Crime and Punishment of Fishballs
Hong Kong has been an important international hub where the east and west met and mingled since the 1900s. Its world-renowned street food, curry fish ball, was the perfect example of this beautiful encounter. In this AR exhibit, Curator Cat will travel back in time with you to explore the stories and struggles grassroots Hong Kongers faced behind this scrumptious snack.
Curry Fish Ball was first invented in the 1950s in Hong Kong. Curry was brought by Indians who traveled along with the British who ruled Hong Kong as a colony; fish balls, on the other hand, were a Chaozhou snack from China. The ingenious Hongkongers combined the best of both worlds and invented this spicy and exciting snack that was once named one of the Top 10 street foods of the world.
Curry fish balls gained popularity as a snack sold in wooden food carts by street hawkers. This kind of food cart created tremendous job opportunities for the large influx of new immigrants from China, where political and economic environments were unstable at the time. The number of hawker carts on the streets was an indicator of Hong Kong’s vibrant economy and the lifesaver of grassroots Hongkongers in troubled times.
However, things started to change in the 1970s when the British HK government called out the health and sanitary problems these hawker carts potentially caused. Owners of shops and landlords began to complain about unfair competition as street hawkers offered lower prices without the burden of rent. With these conflicting business interests, the British HK government tightened regulations on street-food hawkers and stopped issuing new licenses.
There were always exceptions beyond the law, though. Law enforcement officers were often lenient to these grassroots hawkers, especially during Lunar New Year when most shops were closed for the holiday. The officers developed a tacit understanding with the street hawkers allowing them to make a small fortune for LNY. However, the dynamics between government officials and street hawkers deteriorated when Hong Kong’s sovereignty was transferred to China in 1997.
In 2000, the HK government established the Hawker Control Team and took a more hardline approach to regulate street hawkers. Enforcement actions were taken more frequently with harsher fines. The tensions between the government and grassroots Hongkongers have grown ever since.
In 2002, the government launched a voluntary surrender scheme to either phase out itinerant street hawkers or encourage them to operate at a fixed business premise. The scheme failed to meet the actual needs of these street hawkers, as their low profit margin from selling fish balls could not keep up with the pace of soaring rent hikes. The struggle of street hawkers was an example of how landlord-friendly government policies led to income inequality that fueled the anger of many Hong Kong people.
Over the past 20 years, the HK government has ignored grassroots Hongkongers' demands and failed to adequately address their needs. The FishBall Revolution eventually broke out and led to even larger protests in the following years.
Through this AR exhibit, Curator Cat hopes to unveil the cause and effect of the imbalance of power between the HK people and the government and use this as a lesson to re-think the democracy movement in Hong Kong.
