Powerful art of cleaning: Hong Kong artist-activist Luke Ching’s creative advocacy for MTR cleaners

“When making this advertisement, I wanted people to see the cleaners,” shared the 51-year-old, who has been working as a station cleaner since 2021.

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“When you put on that uniform, other people seem to not see you. With our cleaning cart, people treat us as mobile trash bins and only see the trash,” Ching said, explaining why he showed his face in the advertisement.

For more than a year, the artist, who is also a part-time lecturer at Chinese University, has spent his Fridays wiping down surfaces, handling waste disposal and cleaning toilets inside the city’s sprawling public transport system.

Last year, Ching raised funds for the advertisement by installing a donation box at Art Basel to engage the public in his campaign. He also posts on social media to inform his thousands of followers about cleaners’ livelihoods.

Known for his focus on social issues, the conceptual artist has spent the past 16 years immersing himself in the most overlooked jobs to advocate for low-wage workers.

In 2016, the Hong Kong Arts Development Council awarded him Artist of the Year (Visual Art). At Art Basel last month, artist Tozer Pak Sheung-chuen featured Ching’s advocacy for MTR cleaners.

“Many ideas and concepts often go unnoticed or overlooked, and it takes an artistic perspective to bring attention to them,” Ching said.

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The artist’s journey as a labour activist began with a chair.

As a regular at local art museums, Ching noticed that security guards stood all day because they had no chairs. In 2007, he began his campaign to help them rest, taking up security jobs, petitioning government museums, inviting the public to support the issue and even staging a silent protest at the Hong Kong Art Museum in 2013.

In the end, management agreed to provide bar stools for their security guards.

“It took a long time to fight for a single chair. This isn’t just about labour injuries – it’s a matter of dignity because it involves giving employees the freedom to choose whether to stand or sit,” said Ching, who also pushed for supermarket cashiers to be given seats.

In 2021, Ching began reaching out to different minimum-wage workers, and he received a call from an MTR cleaner bemoaning how low her wages were.

“She kept talking non-stop for two hours ... She was very frustrated but did not have the courage to speak up for herself,” he recalled, adding, “cleaners have the right to speak up for themselves in their workplace”.

Motivated to step into this line of work, Ching said his goal was to improve cleaners’ lives: “The cleaning industry needs change.”

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Outsourcing refers to the practice of assigning jobs such as cleaning and security positions to third-party organisations. Since the early 2000s, the Hong Kong government has been adopting this approach, awarding tenders to companies that offer the lowest price. But this system allows employers to exploit their workers.

While MTR cleaners are paid minimum wage, many other cleaning jobs are paid above this rate. Though the city’s statutory minimum wage will rise to HK$40 an hour in May, many workers and advocates say this is still not enough to keep up with rampant inflation.

“Why not bring these changes to these outsourced workers? Only then will we truly tap into improving labour issues,” Ching stressed.

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Besides wiping handrails and cleaning toilets, MTR cleaners also handle waste disposal and mop up vomit and spills. Dubbed “chasing the car”, cleaners must rush to catch the train that needs disinfecting.

“Eating and drinking are not allowed on the train, but it is very common. Nobody is held accountable because there are not enough staff. The cleaners are left to handle everything,” he said.

Ching recalled his first time cleaning a moving train. Initially, he was told it was a water spillage, so he came with minimal supplies. But after arriving at the scene, he saw that bubble tea had spilled all over the seats and floor.

All the way from Tai Wai to To Kwa Wan, he had to keep his balance while dealing with the mess.

“Most of the cleaners are 60 years old or older. You can imagine how dangerous it is. There are likely to be accidents,” he said, stressing that the government needed to provide safety training and guidelines, as well as guaranteed support for injured MTR cleaners.

“These issues were not taken seriously, and the elderly hesitate to report their work injuries because they fear losing their jobs.”

Even when liquid and food waste make it into a bin, they still pose challenges for cleaners. Besides the risk of leakage, the heavy weight is difficult for workers, many of whom are elderly, to manage.

“[And] imagine all that food left in the garbage area for a day – there would be many rats,” he added.

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“We hope everyone can [more] consciously handle trash, as this awareness is based on the fact that there is a person working behind the scenes to clean up after us,” Ching emphasised, explaining that passengers should empty liquids in the toilets before discarding containers.

“Cleaners ... see a lot of waste in our daily lives,” the artist lamented. He believes that MTR stations can also do more to contribute to the city’s recycling efforts, and it has the potential to be a convenient recycling point.

“While the government owns [about] 75 per cent of the MTR Corporation, can we demand it to fulfil its part of social responsibilities?” Ching questioned.

The artist said the fight for Hong Kong’s outsourced workers still had a long way to go: “My goal has not yet been fulfilled ... We’re here to have serious discussions about what can be changed in the cleaning industry.”