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Colleen Lee

Woo Ying, 75, a pyjama vendor who has operated in Tai Yuen Street for more than 40 years, welcomed the government's move to preserve Wan Chai's 80-year-old outdoor market.
In his policy speech yesterday, Donald Tsang Yam-kuen said: 'Our plan for preserving the open-air bazaar in Tai Yuen Street and Cross Street has been finalised.
'Once endorsed by the Wan Chai District Council, we will further beautify the bazaar with local characteristics,' he said.
A relieved Mr Woo said: 'I was worried that I could no longer earn a living if they forced me out. I have two sons and a daughter, but they are too busy taking care of themselves.'
The government proposed earlier to relocate 86 of the market's 158 outdoor stalls to clear the southern side of Tai Yuen Street and eastern side of Cross Street to make way for extra traffic resulting from new residential developments in the area.
A Development Bureau spokesman said the government had decided to preserve the entire market.
Mr Woo suggested the administration  tidy up the market by marking clear boundaries on the ground for each stall and provide vendors with stalls of traditional Chinese characteristics to make it more appealing.
'Ten years ago, there were not so many shoppers. But with more offices springing up in the area, many office ladies pass by at lunchtime and after work. And our business is getting better,' he said, adding that his turnover now amounted to about HK$20,000 a month.
Mr Woo has  many regulars and he likes keeping close ties in the friendly neighbourhood. 'I know what kind of pyjamas they like and my regulars often bring me new clients,' he said.
Despite all the characters and customers he has met, the event that made the biggest impression on him was one that resulted in him needing stitches in his head. He was  hit  by a falling bamboo clothes pole   at his stall in the 1960s. 'There was no awning  on my stall years ago,' he said.



Market preservation is dream come true for pyjama vendor