30 ques and answers about Japanese Occupation & HK transport

The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began after the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Mark Young surrendered the territory of Hong Kong to Japan on 25 December 1941 after 18 days of fierce fighting between British and Canadian defenders against Japanese Imperial forces. The occupation ultimately lasted for three years and eight months, leading many survivors to call the occupation as simply "Three Years and Eight Months"

Hong Kong has a highly developed and sophisticated transport network, encompassing both public and private transport. Over 80% of trips are on public transport.

The Octopus card is a stored value smart card which can be used to pay fares on most trains, buses and ferries in Hong Kong. All parking meters accept the Octopus Card as the only form of payment, and a majority of carparks also accepts Octopus card. The Octopus card can also be used and recharged at various convenience stores.

Regular Octopus cards can be purchased at Mass Transit Railway (MTR) and Kowloon Canton Railway (KCR) stations. This type of card is anonymous and hence no personal information and identification are required. If an owner loses the card, only the stored value of the card is lost.

Octopus has become one of the world's most successful electronic cash systems today, with over 12 million Octopus cards in circulation (nearly twice that of Hong Kong's population) and over eight million transactions per day, 300 service vendors (as of January 2005). The operator of the Octopus system, Octopus Cards Limited, is a joint venture between MTR Corporation and other transport companies in Hong Kong. The company has won a number of contracts to extend Octopus-style systems elsewhere such as the Netherlands and Changsha, the People's Republic of China.