June 27, 2005

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Notes from a small island

Three pieces of news from the Big Lychee:

1. Spam is a constant problem. But naturally Hong Kong has taken the problem to a new level, merging it with the city's obsession with mobile phones. From the SCMP:

Most mobile phone users want the government to regulate uninvited advertising on mobile phones, a survey by the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong showed. The party will put forward a Legislative Council motion on Wednesday after 93 per cent of 1,018 people questioned demanded government regulations.
Only 93%? That implies 7% of phone users are happy with phone spam. No wonder it keeps happening.

For those unaware of the phenomena, at random times of the day and night your phone will ring before you are subjected to a blast of Cantonese hawking anything from phone plans to phone deals.

But the solution is obvious. You allow mobile users to "opt-in" for phone spam. Why would they? Simple - those who opt in get lower call or plan charges. The mobile operator then collects a fee from the phone spammers. In other words, pay for the pleasure of spamming.

2. Friends of the Earth released a Sunday space filler lamenting the artic air conditioning that dominates Hong Kong. I don't see the problem. What's the point of accumulating great wealth if you can't fritter it away? Please see USA, gas guzzlers road beasts for another example.

More seriously this proposal to raise air con temperatures in Hong Kong could have dangerous long term economic effects. The fashion retailers of this city rely on the freezing interiors to entice the punters to spend on winter outfits for a place that would otherwise never need them. And the tai tais would have nowhere to flounce around in their latest designer gear. Won't someone think of the tai tais?

3. Visited Cityplaza at Tai Koo Shing with the family yesterday to see the exhibition of dinosaur skeletons. But far more impressive than the bones themselves was the sea of humanity squeezed into the place. A heaving mass of confusion and cameras amid the chaos, it was so typically Hong Kong. As I pointed out to Mrs M, would even a quarter of those people have turned up if the bones were at a museum? Not likely.

Hong Kong should immediately change its museums into shopping centres, immediately. Greater attendance and plenty more money for exhibitions. A win-win solution. If they run the air con at 16 degrees Celcius, they'll really be onto something.

posted by Simon on 06.27.05 at 12:50 PM in the




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Comments:

Sing Pao has more on the mobile phone user survey. It is one thing to be annoyed. It is worse to actually have to personally pay for those calls. 45% of the respondents said that they have received such calls while they were away from hong kong and therefore liable for the roaming charges. one person ended up paying in excess of HK$1,000.

posted by: eswn on 06.27.05 at 01:48 PM [permalink]

Bring back the guy who moved to Iowa from South Dakota.

posted by: germaine greer on 06.27.05 at 03:31 PM [permalink]

Naturally under my system you could opt-in for calls while you were overseas and receive an even bigger discount. Alternatively I've always thought I should send an invoice to the spammers for the roaming charges when I get those calls overseas but they tend to cut out after 30 seconds.

posted by: Simon on 06.27.05 at 05:43 PM [permalink]




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