Many people have argued for fair-trade coffee, clothing and computers but I'm just thinking that it’s not a good idea having an air con drainage pipe facing the sunshine. Fresh water and sunlight make for algal blooms during summer. So much so that it choked the pipe and my bedroom was flooded for three consecutive nights. Anyway, we had the maintenance guy come over to clear all that for 40 RMB. Wifey and the kids are sleeping fine now despite the 35 degrees heat outside. The bliss that comes with technology and cheap labour.
Labour is dirt cheap in Shanghai and, by extension, the rest of China. 40 RMB is less than nine Singapore dollars. I wouldn’t make a big deal out of it, except for the fact that to clear the drainage the guy had to crawl out the bathroom window and along a 4-inch foothold to reach the compressor unit hanging from the side of the building. With no safety attachment. I should also mention that the entire estate has the same air con brand and installation design, which means this guy and his colleagues have to do this continuously at the height of summer.
Tonight my family’s getting a good night’s sleep under climate-controlled conditions while I think about fair-trade coffee, clothing, computers and compressors. It’s definitely not a good idea having the air con drainage facing the sunshine.
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