Give your children a shock! HK government's bizarre advice to parents in Victoria Park

When in the park with your children, have you ever thought about creeping up behind them as they happily play with friends and giving them the fright of their lives?

That's what Hong Kong's government is advocating if new signs spotted in Victoria Park are anything to go by - thanks to sloppy English translations that inform parents in English "Do not leave your children unsurprised".

The new signs, installed on May 30, contain several English mistakes - with the mis-translation for not leaving children "unsupervised" topping the list.

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Other errors are more slight, but will no doubt be seen by many as a slipping of standards, not least in the Leisure and Cultural Services Department which produced the signs.

Visitors to the park are advised that there should be "no padding" - yet paddling is surely okay - and hawkers are told "prosecution will be taken", although where it will be taken remains unclear.

Non-Chinese residents who frequent the park said they indeed were "unsupervised" by the mistake, as the city's English-language signs often contain errors.

"It's not uncommon, though I don't see it every day - maybe once a month," said a local-born Australian who gave his surname only, Gibson.