Hong Kong’s numbers game is getting even harder to make sense of. Today, the MTR Corp warned staff to be mindful of what they post on social media after a photo of a carriage bearing the code “D698” appeared on the unofficial MTR Service Update Facebook page.
The photo seems to be a reference to the row that erupted this week after Puma posted an ad with a runner’s bib for the Standard Chartered Marathon bearing the number-letter combo “D7689”.
If you’re totally confused, which you probably should be, “D7” sounds like a rude word in Cantonese, and 689 is the measly number of votes Hong Kong Chief Executive CY Leung was elected with in 2012.
The MTR photo is obviously missing the 7, but as all this makes little sense anyway, who cares?
Oh, and just to make things even more confusing, in reality, 689 is apparently the compartment number of the train, and “D” inexplicably stands for “non-motorised trailer”. Go figure.
Although anyone can potentially post to the MTR Service Update page, the photo went viral because the culprit was a MTR employee, according to Ming Pao Daily.
The incident has reportedly prompted the MTR Corp to impress on workers that they should clearly state that they are expressing personal opinions when making sensitive social media posts.
