After years of complaining, I feel I must write on behalf of my friends and fellow residents of Lamma to ask Hong Kong and Kowloon Ferry Limited (HKKF) just what service it thinks it is really providing to us all.
We still have to suffer the most inferior vessel (the dreaded 'ordinary' ferry to Yung Shue Wan) when other outlying islanders enjoy a progressive and enviable upgrade to their ferries. The Lamma ordinary ferry we have been forced to endure is freezing and smells bad, and we have had to endure this state of affairs for more than two years. The journey is thoroughly unpleasant and the days of sitting on the sun deck of the old three-deck vessel (with a cold drink and a fried-egg sandwich cooked by the crew) are just a distant memory.
There is also significant demand for a fast ferry after 7.30pm and I just do not see any reason why HKKF could continually overlook this.
In addition, the toilets on the slow ferry and at the pier in Central, are an absolute disgrace, and a total 'no-go' zone for women.
The ferry company will sit back and say there has been no fare increase. Well, no there hasn't, but the company is not offering us any alternative.
I would ask HKKF not to bother responding through these columns, but to immediately start acting like the company it said it was when it won the franchise.