Golf club and golf society members in Hong Kong are surprised by a new problem on Macau-bound jetfoils - staff demanding $30 each way for passengers' previously uncharged golf bags.

They do it extremely rudely, without any prior signs when buying tickets to advise of the extra tariff. Non-uniformed men at both ends physically grab unsuspecting customers after tickets have been handed in and just prior to immigration, demanding money, shouting and jabbing fingers at part of a lengthy 'new rule' sign that in English actually says nothing about the alleged charge.

This sort of delay can also cause passengers to miss their intended ferry, a further annoyance, and the 'new rule', the legality of which I question, doesn't seem to apply to commuters with luggage much larger and more cumbersome than golf bags. Nor is any service offered. Golfers still carry their bags on to ferries, put them in specially-constructed golf bag pens, and carry them off again after other passengers have alighted.