Cab Chat
Father-of-two Choi Tsap-keung is amazed that a hospital could lose the body of a newborn baby
It's ridiculous that a hospital could lose the body of a baby as if it was trash. A few days ago, Eastern Hospital said it could not find the body of a baby that had died in the hospital. My wild guess is that the body was buried along with the big guy who was put in the same compartment as the baby and was later taken by relatives for a funeral. Otherwise, I have no clue where the baby would have gone. If the big guy was cremated, then there was a high possibility that the baby was cremated too.
The police said they would mount a search for the baby's corpse today. That's pretty slow. I would give the police 60 points out of 100 for the probability that they can find the baby. The Environmental Protection Department said it would help. It keeps records on where and what time medical rubbish is dumped in the landfill. If the baby's body was packaged properly and recognised as medical trash, then the department should have recorded its dumping.
Given the time and effort, the police will find it sooner or later. I heard on the news that policemen need to dress up with special protective clothes, like the ones they wore during Sars.
The staff member who put the big guy and the baby into the same compartment was suspended. But still I find it hard to accept his mishandling of the bodies. There was enough space to store bodies, and he faced no necessity to squeeze corpses together.
This wasn't the first time for something as ridiculous as this to have happened - corpses mixed up and cremated wrongly, and newborn babies mixed up. In the past, hospitals and mortuaries had an excuse that compartments were lacking. That problem has been dealt with, but they have still lost a body. It is just ridiculous. And in the other case, a thirtysomething guy said Tsan Yuk Hospital mixed up another baby and him when he was born. I still can't believe it.
Many parents are concerned about the change in education policy. The Education Bureau has said that a year from now, clever students can have their classes in English. If most students in a class are doing fine, the school may choose to teach them in English or Chinese. So within the same school, there will be both Chinese and English classes.
Some people said it was a good start to get rid of the 'Chinese school' label. Some others said the new policy would give rise to 'elite classes' in a school, and make students hostile to each other. That's why I have no clue on whether it's a good twist or not, I really don't.
My two children are in their twenties and have finished school, so I am not too worried about the new change. Still, I believe English education is good for students. If they are capable of learning in English, why not let them do so? It all depends on their capabilities. On the other hand, if they can't understand what the teachers are saying in English, then they have no choice but to learn in Chinese.
Another thing that drew my attention was the story about the elderly man falling down the stairs of a double-decker bus and dying. The driver was arrested for reckless driving. As a driver, I thought it was unfair for a driver to bear full responsibility. How can one know what happens when the driver stops the vehicle? Maybe the guy just slipped himself. Anyway, I think elderly people should not sit in the upper deck, especially when they carry a lot of stuff with them. It's simply too dangerous.
I like hiking and I have done so for many years. I've completed the whole MacLehose Trail 10 times. I don't finish the trail in one go, but walk separate sections every time. It came as quite a surprise to me when Amah Rock was voted a candidate for the new seven natural wonders of the world. The rock looks quite normal to me, when compared to other candidates such as Mount Everest or the Great Barrier Reef. If I were to vote, I would give my ballot to then Chang Jiang (Yangtze River). The river is beautiful and, more importantly, I am Chinese! Of course I will vote for my own country.
