appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Luisa Tam

Another piece of Hong Kong’s identity is disappearing.
The city’s rapid urban development and unaffordable rents, combined with the severe economic downtown caused by the coronavirus pandemic, means that Happy Cake Shop, in Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island, will close its doors for good on August 2.
The neighbourhood bakery is meeting the same fate as the much-loved Mido Café in Mong Kok, which closed just over a week ago. Mido’s claim to fame was that it was the city’s oldest traditional cha chaan teng tea restaurant – or so it said – having kept customers fed and watered for 72 years.
Like Mido, Happy Cake Shop is an institution. For 45 years, it witnessed the city morph around it and, until now, had remained unchanged and unmovable.

Many tenement buildings and shops in the vicinity of Happy Cake Shop have not been so lucky and were demolished or bought out to make way for swanky high-rises and chain stores. A neighbourhood that was once brimming with character and colour has now become another sanitised and characterless commercial district.
Unsurprisingly, the reason for the bakery’s closure is that the building’s owner is refusing to renew the lease. The owner may have a different idea for the fate of the building, but for now its future remains uncertain.

All things considered, four-and-a-half decades for a modest bakery is a good run. Plenty of other small businesses are struggling to keep pace with ever-rising rents, too.
While there are many reasons small shops like Happy Cake are being forced out of business, there is no doubt that high rents are the main culprit.
Consequently, “mom and pop shops” are going to drop like flies. It is inevitable that financially strong chain stores will continue to encroach on small businesses that are struggling to keep their heads above water in increasingly expensive districts.

With the way things are going, the city will soon run out of independent shops, small eateries and bakeries that offer affordable, local-style food products that are uniquely Hong Kong.
But at least Happy Cake Shop is dying an honourable death, and will be remembered long after it is gone from its popular Wan Chai location.
Patrons will remember the bakery for selling bags of mini pastries costing a mere HK$12 (US$1.50), and golden pineapple buns (boh loh baao) that only set you back HK$7 to HK$8. And who can forget their signature cream horns – the cream of the crop for Happy Cake Shop’s customers?

It isn’t just the baked goods that have made Happy Cake Shop so beloved. For one thing, the bakery rarely raised its prices. On the few occasions it did, they were modest adjustments.
There have also been heart-warming stories about the kindness of its staff. One such tale was about an old lady paying with low-denomination coins for a bun. The staffer patiently waited for her to count her coins and then thanked her politely at the end.
To this old lady, Happy Cake Shop offered joy in one simple hot bun served with respect and kindness. That is how the bakery built bonds with and earnd the loyalty of its patrons and maintained its stellar reputation.

Rushing in to get freshly made buns for breakfast while catching a bus to work is a common story among many of its long-time patrons.
To many people, Happy Cake Shop is more than just a place that provides cheap and cheerful baked goods. It has offered customers a daily dose of happiness for decades, just like the old lady paying with coins, students getting a sweet snack after school and office workers grabbing a pineapple bun for their commute.
The shop has definitely seen better days; but it still emits the irresistible old Hong Kong charm despite its worn tiles, dated decor and heat-weathered trays displaying rows of custard egg tarts (daan taat).

The news of its imminent closure has drawn many to the bakery for one final hurrah.
The good news is that Happy Cake Shop has a branch in Ma On Shan in the eastern New Territories (35km or 22 miles from its Wan Chai shop). That means, if you are really committed to preserving a morsel of old Hong Kong-style flavour, it is not too late to become a patron.
Before we bid a final farewell to Happy Cake Shop in Wan Chai, don’t forget there are still a handful of these traditional-style cake shops around the city. I particularly like a couple in Sai Kung.
Sadly, bakeries like this are becoming extinct. Before we lose them all to unrelenting urban development, grab a bun or egg tart from one and spread some happiness around.
Luisa Tam is a Post correspondent who also hosts video tutorials on Cantonese language that are now part of Cathay Pacific’s in-flight entertainment programme


Hong Kong used to be the Halloween hub of Asia. What the city can do to reclaim its crown

Make Hong Kong a ‘de-stress economy’ and it could draw visitors and fresh talent

Less is more when it comes to Hong Kong staging ‘mega events’

Why tourism-hungry Hong Kong needs to get with the times, put inclusion front and centre and even become a diversity hub

My Hong Kong

Old Hong Kong bakeries are dying, go while you still can – buy an egg tart or pineapple bun before they all disappear

Happy Cake Shop is well-known for its cream puffs and sweet fritters.  The popular 45-year-old bakery Happy Cake Shop in Wan Chai announced it would close for good next week.    28JUL22      SCMP / Dickson Lee

Customers queue up at Happy Cake Shop in Wan Chai after the popular bakery announced it would close on August 3. Bakeries like this are getting thin on the ground in Hong Kong. Photo: Dickson Lee

Happy Cake Shop in Wan Chai closes on August 2. Photo: Dickson Lee

Customers queued up at Happy Cake Shop in Wan Chai when they heard of its closing. Photo: Dickson Lee

A staff member takes egg tarts from the oven at Happy Cake Shop. Photo: Dickson Lee

Freshly baked buns at Happy Cake Shop. Photo: Dickson Lee

Happy Cake Shop is well-known for its cream puffs and sweet fritters. Photo: Dickson Lee

Heat-weathered trays of custard egg tarts are a hallmark of Happy Cake Shop. Photo: Dickson Lee

Canto-pop boy band Mirror’s success in Hong Kong can be used to rekindle pride in the city

Canto-pop boy band Mirror are so wildly popular that the husbands of their fans are turning to Facebook to commiserate. Can we use their fame and success to build a sense of Hong Kong pride? Photo: Nora Tam

Anson Lo Hon-ting and Edan Lui Cheuk-on of the boy band Mirror meet their fans at a Gucci store at Harbour City, Tsim Sha Tsui. Photo: Felix Wong

Fans take selfies with a bus featuring an advertisement celebrating Anson Lo’s birthday. Photo: Nora Tam

A significant portion of the local female population seems to have fallen under the spell of Canto-pop boy band Mirror. Photo: Felix Wong

An advertising billboard in Tsim Sha Tsui celebrating Anson Lo’s birthday. Photo: Nora Tam

Hong Kong phrase ‘add oil’ is older than you think – and we need it now more than ever

Football fans with an “add oil, Hong Kong” sign at the Hong Kong vs Iran 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifying match in Happy Valley, Hong Kong. Hongkongers should retake ownership of the phrase, which has recently been associated with anti-government protesters. Photo: Felix Wong

Football fans with an “add oil, Hong Kong” sign at the Hong Kong vs Iran 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifying match in Happy Valley, Hong Kong. Photo: Felix Wong

People queue up for a coronavirus test in Wuhan in central China in 2020. Photo: Chinatopix via AP

Protesters with signs reading “add oil, Hong Kong” on their backs in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon. Photo: Sam Tsang

Hong Kong Canto-pop singer Jacky Cheung said “Hong Kong, add oil” in a video for the city’s 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover from the UK to China. Photo: Weibo

We’ve all had enough of Hong Kong’s housing crisis – break the city’s ‘shoebox curse’ or people will leave and never return

A woman and her son in their 60 sq ft subdivided flat in Hong Kong. It’s time to provide Hongkongers proper housing, Luisa Tam writes. Photo: Reuters

A woman walks past a property agent’s window in Hong Kong. To buy the cheapest flat in Hong Kong would require saving every cent you earned for at least nine years (no eating). Photo: AFP

A residential building in Sham Shui Po, the city’s poorest district. Hong Kong has not really improved its housing since the 1950s. Photo: AFP

A subdivided flat resident in his home in Kwun Tong. Photo: Felix Wong

A woman in her 50 sq ft cubicle flat in a walk-up building apartment that has been subdivided into six cubicles. Photo: AFP

A typical subdivided flat costs at least HK$6,000 per month to rent, maybe more depending on the district. Photo: AFP

Hey, Hong Kong – how about we stop being racist and include foreign domestic workers in the consumption voucher scheme?

In 2018, Hong Kong’s domestic workers contributed an estimated US$12.6 billion to the city’s economy. Photo: Sam Tsang

A domestic helper crosses the road with an elderly woman in Sai Ying Pun. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Mahatma Gandhi said: “The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.” Photo: Getty Images

Domestic helpers in Central, Hong Kong Island, on a day off. Pre-existing visa restrictions prohibit them from ever becoming permanent residents. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

The consumption voucher scheme is intended to boost spending in the local economy. The first round was disbursed in April this year. Photo: Dickson Lee

What drew three women to bear Elon Musk children besides his wealth? Women’s reproductive priorities explained

  Illustration: Marcelo Duhalde

Sonia Samtani is a clinical hypnotherapist, life coach, and relationship and wellness coach. Photo: SCMP

 Illustration: Marcelo Duhalde

Women tend to expend more energy selecting a partner as, biologically, they invest more time and energy in the reproductive process than men. Photo: Shutterstock

Is it OK for a man to prioritise fathering children rather than long-lasting romance when choosing a partner? Photo: Getty Images

If partners are struggling to reconnect, then they both need to dedicate time to creating “space” for nurturing their emotional connection. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Lifestyle

Food & Drink

Opinion

News

Hong Kong

Society

People & Culture


Happy Cake Shop in Hong Kong’s Wan Chai district is closing after 45 years in business – it’s the latest ‘mom and pop’ shop in the city to shut
The city will soon run out of independent shops, small eateries and bakeries that offer affordable, local-style food products that are uniquely Hong Kong



As we bid farewell to Happy Cake Shop in Wan Chai, remember there are still a good handful of these traditional bakeries around – so patronise them.


Hong Kong culture

Cantonese culture, slang and customs

Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


Column