Hong Kong Heatwave: Workers Pay the Price as Temperatures Soar

At a bustling fruit store in Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay, workers with damp towels around their necks and cooling fan vests are stocking up on chilled drinks. Temperatures hit 32 degrees Celsius (89.6 Fahrenheit) on a busy weekday morning. Soaked in sweat, 29-year-old construction worker Yau is among those buying a litre of water to beat the heat on Wednesday. “I spend at least HK$100 per day to buy water these days,” he said. “It is expensive, and I get poor just drinking water to survive.” The scene highlights the growing strain on manual labourers as the city faces more frequent and intense heatwaves. For workers like Yau, staying hydrated is not a choice but a costly necessity.