Copyright 2000 Agence France Presse   
                                 Agence France Presse 

                      January 3, 2000, Monday 11:14 PM Eastern Time 

SECTION: International news 

LENGTH: 697 words 

HEADLINE: Y2K-bug hits Hong Kong breath test machines: newspaper 

DATELINE: HONG KONG, Jan 3 

BODY: 
   Breath test machines used by Hong Kong's police force have fallen victim to the Y2K bug, a
newspaper reported here Monday. 

The machines malfunctioned when police officers attempted to enter the date of birth of those being
tested, The Sun reported, quoting unidentified sources. 

The report could not be immediately confirmed. 

According to the newspaper, the German-made Drager machines refused to recognise birthdays of
anyone born in the last century, reading 1957 as 2057, for example, and shutting down. 

But the newspaper report said the machines were still able to test accurately for alcohol, despite the
glitch and said the error only meant officers had to take down date of birth details manually. 

Millennium bug problems have failed to materialise in Hong Kong, which has been regarded as one of
the most Y2K-compliant cities in Asia. 

rob/cl 

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH 

LOAD-DATE: January 2, 2000