Young man’s death sheds light on life of China’s poor, and prompts an outpouring of sympathy – and questions
- A 22-year-old video gamer is dead and his friend, and commenters online, want to know how China failed him
- Known as Mocha, he left haunting posts online showing his worsening health, descent into poverty and growing hunger. Chinese have rallied to him in death
A man’s obituary for a young friend who, he says, died from poverty has painted a harrowing picture of life for China’s poor.
The 22-year-old video-game streamer known as Mocha, whose family name was Chen, died of diabetic complications in early January, his friend wrote in the online obituary, published on January 21.
However, the writer said he believed his friend’s descent into poverty, which left him unable to buy food, was the real reason for his death.
Last year, Chen had been diagnosed with sarcoma (a form of cancer) on his nose. He also had diabetes and liver problems. The sarcoma was treated, but the hospital marked the diabetes and liver damage as “untreated”.
People like Chen are drifting outside of the mainstream. His death should push us to examine what to do about systematic poverty
“He skipped meals and struggled with chronic hunger while doing hard labour and getting paid only US$124 a month,” the obituary reads. When he lost his job, Chen’s situation became dire.
