HONG KONG – Before becoming a funeral director, Connie Wong was a flight attendant for a Hong Kong airline. She said: “The abrupt end of a career she had cherished for six years brought her own feelings of grief.
It was one of many such losses experienced by residents of the Chinese territory. Hong Kong’s economy began to deteriorate in 2019, when a proposed extradition law set off months of fiery street clashes between protesters and police. Then during the coronavirus pandemic, harsh limitations and constantly evolving that closely follows the mainland’s “zero Covid” policy that has stymied entire industries. Many businesses were forced to close. thousands of people leave the cityand some of those who stayed had to reinvent themselves.
When Cathay Dragon, an arm of Hong Kong’s flagship airline, Cathay Pacific, closed in 2020 due to a travel halt, Ms Wong was among thousands of unemployed. Accustomed to working flights that hurt her eyes, there were nights when she couldn’t sleep.
“Some people have lost family members. Some have migrated. Others have lost their health — and not just their physical health, but their mental health,” she said recently. “Not only Hong Kongers, but the whole world is going through this. It’s hard to face. I lost my job. But life will always offer alternatives.”
A Guide to Grief
At Cathay Dragon, Ms. Wong, 35, frequently asks to be assigned flights to Kathmandu, Nepal, so she can volunteer there at a children’s home and animal shelter. Her pursuit of something similar led her to apply last summer to be a life cheerleader at Forget Thee Not, a Hong Kong non-profit that strives to make crowds happy. solemn mourning at an affordable price for families in need.
She meets her family several times a week, in an airy room decorated with flowers. When helping them plan the ceremonies, she suggests writing notes with memories left on or inside the coffin, as a way to show gratitude or remove grudges when they say goodbye. farewell. For the funeral of a 4-year-old, Ms. Wong decorated the seats with cutouts of her favorite cartoon characters.
In some respects, Ms. Wong’s previous work experience turned out to be transferable, she said. Just as she once sought to appease passengers facing flight delays, she is now looking for alternatives for those with much higher needs.
Adjustment is not easy. After her first funeral, images of grieving families flashed through her mind at night. She could barely eat because of the stress, and her hair started falling out. In November, she took a month-long sick leave. Her bosses have asked her to think about whether this is the right job for her.
Ms. Wong returned in April, when Hong Kong was facing its worst coronavirus outbreak. Hospitals are overwhelmed with capacity and thousands of elderly people have died from Covid-19. She jumped in immediately. When loved ones were unable to attend the funeral in person after testing positive for Covid, she went live and recounted the rituals.
There are days when she longs to fly again. But she says she has found a deeper satisfaction in helping struggling families through loss.
“The impact of Covid has pushed us to face reality,” she said. “We have to adjust.”
Covid Cleaner
Although the pandemic has affected the aviation industry, Mandi Cheung’s day job as a security guard at an aircraft engineering company has not been affected. But he quit his job in March to become a cleaner at an isolation facility for Covid patients.
It was an opportunity to make “quick money” as he saved up to emigrate to Britain, he said. The six-day-a-week cleaning job paid about $3,000 per month, about $1,000 more than his security job.
At the height of this year’s Covid outbreak, Hong Kong’s hospitals and isolation centers faced overcrowding of patients. Mr. Cheung’s quarantine camp near the port of Tsing Yi, which has nearly 4,000 beds, is one of eight hastily built. The experience was more difficult than he expected.
Mr. Cheung, 35, is not allowed to drink water or use the bathroom while wearing personal protective equipment. He cleans the toilets and uses the quick test kit every day, worried about bringing the virus home. His mother would only let him in after he had cleaned his entire body at the door. (As the number of infections soars and the pandemic of fatigue grows, she stops caring, he said.)
“Resources are really lacking – the distribution of labor is uneven,” he said. “I am filled with resentment at work. I always told myself it would only be a few months.”
Meanwhile, he continued to take on other jobs. In May, he worked six hours at a cafe in his neighborhood after working overnight at the quarantine facility.
Mr. Cheung had planned to work at the isolation center for five months, but it closed in June as the number of “VIPs”, as his team leader told him to refer patients, dwindled. He plans to work full-time at the cafe until he leaves Hong Kong.
Before the pandemic, Mr. Cheung ran a nighttime coffee business called NightOwl, but it was difficult to sustain financially under Covid’s dining restrictions. He hopes to one day open a similar business, after emigrating. But he’s also curious about new experiences.
“Ultimately, I will discover a new world,” he said.
Carers for all ages
As Cathay Dragon’s in-flight service manager, Connie Cheung, 57, has reached the top of her career ladder. Ms. Cheung, who is not related to Mandi Cheung, joined the airline, then known as Dragonair, more than three decades ago as a flight attendant. She recently renewed her contract after turning 55, the retirement age for flight attendants.
She was taking care of her grandson and daughter-in-law when the airline closed in 2020. She decided to take a series of government courses on postpartum care, learn how to massage breasts and make a popular herbal soup. composer. She began training to be a pui yuet aka newborn nanny and caregiver for new mothers, and in 2021 she begins her second career.
“Now I am a beginner again,” Ms. Cheung said.
She and a friend, Wing Lam, 48, another in-flight services manager turned nanny after giving birth, exchanged tips on how to manage bacterial mothers and grumpy grandparents. They joke about how their sleek suitcases have been replaced by metal trolleys, which they carry from the subway to wet markets to buy groceries for the meals they cook for them. its customers.
When she lost her airline job, Ms. Cheung earned about $4,500 a month plus benefits, such as healthcare. Now, she makes about $3,300 a month. For her part, Lam remembers the thrill of managing an aircraft crew, despite the stresses and uncertainties that come with each flight.
In May, Cathay Pacific sent a recruitment email to thousands of laid-off employees, asking them to reapply – for low-level positions.
Lam hopes that the airline will redeploy senior staff. But in the meantime, she plans to use her in-flight management experience as a nanny, connecting caregivers with parents. She has begun training new entrants to the industry, including former flight attendants.
Ms. Cheung will stay on the course. Her calendar is full because clients have introduced her to other moms-to-be. While the job isn’t steady – she won’t get a claim for a month, then the next several months – she hopes it will soon cover family vacations.
She said she could see herself taking care of babies for the next 10 years: “I have found my new direction in life.”
