Hong Kong workers ready to sacrifice Lunar New Year break as scaffold net rules bite

Hong Kong plumber Anson Hui Po-lung is ready to work through his Lunar New Year break to make ends meet, after struggling since the citywide removal of scaffolding nets began in early December, in response to the deadly blaze at Tai Po’s Wang Fuk Court. Twenty public housing projects and 230 private buildings undergoing major maintenance had to suspend facade work after the removal of the nets, threatening the livelihoods of about 700 workers for more than two months. As of mid-February, only 19...