Why no Mother’s Day card won’t bother this Hong Kong woman on Sunday – or at any other time
Yau Kwan-ying has raised two sons with mild intellectual disability and although there will be no presents from them on Sunday, she still feels nothing less than special
Over the years, Yau Kwan-ying has mastered the art of saving time. To make sure she gets a good six hours of sleep, not only does the 63-year-old go to bed early, she often sleeps in tomorrow’s clean clothes.
Since becoming a mother almost 35 years ago, she has never had the luxury of sleeping in. This is all for her two sons, who both have a mild intellectual disability, which affects their capacity to understand, interpret, solve problems and think.
It’s been rough for her. Every morning, she gets up at the crack of dawn to prepare breakfast for the pair, pick their outfits for the day, get them out of bed, push them to get ready by 9.30am so they will make it on time to the Hong Kong Christian Service On Wah Day Activity Centre, where they receive rehabilitation services from 10am to 4pm on weekdays.
After dropping the two off at the centre in Ngau Tau Kok, she then heads to the wet market to pick out dinner for the family of four, while her husband Lee, a bus driver, takes off for work.
But the sons – 34 and 32 – will probably never realise their mother has always had their best interests at heart.