• The term is the transliteration of the Malay word karung guni.
• karung guni (or rag-and-bone men) were seen as early as in the mid-20th century. The term karung guni refers to "gunny sack" in Malay. In the past, karang guni could often be found moving around housing estates with a gunny sack over their shoulders, collecting old and unwanted items. Nowadays, they use trolleys to collect these items.
• These rag-and-bone men generally use horns or shout "karung guni" to attract residents' attention. They collect various items such as old newspapers, clothes and home appliances, which are then sold to recycling facilities or at flea markets.

The karung guni were panting heavily as bag after bag of recyclable items were slowly pushed into the recycling bin. They were all getting on in years, and not all of them collect recyclable items entirely for money. Some of them do it to pass the time, while others do so to promote environmental awareness with volunteers. (Lianhe Zaobao, 19/1/2018)

• According to a survey conducted by Singapore’s Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) in 2013, although the karung guni trade is on a gradual decline, about 43.2% of people still choose to sell their old newspapers and unwanted items to karung guni while 29.8% prefer to place them in recycling bins.