May May, 61, wears a face mask as a precautionary measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus, as she crosses a road as she walks towards her rented storage space after receiving a free meal box given out by Gingko House restaurant from the basement of their Yau Ma Tei branch in Hong Kong on March 27,2020. May May has been a so called McRefugee for more than three years, meaning she has been sleeping in branches of the fast food restaurant due to being homeless. She spent her nights in the waterfront public area outside the Cultural Center in Tsim Sha Tsui since the fast food chain suspended dine-in services from 6pm for two weeks from March 26. May May has rented a mini storage space for her belongings but the basic welfare payment and disability allowance she receives from the government are not sufficient for renting a liveable space for her. - Gingko House is a social enterprise devoted to promoting elderly employment in catering services. It has been giving away free meal boxes for lunch and supper at one of its branches in Yau Ma Tei for more than two years. In the past half year, registered meal box recipients doubled to nearly 1,000, according to project manager and social worker Joyce Mak. (Photo by Anthony WALLACE/ AFP)
VIRTUALLY blind and penniless, Leung Ping-kuen usually spends his nights dozing in one of Hong Kong’s many 24-hour McDonald’s but now finds himself back on the streets because of the Covid-19 outbreak.
The 37-year-old is one of the city’s so-called “McRefugees”, a small community of homeless and rough sleepers who use the fast food chain as a shelter. McDonald’s has long turned a blind eye to those sleeping overnight in their restaurants. But in a bid to help stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, the company recently ended all dine-in services in Hong Kong from 6pm for the next fortnight.
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