Photos of ethnic minorities helping to clean up the mess left in Hong Kong by Typhoon Mangkhut went viral on social media, attracting applause and praise for these people’s good work.
A group of around 10 African men, all asylum seekers staying in Hong Kong, were seen cleaning up debris and leaves on Haiphong Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, on Monday morning, according to the Centre for Refugees’ Facebook page.
They grabbed brooms and a metal plate from a fallen road sign to clean up the street while there was only one street cleaner from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department stationed at the site.
Another group from the Non-Resident Nepali Association also gathered and helped to clean up trash and fallen tree branches on roads in various locations, news website HK01.com reported.
Magar Tilak Somai, a member of the association, said around 30 to 40 volunteers participated in the clean-up in Yuen Long in the New Territories and in Kowloon’s Yau Ma Tei, Tsim Sha Tsui and Jordan on Monday. They also appealed to other people to join in.
Meanwhile, hundreds of residents in Tseung Kwa O in the New Territories, one of the areas hit hardest by Mangkhut, joined in an appeal raised by Carola, a woman from Chile who came to Hong Kong for four months to help rebuild the Tseung Kwan O Waterfront Park, Ming Pao Daily reported.
Carola said she remembered the work done by volunteers eight years ago when an earthquake struck her home town in Chile, so she posted on social media appealing for volunteers to help rebuild the park.
Many parents joined the cleanup with their children. A father brought his five-year-old son to help stack up bricks and collect trash.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong-born ethnic Indian Jimmy Singh Baljinder and 10 volunteers helped clean up Kowloon’s Diamond Hill and Wong Tai Sin areas from morning until dusk on Monday.
He said ethnic minorities were part of Hong Kong and he wanted to give something back to the community.
Wrong headline they are not asylum seekers, ethnic groups will have been a better headline
@ Rajiv it was done out off willingness not to get attention from anyone
If u are reading the whole story it was mentioned that the helper’s employer "who posted the photo in facebook" reported it to the police… If its a PIECE of shit y would the employer waste her time reporting it?!