In FocusDoes cash-strapped Hongkong Post need to deliver profits or just public services?
After eight consecutive years of deficits and with few branches turning a profit, what is next for Hongkong Post?
On a recent weekday morning, the Repulse Bay post office, in one of Hong Kong’s most affluent coastal neighbourhoods, stood almost empty. In an hour, only five customers walked through the door, with two staff members serving them.
One of them was Dicky Lo, who had sent a parcel to Europe, citing the service’s reasonable price compared with private couriers.
“I come here two to three times a month, mostly to collect online shopping packages,” the 43-year-old freelancer said. “Not many residents use this branch, which is exactly why I like it because there is no queue.”
The Repulse Bay resident said that closing the post office would cause inconvenience and force him to travel 7km to Aberdeen for postal services.
“Post offices are still necessary. Besides sending parcels, residents can pay electricity, water, and tax bills here … They are different from private courier services,” Lo said.
“Not every government service is profit-making, as they have to satisfy residents’ needs. We cannot judge them merely by profit and loss.”
The Repulse Bay branch was one of five post offices that recorded a productivity index – a metric measuring mail volume and manpower utilisation at individual sites – below 50 per cent.