肥皂回收大使
WAREHOUSE RECYCLING WORKER
Mr Leung (梁先生)
Kwai Hing (葵興)
10:00 - 15:00
“People don’t tend to give soap much thought. Here we collect unused soap from hotels, then sort and recycle them to distribute to those in need. I have been working as a MEY (Minority, Elderly and Youth) Worker at Soap Cycling for 3 years. My work involves sorting and recycling soap bars at the warehouse; I also run the volunteer workshops and we work together to scrape and clean the soap so that they are new and ready for redistribution. If you think about all the unused toiletries in all the hotels, you will realise that there is so much soap wastage. What I really like about working here is that people from different generations are brought together through the programme. I was born in 1941, at the start of the 3 years and 8 months Japanese occupation of Hong Kong during the war. Safe to say that it was an interesting time! I may be old in age but I’m young at heart - the youngsters love to hang out with me.”
「大家平時應該都唔會點留意啲番梘。喺呢度我哋會收集酒店唔要嘅番梘，將佢哋分類同埋加工，再分發俾有需要嘅人。我喺再皂福嘅『美 MEY（少數族裔、長者、青少年）計劃』度做咗三年喇。喺度我除咗會做番梘分類同埋加工，仲會帶領義工活動，同佢哋一齊刨乾淨啲番梘，靚靚咁分派俾人。你諗吓酒店全部嗰啲用唔晒嘅衛生用品，就會發現其實係嘥咗好多番梘。喺呢度做嘢最開心就係有唔同年代嘅人一齊合作。我出世嗰年係1941年，三年零八個月剛剛開始嗰陣。可以同你講，嗰段日子真係好難忘﹗我望落可能係一個老嘢，但我內心仲好年輕，啲後生都好鍾意同我玩㗎。」
“I have always been an adventurous and curious person and my career path definitely reflected that. I still remember my first job at age 14; I was paid HK$20 a month working at a leather shoes factory. When I turned 18, I got my driver’s licence. The tests were not as strict back then so I passed in my first go. I decided to enroll in the police force and did that for 6 years; I learned a lot there and luckily had no near-death experiences! I still meet up regularly with the friends I made from all those years ago - it’s quite special to be able to maintain friendships for six decades. Next, I became a firefighter for a year. It was short and sweet. Throughout my life I did many types of shifts work; I went on to become a bus driver, a taxi driver and a minibus driver, until I retired in 2000 and then years later got involved with Soap Cycling. I always tell people that I was educated at the ‘University of Society’. There is no rule that says your life and career has to be linear. Everything I know in life I learned from living; and trying out and working in different professions. We never stop learning!”
“I was born in Shunde (順得) in Guangdong, and came to Hong Kong with my family when I was just one year old. I grew up on Cheung Chau island and had a great childhood there. Even at this age, I want to keep working and being engaged with my community for as long as I can. I’m happy that I am able to do this at Soap Cycling. How do I manage to stay so young? I worked really hard when I was younger and life was tough, but I have gradually learned to let go and am really happy now. I am lucky that I can eat well and sleep well. I don’t drink, I don’t smoke and I don’t even know how to gamble. I think that helps. In my downtime, I love to go hiking and travelling. I’ve been to the US, Canada, the Philippines, Russia...I like to explore different countries and I don’t have a favourite - as long as there is fun, I’m there!”
.
「我冇諗過最後我會嚟咗香港，我當時只係有需要離開我嘅國家。我唔想解釋背後發生咗咩事同埋點解，為安全起見我唔可以上鏡。當我五年前嚟到香港，我一個人都唔識，完全唔知要去邊度或者搵邊個。有六個月我係冇地方瞓，所以有時我會搵間麥當勞或者收容中心過夜。我唔知自己嗰陣時做緊咩，我都唔係好想記起。過咗好幾個月，難民服務中心同埋香港國際社會服務社幫我搵到間房去住。佢哋仲介紹咗 RunHK 俾我，一開始係一個為尋求庇護者而設嘅跑步行山群組。佢哋嘅活動令我有機會去接觸大自然同埋識多啲人，亦令我終於記得要享受生命。嗰時係我第一次對香港有感情同埋有歸屬感。」
「我喺廣東順德出世嘅，一歲嗰陣就同屋企人落咗嚟香港。我喺長洲大㗎，細個喺嗰度好開心。雖然到咗呢個年紀，但我都仲想繼續做嘢，繼續喺個社區度幫手，做得幾耐得幾耐。喺再皂福呢度我做得好開心㗎。點解我望落咁後生？後生嗰陣生活艱難，我好勤力做嘢，但後來我開始學識放開懷抱，而家就真係輕鬆好多。我覺得自己好好彩㗎喇，食得又訓得。我唔煙唔酒，叫我賭我都唔識賭，咁我覺得都有幫助。得閒嗰陣，我鍾意去行山同埋去旅行。我去過美國、加拿大、菲律賓、俄羅斯……我鍾意去唔同嘅國家，冇一個最鍾意喎，有嘢好玩就預埋我啦﹗」
