Tung navel-gazing is all the fun of the fair
Red fire ants may have been on the minds of people buying potted plants at New Year fairs yesterday, but roosters and creative gadgets - including one featuring the chief executive's navel - stole the show.
Some stallholders reduced their orders of plants amid the scare over the stinging ants that are thought to have hitchhiked to Hong Kong from the mainland in the pots.
But they said they were keeping their prices steady to avoid deterring already nervous buyers. Stallholder Nelson Ng, who sells potted tangerines imported from Shenzhen, said he had stocked about 400 pots this year, 10 per cent less than before, but was charging the same as last year, about $300.
He said he was confident about this year's business. 'All these plants have passed the mainland authority's inspection, so they are safe,' he said at Victoria Park.
A customer giving her name only as Mrs Ho said she had spent $2,000 buying potted plants.
'I am not scared by the ants,' she said. 'I buy potted plants every year. I won't give this up just because of the ants.'
Appropriately for the Year of the Rooster, the feathered fowls were in evidence in all shapes and forms.
Stalls were selling roosters as ornaments, toys, cushions and inflatable dolls dressed as chickens.
One trader displayed a touch of black humour by labelling his stall H5N1 after the potentially fatal bird flu that has broken out in Vietnam.
But for Prima Leung Pui-wa and her friends, humour of a more political type was the order of the day.
They were selling a clay model of Tung Chee-hwa which, after being immersed in hot then cold water emitted a stream of water from its navel.
Ms Leung said this symbolised a wish that the government this year would 'leak more water' - a slang term for handing out more money.
Unlike previous Tung toys which were designed to let people vent their anger at the chief executive, Ms Leung said they hoped the clay miniatures, at $20 each, could bring peace in the New Year.
'We also hope that people can support Mr Tung and his government, not because we support his policies but we hope can be more harmonious.'
Meanwhile, a 7.6-metre blossoming peach tree - the tallest in Hong Kong and south China - was installed in the IFC mall's Oval Atrium in Central.
The tree, with a seven-metre diameter, will be displayed at the shopping centre until February 18.
