A very nice man who worked as the accounting clerk in my school killed himself over the weekend.

It shocked me because he was always helpful and was always smiling and seemed to me to be in very high spirits all the time. People closer to him than I were also trying to figure out what was going through this man's mind. I always figured there would be some noticeable signs. But he was good at his job and seemed on top of things.

The standard reason in Hong Kong they seem to dole out is that "he was in debt" and they seem to say it in every suicide case. But that seems unlikely to me as bankruptcy is no harder to do here than in Canada. Hell a few years ago I filled out a financial balance statement and they recommended that I declare bankruptcy - I would have no stress about this - if I could not pay my debts and could not find suitable work - I'd be all too happy to declare bankruptcy and save myself a bunch of stress. As an accounting clerk I would expect him to know that.

I guess I just don't get it. A genuinely friendly, happy-go-lucky guy -- on the outside anyway. This not long on the heels of one of our 15 year old students who jumped from his window earlier in the year - apparently for being in debt (less than $1,000 US).

Kind of taking this harder than I thought given that I barely know the guy - say hi in the morning and talk to him now and again about various paper work. Usually there are signs in hindsight but I'll be damned if I can find any.