Opinion | Hongkongers, it is time to put the tissues away and stop stuffing them in taxi door handles
People in Hong Kong use an estimated 105 million paper napkins, towels and wipes every day. An annual “No Tissue Day” is simply not enough to address the problem
I’m trying to shake off that queasy feeling you get when your hand sinks into a damp tissue of unknown origin. Before you leap to conclusions about the sort of places where I hang out, let me explain. I’m talking about the tissues found tucked into taxi door handles.
It always catches you by surprise. You’re pulling the door shut as you tell the driver where you’d like to go and then it happens – as soft and squidgy as Play-Doh, only a lot less hygienic.
This custom is unique to Hong Kong, as far as I can tell – and I can’t see it taking off anywhere else. So, who puts them there?
It’s not me. And I’m sure it’s not you – not that you’d admit it if you did. But someone – in fact, very many people – are doing it. I suspect they are the same people who flush public toilets before they do their business, not afterwards. But don’t get me started on that.
And all this raises an even bigger issue – what is the deal with Hong Kong’s tissue compulsion? If you buy a newspaper from a street stall, you’ll often be given a free, pocket-sized pack of tissues. Restaurants hand paper napkins out like confetti and home use is apparently off the charts.