The repercussions of the 9/11 terrorist attacks were felt all over the world and Hong Kong was no exception. Today, a decade on, city life has changed subtly.
Immediately following 9/11, Hong Kong companies wanted security reviews of their facilities and increased surveillance around their buildings, according to Douglas Renwick, country president of Securitas in Hong Kong. Staff were trained in terrorism awareness and reporting requirements. And new buildings being built were reviewed to ensure that if hit by planes, the structures would remain standing.'9/11 was a tragic incident and a real wake up call for everybody about what terrorism looked like. It was a real sea change in what governments had expected terrorists to do. And because of that I think most governments and large enterprises have revisited and rethought what security looks like,' Mike Groves, country manager for Hill and Associates, a security firm, in Hong Kong. 'But probably most people in Hong Kong wouldn't notice the difference.'
Compared with 10 years ago, liquids could only be taken on flights in small quantities, travel to high risk countries like the US and Australia require additional checks and random searches have increased, according to Sidney Chau Foo-cheong, executive director of Aviation Security Company, which overseas all of Hong Kong International Airport's security.
But for all the invisible changes, 9/11 is not in the forefront of the public consciousness.
Security policies were upgraded to fall in line with new regulations.
'There are so many things that go on in the world every day including terrorist attacks. You read about them in the newspaper but you generally don't think you're terribly vulnerable here in Hong Kong,' one Hong Kong based commercial pilot who flew regularly to North America, including New York, in the last decade, said.
'That's probably to do with the political climate here. We don't have a foreign policy, we don't affect other people in other places and therefore they're not angry at us.'