LAI YING-KIT YINGKIT.LAI@SCMP.COM
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 17 September, 2015, 10:09am
UPDATED : Thursday, 17 September, 2015, 10:11am
Facebook users have documented bulky items carried by MTR passengers. Photo: Kenny Chan/Facebook
Hong Kong MTR staff have been accused by an anti-parallel trading group of turning a “selective blind eye” to bulky objects after a student carrying an oversized Chinese musical instrument was stopped from getting on a train.
On its Facebook page, the group Ma On Shan People, Ma On Shan Matters urged passengers to report to MTR staff when sighting commuters carrying objects exceeding the size permitted under train company rules.
This came after a woman student was prevented by MTR staff from boarding a train at Tai Wai Station on Tuesday because she was carrying a Chinese zither – a large stringed instrument – exceeding the permitted length of 130cm.
The group said the train operator had been “selectively blind” on bulky objects, with staff taking action against items that did not really cause a nuisance, such as the zither and a snooker cue in the past.
It said they however “turned a blind eye” to items “as large as a television set” carried by mainland Chinese tourists and parallel traders.
Users in another Facebook group posted photos which showed bulky objects carried by MTR passengers.
In one photo, a woman carries a washing machine, while another shows two men with piles of carton drinks. A third photo shows a mattress placed upright in front of train doors, and another shows a passenger with a loaded supermarket trolley.
Students play the Chinese zither - a similar sized instrument was prevented from being taken on an MTR train. Photo: Edward Wong
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1858953/mtr-staff-turning-selective-blind-eye-bulky-goods
