Uncle selling ice cream reflects Hong Kong hawker's embarrassment

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Written by: Comment Editor

2019-12-02 17:55

Demonstrators launched a "Don't Forget Your Heart Parade" in Tsim Sha Tsui on Sunday (December 1), during which police and civilian clashes triggered. Police fired tear gas bombs outside Salisbury Gardens. An uncle, an ice cream cart near 80, said that he was not aware of the rally, but only felt that the number of people was increasing, "the water sales business was very good." The picture of calming snow bars between riot police officers and demonstrators also seemed to be "parallel space-time" in a tense atmosphere.

Uncle Ouyang drove an ice cream truck converted from a three-wheeled motorcycle and sold it in Tsim Sha Tsui on Sunday. Although he inhaled tear gas, he was still in awe. After volunteer volunteers helped to wash his eyes, he said lightly: "Now eat a snow strip and increase your breathing and everything will be fine." This uncle who sells ice cream will undoubtedly sell hawkers during this period. The embarrassing state was visualized and concretely presented.

Before the uncle selling ice cream was noticed, the government's bail-out measures had benefited local hawkers, including exempting fixed-street hawkers and mobile hawkers from licensing fees from October this year to September next year, involving 28.6 million yuan, benefiting 5,900 people. Uncle Ouyang's ice cream cart belongs to the category of "frozen desserts" under the "mobile hawker license", which is commonly known as the "ice cream brand". The license renewal fee is RMB 2,100 per year. However, exempting the one-year licence fee pair is still not enough to help hawkers overcome the current difficulties.

Uncle Ouyang drove an ice cream truck converted from a three-wheeled motorcycle and sold it in Tsim Sha Tsui on Sunday. (Photo by Huang Yongyu)

Relief measures cannot be faked

First of all, the license fee like a hawker's rent is not always high. This is also an advantage of hawkers over renting. In addition to the license fee of 2,100 yuan per year for ice cream trucks, taking the fixed hawkers who are about to issue new licenses as an example, the annual fee also ranges from more than 4,000 to more than 6,000 yuan, which is several hundred yuan per month. Compared to licensing fees, hawkers face a bigger problem. Conflict directly affects the opportunities for stalls, especially during weekends, and their goods have to be rented for storage, which is another expenditure.

The Li Ka-shing Foundation launched the 1 billion "emergency money" plan earlier on Tuesday (26th) and announced the start of the third round of funding, including a total of 100 million yuan for licensed fixed or mobile hawkers. Licensed hawkers can An application for 5,000 yuan is expected to be issued before mid-December. Concerned about Li Dacheng, a director of the CSSA low-income coalition, he pointed out that "5,000 yuan is not much, but it is enough for them (licensed hawkers) to pay utility bills for several months." It can be seen that the foundation's funding can have an immediate effect. In turn, it can be seen that the government alone cannot waive hawkers by waiving licensing fees.

In fact, government support for the hawker industry has always been criticized as negative. In terms of the licensing system, the government has stopped issuing additional hawker licenses since the 1970s, and only partially reopened applications after the old licenses were withdrawn. There is a strong public demand for hawker stalls. For example, as many as 9,000 people competed for more than 200 fixed hawker licenses in 2010.

The foundation's funding can have an immediate effect, and in turn, it can be seen that the government alone cannot waive the hawkers by waiving the license fee. (Profile picture)

Struggling hawkers

Secondly, although the authorities have allocated funds to improve basic equipment such as fire fighting for hawkers after the fire on Fa Yuen Street, and even assisted in relocation and reconstruction, the overall support is difficult to say. Earlier, 854 fixed-pitch hawkers returned their licenses, accounting for a quarter of the total. It can also be seen that hawker operations are not easy. Hong Kong's urban planning relies too much on top-down, dominated by shopping malls and rent-shopping, and is not conducive to bottom-up, people-oriented and small-scale operations. Hawkers are already at a disadvantage to survive in Hong Kong.

Even more than the government, the Legislative Council held a public hearing on the allocation of vacant hawker stalls in January this year. Many hawkers made a special trip to the Legislative Council to participate, but only eight members were present. Vice Chairman Shao Jiahui, seven Democrats, seven The absence of members of the DAB and other members caused the public hearings to circulate due to insufficient quorum. The hawker's voice has not entered the mainstream of society.

Compared with the food truck policy, it is more obvious that the government treats the hawker stalls with contempt. Whether it is propaganda, supporting, etc., it can be seen that the government attaches great importance to the development of beautiful food. Although the government has explained that the US car food is positioned as tourism and hawkers serve the community, the two cannot be compared. However, if the hawkers serving the community have living space, they also need government support. If it develops, hawkers can actually change the rent-led operating environment in Hong Kong, so that people who are willing to start a business can first try small businesses and develop their potential business capabilities.

In fact, hawkers can actually change the rent-led operating environment in Hong Kong, so that people who are willing to start a business can first try small businesses and develop their potential business capabilities. (Profile picture)

The uncle who sells ice cream is an uncle, which has fully reflected that it is difficult for hawkers to attract young people into the industry. Industry representative Chen Jinrong also told the media earlier that the lack of government promotion "is really hard to eat as a hawker." Most hawkers continue to operate because of their age and bluntly disapprove young people. Hawkers are not only Hong Kong-specific, but also have a social and historical background. They also have the above-mentioned economic benefits, unlocking the potential of this entrepreneurial hard soil. What is lacking is government support and the government's vision.

At present, Hong Kong is facing stormy revisions. The catering, retail and other industries are in the midst of a cold winter, and the needs of hawkers have become prominent. Even for immediate relief, the government has done more than the foundation. Even if the hawker is able to weather the crisis, the authorities have failed to provide a wider range of packages to hawkers to promote the development of this specialty industry.

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Ice Cream Uncle Hawker 01 Viewpoint