Hong Kong’s Homeless And COVID-19

The pandemic of COVID-19 has been the major topic in the media for the past few months as it has hugely affected every country. Hong Kong was no different - the economy dropped by 8.9 percent hitting it’s all-time low forcing many businesses to close down or putting them at the verge of bankruptcy, raising the unemployment rate to 4.2%. The social impact of COVID is even worse: affecting the vulnerable populations in the city: The elderly, the homeless, and the ethnic living under the poverty line, whose lives had changed dramatically.

Fortunately, there are many charities which aim to help vulnerable citizens by collecting money, food or distribution of daily necessities. As the number of COVID-19 cases decreased significantly near June 2020, I had a chance to serve along with leading charities in the city, HandsOn and ImpactHK, and see with my own eyes how the pandemic has affected the poorest citizens and understand their daily lives.

Firstly, I was distributing daily necessities to isolated elderlies in Sha Tin district. Since Hong Kong has a rapidly aging population, many elderly citizens struggle with loneliness, as they have no family to visit them - especially in the times of social distancing. Many of them feel neglected, as people over 60 are widely seen as worthless, lacking the ability to contribute as much to society as compared to the young ones. Most of them aren’t able to provide themselves with sufficient food or basic necessities due to poor health or lack of funds, which explains why volunteers should help them.The care packages distributed to the elderly included face masks, hand sanitizers and food. Packing the products took place at the community center in a residential district of Sha Tin, nearby Tai Wai MTR station, and distribution took place in and around Lung Hang Estate, which accommodates over 4 thousand households. We were to deliver around thirty packages in total, straight to people’s doors. They seemed to be waiting for the packages, happy that someone cares about them, even in these tough times. Often, they kept saying “thank you” long after I gave them their bundle and left from their door.

The next time I decided to get engaged in community issues was a few days later, when I took part in one of the regularly organized “Kindness Walks”, which aim to provide necessities to the homeless in different districts of the city, such as Yau Ma Tei, Mong Kok, Jordan or North Point. Me, along with a group of seven other volunteers, took donated food and goods, such as food, toothbrushes or hand sanitizers to redistribute it to those in need.

The homeless in Hong Kong often organize themselves in small groups, finding a safe space to live in parks or among the narrow alleys. Some of the people we met were living on the streets for a long time, having a specified place which they “claimed” as their “house”. From blankets surrounded with card paper and umbrellas, to shelters made of things found on the street - they were all trying to survive.Others, the so - called “new homeless”, lost the roof over their heads just recently during the outbreak. These people were often immigrants from countries such as Nepal and Pakistan who came to Hong Kong looking for a better life, but were often unable to find jobs due to their inability to speak Cantonese and the bankruptcy of businesses during the pandemic, so their only option was to adapt to the living on the streets.

I had a chance to briefly talk to one of the Nepalese, who became homeless just two months ago after losing a job at a Nepali restaurant due to the Coronavirus. “It is still new, it is still scary.” - he said in broken English, but after he realized that our group was there to deliver some food and necessities, his face brightened up - “I didn't know we would get something to eat” - he added, as it was his first time seeing volunteers distributing food to the homeless. Indeed, many of them did not eat in days.

The road we took was near Kowloon Park and King George V Memorial Park, as the homeless usually find some relatively comfortable places to stay in parks or around them.Some of them wanted to chat with us, as they already knew the organization and were happy that people wanted to help them. They were telling us their life stories or just chatting about daily life, as usually they’ve got no one to talk to.

The last place we went to was a nearly abandoned alley, near Shanghai Street, where many of the homeless, both from Hong Kong and from other countries, were spending their evenings. Sometimes, it is even the people who do have jobs but they are unable to find an affordable apartment, as the extremely expensive housing market is another one of Hong Kong’s big issues.

Even though Hong Kong’s vulnerable ones are exposed to many unpleasant situations and are often “invisible” for other citizens, the problem is addressed by many charities, such as Impact HK or HandsOn, who try to help people realize that it is becoming a matter of concern, exacerbated in the current times. In recent years there’s also been a call to the government to implement centralized policies regarding the homeless, but it hasn’t been successfully implemented yet - while homeless shelters do exist, the rules they apply are strict and inconvenient for most of the homeless -checking in before 10:30AM and check out before 8AM the next day. They are also not allowed to leave any belongings there and need to pay HKD10 per night - while not expensive for the regular people, but for the impoverished every dollar matters and many of them don’t see the point in paying for a shelter when they can “make” a home on a street for free. Additionally, even if people stay there, they are not treated with respect nor care and there are not enough beds to accommodate all of the city’s growing number of the homeless.

The charities also offer programs which help the homeless with gaining new skills and eventually give them a chance to find a job and start a new life and successfully integrate into a larger community- all that many of them need is just a little kindness and an opportunity to rise up and prove themselves.

The history of many charities in Hong Kong, hasn’t started from wanting to make a big change in society. It has started from an idea of doing single acts of kindness for those being neglected. According to Hong Kong’s government statistics, there are over 1,000 registered street sleepers in the city, but the actual number, especially in the times of pandemic, remains unknown and is nearly impossible to estimate due to lack of relevant skills and the instability of the problem. However, thousands of active volunteers in various charity organizations across Hong Kong were able to help nearly 82 thousand beneficiaries. ImpactHK, an organization founded 3 years ago, has regularly served over 400 people during their daily kindness walks in eight districts of the city. Especially in the tough times, it is important to stay united, help those being in harder circumstances than us and create the kind of society we want to live in.