A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Labour Sunday 2 May 2021, Fifth Sunday of Easter, by Revd Po Kam Cheong. The scripture readings that day were Psalm 22:25-31 , Isaiah 58:1-14 (OT) and John 15:1-8 (NT).
Biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann states that a prime task of Sabbath in the modern society is against “anxiety”. Anxiety does not only refer to personal anxiety, but also to all the bondages upon individuals imposed by politics, economics and the society . All such bondages have existed in our community with a gentle name, “mental health”.
Like other modern societies, mental health issues have become alarming in Hong Kong. According to several surveys, 40-45% of the total population in the city have suffered from various kinds and degrees of mental distress. In January this year, Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee and the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute co-conducted a research on mental health at work in Hong Kong. The survey reveals that 35% of the interviewees suffer from different kinds of mental distress at work, covering around 1.7 million workers in the city .
Mental health as a matter of uneven wealth distribution
Experts of the World Economic Forum point out that the people in the poor economies suffer from depression and anxiety three times more than those in wealthy economies do. The solution is upon the political priority of governments and the international community .
The Government has recently issued the Hong Kong Poverty Situation Report 2019. With the recurrent cash assistance, the poverty rate still went up distinctly by 0.9% over 2018 to 15.8% in 2019, while the poor population increased by 73,500 persons to around 1.1 million persons . Since 2013, with the recurrent cash measure, the Hong Kong poverty rate has continuously gone up. Besides old-age poverty, the poverty of two age groups, children and youth, also worries the community. In 2019, after the recurrent cash intervention, the poverty rate of children aged 18 went up by 1% to 17.8%, with the total population of poor children more than 180 thousand. One of the main reasons of the growth of the child poverty rate is the constant growth of the poor working families. More persons work hard but cannot afford their livings and the livings of their families .
Poverty is the most severe bondage upon people in the modern society, but it is caused by uneven wealth distribution.
Mental health as a matter of political tension and suppression
Hong Kong has become a highly divided city since the Movement of the Anti-Extradition Bill in 2019. The whole society is beset by tension and confrontation. Wong Yan-lung, the chairperson of the Advisory Committee on Mental Health, states that around 15% of Hong Kong teenagers suffer from depression during the social movement in 2019. It is much higher than the rates (3-4%) in Japan, South Korea and China .
Since the implementation of the National Security Law on Hong Kong, many dissidents have been arrested and prisoned. The community is filled up by fear and anxiety. In 2020, the migration rate went up by 70.9%, from less than thirty thousand persons in 2019 to around fifty thousand in 2020 . The Hong Kong public has no confidence in the future. Mental health of the city is deeply rooted with its political, economic and social development.
Mental health as a matter of labour power relationship
Mental health is also a matter of labour power relationship. Recently, a teacher suicide case was heard in the Coroner’s Court . The Court recommended the school to improve its communication and complaint mechanism.
It would be better if there is a mechanism in which the people in question could be left away. Both representatives of the staff and the school management could handle the issue through the given mechanism. If the people in question could stay away from the conflict, the tragic suicide could have been avoided.
Mental health issues at work portray the unequal labour power relationship. The issue is not only limited to Hong Kong, but also in South Korea and China. In South Korea, delivery workers are forced to work for 14-16 hours a day. In 2020, several suspected overwork deaths happened to delivery workers . A suspected overwork death and a suspected suicide due to overwork also happened to delivery workers in China . All the issues are closely related to unequal labour power relationship in which the basic rights of the workers are deprived of.
Mental health as a matter of the “new normal” of modern economies
The innovation of information technology speeds up communication among individuals and communities and has crashed down the boundaries of work, in terms of place and time. Working from home and dispersing work all over the world become possible and normal. This trend has brought three crucial changes in work: individualization of work, informalization of work and irregularity of work (3 “I”s of work).
In its research, BP, a leading oil company in the world, identifies four problems its workers encounter at work during the pandemic .
1. increased anxiety around job security (56%),
2. stress due to changes in work routines and organization (55%),
3. feeling of being lonely or isolated in working from home (49%), and
4. lack of a work-life balance (50%)
Working from home and dispersing work all over the world enforce and enhance the flexibility of work, but they also weaken physical solidarity and emotional support among workers. It makes workers easily feel lonely and isolated and become frustrated and helpless when facing difficulties. The new normal of work arrangements also speed up and intensify the informalization of work. Workers are worried about job insecurity and lack of labour protection. Loss of distinction between work life and personal life due to working from home and informalization of work forces workers to work in an unregulated situation and the work pattern becomes irregular. Long working hours is a common sign.
Food delivery, an uprising job in the modern economies, articulates well the said problems. There is a report about the suspected overwork death of a food delivery worker of ELEME Inc., an online food delivery service platform, Ele.me. Worse still, the death is not regarded as an occupational injury because delivery workers do not have formal employment relationship with ELEME. The family of the victim was given RMB 2,000 only as a special relief. But four days later, under severe public criticism, ELEME increased the amount to RMB 600,000 .
The Ele.me case is a good example to illustrate the three “I” issues.
1. The delivery worker worked as an individual alone without partners or colleagues (individualization).
2. He had no formal employment relationship with the delivery company (informalization).
3. He needed to work for very long hours for higher income (irregularity).
Deliverance of Sabbath
Sabbath as a task against anxiety refers to release of all bondages of individuals. In Isaiah 58:6, the prophet reminded the Israelites that if they wished that their fasting day (the Day of Atonement) could become “the day acceptable to the Lord” (Isa. 58:5), they should have not turned to their own gains and should have not exploited workers, forced the poor to pledge their lands and oppressed the poor to be slaves (Isa. 58:3; Neh. 5:3-5). They should rather break all the bondages of the poor as follows (Isa. 58:7,9,10):
Hunger: share your bread with the hungry.
Homelessness: bring the homeless poor into your house.
Nakedness: cover them.
Helplessness: not to hide yourself from your neighbours.
Lies and not speak of evil and point the finger against others.
perverting justice
Poverty: satisfy the needs of the afflicted.
Then the Lord would listen to their prayers (Isa. 58:9-12):
heal them,
save them from darkness and difficulties,
offer them food and health,
grant them the land and houses,
honour them and get them respected by the nations, and
rebuild Jerusalem.
The initial observance of the Day of Atonement does not demand the Israelites to make personal confession, but rather to exempt others’ debts and set others free (Lev. 25:10) . While fasting, the Israelites oppressed workers and salves to get their gains. The Day of Atonement demands “deliverance”, but “slavery” comes finally. It goes contrary to the ethical demands of the Day of Atonement as well as the covenantal duties of the Israelites. God’s condemnation is the only outcome (Isa. 58:1).
The prophet linked the Day of Atonement and Sabbath day together. Sabbath day is the day of the Lord’s delights (the day acceptable to the Lord). If the Israelites wished to enjoy the delights of Sabbath, they had to honour Sabbath (Isa. 58:13-14). The Lord said,
If you honor Sabbath,
not going your own ways,
serving your own interests, and
pursuing your own affairs,
then you shall take delight in the Lord, and
I will honour you among the nations and
feed you with the heritage of your ancestor.
Both Sabbath day and the Day of Atonement refer to the ethical demands in the Israelite community. The Israelites should not turn to their own gains, but rather to break all bondages of others. So, they could enjoy the heritage of their ancestors (the land) and be honoured among the nations (Isa. 58:10,12,14).
Sabbath: a time of sharing
The Israelites were enslaved in Egypt. They were oppressed to labour without rest. Pharaoh promised sufficient food if the Israelites laboured heavily and intensively (Ex. 16:3). Today, since the telecommunication advances, work can continue without a break. Like the promise by Pharaoh to the Israelites, those who are willing to work without rest, they are promised food and wealth.
It is the situation in the primitive stage of the capitalist economy. Workers were forced to labour hard for their livings and the livings of their families. However, in Hong Kong and in China, the two very mature capitalist economies, many workers are still forced to work from dawn till dusk without rest days. The typical example is cleaning workers in Hong Kong. Most Hong Kong cleaning workers are aged over 60. They should have been retired if there had been a good retirement scheme in the city. They are forced to work in the bottom of the society for their own livings. The government data show that cleaning workers earn the least in comparison with other workers. Cleaning workers need to work at least 12 hours a day and 6-7 days a week. A day off is not guaranteed. Their monthly income is around ten thousand dollars on average . Cleaning workers get low payment, but 90% of the workers are under employment of cleaning companies. So, they enjoy meager labour protection.
Food delivery workers, however, have no labour protection at all. They suffer from the “fake” self-employment. It seems that the workers manage their own orders, but the dominant parts of their orders are controlled by the food Apps companies, including working time, order taking, order charges, time to food delivery, etc. The workers have no employment relation or labour protection. During the pandemic, many people lose their jobs and change to work as food delivery workers. Due to keen labour supply, the food Apps companies cut the order price. The longer hours the food delivery staff work, the less they can earn. The capitalist economy is just to widen the wealth gap and to make the rich richer and the poor poorer. (Isa. 58:3).
Both physical and mental health are impaired under such unequal labour power relationship. The prophet demands that those who exploit workers need to share their wealth with workers.
Sabbath: to celebrate with others
Sabbath is a particular festival of the people of Israel, but the prophet transforms Sabbath as a sign to be open to and embrace others. The persons, disregard of races, languages, political stances, economic status, health, or religions, who keep sabbaths and hold fast the God's covenant are acceptable to the Lord as the genuine people of God (Isa. 58:4,6). This is the initial objective of Sabbath. The Lord orders the Israelites to rest on Sabbaths with their families, friends, slaves and the aliens and be happy with them and serve them. The prophet articulates well the transformation power of Sabbath, a particular racial symbol being transformed as a sign to embrace others.
But more importantly, to embrace others facilitates us to work with others, to help each other and to celebrate together. Raymond Fung, a former director of HKCIC, treasures the celebration of workers because when workers celebrate together, they celebrate their own achievements together no matter how small the achievements are . Most workers do not believe that workers can achieve something. Old cleaning workers have never thought of why the city has had no mechanism upon which their livings could be afforded, but just think of serving as cleaning workers until the last moment of their lives . Food delivery workers have never thought of the fact that the food Apps companies should sign employment contracts with them. In the suspected case of overwork death in ELEME Inc. the company just gave the dependents of the victim RMB 2,000 as relief because there is no formal labour relationship between the worker and ELEME. Without the public outcry, the family of the worker could only resign themselves to bad luck and could only think of the dear one who has been away with the meager relief in hand.
It is our belief that workers can achieve something with a condition that they need to be organized together as a community. Therefore, they can achieve something together and then they celebrate together. Sabbath is a day of solidarity and embracing of others and a day to draw away loneliness and powerlessness. Workers should believe that they are not powerless. They can change and achieve something, and finally they can celebrate and enjoy together the delights of Sabbath.
Walter Brueggemann, Sabbath
as Resistance: Saying No to the Culture of Now (Chinese translation) (HK:
Chinese Christian Literature Council, 2017), Ch. 2.
Hong Kong
Public Opinion Research Institute, “‘We Hongkongers’” Panel Survey Latest
Results”, January 29, 2021.
https://develo.pori.hk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/PORI_PC_20210129_vhkr_eng.pdf,
accessed on April 7, 2021.
Katharine Rooney, “This Is Why Mental Health Should Be a Political
Priority”, in The Davos Agenda 2021, World Economic Forum, January 28, 2021. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/01/poverty-mental-health-covid-intervention/,
accessed on April 7, 2021.
Government of the Hong
Kong Special Administrative Region, Hong Kong Poverty Situation Report 2019
(December 2020), p. ix. https://www.povertyrelief.gov.hk/eng/pdf/Hong_Kong_Poverty_Situation_Report_2019.pdf, accessed on April 7,
2021.
Ibid.,
pp.29-30.
https://www.hk01.com/%E7%A4%BE%E6%9C%83%E6%96%B0%E8%81%9E/420105/%E9%80%83%E7%8A%AF%E6%A2%9D%E4%BE%8B-15-%E9%9D%92%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%9C%89%E6%8A%91%E9%AC%B1%E7%97%87%E7%8B%80-%E9%BB%83%E4%BB%81%E9%BE%8D-%E5%A6%82%E5%9C%B0%E9%9C%87%E5%BE%8C%E7%9A%84%E6%B5%B7%E5%98%AF.Accessed (in Chinese),
accessed on April 7, 2021.
Census and Statistics Department, HKSAR,
“Year-end
population for 2019” (18 Feb 2020). https://www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/press_release_detail.html?id=4612, Census and Statistics Department,
[7]HKSAR, “Year-end
population for 2020” (18 Feb 2021) https://www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/press_release_detail.html?id=4825. Both statements were
accessed on April 7, 2021.
https://www.hkptu.org/85079 (in Chinese),
accessed on April 7, 2021.
Lee Hyo-jin, “Delivery
workers vow not to work on Saturdays”, The Korean Times, October 13,
2020. http://m.koreatimes.co.kr/pages/article.asp?newsIdx=297512, accessed on April 7, 2021.
“Xinhua News Agency investigates the “996” distorted working culture of Pinduoduo and others” (in Chinese), January
13, 2021. https://finance.sina.com.cn/chanjing/gsnews/2021-01-13/doc-ikftpnnx6486442.shtml, accessed on April 7, 2021.
Kelly McCain &
Aidan Manktelow, “6 Global Employers on How to Improve Workplace Mental
Health”, in The Davos Agenda 2021, World Economic Forum, January 25, 2021. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/01/6-global-employers-on-how-to-improve-workplace-mental-health/,
accessed on April 7, 2021.
“No
employment relationship: the sudden death of the 43-year-old worker of Ele.me” (in
Chinese), January 7, 2021. https://finance.sina.com.cn/tech/2021-01-07/doc-iiznezxt1000016.shtml,
accessed on April 7, 2021.
Bohdan Hrobon, Ethical
Dimension of Cult in the Book of Isaiah (Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter, 2010), pp.164-165.
For the translation, see Ed Christian, “‘Sabbath Is a Happy Day!’
What Does Isaiah 58:13-14 Mean?”, Journal
of the Adventist Theological Society, 13/1 (Spring 2002), pp.83-88.
https://www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/web_table.html?id=28, accessed on April 7,
2021.
Raymond W.M. Fung, “On
Recreational Activities for Factory Workers” (1976) in The Gospel is not
[17]for
Sale,
2nd ed. (Hong Kong: Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee, 2021), pp.165-166.
https://www.hk01.com/%E7%A4%BE%E6%9C%83%E6%96%B0%E8%81%9E/248253/%E6%9C%80%E4%BD%8E%E5%B7%A5%E8%B3%87-%E5%A4%96%E5%88%A4%E6%B8%85%E6%BD%94%E5%B7%A5%E9%A0%90%E8%A8%88%E9%80%80%E4%BC%91%E8%A6%81%E7%B9%BC%E7%BA%8C%E5%81%9A%E9%9B%B6%E6%95%A3%E5%B7%A5-50%E8%9A%8A%E5%85%88%E5%A4%A0%E9%A3%9F%E4%B8%80%E9%A4%90, (in Chinese) accessed on
April 7, 2021.# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Sunday, May 02, 2021
