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Greetings from the Western Pacific! A belated Happy New Year to all and a timely Happy Chinese New Year to those who celebrate it!
The past year has been a trying year for many in this region, particularly those in Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan. Strenuous events such as the 8 month and counting protests in Hong Kong and the most recent outbreak of pneumonia (the coronavirus) in China that has spread to surrounding regions and countries has had a toll on our field and music therapists practicing in these areas. Many have been effected socially, economically, interpersonally, physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Presented with increasingly intense social and emotional stresses in the community since June 2019, the Hong Kong Music Therapy Association (HKMTA) has partnered with The Samaritan Befrienders Hong Kong to provide music therapy emotional support workshops for the general public in Hong Kong throughout this period. Several music therapists and other creative arts therapists in the city have also stepped up to offer accessible emotional support groups and individual sessions for those in need in the community. Inevitably, music therapists and many other allied health service providers have also found themselves under great distress on many levels. Effective self care became crucially important for us during this time. The beginning of 2020 has been met with slight relief in the intensity of the situation along with an unexpected hit of pneumonia causing increasing disruptions to some of our work at the hospitals, schools, and in the community. Various precautionary measures have been in place in efforts to keep the virus under control.
On a lighter note, despite of these challenging circumstances, the HKMTA continues in its efforts to bring the field closer to being a government recognised profession by devising its own code of ethics and standards of practice. Similarly, the Malaysian Music Therapy Association has been working towards the same goal and completed their code of ethics and standards of practice in 2019. Stay tuned for updates on these developments in future blogs.
May 2020 and the year of the Rat bring peace, joy, and good health to everyone around the world!
Vivian Chan, MMT, MTA, MT-BC
WFMT Regional Liaison, Western Pacific Region
All updates from the Western Pacific Region are provided by local music therapists from their respective countries. If you have any updates and news on the development of music therapy in your country within this region, and would like to share them with us, please do not hesitate to contact me at westernpacific@wfmt.info.
