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Hong Kong: Queue Nation

It is amazing how Hong Kong being such a small speck on the face of the Earth with such a high density of people can still operate smoothly and coherently. The fact that Hong Kong is as it is today has much to do with the way her people were brought up. Just go out for a day and keep count of the queues you come across, there is one in nearly every street corner. Hong Kongers queue for everything! Buses, Trains, Food, Toilet, Taxis and even free product tester packs worth pennies. Where there is a person standing and waiting for something someone else will inevitably queue behind and immediately a queue is formed. Even when there are no barriers or uniformed personnel to guide queues, the instinct of a Hong Konger will form a natural queue. It's a strange but amazing phenomenon.

It all boils down to the deeply nested teachings of Confucius in the myriads of Chinese textbooks that Hong Kongers study since primary years. Confucius was a great philosopher and leading thinker of his time. Confucius' Golden rule, taken from the Wikipedia page on Confucius, states:

"What one does not wish for oneself, one ought not to do to anyone else; what one recognises as desirable for oneself, one ought to be willing to grant to others."

Though the second part of the Golden rule is less practiced the first part is very much used. Mainly in the form of not doing anything to others, i.e. reduce human interaction and stand a better chance of not doing wrong to your neighbour. For the purpose of queues this idea translates to:

Do not interfer with the person infront of you but silently stand behind them minding your own business. Doesn't sound nice does it? but that's the basis of forming a perfect queue. ;)

I know this post is completely off topic and I probably could have come up with something better to say since I haven't said much lately. I just had to get it off my back as it's a special kind of Hong Kong small city phenomenon.

Lastly, I mentioned Confucius a few times in this post, though I must profess I'm not an expert in Confucianism so probably won't know anymore than what I've already said. :)

Hong Kong soon a “Wi-Fi city”

The Financial Secretary of Hong Kong, Henry Tang, announced his 2007-08 Budget last week. He stated that due to Hong Kong's economic growth and excess revenue amounted from previous years the Government is adding measures to give back to its people, one of which is to invest HK$210 million (GBP 13.8 million) to provide free Wi-Fi access in public libraries, parks and government venues. There are about 1,000 free hotspots in HK currently and it's estimated that with this new investment it will increase to about 3,000!** On top of this Hong Kong has no shortage of premium serviced and non-government hotspots such as those you get at Starbucks and Pacific Coffee. Additionally PCCW launched its free Wi-Fi service at Chek Lap Kok Airport a.k.a. Hong Kong Int. Airport earlier this year with 100% coverage of the terminal.Soon, a Wi-Fi hotspot will never be more than a short walk away, Work from home would soon mean Work from Anywhere to me!

Time to find a comfy hotspot! Hotspot hunting here I come!

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**Statistics according to the 24-hour ATV news channel therefore accuracy is not verified; you know what the media is like!