Living and Working in Hong Kong

May I ask what kind of work you do

- in Hong Kong?

- Construction work. - Construction? - Yes.

- About how much do you earn a year?

- 420,000.

- Would it be convenient to visit your home?

- Sure, if you don't mind.

- Not at all. Is that okay?

- It's fine.

If I had a bit more money,

I would live on a lower floor.

- What's this? - A mailbox. Every

household in Hong Kong has one. - Oh.

If anything happens, they won't

call you; they'll write a letter

- or mail a notice. - How much is your

- rent here per month?

Including utilities and stuff,

- it's about 8,000.

- Is this a subdivided flat? - Pretty much.

- Very few aren't. - How many households

- are on this floor? - Only... some share two,

- some share three. Ah, here we are.

- Ah, how big is your place?

- It's two meters this way.

- A bit over two meters.

- Lengthwise, it's six meters.

I feel like this place

- isn't very small. - For Hong Kong,

it's not cramped at all. - Yeah.

Because for many average families,

a place this size

could have four or five people living in it.

Living here all by myself is already

very luxurious. In Hong Kong, people use

more compact, mini-sized

- furniture and appliances.

You can see that almost everything

- is a miniature version. - This sofa,

it looks like a sofa,

but it's actually a sofa bed.

When pulled out, it's two meters.

And then, here is where I dry clothes,

right here. As for this bed of mine,

I bought it on Taobao,

and used some expansion screws

- to assemble it myself.

- Can I take a look at your bed?

- Sure. - These stairs are only as big

as a small square. Wow, I don't think

I can go up facing forward; I have to turn sideways.

It's really quite narrow here.

Wow, the bed up here is actually pretty big.

It's just right for one person.

Ah, here is an air conditioner mounted on

the window, which is unique to Hong Kong.

Why don't you live with your

- family instead of living alone?

Because it's too crowded, with too many people.

Over a hundred eating, 70 or 80 living there.

Living with them, there isn't even a door,

- no privacy.

- No privacy. You even have to

- queue up for the toilet. - You make

around 30,000-plus a month on average,

do you feel that in Hong Kong,

- the pressure is high?

- It's quite high. - Why would...

Why would a girl choose Hong Kong

- to work on construction sites? Because other wages

are too low to cover my, uh,

living expenses. After work, I

do some part-time jobs,

sometimes doing odd casual gigs,

washing dishes, and so on. Comfort is for

- the rich, after all. Over the years, do you have

- any rewards? I just bought

- two apartments in Foshan.

- Wow, that's amazing!

Many people look for other avenues.

Mainly, you either find someone

you like in Hong Kong to marry,

or you do investment immigration,

- depending on which one you prefer.

To work on Hong Kong construction sites,

- are there requirements? There are "Three Treasures":

you must have a Hong Kong ID card,

a Green Card, and a worker registration card.

Here is the Green Card,

these two are

- strictly required. So on Hong Kong construction

- sites, what do you mainly do?

I do everything; whatever the boss tells me

to do, that's what I do.

Electrical wiring, cabling, painting.

- 2,000 dollars. With all these side jobs,

what is your dream after saving

- all this money? My dream is not having

- to work in the future.

Gotta run.