Letters | Hong Kong’s array of service choices puts Australia to shame
- Readers discuss reasons for Hongkongers to cheer their city, and the decline in politeness
As most of us drive, I propose adding car repair woes to the roll-call of injustice wrought by business monopolies. I was forced to drive my shuddering Volkswagen Polo, which had a fractured engine undercarriage, to work at a hospital for a month and a half before being able to secure an appointment for repairs. The state automobile club designates only three repairers in the area for the kind of work I needed. This trio feasts on the surfeit of car misfortune directed their way.
Weeks of repair delays later, I noticed my car’s engine mount still hanging by a thread. My request for a test drive was strenuously denied. No competition and no choice in services required for daily living breeds suppliers’ contempt and predatory behaviour.
Cheer up, Hongkongers. Celebrate the array of airlines that fly out of your airport, your many international banks, and thriving small grocery stores and car repairers at every corner.
Joseph Ting, Brisbane, Australia
Hongkongers need a crash course in politeness
