At the start of the new year, Hongkongers will find themselves paying between 5.8 to 7 per cent more for electricity depending on the power company they use. Citybus and New World First Bus will charge 3.2 per cent more for rides. Tram fares will rise by 11.5 per cent. Meanwhile, the pandemic has led to a dramatic increase in logistic costs, raising the price of imports and leading to inflation in Hong Kong. Two years into the pandemic, there is still no end in sight. Quarantine-free travel to the mainland has become an empty dream . Employees of the airline, hotel and tourism industries have faced drastic income cuts or even unemployment. Is it any wonder that it doesn’t seem like a very happy new year for Hongkongers? Meanwhile, Hong Kong urgently needs more quarantine hotel rooms for foreign domestic helpers. It seems that these rooms have become a precious commodity, making life extremely difficult for families waiting for a helper from overseas. Amid this dire situation, large companies should show some empathy and defer their plans to raise prices. Our government should announce a new round of HK$5,000 vouchers . I do not mean Hong Kong should become a welfare city filled with people who depend on the government for handouts. But given the unusually hard times we are facing, these measures are a necessary last resort. Companies and residents with the ability to help the needy get back on their feet should lend a helping hand. Finally, we are increasingly seeing the dictatorial face of the government, which is going to stop unvaccinated people – a large number of them elderly – from entering venues such as restaurants and cinemas. While I am not against vaccination as a strategy to defeat Covid-19, people must make their own calculations when deciding whether to get vaccinated, weighing the odds of dying from contracting Covid-19 against the possibility of developing serious side effects or even, in extremely rare cases, dying from the vaccine. Why most Covid-19 conventional wisdom is wrong Indeed, the next two weeks or so will be critical. The elderly are under pressure to get vaccinated. We cannot ignore the possibility of a fifth wave of Covid-19. But the people most likely to spread the virus may not be weak old Hongkongers who struggle even to walk, but those with the ability to fly here and there and then traipse all over the city. Randy Lee, Ma On Shan