OpinionWhat coronavirus-weary Hong Kong can learn from Napoleon, Oscar Wilde and Martin Luther King

Hongkongers, used to life in the fast lane, have struggled to adapt to spending more time in their often small homes. History, however, shows that time spent in isolation can be productive

Post-pandemic Hong Kong could have more bookworms and closer parent-child relationships

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Women practise yoga at Tamar Park in Central on April 21. As the number of new Covid-19 cases in the city drops, Hongkongers are venturing out more. Photo: Winson Wong

Published: 9:30am, 26 Apr 2020Updated: 9:34am, 26 Apr 2020

Since Hong Kong began implementing social distancing measures, in an effort to curb the spread of Covid-19, regular life has come to a screeching halt. A poll conducted by Chinese University’s Centre for Communication and Public Opinion Survey found that 51.4 per cent of respondents felt that the outbreak had had a significant negative impact on their daily lives.

Hong Kong’s public health response has undeniably necessitated adapting to a new way of life. For many Hong Kong residents, this involves spending more time at home, if not most of it.

By now, repeated pleas from the Hong Kong government and health care professionals for members of the public to stay at home for the sake of front-line health care workers are beginning to sound like a broken record.

While heeding those calls prevents laying waste to progress made in containing the virus, it is also a window of opportunity for time-crunched Hongkongers to indulge in the luxury of a publicly sanctioned and socially accepted change of pace.

However, in a city where “jacket-on-the-chair” office culture is prevalent, it is rather surprising that being able to spend more time at home has not been better received. After weeks of social distancing, many Hong Kong residents would rather risk going out than spend another moment at home.

Bored and restless, droves of residents hit the beaches and country parks over the recent Easter break. But how much of such “boredom” is simply a lack of desire, or stubborn refusal, to do things at home?