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Tuesday, September 08, 2020, 14:30
HK caregivers must have more support
By Ho Lok-sang
Tuesday, September 08, 2020, 14:30 By Ho Lok-sang

I had intended to write on the subject of the need for corrective reform for our judiciary, which the former Court of Final Appeal judge, Henry Litton, advocated cogently in an article in Ming Pao last week. Like the former director of public prosecutions, Grenville Cross, Henry Litton defends the National Security Law for Hong Kong. Both of them know Hong Kong well, and they take the well-being of Hong Kong to heart. Appalled by the lawlessness of the riotous “pro-democracy protesters”, both have spoken up against the rhetoric of Western politicians such as Chris Patten of the United Kingdom and US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo.

Backed by foreign interests that wanted to stall China’s rise and protect their businesses against competition from the likes of Huawei, Tencent, and Alibaba, the “protesters” invited US sanctions against Hong Kong and their own country. Litton was appalled by the complicity of many in the legal profession and the judiciary in Hong Kong. As a result, there was a rapid deterioration of Hong Kong’s business environment. Before I go on to address another subject, which is also a matter of life and death, let me just add that Beijing has been amazingly faithful to the “one country, two systems” framework and waited patiently for 23 years before it was forced to take action. 

On Saturday, a mother was arrested on suspicion of strangling her 21-year-old son to death at her home and possibly attempting suicide. The son, a moderately mentally handicapped person, had returned home after being discharged from a residential facility four days earlier because he had reached the age when he must leave. The family of five live in a public housing unit. 

According to Chan Yip, a director at the Community Education Centre of the Hong Kong Joint Council of Parents of the Mentally Handicapped, some parents have to quit their jobs in order to care for their children after they are discharged from the hostel of their special education schools. This will create a lot of financial stress on the family, and will complicate the emotional stress and physical demands due to caregiving. 

According to neighbors, the mother takes good care of the family. There was also no history of domestic violence. The father is a taxi driver, whose income must have been dramatically reduced because of the demise of the tourist industry under COVID-19 and the paucity of people going out. In this particular case, financial stress must have added to the stress of caring for the handicapped child. 

This tragedy, unfortunately, is not the first one. In recent years, there have been quite a few cases of caregivers killing the ones under their care, then killing or attempting to kill themselves. Social Welfare Department figures indicate that the queue for a residential place for severely handicapped people is presently 160.5 months, while that for moderately handicapped is 144.3 months. These days, the fact that because of COVID-19, even day activity centers are closed makes things much worse. If they remain open, the handicapped would at least spend several hours at such centers during weekdays, and the caregivers can then have a break. 

As this tragedy shows, whether caregivers of handicapped people can get the necessary support may be a matter of life or death. Because financial stress could have played a part, as is likely given that the father is a taxi driver and that there are five in the family to feed, getting the economy back to normalcy may also be a matter of life or death. Last week, I urged Hong Kong people to work together to reignite the economy, and in particular, I urged all Hong Kong people to take part in the Universal Community Testing Programme. I would repeat the plea. Financial stress can ruin lives, testing for COVID-19 will help identify asymptomatic cases and will expedite Hong Kong’s return to normalcy. I do hope every Hong Kong person will do their part to help. 

Sadly, however, on Sunday some “pro-democracy protesters” were at it again. They assembled in great numbers in the Jordan-Yau Ma Tei area, disrupting traffic and businesses. This is going to hurt Hong Kong even more — including taxi drivers who have to feed their families. Already this year’s university graduates are having a hard time finding jobs. With more businesses going under, their prospects will be even bleaker. Chances are that these young men and women may have to stay unemployed for an extended period, and that their parents could also lose their jobs or businesses. 

In a sense, how things are unfolding these days shows who truly loves Hong Kong and who only care for their own beliefs and ideologies. Anyone who loves Hong Kong will certainly be sensitive to the pains that many Hong Kong people are suffering. If the “pro-democracy protesters” are so concerned about justice and about the future of Hong Kong, they must be honest with themselves. They should ask themselves what they have achieved since 2013. Instead of helping Hong Kong, they are destroying many peace-loving compatriots’ livelihoods. Some are being pushed over the edge, and the result is a human tragedy like what happened on Saturday.

The author is a senior research fellow at Pan Sutong Shanghai-Hong Kong Economic Policy Research Institute, Lingnan University.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily. 


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