It’s a dirty job, but don’t treat them like trash: Hong Kong’s cleaners are an aged, overlooked group
Call to address stigma with low-paying, unglamorous vocation involving mostly workers between 60 and 80 years of age, and a government tender system for agencies that some see as exploitative
Hunched over her rusted trolley, 70-year-old Wang Sim-nui hobbles through an area of Tuen Mun, stopping to peek into orange public rubbish bins.
It is a wet morning and to protect herself from the rain, Wang has wrapped a white plastic bag around her head before putting on a wide-brimmed straw hat and a raincoat over her grey uniform.
“Sometimes people look down on us, but we don’t need to care too much about what others think,” says Wang lightheartedly as she goes about her job as a rubbish cleaner. Her husband, 68, is a school bus driver, and their son and daughter have settled in Australia.
“Even prostitutes stand on the streets. We have a legal job and contribute to society, why should we be afraid?”
However, some of her other family members do not think the same way. Wang refused to have her face photographed, saying that she had to “save face for her relatives” who felt embarrassed about her job.
She says one of her colleagues covers her face with a mask and sunglasses while she works, fearing that someone would recognise her.