For this father and daughter duo, philanthropy is a form of family bonding
In Hong Kong, a dad and daughter serve more than meals: they serve community, care and the human connection the city often forgets
Guess how old she is,” says Naveen Sadhwani – who goes by Nick – gesturing towards a sprightly street cleaner we have just finished chatting with after handing her a meal of stir-fried noodles, a sponge cake, a bottle of water and a mooncake, this being just before the Mid-Autumn Festival. She’d beamed at us, alert, cheerful and radiating optimism. “Sixty or 70?” I guess, struck by her lively demeanour and upright posture. “Seventy-five?” offers another volunteer.
Nick smiles. “She’s 85.”
We all gasp, both impressed and heartbroken. Well into her 80s, she spends her afternoons and evenings – from 2.30pm to 11.00pm – cleaning the streets of a city that rarely notices her or the countless other hardworking cleaners who keep Hong Kong running. The moment crystallises the paradox of the city: a place of dazzling energy and obscene wealth, sustained by the invisible labour of those who go largely unseen.
“My dad and I used to do charity work before, mainly through Indian temples and other organisations, so we already knew some of the areas where homeless and underprivileged people stayed,” says university student Bianca. She manages the charity’s social media, sharing videos of every walk and tagging all the volunteers, who sign up via Instagram.
