Written on 29 July, 2020

The third wave of COVID-19 has hit Hong Kong hard, with never implemented city-wide lockdown measures, from the restriction of dine-in after 6pm to whole day restriction.[1] First day into the dine-in ban, our social media channels are flooded with photos of outdoor workers stranded on streets, parks, toilets to have their meals.[2] In a press conference, a government official recommended having lunch in country parks. This statement reflects lack of understanding of workers’ lives, essentially the lack of empathy. With barely enough time to finish a meal, how is it realistic to travel to a country park for lunch?

The pandemic brings many deep-rooted social problems to surface. The disheartening scenes of construction workers corners of the street for lunch in sweat and rain, our emotions are easily triggered. But it is important to realise these problems are not new. Many street cleaners are used to having meals in toilets or trash stations because having meals in the parks might be seen as “stealing lazy time” by their supervisors. COVID-19 is a time for us to refocus on the welfare of outdoor workers, enhancing their occupational safety and working conditions.

Our counterpart Singapore has released a set of guidelines to improve rest spaces for low-wage workers in 2019. [3] These rest spaces are furnished with chairs, tables, lockers for security guards, street cleaners to stay in between their shifts. These are also space for them to have meals when Singapore imposed lockdown measures. Singaporean Minister of State for Manpower Zaqy Mohamad said “given the maturity of our economy and society, we can do more for the wellbeing of our outsourced workers”. When exploitation and discrimination are still common plights faced by many Hong Kong outdoor workers, it is time for the government to develop humancentric policies – to review outsourcing policies and the necessity to establish proper rest spaces rooting from the safety and dignity of workers.

Apart from lunch arrangement, another issue is the McRefugees,[4] the homeless that are forced onto streets again because their overnight safe haven is no longer open. This time, the government responded relatively quickly, announcing the opening of 19 temporary night heat shelters for people in need of the service.

The government also proposes to use temporary heat shelters as lunch spaces for workers. This is seen as contradictory to banning restaurant dine-in. Indeed, mass gathering with masks removed is not ideal, but it will be easier to monitor and maintain social distancing in these spaces. Closing restaurants forces a substantial portion of people to have meals in their offices, while those remaining can be concentrated in tightly monitored spaces with proper hygiene and distancing measures to control the spread of virus.

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[1] https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3095062/hong-kong-third-wave-coronavirus-may-have-stopped

[2] https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3095175/coronavirus-hong-kongs-workers-have-lunch-parks

[3] https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/guidelines-companies-rest-areas-outsourced-low-wage-workers-mom-12166892

[4] https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3078447/no-shelter-mcrefugees-amid-coronavirus-horror-something