Hong Kong lecturer fined HK$1,800 for selling fried squid without licence

A community college lecturer was fined HK$1,800 on Monday for selling fried squid in the street on the eve of the Lunar New Year, in a case that put the spotlight on the rights and role of hawkers in the city.

Lau Siu-lai, from Polytechnic University’s Hong Kong Community College, was ordered to pay a fine after she was convicted of hawking on Kweilin Street in Sham Shui Po on February 7.

The hawker supporter, 40, was found guilty of one count of obstruction of public places, one of hawking without a licence and another of cooking food for the purpose of hawking without a licence.

Outside court, Lau said it was necessary for the government to rethink its policies as hawking provided jobs for citizens and contributed to more affordable neighbourhoods in an increasingly expensive environment dominated by corporate giants.

“So not only were there citizens who would like to go into hawking, there were also those would wish to make purchases,” said Lau, who proposed the government should regulate hawkers with a market. She said she made her observation from a Wong Tai Sin market she organised earlier.

Yesterday’s case also dealt a blow to an unproven belief that the city’s unlicensed hawkers were allowed to hawk on the street during the Lunar New Year with discretion.