I was thinking how sad it was that a person couldn't muster up enough things in their life (other than work) to get passionate about and that their job had became their life. I mean, fucken hell folks, seriously?

To to be fair, I experience this and I think it's easier to say 'do more' than done for a lot of people. I'd argue the vast majority, for two main reasons:

One is obviously the cost of living. Here in particular is the worst in the world with average housing costing anywhere between 35 and 45x the median annual income.

To even dare considering taking on a hobby or going away to relax for an afternoon is borderline criminal as you're essentially condemning your future to poverty and homelessness. When you tie in the strong family support culture, too, it doesn't even matter if you personally have enough to live comfortably doing anyfuckingthingelse, you won't because you want to accrue as much as possible for your children, brothers, parents, uncles and beyond who will increasingly depend on your wealth and success.

Second, for example in my case, I live in Shanghai. A megacity of 30-odd million people.

It's a vast expanse of concrete which connects only to yet more concrete as the surrounding cities and towns are indistinguishably concrete for hundreds if not thousands of miles.

There are a few spots of green here and there but it's not always that easy to simply 'get up and go hiking' or 'spend some time in the woods'. I don't think there even exists a woods or forest in the entire country that doesn't need a ticket to enter, surrounded by CCTV.

Everything else is just kind of the usual city distractions: Cafes, cinemas, sterile parks 'keep off the grass' style, riverside walkways 'no dogs', malls.

So I think most people simply aren't born or raised into even understanding the very concept of doing anything else. From childhood to retirement, the image of simply watching the world go by while reading a classic novel is something people only see in movies which, due to the work culture, almost everybody skips through boring bits, watches 2x speed, or simply watches short 1-3 minute summaries.

It's no wonder so many people simply have no hobbies at all, have no interests in music or history or art. There's no time for it, and being interested in stuff doesn't generate desperately needed cash.