From SCMP>>> Air Quality in HK

Hong Kong's first chief executive candidates' debate has grabbed a lot of media attention despite the predetermined results of the election. Yet, what the general public cares about more is the quality of the air and the environment.

The government has tried to shift the blame for the city's poor air quality to the polluting industries in the Pearl River Delta. Yet, Hong Kong's sky remained smoggy during the Lunar New Year holidays, when mainland factories were closed.

The so-called Action Blue Sky launched by the government is more a slogan than a pragmatic scheme to make the dream of blue sky a reality. Hong Kong's deteriorating air quality jeopardises people's health and harms the city's status as a preferred tourist destination and international financial hub. Many multinationals have threatened to leave if the air quality does not improve. The problem has also rendered it more difficult to attract talent to work here. Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, who has pledged to get the job done, should place air quality at the top of his agenda in his next term as chief executive.

The government must not shirk its responsibility to resolve the city's environmental problems. Its lack of town planning and ineffective land policy over the years have turned the New Territories into a collection of ugly estates full of high-rise buildings and chaotic container storage parks.

Many people moved to the New Territories or new towns in the past to improve their living conditions - only to find that the environment there has deteriorated so rapidly that it is no longer suitable for living.

The government's failure to control the plot ratio of property projects in the New Territories has made it possible for mercenary property developers to erect high-density, multi-storey buildings regardless of the ecology or the public interest.

At a meeting of the Legislative Council's planning, lands and works panel on Tuesday, a number of environmental protection groups accused property developers of erecting high-rise buildings throughout the city that have created a wall effect, blocking airflow. However, pro-government legislator Abraham Shek Lai-him, who represents the property and construction sector, was quick to dismiss such accusations, saying developers had every right to make a profit from property developments.

Mr Shek may be right. But the point is that the government has for years turned a blind eye to irresponsible acts by developers, and to the sufferings of New Territories residents.

Unfortunately, instead of stopping property developers from degrading our environment, the government has taken the lead in ruining it. The notorious high-rise buildings throughout the New Territories are mostly products of the Housing Authority and the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation.

The Housing Authority has blindly modelled the new towns in the New Territories on urban public estates. These buildings are not in harmony with the natural environment; they block the flow of air and trap pollutants emitted by mainland industries. The property projects developed by the KCRC along its railway networks are equally damaging to the environment.

The government's transport policy is also to blame. Although the latest budget has proposed tax exemptions to encourage citizens to purchase green cars, studies in the US have shown that some of these cars are not really environmentally friendly since they require so much material to build.

The two power companies' reluctance to replace coal with natural gas adds to the city's air pollution problem. Pollution could be greatly reduced if each power plant invested HK$500 million in installing green facilities. It is outrageous that these suppliers have refused to give up burning coal even when people are willing to pay more in exchange for better air quality.

Political debates will not improve the well-being of society in general. It is high time that the government and the chief executive stepped up comprehensive measures to tackle the air pollution problem

                                  Make our sky blue

So manifest is nowaday's outwardly grey sky shadowing over HK that everyone living here is urged to think of the remedial plan. Though we have a strong Government, some loud-speaking green pressure groups and, seemingly well-planned education system on the topic of environmental protection, we actually made little effort on this serious issue. That worths some attention.

Just a moment in retrospect --- during 70's to 80's, we were complacent to have blue sky over our heads, we were thankful to having pristine air surrounding us. Scarce were the reclaimation and large construction work in HK. But now? We get hundreds of thousands of vehicles shuttling our already crammed thoroughfares, also, big construction works have been taking place and there are still more to come in the future. That's what going on in this burgeoning town. In fact, the smoky and choking air has been discouraging businessmen from investing in the city, indirectly undermining the economy here. The air is so polluted that exposes the masses to invarying kinds of ailments --- lung diseases and asthma. We have to act right off before the situation deteriorates.

Without second thought we would pass the conundrum to our government. The government should pass law to restrict the use of fuel that are environmentally friendly. Heavy penalty should be imposed on those drivers whose vehicles gush out black smoke. Factories should be treated the same --- deploy more well trained inspectors to check local factories regularly for their improper act. If they find black smoke keep rushing out of the chimney, issue a warning to the owner immediately. The Government should also cooperate with the Pearl River Delta to find the way to improve air quality.

Next, city planner should think ' thrice' before allowing constructions take place, there should be height limit on buildings. Take a glimpse of Causeway Bay and Central, there stands a lot of skyscrapers that not only restrict your field of view, but also trap exhaust gas  in a small area that is stuffy enough that makes one choke. Life must be hard for the workers there whose health are adversely affected. Those development companies should stop erecting high-rise buildings unremittingly.

Pressure groups can try to put up banners in the city to raise the awareness of environmental problem  of the public. Hold some campaign such as the ' Blue Sky Action', also, we can invite the public to help planting more trees and explain to them that creating a cosy atmosphere is no uphill effort, as long as we participate wholeheartedly.

Lastly, as citizens, we have a role to play too. Do you always remember to turn off electrical appliances whenever you go out? If not, you should make it a habit. There is a saying' Many a little makes a mickle', lots of energy can be saved if we all do our own part. Additionally, drivers should use clean fuel and comply with the law. In fact, we are the ' determining factor' in protecting our sky.

By and large, hardly can the sky turns blue by itself, it is our effort that matters. We better halt all the damaging acts and introspect what we have done in the last decade. Co-operation from all walks of life is of utmost momentousness. Failing that, we can't saftguard our own health, not to mention working hard to thrive our once beautiful city --- HK.

I think what you need to improve most is your understanding of the past and the current situation of Hong Kong, and your style.

In the 70s and 80s, the air quality in HK was not good either though a lot of people were trying to re-locate their factories in the mainland. The number of land reclamation and large construction projects was high as the economy was thriving in that period.

The poor visibility in HK now is due to the gas emissions from the mainland, especially from the Pearl River Delta region, which are then blown to HK. And the HKSAR government is now co-operating with other cities in the region to try to solve the problems though I don't think they have any concrete or effective plans yet. You have to point out the situation in the PRD region first to make the need for co-operation among the cities sensible.

Greater elaboration is also need for some points such as 'Blue Sky Action' which I have no idea what was done and thus how important and useful the campaign is.

I feel a bit confused when I see the use of imperatives in your article. As you're just suggesting and not writing to those related parties directly, you'd better avoid them and use modal verbs instead.

The style of your writing is rather formal to me but the informality of the second last paragraph (use of 'lots', asking question, etc.) and some sentences such as 'But now?' doesn't seem to fit well. There is also a contradiction as you say it's a serious issue but "that worths 'some' attention" only.

There are two run-on sentences in your article - 'We get hundreds of thousands of ... in the future' and 'Take a glimpse of ... makes on choke'. Just be careful of it.

You demonstrate the use of a wide range of vocabulary and the grammar is generally accurate. But there are some mistakes like 'that is stuffy enough that makes one choke' -> 'that is so stuffy that some people even find it difficult to breathe', 'We better' -> 'We had better/we'd better', 'Scarce' -> 'Rare', etc. You use various sentence structures but I find the inversions except the one in the last paragraph awkward. It's just a kind of personal stylistic preference so take it easy.

With your level of language it's not hard to get a C or above. Just read more newspapers and magazines to enrich your knowledge of current issues.

p.s. I think this is one of the worst-set questions I've ever seen.

Wow it's obvious that you've done some hard work on English, as reflected by your wide variety of vocab.

Let's say, the content is mediocre, WHICH, is enough for an A essay. But in my humble opinions yours really doesn't deserve that grade, why?

Because your wide variety of vocab actually backfires. You see, it's one thing to be not boring in the use of words, but it's a totally different thing when it becomes hard to read as the whole passage uses several totally unrelated words to describe the exact same thing. It's hard to follow. In other words, the inconsistency in the use of words actually confuses the reader.

Another thing real quick, is your topic sentences. I personally don't suggest playing too many "visual effects" (alien vocabs and structures) on the topic sentences. You see, the TS is actually a LABEL for the reader to easily follow what you're trying to say. It's NOT meant to be DISGESTED, it's meant to be SOLLOWED directly.

Simply put, I think you've gone overboard with the tricks.

By the way, while the words you use are generally LITERALLY accurate in the meaning, many have been used wrongly as they carry different undertones (connotations). Well, those are hard for me to point out but let's take one example.

"By and large": If you look up the dictionary it will tell you it means "generally", but the ACTUAL use of word sure isn't that way.

I think "By and large" can be more accurately translated to "in most cases".

"By and large, it is very hot here"
(generally AND more often than not, the weather here is hot)

Of course, those undertones are hard to describe with words, but I hope you get the idea. Let's say it is not the natural way to CONCLUDE an essay, the way you used it.

umm I know this is not practical advice but your essay does seem unnatural due to the incorrect use of words to fit the CONTEXT. The MEANING are generally correct, but you see, the CONTEXT just doesn't feel right. It just sounds like calling your father "Your Majesty" or beginning a letter to your aunt with "To whom it may concern" (lol)

For that one, sorry, I don't have any practical advice

                           New golden ratio - 961:1000

It's not a bit about maths, pardon me, that's the ratio of men to women in Hong Kong these days. Being not a charlatan, the recent finding is well within my anticipation. Why? Simple, just observe and seek help from your sixth sense.

As things stand, the situation would aggravate in the coming years. More and more late marriages and the rising status of our women counterpart in the city make marriage an untouchable custom to think of, let alone giving birth. One of the many reasons of late marriage is the gaining of professionalism of women, which helps them to become more well off, in terms of capital and mental. What they ponder over is not how to find their Mr. Right nowadays, but the way to earn more, to splash out and to enjoy their lives as singles. Some of them are just too busy to think about the affair, they timetables are crammed with all sorts of works and meetings. Barely do they have an hour to sit and have a decent meal, not to mention escaping the hefty workloads and pluck up their grueling body just to meet someone, who may not be the perfect one , to chat a whole day long of something merely sweet. They can't afford the time, they deemed that they better wear their suits and work. Money is far more important in their mind, men are all unreliable.

But surely there are many who treat marriage as something of sacred that they should be careful to handle, they search for the right ones for their whole lives but to no avail. That's not their wrongs, it's their fate. So it's not strange that the women and men are lowering their requests of quality of their ideal counterparts when they ages keep adding up. That creates problem, the one they found during their 30's and 40's may not be that of ideal, there should be some flaws which one may first think he can tolerate but later find he actually cannot. It's some kind of mismatch. Lowering the requirement doesn't necessarily mean you can tolerate the drawbacks, you are merely complying with your fate, hoping the Cupid would kindly give you a helping hand. That's what life is.

Resort to agencies should be a better choice, and an increasing number of people is following this path today. The agencies gather your personal data- place of birth, age, interests etc. and do the matching. That's convenient, but probably costs you a lot. How about online meeting? Somewhat dangerous personally think.

The recent research on men to women ratio is thought-provoking, the wide belief is- men are sought-after now, which is something i beg to differ. I don't think men should be proud of the situation. Yes, men are ' minorities ' now, but that doesn't that you can stay and wait for someone to come and to beg for your mercy to be her boyfriend. What worries me is another study which implies that women nowadays are more highly eduacated than their male counterparts, and, they don't think marrying a man of lower education and social status than they are be a desirable choice. More female student in universities explicitly explain all the things. Men, we all have to work harder.

Thanks for spending time reading such a lot of gibberish.

                                    Approaching Deaf , In Joy

A study has prompted fresh warnings of a huge rise in cases of premature deafness if young people continue to spend hours listening to loud music on MP3 players.

As a global trend, music is no longer something that you can only enjoy at home, you can play it loud anywhere, anytime, with just a portable player in hand and , with only a single battery that you can play it for a whole day. Worrying about the capacity of the player? Not a bit worth fussing, you can have 1GB, 2GB ipod to choose from, a very volume that you can hardly eat up. No surprise the portable MP3 being so sought after these years.

Just when you are plugging your ears with your dainty earphone, turning the MP3's volume up to a deafening level, rocking your head 360 degrees, closing your eyes and fancying yourself as a singer on the stage embraced with your fans, you still don't know you are on your way to trouble. You risk losing your lifelong hearing. Take volume 10 as the acme of the sound output, if you listen with volume 7 or up, your hearing is at stake. "Some had the hearing of a 50-year-old. Once you damage your ears there is no way to fix them again," experts said. True, there is no way to bring your hearing back to normal again if you spoil it unremittingly. Sometimes i can hear clearly what the songs a man was playing, who was standing one or two meters from me. As a person standing beside him, i feel the volume just harmonious to listen. But is that true for him? Still tuneful and cosy to listen? That's not the only freak i've came across, whenever i loiter out in crowded places, like Mong Kok, i feel like being placed in a multinational musical--cantopop, J-pop, Rock'nRoll...... All you can listen, free of charge. No, no, i should be thankful for them , as they pay for me, at the expense of their precious hearings.

Oddly enough, many of the surveyed teens said they can feel the pain after the prolonged hearing of loud musics, they deemed that as------ can't be more normal. One teenager said she listened to up to eight hours of music a day on her MP3 player, often well beyond 100 decibels. Despite already having suffered permanent damage, she did not intend to turn the volume down. "I really enjoy listening to music. It's part of my life. Why would I stop?" the girl said. Their tolerance towards earache is gigantic, but not admirable. Try to think what would your boss do when you ignore what he say 9 out of 10 times, he would just fire you, under the name of irresponsive working manner. Can you tell him: 'No! please, i am 20 something young man with a 60 years old hearing' ? 

As such, music is likened to panacea, you get your stress relieved, you get yourself high, leave all the worries behind. But no one wants to be the second Beethoven, whose life, as a composer and a music enthusiast, got a great bash because of his ineffective audition.

My take on the phenomenon is: play your MP3 soft, or at least, not as loud as 100 decibel( which is similar to a construction site's loudness). Try to bar yourself from turning the volume up. Also, may the government help advertising the adverse effect of thundering music on our ears.

WHAT IS IT with Hong Kong men and women? A spat raging in cyberspace over the past six months has pinned the worst stereotypes on both sexes. And judging by the level of mutual contempt, it's perhaps not surprising that so few marry each other.

The squabbling began with a tongue-in-cheek website called the Hong Kong Girls Disaster Management Centre (konggirl.hkloves. com). Launched in August, it set out to "improve the psychological well-being" of Hong Kong women - gong nui in colloquial Cantonese.

Its definition of gong nui : manipulative, egotistical, phony, coquettish, controlling, money-grabbing and enslaved by designer brands. The men who indulge these overbearing women were "dogs".

The website was an immediate hit, especially with men still smarting from previous media reports that showed Hong Kong women found them wanting. It was payback time for years of slights. On YouTube, one resentful male uploaded a video on which he rapped through his list of pet hates about the Hong Kong woman, and it's attracted more than 30,000 views.

Not long after, local females retaliated with a list of "81 sins committed by Hong Kong men", detailing their less-than-desirable traits. Not only were local men geeky-looking, they were irresponsible, chauvinistic and feeble-minded underachievers with low self-esteem.

The debate degenerated into a vicious, irrational fight, with sexist remarks exchanged on both sides.

Ng Hing-hung, a 25-year-old university student, even tried to organise an anti-Hong Kong women rally in October but failed to attract supporters. He concedes many friends don't share his views, but remains active in e-forums advocating his "cause".

Although he hasn't been a victim, Ng cites stories of men being abused by the women in their lives, some complaining of being bashed with handbags or slapped in the face. What angers him most are women who apply double standards under the guise of feminism.

"It's not fair for women to ask for equality without giving up the privileges. They demand equality at work, but expect to be treated like princesses when they date," he says.

The phenomenon inspired director Lam Tze-chung to film the romantic comedy I'll Call You, a satirical take on Hong Kong women who pick on men.

But how far does this clash reflect diverging expectations of the sexes? Anthony Fung Yik-him, an associate professor of communications at the Chinese University, suggests cyberspace encourages extremes of expression because it offers anonymity. It's a convenient channel for individuals to vent their frustrations about dating or anger with a partner.

"They may not be able to express their feelings in public because they don't want to jeopardise their social and professional life," says Fung, who has an interest in gender issues. "[In cyberspace] they feel they don't need to bear any responsibility."

Even so, others reckon there is some truth to the accusations.

Marketing executive Tsang Yat-yu says criticisms of the current generation of Hong Kong men are valid although some are exaggerated for dramatic effect. "I'd say about 60 per cent of it is true," she says.

"Hong Kong men are not as decent as before, maybe because of flaws in their upbringing; they are too spoiled. At the same time, women are now more aggressive at work and more confident about themselves. They aren't as restrained as they were 10 years ago."

Similarly, account executive Wong Kai-man rates Hong Kong women poorly compared to those on the mainland and Taiwan, whom he describes as being more compliant and gentle.

"Hong Kong women are more materialistic and realistic. But they are tough because of their good education and financial independence," he says.

While Wong says he has no trouble finding a girlfriend, his friends often find it hard to please "overbearing" dates, or face rejection because they are "not good enough".

"They don't understand why women expect them to pay the bills all the time when they talk about gender equality," says Wong, who visits the online forum occasionally. "They have double standards."

Newspaper columnist Avin Tong Hei-man suggests the online battle has been waged by some conservative men who have a hard time accepting a loss of power.

"Women can have successful careers now, just like men, so men don't have the mileage anymore," says Tong, who has defended Hong Kong women in her articles.

Career-focused women may feel differently when they reach their 30s or 40s, when there'll be few men available who fit their requirements, she says. "I often hear stories of how they'd settle for any single guy. We're not like men, we depreciate with age," she says.

Whatever the case, the sisters have been doing well for themselves. The number of women receiving tertiary education has doubled over the past 20 years to 451,300. Similarly, 110,400 women now earn more than HK$30,000 a month, about twice as many as a decade ago.

Social commentators say the rise in social status and pay encourages women to reconsider their options. They tend to find greater fulfilment in career and friendships, while the search for a partner is less of a priority. Over the past 15 years, there has been a 39 per cent rise in the number of unmarried women compared to a 8.5 per cent increase among men. That may also explain why more local men are looking elsewhere for partners. Last year, more than 40,000 men married women from the mainland, about twice as many as those who wedded local women.

Fung argues the online feud only represents a small, extreme group. "There are always bigoted men who think their rights are encroached when women get more power. It takes time to fix that," he says.

The media is also partly to blame for fostering a materialist culture that leads people to associate money with love, he says. "Those traits are found in societies elsewhere," says Fung. "But Hong Kong is more of a capitalist society than the mainland and Taiwan, and women here are more likely to be seen as gold-diggers. A lot of people's value systems are based on money."

Cultural commentator Perry Lam Pui-li says the cyber frenzy has deeper roots in real life although the internet is a convenient platform for venting long-suppressed frustrations. "It can't happen out of the blue. The phenomenon brings out hidden problems in society."

The relationship between men and women is in a constant state of tension because they have different expectations of each other. But in Hong Kong the disparity is more pronounced because it's such a highly commercialised world, Lam says. The way gossip magazines played up model Cathy Chui Chi-kei's marriage to Henderson scion Martin Lee Ka-shing reinforces the stereotypes of both sexes in such a materialist society.

Lam also sees the boundaries blurring between the virtual and real worlds. "Those who keep posting views on the internet may become more daring to express their views in real life."