'Beep, beep. . . 'Beepers make familiar
sound to tertiary students
By Ellen Chan
In Hong Kong, it is not surprising to see people reading the messages of their pagers whenever beeping sounds are heard in MTR trains. Nowadays, pagers seem to be an indispensable tool for communication. The devices appear even in secondary schools.
Mr. Kwong Ka-shing, a Year 2 student majoring in physics at the University of Hong Kong, has used a pager for 2 years.
"Almost all of my friends have pagers because they are very useful," he said. "I use mine to keep in touch with my girlfriend and schoolmates. Besides, since I live in the dormitory, my parents can easily reach me by my pager."
He thought it is worth spending several hundred dollars each month for the device. Said he: "The service charge is not really high when you consider the convenience it brings you.
"For me, a pager is just like a telephone. It enables me to keep in touch with others. It functions even better than a telephone, for I don't have to stay at a certain place, but can receive messages anywhere. Actually I could use a mobile phone instead, but it would be comparatively expensive."
Miss Vivien Lai agrees. She is a Year 2 accounting student at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. She said pagers are especially convenient for students.
"For some courses I take, there are often unexpected quizzes. If I do not have a pager, nobody can inform me of the news," said Miss Lai, who did not explain why she would miss the announcement of a quiz in the first instance.
However, she said whether a university student needs a pager or not depends on how active he or she is.
Miss Lai said, "I didn't have a pager when I was in Year 1, because I usually stayed at home in the evening and my friends could contact me easily.
"Besides, I experienced the opposition from my parents. They said a pager was meaningless for a student like me," she added.
In her mother's opinion, students do not need pagers if they are able to manage their time efficiently.
"I think many students want to look smart and trendy by carrying pagers," she said. "However, for those who participate in a lot of extracurricular activities, pagers may assist them a lot in contacting others."
At the beginning of every academic year, many paging companies set up promotion stalls at tertiary institutions to promote pagers and cellular phones at "student special prices".
Mr. Danny Lo, a senior salesman and marketing executive of Hutchison Telecom, said it was "almost a must" for tertiary students to possess pagers.
Said he: "Since most university campuses are large, interpersonal communication is often difficult. Communication systems such as pagers and mobile phones enable students to keep in touch with their friends easily."
According to him, reasonable prices of pagers make them popular among students.
"The prices of pagers have been reduced by a substantial amount in recent years," he said. "As many tertiary students have part-time jobs, they can well afford the monthly payment of around $200."
While pagers are a common tool for communication among university students, Mr. Lo said the situation among secondary students is different.
Under the amended telecommunication bill of 1996, people under 18 are not allowed to buy pagers or mobile phones themselves.
Mr. Lo said, "Very often, it is the students' parents who insist on buying pagers for the children, so that they know the whereabouts of their kids.
"Once I even handled a case in which a mother bought a pager for her Primary 6 child. Personally speaking, I think secondary students do not need pagers except for those who work part-time," he added.
Nevertheless, some people think tertiary students do not need pagers either.
Miss Salina Chu, a surveying student at the University of Hong Kong, said the machine was useless to her.
She said, "Sometimes I want to be left alone and do not want to be disturbed. If I have a pager, there is no excuse for not contacting my friends.
"So far none of my friends have complained that they cannot contact me. I do not think I will need a pager in the near future," she explained.
Besides leaving a private space for oneself, another advantage of not possessing a pager is that one can keep away from the high frequency "beep" sound. This is probably a good thing for many lecturers.
Professor David Wu Yen-ho, the chairperson of the Anthropology Department of the University of Hong Kong, has lived abroad for 30 years. He said he was not used to the beeping sound of pagers in lectures.
He said, "Many students tend to forget to set their pagers to a vibrate mode before lectures. I do not really mind that, but the lectures are interrupted by the noise."
Meanwhile, some students are well aware of the disturbance of the noise of pagers in lectures. Miss Vivien Lai is one of them.
Said she: "I think students who don't switch off their pagers in lectures actually disrespect their teachers. When I have a presentation in class, I don't want my classmates to be distracted by the noise either."
This disturbance is not a problem in other countries.
Miss Mindy Duong, who came from the U.S. as an exchange student to The Chinese University of Hong Kong, said few students in the U.S. have pagers.
She said, "In California, students do not need pagers, as almost every family has an answering machine. Those who buy them usually do so out of vanity."
Nevertheless, Miss Duong does find the little machine practical, and she got one after coming to Hong Kong.
"Pagers are far more popular among students in Hong Kong than in California. I think it is kind of a culture," she said.
Professor Wu agreed with Miss Duong.
Said he: "In Europe and the U.S., only professionals like doctors, businessmen and real estate agents possess pagers. But it seems nearly everybody in Hong Kong owns one.
"The situation that many students have pagers is strange compared to the international phenomenon. It is part of the campus culture of Hong Kong," he added.
Professor Wu also mentioned that many students used pagers for reasons other than the original purpose of the machine.
"The invention of pagers was to improve communication among people. However, when everybody owns one, they do not have to see one another to have conversations.
"Besides, some people do not reply to some calls even if they are urgent. This lengthens, instead of shortens, the distance between people," he said.
