Big Issue Taiwan vendor Hong Chinying: ‘I can’t give up’

CHEN ZI-HUA Big Issue Taiwan

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Due to injuries, Auntie Hong and her husband lost their jobs as cleaners six years ago and had to sell chewing gum to make ends meet. Having been recommended by a vendor at the train station at that time, her husband started working at Chang Jung Christian University as a street paper vendor. But things took a sharp turn and her husband passed away unexpectedly not long after. Auntie Hong couldn't stay down for long, but instead asked if she could take over her husband's job so she could support herself. "The paper was very accommodating and let me take over without hesitation."

During her early sales at the university, Auntie Hong said that many familiar teachers and students came to support her, buying several copies at a time, asking if they could hug her afterwards, and some crying after hugging her. The warmth there probably made Auntie Hong enjoy her time there and remain motivated to travel to her workplace despite moving to a more remote area and having to commute more to reach the campus.

Nowadays, Auntie Hong sells the magazine in multiple places: at Chia Nan University of Pharmacy & Science on Mondays, Chang Jung Christian University on Tuesdays through Fridays, on holiday afternoons at the intersection of Shennong Street and Hai'an Road, and at the National Cheng Kung University Kuang-Fu Campus during the summer and winter holidays, depending on the situation. Auntie Hong, whose work takes her almost all over Tainan, only taking days off on rainy days and when she needs to see a doctor. Isn’t she tired? We asked her. She laughed and said no. When the pandemic stopped her from selling on the streets a while back, she had worked as a dishwasher. For her, selling magazines is already a relatively effortless job.

"There is one less person earning money now and there is no alternative." The hard work Auntie Hong does seems to reveal the absence of her other half. She can still recall vividly the day her husband passed away, and the day after this interview was the sixth anniversary of his passing. In the years since, she has missed him many times, "but it's not necessary to keep missing him. I just live my life and take good care of myself."

Six years have passed, and the days are flying by. Auntie Hong takes her life seriously. During her free time, she will do her housekeeping chores. When she’s out for work, she will actively promote her goods to passers-by. While magazine sales have been affected by the pandemic, Auntie Hong hasn't let it affect her morale. "I can't give up; we can't say that. " In order to prove her belief, Auntie Hong not only introduces the magazine to people passing by, she also actively approaches people, asking enthusiastically and energetically, "Do you want to buy The Big Issue?"

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