In Hong Kong, they face closed schools and facilities, shortages of some necessities—and a small apartment
By Serena Ng March 12, 2020 7:47 pm ET HONG KONG—I never realized how much I enjoyed sending my children off to school and going to work in the mornings until I could no longer do either.
Finding the space Living under the new restrictions meant spending a lot of time at home—and making it serve as an office and a school, as well as a living space. It wasn’t an ideal fit: a 650-square-foot, two-bedroom flat, a cluttered space shared by two adults, two rambunctious boys and a cat. My sons—ages 5 and 7—couldn’t take part in live lessons concurrently from our single family computer, so I went out and bought an iPad and a printer. At the shop, a salesman said he had sold more than a dozen printers that same day “to people just like you, who have kids that will be schooling at home.”
On the first day of virtual school, I felt my stress level rising as my kids called out for me to help them as I tried to answer emails and messages from work. “Leave them to me,” said my husband, a full-time dad, and I left the apartment to find an alternative venue. I texted a co-worker and asked if I could come to her flat to work.
I also felt guilty that my spouse was shouldering the burden of getting the children through their schoolwork, so I stayed in some mornings to help. But trying to get a 5-year-old to sit in front of a screen and watch his teacher talk for more than 10 minutes is a challenge in itself. One day, I let him paint a picture while he listened passively to a 45-minute online music lesson .
Dow Jones partially reopened its Hong Kong and China offices at the beginning of March, bringing back a sense of normalcy for staffers. Employees have to use a sign-up sheet to reserve spots, go through daily temperature checks at the office reception, and wash or sanitize their hands upon arrival.
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