No repeat of last year’s riot as street food hawkers serve up party atmosphere in Mong Kok
Heavy police presence in the area as around 300 personnel patrolled the Mong Kok and Sham Shui Po districts.
Street food lovers and hawkers ushered in a peaceful Year of the Rooster with thousands enjoying delicacies and soaking up the atmosphere in Mong Kok over the first two nights of the Lunar New Year, but not without a heavy police presence.
According to a police source, around 300 police personnel were on the ground to patrol the Mong Kok and Sham Shui Po districts.
Most were stationed in Mong Kok, the scene of a riot last year, which saw more than 100 officers injured. Some 200 were scheduled to be deployed in the two districts last night.
Hours into the first day of the Year of the Monkey last year, protesters hurled bricks, set fires and clashed with police.
Radical localists alleged the riot began as a protest against a crackdown on illegal street food hawkers, but health minister Dr Ko Wing-man countered that food safety inspectors were merely patrolling the area.
In contrast, the atmosphere was lively and orderly in the area on Saturday, the first day of the Lunar New Year, and up to 10pm yesterday. Some 20 hawkers set up each day along Portland Street, outside Langham Place.
A first-time hawker, who wished to be known only by his surname Lo, said he was a little worried about setting up stall in the area after the Mong Kok riot, but felt that “it is only Lunar New Year with hawkers around”, so he decided to go ahead with it.
Lo said there were hundreds of police officers around on Saturday night, taking down the ID numbers of some of the hawkers, but no arrests were made.
Another hawker, who did not wish to be named, said Portland Street was closed to vehicles on Saturday night.
While he thought the heavy police presence dampened the festive spirits a little, he acknowledged that officers helped to keep order, with thousands of people streaming through the stretch of Portland Street outside Langham Place.
A customer said he enjoyed the “lively atmosphere” created by the hawkers, and was relieved that there was no repeat of last year’s riot.
“I grew up eating local street food from hawkers and this is an important part of Hong Kong culture,” he said.
Additional reporting by Clifford Lo
