A different HK
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2020 16:00:09 +0000
FROM a distance of about three meters, the thermal scanner captured the above-normal temperature of arriving passenger Jean (not her real name) from Manila, Jan. 18. Jean was immediately asked to step aside, away from her PAL flight mates.
They’re not taking chances at Hong Kong airport. Not with the new strain of coronavirus – so new it’s labeled “novel” – that has set China and a few other Asian countries on edge. Jean was free to leave the interview room after a few questions, and in 15 minutes she was able to claim her luggage and join her friends.
Each time I set foot at its arrival or departure area, HK’s airport looks different. Maintenance and renovation, even expansion, of the terminals are forever ongoing. This time, with the energetic protest rallies not about to dissipate, airport authorities have added a feature that’s nothing more or less than what we have been used to at our own NAIA: Only departing passengers with passport and plane ticket to show the guard are allowed beyond the first line of security at the entrance.
Another obvious change was the reduced size of the crowds going through arrival procedures. Days later, it was the same thing at the departure area – fewer people lining up, browsing and shopping, although the restaurants, so many more now, come to think of it, were full whatever the time of day.
In Kowloon, it was pretty much the same, a thinning out of shoppers but restaurants as busy as always. Don’t believe stories that “all” stores are on sale; simply not
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