The lonely life of the McSleepers, the poor who call McDonald's home
Poverty, rising rents and poor living conditions have led to people sleeping in a McDonald's, a plight highlighted by a woman's death in one
The phenomenon of McSleepers or McRefugees - people who spend their nights in 24-hour branches of the popular fast-food chain - is a manifestation of growing social isolation caused by deprivation and poverty in the context of soaring private rents and bad living conditions, experts say.
With the government failing to take responsibility for the situation and as relatively cheap housing becomes more unliveable and expensive, the poor are susceptible to adopting such a lifestyle - which can result in longer-term problems such as mental health issues, they say.
"I used to sleep at my home but finding out that I can sleep here - it's quite lively, with the young people playing around here and others like me," said Auntie Chan, 62.
The laughing teenagers in the corner were regulars at the McDonald's at 3am, she said, but they eventually went home. Even if no one really talked to her, it was better than being at home alone, she added.
Chan has a round face covered in wrinkles and boney fingers which grip her walking-stick handle tightly. She doesn't have a phone, nor does she have air conditioning at home, in order to save money. Chan rents a room on the second floor of an old tenement building in Tsuen Wan, where she keeps her things. She said bed bugs "crawl everywhere".