![]() ![]() ![]() Shiu Ka-chun, a legislator who represents the city’s social welfare sector, said he learned from a different inmate that prisoners felt pressured to take on additional hours in the mask factory. Another inmate cut her finger while cleaning the insides of a mask machine in March, an accident confirmed by prison officials. Yannis said blisters had formed on her fingers while she operated the welding machine, and that she had developed a high-pitched ringing in the ears, accompanied by headaches, because her workstation was next to noisy machines. Potential injuries resulting from the increased workload are another concern, Mr. He added that the authorities should not pay inmates “negligible and nominal” wages when they are “rushing production to meet our needs.” “People should be required to work or receive training in prison only if it is related to rehabilitation.” Mr. Law Yuk-kai, the director of Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor, which tracks the city’s prison conditions, said it was “problematic” to rely on such labor to meet society’s urgent needs. Inmates often spend their income at the prison commissary on necessities, such as hair conditioner, menstrual pads, tissue paper and stationery. Yannis said her meager wages went right back to the prison. Overnight workers received a one-hour break and refreshments. The city’s Correctional Services Department said inmates who worked overnight or additional shifts did so “voluntarily” and received higher wages.Īs an overnight worker, Yannis said she earned $4.30 a day, or $0.61 per hour - at the high end of pay for prison labor, amounting to about an eighth of Hong Kong’s statutory minimum wage. The medium-security Lo Wu prison, located near the mainland border, has been churning out masks 24 hours a day since February, when the Hong Kong government ramped up production to supply the city’s army of medical, public health and sanitation workers. Millions of Hong Kong’s surgical masks are produced by prisoners, some of whom have been working late at night for mere pennies since the outbreak hit. In the months since the pandemic began on its doorstep, only four people in Hong Kong, a city of 7.5 million, have died from Covid-19.īut behind the ubiquitous masks is a truth that not everyone here knows. While the West debated the efficacy of masks, Hong Kong residents, stung by the deadly SARS outbreak 17 years ago, put their trust in them. Virtually overnight, the schools were closed, posters appeared around the city reminding residents to wash their hands, and seemingly everyone on the street was wearing a face mask. ![]() HONG KONG - When word came that a dangerous new virus was killing people in mainland China, the people of Hong Kong sprang into action. ![]()
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