hei ling chau

Why a super-jail is a bad idea
Chan Wai-kwan
[Happily, in mid-October, the government shelved the super-jail plan; hope it stays shelved! - Martin]
A weak government’s response to a hostile Legislature, as one popular rumour has it, is to put up bad ideas for people to reject, so that more sensible policies can come forward later.

Looking around Hong Kong, you might think there was plenty of concrete around, thank you very much, and we should be making a concerted effort to protect the remaining beautiful, relatively wild areas. Not so! No, the Kings of Concrete and the wannabe kings are queuing up with plans to build on or over some lovely places; and the government seems split between conservation (some sectors of government seem keen on this), and dreaming up Big Silly Projects.

Here and there, there are conservation successes, where some of Hong Kong's prime wild places are protected. But by my reckoning, we could really do with some strong examples of "eco-tourism" - to show that it's possible to make money from a place without wrecking it. Or even these last bastions will be despoiled, ruined obliterated, razed too. (Takes deep, meditative breaths before continuing.)