Hong Kong’s One-Woman Scaffolder Reaches Top

Most people would be terrified of climbing up creaky bamboo poles to the top of a 20-story building, but for 20-year-old So Yuet-ngor it is something she does every day.

She is the first and only woman scaffolder in Hong Kong and there is nothing she likes better than to feel that she is on the top of the world.

“Looking down from high above has always fascinated me,” she said, while tying together bamboo poles with a bamboo string.

Bamboo scaffolding is still commonly used in constructing buildings in this British colony. It is both cheaper than steel girders and easier to set up.

So was one of 20 bamboo scaffolders who graduated last year from a one-year training course at the Kwai Chung Construction Center.

Center manager Ko Cheuk-luen said he was impressed by So’s “enthusiasm and ability.”

The center was set up in 1977 to encourage young people to learn the traditional Chinese craft, which Ko says faces the prospect of dying out because there is a lack of adequately trained workers.

Safety Belts, Ropes

He explained that many parents regard the work as dangerous and said young people also did not like the idea of serving as an apprentice under a master.

As far as safety is concerned, he said, the center trains students to wear safety belts and ropes, a practice largely ignored by older workers who regard them as clumsy.

To encourage enrollment, each student is given 1,200 Hong Kong dollars ($154 U.S.) a month as allowance. The course is designed to give trainees practical work five out of six days a week.

According to Ko, there are about 1,000 bamboo scaffolders in Hong Kong.

So says she has no difficulty finding work but long-term jobs are harder to get.

“We usually work on a daily basis, getting about 150 Hong Kong dollars ($20 U.S.) for a new hand,” So said, adding that a master can earn slightly more than 250 Hong Kong dollars ($32 U.S.) a day.