Reporter: Cynthia Chan
Editor: Winkie Ng
Ukrainian university students continue their learning despite the war. While some students rush to air raid shelters during online lessons in Ukraine, some flee to other countries for safety to continue their studies.
Director Casper Leung Cheuk-lam shares his passion in variety shows and films.
Jenny Lam
When most think that having a degree is a must for a successful career, Casper Leung Cheuk-lam proves otherwise. He is now a director of popular variety shows and an editor of an award-winning film.
The 31-year-old director has so far produced five variety shows for a YouTube channel Trial and Error (試當真) which has 431,000 subscribers with a total hit rate of 75 million views.
The most viewed production was an episode inspired by the popular South Korean TV series Squid Game. It was launched in 2021 and gained 1.6 million views in four months.
Leung also edited a Hong Kong film Weeds on Fire (點五步) which won the Film of Merit in the 23rd Hong Kong Film Critics Society Award in 2016.
Leung started working as a video editor in an advertising company when he was 19 after earning from his higher diploma in multimedia and digital entertainment at the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education in 2008.
After working at the advertising company for three years, he resigned and worked as a freelance video editor for about eight years.
“My income was unstable when I was a freelancer. I thought of quitting the industry and finding a job with a stable income. But I knew I was only good at editing. This made me feel frustrated and lost,” Leung says.
Leung did not give up and his life took a turn when he met the founder of Trial and Error, Neo Yau Hawk-sau in 2016. Yau invited him to join the team to produce variety shows when he started the channel in October 2020.
“I consider myself as the lucky one. There are many people who are more talented than me but are not given an opportunity to be a director,” Leung says.
“Neo told me that Hong Kong needs a variety show right now. The audience can meet more new faces in the industry and it allows local productions to grow. Unlike films or dramas, variety shows can let people understand the true personality of the actors,” he adds.
Leung felt frustrated and worried when he produced his very first variety show for the channel in March 2021.
“When I know that I am in charge of variety shows, I know that it has to be interactive and ingenious. I don’t want to do a show that it is set in a studio where artists just sit around and play games like the Super Trio series (獎門人系列) in the past,” Leung says.
The witty director has always enjoyed designing games since he was young.
“My brother and I used to redesign rules for some board game cards or chess pieces. I have always loved to design games since I was young,” Leung says.
“I think variety show to me is not just a game show. It is more like a film with a story structure. I have to develop a plot with a climax and some twists in my productions,” he adds.
“I think variety show to me is not just a game show. It is more like a film with a story structure.”
But the director confesses that variety shows are not his main interest. His ultimate goal is to direct a film.
“To be honest, I barely watch variety shows. But producing variety shows gives me the opportunity to do social experiments and a chance to learn more about humanity.” Leung says.
His experience as a variety show director has taught and shaped him to become a better director.
“Variety shows are complicated productions in which I have to allocate duties to different departments and communicate with them. This work nature and experiences have helped me to learn more about a director’s duties,” he says.
Leung remains hopeful about the future of Hong Kong entertainment industry, despite a sharp fall in the city’s film production.
“In this unprecedented age of the internet, no one can predict which video will go viral. All we can do is to create quality productions and nature will take its course,” Leung says.
“A serious working attitude is what I value most. If everyone in the industry works hard and does the best he can. I believe the industry will thrive again,” he adds.
Edited by Leung Pak-hei
Sub-edited by Angel Woo
Reporters: Phoebe Chu, Carrie Lock, Charlie Chun
Editor: Angel Woo
The War in Ukraine has been going on since February 24, 2022. While many Ukrainians are defending their country on the ground, Iana Zinovieva and Roman Ivanenko, members of the Ukrainian Society of Hong Kong, are fighting for their country in their way in the city.
Reporter: Eve Qiao & Lily Wang
Editor: Alina Chen
Regulation for online erotic fiction in China has become stricter in recent years. Online fiction writers feel upset about the current policy published by online novel publication websites under the “Clean Up the Internet” campaign. They are finding other ways to publish their works.
Families are torn apart by different thoughts on leaving Hong Kong.
Kossy Chen
Cherry Wong’s parents have decided to leave Hong Kong for Britain, but she and her elder brother have decided to stay for better job opportunities.
“I want to be a journalist in Hong Kong because I love to report stories about Hong Kong and Hongkongers. If I go to the UK, I cannot do that,” the journalism major student from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) says.
“I am not familiar with English culture. Also, I enjoy reporting in my native language,” the 21-year-old student adds.
Her parents, a 60-year-old retired lecturer and a 53-year-old housewife, are angry about China’s tightening grip on Hong Kong and the introduction of the national security law in June 2020.
“I am also upset about the recent development in Hong Kong, but I want to stay in Hong Kong. I want to work in Hong Kong and hang out with my friends. This is what I want for my future,” she says.
Employment Difficulties in the UK
The British National (Overseas) visa program was launched in January 2021 to grant Hongkongers the right to live, work and study in the UK. About 103,900 Hongkongers applied last year, according to the UK’s Home Office figures.
Nearly 50 per cent of Hongkongers who moved to the UK were jobless, according to a survey conducted by Hongkongers in Britain (HKB), a Hong Kong immigrant support group that interviewed 609 respondents in a survey in August 2021.
Language barrier, a lack of relevant skills or qualifications, and issues with proving their right to work were obstacles faced by Hongkongers when searching for jobs in the UK, according to the results of the survey.
Stay for better job opportunities
Bridget Cheung Laam, a Year Four student studying Information Engineering, also shares Wong’s worries in finding jobs abroad.
“My sisters aged 17 and 22, and I want to stay in Hong Kong for a few more years before moving to the UK. But our mother is urging us to make a move this year. She is worried that the British government might change the policy later,” Cheung sighs.
“But it is easier for me to find jobs in Hong Kong compared to the UK. The UK tech industry is still emerging so manpower demand is lower. As a new immigrant, it will be harder for me to find a job,” she says.
Cheung also thinks the lifestyle in Hong Kong is more appealing.
“Hong Kong is a lively city. I lost my cell phone about ten times a year but I could get it back every time. Hongkongers are really helpful and well-mannered. Though Hong Kong has undergone many changes recently, I still have hope in Hong Kong,” she says.
She does not want to leave Hong Kong because her father and grandparents have decided to stay in the city.
“My dad wants to stay in Hong Kong. My parents had a divorce 10 years ago because of their personalities and political stands. My grandparents also choose to stay in Hong Kong,” she says.
Stay for Hong Kong Lifestyle
Like Wong and Leung, architecture major graduate Grace Lee also wants to work in Hong Kong where she has more job opportunities, but her parents are determined to leave Hong Kong for the UK.
“When my parents told me about their decision, I was totally unprepared and lost the direction of my life,” Lee says.
Lee’s parents sold their property to fund their move to Britain in June 2021, leaving Lee and her elder sister in Hong Kong. The sisters now stay in a rented flat in Yuen Long.
“My sister and I want to gain some working experiences in Hong Kong first. If we go to the UK now, it will be difficult for us to search for a job. We are fresh graduates with no working experience,” the 22-year-old teaching assistant says.
“My professor can be my referee when I look for jobs in the architecture field in Hong Kong. I want to be financially independent in Hong Kong first. Then I will think about moving to another country,” she says.
She also loves the weather, environment, and lifestyle of Hong Kong.
“I do not like the weather in England. It rains all the time. Hiking and surfing are my favourite sports. There are so many hills and islands to explore in the city. I also can go to country parks and return to the city centre in just one day in Hong Kong,” she says.
“In fact, I do not mind emigrating because I love challenges. But I want to live in a city that I like. I do not want to follow my parents blindly,” Lee says.
Separation as a solution
A professional consultant from the Social Work Department at CUHK, Lau Yuk-king, observes Hong Kong young people are not keen about leaving the city.
“Most of the young adults worry about their competitiveness as newcomers in the job market in the host countries. If they cannot secure jobs, they cannot have a bright future after emigration,” Lau says.
“There is no need to insist that the whole family should emigrate as people can stay in touch online easily. Each family member should have the right to determine how they live,” she says.
She reminds those who are planning to emigrate to learn about the host country’s working culture.
“The class differentials among different occupations are less serious in some countries compared with Hong Kong. For example, cleaners and train drivers are highly paid and well-respected in some countries,” she says.
Edited by Angel Woo
Sub-edited by Winkie Ng
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.
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.
“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
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.”
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.”
Edited by Kajal Aidasani
Sub-edited by Angel Woo
