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Emotional thanks from 71-year-old cleaner as Hong Kong rallies to save her from HK$1,500 fine

Shaken, sleep-deprived grandmother grateful for outpouring of public support after Food and Environmental Health Department officer’s ticketing

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Cleaning employee Zhou Zhuan at Southorn Playground in Wan Chai on Tuesday. Photo: Sam Tsang

An emotionally drained Hong Kong cleaning employee whose fine for allegedly dumping waste water on a street on Monday elicited public outrage will have the amount covered by her employer, the Post has learned.

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Yet 71-year-old Zhou Zhuan, working at Southorn Playground, told the Post she had lost her appetite and spent a sleepless night over her tearful encounter with a Food and Environmental Hygiene Department officer.

Zhou, 71, is the sole breadwinner for her and her husband. Photo: Sam Tsang
Zhou, 71, is the sole breadwinner for her and her husband. Photo: Sam Tsang

The officer on Monday issued Zhou a fine without any verbal warning, despite her claim the water was left over after she cleaned a bathroom at the playground and that it was not dirty.

The officer rebuffed her claim, and the incident, captured by a passer-by, went viral on the internet.

“I couldn’t eat or sleep well last night, but luckily they told me I wouldn’t have to pay the fine,” Zhou said of the plan by her employer Baguio Cleaning Services Company, the department’s contractor.

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