Bank customers stage overnight vigil
'I don't care. I just want my money. Everyone is queuing and so should I'
Hong Kong people have been known to queue overnight for tickets to concerts, toy fairs and the Sevens. Last night they were queuing for their money.
At Bank of East Asia branches as far apart as Chai Wan and Mei Foo, they were waiting for the doors to open this morning so they could withdraw their deposits amid panic over rumours - condemned as unfounded by the government and the bank - that BEA was in trouble.
At midnight, about 100 people were in a queue outside a branch on Chai Wan Road.
At 11pm, about 20 depositors were lining up for their cash outside a branch in Mount Sterling Mall in Mei Foo. There were similar scenes elsewhere around the city.
Earlier in the day thousands of customers had lined up outside BEA outlets from lunchtime onwards. Many of them could not be served despite the branches staying open late.
Not even a firm assurance by Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief Joseph Yam Chi-kwong and a statement from the bank could drive them home.
At 6.30pm, two hours after the BEA branch in Kwun Tong should have been closed, 200 people remained inside while a line of 1,500 anxious faces stretched down Hong Ning Road.
'I just want the peace of mind when I go to sleep tonight. Nothing is safer than hard cash in my pocket,' said one woman at the Caine Road, Mid-Levels, branch of the bank, who wanted to get her hands on a HK$100,000 time deposit, despite admitting she did not really know what was happening.
In Taikoo Shing yesterday afternoon, the branches of other banks were virtually empty, yet several hundred crowded BEA.
Mr and Mrs Tang, property agents, had come straight from work and just wanted to hear directly from staff that the bank was safe.
'You know, this is a crazy time, banks are falling over,' Mr Tang said, as his wife showed footage of the BEA press conference on her phone.
'It's not normal what is happening in the world. Who knows if what they are saying is true?'
Even at the tiny Mui Wo branch in Lantau, 60 concerned and mostly elderly customers remained inside at 7pm, arguing for the return of their precious savings.
Wong Shu-ching, 86, lining up in Kwun Tong, said he had just HK$2,000 in his bank account, but he needed the money to buy food and medicine.
'It's all I have,' he said, although he admitted he did not know why there were so many also waiting outside. 'The police pushed me. I just want my money.'
Ivan Wu, a customer of 10 years, heard from friends and online forums that he should take his money out of the bank.
Mr Wu even took a day off work in an ultimately fruitless attempt to withdraw his savings at Kwun Tong.
Peter Chow had HK$50,000 in his account and was told by his family to take the money out of BEA. He turned up at the bank even though he did not think it had a serious problem.
Mr Lam, a trading-company owner, echoed the sentiment.
'I don't think the bank has a problem and I think the system is still healthy,' he said. 'But I have tens of thousands, so I have to be careful.'
When Lee Kong-pak arrived at the Kwun Tong branch at 3pm, he spoke to a man who had managed to withdraw HK$300,000. But Mr Lee left at about 5pm without his savings.
Company owner Mr Li, who said he had extensive personal savings with BEA, was told by a friend that the bank was in trouble.
At about 3pm, his wife urged him to go to Kwun Tong and take his money from their account.
'But I called a friend who is a staff member and he told me not to take my money out. He told me the bank was safe,' he said.
Unlike thousands of others, he then left.
