Citizens join “Shop With You at the Lunar New Year Market” in Whampoa: Stalls Run Out of Merchandise in 1 Hour

Once you enter Nine Seafood Place in Whampoa, you would instantly recognise the site bustling with shoppers jamming the corridors. According to the organiser, all the proceeds earned from this citizen-initiated Lunar New Year Market will be donated for charitable purposes, although they have yet to decide which organisation to donate the funds to.

You could find all sorts of hand-made ornaments designed to encourage Hongkongers to fight on. You could also find natural lipsticks and organic honey, and even shopping bags imprinted with art created by local artists. The market is made up of 10 tiny stalls. Despite the small venue, dozens of shoppers continue to flock to the venue, which proves that many Hongkongers support the concept of the Yellow Economic Circle and the Lunar New Year Market.

Some stalls closed down early, not because they have been damaged by “rioters” or “the protests have cut the opening hours short”; but they have sold all their merchandise for the day, and their stock is simply insufficient to meet the demand from hordes of shoppers overwhelming the market. This shows that the local purchasing incentive and power are still extremely strong within the Yellow Economic Circle.

Originally, the Lunar New Year Market was supposed to run until 19:00. The management company of the mall has reminded stall-owners to close down at 19:00 sharp. However, a steady stream of shoppers continued to flood the market even until 20:00, bringing business to even the other restaurants and shops near the market. Seeing this, the opportunistic management company changed their mind and asked the stall-owners to “take their time while closing down” and asked them not to close down in a hurry. An employee at the market even exclaimed that, “I have been working at this market for several years. Most of the time there are very few customers. I had never seen such a lot of people within the market in all these years!"

Meanwhile, some shops in the Blue Economic Circle are beginning to suffer huge deficits as many customers choose to boycott their goods and services. Many government officials and pro-government shop owners have blamed the “economic downturn” on the protesters. Ironically, the Lunar New Year Market and the Yellow Economic Circle has continued to see substantial support from an endless stream of shoppers who are willing to adhere to shopping within the circle. 

Editor’s question:

In the past year, the Hong Kong Government has attempted to use brute force to suppress HongKongers and their spirit to continue their resistance. They even banned the selling of dried goods in the Victoria Park Lunar New Year Market, which has brought much more harm than good to the local economy. In stark contrast, the Yellow Economic Circle and the Yellow Lunar New Year Market have stimulated consumption and support from many Hongkongers. Many shoppers did not even ask for the price before paying up. The government should rethink whether their authoritative approach to quell the local protests is really working on Hongkongers. Unbeknownst to the government, it appears that based on the current situation, the government itself is jeopardising the economic interests of Hong Kong just to retain its power. Chow down on that, Carrie Lam!