The new Hong Kong smart identity card was unveiled yesterday and with a couple of new security features there is very little not to love about it…except maybe the design.
The color scheme is pink, light blue, and light green; the photo has been moved to the left; there is a small stereo laser image of the ID photo on the right; and when placed under UV light, an image of the Hong Kong skyline appears at the back of the card .
According to the SCMP, some Hongkongers are fans of the new card and security features, with some describing the new design as “brighter” and saying that the new photo is “clearer”.
But not everyone – especially those who are concerned with the mainland government’s ever-increasing interference with Hong Kong affairs – is a fan of the redesigned, with some netizens pointing out that it looks very similar to the home return permit, an identity card that enables Hongkongers to enter China.
Netizens have described the new card as “ugly”, “too red”, “too mainland” or “has a mainland feel”.
Apple Daily also took to the streets the other day to ask Hongkongers how they feel about the new card. One woman surnamed Ho told the newspaper: “I prefer the old one, it’s prettier. I’m not in a rush to replace my current ID card because it’s not broken”.
The newspaper also interviewed another man surnamed Lee who also noticed that the redesigned card was similar to the Home Return Permit. He said: “It might be easy to mix the two cards up, like for an elderly person with poor eyesight, the cards might be easily mixed up.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ44fQDTG6s
Apple Daily reports that the government is expected to spend about HK$14.4 billion replacing 8.8 million existing Hong Kong identity cards. But for some netizens, what was more staggering about this is not the cost but the number of cards, given that the city’s population as of mid-2017 is under 7.4 million.
According to the SCMP, existing cards will be replaced in phases starting from next year, and authorities estimate that the exercise will take four years to complete. Identity cards that were issued between 2003 and 2007 will exceed their optimum 10-year serviceable lifespan by this year, which means they will be more susceptible to damage and malfunction.
