Fears for Hong Kong students after fifth suicide at Chinese University since start of academic year

A third-year Chinese University medical student took her own life yesterday – the fifth suicide at the Sha Tin institution in the six months since the start of the academic year.

Two other students at higher education institutions in the city have also taken their own lives in the same period, contributing to what one respected academic called a “worrying” trend.

Yesterday’s tragedy came when the 20-year-old female student jumped from the building where she lived in a Fanling housing estate.

Professor Paul Yip Siu-fai, director of the University of Hong Kong’s Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, said there were normally about two such cases every year and suggested the increase might be related to a change in the education system that made students enter universities a year earlier than before.

“These students may not be as well prepared for university life,” said Yip. “Universities should be more aware of this and enhance their counselling support.”

Police said the student, surnamed Cheung, was found lying in a small pond in Dawning Views at 9.50am. She was taken to North District Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.