Interview by Rui Pastorin
Frankie Lai (黎兆榮) has been selling R/C (radio-controlled) model vehicles of different sizes and related items to fellow enthusiasts since 1996.
The 62-year-old has had a passion for the R/C hobby ever since he was a kid in the early 1970s. And when it came time to open his own shop, that hobby portion didn’t disappear. In fact, he opened it “half for fun, half for work”, Lai told the Post on Tuesday during an interview at his shop, Cheong Lei Hobby, which has been sitting on Beco do Padre António Roliz for half of its 20-year history.
In the past and when he first opened, he recalled, it was common for people to build these intricate kits and take them out to play, space allowing. But today, there is a “big difference”.
While it was supported and promoted in the city back then, Lei said that nowadays, if you wanted to race an R/C car or perhaps operate other related model vehicles like large model planes, you would most likely have to do it in the Chinese mainland, where the hobby is alive and kicking with shops and spaces to engage in it.
In Macau, the scene, according to Lai, has changed. The market and interest still definitely exist as the hobby is, after all, a fun one. However, in terms of openly racing or playing with these R/C vehicles in the city? Lai said it wasn’t the same, pegging today’s stricter rules and a lack of dedicated spaces, even just for R/C cars, that allow enthusiasts to openly engage in the hobby, as among the reasons. He added that the latter point also comes into play despite spaces that he thinks could possibly be used.
Consumption attitudes are also different, with many more likely to shop for their products online through platforms like Taobao. Moreover, Lai said that local hobbyists, or at least 70 percent of the people who buy products from him, are also more likely to purchase these kits for display, or to resell later when their value goes up.
These days, Lai said he sees fewer customers entering his shop. And it is not just his, he said, noting his outlook that others offering the same products could also be experiencing the same thing. “The situation is, you cannot make money”.
Down the line, Lei considers retiring in a few years. While still passionate and noting that he would like to see this particular hobby culture improve, he has a bleak outlook on its future in Macau in terms of doing something to improve the situation or joining others who might have the same idea, it will be up to the younger generation to change the situation.
Cheong Lei Hobby Shop owner Frankie Lai poses on Tuesday in front of some of the R/C cars he is selling. – Photo: Rui Pastorin
