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Alvin Sallay

The other day, a bunch of intrepid 10-year-olds opened my eyes to a burning issue which has been in the news this week thanks to the faux pas from Australian Olympic officials who banned dozens of athletes from marching at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics over concerns about pollution.
I was one of many parents at Quarry Bay School who were held spellbound  on Thursday by a production which highlighted, in no uncertain terms, the dangers that are being wreaked  by the indiscriminate logging of the Amazon.
The one-hour show by the kids showed us adults that the devastation that is going on  in the world's largest rainforest is largely to blame for all the environmental problems facing us these days.
The message struck home. It was amplified by the hoo-ha created by Australian officials who told their athletic squad - who will be in Hong Kong in the run-up to the Games - to stay away from the August 8 opening ceremony. Canadian athletes have since indicated they are to follow the Australian example.
Max Binnington, Athletics Australia's national performance manager, might have backtracked later over his statement that Beijing's air stinks, and put the blame squarely on 'logistics', but his decree for the athletic squad to stay away is just being realistic.
Worried about the air that we breathe, Binnington spoke his mind.
'We have had athletes come back from a recent test event [in Beijing] and one athlete has got 10 days off training because of a respiratory problem,' Binnington told Australian Radio.
Fearing a diplomatic backlash, Australian officials defended their actions and said pollution was only part of the reason they wanted to miss the opening ceremony.
It makes sense to Chris Wardlaw for the athletic squad to remain in Hong Kong. Wardlaw, who has been a resident of this city for more than six years - he is the deputy secretary for the Education and Manpower Bureau - is well qualified to talk on the topic.
Wardlaw was head coach of the Australian athletic squad at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. A former Olympian himself - he competed in the 10,000 metres at the 1976 Montreal Games (finishing 12th) and then in the marathon in Moscow four years later - Wardlaw believes it is the right decision to stay.
'They are going there to perform, not to just march at the opening ceremony,' says Wardlaw.
But he says the reason for staying behind should not be blamed on   pollution.
In fact, the Australian athletes would be far better off being in Beijing during the Olympic fortnight than in Hong Kong as the air will most certainly be of a better quality. What with the  Central government ordering the closure of all factories and heavy industry in the region, and taking a million cars off the streets,  blue skies over Beijing are almost a certainty - if the  Gobi desert doesn't  rear its head.
But Wardlaw argues that pollution is not a factor at all. What is more important for the elite athletes is the heat and high humidity.
'The reasons why the Australians will be coming to Hong Kong before going on to Beijing is to acclimatise themselves to the heat, and not the pollution,' Wardlaw says. 'There are three factors which count - being in the right time zone, make certain that the travelling time to Beijing is not too long, and the heat. Hong Kong meets all these requirements.'
We are in the right time zone. The Australian athletes are based all over the world, training at altitude in Mexico and St Moritz, Switzerland. So it makes sense  to come here a few weeks earlier so their body clock can be in sync with Beijing.
And the heat will be on in Hong Kong, too.
'Not taking part in the opening ceremony at an Olympic Games is fairly normal for the athletic squad.  You have to remember the track and field programme only starts in the second week,' Wardlaw  says.
But he can also relate to  those athletes who want to be part of the opening extravaganza.
'I always used to encourage athletes, if possible, to take part in the opening ceremony. It is an experience of a lifetime. Of course when I was in charge, it was the Sydney Olympics and being the hosts, things were different then,' he adds.
Not every Australian Olympian has toed the line. Swimmer Dawn Fraser got into trouble at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo for marching at the opening ceremony. Her event was on the first day of competition and team officials had forbidden her to go to the opening ceremony.
Anyone who has been to an Olympic opening ceremony - athlete or spectator - will know how long-drawn it can be. It is worse for the athletes as they have to turn up hours before the proceedings start and hang around until your country's number is up. Just imagine those poor Zimbabweans having to wait until all the other 204 nations have gone in.
Binnington's  claim that it was logistics - getting flights from Hong Kong to Beijing and back again - might hold water.
But  that's more of a mirage.  The real issue is pollution, which  we all face today, and so starkly - and colourfully - presented by the children of Quarry Bay School. Every tree that is felled compounds the environmental problems, not only in the Amazon, but right on our doorsteps, in Indonesia, Brunei, and the Philippines where governments turn a blind eye to logging.
The Beijing Olympics has raised the awareness of the problems facing the environment.  Accelerating change would be the best Olympic legacy we can leave our children.

