Pollution always this bad?

[Jonathanmommy]

Today is good. Nice blue sky and relatively clean air. We had a great time swimming and making sand castles in Big Wave Bay. Unfortunatley when we went out to Central later in the afternoon, the air was still terrible.

Yes, there is nothing Hong Kong can boast about when it comes to the air quality. I can understand the frustrations of those expats who are stuck breathing the air here. (but why still haven't/couldn't just pack up and leave instead of screaming here?) It is true that a lot of companies are moving straight to Shanghai and Beijing instead of using Hong Kong as a gateway. I used to work in Beijing before coming to Hong Kong. The climate there is harsh. It is so hot in the summer and so cold and dirty in the winter. The air pollution and traffic, complete disaster. There are also sandstorms. Shanghai is not much better than Beijing. Tons of traffic and bad air coming from nearby industrial cities. So if you plan to have a piece of China living in China, good luck to you!! When you move there, you may just miss Hong Kong a little bit and do fly back for a weekend getaway!

 

[lantau35]

So your point Blee is that if ex-pats want to complain about the pollution in HK ("screaming" about it as you say) they should simply leave? Is there no room for people living here to say that they love many things about HK but find this aspect of life here a growing and worrying problem? Many ex-pats have lived here for years and remember when the pollution level was far better than it is now.

Whether you like it or not, people from outside HK have long had an important role in the development of HK - let's not forget that it was actually run by the British for 90 of the last 100 years.

The fact is that the pollution is awful and is a growing serious problem. It is of particular concern to those with children or those planning a family here. Until some progress is made, anyone who wants to see HK have the bright future it deserves can and should continue to "scream" about it.

 

[Matty]

I'm always confused why locals defend the pollution here, and simply say to expats if you don't like it then leave.

Yes as expats, we have the option of coming to HK for a few years, making some money, whinging about the pollution, but then at the end of the day we get to go home to our home countries and enjoy the clean air and lifestyle.

If you are stuck here for the long term, maybe never having the option to leave, how can you stand not screaming about it until something is done?

 

[spockey]

I'm behind ya Matty.
Without the screaming voices, and many a times they are expats as the general local population tend to be apathetic about a lot of issues as they are too busy with their daily work grind and it's really not part of the local culture, I'm certain the air pollution could possibly be worse amidst other problems. Let's be open about it and allow our fellow mums and dad a voice.
Perhaps it was an overgeneralisation to say that the HK economy will collapse without the expats but there are a lot of negative repercussions for a city that sits idly by the problems it encounters.
So here's to screaming voices :yeah2

 

[mommy sara]

Yes,the pollution is very bad here. It seems so bad to most expats because we compare it to our home countries. Take a trip to the mainland and then it may not seem so bad here. That's what most Chinese are used to and most aren't really motivated to change things.

 

[chubbysan]

i agree with mommy sara. for us, we know how wonderful to have fresh air back in our home country. whereas for the local, they are used to the lifestyle or pollution in hk that they don see the need to change. sometimes, i feel that it is the polluted air here that caused pple in hk to cough so hard and this is so detrimental to their health.

 

[bekyboo44]

Yes the pollution in HK is bad, and seems to have deteriorated rather fast in the last couple of years.

But for some of us HK is home, and returning to our 'home' countries is not always a viable option- which means it falls on us to do something about it....we can complain about the govt. inability to do anything about it forever, but at some point we all have to assume some responsibility for improving and protecting the environment around us, if not for us, then for our children.

Instead of arguing about how bad HK's air it is, and who is leaving as soon as they can because of it- why not focus instead on what we can do to improve the air, and what we can do to encourage the govt. to improve the air.

 

[aussiegal]

Just a couple of articles for the disbelievers to check out.
http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/afx/2006/09/04/afx2991187.html-
second last paragraph- "The survey came after recent calls from members of the British, Canadian, Australian and Japanese chambers of commerce in Hong Kong urging the government to act against rising pollution or risk losing the city's international status."

http://www.theage.com.au/news/busin...f-hong-kong-air/2007/03/11/1173548021501.html
First paragraph-
"POLLUTION is chasing professionals out of Hong Kong and could undermine the financial centre's prospects, according to the editor of the Financial Times Asia edition"

there are so many articles i could point to show that you need expats to make any city an 'international' place. doesn't mean the locals aren't good at what they do just that EVERY city wanting international status needs people from around the world.

just type in 'expats' and words like 'leave hong kong, leaving' etc into google and you will see that despite the arrival of some new recruits more people are leaving than coming.
"Recent figures gleaned from the arrivals and departure figures of the Immigration Department show the number of Western expatriates in the city of 6.9 million has dropped from 106,740 in 2001 to 71,150 in 2006. The fall in British expatriates is particularly steep, dropping from 13,490 in 2005 to 11,420 last year" can't argue with the facts.

 

[bekyboo44]

I agree that pollution is one factor that may drive people out of HK- but I don't think it is the only one....things have changed a lot for expats. over the past ten or so years. Expat packagaes are no longer as good as they once were (for the majority of people) aand yet hsing rents and school fees continue to rise....and school places are harder to come by.
A lot of expats have relocated to China- espec. a lot of those who own their own businesses.
There has also been a greater push in HK for 'localisation,' that is training and hiring locals for jobs tradit. done by expats....yes, I agree, immigrants are imp. to an 'international' city but HK is less reliant on them currently than it once was. HK currently seems more keen on attracting talent from the mainland than from anywhere else- and there the pollution, I believe, is even more horrnendous than here.

Still it is interesting to think- what are we as HK residents doing about the air? Am trying to find ways to 'do my bit,' as it were....would be interested to hear what others are doing in a bid to reduce the impact of their carbon footprint!

 

[Neha]

Agree with Bekyboo44 we as individuals should our bit . Less water wastage, less use of electricity. no plastic bags for shopping, using public transport system, dont let your cars running idle. Regarding government , I would like to know how many of us on this website know our disctrict councillors and have actually met them or written to them about the pollution problem. It is of actually of no use to " scream" about the problem on this website.