Is the pawn shop on Fuk Man Road, Sai Kung, dodgy or does it just look that way?

^{Exterior of the pawn shop in Fuk Man Road, Sai Kung}

A pawn shop lurks a few yards along from the Jockey Club gambling centre on the appropriately named Fuk Man Road, Sai Kung. At the JC idiots and addicts can lose all their money, then go along to the pawn shop, hock grandma’s jewellery, go back to the JC and lose that too.

The pawn shop looks furtive as if it’s ashamed of itself. Anyone wanting to hock, say, a Rolex watch can sidle up to the narrow door, take a quick decko left and right, then if nobody is looking, duck inside to the dingy interior. Tall screens allow the sad case to hide behind them, as he looks up at the pawnographer, who has a high perch so he can look down on his victim, who’s n-n-nervous..

^{The bloke behind the pawn shop counter on Fuk Man Road didn’t like to be photographed}

“I w-w-want to p-p-pawn this w-w-watch?”

The bloke behind the counter who’s trying to be inscrutable but can’t help looking smug, takes the watch and examines it with an eyeglass.

“I can give you $200.”

“B-b-but it’s a R-r-rolex Oyster Perp-p-petual D-d-dateJust. It cost m-m-me US$10,000.”

“Solly, that’s the best I can do.”

The victim, with no other choice because of the pickle he’s got himself in, takes the measly $200. The pawn broker grins as he admires his new possession.

Any sensible person will figure a pawn shop is as dodgy as a three-dollar coin, but they are strictly governed by law. The question is, is this law enforced? Otherwise, who knows what’s really going on in these shady establishments. Under Hong Kong law, pawn shops may offer quick loans up to $100,000 if you hand over gold, a watch, jewellery or a designer handbag. The shop operator can charge only 3.5 per cent interest per month. If you don’t go back to the shop within four months and repay the money with interest, the owner can sell your pawned item.

_{The shop in Fuk Man Road has an impressive fung shui display}

The design of Hong Kong pawn shops is traditional, some meanings clear, others hidden. A shield representing an upside-down bat hangs above your head when you’ve entered the pawn shop and are standing behind the mental screen. The bat holds a coin. It is a symbol of good fortune because the word for bat (fuk in Cantonese, fu in Mandarin) sounds the same as the word for good fortune. The bat is upside-down because this also means good times because upside-down “dou” sounds the same as arrive. The coin represents wealth and prosperity.

The physical set-up in the pawn shop is face-saving, for the sad-case plonker. Entering a pawn shop is associated with financial difficulty thus shameful. The narrow entrance and internal screen minimises the chances the poor customer will be seen if he scurries in like a rat. The counter inside is deliberately high, forcing customers to lift their items up to the pawn broker, a gesture giving rise to the slang term for pawning.

Pawn shop design hasn’t changed for hundreds of years. They still look shifty.