Hong Kong pollution ok w Donald Tsang?

Another email circular from Christine Loh:

Medical students protested yesterday about Hong Kong’s bad air. They demanded tightening of Hong Kong’s lax air quality objectives in order to protect public health.

Since May 2006, Chief Executive Donald Tsang (DT) has made a series of comments about Hong Kong’s air quality that have raised doubts about his competence as a political leader. He got facts wrong, he was incoherent when not scripted, he taunted experts, he astonished people, he single-handedly generated considerable negative media attention, and he has made the HKSAR Government appear stupid.

Who dares tell Donald Tsang he is wrong? Is his hearing ability affected by the Emperor syndrome?

A. Background of arguments
The key issues are:
(a) Hong Kong’s air quality in absolute and comparative terms.
( Hong Kong’s air quality objectives and their sufficiency to protect public health.

B. String of major gaffes
1. HK Journal (May 2006):
(a) “In fact the air is not all that bad … The air quality today is not inferior to Washington DC … By Asian standards, we are not bad at all. We are better than Seoul, better than any of the mainland [China] cities. I am better than Taipei, I’m slightly behind Singapore. I’m behind Tokyo”.
( Re the WHO guidelines, “I am sure we are going to meet whatever standard they put up”.
2. RTHK Interview (13 October 2006)
“It is a question of visibility. Is the air right, not so so the road side air quality but what we see into the air that is a small particle, that is small particulates which is coming from the mainland that may not effect us or the thing we breath but it effects our feeling that the air is not as good as before”.
3. Business for Clean Air Joint Conference (27 November 2006)
(a) “We are at a level comparable with such cities as Tokyo, Seoul, Barcelona and Los Angeles … We know that air quality in Hong Kong is not pristine pure as in some Scandinavian cities or in the North and South Poles”.
( ”In the final analysis, the health of the people is measured by how long they live, and this is where it counts. The life expectancy in Hong Kong is among the highest in the world … At the end of the day, looking at what we have achieved for the health of our people, you can come to only one conclusion - we have the most environmentally friendly place for people, for executives, for Hong Kong people, to live”.

C. Expert and public riposte
(a) Comparisons 2005
Hong Kong – NO2: 0.061 SO2: 0.022 PM10: 0.059
Tokyo – NO2: 0.047 SO2: 0.005 PM10: 0.029
Seoul – NO2: 0.064 SO2: 0.013 PM10: 0.058
Los Angeles – NO2: 0.047 SO2: 0.005 PM10: 0.032
( Hong Kong’s AQOs
(a) The AQOs are outdated and very lax when compared to standards in developed economies, and are a long way from the WHO’s global air quality guidelines.
( The AQOs have become a licence to pollute rather than serving to protect public health. Moreover, Hong Kong is not meeting all of the AQOs in any event.
(c) Air quality is better in Hong Kong than many mainland cities but that is not saying much considering public health implications.
(c) Basic public health misunderstanding [Professor Anthony Hedley]
“As a public health physician I am totally dismayed to hear such a naïve, misleading and fallacious statement from our Chief Executive. It is clear that [he] has been very badly advised on our current population health issues. It appears to show a serious misunderstanding of the complex determinants of health and survival …Overall population high life expectancy is driven by employment, and income and reflected in high GDP per capita, whereas poverty would have a negative effect. Whereas air pollution would be unlikely to reverse our overall life expectancy it would certainly slow the progression of gains in longevity. For a reversal of life expectancy trends there would have to be a complete breakdown of social structures, or war, famine and widespread fatal infectious disease; examples would include the turmoil and massive increase in alcohol consumption which followed the breakup of the Soviet Union, or the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa. Our high life expectancy in Hong Kong is also attributable to very low infant mortality rate; high quality maternal and child health services; and the healthy migrant …The Chief Executive should not confuse contemporary effects with cohort effects”.

D. Problem of being ‘Emperor’
1. Emperor syndrome: Few within the system dare to tell the boss he is wrong. The system also protects the Emperor from hearing unpleasant things from those outside the system.
2. Emperor complex: The Emperor seldom hears direct criticisms, favours those who support his thinking, thinks he is right, and concludes those outside the system who raise criticism are his enemies.
3. Emperor defense mechanism: The Emperor does not want to accept and therefore rejects by insisting something is not true despite overwhelming evidence. The Emperor may deny the reality of the unhappy fact altogether, admit the fact but minimize its seriousness, or admit both the fact and seriousness but deny responsibility.
4. State of Hong Kong air quality: DT denial-defensive mechanism is in full throttle. He does not deny air quality is bad but he minimises its seriousness by claiming it is not too bad. He also shifts responsibility onto (a) the public for wasting energy; and ( businesses across the border for not doing more to reduce pollution. While both are true, he is not yet applying himself to resolving the problem i.e. to fully accept responsibility that the government can do much more.

CHRISTINE LOH
Civic Exchange – HK’s Independent Think Tank
www.civic-exchange.org