Reporters: Eve Lee, Soweon Park in Seoul
South Korea has witnessed an increasing number of COVID-19 cases since November, 2020.
The elderly, who are the most vulnerable age group to the virus, are going through difficult times during the pandemic. They spend most of their days at home, feeling depressed and lonely.
Reporters: Coco Zhang in Shaanxi, Shell Zhang in Shanghai, Alice Wang in Shandong
Many parents in China try to have their children vaccinated, as the peak flu season has arrived and the world is being affected by COVID-19. But an acute shortage of influenza vaccine grips some areas of China this winter due to high demand.
Reporters: Gloria Wei in Harbin, Lynne Rao in Luzhou, Vivian Cao in Yunnan
E-payment like WeChat has become a common feature of daily life in Mainland China. Being used to cash payment, however, elderly people are struggling to adapt to the new normal.
Zhou Yuqiong, a university professor, suggests the society and family together help the elderly keep pace with the development of digital technology.
The global aviation industry has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Airlines were expected to suffer a roughly 60 per cent plunge in passenger numbers in 2020, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Fleets of planes are parked in airports and countless journeys have been cancelled. Hong Kong’s flag carrier, Cathay Pacific struggles to survive the pandemic. The airline cut a total of 8,500 jobs and shut down its subsidiary, Cathay Dragon. The carrier received a HK $39 billion government cash injection to sustain its operation.
IATA’s analysis issued in April shows that some 25 million jobs are at risk of disappearing with plummeting demand for air travel. Employees in the industry are living in the fear of job loss.
In this issue of Varsity, we try to examine the changes and challenges faced by the aviation industry in Hong Kong, China, and South Korea in 2020.
Varsity’s Periscope section reporters talk to flight attendants and pilots who are facing unprecedented challenges such as changing their lifelong career due to the pandemic. We also speak to aviation technicians and aviation-major students who face a challenging time in their job hunt.
In this issue, Varsity also looks into other social issues such as “Period Poverty” in China, VPN use by Chinese students of overseas universities who are now trapped at home, and the podcast industry boom in Taiwan. We also cover new players in the delivery service industry who want to boost the yellow economy and introduce “bulimia”, a potentially life-threatening eating disorder. Our People section features great stories of a Hong Kong film director Chow Kwun-wai, a Mainland Chinese pornstar June Liu, a South Korean drag queen, and Kang Jung-hwa, a veteran nurse who was infected by COVID-19.
Enjoy the read and wish you all the best in the coming 2021!
Lasley Lui
Managing Editor
Travel agencies in Hong Kong are changing their business models to cope with the impact of COVID-19.
By Hayley Wong & Patricia Ricafort
International Tourists Lost during the Pandemic
Rory Mackay, founder of Wild Hong Kong, has changed his business model due to the pandemic. Wild Hong Kong is an adventure and eco-tour company that offers excursions featuring activities such as hiking, biking, and water sports.
The company used to primarily operate guided hiking tours for international tourists, but now it is running more water sports tours for local Hongkongers.
“About 80 to 90 per cent of our customers were international tourists, and the rest were local Hongkongers (before the pandemic),” Mackay says.
The company suffered losses at the beginning of the pandemic, and situation started to improve gradually in late March.
“Our (local) customers were more inclined to book water sports tours during summer. This year, 90 per cent of the tours are water sports tours. Also, Hong Kong folks realised they’re stuck here,” Mackay says.
“And during school holidays, some parents are not sure what to do with their kids since camps are closed due to COVID-19. Lots of things like that, culminating together, (helped our business recovery),” Mackay adds.
Mackay says Hongkongers do not need hiking guides but they need tour guides for kayaking tours.
“For most people in Hong Kong, if they want to hike, they’ll just go by themselves. Whereas for water sports, customers have a lot of questions like where and how to kayak in Hong Kong. So, they get a guide to show them around,” he says.
Despite the pandemic, the agency received more customers than last year. “We had really good word of mouth this summer. Tourists come and go. But with locals, we see a lot more repeating customers,” Mackay says.
“Tourists come and go. But with locals, we see a lot more repeating customers.”
Travel Agency amid Travel Ban
GLO Travel, a travel agency in Hong Kong also experienced business model change in response to the pandemic.
Before the pandemic, the agency ran outbound tours to countries like Ukraine and North Korea and held one to two talks a month about these travel destinations. About 80 to 100 participants attended these sessions to gain insights from guest speakers like nuclear power expert, Koo Waimuk Prentice.
Academics like philosophy scholar Wong Kim-fan and social science scholar Leung Kai-chi were invited to join outbound tours organised by the agency to share their knowledge and insights with travellers.
But the agency had to suspend all outbound tours since March due to the pandemic.
Yoyo Chan Lok-yiu, the project and content manager of the travel agency, says: “During the pandemic, we decided to make use of our knowledge and network of scholars and travellers to bring cultural education (of these travel destinations) back to Hong Kong (by doing it online).”
Exploring the World Online
The agency launched their first series of travel lectures in July. They invited architect Charles Lai Chun-wai to conduct six lectures about western to eastern architecture history. The charge is HK $800 for live lectures and HK $720 for recorded lectures.
The idea of the lecture series comes from their outbound tour package to Japan that features architecture. “(We organised the tour because) very few Hong Kong travellers focus on the aesthetic and cultural value of Japan,” Chan explains.
The travel agency also developed online lecture series entitled “The Nightmare of the World’s Nuclear Crises” based on their outbound tours to Fukushima and Chornobyl.
It costs HK $600 to take the series that consists four lectures featuring nuclear crisis impact on Fukushima and Chornobyl, and its implication on Hong Kong’s nuclear development and the current COVID-19 situation.
Travel Agencies Manoeuvre during the Pandemic
The travel agency extends the scope of their online programme partners to include experts of different topics such as ecology and urban studies in Hong Kong. Over 500 participants joined their online travel lectures from July to November.
“We are now planning for the worst – tourism might not revive until 2022. So we will focus on online travel lectures,” Chan says.
“It was not easy at the beginning. Because we are changing our business model, there is a lot of trial and error,” she adds.
“We are now planning for the worst – tourism might not revive until 2022. So we will focus on online travel lectures.”
“Compared to outbound travel tours, online lectures require lower cost and effort from participants (to learn similar knowledge). We can also invite our partners all over the world to join our online events,” Chan says.
Even when the tourism industry recovers, the agency plans to continue organising online travel lectures.
The travel agency has now recovered 70 per cent of their business.
“We definitely hope the tourism industry will recover soon so we can organise tours again. After all, this is what we are best at,” Chan says.
Edited by Lasley Lui & Regina Chen
Aviation industry in South Korea faces devastating losses due to the pandemic.
By Eve Lee in Seoul
“My last flight was in March. And I was laid off on October 14,” says Kong John Bay, a 46-year-old former pilot from Eastar Jet. He graduated from Korea Aerospace University in 2001 and has been a pilot for the past 16 years. But, now, he is no longer a pilot.
“Situation started to worsen in February. I was scheduled to fly from Busan to Kota Kinabalu, but I was informed that it was cancelled a day before in March,” Kong says.
Many airline companies in Korea introduced paid and no pay leave scheme due to the devastating impact of COVID-19 on the industry. Yet, Eastar Jet, one of the budget airlines in Korea, is the only airline company that has executed a large-scale job-cuts plan.
On September 14, Eastar Jet sent a mass email announcing a decision to sack 605 employees. Kong was one of those who received the email.
Kong lost his Commercial Pilot Licence in June. “Pilots must fly at least three times within 90 days to validate the licence. But I have not flown since March,” he says.
Since March 24, Eastar Jet’s all air traffic has been suspended. Many pilots lost their licence due to lack of flying hour.
Kong says disqualified pilots must attend four to six months of training to revalidate the licence.
Kong believes the company’s management was poor in helping its employees.
“Only partial of my retirement allowance was given. The company left employees unpaid for 10 months between February and December,” Kong says.
“Most of my colleagues who just have become pilots are sacked. They are having serious financial problems because they have spent more than one billion won (US $88,000) in training to become a pilot,” Kong says.
“They now take part-time jobs such as delivery service workers to settle the loans for their training and study,” he says.
“They now take part-time jobs such as delivery service workers to settle the loans for their training and study.”
Outrage Erupts Against the Leadership
Kong is not the only person feeling unhappy with the company’s massive lay-off plan.
“Eastar Jet’s job-cut plan is inhumane,” says Su Yeol, a 43-years-old policy and planning director in Korea Public Service and Transport Workers’ Union (KPTU).
Members of Eastar Jet Pilot Union (EPU) have staged protests against the company since April 23. Su and Kong also take part in protests.
EPU says Jeju Air signed a deal to acquire a stake in Eastar Jet on March 2. Eastar Jet’s decision to sack its staff was made in response to Jeju Air’s acquisition deal.
“COVID-19 is used as one of the excuses to sack staff,” Su says. “The company aims to minimise the workforce, halts the entire flight operations and sells it to Jeju Air. The company has made no effort to help the employees,” he adds.
“COVID-19 is used as one of the excuses to sack staff.”
“Eastar Jet could have helped its employees by taking government employment subsidy. Or the company could have restarted the operation like many budget airlines,” Su says.
EPU plans to continue the protest until the company provides an agreeable solution to its employees, who have been sacked. The protest is still ongoing every day in December, demanding the company to withdraw the job cut plan and resume the flights.
New Model for New Normal
While Eastar Jet is preparing to sell its business, other airline companies such as Korean Air and Asiana Airlines are exploring new operation models. They have converted passenger planes into cargo planes to explore recovery solutions.
“I fly less than before because the demand for commercial aviation has decreased rapidly. But there is more demand for cargo aviation now,” says Justine*, a pilot of a Korean airline, who refuses to disclose his full name.
Justine has flown cargo flights every month except in October. When flying long-haul flights, he has to follow strict quarantine measures. “I am exempted from quarantine requirement, though I have visited other countries. So, I avoid going to a crowded place or hospitals,” he says.
In Korea, pilots and flight attendants are exempted from 14-day mandatory quarantine. Instead, they need to report their health condition to the government via a self-diagnosis mobile app for 14 days.
“Some countries have banned pilots from leaving hotels. This is the hardest part of my job. I feel like I am in prison,” Justine says.
His work has been affected, but not as seriously as those in Eastar Jet. “My company has implemented special leave schemes and introduced salary cuts,” he says.
“I was paid even when I did not work in October. But many budget airlines do not offer paid leave to their employees because of financial difficulties,” he adds.
COVID-19 Threatens Technical Sector
Mechanical technicians in the aviation industry are also affected by the pandemic. Shin Joonho, a former technician from Korea, used to work for the Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd.. He encounters great difficulties when doing job hunt during the pandemic.
“I was sacked together with more than 1,500 technicians in the company in June,” Shin says.
Shin was preparing to join Evergreen International Airlines before he lost his job. The employment process for his new job with the airline has been suspended since May because of the pandemic.
Shin is now back in Korea. But he thinks there is no hope in finding a job.
“Many companies are no longer hiring because they are trying to minimise the workforce,” Shin says. “I think I might not be able to find a full-time job in the coming three to four years,” he adds.
“I think I might not be able to find a full-time job in the coming three to four years.”
Shin thinks the outlook for fresh graduates and students who are looking for a job now is gloomy.
“Recently, I have come across advertisements by head hunters. They guaranteed that they can help fresh graduates to find jobs in top-tier airline companies. But this is completely misleading,” Shin says.
Shin adds that head-hunting agencies usually ask for a large commission fee that can be up to seven million won (US $6,200). “This is outrageous. People will eventually pay for nothing because there is no job opportunity right now,” he says.
“I understand why people are desperate. But they have to be extra cautious about the exaggerated advertisements,” Shin adds.
Future of the Aviation Industry
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the entire aviation industry in the world. Outbound commercial flights dived by 93 per cent from January to September, according to Korea Airports Corporation (KAC). By November, only four of the eight international airports in South Korea are open for international commercial flights, according to Incheon International Airport.
International Air Transport Association (IATA) forecasts global passenger traffic will not resume to pre-COVID-19 level until 2024. “We need to learn to manage the risks of living with COVID-19 with targeted and predictable measures that will safely rebuild traveller confidence and shattered economy,” the association says on a website.
“The situation is dismal. But I will not give up. I hope things will get better soon,” Shin says.
*Name changed at interviewee’s request
Edited by Lasley Lui & Regina Chen
Aviation industry in China is undergoing changes during the pandemic.
By Laurissa Liu in Tianjin
“The public only talks about how crew members are facing a challenging time during the pandemic,” says Daniel Li*, a maintenance worker who conducts pre-flight and post-flight safety checks of a state-owned airline in China.
COVID-19 has taken a toll on the whole aviation industry. Pilots and flight attendants grab all the headlines, but little attention is paid to other workers in the industry.
“We only get blamed for accidents or safety problems, but people seldom care about our difficulties,” Li adds. He refuses to reveal his company name as receiving an interview privately is strictly forbidden for employees of the airline during the pandemic.
“We only get blamed for accidents or safety problems, but people seldom care about our difficulties.”
Apart from flight checks, Li also has to conduct daily maintenance work of airbus fleets including models such as Airbus 320, 330 and 350 families, which fly domestic and international flights. From early February to early April, all airplanes were grounded, only 10 per cent of his company’s fleet was used.
“When a plane has not been used for months, anything in the plane can go wrong – its engine, its landing gear, or flight control surface,” Li says, adding that having many planes parked on the ground means financial loss for the airline.
Li’s work was mainly about conducting flight inspection before the pandemic. Since many planes are parked on the ground, airlines are facing deteriorating condition of some planes.
Li is also deployed to conduct maintenance work for planes on the ground. But he has little time to learn skills required for the new task. “We need to learn all the maintenance manuals in English and how to repair and replace components. But time is limited,” Li says.
The good news is that state-owned airline employees do not worry about job security, and workers like Li are very much needed during the pandemic.
Though he can keep his job, Li’s bonus pay has been largely cut by nearly up to 80 per cent, as the airline suffers from financial loss during the pandemic.
“Though the basic wage counts for a large percentage of my monthly salary, it still cannot cover my loans,” he says.
“Though the basic wage counts for a large percentage of my monthly salary, it still cannot cover my loans.”
Oba Yu*, a Boeing 787 captain working for a private airline in China, shares that he also experiences changes in work arrangement due to the pandemic.
“More pilots are needed, as many passenger flights are converted to international cargo flights,” he says.
Yu says pilots’ income has not been affected much, but it is a different story for flight attendants.
“But it was not easy for flight attendants,” Yu says. His wife is a flight attendant in a state-owned airline.
“They are now only receiving basic salary which is about RMB ¥2,200 (US $333) in Beijing and RMB ¥1,500 (US $227) in Guangzhou. It is surely not enough to make a living,” Yu adds.
He explained that flight attendants’ salaries are based on flying hours. The flying time takes up 50 per cent of the total salary.
Yu points out flight attendants used to make about RMB ¥20 (US $3) to RMB ¥50 (US $8) per flying hour before the pandemic.
“Flight attendants are not needed, since there is no passenger on these (cargo) planes,” Yu explains. “Each flight usually needs 12 attendants, but now they only need two to three crew members (for cargo flights),” he adds.
Many flight attendants have to make a living by doing something else. “They started to find other ways to earn money, like selling cosmetics or hand-made products on WeChat,” Yu says.
“They started to find other ways to earn money, like selling cosmetics or hand-made products on WeChat.”
The situation improved in September and October. The pandemic was largely under control in China, and the week-long national day holiday also helped boost the demand for domestic flights.
The pilot believes the pandemic will alter the development of China’s aviation industry in the coming years.
“It will probably take three to five years for the international flight volume to recover to the level before the pandemic,” Yu says.
“Over 90 per cent of the domestic flights in China have resumed since late August. The industry will focus more on developing more domestic flight routes in the coming years,” he adds.
While employees of the aviation industry are coping with the new normal, fresh graduates of aviation universities are facing challenging time in job hunting.
Lian Zhongyuan, who studied inflight service, graduated from Tianjin Transportation Technical College in June last year. He considers himself lucky as he managed to be recruited by China Southern Airlines at the end of last year.
“There is basically no recruitment exercise for flight attendants this year,” Lian says.
But he still has not joined orientation training. “The three-month training was supposed to begin right after the Chinese Lunar New Year. We are facing indefinite postponement, and some airlines have even cancelled the training until next recruitment,” Lian says.
Some of his peers are struggling whether they should wait for opportunities in the aviation industry – which was already extremely competitive before the pandemic – or look for other jobs.
A final year student of a pilot training college, Anpanman Zhang* is struggling about what to do in the future.
“It takes four to five years of training in order to become a qualified pilot. Many exams have been deferred and certificates have expired, graduation is also affected due to the pandemic,” Zhang says.
“The number of trainee pilots will continue to grow, as most airline companies have frozen recruitment. It will be very difficult for us to find a job,” Zhang adds.
Xiao Mo is an Airbus 330 captain who has worked in a state-own airline for nearly 10 years. He says training is so tough and time-consuming that he has some regrets about being a pilot.
“I don’t have the opportunity to cultivate any other hobby. Flying is my only hobby, my future career and my life,” Mo says.
*Name changed at interviewee’s request
Edited by Lasley Lui & Regina Chen
Airline workers are facing unprecedented challenges as the coronavirus pandemic halts air travel.
By Fiona Cheung, Hayley Wong, Patricia Ricafort
Sarah* has been working for Hong Kong’s largest aircraft carrier for over 20 years, and she is currently a senior flight attendant.
Because of the pandemic, she is facing an upheaval in her work that she has never experienced before. “COVID has completely changed the way we do things, especially in my company,” she says.
According to a press release from Cathay Pacific dated October 21, the aircraft carrier announced on October 21 that 8,500 staff roles were cut across Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. Out of the total number of staff axed, 5,300 were Hong Kong-based, including all 2,500 employees under the Cathay Dragon airline, which stopped operating with immediate effect.
Going South
Sarah used to work for 15 to 20 days in a month, but she has only flown only three times over the past six months.
Although she has fewer flights, each flight requires longer working days.
“Flight patterns during the pandemic are longer because our flights are not as frequent as before,” Sarah says.
In a flight to San Francisco in June, the total number of working days for Sarah was seven days. Prior to the pandemic, the number of working days for such a trip would only be four or five days.
“Pre-COVID-19, we had daily flights to San Francisco. So after the crew rested in the outport, we could immediately operate a return flight,” Sarah explains.
“During COVID, since flights are not as frequent anymore, our stay in outports tends to be longer because we need to wait for the next aircraft arrival to be able to fly back to Hong Kong,” she says.
Apart from longer working days for long-haul flights, Sarah says interactions with both passengers and colleagues have decreased sharply. She points out meal services have been modified to reduce contact between the fliers and the crew.
“Before the pandemic, interactions with passengers were about 80 per cent of the time. Now interactions only happen maybe five to 10 per cent of flying time,” she says.
“Before the pandemic, interactions with passengers were about 80 per cent of the time. Now interactions only happen maybe five to 10 per cent of flying time.”
Flight attendants are also not allowed to leave hotel rooms when staying in outports.
“When we are staying in layovers, we are not allowed to leave and eat outside of our rooms. We are only allowed to order food delivery,” Sarah explains.
“We cannot even catch up with our own crew members. Our company wants us to maintain social distancing even when we are in outports,” she says.
Sarah uses social media and does exercise to cope with the isolation during her stay in outports, but she still feels lonely at times.
“It can be very sad at times, and boring. But thankfully there is WhatsApp and all those other social media platforms, so we still try to interact with others this way. Mentally, it can be very boring, tiring, and sad, and you always think about when it will end,” she says.
Taking a Nosedive
Sarah’s income has also been significantly cut. A leave scheme has been launched in her company under which staff are asked to take a total of six weeks unpaid leave. Sarah is not allowed to work on other jobs during her leave to supplement her income.
While Sarah’s income has been affected, the impact to her, whose salary is paid on a monthly basis, is not as great as to those whose salary is paid according to the number of flying hours.
“For those who are paid on an hourly basis, they are only paid a very basic amount and they have to fly to earn more. So I think the impact will be more on their side than on my side, being a monthly paid crew member,” she says.
While Sarah’s monthly income has been slashed, she is still able to keep her job. But James Chan*, a recently retired training captain, was unable to extend his contract.
Having worked 30 years for the carrier in Hong Kong with over 17,000 flight hours, Chan left the airline in October at the age of 55.
Before the pandemic, Chan says contracts of most pilots would usually be extended to the age of 65. “Since the company has 30 to 40 per cent surplus of pilots, they did not extend my contract,” he adds.
Embarking on New Horizons
Chan says the airline has had to halt the recruitment of pilots and revamp training for them due to the pandemic.
“Average flying hours for a pilot have dropped from 80 to 90 hours to around 10 hours a month. Some pilots have not flown since February,” Chan says.
“Induction for new recruits has also been halted since April and May. According to the company’s chairman, the company might resume (induction) late next year if the pandemic is under control,” he adds.
Under the Civil Aviation Department’s Air Operator’s Certificates requirement, pilots have to maintain take-off and landing recency to re-validate their qualification.
Chan points out since the number of flights has dropped drastically, the company receives approval from the Civil Aviation Department to conduct training through flight simulators instead.
“The way they maintain pilots’ recency is very innovative. This has never happened before,” Chan says.
In the months before his retirement, Chan experienced a shift in duty – from flying passenger flights to cargoes. “Though the number of passenger flights has been reduced, demand for cargoes has increased,” he says.
“Though the number of passenger flights has been reduced, demand for cargoes has increased.”
Chan explains that the increased logistics of medical supplies between China, the U.S. and Europe have contributed to strong demand for cargo service.
In a bid to satisfy the increasing demand of cargoes, Chan’s former employer has converted passenger planes to cargo aircrafts.
“On top of the 30 to 40 tons of goods usually carried in a Boeing 777 jet plane, the company puts goods on cabin chairs or even removes the chairs to convey more goods,” Chan says.
“Without the chairs, a plane can carry 10 to 20 extra tons of goods,” he adds.
Circling the Wagons
Connie Leung, vice-president of Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Flight Attendants Association urges the government to take a more active role to offer help to all the affected workers, including their 1,200 members who were sacked as the airline was folded.
“The fact that the government invested HK $27.3 billion in Cathay Pacific but did nothing to stop the layoff from happening means they allow this. It thus gives an excuse for other companies to announce massive layoffs,” Leung says.
In June this year, the government injected liquidity to the city’s de facto flag carrier, which has been struggling financially.
“The government saved Cathay Pacific but did not save its employees. The government should assist the affected employees by helping them get compensation and offering them other job opportunities,” she says.
Harry Hon, the public relations officer of Hong Kong Aviation Staff Alliance (HKASA), who is also a flight attendant, says most workers are on unpaid leave now and more layoffs are expected.
The alliance was registered in February, 2020 with about 300 members who are flight attendants and other workers in the industry including ground crew members, airport security guards, and maintenance workers.
The union criticises Cathay Pacific for not exploring other options other than massive layoffs.
To help the workers in the industry, the union thinks the government should introduce a cash handout scheme to help the affected employees.
On October 21, the day Cathay Pacific announced its extensive cut in staff, the Labour Department expressed “deep concern” about the plan and called upon the group to maintain effective communication with its employees over employment termination matters with appropriate arrangements in a press release.
“The employer should consult and secure consent from its employees prior to varying the terms of their employment contracts,” a spokesman for the department said.
In a press release dated October 21, Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Officer Augustus Tang Kin-wing said that Cathay Pacific’s corporate restructuring plan will reduce the company’s cash burn by about HK $500 million per month.
“We have taken every possible action to avoid job losses up to this point. We have scaled back capacity to match demand, deferred new aircraft deliveries, suspended non-essential spend, implemented a recruitment freeze, executive pay cuts and two rounds of Special Leave Schemes. But in spite of these efforts, we continue to burn HK $1.5-2 billion cash per month. This is simply unsustainable.” Tang says.
*Name changed at interviewee’s request
Edited by Lasley Lui & Regina Chen
In China, caregivers of children with cerebral children are struggling with family dysfunction and educational barriers, meanwhile, find themselves ostracised by society.
By Savoki Zhang in Jiangsu
After taking care of her son with cerebral palsy on her own for 13 years, Yang* feels a big weight off her shoulder after putting him in the care of a psychiatric hospital in Wuxi, Jiangsu.
Her only son was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 13 months old as he could not stand on his own even when holding onto something for support. Situation deteriorated as he grew up and developed aggressive behaviours such as biting and hitting others with uncontrollable rages.
“The moment I walked out of the hospital gate, I felt relieved ,” Yang, who wants to stay anonymous, recalls the day that she separated with her beloved son four years ago like it happened yesterday.
The 46-year-old mother, who now makes a living as a lottery retailer, visits her son twice a month.
“The moment I walked out of the hospital gate, I felt relieved.”
Family Dysfunction
Cerebral palsy is the most common of all childhood disabilities.
It is caused by damage that occurs to immature brain as it develops, most often before birth. Common symptoms include poor coordination, stiff or weak muscles, and other problems such as swallowing difficulties and intellectual disabilities.
Occurring in about 2.5 per 1,000 live births in China, about five million children aged under 14 suffer from such an incurable and permanent condition across the country, with 40,000 babies born with the disorder each year, according to an epidemiological investigation carried out in 2013.
Bringing up a child with cerebral palsy is no easy task. Primary caregivers, in most cases, parents, often suffer from tremendous financial burdens, insufficient spousal support and family dysfunction.
After the diagnosis, Yang quit her job to look after her son. The father became the major breadwinner of the family and the couple divorced in 2015 after numerous rounds of fierce fights.
“I was drowning in the burden of the 24/7 caregiving mode,” she recalls.
“I suffered from severe backache and waist pain as I had to bend down every time I fed and tried to talk to my son on a wheelchair,” she says, adding her ex-husband, who worked in a multinational corporation, often left home for business trips.
“He didn’t understand the torment a mother had to endure. I quit my job to take care of our son. When my son and I were at home, I could not stop thinking about the tough times I had and the years yet to come. I thought to myself the suffering would be with me forever,” Yang says with tears streaming down her face.
“I was so lonely, exhausted and frustrated about being trapped inside such a never-ending cycle of caring. I saw no way out,” she adds.
“I was so lonely, exhausted and frustrated about being trapped inside such a never-ending cycle of caring. I saw no way out.”
For families of children with cerebral palsy, to have an outlet such as sharing problems with other parents who are going through the same situation makes a lot of difference.
“If you become one of us, you will understand how important it is to have a sense of solidarity among families with special needs children,” says Yao Zhijun, founder of Home to Slow Angels, a charity home in Hunan aiming to establish mutual help network in the special needs community.
“Merely knowing that you are understood, without having to explain yourself … is already a very comforting for these parents,” she adds.
Though incurable, early diagnosis, therapies, and proper rehabilitative measures can improve the living quality of these patients by minimising symptoms and maximising their physical, cognitive, social, and emotional potential, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States.
In China, medical expenses, which are not or imperceptibly covered by health insurance, are an enormous burden to low-income working Chinese families.
Yao says many families visit the charity home as it is close to Hunan Boai Rehabilitation Hospital, which offers free treatment to cerebral palsy children.
“Many parents dried up their savings on treatments and medicines for their children before coming here. The medical fee in other hospitals is too expensive,” Yao says.
A survey published by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 2016 found that, in Chengdu, the monthly expense was around RMB ¥9,000 to 10,000 among families elected for treatment in rehabilitation centres.
Only 25 per cent of the cost was covered by New Cooperative Medical System, a government initiated insurance policy aiming to safeguard farmers’ access to basic health services and alleviate their financial burden.
In June, 2018, a nine-year-old Chinese girl was pushed into a river by her father and grandfather. They confessed of wanting to get rid of her over the fear that they could not afford taking care of the girl, Yangtse Evening News reported.
Education Barriers
Some parents however, try every means to nurture these children.
“Jie is disabled, both physically and intellectually…but I always think he deserves a chance to get in touch with the society, just like other kids of his age,” Zoey*, an entrepreneur based in Wuxi, Jiangsu, who asks to stay anonymous, says.
She found her elder son, Jie, aged 24 now, suffering from cerebral palsy when he was four months old.
But the 45-year-old mother encountered many difficulties in finding a school for her son.
“There was only one boarding school for disabled children in the whole city at that time,” she recalls. “Jie failed to get into it due to residential restrictions. I begged the principal – a truly compassionate old lady – for two years to earn him a place there,” she says.
Basic education and therapy for children aged five to 18 with special education needs were offered at the school, in accordance with the nine-year compulsory education. But the quality of education and care provided by the school was, in Zoey’s words, “far from satisfactory”.
The school offered accommodations for more than 30 children. Most of them suffer from cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome and autism. But there were only two ‘teachers’ – both were retired female workers in their 50s, in charge of their life.
Zoey’s son once fell off from the stairs and hurt his head after being pushed by another child with attention-deficit and hyperactivity, the mother recounts.
A former teacher of Jiangyin Gold Key Special Education Centre, another special education school in Jiangsu, who only revealed her name as Chen*, says most teachers working in schools for children with special needs are neither qualified therapists nor professional trained teachers.
“Many of us were planning to quit the job if we could find a slightly better one,” Chen says.
“The pay is too low, and we are not recognised by the society or the system as teachers…We hardly get any sense of accomplishment and satisfaction,” she adds.
“We hardly get any sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.”
In China, the demand for special education professionals far outweighs its supply.
Nanjing Normal University of Special Education is the only independent college in the country specialising in training these teachers. Seventy eight universities, meanwhile, train about 7,100 students majoring in special education a year.
In June, 2020, China’s Ministry of Education issued a guideline requiring all normal colleges and faculty of education in comprehensive universities to offer special education courses in order to improve teaching to disabled children.
Social Stigma
Facing many difficulties and struggles in taking care of their children, what may be more heart-rending is the misunderstandings and discrimination caregivers are facing.
“People assume that she (my daughter) is mentally handicapped the minute they see her,” Hayley says. Her daughter was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at four months old. The now eight-year-old girl has relatively mild physical symptoms with normal intellect.
Hayley*, a 38-year-old engineer, who asks to remain anonymous says her daughter is ridiculed and verbally attacked by other children.
“In early days I avoided using the word ‘cerebral palsy’ when I mentioned my daughter’s condition to the relatives at family gatherings, I would often say ‘developmental delay’ instead…I felt so ashamed,” she says.
“Cerebral palsy”, in Chinese, “Naotan”, has long been used as an insult, a synonym for “idiot, fool and useless person”.
Yang also recounts avoiding taking her son out for fear of stare-downs. “We still have a long, long way to go before having the stigma and misunderstandings removed,” the single mom laments.
“Not only children with cerebral palsy, but us caregivers, fail to be treated with dignity…and one day even we ourselves, give up treating ourselves with dignity,” Yang adds.
“Not only children with cerebral palsy, but us caregivers, fail to be treated with dignity.”
“At some point I suddenly realised I shouldn’t be the one feeling ashamed. It is the society that fails to treat her and us caregivers fairly, as a true person,” Hayley says.
*Name changed at interviewee’s request
Edited by Lasley Lui & Regina Chen
What is bulimia and how to break free from the negative relationship with food?
By Kassandra Lai
Yuki Chan* has struggled with bulimia for five years. “Sometimes I eat a very normal portion, but sometimes I eat two to three packs of family-size chips or three to four plates of buffet in one go,” she says.
During her teenage years, the now-19-year-old, had totally no idea of what she was undergoing.
“My biology textbook in secondary school only taught us what anorexia is but not bulimia. Most people do not exactly know what bulimia entails,” she says.
“Most people do not exactly know what bulimia entails.”
Patients suffering from bulimia nervosa, a form of eating disorder, are preoccupied with food and lose control over eating.
Binge-eating is often followed by compensatory behaviours including excessive exercises, purging, using laxatives or even starvation, in order to undo the overeating.
Chan thinks few in Hong Kong know about bulimia because it is hard to notice and diagnose.
“For bulimia, when you binge-eat, people just think you are hungry or love food, they cannot tell if it is an eating disorder,” she says.
Chan makes herself vomit to get rid of the foods that may cause her to gain weight every time after she binge eats. “The purging part of bulimia is often hidden. We do not purge in front of others,” she says.
Daisy Wu, centre in charge of the Hong Kong Eating Disorder Association says the cycle of bingeing and purging takes a toll on a patient’s health.
“Self-induced vomiting brings stomach acids up into the mouth. If this happens frequently, it can damage teeth and erode enamel. Apart from oral health problems, patients may also suffer from stomach pain and sore throat,” she says.
“Self-induced vomiting brings stomach acids up into the mouth. If this happens frequently, it can damage teeth and erode enamel.”
While bulimia is being overlooked in the city, Wu warns that bulimia could be deadly.
“Frequent vomiting can lead to extreme electrolyte imbalance, causing heart failure, which may lead to sudden death,” she says.
Amid the pandemic, the association says more people are using their hotline service.
“Patients are preoccupied with food all the time. They usually eat normal portions when they are with friends and family. But when they are alone, they crave for food and binge-eat,” Wu says.
The forced closure of gyms and fitness centres due to the pandemic has worsened the condition of bulimia patients.
“We have a patient who used to do four to five hours of high intensity exercise every day. When gyms were closed, she was very depressed and even developed suicidal thoughts,” the counsellor says.
“Hopeless and dispirited, the patient quit her job and rented a studio to hide herself. She fell into the vicious cycle of binge-eating and exercising again,” she adds.
Wu says despite the fact that patients want to break free from the negative relationship with food, the road to recovery is tough.
“Many of them think they can handle the situation by themselves, so they do not seek help until their bulimic behaviors worsen,” she says.
To understand bulimia patients, Wu introduces a transtheoretical stage of change model.
“During the early stage, patients deny having problems and are often unwilling to change. But they eventually develop a proactive approach to change their behaviours. In the gradual change process, patients inevitably experience relapse,” Wu says.
“It really involves a substantial commitment of time, effort, and emotion to recover,” she adds.
Wu warns family and friends should avoid persuading patients to change their behaviours.
“This approach makes them feel being attacked and may make them hide their eating problem. Patients are very sensitive to labels of ‘being sick’ or ‘being abnormal’. It still makes some of my clients feel agitated and tearful when they talk about what they have experienced,” Wu says.
Echoing the counsellor, Leanne Wu, both a physiotherapist and an ex-bulimia patient said she felt ashamed of her eating disorder history.
“I didn’t tell anyone because I felt so ashamed and disgusting. I didn’t want anyone to know my binge and purge habit,” she says.
“I didn’t tell anyone because I felt so ashamed and disgusting. I didn’t want anyone to know my binge and purge habit.”
The causes of bulimia vary from person to person. It could be due to high stress levels, difficult life experiences, physical and mental health problems, low self-esteem, or even social pressure towards thinness, according to the Hong Kong Eating Disorder Association.
For Leanne Wu, her bulimic behaviors in the past seven years were mainly related to her body image.
“I was being laughed at with my thick thighs. I always thought I was not thin enough even though I was actually within the normal weight range. But I couldn’t help comparing my weight and body shape with other girls,” she says.
Feeling inferior and unconfident, Leanne Wu tried different ways to lose weight. “I used to take slimming pills. But I became so weak that there was even a time when I fainted while riding a bike,” she recalls.
“I was only in my twenties at that time, when I should be vivacious and healthy. This was when I felt a strong urge to improve my health,” Leanne Wu says.
But the physiologist says her mentality did not change much – the fear of gaining weight or getting fat still haunted her at that time.
The second turning point came when Leanne Wu started to learn about weight training after her university graduation.
“Weight training plays an essential role in my recovery and I found it really fun. To get a better body shape and build more muscles, I even did research about nutrition and learnt more about healthy eating,” the fitness nutrition specialist says.
Leanne Wu also took other practical steps to change her unhealthy routines and keep track of her recovery progress.
“I wrote diaries to take a record of dates and time I overate, what I ate and drank, where I was and how I felt after binge-eating. This helped remind me how much pain and torture I suffered because of bulimia and stopped me from falling into the cycle again,” she says.
To inspire others with her experience, she started a YouTube channel to share her bulimia story in 2019. She also films contents related to nutrition, fitness and healthy lifestyle.
“I learnt about the concept of self-love from other ex-bulimia patients, and now I want to be an inspiration for others as well,” she says.
*Name changed at interviewee’s request
Edited by Lasley Lui & Regina Chen
