Letters | Why Hong Kong needs background checks on investors

Readers discuss suggestions that stringent checks on investors might scare them away, the need to widen pavements near beaches, and making payment on public transport more convenient for visitors

Hong Kong economy

Letters

Published: 2:30pm, 14 Apr 2024

Why you can trust SCMP

Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at [email protected] or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words, and must include your full name and address, plus a phone number for verification

It was interesting but also confusing to read “Stringent check on prince could have ‘offended’ other investors, sources say” (April 6).

At a time when so much is not as it seems, and technology and social media have made it extremely easy to be whoever anyone might wish to be, especially in a town where the art of the con is everywhere, there’s nothing wrong with being too careful.

Background and additional checks are never too much when we see the various scams affecting our city. Over five years after the government tried to take action to crack down on them, cold calls are still to be reined in.

Thorough due diligence procedures could save some from unnecessary blushes and looking naive.

Hans Ebert, Wan Chai

Pave the way to better public spaces

Last year, I had written in these columns about the need to improve access to Deep Water Bay beach (“Improving access to Hong Kong’s Deep Water Bay could showcase cross-departmental collaboration”, September 30). During the Easter holidays, I revisited the area and was upset to discover that the so-called pavement was literally blocked by the fronts or boots of private cars parked there, forcing passers-by to squeeze through the tiny space.

Hong Kong’s retail sector keeps lamenting that Hongkongers are going north for long weekends. But for people who stay in Hong Kong and want to spend a nice relaxing afternoon somewhere near nature – for example, at Deep Water Bay beach – access is so difficult.

The car park spaces should be removed, the pavement widened and a bus lay-by provided. The relevant government departments should take proper action to improve public spaces so we can all enjoy them.

Jeannie Y.L. Lee, Lam Tin

More payment options needed on public transport

I am writing in response to “Will Hong Kong’s new Octopus card be a ‘game changer’ for travellers to mainland China?” (March 26). The new Octopus – China T-Union cards can be used on thousands of bus routes and hundreds of rail and ferry services on the mainland. The cards can also be used in Hong Kong.

While this is a positive development, Hong Kong can do more to facilitate the use of Alipay, WeChat Pay and UnionPay, which are commonly used in mainland China, in our city. If these payment methods are available on public transport in Hong Kong, including minibuses and taxis, mainland tourists would find it easier to get around the city.

Cherry Lau, Tsing Yi

Post