Benjamin Siu, 15
St Joseph's College
Most people in Hong Kong believe that the mainland is the top polluter of our skies. The thick smog, they say, is caused by mainland factories, the seas are polluted by industrial waste, even the litter on the streets is left by visitors from our motherland.
Doesn't it seem ridiculous to blame our pollution problems on our neighbour and the weather?
Hong Kong has generated its own fair share of pollution. The government has done little to reduce the harmful emissions caused by the thousands of cars, buses, vans and lorries. Apart from air pollution, no one really cares about the noise traffic generates. Surely we can't hold mainland China responsible for this, too?
Hong Kong hasn't dealt with its power stations generating tonnes of toxic fumes every minute, either. There are not enough laws to regulate emission levels, which leaves power companies with no incentive to actively explore cleaner alternatives.
It is true that factories on the mainland contribute to our air pollution, but we must take the blame for this, too. Following China's Open Door Policy of China in the late 1970s, Hong Kong businessmen flocked to Shenzhen and other mainland cities to enjoy the cheap labour and land costs. They used all kinds of methods to maximise profit. One was to cut spending on corporate responsibility. As a result, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide and other poisons were released from the factories into the atmosphere, only to be blown into Hong Kong skies. Hong Kong people are simply suffering from an evil they planted decades ago.