By Darius
Recently, a female netizen posted on social media, claiming that on April 29, while having lunch at a restaurant in Mong Kok, she was falsely accused by a waiter of having "dined and dashed," with a bill over a thousand dollars, and ultimately had to call the police.
Although the truth eventually came to light with the restaurant apologizing, proving that "justice will not be absent," if I were this customer, I would find it really, really hard to step into that restaurant again for the rest of my life. Worse yet, what if I were a tourist unfamiliar with HK? Not knowing how to call the police or file a complaint, what impression would I have of this city? Would I want to return?
We often talk about "Hong Kong as a hospitable place," hoping more tourists from around the world will come to this city. However, as the number of tourists increases, negative feedback has also been on the rise. Many mainland tourists have expressed on social media that they felt neglected by some staff because they couldn't order in Cantonese. Some Hongkongers jokingly commented below, "They're not discriminating against you; their attitude towards us isn't great either."
Speaking from my own experience, at another restaurant, I encountered something inappropriate in my dish. When I sought help from the staff, I received no positive response. Only when I loudly declared that I would call the police did the issue get resolved.
Calling the police doesn't seem like a good solution for either party, but at that moment, I simply couldn't swallow my frustration. I spent money to enjoy a service, yet faced issues, and my concerns were ignored; compared to my experiences in Taiwan and mainland China, it was vastly different. It's lamentable that, whether in Taiwan or the mainland, service workers earn an average of less than in Hong Kong, which makes me (albeit a bit harshly) feel like I wasted my money.
To build a hospitable Hong Kong, we should not expect a home away from home all the time, but smooth communication should be there!
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