Hong Kong’s oldest street market will be demolished to make way for four high-rise buildings in Central. We have to act now to save it, write Winnie Yeung and Ophelia Lui. 

As you would expect from the center of the city, Central is constantly changing. It’s no surprise that parts of the area are sometimes redeveloped and new buildings go up from time to time.
But this time is different. Opposite the skyscraper named The Center on Queen’s Road are two little streets called Graham and Peel, home to Hong Kong’s oldest wet market (and one of only ten remaining in the city). For more than 150 years, this market – now with 130 stalls – has been running day in, day out, providing fresh produce to chefs, amahs and housewives in the area. It’s also a regular feature in Hong Kong marketing campaigns, and a must-visit destination for tourists. In fact, the Tourism Board maintains that Hong Kong’s open-air markets are the second most-visited attraction in the city, just behind The Peak.
But now, just as it did with the Star Ferry Pier, the government will be tearing down this valuable tourist attraction and historic area – with little public input. 
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) announced earlier this year that they will demolish the area, including most of the nearby buildings, to make room for four high-rises – two residential blocks, one hotel and one office tower. In the process, Central will lose its only street market and one of its oldest and most-beloved features. (And don’t be fooled by the URA’s attempts to spin what they’re doing – see p.8-9.)
Conservationists estimate that the government will be able to begin the demolition within two years – maybe earlier. HK Magazine believes this street market is too valuable a feature of Hong Kong to be torn down.

The City’s Oldest Street Market 
Historian Roger Ho, director of the Conservancy Association Centre for Heritage (CACHe) and lifelong Central resident, tells HK some of the market’s long history.
“The market was opened in 1841, and it was originally referred to as the ‘Chinese market’ since it was most frequently used by local Chinese.
“It is the center of the neighborhood community in Central, which is already becoming rarer and rarer in Hong Kong. Housewives lead their kids to do the shopping here. Shopkeepers even sometimes lend rice and other necessary foodstuffs to their poor neighbors. It’s this kind of human interaction that fosters a sense of belonging.
“This was especially important from 1945-1952 when refugees flooded into the area to settle, becoming hawkers and street traders. Their presence contributed to the rise of a local culture and formed the center of the market culture.
“The place is also of great historical importance because Sun Yat-sen developed his revolutionary plan on Pak Chi Lane just nearby. People emphasized brotherhood back in those times, and whenever the police showed up in the area, people would rush to inform Dr. Sun, and try to hide the revolutionaries behind the street stalls. Throughout the years, these special elements have also attracted many foreign visitors to savor the old Hong Kong lifestyle. Even Queen Elizabeth paid a visit to this market in 1975. It is very much a Hong Kong feature.
“And it has special meaning for me personally. I’ve been living in Central my whole life. I’ve come here to buy food for dinner since I was a kid. I still remember we all brought our own bowls with us to buy oil and soy sauce, and we took our cups to the dai pai dong for congee. Everyone thought it was perfectly all right to walk around the streets in pajamas.”

What Do People Think?
Roger Ho says tearing down the market is not only a simple matter of removing a major grocery outlet. It’s more like erasing a part of the community. “If we remove this market, obviously the collective memory will be lost, too,” he says. “Its replacement will be a commercialized zone.”
The group most affected is, of course, the hawkers. Many of the 130 stalls are family businesses and have been for generations (see opposite).
So what does the Tourism Board say about this popular tourist attraction scheduled to be torn down? “The Tourism Board has always promoted the local living culture to the visitors,” says a Tourism Board spokesperson. “There are many spots in Central showcasing exactly that and we will continue to promote them.” But when asked what their stance is on the fact that the Graham Street market - as a major tourist attraction - is about to be torn down, she responds, “Don’t drill me.”
The URA has already set up an office nearby and everything seems ready to go for redevelopment, but most of the hawkers and tenants are still in a limbo. No one is sure about their future although one thing is bound to happen – the Graham Street market will be gone once the project really starts, unless we all speak up now to stop it.