‘Stronger regulations’ needed as Hong Kong shops sell alcohol to children
District Councillor Scarlett Pong Oi-lan asked three youngsters aged between 10 and 14 to try and buy alcohol at several shops in Sha Tin, the results were ‘worrying’
A Sha Tin district councillor has called for stricter regulations on the sale of alcohol after more than a dozen convenience stores and supermarkets sold beer to youngsters.
District Councillor Scarlett Pong Oi-lan’s comments came after she tested attitudes towards selling alcohol to juveniles by asking three children, aged between 10 and 14, to try buying a can of beer at 14 stores in Sha Tin.
One teenager, a 14-year-old boy, was successful in leaving the counter with a can of beer at all 14 locations.
The other two, a 14-year-old boy and 10-year-old girl, who went as a pair, managed to do the same at nine out of the 14 locations.
Under Hong Kong law, no one under 18 can consume or purchase alcohol at venues with liquor licences, such as restaurants, bars and clubs - but there is no restriction on the sale of alcoholic beverages by retail shops to people aged under 18.
Pong said the juveniles managing to purchase alcohol at convenience stores and supermarkets was worrying, given the negative health effects of alcohol.
She called on the government to strengthen regulations on the sale of alcohol and raise awareness for retail employees.
Jorge Lu Jun-ao, who did the experiment with his younger sister, said among the stores that let them buy the beer, just one employee at one store questioned them.
“One asked why I was buying the beer,” Lu said. “I said I was buying it for my grandfather and they let me go.”
A telephone poll of 791 people last month by a political think tank, New Century Forum, found nearly a quarter of the respondents had tried alcohol under the age of 12.
According to the Centre for Health Protection in Hong Kong, a behavioural risk factor survey in 2014 reported that among people aged 18 to 64, 13.7 per cent were regular drinkers who drank at least once a week.
However, the children who took part at the experiment said they had not noticed a glaring underage drinking problem among their peers.
“At most, we only joked about it,” said Marcus Lau Yin-ting, a boy who joined the experiment.
