Life under the threat of the virus - Stories from residents of subdivided flats

Auntie Tam, who is 87 years-old, was sitting in the passageway connecting several subdivided flats. Wearing a mask, she was talkative and seemed excited to see the NGO staff who was visiting, and the news reporter whom she just met for the first time. 

Sister Ha helped translate Auntie Tam’s words, a mix of the Cantonese and Jiangmen dialects: "She went back to her hometown in China during the Lunar New Year and retuned to Hong Kong on 30 January. As part of her daily ritual at six in the morning, she will do some exercises in Nam Cheong Park, and go on the 『Work-Out』stool. On the second morning after Auntie Tam came back, the gramp sitting next to her coughed incessantly WITHOUT a mask on. “That was really scary…” she said.

Since then, Auntie Tam has not been to the park, or even stepped out of her little flat just to save one precious mask. Sister Ha would help her get groceries from the market. Confined in a tiny space (less than 100 sq.ft.), watching TV or taking a nap were her only pastimes. Seeing visitors energized her.

Sister Ha is 66 years-old and Auntie Tam’s neighbour. She used to work as a dish cleaner earning a living in a small restaurant on Maple Street (in Sham Shui Po). However, the restaurant closed down as the economy began to deteriorate last year and is now hotpot house. She lost her job and still has not found another one.

Sister Ha and her husband live in a 60 sq.ft. subdivided flat, which is already a "premium" one with windows installed. She thinks her landlord is quite reasonable as he charges just HKD 3,000 per month, water and electricity bills inclusive. Although, they do have to share the same kitchen and bathroom with other co-renters. After losing her dish-cleaning job, her husband became the sole breadwinner. He works as an occasional cleaner covering for other people but work was slow in February. He earned HKD 9,000 the month before but they only have savings of about HKD5,500 left, leaving each of them only HKD 40 per day to live on. In the middle of the interview, she happened to notice a hospital bill left out on the table. It was from her trip to the emergency room last month when she came down with the flu but she had forgotten it. She asked her husband to pay it immediately, ”So lucky that I found it, otherwise I would be fined with penalty….”

The subdivided flats in this unit are shared by 5 families. Sister Ha said that Auntie Tam is her best friend here and the other two neighbours, Sister Ying and Sister Mei, are also nice and kind-hearted. Sister Ying and Sister Mei are both in their early 60s and work as part-time domestic helpers. Owing to the virus outbreak, their clients are now reluctant to hire them. Sister Mei was only able to find work for two days this month. Auntie Tam’s son is a “sam hong”(Cantonese term for blue-collar jobs namely bricklayers, carpenters and house painters) worker. He has not been able to go to work due to the lockdown of the mainland border and the suspension in supply of raw materials. With many at the grassroots level losing their jobs, the virus outbreak brings a new paradigm.

“Sigh…this new virus is so disruptive. Alas…I can do nothing and go nowhere…” Sister Ha said she was born in the year of the rabbit - normally a spirited, cheerful, happy-go-lucky individual. This Wuhan pneumonia is causing a lot of stress, it makes her paranoid and she worries about getting infected when she goes see to the doctor or buy groceries in the market. “No one knows when this pandemic will end.”

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Onions for fighting the virus

Not long ago, the entire city was on a mad hunt for masks and disinfecting products. Many elderly people lined up all night long (to get supplies). It was a spectacle in this so-called prosperous and developed city.

Sister Ha said she was glad she made a trip back to mainland China before the Lunar New Year. At the time, the Chinese government said the epidemic was "preventable and controllable." Still, she considered the lesson learnt from SARS in 2003 and bought a box of masks sold for just HKD 50 at the time. She heard that a box now sells for HKD 380 at some pharmacies in Mong Kok. Feeling lucky that she bought them before the prices went up, she said she will use them sparingly, and will share with neighbours who are in need.

Other volunteers came to visit and brought them some made-in-Germany masks. Sister Ha highly recommended them, saying they are well designed and comfortable. Not wanting the masks to run out too quickly, she seldom goes out. Her husband would rather hang his masks to dry with a clothespin so they can be reused. He is unwilling to use the German-made masks for they are too precious.

She said, “I urged him - remember to wear a mask! Make sure it fits snug! I handed him the German-made green mask but he didn’t take it. He would say, ‘Come on! It’s fine! No worries!’. He is just so frugal.” Sister Ha laughed and teased, “Silly guy!”

Not only are masks pricey, many neighbours find that even groceries have gotten more expensive. Sister Ha is thrifty. She would often dig out the cheapest bargains on the 2nd floor of the Pei Ho Street Municipal Services Building where broccoli, cabbage and long cabbage are fresh and cheap. However, pork has been expensive ever since the swine fever last year.

“Pork meat is expensive. Pork bones are also very expensive. I need to pay $80 for just 4 or 5 pieces of pork bones to make the pork soup (less than a catty). In the past, they were way cheaper and I would be charged around HKD 30-40 for the same portion. Sigh…I only bought them once this year. Pork bone soup is good for my legs…”

With five households crammed into such a tiny space and having to share the same kitchen and bathroom, if one person gets infected then all others are also at risk. Sister Ha said everyone is a good neighbour though. They would rather help each other out than be suspicious of one another. 

The areas around Ki Lung Street, Yu Chau Street and Nam Cheong Street in Sham Shui Po are called "Cloth Streets". There are many shops selling fabric. Recently, the materials on display most prominently are waterproof cloth, cotton cloth, rubber bands and other materials for making masks. Sister Ha coyly took out a gift that Sister Mei gave her and Auntie Tam — a homemade bra mask.

“I took a picture of it and sent it to my friends. They all laughed,” she smiled. “It is made out of a new bra! Not a used one! But it is stuffy and not very comfortable. I won’t use it unless my own masks run out.”

The tenement house where Sister Ha and Auntie Tam live has no owners’ corporation, no residents' union and no property management company. Sister Ha said that the owner charges HKD 30 management fees per household per month but she is not sure where the money goes. No one comes to clear the rubbish and clean the staircases at the back. Sister Mei, Auntie Tam and she take turns to clean them. Occasionally Auntie Tam’s son will come give them a hand and Auntie Tam will treat him with dessert soups.

“The stairs are so dirty, sometimes I just can’t stand it so I do a little sweeping,” said Sister Ha.

The virus is invisible. Everyone is finding their own creative ways to fight the virus. All of a sudden, Sister Ha pulled out two onions which she bought from the market yesterday - a bargain purchase at HKD 5 for two pieces. She recalled her friend advising her that onions with the top and bottom cut off can help absorb germs in the flat.

“I think it should be useful ... onions are germicidal ...“ Sister Ha put the onions on the floor and said that the rats won’t eat them. Just giving it try, that’s all I can do."

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Dad passed away…just in time

Sister Ha's Hometown is in Kaiping, Jiangmen. The second day of the second month of the lunar calendar marks the day when all villagers start to worship their ancestors. But due to the virus outbreak, any worshipping activities were prohibited. As for Auntie Tam‘s hometown in Xinhui, she heard the whole village was in lockdown.

Sister Ha said she has not visited her hometown in recent years. She keeps in touch with her relatives and friends by phone and WeChat. As for Auntie Tam’s son, he originally bought a train ticket back to his hometown, but decided to cancel the trip in the end.

"Usually everyone gets together for a happy Lunar New Year,” Sister Ha sighed, “but it has been very strict (the lockdowns) and nobody dares to go out."

Sister Ha said she is in good health so far except for feeling dizzy that one time in January of this year. The doctor could not give her a diagnosis. It would be scary for her neighbours if that were to happen now.

Sister Ha had to take care of her father in recent years. She said that her father was 99 years-old when he died last year on 18 November. He was buried on 5 December. Her father lived in a private elderly home and the monthly fee was around a few thousand HKD. She only worked night shifts so that she could look after her father during the daytime.

Her dad had a good appetite and always wanted to eat rice rolls and other take-out food. He was deaf and handicapped. Taking care of her father was no easy task and Sister Ha felt relieved that her father passed away earlier. If her father were still alive and had to be admitted to the hospital during the outbreak, she could not imagine how she would cope with the stress since family members are not allowed to visit at the hospital these days.

“Perhaps it was good timing when he passed. After all, he was already 99 years old ..."

Dad is gone and so is her job. Sister Ha has lost 10 or 12 pounds in recent months. She looked the mirror, rubbed the wrinkles on her face and said, "I hope I won’t live that long…at most 80 years-old.”

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Black-clad people (Protestors)

Since the social movement broke out in Hong Kong last June, the government's callous attitude and police brutality have ignited further social conflicts. Like many other grassroots citizens, Sister Ha is bearing the brunt of the societal and economic turmoil. Not surprisingly, she expressed her displeasure with the so-called” black-clad people”, having watched clashes on television and heard commentary by the pro-establishment camp.

"It's so annoying ...black-clad people before, then the virus outbreak and now the closure of shops and restaurants. The society is really ... life has become so difficult… I don't know what to do in the future ..."

However, Sister Ha also realized the government has not done its job : people are having trouble getting masks and becoming frustrated. She wondered why the Hong Kong government cannot follow Taiwan government’s lead and hand out masks to its citizens? Regulation of rents and shortening wait times for public housing have all been on the agenda for many years too but has the government done anything about them?

Sister Ha is stubborn. The NGO staff suggested a few times for her to apply for the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) Scheme. She refused every time. "I would rather keep my dignity intact. Others ask me why I’m being so hard on myself, I tell them I will keep working for as long as possible,” Sister Ha said, "I won’t ask for help until I have no other choice.”

The Finance Committee of the Legislative Council approved a HKD 30 billion grant last month to set up an “Anti-Epidemic fund", of which HKD 16.9 billion was set aside to provide subsidies to affected enterprises, including a lump sum of over HKD 200,000 for larger restaurants and HKD 80,000 for smaller ones. During a discussion session over the funding, some members of the Democratic Party questioned whether such funds would only benefit the business owners but not the employees. However, the Chief Secretary for Administration, Cheung Kin-chung, explained that since funds will be provided to business owners, businesses can then continue to operate which will in turn protect the workers.

Sister Ha said that her employer announced that the restaurant had to close because it had incurred losses for almost 6 months, including all their salaries. “The employer is also very poor now. Loss of hundreds of thousands dollars.”

Then she thought about it for a second and laughed, "You feel pity for them but will they pity you in return?"

Since becoming jobless, Sister Ha has been spending more time at home watching TVB. She recalled seeing a news report about the establishment of quarantine camps close to Mei Foo Sun Chuen, a housing estate nearby. Mei Foo residents, with their masks on, were protesting against these quarantine camps. “Black-clad people" also participated by blocking the roads and spray-painting buses. The police were present at the protest, standing by with their guns. The news report quoted experts as saying that since the quarantine camp was located on a hilltop, it would be absolutely safe for the residents nearby. 

“Do you think their protest is reasonable?” the reporter asked.

"Well ... you’re bringing the virus to the area, of course everyone would be scared. If I live nearby, I would be scared too."

Sister Ha pondered over it for a while and continued, "if I live there, I would also take to the streets and protest against it.”

Source : The Stand News, March 2020