APD | Poor Asians dying amid Covid-19

By APD writer Alice

The Covid-19 pandemic has greatly affected all spheres of society. The poor laborers are probably the most affected group and they need the sharing and help of the governments as well as benefators.

Around the world, especially Asia, many governments have decided to sacrifice economic benefits to prevent the pandemic, which killed around 183,000 people globally as of April 23, by applying lockdown measures. Besides positive effects, these measures also have had serious impacts on the poor.

In China's Hong Kong and the Philippines' capital Manila, the two cities that witnessed serious inequality, many poor people have been in misery because of Covid-19.

The life of Tang Yi Han, 44, in Hong Kong is increasingly difficult. Tang's husband is a construction worker who earns money to feed the whole family. But his work already got worse due to months of protests in the city.

This difficulty had not passed, another challenge came when Covid-19 has hit Hong Kong since late January. Her husband now works only one day a week and earns about 500-600 USD per month. But the family spend up to 900 USD per month on an apartment of more than 10 square meters in a building without an elevator, making their life increasingly difficult.

Charles Tang, 22, Tang's first son, majored in medical science in Guangzhou, mainland China, but returned home to study online after the outbreak. The school of her 6-year-old second son, Justine, has also been closed since January.

"Everything is very difficult for them. The Internet here is not strong enough for both to study online at the same time, "Tang said.

With no money to buy protective gear and medical masks, the Tang family remained indoors for four weeks because of Covid-19. Justin is an energetic boy and likes to run and jump, but in Tang's cramped apartment, this is impossible.

"Our problems have been accumulating since last year. And now, the house owner wants to kick us out because of the late rent payment. We will not be able to overcome this stage without support," Tang said.

Meanwhile, for a lonely elderly person like Pang Shuk-chun, 87, things are even more difficult.

Pang has divorced for long and is living alone in a social housing area in Hong Kong. She first heard of Covid-19 from a neighbor. Having survived World War II and the SARS epidemic in 2003, at first she did not feel too anxious when leaving home without protective gear. A passerby advised her to wear a mask and warned that elderly people like her are at high risk.

But when she sought to buy masks, also the "thirst" for them began. They were sold out in grocery stores. At some pharmacies, lines of people waited patiently to buy masks. Pang’s home was not connected to the Internet so she did not know how to shop them online.

She lived on donations from neighbors and social workers, but felt uncomfortable when staying at home all the day. The nursing home where she worked as a volunteer to support the elderly was closed. When food was scarce, Pang lived for weeks with only rice bags bought before panic-buying took place. Green vegetables have also become a luxury food that she only eats every 2-3 days.

Not only lonely old people, the disabled like Jacky Chan, 33, are also vulnerable to Covid-19. Before the coronavirus appeared, Chan made every effort to live well, despite serious birth defects such as cerebral palsy, blindness in one eye and underdeveloped lungs.

He familiarized himself with a wheelchair life: going to a product packaging class, chatting with other people with disabilities during breaks and doing volunteer activities in his spare time.

"I'm an extrovert and very optimistic. But now, for the first time in more than 20 years, my class is closed," Chan said.

Chan's problems became more urgent as he was unable to go to the hospital to buy asthma medicine as the service was cut because of Covid-19. When the novel corovirus appeared in Hong Kong in January, he could not find a mask, even he found it, he could not afford to buy. Chan relied on her mother, who has lost her job. Now he receives help from the charitable organization for disabled people where he works as a volunteer. But donations from the community to the charity have also decreased significantly.

He felt lonely and isolated at home. Chan's mother had to take care of her sick mother, so he had to stay home alone for 6 hours a day. "It's hard for me to get through this stage," Chan said.

Chan must be more careful than everyone because his lungs are very weak and he has had chronic illnesses for a long time. "Every day I wonder if I'm the next infected person. I'm so scared," Chan said.

Meanwhile in the Philippines, when the capital Manila was locked down since March 15, Cirilo "Liloy" Natorena, 56, lost his job. He is a driver of jeepney, a colorful public transport means that is popular in the country. His children, who worked at shopping centers, also lost their jobs after just one night.

Natorena’s family hustled in a small house in a coastal village south of Manila, where rents are very cheap. Village officials gave his family two packages of necessities, including nearly one kilogram of rice, four bags of noodles, four boxes of canned fish and two masks. But these items were not enough for Natorena's family of 15. The day when the capital imposed a lockdown, Natorena bought 25 kg of rice, but in less than a week, only 3kg was left.

Before leaving his job, Natorena earned less than 20 USD per day but it was still enough for his family. However, now he does not know what the members will have to eat in the next meal.

"We are all the same here. Some say we will definitely not die from the Covid-19, but we are dying of starvation," Jamaica Rivera, 18, said while staying in a temporarily house in Taytay, east of Manila.

Before Manila's lockdown, Rivera sold cigarettes for a living, while her husband, Reggie Tranya, worked as a porter and earned 5 USD a day.

Their one-year-old child had a cough but they could not take him to hospital for treatment, because the medical center ran out of medicine and closed after the lockdown. Finally, they still had to take their child to the hospital. "They told us to be careful and not go out much," Rivera said.

In the place where Rivera lives, most people lost their jobs because of the lockdown. Rivera has rented one of the 20 temporary houses on a bare area. She said her family cannot get benefits from the government because they don't have their citizen IDs yet.

The Covid-19 outbreak has caused the poor in Ho Chi Minh City, the southern economic hub of Vientam, to struggle to earn a living. No bright future is for them. The jobs that earned them just enough for daily meals are either lost or suspended.

The residence of 57-year-old Nga's family is at the end of a road. The cramped, dark rented house is home to 14 people, including her grandchildren.

In the past, she worked for a small noodle restaurant and earned 150,000 VND (6.3 USD) a day, just enough to buy food. Since the outbreak, the restaurant closed, and she stayed at home to look after her grandchildren.

Nga's husband works as a mason and has stayed at home for more than half a month. Before, he earned 450,000 - 500,000 VND (20-21 USD) a day but now nothing.

With the 14 members, Nga’s family needs 3 kg of rice per day. She said she only needs rice in such difficul time. But she feels compassion for the children as they can't stand like adults.

“Adults can eat porridge but the children need milk, ”she said while looking at the children laughing nearby.

A few steps away from Nga's home is that of Huynh Thi Ngoc Phuong, 58, who is a scrap collector. Several decades have passed since she followed her husband from Ben Tre to Saigon to earn a living. After divorcing, she started doing this job.

Without husband and children, she lives alone in a house of less than 5sq.m. A half-eaten loaf of bread left on the table. It is also her lunch today.

“Now I don't dare to collect scraps because no one buys them. Before, scraps were sold for 5,000 - 6,000 VND per kg, now 3,000 - 4,000 VND,” said Phuong.

Living alone, meals are not too difficult for her. The heaviest burden is still medication for asthma and heart diseases. The diseases are getting worse. "Living alone I have to do everything, with both happiness and sadness, but sadness is certainly more than happiness!", she confided.

Similarly, in India, COVID-19 lockdown also means no food or work for rural poor.

For farm worker Manisha Uke, being able to survive is contingent on two factors - one, getting a daily wage of 100 Indian rupees (1.3 USD) a day and two, receiving a widow's monthly pension of 1,000 rupees (13.1 USD) from the government.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak in India at the beginning of March, both sources of income have dried up.

Uke, 30, who lives in a village in Maharashtra in western India, ran out of money and groceries. "So, I started feeding my three young girls rice with a chutney, made of crushed onions or tomatoes," she said.

She managed to find work in a neighbouring village for a day. With the money she earned, she was able to buy some food from a market 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) away.

But getting to the market with an autorickshaw cost her 300 rupees (3.9 USD) - three times her daily wage - as no buses were running due to the lockdown. She offered to compensate the driver later, but he insisted on her paying him immediately.

The unprecedented national lockdown sent waves of panic across the country. But for India's 40 million migrant workers it was a do-or-die situation to seek the safety of home.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)