Society

At a roadside taxi stand in Mong Kok, Lily Ho, 42, was having a verbal altercation with a taxi driver for taking a detour. “I have repeatedly told the driver that I am in a hurry, but the driver just ignored me and even attacked me with vulgar language,” Ho said. “I often take this route by taxi, and I am sure the driver had taken a detour.” Ho said it was not the first time she had encountered poor service from taxi drivers. Taxi complaints surged 51% year-on-year to 11,452 cases in 2023, with refusal for hire, driving malpractice, and joyriding being the most common, according to the Legislative Council. However, these situations may be addressed  as a new taxi fleet is introduced which aims to provide better quality services through technology and improvement in drivers’ attitude , according to Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Mable Chan.  Cheung Chi-kwan, 65, vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Taxi Owners’ Association, said the traditional taxi industry in Hong Kong has room for improvement, but it is undergoing changes to refresh the industry. “In the past, the number of taxis in Hong Kong was stable, but the number of orders received has decreased significantly. 20 years ago, the daily passenger capacity was more than 1.2 million passengers, compared to just 750,000 today,” Cheung said. The expansion of the MTR network, illegal pick-up of private car-hailing services and prejudice against the poor Hong Kong taxi service caused the sharp decline, he said. “It was a one-way cross-harbour taxi, but the driver asked me for a round-trip fare,” said Henry Zoeng, 31, a travel blogger. “There is no surveillance inside the taxi, nor is there a unified platform to monitor driving routes and fare issues.” “I prefer to spend more time on the subway or …

The cancellation of the HK$2,500 education subsidy has drawn mixed reactions among parents about the latest budget plan, which aims to reduce education expenditures. Cammy To, 34, a mother with a daughter in kindergarten, said she does not consider the grant to be very impactful for her daughter’s education.  “My child studies in full-day kindergarten. A month of tuition fee with meal fee is almost HK$1,500. One semester’s textbook fee is about HK$1,100. So a HK$2,500 grant for a year is just better than not having any subsidies,” she added. The grant did not require a means test for application, making it accessible to all families. According to the Education Bureau, around 800,000 applications of the HK$2,500 grant succeeded and nearly HK$2 thousand million were given to households in the academic year of 2023/24. Lan Wong, 53, a parent to a primary school student, expressed confusion about the proposal after the abolishment was proposed.  “The original grant did not require a means test that both rich and poor could get it,” said Wong.  She added that removing it all of a sudden is unfair for some families, especially for those who need this yearly subsidy.  Christine Choi, the head of the Education Bureau, commented on March 7 during a press conference that the abolition was a necessary step to decrease the government’s expenditure while maintaining educational standards in Hong Kong. “The HK$2,500 grant was introduced as a relief measure, we had announced beforehand that it was designed to alleviate challenges,” said Choi. “Families in need could apply for other subsidies that the government is currently providing.” Professor Cheung Chi-keung, the Head of the Department of Educational Administration and Policy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, also expressed concern. “Removing subsidies for education is deteriorating Hong Kong’s talent cultivation in …

It is 10 am and the Mong Kok footbridge is already buzzing with people.  Tourists snap photos of the Hong Kong skyline with luggage in hand, before hurrying to their next stop. They walk thousands of steps and visit as many attractions as possible in a day.   They are the so-called special-forces tourists in Hong Kong. Like soldiers, they move from one location to another under tight schedules, often over the weekends or holidays such as Labour Day and the Qing Ming festival.  Special-forces tourism is a growing trend among mainland tourists, who have become major contributors to Hong Kong’s tourism industry.  According to the Hong Kong Tourism Board, 21 million visitors arrived in Hong Kong in the first half of 2024, with 77% of them from the mainland. On holidays such as National Day, the Immigration Department recorded 1.22 million mainland visitors, making up 88% of the total number of tourists.  The Hong Kong Tourism Board also shows a 34% increase in mainland day-trippers to Hong Kong from 2023 to 2024, causing challenges to the city’s hospitality sector.  Yu Li, 25, counts herself as a special-forces tourist. She planned to explore three districts – Mong Kok, Tsim Sha Tsui and Central, in a day.  “Last time I came here, I mainly went hiking along the MacLehose Trail, and this time I am here with my friend just to explore,” she said.  Li said she found her destinations through Rednote, the Chinese social media app where users commonly share and recommend travel plans.  “I have not been to the Hong Kong Museum of Art in Tsim Sha Tsui before, but the recommendations in Rednote made me interested in what it features,” she said.  She said she only spends around HK$2,000 a day.  “I mostly shop for medicine and smaller things …