The Young Reporter

Hong Kong's enhanced coronavirus control in the restaurant industry draws controversy
- 2020-12-16
- Politics
- The Young Reporter
- By: LAMA Sumnima RaniEdited by: Sunny Sun
- 2020-12-16
On December 8, Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced that dining regulations are to be more stringent as the fourth-wave of coronavirus fast approaches Hong Kong. In addition to maintaining the two-person gathering limit, the dining time at the restaurant was further shortened to 6 pm Fitness centres, sports premises, beauty salons, massage parlours and other places that are normally open were also required to be closed. These measures take effect on December 10. These measures were taken in response to the consecutive rise in triple-digit confirmed new cases of coronavirus since December. "We experienced this before," said Percy Lam Kwok-Ming, the manager at Brotziet, a German cuisine restaurant in Tsim Sha Tsui. He referred to the third wave of Covid-19 and said that they lost around 30% of their business during that time. The food and beverage sector saw a 35.3% decrease in sales during the third quarter of 2020, according to government statistics. "We had to take a lot of no-pay leaves so it affects our salary," said Pujan Rai, a staff at Brotzeit. She said that since part of her salary goes to supporting her family, whose income is also affected during covid, "it is a bit of a struggle every time a new wave hits Hong Kong." Ms Rai thinks it's too much to ask the restaurant to close at 6 pm as they can't get more revenue from the sale of alcohol or drinks, even have to rush customers to eat as soon as possible. She found the 6 PM limit to be excessive, since Brotziet is a restaurant and bar, closing at 6 pm means they sell fewer drinks and have to rush dining customers as well since the restaurant originally opens till 2 am, "pushing the closing time back to 8 or 9 pm …

HK E-payment market expected an increase of 10.5% for 2020/21
- 2020-12-16
- Business
- The Young Reporter
- By: Vikki Cai ChuchuEdited by: Kawai Wong
- 2020-12-16
Liang Jia uses WeChat Pay for her groceries when shopping in Marketplace as the Chinese digital wallet operator stepped up promotion to lure users amid a booming online payment service boosted by COVID-19. Digital wallet companies want to boost their turnover during the pandemic. Digital wallets in Hong Kong like WeChat Pay, AliPay and Bank of China have launched multiple promotions for the e-payment users to be benefited from. "Since I heard of the risk of transmission of COVID-19 by cash, I use contactless payment methods more often," said Ms Liang, a 29-year-old insurance broker. Hong Kong recorded 23 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Nov. 12, including 6 local infections. The city now has reported 5431 confirmed cases with 5170 patients recovered and 108 people died. Speaking on a radio program earlier in mid-October, microbiologist and government adviser on the coronavirus pandemic, Yuen Kwok-yung expressed concerns that using banknotes to purchase increases the risk of infection. The research from Australia's national science agency CSIRO stated that the COVID-19 can survive on cash for up to 28 days at 20°C. Mr Yuen also addressed that the government should explore different digital payment methods with the business sector, contactless payment should be stepped up to reduce infection risks. Indeed, more shoppers prefer using self-checkouts to avoid contact with people. A cashier at Wellcome who refuses to disclose her name because she does not want to represent the company to speak. She said more customers have started to use self-checkout since the outbreak of COVID-19. The pandemic also creates more demands for the usage of financial technology tools as people tend to stay at home, and prefer online shopping over brick-and-mortar stores. Fintech adopts new technology to improve and automate the delivery and use of financial services. Its core is utilized to help …