Letters | When Hong Kong skies rain down cash, what’s wrong with a little greed?

Who wouldn’t feel inclined to collect some when banknotes fall from the sky, especially when there are no police around and everybody else is doing the same?

Poverty

Letters

Published: 5:00am, 27 Dec 2018

Why you can trust SCMP

I wish to comment on the article, “Banknotes from sky spark frenzy on street”(December 16). This sensational event caught much media attention, with some people questioning the morality of picking up money that clearly belonged to someone else (“Hong Kong people scrambling for free cash: at what cost?”, December 22).

After all that has been said about the dubious intentions and background of “Young Coin Master” Wong Ching-kit, the alleged chief engineer of the stunt, I have something to say about those who scrambled to pick up the banknotes.

Honestly, greed is a human trait that no one can deny. Who wouldn’t feel inclined to collect some when banknotes fall from the sky, especially when there are no police around and everybody else is doing the same?

Five ways to make a better use of HK$6,000 than ‘Coin Young Master’

Remember also that this happened in Sham Shui Po, not The Peak. The less-privileged population of Hong Kong’s impoverished district probably treated it as winning the consolation prize in the Mark Six lottery. Would things have been different if another spot had been chosen for the stunt, say Central or Wan Chai? I wonder.

However, it’s a comfort to know that nobody has been prosecuted by police for picking up the cash. Given the high poverty figures in the city, we should try to empathise with our people who strive hard to earn a living, or to survive on scant government handouts, instead of penalising them for small acts of greed.

Yes, public order was disrupted for a while, but it is good to imagine that those who benefited from it could at least have the cash to enjoy a good Christmas meal.

Jacqueline Kwan, Mid-Levels

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