Ng Wai-tung: Helping the Homeless of Hong Kong
Community organizer Ng Wai-tung has dedicated his life to helping the homeless of Hong Kong. He tells TC Fung that being homeless doesn’t mean you’re helpless.
HK Magazine: As a student of economics, you could get yourself a high-paying job somewhere. So why this?
Ng Wai-tung: My dad led a labor union and that influenced me a lot. When I was a teenager, all my classmates were reading comics, but I was reading about labor movements and unions. It always bothered me how our country has always been so poor and there were so many people starving. Which is why I majored in economics in university. I graduated in 1989 and started working in a bank. But after the Tiananmen massacre, I wanted to do something more meaningful for the community.
HK: So now you help the homeless...
NWT: Yes, they are a very marginalized group. They bear the brunt of discrimination so I just want to help them fight for their rights. Listen to this outrageous story: in 2001, the security guards at the Cultural Centre used to bay at them with speakers all night to prevent them from sleeping. When we requested an explanation, the authority said that homeless people could tarnish Hong Kong’s image as an international city. Shouldn’t sleep be an inalienable right of everyone? How can people let this thing happen when we are touting Hong Kong as Asia’s World City?
HK: But what can you do to help?
NWT: For that case, I organized a petition and got an apology from the officials. But the same thing happened again in 2006. And what’s really heart-wrenching for me is that some of the homeless people wore masks when they went to petition because they didn’t want their families and friends to recognize them. This fact tells you a lot about the difference in attitude toward street sleepers in Hong Kong and for example Japan.
HK: What’s the difference?
NWT: After the bubble burst in Japan, the street sleepers grew in number and power and became well-organized. They succeeded in getting a law that safeguards their rights. In Japan, street sleepers are more part of a community and they have the right to inhabit public spaces. Of course, they also feel it’s their obligation to keep the places clean. Here in Hong Kong, homeless people are stigmatized and vilified. I think it has something to do with our civic education, which is superficial and has almost nothing to say about citizenship.
HK: Do street sleepers form groups in Hong Kong?
NWT: Not really. There are some places where they tend to cluster but most of them are just scattered across town. But in Japan, street sleepers are well organized and they form groups of 6-8 people and live together in tents.
HK: So how do local street sleepers fare the days?
NWT: They usually go to public lavatories to wash up in the morning before going to work—a lot of them work collecting cardboard and recyclables. Many of them go to libraries for air-conditioning or parks to chitchat with others.