03.02
Hong Kong is a place of extremes and sadly like China, has a widening gap between the rich and poor. Expensive restaurants and shops dominate Central Hong Kong, but you haven’t got to go too far to see the other side of life. My friend told me about the Plastic Bag Lady that often sits in Central near Lan Kwai Fong. Living in Asia I have seen many beggars, but never one like this. She was covered from head to toe in plastic bags. I was amazed that the police hadn’t moved her on, but my friend told me she often sits there begging for money. Most people hurry by and don’t even bother to notice her. It’s a sad situation, but an all too familiar story, as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Hong Kong is one of the wealthiest cities in the world and one of the last places you would expect to see an old lady having to beg like this.
This lady’s sad situation is part poverty, part mental illness, I’m guessing.
In Miami, my hometown, there was a homeless man who stalked around my college that was locally nicknamed “Detective Dreads.” (This is because he was always rushing around worriedly talking to strangers and had a huge mass of hair smashed into one direction.) Poverty and the homelessness exist everywhere, regardless of said place’s economic state.
Your probably right, her situation maybe more complex than it looks. Sadly it’s a universal problem that reflects badly on our society as a whole.