Written by By Erin Trester, CNN
Two years ago, Hong Kong Airways introduced a new policy restricting passengers’ pets to being onboard their flights. What was once a pet must-have on the airline’s ultra-premium service Qsuite will soon become a survival strategy.
Rarer breeds of dogs like labradors and cocker spaniels will no longer be allowed onboard for the Qsuite. Owners will also have to purchase a service fee which acts as an annual refund to cover the pet’s airfare.
However, owners of lap dogs who have grand plans for a trans-Asia trip — to attend a family wedding or even Australia’s most tourist-attracting trip, Cairns — may not have to fear that their pooch has become too big for Hong Kong’s confines.
The 2017 film “Sunflower” adapted Hong Kong’s collective fear of a box-ticking government when it comes to elderly people (think: creaky staircases, slipper-wearing “pooper scooper” friends) into something more light-hearted: a movie about a socially awkward romantic who brings his love interests with him in a trike.
Its bittersweet ending comes when the village elders take pity on him and his love interest, then travel with them to nearby islands for a break from society.
While the film isn’t exactly dystopian (a miniaturized feudal society would have made more sense), we imagine that the thought of preparing for a three-hour flight with a match box and a tiny dog-folder just isn’t enough “pahing.”
