Coronavirus: workers from Hong Kong’s pubs, karaoke bars and mahjong parlours start hunger strike demanding authorities allow them to reopen business
- Industry representative Ben Leung hopes authorities could say clearly what conditions the venues should meet to be allowed to reopen
- If the government continues to keep the venues closed, at least half of the city’s 1,400 licensed bars would face closure after Easter, he says
Workers from Hong Kong’s pubs, karaoke bars and mahjong parlours have started a four-day hunger strike outside the city’s legislature to pressure the government into allowing them to reopen as new coronavirus infections have remained low.
Although authorities relaxed social-distancing measures and reopened beaches and public swimming pools on Friday ahead of the Easter break, pubs, karaoke bars and mahjong parlours are yet to be allowed to resume activities.
“We previously met with the government and hoped they would throw us a lifeline and allow us to open for Easter,” said Ben Leung Lap-yan, charter president of the Licensed Bar and Club Association of Hong Kong.
“They said they would give us a chance, but in the end there was no such hope for a revival,” he said.
If the government continued to keep these venues closed, at least half of the city’s 1,400 licensed bars would face closure after Easter, he said.
Leung, along with at least 30 other workers from the three types of venues, will take turns going on strike in six to 12-hour shifts for four days until Wednesday, when the Easter holiday ends. He said they were hoping to hand in a petition to legislators on the final day, when Legco business resumed.