Denmark-based Vivian Cheng thought the matter had been resolved after the police intervened, but she was later asked to face a charge in Fanling Court
OLIVER.CHOU@SCMP.COM
UPDATED : Tuesday, 05 April, 2016, 8:00am
Vivian Cheng holds a replica of the fabric roll which caused her problems on the MTR in Hong Kong. Photo: SCMP Pictures
When MTR officers ask for your identity card, you’d better show it or else they’ll take you to court.
That is basically what happened to Denmark-based designer Vivian Cheng Wai-kwan even after police were called in to settle the case on the spot.
“I was at Lok Ma Chau station with a roll of fabric cloth on my way home to Sha Tin,” Cheng, 52, told the Post by email from Denmark.
The incident happened on October 26 last year. “When I entered the gate, an MTR staff stopped me and measured the roll which at 1.5m he said was a few centimetres longer than the maximum 145cm, and he asked me to leave the station,” the retired Vocational Training Council teacher recalled.
Cheng explained to the employee that the roll was so light that it could be carried by two fingers and would not disturb other passengers at the non-peak hour of 9.30 on a Monday night.
To no avail, she queried that since there was no limit on the body size of passengers, what if the roll “became” a part of her 1.62m body. After securing a “yes”, she put the tube up her T-shirt.
“But they were not satisfied and asked for my ID, and I told them I would present my ID only with the presence of my family members who were waiting for me at Sha Tin station after I called them,” she said.
The fabric roll brought to Hong Kong on the MTR by Vivian Cheng last October. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Cheng, an acclaimed industry designer who returned to Hong Kong on October 8 from Copenhagen where she has lived since 2014, had heard about the problems musicians faced on the MTR with large musical instruments, and felt insecure about handling the situation alone at the station on the border.
“So the staff called the police. When it’s not one but 5-7 police officers came and got around me, I felt scared and insulted,” she recalled.
After Cheng showed the police her ID card and told them about the case, officers decided against taking any action.
“One who looks like a senior member of the team said he felt sorry about my bad experience and advised me to file a complaint about the MTR staff, providing me with the numbers of the two staff and a complaint hotline,” she said.
While Cheng did not in the end file a complaint, the MTR Corp did.
“I thought the case was settled and therefore was very surprised when my family told me they received a court order that the MTR has decided to file a case against me,” she said.
The “summons to defendant” issued by Fanling Court on a charge laid by the MTR Corp on March 7 was made against Cheng for failing to give her ID proof after “being reasonably suspected by an official of MTR Corporation Limited of committing a breach of the [MTR] by-laws while in the railway premises.”
The by-laws stipulate that the maximum penalty for such an offence is a fine of HK$5,000 and six months in jail.
A protest at Tai Wai MTR station in October last year brought about by restrictions on the size of musical instruments. Photo: Sam Tsang
The MTR Corp declined to comment on the case as it had “entered the judicial process” pending “the conclusion of legal proceedings”.
But it did confirm there were previous cases of a similar kind with mixed results.
“Only under special circumstances, our staff would prosecute the offenders instead of giving a warning,” said MTR manager Kendrew Wong Ka-chun, referring to the warning letter issued to a Baptist University musician last September for bringing a cello in a case that exceeded the limit by 4cm.
The sketch shows how Vivian Cheng placed the roll inside her T-shirt. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Democratic Party legislator James To Kun-sun said the action of inspecting a passenger’s ID should involve a “substantial offence” and it would be “naive and stupid” to take the showing of an ID as an offence in itself.
“I would call this a well-considered naive act because it took them so long to make this stupid decision,” To, a lawyer, said.
He advised Cheng to take the case to Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung who is responsible for all prosecution decisions, including “obviously ridiculous ones”.
Cheng said she was ready to stand trial but asked for the hearing to be rescheduled from April 14 to September due to a recent knee operation in Denmark.
“My knees and heels were in pain during the incident and that’s why I was quite upset when the MTR staff offered no help and insisted I must leave the station,” she said.
“I will defend myself against the charges and I’m not worried about being penalised. At the most I’m prepared to spend a few months in prison,” she continued.
“I am not joking, nothing is more important than justice for me,” she added.
“Hong Kong has changed, it is not the happy and fair Hong Kong I experienced.”
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1933557/hong-kong-designer-faces-court-case-failing-show-mtr-staff
