I THINK one of the toughest ways to eke out a living is to be a
hawker.
Although it is nice to be able to say that
you are your own boss, the truth is often not as rosy.
Those who have tried to be a hawker will
agree with me that your standard nine-to-five job is a heaven compared to it.
I got my first taste of hawking when I was
about 9 years old when my maternal grandmother got me to sell “hoo chnea”,
which is a salad of kembong fish flakes, cucumber slivers, beansprouts and
beancurd served with spicy chilli gravy.
I went door-to-door in Kuala Terengganu
town twice with a basketful of only 10 packets to sell, but only succeeded in
selling one. A distant relative who I did not recognise at that time took pity
on me and bought a packet when she saw me passing by her house a second time
with my basket of unsold fish salad.
I went home and promptly complained to my
grandmother about my failure to sell all the fish salad.
“Good, now we can have that for lunch,”
she said, and added: “Now that you have learned how difficult it is to earn
money, you will know how to save.
“Anyone who has tried hawking will tell
you that even trying to figure out what to sell is tough, let alone where to
sell it, and how to go about selling it legally so that you do not run foul of
the authorities.
Even if you have figured it all out, your
business may still not last if other things don’t fall into place.
You can try all the tricks your marketing
guru has taught you.
A good location, identifying a potential
market segment, selling what everybody needs, and all the other tips
recommended by the various textbooks, but if the weather turns against you, you
are dead.
Hawkers selling drinks can tell you a lot
about how the weather can play havoc with your business. Tubs of drinks which
would finish in a jiffy during hot weather would go down the drain if it rains.
Likewise, those who sell fried stuff will
see fewer customers during hot spells or in the wake of some health campaigns
calling for people to eat less fried food.
Sometimes, rumours can also do just as
much damage.
Remember the “lou shee fun” incident which
made it to the papers in the 1980s? News that some children had died after
eating contaminated noodles caused several hawkers to close shop.
Many others who sold only the popular
breakfast were forced to look for alternatives after the scare drove customers
away for months.
According to a hawker friend who sells
rice in Sentul, being a hawker is a lesson in hard work, patience and humility.
You work long hours, keep going even if
the business was slow, and learn to accept compliments and complaints in your
stride and treat them with equal respect if you wish to put food on your table.
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