My Take | Our good fortune in meeting Mr Luk

If you blow a tyre in the middle of fast-moving traffic, there is no better place for that to happen than inside the Tai Lam Tunnel.

It's probably the safest, most convenient and hassle-free place in the world for a family with young children to suffer one of driving's worst headaches.

That's what happened to me on Sunday, on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the one day when nobody works across the city.

We take things for granted and complain about everything in Hong Kong, partly because it is mostly a well-run city operated by many quiet professionals and well-trained workers - people like Mr Luk and his colleagues at the tunnel.

I couldn't imagine what would have happened if I had blown the tyre before entering the tunnel or after exiting it.

My whole family would have been stranded on the side of a highway, a fairly dangerous place to be, and we would have found it almost impossible to find a tow truck without paying thousands of dollars, along with the obligatory red packets. I could, of course, change the tyre myself, something I have never done, like many mechanically challenged Hongkongers.