The green groups learned a bitter lesson following the failure of the judicial review of the Hong Kong-Macau-Zhuhai bridge. The judge said comments had to be made before the EIA was started rather than afterwards. As a result, green groups have never applied so much effort in scrutinising a project profile as they have for the third runway.

The bridge episode also led to a lack of public trust in the EIA process. The department is mistrusted because it is conflicted by having a director who is charged with assessing the environmental impact and is at the same time the permanent head of the department that is charged with doing what the government wants.

The department has already been thwarted recently, with its plans for the Shek Kwu Chau incinerator shelved. It now wants to be seen to be doing the right thing with regard to the airport. Hence its speedy response to criticism during the consultation process. The authority, having got rapid approval for the third runway, initially said nothing when the Legco environmental panel asked it to undertake a social return on investment study, a strategic impact study and a carbon inventory.

However, having pledged to become the greenest airport in the world, it found itself in a potentially embarrassing position, with the green groups threatening not to participate in its focus groups unless it complied. It has now agreed to look into this. But the biggest problem it faces in getting approval for its EIA is air quality. Hong Kong's background air quality is so close to the government's air quality limits that further infrastructure is impossible without either breaking the limits or taking old and dirty diesel engines off the roads.

Fleecing jaded bankers

It had to happen sooner or later. A group of bankers and former bankers have set up a retreat for stressed-out executives to help them decide what to do with their lives and rediscover what is 'real'.

'This year, thousands of jaded executives will ponder the $10-million 'what should I do with my life' question against a high-stress backdrop of restructuring, global volatility and diminished bonuses,' the literature warbles.

The Legacy Process, as it's known as, offers a residential retreat for a week in the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia, where individuals 'transition to a life of meaning by pursuing their passions and living sustainably'.

One of the directors is Hong Kong-based Mark Leahy, who is head of debt syndication and debt origination for Asia ex-Japan with Nomura International. 'We can choose to do work which nourishes us or depletes our spirit,' he says.

Those who sign up for the week get a 'a unique holistic approach of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual work based on principles of psychotherapy, meditation and financial resource management to help participants get clarity on what they want to do with their lives. This is coupled with practical advice on how to bridge the gap between reality and where they want to be.'

All this can be had for a mere US$13,680, which is a 30 per cent launch discount on the normal price of US$19,800. We have to say this is a wonderful idea - fleecing jaded bankers - our dream job at last.

When the trip hits the fan

We read of an incentive trip to Vietnam that British insurer Prudential laid on for more than 500 of its best-performing insurance agents in Hong Kong.

Although well-intentioned, the four-day trip turned into a nightmare for the participants, Sing Tao reports. One woman had her expensive handbag stolen by a man on a motorbike, while a man lost his mobile phone.

After eating dinner at a local convention centre, 10 of the participants started vomiting and suffered from diarrhoea. One was hospitalised, and the rest sought medical treatment when they returned to Hong Kong.