Live On Your Own
Michael, Vai Man Lok
Some people move out from their family and choose to live by themselves. However, some people may think it is not bad to live with their families. So what do you think? What if you don’t actually have a choice?
Boris Choi, 22, having lived by himself for 4 years, certainly knows the feeling of living alone.
“I had no idea about living on my own at that time,” said Choi, who suddenly had this experience when he was in Form 3, as his parents suddenly decided to work in the mainland China. They would only come back once or twice a month.
“I was happy at that time, not because of the increase in size of the physical space as I used to have my own bedroom,” said Choi. “I was happy because I could have more personal space.”
His personal space granted him freedom - he could do anything he wanted free of the scolds and punishments from his parents, such as eating snacks, playing TV and computers games, and staying up late at night.
However, this feeling only lasted for a few days.
He found out in one morning that he was in troubles as he had not done any housework. He had no clean uniform for school. “I just realized there was no one to do all these things for me anymore,” said the young man.
So he started to wash clothes, prepare meals, get up by himself and basically everything. He started to miss his parents but there was no way to bring them back instantly.
“I thought that home was just a space where I stay and sleep,” said Choi. “But I realized a home was more than that. There should be people around.”
Choi began to feel lonely because of staying at such a big house on his own. As a result, he usually invited his friends to come over for fun and stay over. They could help Choi to relieve his negative emotions. “I could always talk to my friends, who were really helpful and friendly, but they just couldn’t always be with me,” recalled the young man.
It only started to change when Choi met his current girlfriend Wing at the age of 19. Wing at first went to his house and stayed over once a week. As time went by, it seemed like Wing had moved to Choi’s house.
Meanwhile, Choi’s parents could go back to Macau more frequently so they lived with Choi again. “I don’t feel like my parents have invaded my personal space anymore,” said he. “We should be living together in one space.”
Choi mentioned he has no problem to live with his family again and it is just like getting back some pieces of himself.