Distressed Hawker's Future in Doubt

Chan begging officers to just giver her a fine, not take her cart

A reporter happened to come across an altercation between a 90-year-old hawker selling roasted chestnuts and sweet potatoes and officers from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department at Cheung Sha Wan MTR station. 

Chan Tak-ching had just left her stall for 20 minutes for a toilet break when a 29-year-old man helped her man her cart, but according to her hawker license she is not allowed to let others do this for her. As a result the young man and the cart were taken away.

Many like eating roasted chestnuts in winter

With several onlookers, the elderly woman was sitting on the ground, pleading with the FEHD officers to only give her a fine, as she depended on this cart for her livelihood. The young man was her goddaughter's son, who was subsequently charged with illegal hawking and was released on a HK$1,000 (US$127) bail pending a trial set for March 29.

"He has been helping me run the cart for several years, while i take care of the money bag," she said. "The female officer was going too far... She said we were peddling the chestnuts at a hawker black spot, but in fact, we were not."

She wanted her cart back to run her business which she has done for decades. However in this situation the cart is seized as evidence, and if the person is convicted, the cart is confiscated permanently, and presumably the hawker license too?

As the FEHD lays down the law, the real problem is that elderly people who should be enjoying retirement, are still eking out a living.

The other day an 84-year-old taxi driver crashed into two pedestrians in Fortress Hill, though before this latest accident, there was debate about whether people over 80 should be allowed to drive a taxi.

There are fewer and fewer hawkers in Hong Kong

It's because they need the money. While the vast majority of taxi drivers are in their 60s, many are in their 50s, and a small handful in their 80s. 

Perhaps the government should revisit its Old Age Allowance or "fruit money" for the elderly, because HK$1,570 a month isn't enough for much of anything in Hong Kong. Only those with good jobs have some kind of pension, while the rest rely on saving as much as they can. And to pass the time some continue to work to earn a bit of extra money.

Street hawkers are a cultural part of Hong Kong. When you see people roasting chestnuts in giant woks on the street, winter is here. There used to be others selling candy and puddings in bowls. But they are no more. You're lucky to find someone making egg waffles, and if you do there's a long line.

There has to be some kind of balance struck to enable the elderly to make a living. But is the government compassionate enough to let Chan get her cart back?