Scrap collector, 81, stuck with rats in flat after Covid-19 left him unable to sell his wares

For the past five months, an 81-year-old man found himself sleeping on a piece of cardboard outside his door, surrounded by ants and cockroaches, due to the number of scraps that had piled up in his flat.

That was, until volunteers from Keeping Hope Alive, a private initiative aimed at helping the less privileged, came to help clear out his apartment on Sunday morning (Sept 6).

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A series of videos posted by the group on Facebook showed a team, dressed in personal protection equipment (PPE), gathered outside the man's rental apartment along Lorong 5 Toa Payoh, sifting through piles of scraps and debris.

Among the debris were newspapers, wooden planks, chairs, a television and even bicycles.

In many of the videos, countless cockroaches could be seen running around the apartment, while large rats attempted to escape from view.

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Speaking with Lianhe Wanbao, Keeping Hope Alive's founder Fion Phua revealed it took 35 of them over seven hours to clear the apartment.

Due to the sheer volume of scraps, the volunteers were unable to enter through the front door and had to access the flat through the back door in the kitchen. They then packed everything into large plastic bags before bringing them out of the house.

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There were a total of 35 bags, Phua added.

"We also caught 12 rats."

The elderly man clarified that he wasn't a hoarder. He just wasn't able to sell the amassed scraps as a result of Covid-19, he said. 

"I didn't hoard scraps on purpose, it's just that I can't sell them now, so they're all collecting at home. I'm also old and I don't have the strength to clean," he told the Chinese daily.

To get by, he has bread or biscuits with 3-in-1 coffee for his meals. As for sleeping among pests, he said he was "used to it."

Fortunately for him, he shared that not only did the volunteers clean up his place, they also gifted him a new bed frame and mattress.

"I can finally sleep on a bed! I don't have to sleep with rats and cockroaches anymore."

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rainercheung@asiaone.com