is quite pessimistic about the border arrangement between Hong Kong and the Mainland in the coming months.

“I don’t think the situation in Mainland China will turn better soon. The government is determined to continue to adopt the zero-COVID policy,” she says.

Long is now having online lessons at home in Shenzhen. “I hope CUHK can let mainland students attend Zoom lectures at the university’s Shenzhen campus. The feeling of studying on campus is different from having lectures at home and I cannot focus when I am studying at home,” Long says.

The view of Long Yuqi’s quarantine hotel in Beijing. (Photo Courtesy of Long Yuqi)

Another university student, Wang Zixin from Shenzhen, also left Hong Kong in February and found herself trapped in her hometown’s lockdown in March.

“I have to do a COVID test every other day, but it does not affect me much. I do not need to wait for hours to take the test, and I can take it any time between 8 am to 10 pm. I feel happier staying in Shenzhen than in Hong Kong because I have more food delivery choices,” Wang says.

In February, Wang struggled to secure a slot in the 800-quota quarantine hotel available daily in order to go through the Shenzhen Bay border checkpoint.

“The Wi-Fi in my dorm was not fast enough for me to get the quota online so I asked my friend on the mainland with a stable internet connection to secure a lot for me. I also spent RMB ¥800 (US $125.6) to hire a scalper in case my friend failed,” Wang says.

On February 14, she left Hong Kong for Shenzhen by taxi and then underwent 21-day quarantine.

Struggles in different cities

Strict border control and quarantine policies in different cities not only make it difficult for mainland students to return home but also for those who study in the Mainland.

Year two student Venus Xie from Shanghai Jiao Tong University has been locked inside her dormitory since March 12.

“Students are afraid, as we are worried that we can test positive one day. I have already done more than 20 COVID tests, but I have not been informed about my test results,” she says.

Xie says all students at the university are required to do tests every two days.

“A pass card is assigned to each dormitory of four students. One of the students is required to take the pass card when he or she goes to the university canteen to buy food for all students in each dormitory. We can only buy daily necessities such as paper towels, shower gel, and sanitary napkins online and nothing else,” Xie says.

She says many students had fever in March, but they had to wait for two to three days for medical treatment because of a lack of resources and manpower due to the emergence of a large number of patients in such a short time.

“The university tried their best to help us, but there are around 30,000 students here. There was not enough food, medicine, and manpower, and nobody could leave the campus. Medical staff were later deployed in our university to help us,” Xie says.

Follow orders without questioning

A mainland scholar, who declines to reveal his identity due to pressure from work, criticizes the mainland authorities for carrying out policies which fail to meet the people’s needs.

“The people are overwhelmed by troubles caused by the government measures. The death rate is now even lower than that caused by the common flu. But no one dares to speak out against the government’s ideology publicly,” he says.

He points out it is difficult for a city like Shanghai to execute the zero-COVID policy.

“It is a city that depends on business and service industries. The lockdown will kill the economy, especially small and medium sized businesses,” he adds.

He says patients with mild symptoms have used up medical resources which are urgently needed for patients with other fatal illnesses who need immediate medical treatment.

“The senior officials are not taking up the responsibilities of saving lives. Ordinary people like us can do nothing but follow the rules,” he adds.

Edited by Angel Woo
Sub-edited by Leung Pak Hei

Mainland Children: Let Us Play!

April 25, 2022

Mainland Chinese children feel upset about a new policy that limits their time playing video games.

Eve Qiao

High school student Zak He used to play two hours of online video game every day. He feels upset for not being able to play the Honor of Kings, a popular online video game, whenever he wants because of a government restriction that limits online gaming time for youngsters under 18 to three hours a week.

“I feel bored. Playing online video game is my favourite hobby. But now I can only play one hour a day on weekends,” the 17-year-old student says.

Under the government restriction introduced by the National Press and Publication Administration in August 2021, teenagers under 18 can only play video games for at most three hours a week, with playing time on weekends and holidays limited to between 8 pm and 9 pm. This move aims to combat the problem of video gaming addiction among minors.

“My roommates and I used to play video games one hour a day after finishing our homework, but now we cannot because of the government policy. What can I do when I am bored?” he sighs.

He says now he can only kill time by watching videos on different applications. “But I have more fun playing video games,” Zak says.

Cheng Dong, a 14-year-old junior high school student, shares her frustration. The new policy not only limits her playtime, but also makes her lose money.

Cheng Dong is not allowed to play game because of the game’s restriction. (Photo courtesy of Cheng Dong)

“I feel angry about this policy because I have less time to play video games. I always buy monthly subscriptions for online games which requires me to log in every day to collect in-game items. But now I can only log in to the game on weekends, which means I lose about RMB ¥180 (US $30) every month. This amount is quite a lot for a student,” Dong says.

But the junior high school student also admits that she has spent more time on other interests after the policy has been implemented.

“I spend more time on singing and reading novels now. I have been doing other things since I play less video games,” she adds.

Game operators have quickly changed game systems to prevent minors from playing games overtime. To identify underage group, all players are required to upload their identity cards and do face recognition for their first log in to play video games starting from August 2021.

To get around the rules, 11-year-old pupil Andy Zhao borrows his elder brother’s identity card to cheat the registration system. His brother celebrated his 18th birthday in November 2021.

“I uploaded my brother’s identity card and asked him to do the face recognition for me so that the system would take me as a grown-up and I can play video games whenever I want,” the pupil says.

Andy Zhao needs his brother to do face recognition for him.

But this trick does not solve all problems. “I need my brother to stay with me when I play online games. The system sometimes asks for face identification before login,” Zhao adds.

“I also need to register a new account for myself when I turn 18, which means I will lose all credits I have now in my current account,” he sighs.

Nearly 63 per cent of young people aged under 18 played video games, according to a study The 2020 National Report on Minors’ Internet Use published by China Internet Network Information Centre (CNNIC) and other government departments in 2021.

The report also shows about 65 per cent of minors played video games for more than 10 hours a day, with eight per cent playing for more than 15 hours.

Anthony Fung Ying-him, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s School of Journalism and Communication, says the policy might not be perfect, but it is quite effective.

Fung also thinks intention of the government measure is good, and its purpose is to combat addiction.

“There are still many minors using other people’s identity and other ways to cheat on the recognition system. Other supporting measures should be introduced to prevent them from doing so,” he says.

The professor points out there are many reasons causing gaming addiction such as family relationship.

“I did a survey in Shanghai in 2016, and I found a strong correlation between the time teenagers spent on playing games and the time they spent with their parents. Family factor accounts for most gaming addiction cases,” Fung states.

He adds the policy is very effective in the short term, but joint efforts involving both families and the government are needed if people want to solve this problem fundamentally.

“I think families and schools are responsible for doing proper digital literacy education. Parents should set examples for their children and teach them the right way to learn about the digital world,” the professor says.

Edited by Alina Chen
Sub-edited by Leung Pak-hei

The Flexible Rope Skipping King

April 24, 2022

Timothy Ho Chu-ting, a rope skipping world champion, worked as a delivery man, is still passionate in rope skipping despite having difficulties in training during the pandemic.

Esme Lam

Timothy Ho Chu-ting, the first Asian world champion of rope skipping, was forced to work as a delivery man during the pandemic.

Ho did two hours of training in between his two part time jobs working as a delivery man for Foodpanda from 11 a.m. to 1 or 2 p.m. and 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. for McDonald’s three days a week from December 2020 to February 2021.

“No matter what I do for a living, I always make sure I have time for training. I must ensure that I am fit and ready when physical competitions and training classes resume,” he says.

Being the winner of Male Individual Overall Champion of the World Rope Skipping Championships in 2014 and 2016, Ho is both an athlete and a coach.

Ho Chu-ting and his team won the team champion in the FISAC-IRSF World Rope Skipping Championship 2014. He was also the winner of individual performance.
(Photo Courtesy of Timothy Ho Chu-ting)

But most of his classes have been cancelled because of the pandemic and his income has dropped by 20 per cent.

“I have never thought of working at McDonald’s and being a delivery man. I thought I would always be a rope skipping athlete and a coach,” he says.

From his experience as a delivery man, Ho has learnt to enjoy working no matter what job he has.

“I enjoy cycling while delivering food. It feels good to exercise and work at the same time,” he says.

Despite his passion for rope skipping, finding a venue for training is not easy during the pandemic, as sports centres have been closed.

“Sometimes I just walk on the streets to find random places for training. It is also difficult to breathe as masks are required when doing outdoor exercise,” he says.

“Sometimes I just walk on the streets to find random places for training. It is also difficult to breathe as masks are required when doing outdoor exercise.”

Ho’s daily training session mainly consists of three areas: speed training, jumping skills and physical training.

“I used to do training five to six days a week. Now I have to cut down my training to two hours per day and four days a week because of the pandemic,” he says.

The pandemic not only has affected his job and training, Ho also has to overcome challenges of taking part in virtual rope skipping contests.

“To be honest, I do not like virtual competitions…but I will do it because of sportsmanship,” he says, adding that videos are taken repeatedly until he has a clip of his perfect performance.

“This makes athletes very tired. I spent one whole month producing six videos for submission of the virtual world championships last year,” he says.

Ho Chu-ting has to film himself jumping repeatedly till he captures the best performance in order to join a virtual contest.
(Photo Courtesy of Timothy Ho Chu-ting)

Apart from hardship caused by the pandemic, Ho has to combat his injury which is his worst nightmare. He had to stop his training for two months in 2021.

“I feel so strange. It seems that I have tried my best already, but it also seems that I have not due to the injury,” he says.

Despite training so hard all his life, rope skipping was not Ho’s favourite sport when he was a child.

Ho started rope skipping for physical training in his badminton lessons. He then joined rope skipping classes after his physical education teacher discovered his talent when he was five.

After winning his first award in a competition when he was a Primary Five pupil, he fell in love with rope skipping.

“It not only gives me the sense of achievement, but also helps me build friendship with my teammates who do training and make progress with me,” he adds.

At the age of 19, Ho won his first world champion title in the World Rope Skipping Championships in 2014.

“When the flag of Hong Kong was raised inside the Hong Kong Stadium in the awards ceremony, I was really excited. It was a great honour for me to represent my home place to win an award,” he recalls.

“When the flag of Hong Kong was raised inside the Hong Kong Stadium in the awards ceremony, I was really excited.”

Ho has different feelings when joining competitions with a different hat.

“I feel scared and worried about my performance when I take part in competitions. I feel even more worried when my students take part in contests, as I am afraid that they may fail to perform certain skills that they have put a lot of effort into mastering. Sometimes I am even more nervous than my students,” Ho says.

Ho once taught students with emotional or behavioural problems in 2020. The students were unwilling to engage in class at first.

“I changed my coaching practice and taught them in a playful way. They then became willing to give rope skipping a try. As I mainly hold my lessons in mainstream schools, this special experience gives me a great sense of achievement,” he says.

To promote the sport, Ho started producing YouTube clips featuring rope skipping skills and work outs videos in February 2022.

Ho Chu-ting started producing YouTube clips featuring rope skipping skills and work outs videos in February.
(Screenshot of YouTube video)

“Rope skipping classes are usually for kids and teenagers. I want to promote rope skipping to adults by producing videos about how to keep fit with the sport,” he adds.

“I hope that rope skipping will become so popular that it will one day be one of the sports events in the Olympic Games, and my students and I will have a chance to represent Hong Kong,” Ho says.

“I hope that rope skipping will become so popular that it will one day be one of the sports events in the Olympic Games, and my students and I will have a chance to represent Hong Kong.”

Edited by Winkie Ng
Sub-edited by Leung Pak-hei

Good Photos with Poor Eyesight

April 19, 2022

Three visually impaired photographers share their joy of taking photos.

Cynthia Chan

Photography for the Fully Blind

Just one month after picking up a camera to capture the beautiful landscapes of Hong Kong and mainland China, Sophi Ng* lost her eyesight completely because of a severe cold.

Now that 22 years have passed since then, she continues recording breathtaking sceneries around her with her camera, with the hope that she can look back into the past through her photos if she can restore her eyesight one day.

Ng thinks photography has sharpened her senses and has taught her to be open-minded.

“It is important to take photos by heart, to listen, to observe and to feel things around you. By doing so, you can capture more beautiful moments in life,” she says.

She explains blind photographers “borrow eyesight from others when taking pictures”, which means they are guided by people with normal eyesight to construct an image of the surroundings in their mind.

“I thought vision was a must for photography. The first time I took photos after I went blind, others told me about the things around me. With their guidance, I found different positions and camera angles to take the photos. This has given me confidence in photographing by hearing,” she says.

Ng adds that she now goes taking pictures with her guide dog.

“I am guided by the dog when taking photos. When I hear something, it will lead me to the direction of the source,” she says.

“We can take good pictures. My completely blind teammate once captured a stunning sunrise by feeling the temperature,” she adds.

A photo of the Tai Hung Fire Dragon Dance taken by Sophi Ng capturing cultural landscapes in Hong Kong.
(Photo courtesy of Sightfeeling)

A Poor Eyesight but a Clear Vision

Ng is not alone. Kwok Kin has just 10 per cent eyesight since birth. He suffers from inherited eye disease and can only see things within 80 centimetres’ length. With his remaining eyesight, he captures Hong Kong’s city landscape, natural scenery and trivial moments around him with his camera.

“I take photos just like those with normal vision, but I cannot see as clearly as they do,” Kwok says.

Working as a freelance photographer, his photos embed his artistic interpretations of the world.

“Just like when I take an out-of-focus photo of a pink flower, although we want to see the object clearly, it is good to be vague sometimes for rooms of reflection and imagination,” the photographer with a blurry vision says.

He says his sensitivity to light helps him compose photos.

“Eyesight and vision are different. Eyesight is your ability to see, while vision is the interaction between the eyes and brain. It is about interpretation and understanding of light, colour and space,” he explains.

“Eyesight and vision are different. Eyesight is your ability to see, while vision is the interaction between the eyes and brain. It is about interpretation and understanding of light, colour and space.”

“Therefore, having poor eyesight does not mean I cannot take good photos. I can still have sharp interpretations of colour and space in my mind, which does not depend on eyesight,” he adds.

“All sensations are equally important in experiencing the world. By gathering messages we the visually impaired receive from senses and using imagination, we can interpret the world and express our interpretation through photos,” Kwok says.

A photo taken by Kwok Kin shows his interest in black-and-white photographs.
(Photo courtesy of Sightfeeling)

Cathy Chu, a visually impaired friend of Kwok’s, is also passionate about photography. She suffers from congenital cataract, a rare birth defect in which the lens in her eyes are cloudy, and has lost almost all eyesight since birth.

“I enjoy the feeling of taking photos, no matter if the image is focused or not,” the amateur photographer says.

Holding a piece of crystal glass in front of the camera lens is Chu’s favourite way of taking photos.

“Crystal glass creates the visual effect of a kaleidoscope, stimulating imaginations to see things from a different angle,” she says.

“I was inspired that everything around me can aid me in photo-taking. I once took advantage of a glass to take a symmetrical photo which looked like angel’s wings,” she says.

A photo taken by Cathy Chu captures a scene of the Tai Hung Fire Dragon Dance.
(Photo courtesy of Sightfeeling)

Make the Blind More Visible

Ng, Kwok and Chu have joined Sightfeeling, a social enterprise which helps the visually impaired in photo-taking and the promotion of their photos, for more than three years. There are around five visually impaired photographers in the organisation.

The organisation sells postcards with the photos taken by the visually impaired, holds blindness-related activities with other organisations and organises photo exhibitions for the visually impaired to increase public’s interaction with them.

Mok Ka-wai, 26, one of the founders of Sightfeeling, says her organisation aims to enable the public to appreciate the talent of the visually impaired.

For their first photo exhibition held in March, 2018, Sightfeeling organised a trip to Taichung, Taiwan to take photos.

“Visitors in the exhibition said they never imagined the photos were taken by the visually impaired. It is hard to see the difference when two photos, one taken by a person with normal vision and the other by a visually impaired person, are put together,” she says.

Sightfeeling’s Taiwan trip with visually impaired photographers in December, 2019.
(Photo courtesy of Sightfeeling)

“We think the visually impaired are the same as the visually normal,” she adds.

There were 47,600 visually impaired persons in Hong Kong in 2020, with 88.8 per cent being economically inactive, according to a special report released by the Census and Statistics Department regarding persons with disabilities and chronic diseases in December 2021.

Sightfeeling hopes to create more job opportunities for the visually impaired because their abilities are often underestimated by society.

“Society often labels minorities with inability. Those labels refrain them from being understood by others,” Mok says.

“Society often labels minorities with inability. Those labels refrain them from being understood by others.”

“The visually impaired have stronger mentalities than normal people. They have positive mindsets and will not look down on themselves because of their disability. They do not think they are inferior. Their mentality leads to their success,” she adds.

Mok thinks visually impaired photographers such as Kwok are very talented and they deserve more recognition from society.

“We hope the society can see the photos taken by the visually impaired, and also appreciate them,” she says.

*Name changed at interviewee’s request

Edited by Winkie Ng
Sub-edited by Kajal Aidasani