Why and how were Vietnamese used in rat hunt in 1902-03?

In 1902 rat hunt was started because the other part of the city was not provided with modern facilities. Even the installation of the sewage pipes led the rats to move around the city easily.

• Vietnamese were hired to catch the rat and for each rat caught by them, they were paid.

• Those who did the dirty work like entering into the sewage pipes began to take advantage of the situation by bargaining for higher pay.

• They were paid bounty when they showed the rat’s tail so they took advantage of this situation and every time they showed the tail and released the rat and repeated the process.

• They even started raising rates to get the bounty.