Archive for the ‘Hawkers’ Category
Barber, barber, toil and trouble
These people really need the space
“They (The British) gave space to all. Now everything also cannot, there is no road out.”
A translation from Chinese of what a cobbler told me today when I asked him about the government’s long-term view of eradicating street hawker culture
In the past three days, I’ve spoken to a number of people who operate businesses on the streets (legally or illegally) and the picture I am getting is that these street hawkers have been “forced” out there for various reasons. While the authorities have been understanding of their presence (although far from encouraging), its the very people whom they co-exist with that seem to shun them most. Businesses around sometimes complain they are affect their sales, people complain they are unsightly or an obstruction… but no one really questions why they operate like that. Their livelihood clings on the economic space they have cobbled together but that economic space is constantly under threat and contest.
If there is one thread that holds them together is that they wish they did not need to operate like that. They are not proud of their existence in the streets but the least they can take comfort in is that they provide a service to the community and they are earning their own keep.
