Letters | Why Hong Kong should go easier on street hawkers
- Readers discuss the regulation of street vendors, and the roots of the hospital labour crunch
Street vendors around the world are a welcome addition to the otherwise sanitised and bland shopping malls and arcades found in most modern cities. They are usually a picturesque lot, fun to watch, hear, photograph and even to smell (think of fermented tofu, although I personally prefer the smell of roasted chestnuts). In the case of Hong Kong, street vendors are a vibrant part of local culture and charm.
Of course, rules are rules but an excess of rules, and worse still, a lack of common sense in their application is definitely a disservice to the community and the tourism industry.
I appeal to the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department to let that elderly woman off with a simple warning. A show of some humanity is worth much more than a fine imposed on a poor old hawker.