‘I will be here until they kill us’ – hawker at Hong Kong estate defiant after simmering unrest turns violent
Food sellers return to work in Tuen Mun after clashes with self-proclaimed hawker control team
About 10 hawkers at a housing estate in Tuen Mun expressed defiance yesterday and said they would continue to operate despite conflicts plaguing the neighbourhood in recent days.
Tension between a self-proclaimed hawker control team and people supporting the food sellers turned into violence at the 28-year old Leung King housing estate on Tuesday night.
But the brawl was believed to be unrelated to overnight rioting in Mong Kok the day before.
“I will be here until they kill us,” an unfazed hawker who wished to remain anonymous told the Post after the latest clashes. He said the conflicts started around January 21 when a renovated wet market, run by company Link Reit, opened at the estate.
“The so-called managing officers would come at night and fence off the area, stopping people from buying food from us.”
He said Link Reit increased the rent at the wet market after the renovation. “They promised the cooked food stores there would be no hawkers around to encourage them to rent their space.”
Link Reit, or Link Real Estate Investment Trust, owns properties around housing estates and above MTR stations. In a reply to the Post, Link Reit distanced itself from the clashes and denied the hawker control team was its staff.