POLLUTION IN HK- Have you had enough??!!

after reading woodk6 posting, i find it so alarming to know that breathing the air in HK was like smoking "x" number of cigarettes a day. we have been here in hong kong for a year, like aussie gal mentioned. yes, we are know the air in hk is polluted, but u will imagine the pollution to be so so so bad untill we moved here.

I came from singapore too. and i have to disagree with sunniefaith. there are things that hk govt can do. like wat Neha has mentioned. Same thing happen when there was fire in indonesia, the haze affected singapore as well. the singapore govt take steps to assist our neighbour country in putting up the fire and hence, helping to control the haze in spore.

Whereas to be a local or expat in hong kong, i think most of us treat hk like our home. We love this place and that y we are still staying here. If the air pollution can be minimised, wldnt it make hong kong a even better place for all of us.
 
I tried to google the article that mentioned how many cigarettes per day (didn't find it....though if it makes you feel any better I think living in Los Angeles was like 4 cigarettes per day) and I did find this interesting tidbit from the ecologist.org:

"Pollution is a major cause of illness in Hong Kong. Every year, pollution is the cause of around 1,600 deaths (four per day), 64,200 hospital admissions (176 per day) and 6,811,960 doctor visits (18,600 per day). These serious health effects result in annual community losses of over HK$2 billion (around US$255 million) in direct health care costs and productivity losses, and HK$19 billion (around US$2.5 billion) in further costs arising from pain, suffering and personal loss."

The entire article is interesting and is here: http://www.theecologist.org/archive_detail.asp?content_id=790
 
This is a great start, and I hope to move forward with our idea of forming out ideas into a letter, that hopefully HK nespapers will publish....however we need more views and more names!

I have to disagree with a lot of what sunniefaith says....some of us came to HK before the pollution was so bad...and now some of us have no home but Hong Kong, and thus have nowhere to go back to. And we aren't doing this necessarily for thse expats that can come and go as we please, but for those of us who call HK home and who are raising children here- because we have nowhere else to do so!
 
My husband is from mainland China and I'm American and we planned to come here so that our children can have the "best of both worlds". We knew what we were getting into and we have no intention of leaving until the kids are grown (right now we only have one 22 month old, so that will be awhile). We did not come for a couple of years on company assignment and we certainly didn't come here for money.

Yes the pollution is bad here and I worry about our health. We've only been here 6 months so we have not yet had any obvious health effects except that I get headaches when I never did before.

Yes the government should be urged to do something but we all have the power to make a direct impact. It's usually the expats (with more disposable income) that pollute far more than the average local. We tend to have bigger flats which we aircondition 24/7, have more lights and electronic "stuff", we tend to own cars or use taxis instead of public transport like buses, we do more laundry, use more harmful cleaning supplies, and create more garbage, etc, etc.

I try to complain a "suitable" amount in hopes of fueling the winds of change, but mostly I try to reduce the pollution that I create and hope that contributes to the greater good. In the not so distant future you won't be able to run "home" to cleaner air, the haze of polution will be everywhere.
 
What a great thread - thanks bekyboo for getting us thinking about what we can do about this pollution.

I respectfully disagree with the argument that, as expats, we can't complain to the government because we came here for certain benefits and can just leave when we want to (although I appreciate the candor of this post). Even for those expats who can pack up and leave, shouldn't we be concerned as friends, colleagues and neighbors for local Hong Kongers who can't leave so easily? It is truly awful that their kids are going to grow up in this increasingly toxic environment. As expats, we came here to join a community - some for a short time and some for a long time - and IMO we thereby have a responsibility to act in HK's interests and not just our own.

Thank you to mommy sara for suggestions on how we can do more personally to improve the environment - quite right that I can do with a lot less airconditioning that I use at the moment! But I strongly agree that we also need to pressure the government for more concerted action at a wider level. Bekyboo, the proposed mothers' petition would be a great start!
 
So shall I try and write something? Or bring some ideas together, and then post it to see what everyone thinks and if they would like to sign it.....or if someone else would like to write it?????
Or edit it?
 
I just want to add that the peition is not a criticism of HK- the petition has arisen from our love for Hong Kong and a worry that the city we all know and love is under threat from its polluted skies!
 
So have written something, but feeling a little nervous about posting it on here...pleas be gentle and kind with the criticism! Am happy to change it in anyway, or to completely rewrite if someone would like to do that!
Thanks!


An Open Letter to the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, President of the People’s Republic of China


It is no secret that Hong Kong air pollution has worsened in recent years. There have been too many days this year when our city has been shrouded in the haze of a polluted sky. And there have been many polluted days when many of us had made the decision to keep our babies and children inside, rather than expose them to the pollution.

Our concern is not just that we are unable to take our children out to play but that the current and future health of our children is under constant threat from the polluted air.

A large number of has have lived in Hong Kong for many years and call the city home. Worryingly we have seen the air quality worsen considerably in recent years and we are constantly asking ourselves- how bad is it going to be in two years time, in five years time, in ten years time? For many of us Hong Kong is home and we have nowhere else to go should we decide we can not bear the pollution anymore, which it is why, we feel, it is imperative that the government acts, and acts now!

Others of us will call Hong Kong for a much shorter time, and many of us are already considering a move back to cities and countries where the air is clean or at least cleaner due to the worsening air pollution. For many of us our expat packages do not compensate for the worsening air, and its potential and actual impact on our children’s health. If we go, we take with us the expert knowledge and skills we were recruited for in the first place and with it goes Hong Kong’s competitive edge and ‘international city’ status.

We are each trying to do our bit to lessen the impact of our own carbon footprints but we are also aware that this is a much bigger issue than we can deal with alone.

We are asking you, the government, to take decisive action in tacking Hong Kong’s worsening air quality. We make the plea not for ourselves but for our children- wouldn’t it be nice if the children who will one day run this city are able to grow up as children should grow up- happy and healthy without constant trips to the Doctors and hospitals; without the long term health effects the pollution brings.

There are countless statistics detailing the effects of Hong Kong’s air pollution on our city. Here are just a few,

"Pollution is a major cause of illness in Hong Kong. Every year, pollution is the cause of around 1,600 deaths (four per day), 64,200 hospital admissions (176 per day) and 6,811,960 doctor visits (18,600 per day). These serious health effects result in annual community losses of over HK$2 billion (around US$255 million) in direct health care costs and productivity losses, and HK$19 billion (around US$2.5 billion) in further costs arising from pain, suffering and personal loss."

We would like to know what it will take before the government will take action. Do people have to be dying from pollution related illnesses? But wait, they are already doing that. Do are children have to be suffering from pollution related illnesses? But wait, that is already happening. Does our pollution have to be forcing people to leave Hong Kong and preventing others from settling here? But wait, that is also already happening.

So what now? If the government is having a difficult time coming up with ways to combat the pollution, we have a few solutions for them,
- No car days, as is currently practiced in Manila and Naples as two examples
- A road tax, similar to that introduced in London which forces drivers wishing to enter the city centre with their cars to pay a high toll
- Working with Hong Kong owned factories in China to find ways for them to reduce the pollution they create, whether this means encouraging them to run less days a week, or to implement tested pollution reducing methods
- Making it more expensive to own and run a car in Hong Kong. Hong Kong has a public transport system that is the envy of cities around the world- it is cheap, convenient, reliable and fast. Hong Kong as a city does not need the number of car owners and drivers it currently has.
- Banning completely, or at least charging for plastic bags.
- Introducing the mandatory separation of waste at source into recyclables, biodegradable rubbish and rubbish.

We realize that the government is tacking several items on our list, but it is our belief that the issue is not being dealt with as urgently as it should. More needs to be done and faster.


Concerned Mothers of Hong Kong.
 
Thanks for the effort beckyboo. It's hard for us to get together to sign our names to a letter. Could you organise an online petition? I've recently signed one which I think you can print to attach to your letter once everyone who's onboard "signs".
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

About this archive

This is an archive of over 20 years of GeoBaby and GeoSchools knowledge and discussions, kept online as a read-only reference.

Back
Top