With the pride the Government has shown in being able to process arrivals at the new airport within a minute, I thought it time to draw attention to the 25 minutes it takes to process visitors arriving at the Macau and China ferry terminals.
Based in the mainland for the past few months, I travel in and out each weekend and it takes between 20-25 minutes every time.
I no longer use the China ferry terminal as too frequently the 'visitor' desks are unmanned when the boat arrives and I am sick of complaining.
Again this weekend, despite being one of the first off the boat, 25 minutes later I was last through immigration: six counters were open for visitors and there were just six people from an earlier Macau ferry ahead of me in the queue.
The current system is that once all Hong Kong permanent ID card holders have passed through, then visitors will be directed through those counters at the discretion of the supervisors on the floor. Perhaps a fairer system needs to be introduced.
I was advised by an unusually helpful and sympathetic female supervisor that the 'higher ups' fail to take any notice of their front-line staff complaints of staff shortages, particularly over weekends.
Leaving Hong Kong is yet another experience. Invariably only two counters are open for visitors. Long queues form until five minutes prior to departure, until Immigration officials suddenly realise the time and open other counters. In the rush I frequently end up bruised and I now curtail my Sunday evening to arrive 45 minutes early to avoid the crush.