Turns Out Running Isn’t Faster than Taking the Tram
Last week former Town Planning Board official Sit Kwok-keung put forward a plan to abolish the tram lines running between Central to Admiralty, claiming that “It’s faster to walk than to take the tram.” Netizens took him up on the challenge, organizing a 8.6km race from the Catchick Street terminus in Kennedy Town to the Happy Valley tram terminus. More than 40 contestants took part, competing against a tram running the same route. Only three men and one woman outran the tram. Sit has a history of unorthodox town planning suggestions: In April he suggested rezoning PLA headquarters into land for the hospitality sector.
Our Take: We’d like to see Sit panting alongside a tram.
HKU: More Simplified Chinese, Please
The Social Sciences Research Centre of the University of Hong Kong has published a report called “Language Use, Proficiency and Attitudes in Hong Kong.” It has found that while trilingualism is on the increase, language standards are still relatively low. It suggests that the government should work out how to “more effectively” promote simplified written Chinese, as a means of national communication. Apple Daily columnist Tsang Chi-ho called the paper a “suicide report,” as there is far too much conflict between Hong Kong and the mainland for such a suggestion to be viable.
Our Take: Get your hands off our characters!
Survey: Long-term Immigrants Support Universal Suffrage
Last week Ming Pao conducted a survey of 926 Hong Kong residents and mainland Chinese immigrants to compare their opinions on Hong Kong’s politics. The study divided them into four categories: local-born, immigrant of 1-3 years, immigrant of 4-6 years, and immigrant of at least 10 years. The study has shown that 63.1% of the locally born residents and 57.5% of the long-term immigrants supported universal suffrage, while only about 41% of recent immigrants supported it. Proposed security legislation Article 23 received a lukewarm response from all parties, with “no opinion” the most popular option for all four groups. Immigrants with longer stays generally had responses closer to local-born respondents.
Our take: We should just invite the whole of the Politburo to Hong Kong for seven years. After they get their permanent residency, they’ll change their tune.