【SHARED】The last ones standing: Inside Hong Kong’s disappearing newsstands
Journalist: Apple Daily
Photographer: Apple Daily
Soon after Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong, over 200 police officers raided the newsroom of Apple Daily and arrested its founder Jimmy Lai along with several executives. Before dawn broke the following morning, Hong Kong people started queuing up at newsstands to buy up copies in show of support to the pro-democracy tabloid
However, as the enthusiasm dies down, these roadside stalls are overstocked with piles of unsold newspapers again.
As at Dec. 31, 2018, only 386 newsstands were left from the 1,005 that existed in the ’90s. Newspaper hawkers believe that the industry is vanishing.
Sociological scholar Chong Yuk-sik, who published her thesis “The Newsstands at the Street Corner” in 2010, has been investigating the culture and history of the city’s licensed newsstands.
Researcher Chong Yuk-sik (right) takes us to the newsstands in Tsim Sha Tsui.
Chong notes that 533 newsstands have disappeared in a matter of nine years, meaning on average 20 vendors drop out each year. According to a Legislative Council document in 2011, the government has not issued any new newspaper hawker license for years, leaving the existing newsstands to struggle and dry up.
Chong returns to the newsstands in Tsim Sha Tsui where her research was conducted. Along the thoroughfare from Kowloon Mosque to Star Ferry Pier where over 20 newsstands used to be, only a few are left. And their battered businesses have been further hit by COVID-19.
For over a century, Star Ferry Pier in Tsim Sha Tsui has been home to many newsstands. Four of the existing ones are run by the second or third generations, which Chong believes to be some of the oldest remaining in the city.
The business of the century-old newsstands at Star Ferry Pier is heavily hit by COVID-19.
When Hong Kong’s economy took off in the ’80s, the colonial government decided to transform the area into a decent tourist attraction, so the temporary stands were turned into standardized cement stalls. Cement planters were also built behind them as part of the beautification works, but “became rubbish bins where people spitted and disposed of cigarette butts,” said Bo, a second-generation newsstand owner at the harbor.
Newsstands often appear in bright colors, thanks to its history of advertising. Tobacco companies and international magazines used to sponsor hawkers with their construction back in the ’80s and ’90s, in exchange for displaying their logos. Vendors thus colored their stalls with the hues of their advertisers' logos.
“For example, Bo’s newsstand is red because it was sponsored by a travel company. The other newsstand is blue because it was sponsored by a tobacco company whose logo was blue,” Chong says. Yet, these companies no longer advertise at newsstands due to the ban on tobacco advertising as well as shrinking newspapers sales.
Newspapers hawkers have also adapted overtime in its use of space. Papers and magazines were vertically displayed a century ago, but vendors began to lay them flat when the publishing industry blossomed in the ’60s and ’70s. Nowadays, in addition to the stipulated surface as large as five magazines, newspaper hawkers pile their merchandise on stools for extra display space. Bestsellers and new releases are lined up in the front while the others stand at the back, showing only their titles for regular customers to spot.
At present, most of the income comes from selling cigarettes and bottled drinks, while selling newspapers and magazines generates less than 10%. The business was so bad that Wing closed his newsstand on Canton Road in February. Now working for another stall, Wing says newspaper hawkers' income has dropped by 70% to 80%. There was a time he earned over HK$100,000 (US$12,902) a month, but “gone are those days,” Wing sighs.
Wing works for a newsstand on Carnarvon Road after closing his own.
2020 has not been easy for newspaper hawkers in Hong Kong. Political books have been recalled by publishers for fear of violating the national security law and the pandemic has kept tourists from the city. Wing says, “we only make money by selling bottled water now, earning some loose change each bottle.”
Newspaper hawkers strive to survive by selling more products. But only twelve items are allowed to be sold at a newsstand and some, like preserved fruits and battery cells, are so out-dated that they can do nothing for the business. That’s why newspaper hawkers have been asking for approval to sell more varied items.
Lam Cheung-foo, vice chairperson of the Hong Kong Newspaper Hawker Association and a former newsstand owner who now owns a shop on Shanghai Street, has experienced the newspaper industry’s golden age and is eager to revitalize newsstands.
Lam Cheung-foo, vice chairperson of the Hong Kong Newspaper Hawker Association, campaigns for newsstands revitalization but no longer sells newspapers in his own shop.
That said, even his own shop does not sell newspapers anymore. “Hardly making any money out of it, we stopped selling newspapers since September last year.” He sells snacks instead.
Journalists and newsstands also have a close relationship. Back when printed press was a competitive industry, newsrooms of different papers would send journalists to newsstands at midnight to check out their competitors' headlines.
“We couldn’t miss what everyone else had covered. If it happened, we had to add that story in the second prints,” recalled Kwan Chun-hoi, founder of independent media HK Feature. The newsstand at the crossroads of Argyle Street and Sai Yeung Choi Street was widely known as their battlefield, for it was where the first copies of newspapers were sold.
Former breaking news journalist Kwan Chun-hoi has befriended newsstand owners over the years.
Even now that online news dominates the battlefield, newspapers still need to ensure the most important news are printed on the frontpage. “For example, the Lamma Island ferry collision, Chau Hoi-leung’s murder of his parents, and the Fa Yuen Street fire, journalists would compare frontpage stories to make sure they did not miss anything.”
“Chiu was our informer!” Kwan gives a nod to Chiu, a veteran vendor who keeps smiling without saying a word. The friendship between the two has grown over time. As many roadside newsstands operate around the clock, hawkers pick up things such as unusual police patrolling or street fights. Chiu often feeds such exclusive first-hand information to his journalist friends.
Chiu’s stall only manages to sell more or less a hundred copies of newspapers everyday now, which is still far better than some stands that sell only eight a day. Chiu understands that the golden era of newspapers is gone, but he stays on because “selling newspapers gives [him] a sense of satisfaction.” Now he survives on the extra money made from selling fine-cut tobacco.
Kwan recounts the diversity of tabloids at newsstands. “Tin Tin Daily News, Sing Pao Daily News, Hong Kong Economic Times, Ming Pao, Oriental Daily, Apple Daily and Overseas Chinese Daily News… We used to have many different voices, but now the industry is so polarized and the market is very much dominated by Oriental Daily and Apple Daily.”
In addition to reading online news, the former breaking news journalist has resumed buying papers at newsstands for reminiscence. “I enjoyed reading a printed paper at a cha chaan teng (Hong Kong-style café). The pro-Beijing camp and the pro-democracy camp used to have their columns side by side. They were like responding to each other. That’s what freedom was like.”
Hong Kong’s first mobile newsstand appeared more than a century ago at the peak tram station on Garden Road in Central. Archives show that the earliest design of newsstands was much simpler, where newspapers were displayed on the ground or carton boxes. The police would hound vendors who were considered obstructing the streets.
Years of standoff between newspaper hawkers and police officers finally came to an end when John Browett, a superintendent of the Sham Shui Po District, saw that the clashes were not only a waste of manpower, but also detrimental to the force’s public relations. He decided to push for a standardized dimension for newsstands and request vendors to follow suit.
Superintendent John Browett (left) helped design newsstands in the old days. Photo provided by Chong Yuk-sik
Over the years, newspapers hawkers have been fighting for bigger stalls and the current size is the result of their tireless efforts. The Hong Kong and Kowloon Hawkers Fraternity Association organized three demonstrations and strikes in 1968, 1971 and 1976 to fight for bigger newsstands.
At present, newsstands with illegal extended structures can be prosecuted for obstruction of public places under Article 4A of Summary Offences Ordinance (Cap. 228) and be liable to a fine of HK$5,000 (US$645) or imprisonment for three months. Newsstands obstructing scavenging operations are liable to a penalty of HK$5,000 (US$645) under Section 22 of Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance.
Old local newsstands like the one at the Blake Pier in the 1910s were octagonal. Photo provided by Chong Yuk-sik.
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Original article: The last ones standing: Inside Hong Kong’s disappearing newsstands
(This story is supported by Apple Daily.)