Naomi | Wah Yee Tang Cakeshop owner: The only way to survive—standing on your own grounds
Naomi, owner of Wah Yee Tang Cakeshop, a 35-year-old bakery in Sai Wan, inherited the family business and now runs the shop with her mother. They continue to serve handmade pastries without additives to preserve the traditional taste. They have been under the spotlight recently as they made mooncakes printed with slogans such as "united we stand", "Hongkongers, add oil," and "f**k you” to cheer up Hong Kong people.
“Changing the ingrained beliefs takes a long time. Only by standing on your own grounds could the business survive in such difficult times. If the older generations could reap the success of the present from bitter days of the past, could we do the same for our next generation?”
Journalist: Whale Sam
Illustrator: Vanessa.design
For a weekday’s afternoon, the Western District was rather deserted, with only a few neighbouring residents passing by. As I was rushing to complete the wedding cookie orders, I couldn’t help but to admire and appreciate the bride’s courage. Weddings are once-in-a-lifetime events after all and yet the bride is willing to have her wedding intertwined with politics by having the slogan ‘Glory to Hong Kong’ printed on her souvenir pastries. How corrupted does a regime have to be to force ordinary citizens making their stance loud and clear with all their might?
It has been seven years since I’ve inherited the bakery from my father. From being sick of the family business to developing the talk-of-the-town ‘profanity mooncakes’ and ‘protest-themed cookies’, the toughness behind the scenes was nowhere to be seen under the limelight. The motto of our bakery is to “hand-make all our pastries”. There are so many shortcuts doing business, but nothing is better and more genuine than striving from the bottom of your heart. Throwback to the days when I first managed my family’s business, I had very limited knowledge about bread and pastries. I also didn’t have much sense of belonging to the bakery since I didn’t really like eating bread when I was a kid. When we relocate the bakery to Sai Ying Pun, I started physically helped manage the business and taking up some responsibilities of the business. It wasn’t until then that I understand all the hard work - all that sweat and tears - that my parents put into the bakery to establish and maintain their business! So, I spent nights after nights polishing my pastry-making skills, and to come up with new ideas to maintain the vitality of the old store. I added artistic elements that I like into traditional butter cookies by hand-painting each and every one of them - all I want is to save the declining business.
In this day and age, it is very difficult for small businesses to be seen and heard. Hongkongers nowadays only embrace in an ‘instant culture’. They merely love to ‘check-in’/hop onto the trend bandwagon, and to seek convenience, novelty and ‘blastibility’. I don’t deny being one of them. As I know exactly what HongKongers are like, I tried to resonate with them by launching the ‘profanity mooncake’. It was originally meant to be humorous for making Hongkongers feel more relaxed, and for them to make fun of friends and family during the holiday seasons. Never had I thought it would be a huge spike in popularity. Under the huge media coverage, Wah Yee Tang Cakeshop is where tradition meets trend. My mom is especially thrilled, not only because she is the lead chef in making mooncakes, but also because of seeing other people enjoying the mooncakes she made. To her, nothing is more important than doing something wholeheartedly and happily.
But in the current societal atmosphere, how can one live happily? This movement has awakened a lot of Hongkongers – it happened so quickly without us even noticing. Every time we browse on the social media, we are flooded with information at the speed of light. Shops are labelled into three colours according to their political stance of association, which are ‘yellow shops’, ‘blue shops’ and ‘green shops’*. Even when I’m updating the Facebook page of Wah Yee Tang Cakeshop, I couldn’t help but to stop and wonder whether my updates clash with political issues happening out there... Will people think that it’s too political?
I personally don’t want to make a statement about literally everything, but the society today wants you to. If you don’t clarify your stance timely enough, people will judge and question you. I guess self-censorship happens even quicker than assimilation.
Even though I was quite apathetic towards politics, I had joined the 9th June 1 million people rally and the 16th June 2 million+1 people rally. I thought the government would listen to the people, but things only got worse - shameless people only become more shameless. The government turns a deaf ear to the people’s demands. Police brutality is becoming more severe. Peaceful, rational, and non-violent (PRN) rallies are no longer an option. The 721 Yuen Long Incident became a scar in everybody’s heart. As I was tearing up in front of my phone’s screen, I decided to use my own ways to participate in this movement.
During the Umbrella Movement, I had been there to deliver ‘cheer-up cookies’ to protesters, and had witnessed Hongkongers’ self-discipline and flexibility. At that time, the whole Admiralty was filled with peace - everyone was helping one another and were selflessly donating supplies to the collection stations. I was really surprised that public toilets, shared by thousands of people, were clean as new. All sorts of toiletries - toothbrushes, shampoo, body wash - you name it - were there in the public toilet. How can I not be touched by Hongkongers’ selfless acts? So, I did it once again during the ‘Fly With You’** airport mass protest. This time, I gave out protest-themed mooncakes at the airport to remind the young protesters not to starve themselves while fighting for freedom.
Phrases like ‘don’t screw me over from behind’, ‘Freedom-C*nt’, ‘Hallelujah to the Lord’ and ‘Come fight me one on one!’ are my favourite slangs to put on my cookies. They went viral on the Internet lately. Protest-themed mooncakes broke the sales records of mooncakes from previous years. It’s not the amount of orders that I feel satisfied from. It is the idea of empowering people in a society full of negativity that cheers me up. Some orders made me tear up. Some listeners of Commercial Radio ordered ‘Love HK’ and ‘Hongkongers keep it up!’ cookies for the DJs. They wanted to express gratitude to them for reporting the news impartially. Students from Tsuen Wan Public Ho Chuen Yiu Memorial College ordered ‘HCYers add oil’ cookies to cheer up fellow students and alumnus Tsang Tsz Kin*** who got shot with a live ammunition by an officer on 1st October. When I was making those 800 cookies for the students, I couldn’t stop thinking that scene when Tsz Kin got shot in his chest - my hands were trembling with rage. In the past, I trusted that cases like this will be tested under fair trials, and the court would seek the truth. But now, the ridiculous police force only blames the victim, and the judicial prosecutor couldn’t wait to charge Tsz Kin with rioting merely two days after the incident. Is this even fair to charge a person this quick, without any in-depth investigations at all?
I looked at the rack filled with traditional pastries, including wheel pies, Holland tarts, lotus paste rolls, pineapple jam sponge etc. - these familiar and filling pastries and cake are collective memories of many Hongkongers. If the older generations could reap the success of the present from bitter days of the past, could we do the same for our next generation?
I am really glad that I could call Wah Yee Tang Cakeshop home in these turbulent days. I was able to gain support from the public and maintain my business at the same time. Honestly, I got threats from people who hold opposite opinions about me speaking out on Hong Kong. Life troubles us in different ways. I believe this is why we should stand strong. These ingrained beliefs couldn’t be changed in a short amount of time. Doing what you think is right is the ultimate thing to do in business and life alike. Hongkongers, don’t be forgetful! When you see something unjust, “hold on tight to your middle finger”****!
“I am Naomi, I am a HKer.”
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*Shops are categorised according to their political stance by colors. Yellow shops are supportive of the protesters; Blue shops are pro-government and support the police; ‘Green’ shops are political neutral or their stance unverified.
**In the first peaceful rally in the airport on 26th July, protesters started to chant English slogans like “Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong”. Similar rallies were held again later.
***On 1st October, during the police clashes with civilians in Tsuen Wan, an officer fired live ammunition in the chest of an 18-year old student, Tsang Tsz Kin. The student was in critical conditions afterwards, and was hospitalized.
****Reference to a song by LMF recorded in 2009, named ‘hold on tight to your middle finger’, expressing their dissatisfaction and disappointment to the government. Middle finger is a pun to standing for your own grounds in Cantonese.