Reference..
2.
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST 18/4/68
SUGGESTIONS FOR SOLUTION TO
HAWKER PROBLEM
Some suggestions with a view to finding a reasonable and peaceful solution to the hawker problem were made last night by Mrs Elsie Elliott, an Urban Councillor.
She said there were 300 per cent more hawkers than în 1949 and business was becoming less and less.
Hawkers were willing to keep the law and set up their own watchers to guard against thieves. They could be helpful if given better treat- ment, she said.
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She said the existence of haw- kers had bolstered the Colony's economy, and had given a way of life to nearly a quarter of a million people who might other- wise present a threat of large- scale unemployment.
Mrs Elliott said the suggestions were made to her by hawkers and she thought they merited consideration.
The suggestions included:
The size 3' x 4' is too small and that is why hawkers try to get several sites. Different trades
require different sizes.
Stalls should not be placed in blocks of four. This is in- convenient for shoppers and wasteful of space. The hawkers end by breaking the law be- cause it is not practicable. The stalls should be placed together in long rows, and they should be two or three times longer.
All hawker bazaars should be classified, including those in resettlement estates. One street should be "cloth street,” one "fruit street" and so on, so that shoppers know where to go for what they want to buy.
The Urban Services Depart- ment should employ experts who will examine the problemas, try to find out the circumstances of the hawkers and allocate the sites according to the needs of family. The stalls could then be rented out in classes: A $60; B: $40; C $20, and so on.
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The hawkers have no good to say of the Urban Council. The Council should accept at, least some part of the adere offered by hawkers; if not, what is the point in having unions and re- presentatives? This year is the worst ever, and poses a grave social threat. Some hawkers have already taken to robbery as a way of living.
Mrs Elliott said that if things continued as at present, only three courses would be open to the hawkers.
They were slow suicide, fighting and crime. Some were not willing to die but would fight, she said. She predicted that stage would be reached within three years, and then "guns will be needed on the
rooftops to protect officials from hawkers."
Mrs Elliott also called for the abolition of the Hawker Control
of Force "for the sake
every- one."
As a further step to helping the hawkers, Mrs Elliott suggest- ed setting up a loan fund, and to provide medical and educational aid for their children.
She asked for some sympathy to be shown for the hawkers and not to treat them as criminals.