Hong Kongers will tell you they are tired of Mainland visitors cutting the queue. The territory still (mostly) adheres to the idea of one person lining up behind the other while waiting to be served, or board the city’s MTR.

If somebody cuts the queue, they might be admonished by others in the line. But one case got so testy it went all the way to court.

A judge in the city has fined a mainland Chinese woman HK$1,000 for her part in a fight she caused by cutting in line, reports China Youth Report.

At the end of July this year, 35 year-old Xie Qiaoling cut into a line to pay insurance fees at the Baocheng Insurance Building. Another woman in line – a Hong Konger – who was six-months pregnant took offense to Xie’s actions and snapped some photos of her on her phone. This infuriated Xie, who jabbed her in the belly with an umbrella.

Yesterday, Xie pleaded guilty to common assault at a a law court in Kowloon where the judge passed the sentence. The defending lawyer said his client admits to being impulsive at the time of the incident. He said Xie didn’t intend on hitting the woman’s pregnant belly, but was trying to point at the phone being used. The contact was unintentional, he claimed.

The judge noted the growing conflicts between Mainland and Hong Kong people, adding that everyone must respect the culture of the place that they are in. The judge reasoned that since Hong Kong residents have a habit of lining up, the act of cutting in line is offensive. However, he said using a phone to take a photograph of a person cutting in line is also offensive, while hurting a pregnant woman was the most idiotic behavior of all. That’s why Xie got slapped with the fine.

Hong Kongers aren’t too thrilled with the sentence, apparently. They say that taking a picture of a person cutting in line is righteous behavior that helps protect themselves.

Photo: Sina

The China Daily notes the city conducted a poll earlier this year asking residents which behaviours they found to be the worst.  The top 10 includes the usual suspects: spitting, cutting in line, littering, and setting up street stalls.

So should these behaviours be punished?  A second opinion poll of 103,000 Shenzhen residents found 80% believe those who commit bad behaviour should be “severely” punished.  Thirty-four percent of those surveyed felt an RMB200 fine would be most appropriate, with 45% saying the fine should be between RMB50 and RMB200.

The city is drafting a law based on the results of the surveys, with the question now being who should be responsible for enforcement: the chengguan or the police?

Dai Guangyu, deputy head of the committee for education, science, culture and public health ofthe Shenzhen People’s Congress Standing Committee, said that in Japan and Singapore, thepolice are the main enforcement bodies for bad behavior in public.

Dai said the result of this opinion poll will come out in two or three days.

Li Xiaofang, a public relations manager in the city, believes the police should take care ofenforcing the regulations.

“I think the police are more able to enforce the law. Compared with chengguan (urban management officers), the police are tougher,” she said.

Zhao Hong, a media employee, thinks it should be the chengguan’s job.

“Chengguan should be the enforcement body since bad behaviors like spitting and throwing garbage on the street belong to urban management.”

There would be some debate as to the perceived leniency of chengguan, that’s for sure.

One wonders why things like spitting and cutting in line are so common if so many people in Shenzhen oppose them.  Perhaps it’s a case of “if you can do it, so can I.”