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Citizens Watch
Street Hawkers are famous for low prices,good quality, good value!
They actually fed lots of families,
but are regarded as obstruction and poor hygiene nowadays.
How did people get such impressions?
Earlier this year, while reviewing hawkers policy,
the government suggest conserving this industry as cultural heritage.
Meanwhile, it keeps surpressing them. Which stance does it actually take?
Today, in Central, a political party initiate an event to support hawkers.
Let's listen to the public and hawkers.
(Have you been a customer of this shoeshiner before?)
I come all the way to get my leather shoes polished here.
(Why have you come?)
To support them.
Food and Environmental Hygiene Department demolishes their livelihood.
Shoeshiners don't really cause obstruction.
(What do you think about FEHD's attitude towards them?)
FEHD is just trying hard to find faults.
They don't make prosecution of commercial banners and poster stands.
These shoeshiners are just making a living with their own skills.
The service here is quick and attentive. Shoes are well-polished.
Most important, these small business are full of human touch,
which is absent in chained stores.
It is not just about satisfying customers,
but also my standard and satisfaction.
Customers in the second place.
You just need to exercise your wits.
Every pair of leather shoes are different, some softer, some harder.
You have to study and learn how to polish them well,
and satisfy customers with your skills.
You got to come up with ways!
A political party held this event
supporting shoeshiners in Central Theatre Lane for over 10 years to continue their livelihood.
Their business is affected by the financial crisis,
and the FEHD inspectors prosecute and drive them off harshly.
Only until the issue arouses concern from political parties and mass media,
FEHD suddenly consider issuing licenses for these shoeshiners.
They just surround us, two from there, serveral from there
making us nowhere to escape, catching us by all means.
I was bending down to work. Several inspectors came at the same time,
asked for my I.D. card,
then moved all my things and took me to police station.
They were so experienced, as if catching theif.
These hawkers just want to survive.
The government shouldn’t be so cruel.
(What do you think about the government’s attitude?)
Cold and unconcern.
These individual stores don't just exist in the Mid-West district.
They can survive here because many people work in this district.
But many hawkers are mobile,
and the government doesn't issue hawking licenses anymore.
Shouldn't we consider ways for mobile hawkers to survive in these areas?
Although the government considers issuing licenses for shoeshiners,
giving an impression that this industry will get some rooms to survive,
but can licensed hawkers lead comfortable, stable lives?
Mr. Man, who got his mobile hawker license in the 50's, thinks that
the government left hawkers with less rooms to be self-reliant in these years.
I have been a mobile hawker for more than 50 years.
It is the government who asked us to help reviving the economy.
Now the market is prosperous, everyone has money.
Hawkers like us don't earn much, so now they want to wipe us away.
(Did hawkers earn a lot back then?)
Of course! You hadn't even been born back then.
There were tens of thousands of hawkers, now only a hundred or so left.
Now they charge us with obstruction. They didn't even mention back then.
It is still the same Hong Kong! Without growing larger!
Mr. Man and his colleagues are chased away serveral times a day.
On our shooting day, it wasn't crowded, but FEHD staff were still harsh.
Tell me how I block the traffic.
Could you really distinguish whether that is obstruction or not?
Black spot everywhere. Nowhere for hawker stall, otherwise get arrested.
How I block the road? But the government said so. Nothing I can do.
How can I admit obstructing the roads? You see!
These old men just try to feed themselves, not to disrupt society.
We are not stealing or robbing. Do not treat us like criminals.
In March 2009,
the government reviewed the hawkers’ licensing policy,
suggested re-issuing hawker licenses, which has been stopped since the 70s.
For food booths, ice cream and fixed stalls, new licenses are expected.
They promised to consider hawkers' cultural, economic and social values.
But as civic groups indicated, FEHD charges more hawkers in these years.
Between 2004 and 2007, the number increased 10 times.
The review was criticized as only focus on licensing issues,
without discussing the government's policies to repress hawkers.
We warn and disperse them first,
only if they are impervious to warnings, then we would charge them.
We have already adjusted the way we enforce the law.
You don't have any policy or rationale, not even sympathy for the suffering lower class.
Obviously, your next step is to eliminate these street hawkers.
You want to cleanse the society.
But then people can't make a living, the society would still be in a mess.
Why can’t you use your brains?
Stop using that conservative mind!
The government tends to bully the weak.
Only if people voice out loud enough, the government may back down a bit.
Now they just consider issuing licenses to those shoe shiners in Central.
I haven't seen any suggesting a thorough review on hawker policy.
The government's attitude in fact is to ban all hawkers.
Officially, they are called "hawkers management teams",
but they are more like hawkers terminating team,
because they arrest hawkers immediately.
Many people illegally park their cars on the streets nowadays.
Police just lock their cars and impose penalty, never confiscate vehicles.
On the contrary, if a hawker is caught selling without a license,
apart from penalty, his goods and equipments are also confiscated.
I believe there is no legal basis behind the confiscation. It's simply vicious!
why do you think you can confiscate others’ properties?
Why is the government spending so much money each year
to eliminate hawkers on streets?
It is actually very ridiculous and laughable.
Our society hasn't seriously discussed about this issue.
Is it necessary to stop underclass from making a livelihood by themselves?
They don't rely on government welfare. Why do we have to tackle them?
I am very proud of myself contributing to the society.
Citziens Watch
Reporter: Fredie Chan
Trainee Reporter: Doris Chan
Camera: Fredie Chan, Pang
Editor : Fredie Chan
English Subtitles: Florence Lo, Conie Leung