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Home > Letters to the Editor, August 25, 2013
Letters to the Editor, August 25, 2013
Sunday, 25 August, 2013, 12:00am
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Unenforced laws make it a fine-free city
Years ago, some mischievous prankster in Singapore designed a T-shirt which declared that Singapore was a “fine city”.
This was a humorous dig at the fact that in Singapore you can get fined for everything from spitting, chewing gum and being seen inappropriately undressed through the window of your own home, to offences such as smoking inside restaurants and bars, eating and drinking in the wrong places and even dancing in a bar without a “dancing licence”.
In the spirit of great tourism then, might I suggest that we print some T-shirts which declare Hong Kong as being a “no-fine city” – because apparently in Hong Kong, you can flout all manner of laws without the slightest fear of prosecution, be it smoking in bars (still goes on), idling car engines (common practice everywhere), eating and drinking on public transport, illegal parking (getting worse) and many other traffic offences.
I see these things going on every day, and I’ve yet to ever see any offenders being approached or prosecuted.
Think of what publicising this could do for tourism, as it would attract thousands of visitors who enjoy participating in the above activities without being bothered. And it would give Hong Kong a competitive edge over Singapore, where you can get fined for everything –
except being a decent, law-abiding citizen.
Chris Kyme, Repulse Bay
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Source URL (retrieved on Aug 25th 2013, 6:54am): http://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1299159/letters-editor-august-25-2013