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Hong Kong
Time
Traveler | Technology | Post Explorer
Time
Traveler
Hong Kong mail first started the
exchange of mail in 1841 with other countries. With Hong Kong as a bustling
British port, the rapidly growing infrastructure and trade industry needed a
robust communications system, and building a good postal service would provide
such a system.
The number of post
offices had to be increased to meet a growing demand. From 1989 to 1999 alone,
there was an increase of 22 post offices across Hong Kong. In that same period,
daily mail volume increased from 2.11 million to a whooping 3.5 million and the
staff strength also rose by a thousand.
In August 1995,
the Hong Kong post achieved autonomy in its finances, allowing it to improve
management for the future.
Technology
Hong Kong is home to the renowned
Chep Lap Kok airport where more than 60 airlines around the world service.
Hence, due to a wide availability of flights, airmail can be immediately sent
within the same day of collection to the earliest flight possible.
Similar to the Irish postal system, Hong Kong Post also features the Mechanized
Letter Sorting System which allows letters to be sorted even without postcodes.
Using an Optical Character Recognition device, it scans the address and imprints
a barcode that corresponds to a particular delivery area. Illegible addresses
are manually interpreted through a Video Coding Machine and are assigned
barcodes as well.
The Culler-Facer-Canceller Machine is somewhat a 3-in-1 machine: it simply sorts
the mail into 2 piles - letters and packets. Then it imprints the usual
cancellation on the stamp and further sorts the letters according to their
classes of priority.
Post
Explorer
The Hong Kong post offices are closed
during a typhoon with a signal number ranking 8 or above; or when a black
rainstorm warning is issued.
Since the technology of Hong Kong Post is so similar to Ireland's, it's little
wonder that Hong Kong addresses also do away with postal codes. An example of a
Hong Kong address is that of its national airline Cathay, one of the shortest
addresses I have seen, by the way.
Cathay Pacific
Airways Ltd.
G/F Swire House
Central Hong Kong
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