Video:
https://youtu.be/gIt9apvGVjk?si=UYh_QWzt9Tn4D7sQ
Transcript:
…so we’ve talked about how spaces in Mong Kok have been vanishing, spaces like buildings, or architecture. What place have we found interesting in Mong Kok that is vanishing?
It is interesting that we found a place called Shing Fung Hong, which is a joss money shop located in MK Canto Road with over 20 years of history.
Yeah, I believe it sells joss money and incense, they’re items used in traditional Chinese religious and ancestral worship practices. What is joss money actually?
Joss money, also known as “spirit money” or “ghost money,” is a type of ceremonial currency that is burned as an offering to deceased ancestors and spirits.
Besides joss money, I also saw items such as incense sticks, candles, paper replicas of various objects such as houses, cars, and electronic gadgets, as well as statues or images of deities and ancestors, so they have a lot of variety in items used for worshiping their ancestors. I believe it is astonishing to us that all the products are handmade. What is their best-selling product?
Their best-selling product are the hand-folded paper ingots, which are used to burn to their ancestors so that they have a better life in the underground.
So we’ve gathered some reasons why Shing Fung Hong is vanishing. What are your viewpoints?
Shing Fung Hong individual, local small shop, they have to pay the rent. But as you know, the land price in HK is insanely high, so that’s why they can’t afford the rent monthly.
Yeah, I’ve heard that the monthly rent is about five digits. Their income is also diminishing. The government regulations don’t allow people to burn paper, install and burn incense in HK, but there is still business because some people have broken the rules to follow tradition. But the thing is it’s very hard to handle their business with such a minuscule income. As the income is self-sustained, they don’t receive fixed payment by a boss, income is purely based on business profit. In some months, they can earn 1000 dollars, on better days they can earn 4000-6000 dollars, but it’s still quite a large gap away from the rent price. Thus the rent price is quite a large factor of why the shop and culture is diminishing.
So what about the business development of the shop? I’ve heard that it has been improving for the past twenty years, but it’s still not quite optimistic.
Yeah, this shop has over 20 years of history. When they initially rented this place, the rent was not as high as now. The people are more focused on traditions and the government regulations 20 years ago were more loose.
Also, they told us that from the start up to 20 years later which is now, they initially had very few customers, however within 20 years they gained a little more customers, including more familiar customers and business increased a little, but still not enough to pay the rent.
There was a big strike on the shop business due to COVID three years ago. People stayed in homes and couldn’t go outdoors to buy materials and burn incense or joss money to their ancestors.
Yeah. Besides this, temples also banned burning of papers and incense apart from residential buildings. The newer the buildings, the stricter these regulations are on such traditional practices.
I remember it’s very hard to say that whether the traditional practice will stand in the next 10 years depends on the Government’s regulation. Business will be better and more sustainable if the Government loosens regulation on burning papers and incense, and will cease to continue in the long run if the regulations remain the same.
Could we talk about some past histories of the shop?
Sure. I remember according to the shop owner that the reason why they chose to rent in Mong Kok was because Mong Kok was more crowded with greater population flow, thus there could be more potential customers.
The purpose of the shop is to do business for people who need to worship ancestors during Festival periods, by burning joss money as spirit money. What are the Festivals where the shop draws customers in?
For example, Qingming festival, Chong Yeung festival, the first day of the Chinese New Year, and the Mid-Autumn Festival.
I also remember that the customers who come and buy from the shop age from young to old, with not much of a difference in age distribution. Village people in rural areas of HK may come and purchase at their store if it is cheaper than the ones sold in their village area, as MK is known to sell these materials at the cheapest price in HK.
As the rent is becoming high, and less people are buying from the shop, the shop owners could now only see it as an old-age activity to free themselves from boredom.
So far we’ve discussed the past and present of the shop. We could see that there’s a decline of business. What is the owner’s opinion towards the business?
I think she’s becoming more and more indifferent about the income, as she is of old age and taking the role as a retiree while running her business.
Some people may believe that people do not care about the culture like before, but she does not put the blame on people. She still believes that some people care about the cultures as there are still some young and old people who come to buy traditional materials. She rather shifts the blame on the Government that they put too heavy restrictions on people who want to carry on this culture. She also claims that she’s not worried about the care about tradition as many elderly people care about tradition a lot. Many people living in newer housing estates or villages are under even stricter regulations.
For the future 10 year development, she doesn’t see the business as very expandable or improving, she sees the business as something you’re grateful to have for each day of survival. She plans to work until the very old age of retirement. Also, she wants to stay there to maintain a good social network via connecting with familiar customers whom they have known for many years until she really retires.
We asked if she would recruit young blood as apprentices, but her answer was no. She strongly believes that young people would always like to pursue a higher degree like bachelor, or master or doctor, so they wouldn’t be interested in learning how to make hand-made paper products, but rather pursue some professional careers or advanced opportunities.
Yeah. She also thinks that students learning from her would not have a good future as it can not offer a very limited scope of knowledge. She also stated that she has no intention to ask her grandkids to help her run the shop, and respects her grandkids’ decision to pursue their degrees.
Under so many hardships, society does not want this tradition to disappear. So what is being done about this impending disappearance?
I think it’s going to exist for the next ten years in a way that elderly people such as the shop owner and the local customers are still carrying on the tradition. It was also interesting to learn that there was a TV programme called The Ahistoric Grandpa Cooking Show who came to their shop for video filming, where the episode was about teaching how to make the traditional dish called the Salt Crusted Baked Chicken. The show introduced that Long Fong candle is used for wedding occasions and normal use, and demonstrated how to hang the candle using the supporting wood straws as pivot, and flip it over to burn it when in use. They also introduced other good ways to use these cultural products, e.g. use ShaZhi, handmade paper, to make the traditional dish Salt Crusted Baked Chicken. It is a good way to spread such culture, as it introduces other ways to incorporate the materials into daily life such as cooking.