Breathing dirty air is Hong Kong's lot, sadly
Jingan Young says one result of the Hong Kong government's inability to tackle pollution is that, sadly, we have come to regard dirty air as normal
There's something in the air, but it's not the smell of the approaching holiday season. Rather, it's the unwelcome return of smog which for the past week has hung over Hong Kong like a viscous cloak of invisibility. Recently, the concentration of one out of the four most threatening air pollutants, nitrogen dioxide, rose to 231.8 micrograms per cubic metre in Central, a level of concentration the World Health Organisation deems toxic and a cause of severe respiratory illness.
Hong Kong is now widely regarded as "smog city", ironic when you consider Hong Kong literally means "fragrant harbour". That's an unfortunate result of the government's inability to tackle the city's escalating environmental issues.
Across the border, things have been even worse, with the mainland reportedly suffering the worst air pollution in 52 years. Major highways, schools and construction sites were closed in over 100 cities. Flights were grounded in Shanghai. The internet was rife with exaggerated shock and horror tales of the smog's impact. Bloggers likened the coal-induced chaos to London's eponymous Great Smog of 1952.
This rude awakening came after Beijing's pledge to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions from power plants, and to set up a "monitoring network" in 16 worst-affected cities and provinces. Environmental officials blamed the "lack of strong wind".
Despite the dystopian furore coming out of the mainland, Hong Kong's workforce marched on. The city has become so accustomed to seeing its cinematic skyline shrouded in pollution, and treating blue skies as a beautiful happenstance, that we've pretty much stopped making a fuss.
At least the mainland's initial response to public criticism was to ban open-air barbecues in Beijing. This was followed by a restriction on car use based on licence plates; odd numbers can drive one day, even numbers the next. Hong Kong's solution? Phone apps to monitor air quality. With such information at their fingertips, Hong Kong people no doubt feel safer in the knowledge that they can easily discover when they are in toxic areas.