He had brain cancer when he was a baby, and he had learning disabilities as a result. Now, he’s finishing up his Masters degree in Social Work. His name is Michael Chan and his story illustrates a lot of things that we can learn about mental health and overcoming hardships.

The reason why I am writing about Michael is that I came across an article nominating him for the Spirit of Hong Kong award. If you don’t know, it is an award by the South China Morning Post that shines a light on Hong Kong’s unsung heroes.

After reading up on him, I find it inspiring to share his story and highlight some of the things that we can learn from his experiences. If you find yourself experiencing mental health problems such as depression and anxiety, strap on, this could inspire you to keep trying to be better.

With only 20% of his vision, hearing problems and an odd look, he overcame bullying and graduated

Having brain cancer while you are a baby isn’t easy. That’s what happened to Michael and as a result, he lost 80% of his vision in his right eye and also had hearing problems. In school, he was bullied as this made his physical appearance look different.

He had to repeat several years in secondary school as he lost interest in his studies. A lifeline came when one of his friends who was in similar conditions, kept trying and finally graduated. That got Michael to try again to turn his life around and boy, it wasn’t easy.

He failed the Diploma of Secondary Education three times but was eventually admitted to Chinese University for a degree in government and public administration. Now, he’s undertaking a Masters in Social Work. What a turnaround, isn’t it?

He established Companion Hong Kong to help other people in their mental health

Recognizing the difficulties that come with bullying and mental health in general, Michael and his classmates in the university established Companion Hong Kong to help other people deal with their problems. It is a platform that mainly allows people to share their thoughts and problems.

The latest look at Companion HK’s Facebook and Instagram shows that around 8,000 people are part of Companion HK’s community. While most of it is in Cantonese, I think this is one of the things that are lacking in Malaysia in terms of social support structure and resources.

Mental health resources in Malaysia are improving but are still lacking

This is just my opinion on the matter. I have had anxiety problems since 2016 when I started working. It was only in 2018 that I started to seriously seek help. It took me 2 years to finally muster the courage to go seek help and even then, it was difficult.

I first sought out help at HELP University (no pun intended). They have an excellent affordable counselling service that is run by Master students. Then I went to the International Psychology Centre in Taman Desa to seek more in-depth help in overcoming my problems. Finally, I went to a psychiatrist.

Getting mental health help is expensive, I am not going to lie. They all cost lots of money and if you don’t have enough insurance or income, you will probably be left to fend for yourself. One of the working places that I was at, had an explicit policy to not cover mental health and pry into your privacy. I know because the panel doctor had to put the name of an anxiety medication into another name as he or she said “The company that you work for has tendencies to pry and identify people with mental health problems. Won’t want to make your life complicated with them knowing about this.”

Malaysia doesn’t really have much safe space to share our mental health problems, let’s start with that

I have been searching. And I haven’t found anything. What I was looking for was a safe community or group in Malaysia where I could talk about my problems openly without judgment. If you were having the same problems as I do, you would have encountered the same problem.

As Companion HK is a sharing platform and safe space for many Hong Kongers, I was wondering whether we could do something similar in Malaysia. For my readers, if you are interested in such an idea, shoot me a message. Would love to hear your ideas and views on this!