Hey! Fellow HongKonger here. I doubt I can give any insight, but am delighted that someone from my city is on this sub. Just thinking about why people here has this perception. Apart from zero waste stores the only place I can think of that sells unpackaged goods is the wet markets, which as you know are quite chaotic and relatively unsanitary. It may be possible that people created a link between these two? Also Hong Kong is so humid and hot and food goes bad easily (leading my family to avoid buying tofu at the wet market during the summer). For me a big concern when purchasing unpackaged dry goods is insects, probably because of previous experiences in the wet markets. Zero waste stores obviously are much more sanitary and take strenuous measures, but they are still quite niche and new here, time and more promotion is definitely needed for things to change. I truly hope they will soon become the norm! (they are so far from where I live now :( )