Hold your breath

After a weekend in the mountains, I am ready to hit the pavement again, no longer singing the country blues. A ten minute metro ride from Prince Edward Station and I was standing in the middle of nowhere, breathing (relatively) fresh air and slowly awakening from the dreamy carbondioxide haze I had been in for the past week. Suddenly I understood how Hong Kongers survive in the urban jungle - the area is actually so small that you always can see where it ends in the horizon. Though after a year in Beijing, I have yet to figure out the survival techniques during its days of mid-winter smog.

On a more serious note, pollution in Hong Kong is a problem growing with an alarming rate. And if not even politicians dare to handle the sensitive issue, then who will? Today, according to an article in the SCMP, even funding for long-term research on the effects of pollution on the health of citizens is an issue causing great controversy.

The death of a participant in the HK marathon last week has triggered a public debate on the effects of increasing pollution. I do not want to start speculating on what it will take for politicians to resort to some action!