When air pollution gets so bad that those in the know choose to leave, it's time to make your voice heard, writes Grace Tsoi

Everyone knows that breathing in Hong Kong is a daily challenge to our respiratory system – and even our city’s most committed combatant against air pollution, Professor Anthony Hedley, has fled the city because, quite frankly, he can’t take it anymore.

“It is a difficult decision and it took me years to do this, but I have to do it because of the serious health impact,” the Chair Professor of Community Medicine at the University of Hong Kong says. Recently treated for cancer, Professor Hedley decided to move to the Isle of Man since he knows that his coughing and other respiratory symptoms should subside in cleaner air.

A look at the figures and it’s pretty easy to understand why Hedley decided to leave. In 2009 the number of hours of reduced visibility was listed at 1,139, a number that’s jumped nearly 52 per cent since 1999. And due to the sandstorm from Northern China last March, the air pollution index reached a staggering level of 500, the highest possible reading. “The government has not done enough and it is not doing enough,” says the 69-year-old. “Not enough has been done in any sphere of power generation, shipping and traffic.” Hedley has the authority to make such a statement, since he served as not only the chair professor of community medicine at the University of Hong Kong since 1988, but has worked with the government as an appointed member of various advisory bodies on air pollution and public health. The man even has an index named after him (The Hedley Environmental Index, which reflects the health and economic cost of air pollution).

Hedley isn’t the only one who deems the government incompetent in the battle against killer air. “The government has failed to recognise the seriousness of the problem until now. Moreover, the policies adopted by this administration have been resounding failures,” says Joanne Ooi, the chief executive officer of Clean Air Network.

NGOs and advisory bodies have been giving the government suggestions to improve the air quality, so why hasn’t the government been responsive? The answer, according to Lai, is a complicated one: a combination of the mentality of the administration, the bureaucracy and the undemocratic system clash and conflict to make for slow progress.

“I believe that Donald Tsang always presumes that air quality improvement is expenditure, he doesn’t think of it as an investment. His view on economy is a narrow one; he only thinks infrastructure and transport as investment,” Albert Lai, the chairman of the Professional Commons, says. Like Hedley and Ooi, Lai is a longtime activist in environmental protection.

Bureaucracy is certainly an important factor to blame for the inefficiency and inertia of the government in fighting air pollution. Before 2007, the Director of Environmental Protection was of professional grade – meaning they have professional knowledge about environmental affairs. But since 2007, administrative officers have become the backbone of the department. That’s a big problem, according to Lai. “They don’t understand the science,” he says. “They also treat it as a political issue, rather than a public health issue.”

The root of the problem goes much deeper. “When the government source of power is heavily influenced by the groups that enjoy vested interests, the officials will just seek a path of least resistance,” Lai says. “They carry out policies that are least opposed and they leave the bigger things undone.” In Hong Kong’s not-quite-democratic system, bureaucrats are not really accountable to the citizens. Many describe what these officials do as “lip service,” meaning they’re all talk.

Although Hedley has left, Ooi and Lai are continuing the battle. Ooi, along with a panel of experts, is giving her own talk on May 17 about changing political obstacles to ensure a better future. “I hope the future does not make my career choice as an environmentalist look like complete madness,” she says. For all of our sakes, let’s hope so too.

Winning Clean Air for Hong Kong: Political Obstacles to Change is on May 17 at Hong Kong Arts Centre. Visit www.hongkongcan.org for details.