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Life after Organ Donation

Organ donors and recipients not only face health challenges, but also trouble getting insurance

Reporters: Ada Chung, Daphne Li, Soohyun Kim

Editors: Elaine Ng, Selena Chan

For those suffering from organ failure, organ transplants can provide hope for a new life. But in Hong Kong, the wait for an appropriate donor organ can be long, sometimes too long.

According to the Department of Health, there were 2,153 patients on the waiting list for a kidney transplant in December 2017. Only 78 patients received kidney transplants for the whole of last year, 17 from living donors. Data from the International Registry on Organ Donation and Transplantation shows the ratio of posthumous organ donation in Hong Kong has been consistently low, far behind from countries like the U.S and U.K.

In an attempt to tackle the problem of a persistently low organ donation rate, the government has organized over 500 seminars and exhibitions in hospitals and public buildings in the past two years to promote organ donation. There have also been other activities such as charter-signing drives and tours by promotional vehicles.

But according to a study conducted by  an affiliate of Junior Chamber International Hong Kong in 2016, even though over 90 per cent of respondents support organ donation, only 40 per cent had registered as organ donors and less than a half them knew how to do so. Most respondents, 80 per cent, blamed this on insufficient promotion and a lack of available information on organ donation.

Chan Kwok-man, the Vice Chairman of the Hong Kong Transplant Sport Association also questions the effectiveness of these official campaigns. “I think Hospital Authority’s promotion work is not as good as those initiated by the public,” he says.

When no suitable donor organs can be found from the deceased – which make up 90 per cent of the organs used in transplant operations – medical personnel will sometimes seek living donors for operations such as kidney and liver transplants.

In order to prevent any unethical incidents involving living donors, the government set up the Human Organ Transplant Board (HOTB) in 1995 to curb any human organ trade in Hong Kong. If the donor and recipient are not genetically related or have not been married for more than three years, a written approval has to be obtained from the HOTB before surgery can take place.

Doctors conduct thorough examinations and tests on a potential living donor before performing any surgery to assess any risk of complication, and again after the operation. But even when a kidney donor is given a clean bill of health, with proven normal kidney function, they may find themselves denied private medical insurance coverage and told the donation was a preexisting condition after the transplant surgery.

In Hong Kong, donors are required to disclose any known pre-existing medical conditions when purchasing health insurance. Some insurance companies will not insure organ donors or only provide partial coverage. But a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows the mortality rates of kidney donors are no higher than for similar individuals who have not donated organs. The results are similar to other studies that show organ donors are not more susceptible to illness or death.

In order to encourage organ donation, countries like New Zealand are compensating donors for time taken off work to recover from their operations. Yet, despite the persistently low rate of organ donation in Hong Kong, donors may find themselves potentially penalized for helping to save life.

The Furry Therapists

Animal assisted therapy helps ‘hidden youths’ step back into society.

Reporters: Fangdong Bai, Jane Leung, Sam Kwong

Editors: Jade Li, Kristy Tong

Socially withdrawn youth, also known as “hidden youth”, are young people who spend extended periods of time refusing to leave their homes or even their bedrooms. They shy away from school, from work and shun social interaction. The phenomenon was first observed in Japan among males in their early 20s, who are known as ‘Hikikomori’. In Hong Kong, one researcher has suggested the prevalence of youth social withdrawal is around 1.9 percent.

Some social workers have found that animal-assisted therapy is an effective way of bringing these youngsters out of their shells. Animal assisted therapy uses a combination of animal-human interactions and mainstream therapies to help socially withdrawn youth to relax and eventually step back into society.

Therapy animals – usually dogs and cats – seem to have a relaxing effect on people. But for the therapy to work, social workers and other humans play an important role. The social worker needs to understand the youth to gain his or her trust in order to introduce them to the therapy and the animal. The animal handler needs to have a good understanding of the temperament and history of the animal in order to make an appropriate match to maximize the effectiveness of the therapy and to protect the animal.

Pets used as therapy animals should be calm during interactions with people, be sterilized, and be accustomed to being around different people. Not only must the animals be trained before they can enter the service, but their owners also have to learn how to train their animals.

There are a number of associations supporting animal assisted therapy. The Hong Kong Animal Assisted Therapy Association focuses on promoting animal assisted therapy and offers animal assisted therapy to those who have relevant needs. Doctor Pet also promotes animal assisted therapy in Hong Kong.

However, despite their track record for helping hidden youths, therapy animals are not recognized in the way guide dogs for the blind are. Public transport is a big problem for them. The therapy animals’ handlers cannot take bus with their animals and taxi drivers sometimes refuse to take them. Animal assisted therapy is still not widely known and understood among the general public.

Panel Discussion – Telling Hong Kong Stories

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Varsity, which was launched as the English language practicum magazine of CUHK’s School of Journalism and Communication.

We tell stories – in print and online – from and about Hong Kong, in English for people both here and further afield. And we’re not alone – although the mainstream English language media landscape in Hong Kong seems diminished compared to 1993, the emergence of online media has led to new opportunities.

We invited our some of our fellow storytellers to join us for a panel discussion on “Telling Hong Kong Stories” on Friday 27th April. Don’t worry if you have missed it. Read our live-blog coverage below to catch up, or watch the full recording here.


8:05pm

This concludes Varsity’s 25th anniversary panel discussion. We would like to thank the speakers and audience members who showed up on a Friday night to contribute to this fruitful exchange. Have a good evening!


8:00pm 

In his closing remarks for tonight’s discussion, Francis Lee, Director of CUHK’s School of Journalism and Communication, spoke of the challenges of telling Hong Kong stories – especially after the Umbrella Movement. He says it is important for more people to tell more diverse Hong Kong stories.

CUHK’s Journalism and communications director Francis Lee shares his closing remarks.

7:45pm

Audience member Cindy, who is a Varsity alumni, asked if there is tension between telling the Greater China story and the local Hong Kong story – especially with the influx of funding from the Mainland. Are there pressures to tell certain stories and neglect others?

Alan Wong said he was 100 per cent confident that none of that was happening. He said since a lot of their readers at SCMP’s Inkstone are Hongkongers, they will continue to care more about Hong Kong stories, even though they are receiving funding from Chinese company Alibaba. Wong said the current business models of media lead to a pursuit of stories that would get the most clicks – neglecting minority voices. He said having more independent voices could fill in some of the gaps.

Holmes Chan said he believes that international and local discourse does not have to be mutually exclusive. But he added that “we have to find ourselves interesting, before others can find us interesting.”

Karen Cheung said the problem with international correspondents is that they only come for a few years and then leave, not staying long enough to understand Hong Kong’s complexities. “Every new correspondent comes and pitches a story about cage homes, so you see those stories in international media every few years,” she said. She thinks international news outlets need to hire more local reporters so that more stories can be told beyond the global image of Hong Kong.


7:30pm 

Gloria Fung, a Hongkonger living in Canada, said a lot of organisations concerned about Hong Kong’s situation were formed globally after the Umbrella Movement. She asked how Hongkongers abroad can more effectively get their stories covered by Hong Kong media.

In response, Oiwan Lam suggested diaspora communities develop sustainable media networks on their own, and make better use of community media.


7:20pm 

Karen Cheung stressed the importance of keeping international audiences interested in the Hong Kong story, particularly after major events such as the Umbrella Movement or Xi Jinping’s visit. She said the challenge was to frame local stories in a way that would be relevant to international audiences.

Dr. Brian Fong agreed, saying that it was crucial to get the international community concerned about the city. He said it would be impossible for Hong Kong to retain its autonomy without international support.

HKFP’s Karen Cheung
“No autonomous entity can survive without international support,” says Brian Fong.

7:00pm 

The floor is now open for questions.

Audience member Cindy Ng, a former journalist and Varsity alumni, asked Holmes Chan why he chose to use English to tell Hong Kong story. “Wouldn’t it be easier to reach local Hong Kong audience using Chinese?” she asked.

Chan said he thinks English long-form stories offer unique elements which cannot be replicated using Chinese. He said that while writing in English does make it challenging to reach everyone, it is never possible to reach all audiences. He adds that they are not settling for just a niche audience. “If you have something that is attractive enough, they won’t come for the English, but for the story,” he said.

Holmes Chan responding to a question from the floor.

6:55pm 

Dr. Brian Fong’s Network DIPLO tells Hong Kong stories through citizen diplomacy. Their events include talks and free guided tours that share with tourists the history and politics of Hong Kong and China. He said Hongkongers have the responsibility to tell their own stories.

Brian Fong (right), introducing Network DIPLO’s efforts at citizen diplomacy.

6:45pm 

In-Media founder Oiwan Lam says Hong Kong stories are not limited to a Hong Kong audience. Working as the North East Asia regional editor at Global Voices online, she says their stories receive the most traffic from Taiwanese readers.

Oiwan Lam, one of the founders of In-media.

6:35pm

Holmes Chan from Still/Loud said English news media in Hong Kong tend to “export” stories to foreign readers, rather than prioritise stories for the local community. He said he aims to write stories about Hong Kong people for Hong Kong people.

Still/Loud’s Holmes Chan

6:20pm

Inkstone’s Alan Wong said the key to pitching a good story is to respect what the audience is interested in, and innovate new ideas based on existing stories. He said it is important to not dumb down Hong Kong stories but instead to do a better job in finding new angles and different ways to tell the same story.

 

Alan Wong from SCMP Inkstone

6:15pm

As the first speaker in the discussion, Karen Cheung from Hong Kong Free Press said independent and not-for-profit English news media are important because they are accountable to the public. Cheung says English media outlets have taken a role in providing coverage of social issues affecting minority communities such as the LGBTQ community and domestic helpers. She also said they were less prone to stereotyping these groups, compared with Chinese media.

HKFP’s Karen Cheung

6:00pm 

Guests are arriving and the talk will begin shortly. If you are not able to make it to the talk tonight in person, you can still watch it live on our Facebook page where we will be live-streaming the event.


Here are brief introductions to our panelists:

Holmes Chan is associate editor for Still / Loud, an independent magazine about music, art, and culture in Hong Kong. His work has also appeared on Hong Kong Free Press, 眾新聞 CitizenNews, Art Asia Pacific, and 香港01周報. In his spare time he studies law and literature at HKU.

Karen Cheung is a senior reporter at Hong Kong Free Press. Her work has appeared in Al Jazeera, openDemocracy, LARB China Channel, and others. She is also ArtAsiaPacific’s Hong Kong desk editor and a co-founder of Still / Loud. She is a BA (Literary Studies) and LLB graduate from the University of Hong Kong.

Dr. Brian Fong is a political scholar, he has published extensively in journals, books, newspapers, etc. about the politics of Hong Kong. He is also very active in community services leading the work of several civil society organizations.

Oiwan Lam is one of the founders of In-Media HK, a Chinese independent media outlet set up in 2004. She is also Northeast Asia regional editor of Global Voices, a platform that translates and carries reports from local citizen journalists and writers for global readers. In addition to this, Oiwan has been teaching the Master’s course, new media and society at the Chinese University of Hong Kong for more than eight years.

Alan Wong is a graduate from Hong Kong Baptist University’s journalism program, where he edited The Young Reporter (Varsity’s BFF, or arch-rival?). Before joining Inkstone, a new China-focused news site and a unit of SCMP, he helped cover Hong Kong for The New York Times for four years, first as a news assistant and then as a digital editor.

Moderator:

Yuen Chan is a senior lecturer at the School of Journalism and Communication at CUHK and oversees the Varsity practicum. Before this, she worked as an English language journalist in Hong Kong for print, radio and TV, and as a foreign correspondent in Shanghai and Beijing. Her work has appeared in KQED, the BBC World Service, CBC, ABC, CNNI, Al Jazeera, Hong Kong Free Press and CitizenNews.

 


 

What they say about Varsity

For 25 years, we have been trying to tell Hong Kong stories that matter. Here is what some of our readers and fellow storytellers think about our work:


 

Chrissy Burns, Editor-in- Chief, Inscribe journal of undergraduate writing at Polytechnic University

Congratulations on 25 years! As an avid reader of Varsity, I appreciate the wide range of interesting and compelling topics offered in a highly appealing format. The section Our Community has taught me much about Hong Kong issues, people and places. The depth of reporting and professionalism of your magazine is truly impressive. Wishing you much continued success.

 


 

Damon Pang, Reporter, RTHK English News

Congratulations Varsity, can’t believe it’s already been 25 wonderful years. You serve as an invaluable platform for enthusiastic, young journalists to hone their skills, think deep, dream big and be creative with their story ideas. Varsity stories are often good reads. And, a big thank you for helping Hong Kong stay connected with the world.

 


 

Karen Cheung, Co-founder & Editor of Still/Loud HK

Last year in the aftermath of the 20th handover anniversary in Hong Kong, Varsity teacher Yuen Chan wrote a moving piece about the importance of “telling our own stories”. Varsity has always done a fantastic job of doing so, and I am often both jealous of their stories and in awe of its journalism students’ ability to identify timely issues, dive deep into them, and produce well-reported and well-written pieces. Varsity is a reminder that there are always stories waiting to be uncovered off the beaten track, and its existence is evidence that we do not need to rely on our foreign counterparts to “tell our stories to the world” — we can do it ourselves.

 


 

Oiwan Lam, North East Asia Editor, GlobalVoices.org

It is great to see Varsity having evolved into a multimedia student project. What’s more, it is not merely serving education need but also functioning as an alternative media on under-reported topics which present a more grassroots and humanist version of Hong Kong to the public. Its web version has started to develop a readership outside Hong Kong and I am looking forward to seeing it evolve into a significant source of information on Hong Kong for global audience in the near future.

 


 

Catherine Lai, Deputy Editor, Hong Kong Free Press 

Varsity’s student reporters produce great stories on community issues or initiatives that are often overlooked. These fresh voices are an asset to Hong Kong’s English-language media.

 


 

Tom Grundy, Hong Kong Free Press Editor-in-chief

Varsity is the city’s English-language student publication. I am always amazed at the original angles, fresh ideas and quality of the journalism on display each month. We are very proud to be hosting their stories over at Hong Kong Free Press.

 


 

Elson Tong, Former Reporter, Hong Kong Free Press

I often find myself complaining that the most insightful features we could have written for Hong Kong Free Press have already been done by Varsity.

 

 


 

Kris Cheng, Editorial Director, Hong Kong Free Press 

When I was part of my university’s student press, we had to learn everything by ourselves with a little help from our predecessors. I wish I had the professional guidance given to Varsity’s student reporters and editors, and had written some of the great reports they have done.


We love to hear from our readers! If you want to send in a testimonial or any feedback on our work, you can reach us at varsity@cuhk.edu.hk

The Early Days of Varsity Magazine: Remembrances

Varsity Founder Bryce McIntyre wrote this article for the 20th anniversary commemorative issue of Varsity, published in 2013

By Bryce T. McIntyre

In 1991 I was unemployed and living a bucolic life in my cherry orchard in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, and I was looking for a job in academia. I saw an ad for a position at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, so I applied for the post thinking that it would probably come to nothing.

But much to my surprise, after falling asleep late one night, I was awakened by a telephone call from Hong Kong. I don’t recall who interviewed me at the time – I was very sleepy, if truth be known — but I think one of the two or three interviewers must have been Prof. Leonard Chu, who was chairman of the JLM Department at the time. (Yes, we used the title “chairman”, and it used to be a department.)

Anyway, the men who interviewed me asked if I could assist in establishing an English language student newspaper at CUHK. I thought this would be easy for me, having worked in the newspaper business and also having taught journalism at the university level, so I said yes.

The interview ended without commitment on either side, and I went back to sleep thinking that it would probably come to nothing.

But much to my surprise, about four weeks later, I received a lengthy 3-year contract in the mail to teach at CUHK, and I was given one week to sign it and return the paperwork.

At first I was filled with trepidation: My environment in Oregon was quiet and rural – only 16 people per square mile – and Hong Kong is one of the world’s greatest and most bustling cities. I read that some parts of Hong Kong like Mong Kok had a population of 160,000 people per square kilometer! I did not know how I would survive the congestion and the noise.

On the other hand, I knew a move to Hong Kong would be a lifetime adventure, and I am an adventuresome sort, so I signed the contract and returned it to Hong Kong by speedpost.

The man who hired me was indeed Prof. Leonard Chu, who I believe today is a professor at National Chengchi University in Taipei. After I returned my contract by speedpost, Prof. Chu wrote to me to welcome me to the JLM staff, and in that letter he gave me my Chinese name, Mak Ging Tai. When I showed up for work on 2 September 1991, Prof. Joseph Chan met me at Kai Tak Airport and drove me to the CUHK campus guest house.

Much to my surprise, the chairman when I walked into the department the next day was not Prof. Chu, but Prof. George Comstock, a well known American scholar. I had long admired his writing, but I had never met him in person, so it was a pleasure and an honor to serve under him.

Now all eyes were on me as I worked out details for an English language student practicum publication, as it came to be known. I had to develop a design, identify the target audience, decide on staffing, develop a budget, decide on a production system and a printer. And so on and so on.

As a first step, I wrote a proposal called the United States Student Newspaper Production Model, based on my experiences with university student newspapers in the U.S.

The plan called for a 4-day per week student tabloid newspaper printed in black and white on newsprint. This is standard for student newspapers on U.S. university campuses. Costs would be covered by a small, part-time student-run advertising department headed by a full-time professional advertising manager. Advertising staff would receive a small salary and receive commissions on ad sales. All editorial and production, except printing, would be done by student staff members. The target audience would be students on university campuses in Hong Kong. There were only three universities at the time.

A lot of my ideas did not pass muster, so to speak. My JLM colleagues told me there was no way CUHK students would work so hard as to put out a daily newspaper, and there was only lukewarm interest in drawing on advertising courses for practicum credit in advertising.

On a more positive note, I was deeply impressed by the students in my English news reporting and English news editing classes. I needed to draw on their energy to get the project off the ground, so I gave the editing class my basic proposal in the spring of 1992 and asked them to come up with a plan that they could live with. I divided the class into 4 teams of 6 people each, and I asked each team to develop a proposal and make a presentation to the faculty.

Varsity’s first Chief Editor Peter Li (left), Prof. Bryce McIntyre, Varsity’s first Managing Editor Mandy Luk

Late in the spring the teams made their presentations, the faculty members who were present made a decision, and this was the birth of Varsity – a monthly news magazine targeting the university community of Hong Kong. The name of the magazine, the basic design, the target audience, the proposed editorial departments. . . all these were conceived by the team from the editing class. I believe this team was headed by Esther Wong, who was an outstanding student.

So far, so good. But I also needed money. Prof. Comstock asked me to develop a budget, so I wrote one in the autumn of 1992 for HK$140,000 to cover the first year of operations. Prof. Comstock and I took the proposal to the vice-chancellor at the time, Prof. Charles Kuen Kao (yes, that Kao, the one who won a Nobel Prize in physics). Prof. Kao approved the budget and, in time, he became one of Varsity’s most ardent supporters.

The next big hurdle was setting up a production system. At a university in Los Angeles, before I came to Hong Kong, I was in charge of planning and funding all computer labs for my college. In one lab in 1989, we had Apple and IBM desktop publishing systems running side-by-side, and the verdict was that the IBM system was superior.

Naturally, I drew upon my experiences in LA in deciding on a production system at CUHK, but the JLM department had no computers for student use. It also had no desktop publishing software, no scanners, no network, and no technical support. In the English news reporting and editing classes, students at that time had to check out small portable typewriters from the general office before class and return them after class. That was how technologically behind we were.

We did not have computers, but we did have typewriters, so one quick way to get off the ground was to buy a flatbed scanner that could scan typewritten material. I could find only one flatbed scanner for sale in all of Hong Kong, at an HP distributor. I went to the HP offices for a demonstration, and the staff there did not even know how to operate it. I bought the scanner anyway and brought it back to the JLM department. We connected it to a single computer in the JLM main office, and suddenly we had a primitive desktop publishing system. Most of the hardware and software problems, of which there were many, were solved by Peter Li, an outstanding student in one of my editing classes.

The next major problem was finding a company that could output our computer files as films for stripping and platemaking. This was very difficult because of software problems and incompatible hardware. We went to two or three different output companies – and two or three different printing companies — before we finally settled on C&C Offset in Tai Po.

So, after many trials and tribulations, we finally published the first issue in March 1993. Subsequently, Varsity acquired a life of its own and took off like a well-oiled machine. Its success surprised even me. One of our greatest achievements was to become the first online publication in Hong Kong, long before the establishment of the World Wide Web.

During all those years, from 1991 until my retirement in 2004, I always asked the students to lead the way, and they never disappointed me. No matter how difficult the task at hand, no matter how great the challenge, they always threw a lot of energy into each issue. It was my honor to serve as their mentor, but Varsity’s success is due to their commitment and dedication, and it is the students who deserve all the credit.

Blossom Ridge Vineyard

Salem, Oregon, USA

A Place to Belong

Dorothy Goh (left) at an interview with Cynthia Abdon-Tellez, one of the founders of Mission for Migrant Workers.

For our 25th birthday, some alumni have sent in video greetings along with some Varsity memories and recent updates. It’s exciting to see how everyone has developed after their time at Varsity.

Dorothy Goh, who is from Singapore, was art director of the 2012 Spring Board. She describes herself as an explorer and says her time at Varsity helped her feel at home:

Telling Human Stories

Rene (right) with Varsity classmates Derek Li (centre) and Ian Cheng (left)

For our 25th birthday, some alumni have sent in video greetings along with some Varsity memories and recent updates. It’s exciting to see how everyone has developed after their time at Varsity.

Rene, art director of the 2013 Spring Board, is now a filmmaker and he recalls how working as a reporter for Varsity helped prepare him for telling human stories, something that he is doing now as a filmmaker.

Rene (fourth from the left) with stars Kara Hui (third from left) and Philip Keung (fifth from right) and other cast members from the film “Tracey” , which he directed.

In fact Rene’s first feature film as a director Tracey is about a transgender woman. His first multimedia story for Varsity also happened to be about a transgender woman!

Listen to what Rene has to say about his Varsity days:

 

Send Love, Send Varsity

Christine Fung (centre) and her fellow editors show off the freshly printed November 2010 issue.
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For our 25th birthday, some alumni have sent in video greetings along with some Varsity memories and recent updates. It’s exciting to see how everyone has developed after their time at Varsity. Here is Christine Fung, art director from the 2010 Fall Board, who is currently a brand manager for Nike in Shanghai:

Varsity girls at Cable TV

Stella Tsang (left) and Yan Li (second left) during their reporting days.
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For our 25th birthday, some alumni have sent in video greetings along with some Varsity memories and recent updates. It’s exciting to see how everyone has developed after their time at Varsity. Here is Stella Tsang, managing editor of the 2015 Fall Board, Yan Li, managing editor of the 2015 Spring Board and Amelia Loi, editor from the 2009 Fall Board. They are currently reporting at Cable TV:

Amelia Loi (left) with Terence Li and a first generation Varsity Junk Food News Award

Greetings from Cambridge

Cindy Gu winning a Junk Food Award during her Varsity reporting days.

For our 25th birthday, some alumni have sent in video greetings along with some Varsity memories and recent updates. It’s exciting to see how everyone has developed after their time at Varsity. Here is Cindy Gu, editor from the 2016 Fall Board, who is now an M.Phil student at Cambridge University in Multi-Disciplinary Gender Studies: