Dressed casually in a T-shirt and with a sunny smile, Thomas Hung Cheung-hong is a fresh face in pawnbroking, a time-honoured business still bound by traditional practices. Presiding behind the grille of an elevated counter, he towers over customers, who must raise their arms to hand over items to be assessed.
But the owner of the Yan On Pawn Shop in Kwun Tong knows not to look down on clients who are strapped for cash: they must be treated with understanding and respect if he wants repeat business. So when a regular is late with his monthly interest payment, Hung decides not to charge a penalty, since there was a reasonable explanation. And to attract more customers, he keeps his interest rates below the maximum allowed under the law.
'Times have changed. This is a service-orientated industry, after all, and good service makes a difference,' says Hung, who gave up his job as a government forensic scientist to take over his father's business a few years ago.
Under the Pawnbrokers Ordinance, shops can charge customers monthly interest of up to HK$3.50 for every HK$100 loaned. Items put up as collateral may be forfeited if borrowers fail to redeem them after four months.
Pawnbroking has probably existed in China in some form or other for millennia. In Hong Kong it was legalised in 1926, which makes it one of the oldest trades in the city. Despite its archaic image, it's far from being a vanishing trade: the number of registered pawnshops has increased from 152 to 167 over the past six years, according to the Hong Kong and Kowloon Pawnbrokers Association.
The recent economic upswing probably helped: contrary to popular belief, pawnbrokers do better in boom years, says Hung. 'We're hit pretty hard when the economy is in the doldrums, like during Sars. We definitely benefit from a good economy because people use money more, thus there's a higher cash turnover rate.'