They use lashed bamboo!

Scaffolding in Tsim Sha Tsui. Few raw materials are tougher, so what's the problem? Maybe the way the poles are affixed to one another.

My sixth trip to Asia and I've never seen this before. I think it's a Chinese thing. Construction workers use lashed-together bamboo stalks for their scaffolding instead of steel. Few things are more durable than bamboo, but it has proven perilous when workers are climbing about on it. Seventy died in a single accident in eastern China in 2016.

If nothing else, Hong Kong is a testament to unfettered corporate conglomerates. A democracy it's not ― only a select few corporate executives are allowed to vote, and it's reasonable to assume they get together before election day and get behind candidates who won't interfere with the smooth upward flow of the city's skyline. What's a few dozen deaths here and there?

Careful, bub: Construction worker in Wan Chai.

The lashes look like some kind of zip ties. If so, they would become brittle with exposure to sunlight.