Bomb hoax at the airport yesterday, an American man having a bad day. But the story I actually can't stop thinking about is a six-month-old boy named Rufus.

The Hospital Authority put out an urgent public appeal this week for a heart donor for him. Six months old, critical condition, and they're now asking mainland China for help too because Hong Kong's own list isn't turning one up fast enough. Think about that for a second. A city of seven and a half million people, some of the best hospitals in Asia, and when a baby needs a heart, the appeal has to go wider than the city itself.

This isn't a hospital problem. It's an organ donor problem, and it's been one for years. Hong Kong runs on an opt-in system, you have to actively register, and most people just never get around to it. Not because anyone's against it. Because nobody makes you think about it. No prompt at the HKID renewal counter, no nudge when you're getting your driving licence, nothing. Compare that to somewhere like Spain, opt-out by default, and donor rates that are some of the highest in the world. Same instinct in most people to help a stranger. Completely different result, because one system asks you to remember and the other one doesn't make you choose at all.

So a baby's family is waiting on a system built on people getting around to it. I hope somebody does, soon. And I hope this is the appeal that finally gets the government to ask why registering to save a life in this city takes more effort than renewing a library card.