Unappealing Masks for the Masses

The masks are comfortable, but they are hardly stylish for Hong Kong

On May 6 the online registration opened for the CuMask+ that is free of charge from the government. It claimed they were worth HK$40 each to make, but then there was a whole fiasco about not disclosing the companies involved in producing them, and then it was finally revealed after an uproar.

Meanwhile, going online to order the masks was surprisingly a very easy process, and then the other day I received a notice in the mail to pick up the mask at the post office. I went today -- and even brought reading material in case there was a massive line -- but there were only two people ahead of me in a dedicated line to pick up the masks.

They are packaged in a simple ziplock bag complete with directions in Chinese and English on how to use them.

3,951 people ahead of me, but soon after registered in minutes

First, to wear them, make sure the stripes are facing outward and that the curved edge is upward. The mask can be washed once a day with soap and water, but no wringing it dry, nor use an iron. Don't use bleach or detergent either!

Sounds like this mask is going to get dirty very fast just by using soap and water...

The instructions say the mask meets the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) F2100 Level 1 standard in terms of particle filtration efficiency (PFE), bacterial filtration efficiency (BFE), but will it still be just as effective 60 washes later?

But perhaps most importantly the aesthetics of this mask is terrible.

The beige and striped material makes it look like... granny underpants.

One colleague wore it the other day and swears by it for comfort over surgical masks.

But pro-Beijing lawmaker Michael Tien Puk-sun thinks it's useless. He went on a local talk show to demonstrate how quickly the mask fell down his nose as he talked, and it fogged up his glasses...

Michael Tien says government masks useless pic.twitter.com/NSLjMRA5oA

— Alan Leong 梁家傑 (@AlanKahKitLeong) May 14, 2020

 

When you go outside on the street, practically no one is wearing the CuMask+... I only spotted one person working in a shop wearing it.

Some 2.7 million people ordered the masks, but I have only seen two people wearing them... kind of shows how much support Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor's administration has from the people!

And if the government can distribute these masks in less than two weeks, how about the HK$10,000 handout? Shops and restaurants could all use some business now to stay alive...