I'm sure I'm not the only one who has missed getting into a lift because somebody has shut the door from inside!
I have travelled and had the chance to live and work in different parts if the world but Hong Kong is the only place in the planet where this happens ALL the time. It's very annoying!

Most people wouldn't like this but itvis what it is when most people are in one he'll of a hurry

Forcing the door open 5-10 seconds for one person delays everyone in the elevator and everyone else waiting on other floors.

There's a reason why some countries can maintain ontime train schedules, and other ones cannot.

The irony is that the person with the magnetic finger on the |><| button inside the lift just ends up delaying the lift because the person who is outside trying to get in presses the button outside to open the door again. So the flippin door just ends up opening and shutting a few times before going to the next level.
The lift has stopped on a certain floor because somebody has called it. Mr or Mrs Magnetic Finger has no right to shut the door before that person gets in. It's just plain selfish.

Compared to the rest of the World, Hong Kong lift users are more impatient!  

A little more funny than those who close the doors in your face are those who - when there is no button to close the doors on the control panel - repeatedly hammer the lift button for the floor they want, believing that the electronics might somehow be intimidated by their aggression.  

When you travel, a sense of humour is a mandatory travel accessory.  

Then you begin to notice that there are also a lot of courteous and patient lift users too, especially in off-peak times - people you maybe don't notice so much next to the impatient one - and you appreciate them all the more for their patience to do their own thing and wait for you.

One thing that really annoys me is when there are a few people waiting for the lift, and the lift button has already been pressed. The Chinese person always keeps pressing it!!!

WHY?

It does not make the lift come quicker!

I live on a fairly high floor. Sometimes I have to wait a long time for the elevator to come. When I'm going to the ground floor and someone else gets off on, lets say, the 2nd floor but stands in the doorway to continue their conversation with their buddy it gets really annoying. Not to mention those people who have hit the lift button and then are either distracted by their friends in the lobby and don't realize when the lift has come for them(thus making you wait) or leave because they forgot something in their apartment or decided to take the stairs(which is another pet peeve of mine; if you live in a 20 story building and your apartment is on the 4th floor... F**KING WALK!). That's why I constantly have my finger on the |><| button. Also, I think it may have something to do with the programs that run the elevators. I have pressed the down button from a high level before and watched an elevator just a few floors under me continue on it's trip down: not a problem. But then I look at the other elevator that should be coming up to get me(my lift lobby has 2-3 lifts in it, depending on the floor you're on) and it is pegged on 1/F. It stays there the whole damn time while the only active elevator makes it's way down to 1/F and then heads back up to get me! WTF!? Something is seriously wrong with the programs HK uses to run it's elevators. This is why I have started pushing the up AND down button when I want to go down. That usually gets things working faster and since there are only a handful of floors above me, it usually doesn't inconvenience many people. Or at least in my rationale it doesn't. I know some of you may say "Ooooo, you're THAT kind of asshole, eh?" but I cannot stand the lifts here. HK has turned me impatient just like the rest.

my favourite is when I'm in the lift... the doors begin to close as another person approaches the lift from outside and heads towards the door... and someone else in the lift (never me of course) starts furiously pressing the door close button.

now... here's the bit that makes me smile...

First the person "just" makes it inside the lift having stuck a bag or something in the gap to make the doors open.

The look of disgust on that person's face as they enter the lift, and the sheepish grin on the person who pushed CLOSE and gestures as if to say they were actually trying to push OPEN... BULLSHIT!

THEN, the person who just made it in turns and faces the door only to see another person approach the lift from the outside... and the new person in the lift that just made it in and gave "evil eye" to the first person pressing CLOSE, that person now presses CLOSE themselves...

and so the world turns full circle...

Haha! You've been in that lift too?
It's also funny when that original person starts texting his imaginary friend to avoid eye contact with the guy who just made it in.

For a "developed" "country", HK is pretty pathetic when it comes to people having civilised manners.
yea, I guess its the capitalist rush, rush, rush, but.... it really isn't necessary, as other people from other countries are plenty more civilised while being just as financially successful

This is a really funny thread.  must be skyscraper overload in HK!

Then when the lift goes up and that person missed it he begins to press the button furiously haha!

Thinking that everytime he presses it that the lift will come much more quickly!!

It is the same with the MTR - someone runs toward it and sticks their arm in to catch! So the doors open AGAIN! I mean why? it is not like you are waiting an hour for another one for crying out loud!

not just holding the lift (elevator) door open ... how about just holding any door open for someone ...
not part of the culture nor social education here

Huge contrast to Japan

I was on a subway once, sitting opposite a mum with a small child
As the child sat down, the seat was deeper than the length of his upper leg, his feet stuck up in the air, just the way kids' feet do when they sit on an adult sized seat
And his mum told him off, pushing his feet down, explaining he mustn't point his soles at another person ...

... over there, they clearly start the social indoctrination very early!  

small wonder the whole culture is super-sensitive to their impact on others, and (conversely) overreact to various Gaijins' less finely calibrated social signals!

I dont deny HK people are very impatience.
They want everything to be fast and smooth.
It;s the culture and the way of life. Metropolitan, more self-centred. Limited space.
if you are slow, you lose out.


Today, I waited 45 mins for a taxi outside my building to get to work.
Why?
All the son of a bitches walked towards the front of the road and cut my queue to hop into the taxi.
I counted 6 of them.
It was a one way street. Very inconsiderate.
Even if I am without a crutch, I would not do that in any given day.

In China (SZ, SHA, BJG, Chengdu), I always take the sub/mtr & public buses, people gives their seats immediately to the elderly and young kids, instantly.
Unlike Hong Kong, I have seen people staring at the elderly and kids, doing nothing and not giving up their seats. A number of times I have to embarass the young people to give their seats to the needy.
In China, people are less rich and less educated but they dont have to be told to give up their seats to the needy. All the time, 10/10.

[ Last edited by  hunter at 28-2-2013 12:44 ]

I was traveling in Thailand once with two small children. It's the only country I've ever been to where, on the bus or subway, the elderly will stand up and insist that the children sit down. I'm not saying its the only country, just the only one I've ever been to that does that.

And about the door opening mentioned earlier ... I make a point of always doing it wherever I am. But in HK, people look at me like I'm mad. Then they realize I'm a gaijin that doesn't know how things are supposed to work, and they recover their composure. But seeing that puzzled moment when they're trying to figure it out -- THAT's payback enough

Gherk

My name is jetsetting2much, and I admit I'm an elevator closer...unless you're beautiful girl...he he...

Not to go off on a tangent, but I feel every elevator ride (and crowded MTR ride for that matter) is like playing Hot Girl Lotto.  You win something only about 0.5 % of the time, but squished next to a Winner for a long elevator/MTR ride can be intoxicating. ;)

The majority of HK people have no fucking manners. It's that simple.

The entire thinking process of here is warped. I am ethnic Chinese and I speak from experience.

They believe that everyone for himself and if you have any civic spirit, you get ridiculed. I deal with this on a daily basis.

It's one of the most depressing thing about being here. In 2007 a UN survey of tourists, HK came second from bottom for customers service and general manners & helpfulness to tourists, narrowly beating Pakistan. The CE, Tourism Board & some HK University academic came out explaining the results. It just made it funnier and sad.

It's very apparent on the roads too. I have never observed a car leave a space to allow another car into a gap. The driver would probably prefer to hit the car in front rather than letting the car on the right or left get in between. The funny thing to observe us that both drivers do not look at each other. They pretend the other is not there but the anxious look on their face to win the battle is so funny to see. In other countries, I see drivers flash lights to allow people in and then flash lights back to say thanks, never seen it here.
Hong Kong is a great place to live and work but I fear that the locals attitudes or feel of self importance makes it a little annoying. I once asked a local friend why the fuck they did this. His answer was that HK people are busy. I did not buy that. I asked a local female friend and colleague. She said it was embarrassing. She admitted it happens. She could not explain why. She did admit that it was selfish attitude and lack of respect for most other people.

Since this is turning into a list of quirks of Hong Kong can I ask if anyone else has noticed that no one walks in a straight line? I am over 6 foot so walk a lot faster than 99% of people out for a walk and I would swear to god every one is pissed and walking in a zig zag and I only seem to notice it in HK (my one gripe of my favorite place in the world).