Carrie Lam needs to sleep more in 2018, for the sake of Hong Kong
Alice Wu says three hours of shut-eye or less, as the chief executive said she gets when the going gets tough, can induce brain fog, impaired judgment and health risks. With fresh challenges awaiting in 2018, being sleep-deprived is not an option
I believe Lam, not because she seems to be the hardworking type. I believe Lam because her words speak for themselves. Like many of you, I’m befuddled by how Lam can say some of the things she says. Her one-plus-one doesn’t add up to two. You can’t say “I am very careful about my health” and then say you’re on three hours of sleep.
Insisting on sleep deprivation is risky behaviour, hazardous not only to one’s own health but to the safety of others. Sleep deprivation seriously impairs judgment, and our chief executive needs full use of her mental faculties for good judgment. Anything less would be unacceptable and detrimental to the people she has vowed to serve. What Lam has openly claimed is chronic sleep deprivation.
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I don’t know how she does it, and that is not meant to be a compliment. Scientists running sleep deprivation tests on rats have found that the brain actually eats itself as a result. We know how prisoners are tortured with sleep deprivation, because it is a highly effective way to break their will.
We are talking about cognitive impairment, psychosis, damage to the immune system, and risk of heart defects and cardiovascular disease.
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One of the biggest reasons for that is we average just 6.5 hours of daily sleep. And yet, how many of us still buy into the crazy notion that loss of sleep is some sort of a badge of honour – as if high-functioning high-achievers can beat biology? How very arrogantly ignorant is that? And it is bad news for us if our chief executive buys into this sort of nonsense – that deliberate sleep deprivation is proof of achievement or capability, of stamina or strength. It isn’t. It is, at best, a disservice to the people she serves.
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Things keep taking that turn for the worse. Yes, we could be kinder. We definitely could consume less and save the world for the enjoyment of future generations. But almost every day in the past year, we have been reminded of how we’re dangerously on the verge of imploding. We are very much aware of the human potential, and capacity, for destroying ourselves.
And this is all the more reason to get rid of this seriously outdated and completely incorrect view of the unproductivity of sleep.
In today’s world, not clocking in the hours for rest is not humblebrag. It is a lack of discipline, a sign of poor judgment, and a recipe for disaster.
The year 2018 will present new challenges. Being sleep-deprived is not an option.
Alice Wu is a political consultant and a former associate director of the Asia Pacific Media Network at UCLA
