My Lamma Forums

[Lamma-Gung]

as expected & predicted...

I wonder what the figures are on the 2:30am on Fridays and Saturdays and if we could make a case to keep those?

[Ingmar]

it would be interesting to see the patronage of the 2 late ferries to and from Lamma on Friday and Saturday nights as they were the only nights thet were reall needed by the majority.

On another gripe- my parents-in-law were refused an elderly priced ticket even though they fit the age criteria because, and I quote, they aren't Chinese. Only local Chinese elderly are entitled to reduced fare return tickets on a Sunday. Kind of similar to the back of the fast ferry the other day on which I saw a load of boxes being piled on by a young local when a few weeks prior I had seen a gwailo refused permission to take on one of those small fold-up trolleys. I can see why they wouldn't want people to do house moves on a fast ferry but if the owner is happt to let his bike/boxes etc be exposed to teh elements at the back of the fast ferry it should be allowed. Star Ferry and Discovery Bay ferries allow bikes to be taken inside all their ferries for no charge. Anyhoo, a monopoly is a monopoly is a monopoly and we have learnt to put up or shut up.

[Down the deli]

I was just about sober enough to do a head count on the Saturday (Sunday morning) 2.30am ferry and came up with a paltry 47 persons. That's $752 for a trip on the big fast ferry. This raises a few questions:

Why not put the small fast ferry on (fuel economy reasons)?

Why not get people to buy two $16 tickets for the 'special' ferry? (I would be happy to pay double if I could save 160 bucks using the taxi/sampan combo or 500 in a love hotel.)

Why not sell beer and pot noodles on board so that people can continue the party?

[Lamma-Gung]

Some local businesses got together and have started a signature campaign TODAY to keep the 2:30am ferry. The Chinese-only campaign cover letter (see left, click to enlarge) refers to the 10% overall fare increase granted to HKKF earlier this year and their promise of improved passenger services.

It also discredits HKKF's profitability reason to discontinue all the 3 night sailings. If every single sailing has to be profitable, are they going to try to cancel most day sailings as well, except rush hours? The 10% fare increase can definitely cover ONE additional sailing per day, especially the one with the highest number of passengers during the 2-month trial run, 2:30am!

Lamma-Por and I have just signed the petition. I'll try to get this Chinese-only cover letter translated ASAP. Go to the places below to sign it yourself, if you want to keep the 2:30am sailings!

Water Front bar, Shell Gas (Nick's corner, opposite Rick's Bar) and Nam Wah Yuen Restaurant (opposite Diesel's). Hurry up, as the signature collecting will only last 2-3 days! This might be our last chance for a long time.

[Lamma-Gung]

Translation of the petition letter, thanks to Samson!

"We Strongly Demand the Resumption of Overnight Ferry Services Between Yung Shue Wan and Central

"Dear North Lamma residents,

"When Hong Kong and Kowloon Ferry Company (“HKKF”) applied for a 10% fare increase in 2004, the company promised a series of services improvement, including the trial overnight ferry services between Yung Shue Wan and Central.

"HKKF has, however, intentionally launched the trial during 27 September to 27 November – a low season for local tourism, and then claimed non-profitability as reason for the immediate cancellation of the overnight services.

"We believe that the short trial period has not reflected the real demand for the overnight services. Moreover, as HKKF is operating the Lamma services while using the pier for other tourism services, we believe that HKKF should use the income generated by both services when gauging its profitability, and it is unfair for HKKF to use only the financial results of the overnight services. Therefore, we hope to fight for the resumption of overnight services between Yung Shue Wan and Hong Kong through this signature campaign.

"We trust that we share the same wish in improving our ferry services. We need your signature. Please support us.

"The Campaign Founders"

[Ingmar]

L-G, or someone who is on the island today, I think you should put something on the walls on the island so when people get off the ferry they will be able to go straight to the gas shop or wherever and sign their names on the petition.

[Down the deli]

Why didn't people show their support by catching those extra ferries when they ran? Horse is gone, I think I'll close the barn doors now.....

[EILEEN]

Has this service finished as we have not had time for a night out yet and would love a night at The Cavern.

Could the service please keep running on Saturday nights only please .

That is if it has stopped.

If we still have the sevice then we will go to The Cavern on Saturday Night.

[Lamma-Gung]

[e]

An English version of the petition is avaiable at the Lamma Animal Welfare Centre, 39A Sha Po Old Village. Please come in and sign - we're open from noon till 8pm.

[Alan]

[Lamma-Gung]

Yes, the people behind the petition are supporting it because it would be good for their businesses. So what's wrong with that? The people who'd like late ferries have equally selfish motives, as they'd like to stay out late. Nothing wrong with that either; honest and clear self-interest, like the people behind the petition.

Even though I'd rarely, if ever, would use a 12:30am or 5am sailing myself, I fully support them as it would improve life for a lot of people, not just party animals but also people working very late or early. It would make Lamma more attractive and slowly increase the stagnant or slowly declining population.

The campaign has got good arguments and loads of local support and signature, plus pages of signatures from non-Chinese on the signature collection forms.

I'll talk to the founder of the campaign, Mr Wan, tomorrow, hopefully, but it seems they're going directly to the Transport Dept. this time, with or without Lammadonna's support. She seemed totally frazzled and frustrated by the entire matter today, getting so much heat from her friends and supporters about the non-continuation of the late ferries and not much more she can do about it for now, it seems. She's tried her best, but it wasn;t enough.

The late-ferry campaign needs a new, energetic champion and Mr Wan seems to be it for now, personally sitting out on Main Street last night to hassle passers-by for their signature and getting more and more people and businesses involved.

So stop by the various places and sign up right now. I left our English translation above at the Shell Gas shop today. The ferry co. might not bother about any signature campaign, but the Transport Dept. might...

[Alan]

[Down the deli]

Hello! I don't understand it. Call me thick..... The HKKF is a private business and like all businesses must turn a profit or they'll go belly up. They gave it two months and lost money on those routes so, why would they give in to the 'support my business' petition and run the routes at a loss? I don't have an MBA but I know this would be financial suicide.

[hellospencer]

well, then they must stop all ferries between rush hours too... they theoretically loose money as well.

don't you get it? people are not moving to lamma because they do not want to get stuck in central...

if lamma had a 2:30 ferry, then more people would move to lamma - thus more people would buy the monthly pass ...

Even if only 50 people would move to lamma because of a late ferry, that would make them 25000 $ a month more income...

you can say that these 25000 $ are financing the late ferry, because these suposedly 50 people only moved to Lamma because there is a later ferry.

Now I think the number of people who would move here is actually much higher than 50 ... personally I know about 5 or 6 people who would move to lamma, but do not, because they are 'scared' to get stuck...

50/5000 that's 1 % of the current Lamma population == I think the number is more around 2,5%

[F-X]

[F-X]

So we have a few ideas for HKKF on this thread.

1. Early-morning sailing Sunday morning only - charge extra, we don't care.
2. Or Saturday and sunday am only - charge extra ok
3. Smaller ferry - charge extra ok
4. Let a small operator have the run. It will result in more customers in the long run for HKKF if more people move to Lamma as a result of the better service.
5. A 4:30 run to YSY and 5:30 back to Central - both with surcharge?

I understand Alan's point about the problems with surcharges/different fares, but maybe there may be a way to pressure the bureaucracy to speed up the approval process. Depends how much we want it.

Any more ideas?

[Lamma-Gung]

F-X, I agree with you, but this topic seems to be totally and utterly dead for now.
The last-ditch effort of a residents signature campaign for late ferries a few weeks ago has also failed to change HKKF's mind.

There was a meeting between the petition organisers who had collected hundreds of signatures and HKKF. There were even suggestions of raising the ferry fare for everybody all day by between $3-5 to pay for the additional late ferries. Obviously a crazy und unacceptable idea. Basically, after the "unsuccessful" 2-month trial-run HKKF is now even more opposed to late ferries. The talks broke down and the signature campaign organisers and Lammadonna are looking at the only viable alternative left:

Getting the Transport Dept. to tender the late ferries to another operator. This will take quite some doing to make it happen and a lot of time-consuming paperwork, so don't expect any real results for quite some time, probably not this year...

[F-X]

I understand. It seems that the key here is to find a way to make it profitable for the ferry company.Petitions alone won't interest them.

I'm thinking of staying on Lamma for years, so I don't mind if it takes a while. I guess much higher prices for the night run is the only solution. I agree with you and Alan it would be totally unreasonable to raise all fares to pay for this.