There has been a heated debate in the Legislative Council on how far Hong Kong has fallen behind its competitors in the race to be the region's smartest city.

Based on the observations of the political leaders, the SAR is lagging behind major cities on the Chinese mainland.

The government is in the cross hairs for dragging its feet in introducing some of the latest communication technologies in Hong Kong. Although there has been talk of city-wide high-speed Wi-Fi coverage for years, access remains limited to just a few areas.

In Shanghai, for instance, commuters simply hail a taxi online whenever they need one. In Hong Kong, the police are clamping down on Uber and other car-hailing services which dare to challenge the entrenched interests of politically well-connected taxi owners.

Octopus Card was a pioneer of cashless payment services not only in Hong Kong, but also in the region. However, without the cooperation of banks, its usage is restricted mainly to public transport and grocery shopping.

Many fast-food restaurants take orders for home delivery. But, what's the use to consumers when prompt delivery services can only be assured outside the busy lunch or dinner time hours. If you place an order online, say, around 7 pm, you'd be lucky if you can get your food delivered to your home within two hours.

Some legislators, indeed, complained that Hong Kong people are being unfairly denied the convenience that technology brings them. Others blamed consumers for their reluctance to use the services because they don't trust cybersecurity.

Whatever the reason, there's hope that things will change for the better, at least for those who crave to have their meals delivered to their homes. At least three food delivery services are veering for your favor. And they want your business so much that they're willing to serve you at a loss, for now.

UberEATS, for instance, has signed up more than 1,000 delivery "agents" delivering food of your choice from 1,200 eateries ranging from a cane juice specialist in the Mid-Levels to shark-fin restaurants favored by property moguls and banking tycoons.

But if your bathroom faucet breaks, you'd be out of luck. In my case, the replacement component, which costs only about $30, has to be ordered from a seller on Ebay. It took two weeks for the item to get here.

(HK Edition 07/14/2017 page9)