Letters | Stranded in Hong Kong, away from family in Macau: a parent’s plea

Readers discuss visa blues during the pandemic, a plan for the safe reopening of Hong Kong, and the continuing importance of cross-harbour bus services

Reading Time:4 minutes

Travellers on the Hong Kong side of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge in 2021. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 2:30pm, 6 May 2022

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I refer to the April 28 letter, “As Hong Kong’s fifth wave wanes, let’s try a mini reopening with Macau”. I am sharing my story in the hope of getting answers.

Since February 2020, I have been stranded in Hong Kong and separated from my wife and son, who both live in Macau. I also lost my job at the same time. As an American citizen, I have tried to apply for a visa from the Chinese authorities in Hong Kong, but to no avail. I was unable to book a ticket for the bus to Zhuhai, which everyone else, it seems, was competing to get on.

My hope is that Hong Kong’s borders will reopen soon and travel will normalise, but there has been very little movement on this front, leaving much doubt as to when it will happen. My son is now three years old and I very much want to reunite with him and my wife. I don’t know what else to say, other than that this is a cruel experience – I have been prevented from seeing my family for two years and counting by seemingly arbitrary border closure policies that leave me with very little recourse.

I have exhausted every available option and so, when I saw the letter, it gave me a modicum of hope that if I did submit my story, something might be done soon.

Josey Z. Zadoria, Wan Chai