I have not visited these pages for a long time but I am not at all surprised to read what it is like in Hong Kong now. It seems to me that absolutely nothing, with the exception of traffic levels, has changed since I arrived there in 1996. Nor is it likely to in the forseeable future. Unless the old bugbear of "loss of face" is expunged from the Chinese psyche and people are allowed to make decisions without fear of being hung, drawn and quartered or even worse, having their TOIL tinkered with, then nothing will ever change.
The civilised world got where it is by taking risks, making mistakes, learning from them and improving the situation as a result. That will never happen in HK because nobody in management (upper, middle or lower) is prepared to make a decision that could be wrong and result in face loss.
Hong Kong is nothing more than a very rich third world country and will remain so for a long time. The ME could probably be placed in the same category but at least the Arabs were smart enough to realise it and were happy to pay for (and listen to) foreign companies and expertise.
With regard to all the bu11sh1t about procedures that you guys have to put up with, it seems to me that you made your bed and now you have to lie in it. Back when CLK first opened and virtually nothing changed from the Kai Tak operation (if I remember correctly the movement rate was initially LESS than at Kai Tak) that was when you should have made a stand instead of just saying "yes John, how high would you like me to jump, John?". Perhaps if something had been said by the expats as a group, instead of the odd individual - all of whom have probably long since been given their "pink slips"-, maybe, just maybe, somebody might have listened.
Of course, the biggest obstacle to speaking up was always the possibility (probablity!) of non renewal of contract tho surely that is no longer such a big issue given the staff shortage and the proximity of retirement for a large number - not to mention the huge stockpiles of cash that you have all built up over the last 10 years
Perhaps now is the time to stand up for what you believe in and to do future HK controllers a huge favor - approach management as a large group of hugely experienced controllers and tell them what a crock of sh1t HK really has become under their management. Fat chance of that I guess Huh?
For those who have seriously had enough there are plenty of jobs available in the ME, and plenty more to come with the opening of the new airport at Jebel Ali. Just imagine the joy. SIX parallel runways, all separated, and not a hill as far as the eye can see and whilst Serco may have its problems at least you can make your feelings felt and put forward your ideas without quite the same oppressive fear of recrimination. They also pay more than enough to live on and you get plenty of time off to have a life. No more waiting for busses or living in fear of being caught sneaking out early.
One problem tho - it is a real bitch trying to navigate the sand in a wheelchair or a walking frame.
I noticed in one of the earlier posts that mention was made of "a certain investment". Don't tell me that you guys have blown some of your hard earned cash and have still not partaken of the millions that were promised - bummer!
RSI - what an ironic name given the repetitive strain it must have caused over the years. Still, there are quite a few McDonalds in the ME that could do with a bit of refurbishment