Cardboard grannies a sad symbol of Hong Kong's widening wealth gap
They add up to almost 40% more than the registered Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Rolls Royces in the bustling Asian financial centre
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Hong Kong
THEY start sometimes at dawn and work frequently into the night, an army of old workers manoeuvering carts around the streets of Hong Kong. Their spines bent with back trouble or simply the burdens of life-long toil, they're collecting cardboard boxes to sell to recyclers for the equivalent of US$2.60 a day.
In Hong Kong, they're known as "cardboard grannies". They're estimated by non-government organisations to number 5,000 - a figure almost 40 per cent higher than the total of registered Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Rolls Royces seen frequently on the streets of the bustling Asian financial centre.
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