Finance and economics

Despite Bright Figures in Food Delivery Industry, Staff are Facing Uncertainties
- 2021-10-21
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: Kylie WongEdited by: Vikki Cai Chuchu
- 2021-10-21
Every day, Edward Wong, 26, who is a freelance lifeguard and nursing assistant, spends a few hours delivering food in Tsuen Wan. “I usually deliver food during my lunch time. Though the golden hours for taking orders are 7:30am-10am, 11:30am-1pm and 6:30pm-8:30pm, the frequency of orders highly depends on the location. For example, in Mong Kok and Sheung Wan, as long as you want, there will be orders to take,” said Wong, who works for both Foodpanda and Deliveroo, two of Hong Kong’s most popular food delivery services. Wong is one of tens of thousands new food delivery drivers as demand for the service surged during the pandemic. Hongkongers are hungry. Hong Kong’s major delivery companies, Foodpanda, Deliveroo and Uber Eats, all reported significant increases in delivery demand. A Deliveroo survey in January showed a 21% increase in spending and it predicted three-fourths residents are using the service more frequently. Uber Eats said active users per month nearly tripled last year while total orders doubled, according to a Mingpao article. Foodpanda reported a 60% surge in orders during the first quarter of 2021. Companies are hiring thousands of delivery staff to meet the orders. Last spring, the food delivery industry created 48,000 jobs, according to Hong Kong Business Times. But Wong said the number of delivery orders he gets has dropped because of a flood of new workers, and he plans to find another job soon. “More people are becoming food delivery staff as they think the market is growing during the pandemic. However, the increase in staff is faster than the increase in orders in most areas,” said Wong, adding that his income has dropped by one-third from around HK$40,000 per month when he started. While demand for food delivery surges, job positions open up. However, rising figures does …

Vaccine passport scheme appears troublesome in Hong Kong
- 2021-05-19
- The Young Reporter
- By: Vikki Cai ChuchuEdited by: Yoyo Kwok Chiu Tung
- 2021-05-19
The Hong Kong government is now experimenting on vaccine passports, while it is not going too well as the public found it troublesome along with the recent COVID-19 cases spike in Asia. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said last month that Hong Kong vaccination passports already existed with both electronic and printed versions. Besides a printed version of certification given to those who received two vaccine doses in Hong Kong, an electronic proof of vaccination can also be found by downloading the iAM Smart app. Even though there is not a globally recognised vaccine passport system yet, getting vaccination is the most effective way to walk out of the pandemic and return to normal activities, Lam said. She also said the record in the mobile application can be used as proof for COVID 19 prevention exemption in the future. The recent government measures include the reopening of bars and relaxing rules on restaurants if workers and customers showed they have taken vaccines. “I highly doubt the Hong Kong government is able to promulgate and implement a practical vaccination passport,” said Liang Jia, the 30 year mainland citizen who works in Hong Kong and hasn’t vaccinated yet. “The government didn’t do a good job in coronavirus outbreak control and put people’s expectation off again and again in terms of opening the mainland and Hong Kong border,” she said. People’s hope to go back to China or Hong Kong without quarantine was dashed, she added. There were 30 confirmed COVID-19 cases on April 18, of which 29 cases were imported and the one local case was connected to a patient with the highly infectious N501Y mutant strain. In preventing the spread of mutant coronavirus, the government suspended flights from India, Pakistan and the Philippines for 14 days since there had been …