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Would you call out a neighbour for not wearing a mask? DB residents Samantha Wong and Jose Sevilla go head-to-head on a divisive topic

Mask mandates have been in place in Hong Kong for over a year now and, certainly compared with many communities in the West, DBers have set a good example. We’ve stepped up, complied with the rules and worn them. Who would risk infecting a friend or neighbour after all? Who wouldn’t want ‘some protection’ for themselves?

So what happens if you’re wearing a mask and find yourself in a lift or even a store, standing next to a neighbour who refuses to do the same? Do you say something? Do you potentially engage in a public dispute? Do you give them the benefit of the doubt? DB residents Jose Sevilla and Samantha Wong present very different views on a contentious topic.

He says

My daily routine starts by reading yesterday’s COVID-19 cases, seeing who has been arrested today and checking who is not wearing a mask in my neighbourhood.

For a year now, in all sorts if different situations, I have been requesting people not wearing a mask to do it. My aim today is not to name and shame, or to ‘out’ specific individuals, but I can say that I have an interesting collection of anecdotes to share.

Most of the time, I’m told to ‘mind my own business,’ in a time where my business is precisely the others’ businesses. One year of pandemia has not been enough for some it seems.

Others say: “I am working out,” as they speed walk by me, in the general direction of the bus stop or ferry pier. Trumpism may be some kind of ascendant in them: I choose to be working out instead of walking and my argument is as good and respectable as yours. Buddy. A lot of the ‘confusion’ comes from the decision to allow people to run everywhere without a mask; a regulation that basically says, ‘If you run you have the right to throw your breath at others but not if you walk.’ I am not sure if there is any provision about a minimum speed limit.

What passes for fashion in DB also adds to the confusion. Some guys, who look like they would have a heart attack if they lifted their pints higher than their mouths, ‘run’ around dressed like Usain Bolt. Dream on, and put your masks on, fellas.

A couple of times, I’ve found neighbours not wearing a mask in the lift. When I ask why and point out the written notice on the wall that requests them to do so, the usual response is: “I am going for a run.” In other words, I am not wearing the compulsory mask in the most intimate public space possible, now, because I am going to run, later. On the first occasion, I didn’t react fast enough and on the second my body was somewhere else, so I missed two unique opportunities to pass gas in a lift for a good reason, vigorously and blamelessly.

To those wearing the mask around the arm, I kindly request you place it over your face because it is likely to be more effective there, according to the scientific community. (If it is in fact a party armband of sorts – and having seen the US Capitol riot, I fear it may be – I still request you place it over your face, though I do so less courteously.)

When you think of it, the risk caused by all these people who decide not to wear a mask in the street would be solved in one minute with a couple of fines – like the rest of us, those who don’t wear masks love money. Remember, we have very similar DNA.

Samantha Wong

One morning, I asked two police officers why they did not implement the government rules, while a mask-less guy and his dog walked by, both looking at me wondering what I had done. The officers said that the police had a ‘different procedure.’ After a five-minute explanation, I failed to grasp how it was ‘procedure’ not to punish blatant lawbreakers. But the officers told me I was a good guy, and I felt much better.

I used to recommend that the dudes who don’t wear masks go back to school and claim their money back because the teachers hadn’t taught them anything, but I stopped when I realised that they are precisely the material used by talented people like Harry Harrison in the South China Morning Post. Checking out Harry’s View is the fourth thing I do in my daily routine; it ensures my day goes well.

And then I run. In a mask.

She says

When I run, I run in a mask. Except, when I don’t. When I take my son Joshua out for a walk, I wear a mask and make sure he does too. Except, when I don’t.

Every now and then I don’t wear a mask because… I forget to. That’s not an excuse (pathetic or otherwise), it’s simply the truth. You might say this is because I’m a bit slow on the uptake and haven’t fully adjusted to the ‘new normal’ yet. There’s something in that. But it’s also because sometimes

– just sometimes – life (normal or otherwise) gets in the way.

When I leave my flat, I run through a mental checklist: Have I got my handbag, my keys, my child and our masks? Very occasionally, as I attempt to balance a full-time job, which thankfully I can do from home, with child-care, also a full-time job, which I do at home, something drops off. Remembering to pick up my handbag and keys as I leave the house has become habitual (I’ve been doing it for 22 years or so), Joshua’s been around for seven years so he’s usually uppermost in my mind – masks not so much.

Just last week I took Joshua to Siena Park to meet a friend and, while we were playing, I realised that I had remembered to put on his mask but had forgotten my own. Anyone who walked by – who didn’t know me – could have mistaken me for an anti-masker.

It would be easy to assume that this occasional non-mask wearing of mine stems from a problem I have with authority, or from an elitist gene in my own makeup that convinces me I’m somehow immune to COVID. Likely, I’m a conspiracy theorist, who doesn’t believe in the number of confirmed cases, the death stats, or even in the virus itself. But that’s not the case. Am I a sociopath hell bent on endangering the lives of others, or simply a natural-born risk taker, who doesn’t get the bigger picture? Wrong again. ‘Judge not lest ye be judged’ is a good maxim. ‘People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones’ is another. If I had never ever forgotten to wear a mask and if I was certain that I never ever would, I might berate someone for not wearing theirs. But I have and, if I’m honest, I know I likely will again, so I don’t.

We live in a caring community; DBers try to look out for each other. Do many of us go about mask-less, recklessly endangering our neighbours because we can’t be bothered to care? I’d say not. Times are hard for everyone right now and I think we could all use the benefit of the doubt. I know I could.

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Advice for families on estate planning from Professional Wills

We often find a way to convince ourselves that everything works out in the end, but if the past year has taught us anything, it is that life is unpredictable and we never know what is around the corner. Perhaps you have put estate planning on the backburner, or perhaps you have just never been informed about how important it is; the good news is it is not too late (or too early) to get your estate in order.

Why write a Will?

In short, a Will gives you control. With a Will you have the ability to distribute your assets to those you want and in what portion. Dying without a Will means that the Hong Kong intestacy laws kick in and your estate is distributed according to these rules – which can lead to a lot of hardship for your family in what is already a very tough time.

If you have children, a Will gives you the ability to decide at what age your children will receive their inheritance, usually clients decide their children will be ready to responsibly receive an inheritance at 25. Your appointed trustee has the power to advance money to your children before they receive their inheritance – this can help them to buy their first car or with university costs.

Do you have overseas assets?

With Hong Kong being a multicultural haven, it is likely that you have assets of some kind in another country. We strongly advise against having one Will drawn up to cover your worldwide assets as this can result in delays and additional expense during the probate process. The industry standard recommendation is to have a separate country-specific Will written to cover each jurisdiction where assets are located.

It is perfectly possible to have more than one Will, but each one must be restricted to the country and type of property it is intended to cover.

Do your children have guardians?

If something happens to their parents, children need a legal guardian to look after them until they are at an age of majority (in Hong Kong this is 18). If you have not appointed guardians for your children, they could be taken in by the state and put in state-run care until the courts appoint a guardian. It may take a long time for the courts to reach a decision, again adding to your loved ones’ hardship.

If the people you would like to appoint as permanent guardians reside outside of Hong Kong, you need a legal document appointing temporary Hong Kong-based guardians to look after your children until their permanent guardians arrive. Given the current circumstances, there is no telling how long it would take for the permanent guardians to reach Hong Kong, so it is vital that you also appoint temporary guardians or your children can still be put into state-run care until the permanent guardians arrive.

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