YOUNG PEOPLE FEEL HEAT FROM PANDEMIC

Jobs lost, salaries cut and friends missed

Siti Nur Afiqah, 26, lacked the motivation to study when she heard that the coronavirus pandemic was spreading across the world early last year.

"It affected my life tremendously and was stressful," said Siti, a final-year undergraduate student from Malaysia at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing.

Due to lockdowns, Siti, who headed home to Malaysia for the winter break, was unable to return to Beijing. For the past year, she has stayed with her parents and studied online.