Show compassion when enforcing hawking laws
Arrest of a 75-year-old woman for selling HK$1 worth of cardboard underlines the need for clearer rules to guide frontline officers
The woman, surnamed Chu, gave a few pieces of cardboard to a domestic helper for a dollar in Central on June 11. She immediately found herself surrounded by six officers and was later charged with hawking without a licence. Officials only made a U-turn following the public outcry.
Chu could apply for comprehensive social security payment; instead, she collects cardboard on the streets to supplement her meagre earnings from a part-time cleaning job. She is just one of the many elderly citizens who prefer standing on their own feet.
The suggestion that the department is targeting self-reliant individuals like Chu is therefore disturbing. A concern group said scavengers were also subject to similar ordeals. A 60-year-old cardboard seller in Central has reportedly been arrested three times recently. The department officers showed no mercy, he said.
The approach does not square with the department’s guidelines, which say that when the activity does not involve prohibited or restricted items such as food and is not obstructing major roads or areas of high pedestrian flow, prosecution will be taken only when a verbal warning is ignored. Officers are also expected to exercise powers “in a reasonable manner” if elderly or disabled hawkers are involved. The government has rightly pledged to consider how to ensure that enforcement actions will be seen as taking into account reason and compassion. This is not easy for frontline officers, who have to weigh responsibility and discretionary powers carefully. That makes clear enforcement guidelines all the more important.