The tragic deaths off Lamma Island and Shek O beach should act as a reminder to all agencies concerned with public safety of their unique responsibility.
Laws and regulations pertaining to safety do exist; it is their enforcement that is found wanting.
May I, as a long-suffering pedestrian, ask the Hong Kong Police Force, whose officers are ubiquitous on street corners and when minor mainland government officials grace us with a visit, why no action is taken to limit the speed at which vehicles of all description travel on our main inner-city thoroughfares? Perhaps a timely reminder is in order: speed kills.
It is well and good stopping drivers suspected of being under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or travelling a few kilometres over the limit on a Sunday morning along the airport highway; however, they are but a minute percentage of those drivers who daily put the lives of others at risk and do so with impunity.
Incidentally, could anyone tell me what the speed limit is on inner-city roads? There is a paucity of signs to tell us.
May I, as a frequent visitor to Hong Kong's beaches, ask the Leisure and Cultural Services Department why lifeguards, who are in abundance on gazetted beaches, are not more proactive in averting the possibility of an accident? Rather than viewing the scene from their towers or rafts, surely some should be on the water's edge, warning weak swimmers of potential dangers?