Out on a weekend morning walk, it is not unusual to find people armed with cash bags seeking donations outside conspicuous locations in the city.

This activity, practiced during what is known as ‘flag day’, is an activity permitted by the government in an effort to generate funds generally for charitable purposes. Troops to school children, youth and parents congregate at prominent places like MTR stations, parks and areas frequented by pedestrians, each holding coin collection bags and politely asking for spare change donations from passers by.

If, in an instance you don’t have your loose change handy, and believe that a one hundred dollar bill is too generous, donating by Octopus card is now an additional option. But unlike other merchants whose price rates change with every commodity sold, donations are fixed at HK$5 (US$0.64) so there is no worry you’ll be charged more than you’re willing to shell out. After years of pilot tests, the first charity to experience the more flexible way of donating on a larger scale is the Baptist Oi Kwan Social Service Group.

A volunteer carrying an Octopus card reader will be paired with one carrying a cash bag so donors will have an option. As the reader is only going to work at certain conditions such as laid horizontally and kept dry, each volunteer is trained to prevent mishaps. With the amount of donation clearly appearing on the Octopus card reader, members of the public are assured of how much they are expected to donate. On every contact and “dood” sound generated, donors can see how much was deducted on their card and the amount that remains in the card.

Charity groups who wish to avail of the service can rent these devices at Hong Kong Council of Social Service for HK$35 a per day, which covers charging of batteries, calculation and transfer of donation funds collected.

This new method of donating will help Hong Kong maintain, if not surpass, its stature as one of the most generous territories in the world. In 2011, Charities Aid Foundation’s World Giving Index, Hong Kong is ranked 11th in terms of giving donations, money and helping strangers. This is a significant improvement from the previous rank of 18th in the previous year. Although Octopus Card’s reputation has taken a hit following unauthorized disclosure of card holder information to third-party partners, I think the generosity will prevail during flag day drives.