My 11-year-old daughter is in Year Eight and weighs about 32kg. Her schoolbag is new this year and on Monday morning, it seemed to weigh a tonne. 'You need a suitcase!' I said, not laughing, as I ran to get my camera - and the scales. She was running late, which is normal for a Monday, but she smiled as she tried to stuff a thick library book into the bag.
My daughters and I, and Aunty E, who helps me raise my children, crowded around the scale to see an astounding 10.2kg start to flash. That's a heavy bag. Aunty E's first point of business for the week is to carry my daughter's schoolbag down the 198 steps to the bus stop, and I sometimes wonder if I am guilty of illegal deployment.
Had it been Wednesday, the schoolbag would have been even heavier, holding her gym clothes. Had it been Tuesday, she would have had to carry it along with her guitar case. On Fridays, she goes straight to golf squad and so she needs her clubs. (They weigh only 4.8kg.)
Being a Hongkonger, I am familiar with the issue of heavy schoolbags and their effect on the spines of the young, especially on those with petite frames. So, on Tuesdays, I get on the school bus with my children, saddled with my own kit bag, my yoga mat, 10kg schoolbag and guitar case.
My younger daughter, of sturdier build, carries her own schoolbag, but as she's only in Year Five, it is significantly lighter, for now. On Tuesdays, I stay on the bus and get off one stop beyond the school.
I sit in a coffee shop for an hour before trudging to my weekly yoga class. I get weight training from carrying the schoolbags. Aunty E gets more exercise every Friday afternoon when she takes my daughter's golf bag to school on her bicycle, and returns with the 10.2kg schoolbag. She is trying to make it up the hill to our place without getting off and walking the bike up. It hasn't happened yet, but she's making progress. I said when she can do this I will sponsor her in the extreme sporting competition of her choice.