Massage allows Ying to take care of his family
October 19, 2010, Tuesday
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YING, the factory worker-turned-masseur, said he is quite happy with what his new place of work offers.
He lost his eyesight as a child after suffering from an intense fever. After being laid off from a plug-board assembly factory in 1995, he spent four years idling at home before the pressure of having to make a living forced him to take a course in massage.
Before being laid off, he earned about 300 yuan (US$45) a month working for the assembly factory, and received a pension of some 100 yuan. That was below the country's average income of 5,500 yuan a year at that time.
"I was 36 years old, and I had a blind wife and a daughter to support," Ying said. "It was difficult to live on our mere pension of several hundred yuan. Our parents encouraged me to find a job of any kind."
He spent half a year studying the position of acupuncture points and bone structure, and another year working as an apprentice with a veteran masseur.
"My eyes cannot see, but I'm good at touch," Ying said. "Massage is quite a suitable position for us blind people."
His daughter, who has normal sight, is now studying English at college. Ying spends 5,000 yuan a year on her tuition. His wife stays at home to take care of his parents and the daughter.
Ying and his family live with his parents in Xuhui District. Weekdays while working, he lodges in a dorm Song rents him. Weekends he spends at home with his family. "I earn about 2,000 yuan a month depending on the business, and both my wife and I receive a pension of around 1,000 yuan from the government," Ying said. "Though it is still a small income compared with normal workers, we can at least support ourselves and our daughter."
Though paid less than those with normal sight, blind people are by no means intellectually inferior. Most receive a good education in government-funded blind schools.
"I taught my daughter English when she was in primary school," Ying said. "I'm still studying English, and hope that someday I can introduce foreigners the massage skills I have learned."
He lost his eyesight as a child after suffering from an intense fever. After being laid off from a plug-board assembly factory in 1995, he spent four years idling at home before the pressure of having to make a living forced him to take a course in massage.
Before being laid off, he earned about 300 yuan (US$45) a month working for the assembly factory, and received a pension of some 100 yuan. That was below the country's average income of 5,500 yuan a year at that time.
"I was 36 years old, and I had a blind wife and a daughter to support," Ying said. "It was difficult to live on our mere pension of several hundred yuan. Our parents encouraged me to find a job of any kind."
He spent half a year studying the position of acupuncture points and bone structure, and another year working as an apprentice with a veteran masseur.
"My eyes cannot see, but I'm good at touch," Ying said. "Massage is quite a suitable position for us blind people."
His daughter, who has normal sight, is now studying English at college. Ying spends 5,000 yuan a year on her tuition. His wife stays at home to take care of his parents and the daughter.
Ying and his family live with his parents in Xuhui District. Weekdays while working, he lodges in a dorm Song rents him. Weekends he spends at home with his family. "I earn about 2,000 yuan a month depending on the business, and both my wife and I receive a pension of around 1,000 yuan from the government," Ying said. "Though it is still a small income compared with normal workers, we can at least support ourselves and our daughter."
Though paid less than those with normal sight, blind people are by no means intellectually inferior. Most receive a good education in government-funded blind schools.
"I taught my daughter English when she was in primary school," Ying said. "I'm still studying English, and hope that someday I can introduce foreigners the massage skills I have learned."
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