Society, unite! ‘Drop the Drip’ social media campaign to combat Hong Kong’s leaky air conditioners

Earlier this month, Coconuts Hong Kong revealed what may be the “biggest issue since Occupy Central”… the sweaty “jizz” drizzle from the city’s leaking air conditioners.

Thus, a local initiative of good-humoured busybodies has come together in a bid to seek justice for the people who can no longer stand being under the influence of dripping air-cons.

“Drop the Drip” is specifically campaigning to combat faulty air conditioners. It hopes to challenge the government to take a bolder approach by means of encouraging locals to post their drippy encounters on social media.

Whenever you see, or feel, a sweaty, dirty splash falling from above, capture the scene with a video or photo. Upload it to Instagram with your pinned drip location and make sure to use #dropthedrip. From there, Drop the Drip will report the harrowing incident to the Food and Environment Hygiene Department (FEHD).

Check out the amusingly over-dramatic video to accompany this amusingly over-dramatic campaign:
 

There’s no denying that getting rained on by air-cons is an all too common Hong Kong experience.

“I always ask, ‘what is dripping on my shoulder, I can’t see the AC anywhere!”, Natalie, a visitor from mainland China, said.

She added, “It happens everytime I’m here [in Sheung Wan] so I need to bring a shawl”.

Even though people find it to be a frequent occurrence, many, like Leng from Mong Kok, say they wouldn’t bother reporting the matter: “It’s okay because it does not happen too often”.

And maybe it’s just not worth it. According to figures from the FEHD, of the 20,000 complaints lodged in 2012, only 631 nuisance notices were handed out.

Gory from Kowloon shared in true defeatist style, “I’m a little bothered, but life is like that.”

But thanks to Drop the Drip, maybe life doesn’t have to be like that anymore. The scheme has already received 58 complaints from local residents offended by the drips.

Instagram user @ianhyork, for example, seems to have created an account just to contribute to the campaign; six out six of his posts so far report on drippy issues.

 

Got dripped again wtf #dropthedrip

A photo posted by Ian Jahng (@ianhyork) on

Another Instagram user posted this as part of a two-photo series:
 

 

Pt 2 – roughly 6 stories up an a/c liquid bomb spills from a rusty pipe. #dropthedrip

A photo posted by Kate Desmarais (@kate_desmarais) on

Reports of these inconsiderate machines are coming in from Yuen Long to Stanley, proving beyond a doubt that we’ve got some passionately ticked off Hong Kongers in our midst.  

For more information on the drips and the drops, find them on Facebook, Instagram (@dropthedrip) or the web.  
   
 


Got a tip? Send it to us at hongkong@coconuts.co.




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