"Dai Pai Dongs" and hawkers may be back on the streets

Ease rules on dai pai dongs and hawkers, says bureau

Legco to debate proposal to issue more licences

Hawkers have welcomed a change in policy that would see more of them - and dai pai dongs - back on the streets.

They say hawking is not only a part of Hong Kong culture but also offers job opportunities for unskilled workers.

In a paper to Legco, the Food and Health Bureau has suggested the government relax its controls on licences for food stalls, which would amount to a reversal of policy of the past 30 years.

Tsang Kam-ming, chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong, Kowloon New Territories Hawkers Association, said yesterday the policy reversal came late but "better late than never".

"The government tends to regard hawking as a source of hygiene concerns or noise nuisance. But hawking is also a kind of economic activity," Mr Tsang said.

"Grass-roots workers sometimes need to hawk on streets to make extra money to support themselves."

Referring to dai pai dongs, or open-air roadside food stalls, Mr Tsang added: "They are icons of Hong Kong and many tourists like to eat there."

Street hawkers and food stalls could be found across the city in the 1960s. Streets were lined with itinerant hawkers selling daily groceries at affordable prices.

Dai pai tongs were packed during dining hours. A highlight on their menu is yin yeung - a mix of milk tea and coffee. But by the early 1970s, the now defunct Urban Council tightened its policies and stopped issuing hawker licences.

Ice-cream hawker Chan Po-cheung, 73, said the policy reversal could revive the industry. "Although the businesses cannot make a lot of money, at least I can support myself and do not need to depend on welfare," he said.

According to the Food and Health Bureau, the government should explore "the feasibility of re-issuing new hawker licences and relaxing the requirements for succession and transfer of hawker licences".

Licences would be issued to new operators in some open-air bazaars like the Ladies' Market in Mong Kok, where vacant spots are available. On dai pai dongs, the bureau says district councils should be given a bigger say in deciding whether a stall should be closed or allowed to continue to operate after the expiry of a licence.

The 80-year-old Man Yuen noodle shop in Elgin Street in Central was forced to close in 2005 after its licence lapsed with the death of the licensee, Wong Kwong-hing. His partners were not allowed to continue the business.

The bureau also backs re-issuing licences to small ice cream vendors and ice cream vans, although it is against easing the policy on itinerant hawkers because of hygiene and environmental concerns. There are 6,513 fixed-pitch hawker licences, including 28 dai pai dongs and 79 cooked food bazaars.

Legislators on the food safety and environmental hygiene panel are expected to discuss the matter next Tuesday. Panellist Wong Kwok-hing, welcomed the policy review, saying: "It can help ease the poverty problem too if people are allowed to hawk to make more money."

SCMP. Jun 6, 2008.