
Hong Kong bakery finds success with anti-extradition mooncakes and cookies – but police supporters bite back
- Wah Yee Tang Bakery in Sheung Wan has sold out of pro-protest baked goods – and left customers clamouring for more
- But police supporters call to boycott the shop because ‘the products will lead youngsters astray’
A Hong Kong bakery has won over the protest crowd with mooncakes and cookies inscribed with anti-extradition slogans, but the politicised baked goods have given rise to boycott calls – and worse – from police supporters.
“I started making cheeky mooncakes last year, but I usually do quirky designs on my products throughout the year. This year, there were some funny phrases [from the extradition protests], so I had the templates made,” said Naomi, who represents the third generation of her family to run the Wah Yee Tang Bakery, which was founded by her grandfather in 1984. She now runs the shop with her mother.
The bakery has made tongue-in-cheek mooncakes in the past – at times mimicking the pronunciation of swear words. Naomi said she had not planned to bake mooncakes with the Cantonese expletive against reporters on them, but was convinced after a customer – a journalist – requested them as gifts to hand out to colleagues.
“I decided I would sell the mooncakes anyway, to take back the phrase and turn it into a positive thing and to show respect to the reporters,” Naomi said.
The bakery’s Facebook page thanked customers on Wednesday: “You all have too much love. Today’s order was the largest we have ever received.”
But customers wanted more. Naomi said she has 2,000 pending orders for the mooncakes, even after turning some down.
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“I was actually really angry about this. I was not being very radical,” Naomi said. “But I’m not scared of them, I’ll just keep doing what I’ve been doing.”
Wah Yee Tang and its staff had promised to continue baking the pro-protest cookies and mooncakes. In another Facebook post, Naomi said if the bakery could not make enough to keep on the shelves, customers could pre-order for pick up.
