Ma is a Hong Kong resident in his mid-fifties, thin but energetic. As the conversation unfolds, he warms up, becoming enthusiastic and talkative. Though he speaks good Mandarin he prefers to speak his native Cantonese through a translator.
I found out I was HIV-positive in July 1997, the month when Hong Kong was handed back to China. During that time I had persistent diarrhea, and had been to private doctors a couple of times, but they couldn’t stop it. One day I learned about HIV/AIDS in a newspaper. The piece in the paper described similar symptoms [to what I had], and diarrhea was one of them. I decided to take the blood tests. I got the test results and learned I was HIV-positive, and it was a big surprise. I couldn’t take it at that moment. I found out that not only was I HIV-positive but my health situation was critical, and I was admitted to the hospital immediately.
I went to Queen Elizabeth hospital, and was sent into an isolated room. I felt discriminated against, but because I was sick I had no choice. I needed to be hospitalized. I was very satisfied with the care provided by the specialty AIDS clinic, but once I left the care of the specialists, in other departments I felt discriminated against in different ways. I was hospitalized about two months, and then discharged. After I was discharged I was in touch with welfare services, NGOs, and those who provide services are nice, very good at providing care, and I felt no discrimination.
I have no health insurance. I paid for my surgery out of my own pocket. But health care in Hong Kong is cheap, usually only HK$50-60 [U.S.$6.40-7.70] a day. People with AIDS in Hong Kong are the luckiest in an unlucky population.
In 1998 there was a PHA474 conference in Warsaw, and Loretta [Wong, of AIDS Concern] organized a group of people to go. I went to that conference. After that I gained confidence, and began helping my own life. Before that I had always thought I only had a few years of my life [left], I may as well just mess around. But in Warsaw, I saw many kinds of people all gathered together. Some had been fighting AIDS for ten to fifteen years, and had contributed a lot to their own countries. When I came back, I set up a support group for people with HIV/AIDS.
In the last three years, AIDS Concern has been guiding the group to grow. We started to plan our own activities. Most of the things we do now, we do by ourselves. We have open membership, and anyone is welcome as long as they are HIV positive. When it was first established, we had thirty to forty members, but people come and go. We don’t keep records of who comes. Our last two activities were mostly trips outdoors in the Hong Kong area, and we visited Guangzhou and met some people with AIDS there. Mostly we just get together and talk.
This has been the period for me to grow up. I have a more confirmed life goal, and a better direction for the future, and… [Ma smiles] … that’s all.
