New York-based theatre producer hits out at culture of ableism in Hong Kong
- Being a wheelchair-user often makes her the token minority but Hong Kong-born Penny Pun Hiu-ching says she is determined to win over Broadway her way
- In New York, where she is now based, Pun says she doesn’t face active discrimination
I was born in 1995, an only child. My parents were living in Sai Kung at the time. When I was about one year old, we moved to Tsuen Wan to be closer to my aunt, who would babysit me when my parents went to work. When I was about five, we moved to Shek Wai Kok Estate, a public housing estate in the same area. I was 11 years old when we moved into Kwai Fong Estate, where my parents still live.
I had cerebral palsy at birth. My parents realised when I was about 14 months old that I had trouble with my motor skills and I had spinal surgery when I was five, which took half a year in and out of the hospital to recover from. The surgery was long, around eight hours. I don’t know if it was helpful but I’ve been told my condition would have been worse if not for the surgery.
Growing up was “fast”. I felt I was put into situations that “normal” kids would not be in. When I was eight, I went to a special-ed school, SAHK BM Kotewall Memorial School, and was put into a class where the other students were two to six years older than me because there was only one primary-level class for students who had no mental disabilities. Then when I got to secondary school, I transferred out to a mainstream school, Christian Nationals’ Evangelism Commission Lee I Yao Memorial Secondary School.
It was stressful trying to articulate to my school my accessibility needs while trying to manage a crazy amount of schoolwork, especially when I wrote and typed slower due to my motor disability. There were many examples of how a mainstream school failed to understand the needs of a wheelchair user. For example, there was a step outside every classroom. The straightforward solution would have been to put a ramp there permanently. However, the school said it would be a fire hazard. Now as a grown woman, my response is: BS! Instead, they assigned two classmates to lay out the ramp for me every time I went in and out of the classroom and then put it away again. Thinking back, it was quite humiliating – not just for me, but for my classmates, too.
That’s the culture of ableism in Hong Kong; there is no work to dismantle it, and anything that’s borderline advocacy for disabled people in the media is based on perceived merits and strengths – ‘look at how inspirational they are’ – instead of focusing on the intrinsic human rights and dignity being violated.
I think the ableism I experienced manifested in the prioritising of the convenience, comfort and preferences of the school, the teachers and other non-disabled students ahead of my basic needs and rights to an education, equal to those of my peers. I wasn’t isolated but the school and the teachers were not subtle about their presumption that I was “less than”. I was lucky my grades kept that presumption somewhat in check but equality should not depend on perceived merits. And, that’s the culture of ableism in Hong Kong; there is no work to dismantle it, and anything that’s borderline advocacy for disabled people in the media is based on perceived merits and strengths – “look at how inspirational they are” – instead of focusing on the intrinsic human rights and dignity being violated.