Junk?

J is for junk, but is this junk? If you've lived in Hong Kong for longer than a few days, chances are you'll have seen someone like this on its streets: old people wheeling carts of cardboard and other 'junk' around. Pedestrians having to surmount such a moving obstacle on the (usually) narrow streets of Hong Kong probably feel irritation and disdain at worst, and indifference at best.

I don't want to speculate wildly on this particular man's circumstances, but he is probably one of the many old people in Hong Kong making a living from collecting and selling recyclable materials. Yes, making a living, if you can even call it 'living'. According to this 2007 study, 38% of these collectors surveyed by its researchers did it for living expenses (ie basic necessities such as food and rent), while the rest did it to supplement living expenses (admittedly the sample size was small). This bit in the report made me ashamed of having been one of those irritated pedestrians:

'When people feel that they are lacking in financial support for living expenses, they are more likely to overcome the negative side of the "job nature" such as being involved in collecting recycling materials, regarded by some as disgusting. [...] collecting recycling materials for financial return was the last coping strategy individuals adopt to fight poverty.'

And how much do they earn? The median amount reported was a mere HK$350 a month.

Junk or lifeline?

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