No Hawking: A book about Hong Kong's Disappearing Hawkers

No Hawking A BOOK ABOUT HONG KONG'S DISAPPEARING HAWKERS

By Jacob Wong

INTRODUCTION

With a unique blend of East and West, the Pearl of the Orient, Hong Kong, showcases its many gems gems representing Hong Kong's culture, history and people.

Though these gems may define Hong Kong, some have become so integrated into society that they are often overlooked by its own people, taken for granted, neglected, and when they are noticed and acknowledged, they are not given the attention they deserve. These gems make up the fabric of Hong Kong. The fast pace of change in the environment which has become symbolic of Hong Kong has come at the price of Hong Kong losing some of its gems.

One of the barely surviving gems is the Hong Kong hawking culture.

The definition of a hawker is a person who travels around selling goods, typically advertising through shouting. With increasing concerns over food hygiene and environmental safety, the Hong Kong government has taken increasingly stringent measures to restrict hawkers' rights and so since the early 1970's, the government has stopped the issuing of new hawking licences. In my opinion, when you take a hawker licence away, you are taking a gem away from Hong Kong, you are losing a part of society. A government is a representation of its people, so is the government compromising Hong Kong's identity in order to move forward? This book hopes to showcase the stories and faces of hawkers in Hong Kong, and aims to humanize the faces we often pass by on the streets.

JASMINE FLOWER SELLER - NAME NOT DISCLOSED Officially, hawkers can be categorized into two types: Fixed-pitch and Itinerant. The term "FixedPitch Hawker" refers to any pitch positioned on the ground in any place or street. "Itinerant Hawker" refers to hawking in a mobile nature, with no fixed pitch. The Hong Kong Food and Environment Health Department (FEHD) issues separate licences for both types of hawkers.

Itinerant hawkers are special in that they are not allowed to pass their licences to neither their spouses nor children. Since the government has not issued any hawker licence since the early 1970's, the eventual eradication of legal hawking is imminent as the current hawker population continues to age.

The jasmine flower seller comes into the heart of Central every day, selling fresh jasmine buds one small sachet at a time. Standing in the 40 degrees centigrade summer heat, he stands for hours on end, pacing Theatre Lane, sifting through the crowd and approaching passerbys one by one.

Are you happy doing this job?

"I do what I do to earn a living. I am happy."

"You know that I don't have a licence right?"

"The FEHD officers don't bother me though"

WATCH MENDER - UNCLE TONY The fixed-pitch hawker is further categorized into "Cabinet Style" ones (distinctive by their green metal stalls) and "Hawker Permitted Places"(HPP's).

In the 2011 fire on Fa Yuen Street in Kowloon, the Cabinet Style hawking area experienced the deadliest fire in Hong Kong in fourteen years. The incident killed nine, injured thirty-four, and displaced over one hundred people from their homes in the area. The government blamed the hawkers for the high fatality rate as they explained that their stalls had blocked the emergency exits of buildings in the area. In the aftermath of the file, the government has required hawkers to move their pitches, giving a subsidy of HKD$10,000 to help them rebuild and setup their stalls in newlyallocated locations along Fa Yuen Street.

Uncle Tony is a watch mender who works on Li Yuen Street East, Central. When I went to interview him I had to phone him as he had just moved from one end of Li Yuen Street to the other end. The government had moved his pitch as his stall used to block a fire escape of a building. He was willing to move but remarked that his loyal customers could not locate him easily. Uncle Tony is generally against the government's stance on hawkers. "Hong Kong will never be the same without hawkers."

"I am very happy as a watch mender. I have a morning shift working elsewhere. I continue doing my job because I like helping people.

What I do is all I know."

A fixed pitch hawker licence has many differences from that of an itinerant hawker.

One of which is that the government allows fixed-pitch licences to be handed down to immediate family members (spouse, son, parent, daughter) once the hawker dies, cancels or "surrenders" his licence. However, after being transferred once, the licence cannot be transferred again. This is a problem for the continuation of the hawking culture as no new hawking licences have been issued since the early 1970's, meaning that in next fifty to seventy years, legal hawking would have become a thing of the past.

Uncle Tony is showing me his licence, explaining that he inherited his licence from his mother, and that his sons and daughters are educated enough to find a job that will earn them a better living than the living he makes mending watches. He is the first inheritor of his licence, and he is also the last.

FLOUR DOLL SELLER - UNCLE TANG Times are changing, and fast. With no new hawker licences granted, hawkers are aging, their crafts forgotten, and society will lose another piece of its heritage.

Uncle Tang has been selling his flour figurines in Hong Kong since July 1978. He emigrated from Fujian province in China to flee the Cultural Revolution. When describing his experiences, he would constantly mutter the word "tsam", meaning "tragic" or "deeply miserable" in his native Fujian dialect. Uncle Tang learnt the thousand-year-old craft of making dough puppets in his native village, and he sells each flour doll for 50 Hong Kong dollars.

Embracing changing times, Uncle Tang now sells rubber toys and plastic figurines. Even with the added variety, Uncle Tang says that children today are not interested in buying his toys and are turning towards their mobile devices. "Business is bad....

The government doesn't help me."

You can find Uncle Tang every day from 7 - 11pm sitting quietly in front of Hang Lung Center, Causeway Bay. He avoids setting up his hawker pitch on rainy days.

I have not seen Uncle Tang at his pitch since the end of the summer of 2014. He has most likely retired, or maybe in ill health and has not been able to continue his business.

"I used to make over thirty styles [of flour dolls], now I only make five."

Are your three kids planning to inherit your license?

"They are useless and don't look after me and my wife. They have all moved out."

It takes Uncle Tang over an hour to craft one flour doll.

VILLAIN HITTER - AUNTIE LEUNG While many hawkers remain unnoticed by the casual passerby, some hawkers have gained celebrity status in the Hong Kong community. One of them is Auntie Leung.

Auntie Leung practices Villain Hitting, a traditional Cantonese ritual believed to cleanse one of evil and curses and she is one of four ladies who work under the Canal Flyover in the Causeway Bay district. It is a funny juxtaposition, watching an old lady whacking a piece of paper, representing an evil spirit, with her kitten heel, while double-decker buses whiz by less than a meter away.

The Canal Flyover Villain Hitters are famous as they are some of the last and only people who are thought to know how to practise this ritual. I noticed that many people treated the hitters as a spectacle, taking photos instead of partaking in the ceremony themselves. Auntie Leung earns about HKD$200 a day. "I am happy that I can make my own living and not have to rely on the government."

Auntie Leung is indifferent about the government decisions regarding hawkers as she lives what she reckons as a "fulfilling lifestyle".

Auntie Leung claims that she is free of health issues, and thanks Guan Yin, the Buddhist deity of Mercy, for keeping her healthy and answering her prayers.

HOW IT WORKS 1. Sit down and choose a Villain Hitter.

2. Write down your enemy's name on the slip of paper printed green with the outlines of four human bodies.

3. A piece of offertory paper will then be swooshed around rhythmically, before being burnt up by red candles and thrown into a milk powder tin.

4. The Villain Hitter will fold the paper with the name of the enemy up while chanting.

5. The paper will then by swayed around by the Hitter, and placed on two bricks stacked on top of each other.

6. A black kitten-heel slipper will then magically appear in the Hitter's hand.

7. Whacking sounds paired with the chanting will begin. The Hitter will use the tip of the slipper to hit the paper. The Hitter chants the name of the customer and tells the evil spirit to leave and also curses the name of the villain.

8. Once five minutes has passed, the paper is then wrapped in a yellow paper tiger.

9. The yellow-colored tiger, representing the mythical white tiger, will be "fed" with pig fat.

10. The tiger will then be burnt and thrown into the milk tin.

11. More offertory paper will be burnt.

12. Offertory paper will be hit lightly against the customer, starting with hands, head and then back.

13. The paper will then be burnt.

14. End and collect money.

BOOTBLACK - NAME NOT DISCLOSED Through hawker control, the Hong Kong government has made numerous efforts to eradicate illegal hawking and, "To minimize... the nuisances created by street trading." It appears that the government has been successful in its efforts, with a reduction of more than ninety percent of illegal hawking since 1993. Hawking, whether illegal or not, is a defining feature of Hong Kong's identity. If a government reflects the desires of a population, does this mean that Hong Kong people wish to eradicate their own identity?

In early 2009, the unlicenced bootblacks of Theatre Lane, Central, had their tools confiscated and were fined HKD$1500 each. They earn about HKD$200 a day and they had to make their tools from scratch again. Audrey Eu, a civic party legislator said, "It's simply absurd that the FEHD fines people for operating without a licence when they refuse to issue licences in the first place."

The lady on the right had her licence passed down from her father, who too was a shoe shiner. "Now that we have licences, they don't annoy us anymore."

"So many university students have interviewed me that you can probably find more information online than by asking me."

Theatre Lane, Central, is a "Hawker Blackspot" and FEHD Hawker Controllers can often be seen patrolling the street checking licences. They also make sure that the hygiene of the stalls is up to standard. Sweeps for rats are commonplace.

TIN SAU BAZAAR In an effort to congregate and efficiently control hawking activities, the Hong Kong government has created bazaars and market spaces where hawkers can operate and sell their wares. While this may be seen as a step towards preserving cultural heritage, many view these bazaars as stifling the sounds and smells of hawking culture.

The Tin Sau Bazaar of Tin Shui Wai is one example of the government's failures in preserving Hong Kong's hawking tradition. All 186 stalls were 26 times over-applied for, and the bazaar was so illprepared that it did not open on time. Hawkers are forced to pay rent, therefore driving prices up, making the goods in the bazaar almost as expensive as supermarkets and stores in general. The rules have stopped a lot of the local farmers from getting a stall. One farmer said, "depending on the season, we sometimes open only for an hour or two a day.

We're not big farmers, we don't have lots of goods."

When I went to the Tin Sau Bazaar, less than a quarter of the stalls were open.

I overheard one lady saying,...

"All the stalls are already open, there is nothing more to see."

CHESTNUT ROASTER - UNCLE LEUNG This is a story of a hawker that is quite different from the ones previously described.

Mr. Leung is a 76-year-old chestnut roaster in Wanchai. As a child Mr. Leung had little education and saw chestnut roasting as a profession in which he could earn a good living. As a teen, he would watch experienced chestnut roasters practicing their craft, hoping to catch a glimpse of the tricks of the trade. He learnt that adding sugar to the coals in the wok would caramelize the chestnuts. He learnt that his roasted potatoes sold better in winter, as they were prepared warm and toasty. He also learnt that earning a living was hard work.

Mr. Leung now lives a fulfilling lifestyle. Every morning he has Yum-Cha with his wife and starts work in the late morning. He has three children - all successful doctors and pharmacists - who support him financially. Mr. Leung really doesn't need to work, but still he still sets up his stall everyday.

At the time of the interview, Mr. Leung said that he would retire from this trade in less than a month.

"A lot of people take pictures of me, some send them to me from America!"

"I am able to make a living but it is hard work" Sweet potatoes sell for HKD$20 a piece, gingko nuts for HKD$20 a bag and 5 quail eggs for HKD$10.

Laughing, Uncle Leung jokingly asked, "Do you want to take a photo of me pushing my cart?" .

The photo above was taken one month after the interview. Uncle Leung has now retired (He retired in March 2014)

UMBRELLA MENDER - UNCLE HO With the last hawker licence issued about forty years ago, signs of hawkers disappearing have become even clearer. Uncle Ho is no exception.

Uncle Ho's cabinet-type fixed pitch clings precariously to the top of the steep incline of Peel Street in Central. Uncle Ho is an umbrella mender, who has practiced this unique profession for over 67 years. He turns 94 this year.

In an interview with him in 2010 by CNN, Uncle Ho explained that in the 1950's, umbrellas were considered luxury items. Uncle Ho found that he could earn a profit mending them. Uncle Ho strongly believes that the throw-away and wasteful mentality of people today should be replaced by an attitude of repair and restore. In the interview, Uncle Ho vowed to keep working every day until the day he died.

Today, Uncle Ho does not work regular hours and is very hard to find on weekends. It is safe to say that without him, Peel Street will never be the same again.

Note: Uncle Ho's stall has been boarded up and is no longer in operation since early winter of 2014

A couple sitting by the stairs explained that Uncle Hos' wife and children take good care of him and assist him down the steep steps to his stall.

"Uncle Ho hunches over and walks slowly. He is very slow when he fixes umbrellas and has lost his dexterity," explained the couple.

RICKSHAWS Hawkers are not the only the only aspects of Hong Kong culture that the government has sadly not given support to. Japanese rickshaws were introduced to Hong Kong in 1878 and have disappeared in less than a century. Just like hawkers, rickshaws and their coolies had become a trademark of Hong Kong, but they were frowned upon by the government.

In the late 1800's, the thin wheels of the rickshaws quickly wore down the paved roads, making the roads slippery when rain mixed with the underlying mud. To the government, this hazard was equal to the fire hazard presented by fixed pitch hawkers, and needed to be rid of. The introduction of cheaper, cleaner and more efficient public trams which were introduced in the early 1900's led to the steady decline in the popularity of rickshaws.

Imagine the sights, sounds, smells and smiles without the presence of hawkers in our streets. Is this the Hong Kong we know? Is this Hong Kong we want?

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