Typhoons blowing through HK may be named Tai chi, Kapok
Tai chi and Kapok may soon be the names of tropical cyclones blowing through Hong Kong, if they are accepted by the UN's international Typhoon Committee.
The terms for traditional exercise and a common, tall flower-bearing tree were selected from about 10,000 names entered in the first such competition organised by the Observatory and Radio Television.
They will be offered to the committee for approval, along with four standby names in case the first two do not find favour.
The four other names are Lion Rock , Dolphin , Yun-Yeung - a local drink made by mixing milk tea and coffee - and Lu-Feng , the Peak's old Chinese name.
The new names will replace two submitted earlier by Hong Kong for storms over the western North Pacific and the South China Sea.
The 25,000 entries - 15,000 of which were repeats - included the names of public figures and popular local delicacies. Some contestants even nominated their own name.
Judges were impressed with the creativity of entries and found the nomination of food names interesting - dim sum and fish balls were on the list. A popular nomination was mahjong , the Chinese characters for which also mean sparrow.
'Quite a number of nominations used local Hong Kong food ... but a number of judges could not imagine a barbecued pork bun hitting other countries or Hong Kong,' Observatory director Lam Chiu-ying said.
He said the two winning names were 'truly good names, as they are special characteristics of Hong Kong and represent the Hong Kong spirit'.
Tai chi was nominated eight times, while Kapok won nine nominations.
Student Jacklynn Chan, 24, who was one of the winners awarded a certificate and trophy yesterday, said he chose tai chi because it represented the interaction of yin and yang. 'And the symbol itself is very close to the shape of a tropical cyclone.'
