How Hong Kong school suspensions and nano flats reflect a government blind to its people’s distress

In response to Covid-19, the Education Bureau is simply suspending in-person classes without addressing the worries of already stressed students, teachers and parents
In housing, the increasing number of nano flats reflects yet another instance of government inaction contributing to falling living standards

Alice Wu

Published: 6:45am, 11 Jan 2021

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Hong Kong officials have a real knack of making us do a double take. A recent “I beg your pardon” moment came last week when Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung announced that the suspension of face-to-face classes will continue until the Lunar New Year break, though limited half-day in-person classes will be allowed. In particular, Primary Six pupils can return to take exams.

Yeung must be aware of the stress students, teacher and parents are facing during this “new normal”, when classes can be suspended at short notice and seemingly on a whim. Coping with the uncertainty has been a challenge. Every knee-jerk government decision compounds the stress of ordinary families.

We’ve had almost a year of disrupted schooling. Yeung admits he understands that learning has been affected. In response, he is partially opening schools not so much for learning but for students to take their exams. For years, officials have told students that learning is more important than grades, yet year after year, they talk the talk and skip the walk.

Pupils get ready to take a DSE exam in a school in Kwai Chung on April 25 last year. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Non-establishment lawmaker – they’re not extinct, yet – Cheng Chung-tai took Yeung to task last Wednesday with his question on the impact of Covid-19 on students, raising concern over students’ learning progress and their physical and mental well-being.

The secretary’s written answer is the usual bureaucratese that amounts to very little: there are no plans to extend the school year or do anything more to address the learning deficit, adding to the stress of students who are not confident they are acquiring the knowledge they need.

How parents and children can survive and thrive during online learning

Asked how the government plans to address the emotional impact on students isolated from interaction with peers during the class suspension, Yeung simply piled the pressure on teachers, guidance personnel and school social workers to handle any problems that may arise.

For added measure, his bureau has produced educational videos for teachers and parents, titled “Suspending Classes without Suspending Love in the Epidemic”, which just goes to show how out of touch policymakers are. Teachers are under tremendous pressure to make sure their students are learning and coping well. And the government’s useful answer is to make them watch videos.

Another issue the government has failed to address is the impact of nano flats on Hongkongers’ well-being.

A recent report by Liber Research Community, a civic group that focuses on local land and housing issues, argues – correctly – that a lack of government regulation is to blame for flats of 260 sq ft or below that often come with features like balconies, which count towards the flats’ saleable floor area but are in fact of little use.

Basically, people are paying for useless space in these already ridiculously small flats with big price tags. As a result, our quality of life suffers.

But Liber isn’t telling us anything new. Previous studies have shown that living in claustrophobically small spaces affects our mental health. Dressing up these flats as “affordable” does not hide the fact we are sacrificing our well-being for some people’s greed.

‘Nano flats’ are just a ruse to make developers richer

They are being built precisely because flats aren’t affordable. It’s a practice that the right kind of public policies can address and stop. The government should set a limit on minimum space; it has a moral duty to step in where the free market has failed.

But the government remains unwilling to acknowledge that its inaction has cost people far more than money can measure.

Once upon a time, in 1988 in fact, Hong Kong made it to No 7 of the “Where to be Born” index – the only Asian city in the top 10. We would surely lose that spot if the survey were to be done again today. Policymakers need to answer for their disregard of our quality of life.

Alice Wu is a political consultant and a former associate director of the Asia Pacific Media Network at UCLA