Hong Kong Central: where traffic control highlights class divide
The weekend before last, I passed by the usual chaos on the corner of Wyndham Street and Queen’s Road in Central. Cars coming down Wyndham Street blocked the box junction, so that vehicles on Queen’s Road couldn’t move, and vice versa. And the pedestrian hatched area was blocked, so people couldn’t cross, either.
Four police officers were there – I watched them for about five minutes and not one of them did anything. In the meantime, one officer asked a violin player to move on, someone who wasn’t blocking anyone as he was standing against a wall.
I asked one officer why they weren’t doing anything to fine the drivers blocking the junction – he said he was too busy. I pointed at a taxi that had just stopped right in the middle of the box junction and told the officer I was going to watch him deal with it. He went to speak to the driver and waved him on, but issued no fine.
This epitomises everything that is wrong with this city. The haves, in this case car owners, act with complete impunity, with the authorities turning a blind eye, while the have-nots’ lives are made even more difficult by petty officialdom.
What do we need to do to get the police to do their jobs properly? Set up a vigil and then report them every time they let a driver get away with breaking the law? I would happily do that, but I doubt the Complaints Against Police Office would have the time to deal with the tsunami of complaints.
I have the police officer’s number and the taxi’s licence plate details. I will happily pass both of them to the police chief superintendent if he’s interested.
Lee Faulkner, Lamma
