Twenty bucks, dude,” says the tanned vendor in her 40s, handing a lunchbox over to a young workman who approaches her from the Parisian Macao construction site across the road.
Another comes up to her for a preordered stack of lunchboxes that costs him MOP60 altogether. “We’re simply struggling to bring home the bacon,” the vendor, who claimed to be a local single mother surnamed Leong, told the Times.
Aware that the mobile vending business she ran three months ago was unauthorized, the mainland-born vendor is now a “delivery service” – driving her own second-hand van to gate number two of the Studio City worksite every day at noon. There she distributes handmade meals, piled in the rear of the vehicle, to workers who had placed their orders beforehand.
It remains unclear how many of her words are genuine, as Leong, the only one of Cotai’s vendors willing to talk, seemed defensive and dubious while justifying her conduct. “We make a living by our own hands, we don’t steal, we do not rob,” she said.
The illegal mobile vending business rose at least a decade ago, says one local lorry driver surnamed Un who has just bought a lunchbox from one of three vans parking at gate number 6 of the Wynn Palace worksite. “What’s so newsworthy about it? Many have been doing such business since long ago and no one cares,” said the man, who holds 15 years of experience in the industry.
According to him, the convoy inside were not only illegal vendors but also “deliverymen partnered with some eateries.”
A photograph published by the online media outlet Macau Concealers on its Facebook page last month stirred debate surrounding the issue. Remarks both sympathetic and critical towards the report that was run by the New Macau Association-backed publication came hot on the heels of the coverage.
A majority of respondents accused the media outlet of making too much fuss about the business in the shadow; they thought the vendor’s business instead primarily helped to address the unavailability of economic eateries for the workers on the Cotai Strip.
In a written reply to the Times’ enquires, the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) claims that its inspectors have been carrying out routine patrols in “multiple large-scale worksites in the Cotai Strip since the construction boom started in the reclaimed area packed with casino resorts.”
According to IACM, which manages a food safety center, last year only saw 45 unlicensed vendors to be found operating in that strip; as of mid-September this year, 143 cases had been identified. However, no statistics on this phenomenon were available for years prior to these two years.
The vendor interviewed by the Times claimed that, thanks to the coverage, the authorities’ patrols have become more frequent than before. “They used to not bother with us,” she said. Previously working inside the worksite of the cinematic-themed resort, the seller said that she uses her connections to boost the sales, as most of her patrons are her former associates. “I know many Filipino workers inside the worksite.”
Having difficulty finding a job after being dismissed four months ago, the vendor insists that she could not help but turn to this kind of “delivery business” in order to support her family. “Mammy, could you stop doing this? I don’t want you to end up in jail,” said the breadwinner, recalling the words of her 21-year-old daughter, who is still in university and had helped her mother before. “Who doesn’t want to work in an air-conditioned office? I’d still continue even if the officers came to catch me every day. I don’t have a proper job,” said Leong.
Parking next to her car is another van also loaded with lunchboxes and drinks with five southeastern-looking Asians touting their offerings. The car’s owner is a Burma-born Chinese who tells the Times that he is also just trying to make a living. It is unclear whether or not he is providing a delivery or vending service. The fluent Cantonese speaker stresses that he is local, but refused to disclose much about himself other than his origin.
However, we learn from the rest of his company that three of them are from the same family, while the other two claim to be friends on holidays who have come to offer assistance.
Among the 143 cases of unlicensed vendors uncovered by the authorities, only four of them involve foreign workers, according to IACM.
Earlier, the Times approached Sands China, Melco Crown Entertainment, Wynn Macau and MGM Macau to see if the groups were aware of the ongoing vending business operating around their Cotai worksites. Only Sands China has responded before the article went to press.
The gaming operator claims that it provides food and beverages for workers on site. “We have always actively discouraged street vendors from operating around our sites; such vendors, if found, are reported to the relevant authorities. Our construction sites include an onsite canteen with tables and chairs, and food preparation facilities, where food is prepared in a hygienic indoor kitchen and sold to workers at affordable prices,” Sands China claims.
“The canteen has enough capacity to provide sufficient meal support for the workers. We also have a café that sells a variety of drinks and freshly prepared food, while ensuring that no alcoholic drinks are provided. Weekly inspections by our company’s environmental department ensure food hygiene. From time to time, the facilities are also inspected by government authorities,” the gaming operator explained.
Food allegedly supplied by licensed restaurants
For many workers in Cotai, the mobile vendors give them other more economically viable food choices, which require no extra trips back to Taipa. Although the food on sale triggers concerns over its hygiene, one vendor claimed that the food is supplied by licensed restaurants.
Taken to the Taipa police station from the Cotai worksite with some other vendors this week, Leong told the Times after she was released three hours later that the authorities have left her clueless as to why she had been detained, as she was no longer selling food illegally.
Public Security Police Force confirmed to the Times that, after investigation, she was only charged with illegal parking.
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