Protest planned at Tai Wai station after student carrying large instrument is 'interrogated' by rail staff and threatened with HK$2,000 fine
OLIVER CHOUoliver.chou@scmp.com
PUBLISHED : Friday, 25 September, 2015, 3:19am
UPDATED : Friday, 25 September, 2015, 3:19am
MTR staff move in and prevent a man carrying an oversized item from entering Sheung Shui station yesterday. Photo: Edward Wong
Hong Kong's musicians are up in arms after a university student said he was threatened with a HK$2,000 fine after being followed by plain-clothes MTR staff and interrogated for carrying a cello on the East Rail Line.
The railway operator is sticking to its guns that extra-large musical instruments will be treated as oversized baggage, but denied using plain-clothes staff to enforce the rules.
More than 1,000 people have signed up to take part in a Facebook event, "Let's bring our musical instruments to take MTR", on October 3.
When asked about the criticism, MTR chairman-designate Frederick Ma Si-hang said: "There is a lot of PR work to be done, above and below."
Calvin Ho Ka-yeung, a year four music student at Baptist University, said he was tailed yesterday evening by MTR staff who were not in uniform when he boarded a train at Tai Wai station. When he arrived at the next station, Kowloon Tong, uniformed staff were waiting on the platform to confront him.
Overloaded passengers head for a train at Tai Wai station. Photo: Edward Wong
"They measured the cello case which they said exceeded the official length limit of 130cm by 4cm," he said. "But then a woman came to my rescue and challenged them for double standards as there were passengers with large carry-ons in the train.
"So they took me to a small room and brought in a senior officer who issued me a warning letter, which said further violation would result in prosecution and a fine of up to HK$2,000."
Ho offered to pay an extra fare for the cello, but the staff refused. After half an hour he was escorted to a station exit. When he asked how he could get to Kowloon Bay for a rehearsal, staff said they were not obliged to offer advice.
Ho ended up taking the MTR again, risking a second warning, but chose another entrance and boarded the Kwun Tong Line without a problem.
It was the third such incident in a week. Last week a schoolgirl carrying a guzheng, or Chinese zither, was also stopped at Tai Wai station. A few days later, a student with his cello was refused entry at Hung Hom station.
A schoolgirl carrying a guzheng, or Chinese zither, was stopped at Tai Wai Station.
Mavis Lung, a Chinese percussion teacher who launched the Facebook protest, called for music lovers to join her in boarding a train at Tai Wai station.
"We strongly oppose the selective enforcement of bylaws by the MTR ... [parallel] goods traders have been allowed to travel with washing machines or other oversized items," she wrote.
Additional reporting by Lai Ying-kit and Gloria Chan
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1861232/hong-kong-musicians-urged-join-mtr-protest-after-cello
