Protesters have urged the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department to drop charges against a 75-year-old woman for unlicensed hawking.
She’s accused of selling a cardboard box for one dollar.
About 30 people staged a protest outside the department’s office in Sheung Wan to voice their dissatisfaction with its action against the woman.
They brought along four kilogrammes of used cardboard boxes, with a market value of only two dollars, to show how hard it is for people at the grassroots level to make a living.
Au Lap-hang, the organiser of the protest, said it’s ridiculous that the department has pressed charges against an old woman.
The 75-year-old woman, surnamed Chu, was arrested by FEHD officers after she allegedly sold a cardboard box to a domestic helper for one dollar last week.
Her cart was also confiscated.
The Food and Health Secretary, Ko Wing-man, refused to comment on the case, as legal proceedings are underway.
But he said the government tries to emphasise both reason and compassion when enforcing the law.
http://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1336843-20170619.htm