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Security guards and fencing installed to prevent second day of chaos at HK$1 expo
Security stepped up after scrum on opening day of Brands and Products Expo
Saturday's scrum at The 48th Hong Kong Brands and Products Expo Fair at Victoria Park. Photo: SCMP
Many stalls at the Brands and Products Expo had on Sunday increased manpower and taken additional precautions to prevent the elderly from being pushed and shoved in the rush for HK$1 goodies following chaotic scenes yesterday.
As the expo entered its second day, many elderly people arrived early to the Victoria Park venue and waited outside the gate. And despite the slippery ground due to rain, as soon as the gate opened with jingles of a bell, they immediately raced to queue up at stalls which provided a limited amount of one-dollar.
After a chaotic first day which saw visitors fighting and scrambling for 10 bags of near-free ingredients, Nam Pei Hong decided to install metal fences around the stall with a guarded entrance and exit. Each joint of the fences was also guarded by staff in case people pushed into the barriers. Sales manager Johnny Chui Ka-kuen said they had doubled the number of order takers to 12 from six yesterday.
“We didn’t expect the situation could be so chaotic yesterday,” said Chui. “We realised we needed more people to help keep our customers safe.”
Wai Yuen Tong, which is selling 50 bottles of HK$1 shampoo and 50 packages of HK$1 soup ingredients including dried scallop and caterpillar fungus every day, has increased the number of its staff to 20 from 10 to prevent any potential injuries. When early visitors rushed to the stall to snap up the bargain products, staff were heard shouting “please don’t run! Take it easy!”
Other stalls such as Hung Fook Tong, which sells Chinese herbal tea, and Thailand Bird’s Nest had also reinforced their team and tightened the taking of orders.
Sporadic rain showers and downpours failed to dampen the shopping appetite of many visitors. Many came with trolleys and bags, planning to spend thousands of dollars at the expo.
Elderly visitors are thrown to the floor in the rush for discounted dried mushrooms and fish maw at one stall. Photo: Jonathan Wong
Regina Leung Tong Ching-yee (second left) and Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying sample goods at the St James' Settlement stall. Photo: Jonathan Wong
Elderly people were pushed to the ground as chaos erupted in a scramble for a one-dollar deal on the first day of the Hong Kong Brands and Products Expo yesterday.
With 10 bags of dried mushrooms and fish maw up for grabs for just HK$1, an advertised discount of HK$479, dozens of visitors rushed to the stall of Chinese medicine retailer Nam Pei Hong as soon as the gates to the Victoria Park expo opened.
"My chest hurts after all the scrambling," said one man who successfully navigated the pushing and shouting to get hold of a bag. "It's a good advertisement for them, but it's really dangerous."
Another woman, who said she could not breathe amid the pushing, became tearful when she realised the bags had sold out.
Nam Pei Hong admitted that arrangements could have been better. It said a few of its staff also ended up on the ground amid the chaos.
Among the thousands of visitors to the expo yesterday were Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying. He and his wife Regina Leung Tong Ching-yee spent HK$4,890 on rubber duck products by Lam Leung-tim, who, in Hong Kong in 1949, made the first generation of the now-iconic rubber ducks. Their haul included 200 stationery clips and some coasters.
The Leungs also visited a stall set up by NGO the St James' Settlement and bought HK$614 worth of peanut, cashew and sesame candies, sesame spread, chilli sauce and camellia oil.
For the first time, barricades were erected to separate journalists from Leung as he browsed the stalls. Leung left without comment to reporters.
Reddy Luk, one of the volunteers manning the St James' stall, said she found Leung "friendly". She said he and his wife tasted some biscuits and snacks made with preserved ginger.
Tan Xiaochao, a 26-year-old nurse from Guangzhou, bought a few pans, soy sauce and other kitchenware at the expo. She expected to spend about HK$10,000 in all. "I actually don't keep track of how much I have spent," she said. "I buy whatever I like."
The 48th annual expo - which features some 400 companies operating about 900 stalls on a 28,000 square metre site - runs until January 6.
Organised by the Chinese Manufacturers' Association, the expo attracts more than two million visitors each year.
