According to him, more than 60 percent of retailers had surrendered their licences by yesterday, and predicts that the figure will rise to nearly 80 percent today - the deadline to qualify for the government's HK$1.1 billion compensation package.

Although Secretary for Food and Health York Chow Yat-ngok said the government would withdraw its offer to close the live chicken trade if less than 85 percent agreed by today to turn in their licences, Wong is quite confident that this will not happen, as reported by The Standard.

"I don't think the percentage of licences surrendered will reach 85 percent," he said. "But I think the government will still compensate us."

Retailer Ms Lee, whose family has operated a stall in Pei Ho Street market in Sham Shui Po for 19 years, refuses to quit. "My four-member family cannot rely on the HK$900,000 compensation to last forever," she said. "What I can do is to take a step-by-step approach, keep the licence and continue until the very last minute."

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