{"id":18947,"date":"2021-04-20T11:39:24","date_gmt":"2021-04-20T03:39:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/?p=18947"},"modified":"2021-05-26T16:16:55","modified_gmt":"2021-05-26T08:16:55","slug":"shall-we-talk-about-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/2021\/04\/shall-we-talk-about-death\/","title":{"rendered":"Shall We Talk About Death"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The development of death education for children in Hong Kong still has a long way to go.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Kajal Aidasani<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Molin Lin Kwok-yin\nrecalls her encounter with an 8-year-old boy with brain cancer during a home visit\nto check on the child\u2019s condition and offer psychological support to his\nmother. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe mother told me when\nshe was helping her son shower, the son asked if he was a burden,\u201d says Lin,\nprofessional service manager of the Children\u2019s Palliative Care Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Molin Lin Kwok-yin lectured on the challenges of developing children\u2019s palliative care in China at the National End-of-life Care Concern Conference held in China. (Photo courtesy of Molin Lin Kwok-yin)<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA situation like this\ncould have been a lesson for death education, to reassure children that they\nare loved and have not done anything wrong. In this case, the mother burst into tears and\ncould not respond to his question,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lin stresses that parents, schools, and society all play important roles in death education. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Children have the right to know more about death, but parents are too protective and afraid to bring up the issue.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChildren have the right\nto know more about death, but parents are too protective and afraid to bring up\nthe issue. Another case that I handled was an 8-year-old girl with a brain\ntumour. The child encouraged her father by saying that death was just a part of\nlife,\u201d Lin says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miranda Leung Mei-mui, a retired nurse of Hong Kong Children\u2019s Hospital with 30 years of experience in paediatrics, shares Lin\u2019s thoughts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She thinks life and\ndeath education is important and should be taught from kindergarten to\nuniversity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrontline medical workers make use of communication tools to help children understand and cope with death in hospitals. Apart from speaking to children, means such as pictures, videos, music, and toys can also be used,\u201d Leung says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leung recalls that when she was a nurse, she showed pictures of a pretty flower and a wilted flower to a child who was unwilling to be admitted to the hospital for urgent treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI asked her to choose the picture she liked. Then I explained if she wanted to be healthy like the pretty flower, she would have to undergo treatment at the hospital,\u201d Leung says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leung says they once invited a staff member from the Children\u2019s Cancer Foundation to simulate how a funeral was like to a child with toys after his grandfather passed away. They also taught the child to show love to his grandfather by folding origami.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Miranda Leung Mei-mui and her team designed a pamphlet about how to bring the bad news – death of their family member to children – for the PEACE Project at the United Christian Hospital. (Photo courtesy of Miranda Leung Mei-mui)<\/em>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


“Children should be taught about death or else some might think that (death happens) because they are naughty.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChildren should be\ntaught about death or else some might think that (death happens) because they\nare naughty. The use of artwork and picture books should not be overlooked. It\nis also okay to use the word \u2018death\u2019,\u201d Leung adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While there are many English\ndeath-related picture books, only a handful are published in Chinese in Hong\nKong. Picture book and map illustrator Connie Yuen Ming-shan was involved in\nthe production of two of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople used to think picture books published by NGOs are not appealing. By collaborating with them, I want to develop more creative materials to arouse public awareness about end-of-life education,\u201d Yuen says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Connie Yuen Ming-shan<\/em> held a book talk on her bereavement picture book (\u6700\u5f8c\u7684\u544a\u5225) at Eslite Bookstore. (Photo courtesy of Connie Yuen Ming-shan)<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

She has written two picture books. \u201cThe Final Farewell<\/em>\u201d (\u6700\u5f8c\u7684\u544a\u5225<\/em>) was published in May 2018 and tells the story of losing a father. Her other book, \u201cThe Big Yellow Lion Under Lion Rock<\/em>\u201d (\u7345\u5b50\u5c71\u4e0b\u7684\u9ec3\u5927\u7345<\/em>) was published in December 2020 and is about paying tribute at a graveyard. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Funerals with different kinds of\nreligious rituals and Hong Kong\u2019s streets are featured in Yuen\u2019s book about\ndeath. \u201cHong Kong deserves to have its own death-related picture books in a\nlocal context,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yuen thinks that parents in Hong Kong do not value death education enough. They only buy picture books that serve task-oriented purposes, such as those teaching children punctuality, politeness, and hard work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe give out free copies to district councillors and hold book talks. We even promote our books to social workers, teachers, and nurses to spark open discussions, and for both children and adults to enjoy a good storytime,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The illustrator is currently working on three books that introduce death to the intellectually challenged, a project which is the first of its kind in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She believes\neveryone should learn about the process \u2013 from being diagnosed, treated, and admitted\nto hospital to dying \u2013 so as to be mentally prepared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt takes years for Hong Kong to develop picture\nbooks and death education\u2026With or without the pandemic, there is an urgency to\nlearn about death. And learning about death teaches us to treasure the time we\nare alive,\u201d Yuen says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wallace Chan Chi-ho, associate\nprofessor of the Department of Social Work at the Chinese University of Hong\nKong, is also working on a death-related picture book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book is about bereaved siblings\nand how to handle the death of a loved one in the family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chan and his colleagues plan to hold\nbook workshops and produce guidelines for parents and professionals about how\nthe book can be used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Wallace Chan Chi-ho<\/em> used dinosaur-like snacks to engage children in his bereaved sibling project. (Photo courtesy of Wallace Chan Chi-ho)<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


“Many people think children are too young to understand death. Children just do not know how to articulate their feelings, but it does not mean that they cannot understand.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMany people think children are too\nyoung to understand death. Children just do not know how to articulate their\nfeelings, but it does not mean that they cannot understand,\u201d Chan says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He points out death remains a taboo in today\u2019s Chinese community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is a lack of formal death\neducation. Teaching suicide prevention is not enough. Given the alarming\nsuicide situation, the government cannot afford to put death into the school\ncurriculum fearing that students might feel even more stressed,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chan thinks it is important to equip\nprofessionals such as nurses, doctors, and social workers with knowledge about\nlife and death education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChildren can understand death is normal through education. In a broader sense, they can learn how to cope with suffering while still embracing life and finding life worthwhile,\u201d the professor says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edited by Sarah Ryou
Sub-edited by Patricia Ricafort<\/em> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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