Sin Kay Dim
The goods they sell sound like stock codes and price
quotes: “66XX9999, $12000; 66XX9986, $98...” Even
if the first 6 digits are the same, two mobile phone
numbers can fetch very different prices.
At night on Ap Liu Street, in between the stalls selling second-hand
goods and the shops selling electrical appliances, Mr.
Cheung’s small shop “Sin Kay Dim” has thousands of
phone numbers to sell. The numbers came from purchasing
stored-value cards in bulk. Ever since eight
or nine years ago, when it became possible to retain
one’s mobile phone number when changing service
providers, the trade for desired phone numbers started.
These shops however are part of a big chain, and their
business is complicated and big. It is rumoured that all
small shops on Ap Liu Street are overseen by one boss,
and this boss is only a university student! However Mr.
Cheung was not at liberty to tell us anything more. We
who are outsiders are like the blind man feeling an elephant,
only glimpsing one small corner of the complicated
Sham Shui Po.
