MTR deserves boos for its ban on large musical instruments
Oliver Chou says the company's ban on large musical instruments on our trains reflects a sad tendency in today's Hong Kong to reach for the rules book when trust and discretion are needed
After 36 years of hassle-free commuting, the MTR has issued a ban on large musical instruments. On Thursday, the MTR Corporation made Hong Kong the first city in the world that bans musical instruments longer than 145cm from its subway and requires a permit for those between 130cm-145cm to travel on trains.
The new rules, a relaxation from the previous limit of 130cm, were the result of a month-long review.
Under the trial scheme, instruments under 145cm in length would be allowed to travel with a pre-registered permit all day except during the peak hour of 8.15am to 9.15am. Registration, online or at designated MTR stations, starts on Monday.
That musical instruments would be subject to such rules is a sad case of an increasingly paranoid city that resorts to 'thou shalt not' regulations rather than a civic spirit for solutions
On the surface, some, such as cellists with their 135cm cello, may feel a relief. But those with instruments above the new extended limit, such as a 183cm double bass and a 163cm guzheng, are left out in the cold. The MTR has made it clear that oversized instruments would not be permitted aboard and frontline staff would strictly enforce the rules, unlike before.
The sudden crackdown on large musical instruments starting from mid-September puzzled even the MTR's chairman-designate Frederick Ma Si-hang. It remained a mystery until Secretary for Transport and Housing Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung last month that it was the government that asked for a strict enforcement of the rules, targeting primarily parallel-goods traders.
In the crackdown, the affected musicians became "collateral damage". More ominously, the unfriendly fire hit only young local students, including three cellists and one guzheng player.
