The Young Reporter

Time has frozen in the hallways of the Department of Computer Science at Hong Kong Baptist University. All the lights on, but the empty rooms are almost too eerie to step into. A piece of paper that reads "Online Teaching  In Progress" is stuck to a door. Behind it, Lan Liang is sitting in front of his computer, facing a screen filled with the names of his students framed in a grid.  Due to the overwhelming spread of COVID-19, universities in Hong Kong and mainland China have suspended on-campus teaching activities since January. Resumption of classes before the Summer now seems unlikely. Teaching activities have moved online. But the high-tech teaching tools have caused some confusion. Some teachers are uncertain whether students understand the content while others aren't sure how to use the online teaching software. Dr Lan, a lecturer from the Department of Computer Science at HKBU is among them. He started teaching at the university two years ago but has experienced the suspension of on-campus classes twice so far.  Dr Lan started teaching using the video conferencing application, ZOOM, this semester. Teachers share their computer screens in real time with students.   Dr Lan found it difficult to teach that way. "At the beginning, I actually felt very weird just talking to a computer for two hours," said Dr Lan,  "I did not know whether the students really understood the concept or not. I just kept talking and talking." He asked his students to turn off their cameras because he was afraid that the network could not bear the traffic if everyone was on video. Dr Lan is not alone. Jean Lai is another lecturer at the Department of Computer Science. "I cannot see the students. I don't know if they are listening, or can understand what I am …

Amy, not her real name, lives in fear of retribution by the Chinese government months after the anti-extradition bill protest in Hong Kong. She has been depressed since witnessing the siege of Hong Kong Polytechnic University back in November. "That day, I had a mental breakdown. I couldn't stop crying," Amy recalls from behind her mask, worn by most of those who took part in the protest. "Everything felt meaningless," she added. Last November, on-campus classes at universities around Hong Kong were suspended due to safety concerns about the continuous protests. Non-local students, including those from mainland China and abroad were advised by the universities to leave Hong Kong. The sudden change left many mainland students unprepared. During political tension between Hong Kong and mainland China, some mainland students were caught up in a quandary about their identities, according to a survey conducted by The Young Reporter. Q1: How long have you been living in Hong Kong? Q2: Why did you leave Hong Kong? Amy, the girl dressed in black, said that during the "most scary time," she was drowned in anger and sorrow, but she hardly trusted anyone when she wanted to share her experience. "Weibo (Chinese social media) is also one of my way out. If you can talk about it, you might feel better," she said. However, she told The Young Reporter that her Weibo account has already been blocked since she talked too much about politics. Those who didn't engage in the social movement as much as Amy also experienced mental instability. Sophia Sheng, 20, a mainland student studying at Hong Kong Baptist University, said that she has been affected by the "negative emotions" from the protests. "No one knew when it would end. The fear of the unknown caused anxiety," said Ms Sheng. Some of …

A recent study found that one-fifth of Hong Kong adults have suffered from mental illness after experiencing the half-year long anti-extradition bill protest, but few are seeking psychological counselling. The study, published by the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong in The Lancet on 9 January, looked at mental health in Hong Kong between 2009 and 2019. Researchers randomly sampled Hong Kong people aged 18 and above. They found that roughly one in five Hong Kong adults reported symptoms of probable depression or suspected post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) since the anti-extradition bill protest started in June 2019.  Among 18,000 respondents, those who suffered from probable depression went up five times from approximately 2% to 11.2% by the end of 2019. Only 5% of the respondents said they suffered from PTSD in March 2015, but that rose to more than 30% by the end of November 2019.  "The increase corresponds to an additional 1.9 million adults with PTSD symptoms," the research indicated. "This is definitely abnormal," said Gabriel Leung, Dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong who took part in the research.  Hong Kong was embroiled in the protest movement for seven months, triggered by the now withdrawn extradition bill. The protest has since turned into a mass anti-government movement, with protesters insisting on the four remaining demands – independent commission of inquiry into the police force, retraction of the classification of "rioters", amnesty for arrested protesters and dual universal suffrage. "Seeing people suppressed by the government while there's nothing much I can do made me angry and upset," said Felicity, a university student who did not want to reveal her full name for fear of cyberbullying. She reported feeling mentally distressed during the protest.  As a student from mainland China, Felicity found …