HK/Macau Trip: An Up-Lift-ing Night

I laughed my head off on my first night in Hong Kong.

Though I planned our itinerary, I was minimally involved in the booking of guesthouses. Exam period, after all. My family had a consensus, though, that we should not spend unnecessarily on residence, especially as our travel companions aren’t keen to spend too much. It can’t be that bad; after all, aren’t HK and Singapore distant buddies of sort?

When we stepped into the Alhambra Building in Yaumatei, I swear every single one of us must be dreading the worst.

The lift lobby was dimly lit, but it could not conceal the walls. They looked really run-down. There were 3 lifts, but 2 of them stop on alternate floors. It was really crowded as there was some religious event that night, so we had to go up in batches with our luggages. It would take us over 10 minutes to assemble at the office on 7/F.

Why? Because though 7/F is the 8th floor, we were nonetheless supposed to press the ‘7’ button. This was my fault for over-thinking things. And so my batch landed on 6/F and had to wait for the only lift that served every floor. We were glad to find only 1 passenger when that lift came up to our floor. Just one more floor!

(Climbing the stairs is an option, but not a good one when you have travel mates who cannot handle heavy weights.)

But when the lift door closed, the lights on the buttons we pressed went off. Then the lift started going down. NOOOOO! I was so bemused I started convulsing with uncontrolled giggles at the back of the lift. I simply arched my back over my luggage with face in palm because it was that cramped. Better still, when we hit ground floor, I spotted my uncle outside. He was first to go up, but somehow he was back in square one. *cannot contain anymore*

Oh, I forgot to mention. There were CCTV cameras on the ground floor.

WHY ARE THERE CCTV CAMERAS?!

Anyway, judging from the stern faces, they probably didn’t enjoy my convulsion act very much. And so when we finally got our rooms – which were really small but at least tidy – I went to study other people’s acts on the TV. Yes, they had CCTV footage as one of the channels. It must be achieving high ratings.

Now we gotta think twice before doing our Pavarotti impressions in the lift!

In case you are wondering, I think alternate floor lifts with CCTVs are very common in HK. We had it again at Mirador Mansion in Tsim Sha Tsui. It turns out that the Housing Authority has installed over 20,000 CCTV cameras. I’m suspecting that they are wary of any Infernal Affairs (无间道) impersonations.

The extensive security measures are laudable, though they are certain to trigger concerns on privacy rights. I do not have a developed position on this issue, but I do suspect borderless terrorism will inevitably move us further towards the greater good. Even so, any abuse of recorded footage will not be tolerable.

Singapore also places a premium on security, though its measures are less intrusive. I found out that SPF planned to install CCTV cameras at all HDB blocks, but they operate only on the ground floors. As for within lifts, mirrors have been installed on lift doors to deter crime. Seems like a better alternative, though it might be rather less reassuring than CCTVs!

I hated the place – step out and you will see double-deckers turning in menacingly – but I gotta say, it was an uplifting first night.

Because the lift went down.