Q What creates stress for you in your Hong Kong lifestyle?
Like many of my fellow Hong Kongers, the stress from which I suffer these days is caused by financial hardship, a lack of job security and pressure at work.
On top of this, each one of us does not only have to cope with our own problems. You see, I have come to realise that stress is contagious.
Not only am I stressed out by my own life, I am also influenced by the stress of those around me. Family members pass their stress on to one another in the home, and I even find my mood being affected by members of the public: the mother scolding her son on the MTR, the couple arguing over tedious matters on the bus, the hawkers haggling loudly with their customers and recently, the noise of my neighbour spanking her kid every night for his poor performance at school.
In a city as densely populated as Hong Kong, everything spreads fast - news, gossip, flu, and stress. The key to ending this vicious circle is to kill the negative energy that stress causes within each one of us, just like killing our own flu to prevent others catching it.
Yvonne Wong