Country Report of Hong Kong

Hong Kong
Speaker: Chang Yun Cherng

1. Introduction
After the Hong Kong Society for the Blind introduced the first full year Massage training Course in Hong Kong in 1989, the first group of graduates were well received by the Hong Kong Community and the profession of massage practiced by people with visual impairment began to become increasingly popular. Many different forms of massage training with different standards and duration of training emerged in Hong Kong. The training times ranged from one month short-term training to one-year training. The format ranged from apprenticeship to formal theoretical training and fully supervised practicum period. In a few years time, the number of masseurs with visual impairments grew from a few tens to several hundred people. The standards of practice and the quality of services were varied.

There is no legislation in Hong Kong that provides special privileges or protections to visually impaired masseurs. Visually impaired masseurs are facing fierce competition from their sighted counterparts. Below is a brief description of the current situation of the massage profession in Hong Kong.

2. Employment
It is estimated that there are 300 visually impaired masseurs in Hong Kong. They worked in various settings such as massage centres, sports clubs, medical clinics, hotels, restaurants, and in private practice. There are no official statistics of their monthly income. From statistics provided by the employment services of the Hong Kong Society for the Blind, the salary range of visually impaired masseurs is from HK$6,500 (for part-time workers) to HK$15,000. The average is approximately HK $8,700, which is similar to the median salary of the Hong Kong population.

3. Training
Currently there are numerous institutions that provide massage training courses to the sighted and people with visual impairments. The Employees Retraining Board, for example, annually provides 2000 foot massage training places to the sighted in an effort to reduce unemployment. The Vocational Training Council extended its three-month massage training course to one year, with effect from 2005. The Hong Kong Blind Union provides three-month training courses. The Hong Kong Society for the Blind continues to maintain its mission to provide quality visually impaired masseurs by providing a full year training course with supervised practicum.

There are great differences in the quality of teachers and standards of training among the different training institutions. In general, graduates from the Hong Kong Society for the Blind one-year massage training course are recognized as qualified masseurs capable of providing high-quality services. There is a great need to standardize the quality of training provided to masseurs with visual impairments to project the image that services of the visually impaired masseurs are of high quality.

4. Professional Qualifications and Standards of Practice
In an effort to maintain standards of practice performed by masseurs with visual impairments, the Institute of Blind Masseurs, with assistance from the Hong Kong Society for the Blind, has been working for the past two years to encourage qualified visually-impaired masseurs to obtain recognized standards and qualifications. Currently, 20 visually impaired masseurs have passed the licensing examination for senior massage practitioners issued by the Ministry of Labour and Security of the People’s Republic of China, which is a professional qualification recognized by all the State Council of the Chinese Government and all employers of the profession. Since 2005, the Hong Kong Society for the Blind  has organized an advanced training course on massage to assist massage practitioners with two years of experience to obtain advanced qualifications. The Institute of Blind Masseurs is working to negotiate with the Hong Kong Government Examination and Qualification Assessment Authority to recognize the Senior Massage Practitioner License as equivalent to tertiary education level training.

In an effort to maintain standards of practice, the Hong Kong Institute of Blind Masseurs, with assistance from the Hong Kong Society for the Blind, is in the process of establishing service quality standard guidelines. Massage Centres that met the guideline standards will be recommended to the Hong Kong Tourist Board to be awarded the Quality Service Trademark. It is our ultimate goal that the Hong Kong Institute of Blind Masseurs will become a recognized body that can issue quality service classifications to massage clinics concerned.

To maintain standards of practice and to assist masseurs with visual impairments to obtain recognized professional qualification will be a necessary future direction of massage training for people with visual impairments in Hong Kong to compete with sighted masseurs.