Letter | Are firms doing enough to support Hongkongers’ mental health?

According to data from our platform and our partners, we have seen inquiries about mental health services increasing over time, with higher demand around peak work periods such as fiscal year-end. Of those seeking help with stress and other mental health issues, 30 per cent are aged between 24 and 35, while 25 per cent of users are between 35 and 44.

The issue is also worse for women and those higher up the corporate ladder. Two-thirds of those seeking help with mental health are female, while 30 per cent are from the highest earnings bracket.

Unlike the traditional counselling services offered under EAPs, digital health platforms can provide access to a huge and diverse range of mental health offerings, including meditation, life coaching and sound therapy with singing bowls.

With mental health services presented as a benefit, employees are able to seek the advice they need without the perceived stigma to asking for help. In addition, the ability to choose between multiple service providers helps to provide comfort about the independence of the advice that is being received.

If we are to address this huge societal issue, then we need to find new approaches at all levels, including by business.

Alex Wong, CEO and co-founder, MixCare Health

Automation is making life more efficient but less warm

Automation is already a big part of our daily lives. Supermarket checkout counters allow customers to scan and pay for their goods themselves. There are self-service snack and drink machines and automated movie ticket counters. Some tea houses also provide self-ordering devices. All these serve to cut down on staff costs while improving efficiency.

ln Australia, automation is also common. Self check-in and checkout kiosks are available at hotels, replacing receptionists. Similarly, airlines provide kiosks for their passengers to speed up the check-in process.

Human communication used to be a source of blessings, bringing a touch of warmth and love. But it seems this isn’t so necessary any more.

With increasing automation, more low-skilled staff and professionals will lose their jobs. The aged or those not so familiar with technology will be left behind. Is this the price we will have to pay for progress?

Deborah Kwan, New South Wales, Australia, and Jacqueline Kwan, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong

Kissinger was guided by realpolitik, not friendship

The former top diplomat certainly played a vital role in re-establishing Sino-US relations. However, he also represented the reality behind American foreign policy – an ideology that puts American supremacy ahead of any vaunted moral principles.

In the name of containing communism, Kissinger helped orchestrate a coup in Chile in 1973, overthrowing the democratically elected socialist president Salvador Allende. According to documents declassified in 2013, Kissinger’s deputy, Viron Vaky, was against the coup and argued that it would be immoral as it would lead to widespread violence.

Allende died in the coup and the country suffered 17 years of atrocious human rights abuses. By turning a blind eye to these abuses, Kissinger jeopardised America’s credibility as the self-proclaimed leader of the free world.

Kissinger is not our friend. We should not praise him but rather remind ourselves that he was just a great Machiavellian political player with much blood on his hands, leaving a legacy of lies and murder as well as a stain on his country’s professed principles.

Christopher Ip, North Point