Coronavirus in Hong Kong: think twice before joining that queue

I refer to the run on toilet rolls and tissue paper in Hong Kong supermarkets amid a community outbreak of coronavirus, even as the mask shortage and panic continue.

A few days ago, there were rumours that factories in China would soon stop manufacturing daily products, from tissue paper to condoms, because workers were staying home in a coronavirus lockdown. People then started flocking to neighbourhood stores and cleaned out the shelves.

Hong Kong rarely experiences shortages of essential items, but the supply situation with regard to face masks and tissue paper has put paid to the city’s reputation for abundance. The way people are purchasing toilet and tissue paper is close to mass hysteria.

These events make me wonder, what if there were rumours about contaminated water supply? Would people be buying distilled water in a mad rush? What about grass-roots citizens? Would they still be able to buy or afford a face mask, a pack of tissue paper or a bottle of water amid a shortage and inevitable price gouging?

Therefore, we need to think twice before joining the queues. The crucial thing is not to stockpile masks when you have enough to last a month. This would reduce demand and give businesspeople more time to order masks. Consequently, prices would become much more affordable for the elderly and others of limited means.

Also, we should never line up to buy anything without even knowing what we are queuing for, as has been reported around Hong Kong.

I have seen many middle-aged people joining a queue without even bothering to find out what is being sold. Maybe they are afraid of losing out on some product they might need to buy at a higher price later.

It is crucial for all of us to be more civic-minded and not add to the panic. Stop being selfish. We are all Hongkongers. We should make a concerted effort to survive the outbreak.

Andy Tong, Kwun Tong

Colonial times have long ended

I refer to Anson Chan’s litany, Why coronavirus outbreak has made Hong Kong even more angry” (February 12).

The piece made me fear the presence of something left behind by the city’s former rulers to add insult to injury, after they ruined a big part of Chinese society with their lucrative opium trade and then had to, most unwillingly, leave the territory they won from Chinese people.

“Hong Kong people have no trust in information coming from central government sources and no confidence in their local administration to protect their interests,” she says. I wonder which government is to be trusted the least.

A well-known tactic of the British colonial rulers was to divide and conquer.

This seems to be very much alive in today’s Hong Kong. I can understand Anson Chan’s disappointment at the fact that good old Britannia is no longer ruling the waves, since it gave her and other followers handsome rewards for their faithful services.

But it’s 2020 now, not 1842, so, whether you like it or not, try to avoid making a messy situation even messier.

Bernt Eriksson, Malmo, Sweden