Harold
My Dear Most Excellent Ones,
It is crazy to claim you are in a just and good society when you allow thousands of elderly people, many bent and hobbled physically, to collect cardboard to eke out a living. Unlike Alberta where you can earn a few cents for every pop and beer can, wine bottle, etc you bring to a recycling center, here in Hong Kong you just recycle those items out of a good heart. No financial gain to be had for your empties. Instead you can make money by bringing paper and cardboard to a recycling center and earn about one dollar HONG KONG for every kilogram you collect. That is about is about 14 cents Canadian. According to some cardboard collectors getting 20 dollars Hong Kong a day for your labours is a good day. Twenty Hong Kong is about $3 Canadian. Enough for a small meal from a street vendor.
Yet, despite this low rate of monetary return for effort put out, there are thousands of elderly Hong Kongers, men and a lot of women, pushing their carts through the streets of Kowloon and Hong Kong scrounging for paper and cardboard. Thousands. There is a senior citizen financial security supplement here in Hong Kong, which works out to about $300 Canadian a month, but that is woefully low and barely enough to survive on. So many senior citizens rely on their kids, the government, and, much too many, on cardboard to survive. It's a deplorable situation.
Every second Tuesday I visit Harold (not his real name) with a group from the remarkable Fuk Lam Ministry. We pray with Harold, talk to him, and give him some food. He is 88 years old and sleeps outside on the cardboard he has collected throughout the day. The next morning he will get up and push his cart to a recycling center, collect the money and then start his search for cardboard anew.
Over the last four years I have raved a lot about Hong Kong. It is a great city and place. Yet, like anywhere there are aspects about this place that is just not right. I think for those of us who have been blessed with intelligence, health, and a background that helped us get the necessary credentials to earn a good wage, it is wise to consider those not as fortunate. It is wise to consider how petty our problems are in comparison to an elderly man living outside on a pile of cardboard. It is wise to consider how we can help or give a little to those who have little.
There but for the grace of God go I.
God bless you all.
Have a good week.
Love adios and ping on!
Dir
Harold lives on a busy side street in Kowloon, near the Temple Street Market under a sign advertising decadent wealth. Being under so much light gives Harold a sense of security.
This is Harold's home and source of income.
Most people who pass by just ignore Harold
Praying for Harold.
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