I sometimes look out from the 26th floor window of our office and marvel at the scenery: the deep blue sky hosting the occasional whitish, whimsical cloud; a panoramic backdrop of grassy hilltops and peaks; the first-world skyline of shiny imposing office skyscrapers and apartment blocks; and a harbour stacked with ships floating silently or slowly bobbing along. The water is still. Thousands of suited dots mill around many floors below on terra ferma, getting on with their daily selves, though seemingly at a more detached, quieter pace of rat race. There's a charm to the calm. Then there are the other times. A sheet of grey. A dirty, murky, mucky grey. The buses billow out thick, clogging nonsense as they trundle down the overworked streets. One or two older buildings appear caked in the excesses of a town wearing its health on its sleeve. In a nutshell - pollution. And that's one of the big problems this town has to get to grips with.
At times the air is so thick you can barely see across the harbour. Or like one of those visions of smoggy Victorian London. Or like looking through thin mesh; all hazy features and diluted colours, and probably reminiscent of several developing cities round the world still seeking to earn the respect, but with an underdeveloped environmental policy. But Hong Kong is a developed city. Very developed. But it hasn't got to grips with this fundamentally important area. Many expats concerned by air quality, with a bit more cash to splash and willing to 'commute' a little, will choose to live in "cleaner" districts such as the Peak and the south side of HK island. And if you've really had enough of it all, there's always Singapore - family-friendly and `nice', in a compliment come criticism way.
I'm not entirely sure how bad the air is here, to be honest, as I've kind of got used to it, though sweltering summer humidity certainly doesn't help in the digestion of the finest pollutants that factories from southern China can provide. The rapid growth of rural areas around the Pearl River Delta into workshops of the world is having a bearing on Hong Kong in more ways than one. It's too easy to solely blame these factories, as apparently 20% of the pollution is domestically created. But it's no surprise that the air tends to be much fresher during Golden Week, a public holiday period in China which sees the manufacturers halt production for about a week.
And it's not as if Hong Kong has been getting it's own house in order. Activists keep kicking up a stink, so to speak, about environmental issues. But no one seems to listen. Ears have walls. For example, there was the `888 - Lights Out HK' campaign which saw the conscientious switching off residential and office lights for three whole minutes in protest against air pollution on the 8th August at 8pm. I wasn't that surprised that the whole 888 campaign fell flat. A chance to do a simple sitting down protest (in the dark) barely registered with the government, commerce or the people. It was not as if they were even asked to turn off their aircon or TV either. I shouldn't be surprised that the environment isn't top of the agenda - after all what's a shark fin soup between friends?
Other campaigns also seem a bit piecemeal and symbolic. There's the campaign against the wanton use of plastic bags, part of the government-hyped `Action Blue Sky' - all about avoiding products with smog-inducing tendencies plus looking at energy conservation, in this aircon-loving town. And there's the plan to introduce new air quality standards by 2009, after the first review in 20 years. 20 years is a long time in a region that has mutated so fast. Time will tell how it all pans out but things could be worse. I've heard air in Beijing can be a real shocker. Heavy smoggy air. As for the Olympics, well, conspiracy theories abound. Apparently, there's going to be a massive public relations drive ahead of the event to calm concerns, factories in the region will be forced to shut in the run up and duration of the occasion, and everything will be back to normal when the Games are over.
And yet while air quality is clearly a problem, Hong Kong isn't a dirty city. London, for one, has a lot to learn. I've been told that the outbreak of SARs had a bit of a bearing on cleaner behaviour. People are being a bit more considerate, helped by a legal system to enforce it. I even saw a public health advert on TV that suggested the recommended duration for washing your hands each time after a visit to the toilet was 20 seconds. That's some serious washing. And you rarely see crisp packets strewn across the ground, or tube tickets thrown away on arrival at a destination, or the nasty black marks of deflavoured chewing gum plastered everywhere. It's against the law, or at least it is in the parts of Hong Kong that I've been to. It's also illegal to spit in the street or chuck your fag butt there; something which mainland visitors are having to come to terms with. And away from the residential areas, much of Hong Kong is green. Very green, and with an abundance of natural habitat. And for all the talk about pollution and health issues, the people here must have been doing something right - according to recent research, men in Hong Kong live longer than men anywhere else on the planet, and the women are second only to the Japanese. So put that in your pipe and smoke it, Singapore.
