"Earning Only 60 Euros a Day but Spreading Joy"... Paris's Last 'Street Newspaper Vendor' to Receive Medal

President Macron Awards Medal of Merit to Street Newspaper Vendor
Akbar Has Sold Le Monde in Paris for Over 50 Years
"I Sell Newspapers to Bring Joy to People"

The last 'street newspaper vendor' in Paris, France, is set to receive a presidential medal. According to a report by Yonhap News on August 10 (local time), citing the British daily The Telegraph, Ali Akbar (73), originally from Pakistan, will be awarded the National Order of Merit by French President Emmanuel Macron next month.

Ali Akbar, who has been selling newspapers for over 50 years on Saint-Germain-des-Pr?s Street in Paris, France. Instagram

Akbar, who arrived in Paris in the 1970s, has been selling newspapers on Saint-Germain-des-Pr?s Street for over 50 years. His sales route, where he walks an average of about 13 kilometers a day, includes literary cafes such as Caf? de Flore and Les Deux Magots. These cafes were once frequented by renowned intellectuals and artists, including Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, Ernest Hemingway, and Oscar Wilde. He recalled, "Back then, there were publishers, writers, actors, and musicians everywhere, and the place had soul," adding, "Now it's just a tourist city. The atmosphere is not what it used to be."

It is also known that President Macron was once one of his customers. Akbar said, "(President Macron) used to buy me a cup of coffee or a glass of red wine when he was a student at Sciences Po." He continued, "When I started here in 1973, there were 35 to 40 street vendors. Now, I'm the only one left," and added, "Everything has become digital now, and people prefer to interact with their phones."

The first newspaper he sold was the weekly Charlie Hebdo, which featured a satirical article about the Pope on its front page. At the time, Akbar did not speak French, and when a student translated the cover into English for him, he was shocked. He recalled, "In my country, you could be killed just for saying a single word about Islam, so I was afraid," and added, "When I saw the satirical article, I thought, 'This is strange.'"

Akbar buys Le Monde from a newsstand and resells it. He keeps half of the sale price as profit, but this amounts to only 60 euros (about 90,000 won) a day. He said, "When I started working, I could sell 80 copies of Le Monde in an hour," but "now, even after working 10 hours, I can only sell 30 copies." When asked why he has stayed in a declining business, he replied, "I didn't want to work under someone else. I wanted to be my own boss."

However, after selling newspapers in the same spot for over 50 years, he has become a local celebrity thanks to his unique sense of humor and friendly personality. Now living on a minimum pension, he said, "I don't sell newspapers for the money, but for the joy of making people smile," and added, "I love making people laugh so they can live with happiness." He said, "I love freedom. No one tells me what to do," and added, "In Pakistan, I was brutally exploited. That's why I never want to be exploited again."