Page 19 - Beyond COVID-19

Scepticism towards Contact-tracing apps amidst the

COVID-19 Pandemic

overnments around the world have Safe. Some Hong Kongers are concerned if ness is under scrutiny. According to media
Gdeveloped contact-tracing apps to con- the government can access other informa- reports, an individual who visited a res-
tain the pandemic by identifying individuals tion in their phones through the application. taurant on February 20, where at least six
who may have close contact with COVID-19 preliminary positive cases were found on
patients. But privacy is one major con- While the Hong Kong government has February 18 and 19, did not receive notifica-
cern. Developed by the Ministry of Health, eased anti-COVID-19 restrictions since tion from the app.
Labour and Welfare in Japan, the
COVID-19 Contact Confirming Some Hong Kong citizens boy-
Application (COCOA) has received cott using the app as a form to
its share of scepticism. protest against the government’s
response towards the democratic
A student from the University movements which began in mas-
of Tokyo cites technical problem sive scale since summer 2019.
as the reason why the app is not They view the app as a means
popular in Japan in the online for the government to spy on its
colloquium “Beyond COVID-19”. citizens, disguised as a harm-
The app’s effectiveness is ques- less public health surveillance
tioned after its failure to notify technology.
users who have come into con-
tact with infected patients. There is a fine line between
reasonable monitoring and
People also criticised the com- privacy breach, especially when
pany who was first ordered to de- the government has repeatedly
velop the app by the government Contract-tracing mobile app LeaveHomeSafe records users’ visit histo- demonstrated incompetence
for earning profit by outsourcing ry by scanning QR codes displayed in venues. in combating the pandemic. The
the project. pandemic raises a question on
February, it requires citizens to use the app whether digital tracing can reduce infection,
Professor Ako Tomoko from the University before entering venues like restaurants. or it is an excuse for the powerful to expand
of Tokyo also says that distrust of the Japa- However, many customers rather write down control over the powerless.
nese government can explain why many do their personal information on paper or fill in
not use the app. digital forms provided by restaurants. Some
even resort to ordering takeaways.
Similar to Japan, the Hong Kong govern-
ment developed a tracing app, LeaveHome- Like COCOA, LeaveHomeSafe’s effective- By Victoria Fong

COVID-19 Pushes Us to Think Out of the Box

OVID-19 has brought us unhappiness and loneliness over a year. When travelling around the world is impossible, we as journalists
CBut looking on the bright side, we start to entertain ourselves also use our creativity to tackle problems brought by the pandemic.
and build connections with others in creative ways. For example, physical interviews are replaced by Zoom meetings or
phone interviews. Borrowing pictures from other media outlets is
As what was shared in the online colloquium, Japanese celebrity also a common practice under COVID-19.
Gen Hoshino led a bandwagon in the country by inviting people to
sing and dance with him for his song “Dancing on the Inside”. It was Creativity is not only applied in journalism, but also in many other
supported by many people, even Shinzo Abe, former Prime Minister industries, like tourism, to survive in the pandemic.
of Japan.
Every coin has two sides. Whether we focus on the bright or dark
In Italy, people sang and jammed with their neighbours on balco- side is the key to success. Carpe diem spirit is important during a
nies to cheer and support each other. hard time. Let us think out of the box to survive in the pandemic.
Although performance venues are closed, online concerts are held
by singers worldwide on streaming platforms. By Winkie Ng

Advisors Editors Art Directors
Professor Ako Tomoko Agnes Lam Alice Wang Agnes Lam Emilie Lui
(The University of Tokyo) Bonita Wong Charleen Chen
Professor Edward Vickers Kassandra Lai Laurissa Liu Proofreaders
(Kyushu University) Patricia Ricafort Sarah Ryou
Ms Agnes Lam YY Savoki Zhang Shell Zhang Emilie Lui Regina Chen
(The Chinese University of Hong Kong)
Sub-editors Online Colloquium and Publication
Publication Team Emilie Lui Sponsor
Varsity CUHK Patricia Ricafort Regina Chen University of Tokyo’s Trilingual
Kassandra Lai
Programme