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Pandemic-driven Closure of Cinema Chain Takes Top Place for “Year of the Ox – Top 10 Consumer News” Online Shopping Frauds on the Rise, Over 100 Arrested – Voted “Most Gratifying”

  • 2022.02.07

The results of the “Year of the Ox – Top 10 Consumer News” voting event organised by the Consumer Council were announced today (7 February). Although the supply of anti-epidemic products had stabilised in the second year of the COVID-19 outbreak, the impacts of the pandemic still loomed large in the past year. Amongst the top 10 news stories, 3 were still related to the pandemic, including the closure of a cinema chain, the ongoing disputes resulting from postponed or cancelled wedding banquets, and the demand for foreign domestic helper quarantine facilities far outstripping supply. Another 3 stories amongst the top 10 were related to newly enacted or proposed bills, including municipal solid waste charging, regulation of disposable plastic tableware, as well as the ban on electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products, reflecting consumers’ concern with recent legislation. In addition, the 3 hot topic consumer news – the “Most Outrageous”, “Most Like”, and “Most Gratifying” consumer news – covered various issues such as the quality of first-hand residential properties, online shopping scams, and e-cigarettes. Compared with the top 10 news dominated by the pandemic in the previous year, consumers have been invested in a broader range of topics in 2021.

The event, held with the support of HK01, Hong Kong Economic Times, i-Cable News, Radio Television Hong Kong, SkyPost, TOPick and U Magazine, invited members of the public to vote for the 10 consumer news concerning them the most via the Internet during the voting period from 3 to 23 January 2022. A record-high number of 6,425 voters participated in the event, up 6% from last year.

            Affected by the fifth pandemic wave, this year’s Top 10 Consumer News results were once again announced via a livestream press conference. The Chairman of the Consumer Council, Mr Paul LAM Ting-kwok, SBS, SC, JP, expressed, “Hong Kong has been living with the pandemic for more than 2 years. Although Omicron has recently made the fight against the pandemic more stressful, both traders and the public have adapted to sales and consumption under the new normal, with business reactivating quickly when the pandemic eased in the second half of the year. Last year’s news focus expanded from anti-epidemic to several different consumer issues. This year’s shortlisted consumer news involved food safety, quality of first-hand residential properties, online shopping scams, price inflation, medical beauty, shop closures, sustainable consumption, etc.”

3 consumer news related to the pandemic entered the top 10 as COVID-19 impacted all industries to various levels, with some businesses suffering from plummeting revenue or even shuttering. “UA Cinema Announced Permanent Closure” was voted the top consumer news stories in the Year of the Ox with 5,470 votes, accounting for 85% of the total voters. Under the pandemic crisis, the newly imposed measures – the prohibition on group gathering and the evening dine-in ban – have changed the daily lives of citizens and forced many wedding banquets to be postponed or cancelled, causing many consumer disputes. Related news escalated to 4,346 votes, being the fourth popular. In addition, the limited number of quarantine rooms available last year for foreign domestic helpers ranked eighth. Such issue, together with the shortage of foreign domestic helpers, has caused contractual disputes between employers and foreign domestic helper employment agencies.

For the general public, purchasing properties is a major decision in life, especially so as Hong Kong property prices top the world, with small-sized first-hand residential units fetching over 10 million dollars. The news story “The Pavilia Farm III: 2 Towers to be Demolished and Rebuilt, Affecting over 800” ranked third with 4,809 votes, and was also selected as the “Most Outrageous” news with 3,086 votes. The poll results reflected that consumers found it unacceptable that large-scale real estate construction projects were of sub-standard quality and needed to be rebuilt, raising concern about the quality of first-hand residential properties.

3 of the Top 10 Consumer News stories this year were related to new legislation that has been passed or is about to be implemented, including the waste charging bill, the sweeping ban on the sale of electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products, and the regulation of disposable plastic tableware, which ranked second, ninth, and tenth respectively. Among them, “Legislative Council Passes Complete Ban on Sale of Electronic Cigarettes and Heated Tobacco Products” was selected as the “Most Liked” consumer news with 3,057 votes. The voting results showed that various new policy measures significantly impacted consumers; the public's positive response and support of the ban reflected their concern about public health issues.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a booming “stay-at-home economy”, and online shopping has become more popular. However, more fraud cases and consumer disputes have arisen. The Council received many complaints about online shopping scams, with a cumulative 25,208 complaints over the 3 years from 2019 to 2021. Many consumers ordered products online or made transactions with individuals through social media, but did not receive the goods after payment. When trying to follow up on the transaction, they found that the seller's social media account had been deleted and could not be contacted. The headline “Online Shopping Frauds on the Rise, Over 100 Arrested” was voted the “Most Gratifying” consumer news by 3,383 votes.

In addition, 2 news stories related to the Council’s work made it into the top 10, including the Council’s test on 60 types of pre-packaged biscuits, all of which were found to contain genotoxic carcinogens; as well as the several hundred complaint cases received by the Council concerning consumption vouchers, which involved minimum spend set by traders and the service of electronic payment platforms. These reflected that food safety and sales practices are still important issues of constant concern to consumers.

The voting was carried out in 3 phases with 10 winners per stage, each receiving a HK$200 gift card. All voters were automatically enrolled for the “Final Lucky Draw” with a HK$5,000 gift card awarded to the grand prize winner. The lucky draw results were announced in The Standard and Hong Kong Economic Times on 31 January 2022. All winners will be contacted individually regarding the prize collection details.

 

“Year of the Ox – Top 10 Consumer News” Voting Results and Ranking:

Rank

News Story (Original News in Chinese)

Votes

1

UA Cinema Announced Permanent Closure

5,470

2

Legislative Council Passes Waste Charging Bill

4,815

3

The Pavilia Farm III: 2 Towers to be Demolished and Rebuilt, Affecting over 800

4,809

4

Disputes on Postponed or Cancelled Wedding Plans Due to Social Distancing Measures

4,346

5

60 Pre-packaged Biscuits Tested by the Consumer Council

All Detected with Genotoxic Carcinogens

3,960

6

Online Shopping Frauds on the Rise, Over 100 Arrested

3,929

7

Consumer Council Receives Hundreds of Complaints Relating to Consumption Vouchers

Involves Minimum Spend Set by Traders and Stored Value Facilities

3,815

8

Shortage of Quarantine Units for Foreign Domestic Helpers

Fully Booked Soon After System Opened

3,631

9

Legislative Council Passes Complete Ban on Sale of Electronic Cigarettes and Heated Tobacco Products

3,622

10

Government Plans to Regulate Disposable Plastic Tableware Through Legislation  

A Complete Ban on Styrofoam Tableware by 2025

3,509

 

Consumer News Hot Topics Results

“Most Gratifying” News

Votes

Online Shopping Frauds on the Rise, Over 100 Arrested

3,383

“Most Liked” News

Votes

Legislative Council Passes Complete Ban on Sale of Electronic Cigarettes and Heated Tobacco Products

3,057

“Most Outrageous” News

Votes

The Pavilia Farm III: 2 Towers to be Demolished and Rebuilt, Affecting over 800

3,086

 

Fan, Chan & Co served as the honorary auditor for this voting event.