LettersHong Kong’s Lunar New Year flower market U-turn reeks of capitulation to business interests

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People choose orchids at the Chiba Orchid Farm in Yuen Long on January 19 after the government announced the cancellation – which has since been revoked – of the annual Lunar New Year flower markets across various districts. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Published: 6:35am, 25 Jan 2021Updated: 6:35am, 25 Jan 2021

The recent U-turn on flower markets – they will be open after all, but at 50 per cent capacity – further illustrates the baffling logic and lack of scientific analysis behind these decisions (“‘Is the government playing us?’ Lunar New Year fair U-turn confuses florists”, January 18). Hong Kong has long suffered the consequences of this “one step forward, two steps back” approach and, as my original letter on the subject argued, the city is beyond fatigue from this state of affairs.

I think people deserve an explanation as to why the football fields where these flower markets will be held were closed for much of the year. Usually these football fields would host around 20-25 people for a game of 11 vs 11 football, while a flower market would easily attract 10 times more people to this very same field.

Why are restaurants allowed to remain open at 50 per cent capacity, while schools remain, at maximum, 16.6 per cent full? Why are one-on-one consultations in gyms and beauty parlours not allowed, while indoor shopping malls are packed with pedestrians every day, especially on the weekend?

It is clear that managing the complaints of businesses, rather than focusing on the more important priorities – education, health and safety – is the focus of this administration. It is very frustrating and exhausting.

John Lee, Mid-Levels