The Blame Game Continues

Lam says primary schools to close, more vaccinations needed

The Hong Kong government is definitely terrified of the Omicron virus and after three kindergarten children were infected by family members, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor decided all primary schools will be closed from Friday, while secondary schools will stay open.

Sinovac vaccines will be made available to children as young as five, but other pharmaceutical companies have not filed their paperwork to apply to be administered in children. Surely there should be a choice for parents to decide which vaccine they want their kids to have.

Young children are back to online learning

Today the Centre for Health Protection reported 21 new cases, eight of which are local. There are concerns there could be silent transmissions within Tuen Mun, making it a hotspot now, along with Sha Tin, Causeway Bay and North Point. 

However the good thing is that people are more motivated to FINALLY get vaccinated and now 75 percent of the population have had at least one shot. It seems the walk-in line just for those 60 years old and above is a good motivator.

Meanwhile the birthday-gate continues, with Lam believes the Spanish restaurant, Reserva Iberica in Wan Chai may have operated "well beyond its capacity".

"I'm sure the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department will shortly release some preliminary investigations about the restaurant, whether this restaurant could actually legally operate with this sort of dinner gathering," she said.

The restaurant can have 240 people for a banquet

Reserva Iberica is a Type D restaurant, where the FEHD says it can have a maximum of 240 people at a banquet, and at least two-thirds of the guests must be vaccinated with at least one dose.

So far about 200 people have been identified as being related to the party, so unless it goes over 240 people, then it breaches the rules the government set. And were at least two-thirds vaccinated?

One thing the dining establishment could be faulted on is not making sure every single guest used the Leave Home Safe app, which is another requirement of a Type D restaurant.

Why is Lam trying to pile the blame on the restaurant, and also Cathay Pacific?

How about getting your own people in line for not using the Leave Home Safe app in the first place, and not wearing masks when they were not eating or drinking?

Hong Kong now has 75 percent with one jab

In any event what's done is done and now the city must do its best to quickly clamp down on Omicron. The best way to do it is through vaccination and social-distancing. There was also talk of allowing those who are fully inoculated to use a vaccine passport and have privileges like dine in restaurants or go to cinemas. 

There's enough punishment for all of us, why not reward those who already got the jab and already lining up for boosters?

In order to nudge people, they need an incentive and a vaccine passport would be a good way to increase the number of inoculations in no time...

December Misery Covid-Style

Now you can pick up Covid-19 tests at a nearby MTR station

It looks like the upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays are going to be really low-key this year after infectious disease experts warned the current fourth wave has yet to peak -- if people gather for festivities later this month then cases could surge.

Today 78 cases were reported.

Dr Ho Pak-leung, head of the University of Hong Kong's Centre for Infection, said it was "very worrying" to see an increasing number of untraceable cases, numerous local infections, and various clusters involving different venues.

Dr Ho says it's hard to control virus by Dec 31

He warned as temperatures drop, the situation could get worse and problems could rise if people flout social-distancing measures by gathering for Christmas.

"It's basically impossible to put the fourth wave under control by the end of the year," Ho said.

How depressing, not just for the city, which has cancelled the fireworks display, but also for hotels and restaurants, who can probably expect the current measures of two to a table to continues until at least the end of the year.

Meanwhile, getting tested for the coronavirus got easier, well sort of, with testing kits distributed in vending machines in 10 MTR stations.  They are: North Point, Wong Chuk Hang, Kowloon, Kwai Fong, Tsing Yi, Ngau Tau Kok, Tiu Keng Leng, Tai Wai, Tai Po Market, and Siu Hong.

People can use their Octopus card to get free test

The kits are free and people can get them by using their Octopus card, and then scan the QR code to find out where they can send the specimen bottles back to get test results. 

While each station distributes about 1,000 kits per day, the first day, by 11.30am over 6,500 kits were distributed and the machines ran out of kits very quickly, except for the machine at Wong Chuk Hang.

Are these people stocking up on free kits to use whenever they feel somewhat ill? Or are people trying to collect as many test kits as possible for hoarding? It's really bizarre. 

Let's see how many of these tests are actually returned with specimens in them...

District Councillor Acquitted of Assaulting Police Officer

Jocelyn Chau emerges from the court after cleared of assault charges

Hong Kong's Department of Justice may think it is doing its job, in the process of prosecuting over one thousand people who were involved in last year's anti-government protests, but its success rate is actually very low.

So far of the almost 9,000 people arrested, 5,700 are being investigated, about 1,500 are facing trial, and some 100 convicted so far.

Today is another case in point.

Co-defendant Lao Chak-yin was also acquitted

A Hong Kong district councillor who was charged with assaulting a policeman last year during the protests was acquitted today, after the magistrate ruled the involved officers and his superior had made up the incident, then "covered a lie with another lie".

Eastern district councillor Jocelyn Chau Hui-yan and co-defendant Lao Chak-kin, both 23, were charged with assaulting a policeman in North Point on the evening of August 11 last year.

In the trial it was heard that Chau and Lao were live streaming a gathering at King's Road at 9pm after an anti-government rally. It was there that they were accused of shoving Constable Hui King-yiu, causing him to strain his back.

But instead the footage taken by Chau showed Hui reaching for her mobile phone and telling her to stop filming, while Hui's colleague, Senior Sergeant Lam King-nin, accused the pair of making secret videos of them patrolling the area.

Chau last August 11 pinned to the ground by police

In addition, video clips that other journalists had taken at the scene showed Hui subduing Chau by kneeling on her back and forcefully pressing her against a wall.

In explaining his actions in court, Hui denied intercepting the pair over the filming, and said he did not mind being videotaped. He claimed he was simply trying to persuade Chau and Lao to leave the scene, fearing they might encounter a group of men, believed to be from Fujian, after hearing some of them curse the duo.

Lam backed up his subordinate's remarks, adding he had not seen the constable treating Chau roughly.

Eastern Court Magistrate Stanley Ho Chun-yiu said the officers involved had been dishonest.

"The two officers' testimonies are unreasonable and artificial. When they were cross-examined, they made up the facts and tried to cover a lie with another lie. They were not honest and reliable witnesses," he said.

Video screen shot of Constable Hui King-yiu that night

Ruling in favour of the defendants, Ho dismissed the officers' testimonies as "descriptions of a parallel universe", pointing to the footage played at the trial in which the two defendants and others visible appeared peaceful and non-aggressive.

"It is difficult to understand [the officers' testimonies]. There was no persuasion whatsoever. If the officers emphasized so much that they did not mind being filmed, then where did the criticism [of the filming] come from?" Ho said.

In addition, the magistrate found it unreasonable for the officers to focus on the two defendants rather than focus on dispersing the crowd.

"As police officers, shouldn't they stop these people who may cause a conflict, instead of intercepting some young people who have not done anything improper?" he asked.

Ho also criticized Constable Hui for using "absolutely unnecessary" force against Chau, before ordering prosecutors to bear the defendants' legal costs.

The magistrate says Hui used "absolutely unnecessary" force

Outside the court after the verdict, Chau said she and her lawyers would discuss the possibility of taking legal action against the constable, including launching private prosecution proceedings.

It's interesting the magistrate did not charge the two officers for perjury! One would expect anyone in a courtroom to speak the truth.
 It is outrageous that prosecutors wasted everyone's time and effort in presenting such a flimsy case when there was so much video footage that did not match with the officers' testimonies.

Did they think they could get away with making up what they did that night? It just shows their contempt for the law.

Thankfully the magistrate saw through it, and with the damning video footage, his verdict was clear-cut.

HK Police Behavour Continues to Spiral

A protester throws back a canister of tear gas back at the police

Although we are not in Hong Kong, we're watching events as closely as possible and the behaviour of the police continue to deteriorate, arresting anyone in their way who haven't even committed a crime. How is this rule of law? It's just creating an administrative nightmare for the legal system.

Tens of thousands marched peacefully in the streets in Sunday

We are mortified to see a young man having lunch with his father in Amoy Gardens in Kowloon Bay and the former is suddenly arrested for what? His father is angry and scared, following the police taking his son away. What did his son do?

Meanwhile another proposed march by the Civil Human Rights Front was banned on Sunday from Causeway Bay to Chater Garden, and yet tens of thousands of people came out anyway, angry about too many things. However, an illegal march just gives the police any reason to arrest anyone or inflict more violence on protesters in the area.

Meanwhile tonight in North Point an unmasked man punched two journalists -- one I know -- and yet the police right there don't even arrest the man who provoked the violence. What is going on?

Congress MUST pass🇭🇰Human Rights & Democracy Act to hold Carry Lam & her entire Executive Council accountable for this kind of injustice & human rights abuse. https://t.co/QPKs2JMnnD

— Solomon Yue (@SolomonYue) September 15, 2019

How does Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor sleep at night?

Oh wait she doesn't consider young people to have a stake in society because they haven't contributed to the development of Hong Kong.

How does Carrie Lam think she can make things fine in HK?

The Hong Kong government is so desperate to tell the outside world that the city is still open for business and yet its call to top global public relations companies to help restore its reputation has gone unheeded.

None of the top four PR firms even offered to put in a bid for the job.

That's how low the Hong Kong government has fallen -- these PR experts think the government's reputation is unsalvageable.

How does Lam think she will ever have control over the city? How does she think she can gain the confidence of investors again? More importantly how does she think she will ever gain the trust of Hongkongers to have honest, mutual dialogue?

Carrie's Not Budging Again

Carrie Lam reiterated she would not meet protesters' five demands

This morning Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor made an appearance following the violent clashes in Kowloon over the weekend.

She admitted there was a stalemate in that the government would not accede to the protesters' five demands.

"It's not a question of not responding, it is a question of not accepting those demands," she said.

Police officers in one-on-one combat with protesters

People all over Hong Kong could be heard collectively banging their heads against the wall or table. My colleague did.

But Carrie, this is what people want! Lots of people from all walks of life, from students to medical staff to lawyers to accountants to civil servants and even top city leaders and politicians.

While she claimed the extradition bill was "abandoned", it has not technically been withdrawn which is what the people want, and in the Legislative Council, the bill has to be withdrawn. It cannot be "abandoned" or "dead".

When trust in her has plummeted so fast, the least she can do to recover some dignity and integrity is to withdraw the bill.

But no, she refuses to do so and refuses to explain why. It's as if she lives in a parallel universe where the people see things that she can't register at all.

The police have arrested 883 people since June

In her appearance before the media, Lam said she was disappointed to see peace was disrupted by violent protests this weekend and said the government would use the law to bring order into Hong Kong.

"All laws in Hong Kong -- if they can provide a legal means to stop violence and chaos -- the SAR government is responsible for looking into them," she said.

Meanwhile, former chief executive Leung Chun-ying seems to be taking the law into his own hands and wants to do something about these protests disrupting the city.

He has bought the domain name www.803.hk, where he advertises his tip line for people to call in to rat on protesters. And to motivate them he has also put "prices" in terms of what he would pay if someone comes forward with enough information to convict a protester.

"We come from different sectors of society, and we hope Hong Kong can return to calmness as soon as possible," the website says. "The rewards come from the public entirely and we will crowdfund in the future."

A website with a snitch hotline offers bounties for protesters

For throwing the Chinese flag into Victoria Harbour, he will pay between HK$200,000 to HK$1 million, covering the Chinese emblem at the liaison office for HK$1 million, the Bauhinia emblem in the Legislative Council on July 1 is worth HK$500,000 (why half the amount of the Chinese emblem?), and breaking into Legco HK$500,000.

Others include setting a fire at the Tsim Sha Tsui police station, causing chaos at Hong Kong International Airport, and the various incidents in Yuen Long, Wong Tai Sin, Sha Tin, Kwai Fong and North Point.

One reporter called the number to only hear an automated message asking the caller to leave contact details.

How successful will this snitch line be in settling the escalating crisis? Will people be tempted? Or there won't be enough information for a successful prosecution.

The Hong Kong police have already arrested 883 people since June, including a 12-year-old. Do we need more people in jail?

Police Steps Up Tactics

A peaceful protest rally held at Victoria Park in sweltering temperatures today

I was going to write about the peaceful rally at Victoria Park today, how people of all ages showed up. It wasn't a massive rally, but a decent turnout of about 1,000, all voicing their concerns of the situation in Hong Kong now.

One young man gave a tearful speech about how he was detained by the police for over 60 hours and how they harassed him. He says he may face jail time of up to 10 years but he is prepared to face the consequences and does not regret anything.

Tensions rise in North Point with Fujianese people in the area

The rallying cry was the same, that people will stick together and brave whatever comes our way.

But after I went home, things devolved into a shocking new level of violence.

In North Point, there were Fujianese men wearing red T-shirts claiming to "protect their territory", and threatening to beat up protesters if they came to the district. Journalists came to the area to see what was happening, and since there were no protesters, they decided to beat up the reporters instead.

Police firing tear gas IN Kwai Fong MTR station

Even better, the police didn't care -- they told reporters to file their complaints to the police station...

More tear gas fired in Cheung Sha Wan, Tsim Sha Tsui, and even Wan Chai in the bar area of Lockhart Road. People were enjoying their drinks when tear gas was fired on them...

Or how about firing tear gas IN AN MTR station??? The police have done this in Kwai Fong station, leaving innocent bystanders who don't have gas masks with no where to go.

But perhaps even more sinister now is the new police tactic of dressing up in black like protesters, complete with masks and arresting actual protesters...

Police are now dressed as protesters to arrest people

This all raises the chances of the PLA coming to Hong Kong's aid, or perhaps there are some embedded with the police force already?

Beijing wants this matter resolved before October 1. Will it meet its own deadline?

Jaw-Dropping Studio Flats

Victoria Harbour flats in North point are very, very expensive...

The other day my friend YTSL passed me a story that made my jaw drop -- a 286-square-foot studio in North Point was sold for HK$10 million.

HK$10 million! (US$1.27 million)!

That's HK$10,000,000.00.

It's a new flat from developer Sun Hung Kai Properties as part of its Victoria Harbour luxury project.

"I think it will be a record for a studio flat in North Point," said Sammy Po, chief executive at Midland Realty's residential department.

Studio flats here are priced at HK$10 million

Sun Hung Kai Properties had the gall to say one of the reasons for the flat's high price was because of its relatively larger size of not even 300 square feet.

All of its 16 studio flats for sale are priced at more than HK$10 million each, an average square foot of HK$36,000.

To compare, a 181 sq-ft flat at Novum Point, also in North Point, was sold for HK$5.87 million.

The Victoria Harbour flats are more expensive not only because they have sea views, but also a number of amenities will be available, including a shopping mall and hotel.

Still -- we are gobsmacked at the price and that someone was willing to pay that much for such a small space.

But perhaps this is the new normal and we should start getting used to it...

Jaw-Dropping Real Estate

A rendering of what Victoria Harbour (the development) will look like

The other day I met up with an acquaintance I haven't seen in a while. She told me she was working on a property development called Victoria Harbour. It's being developed by Sun Hung Kai in North Point and apparently has unobstructed views of the water, hence the name.

What's the price per square foot? A whopping HK$40,000 (US$5,113) per square foot.

My jaw fell to the floor when she told me.

There are studio flats all the way to five-bedroom ones. I can't even imagine how much those would cost.

Construction of the buildings is already underway

Back in November, Sun Hung Kai Properties only released 10 units for sale, and prospective buyers had to hand over a HK$7 million cheque just to be able to view the units. If they decided not to buy, then the money would be refunded.

Victor Lui Ting, deputy managing director at SHKP said at the time that demanding the money up front was an "appropriate practice", as flats at Victoria Harbour are considered rare products.

The fact that developers can legally do this is outrageous -- the price per square foot is already a deterrent for most buyers anyway!

Included in the development will be a hotel and shopping mall of course that will be anchored by the largest Yata department store in the city. The hotel will apparently be young and hip with an all-day dining restaurant and a bar. Wonder what rents will be like for retail spaces there.

And apparently the owners (the Kwok family, now run by Raymond Kwok Ping-luen as his brother Thomas is in jail for bribery) aren't in a hurry to sell because they'd like to have some of those flats for themselves.

My jaw is still on the floor from hearing the price her square foot...

Invest in Car Park Spaces

The uber wealthy can afford outrageously expensive prices for real estate

It was just reported today that someone bought two flats on The Peak for HK$1.16 billion (US$149 million). That calculates to HK$131,000 per square foot for Mount Nicholson, a luxury development project.

Prices for private housing rose again in September for the 18th consecutive month, making home ownership even further away for home buyers looking to get into the market.

Which is why some people maybe turning to buying up car park spaces in order to get into the real estate market. The value of these rectangular spaces in the garage are rising faster in value than flats in Hong Kong.

The rest of us might be speculating on car park spaces

A study conducted by brokerage houses in three private housing estates -- Provident Garden in North Point, Mei Foo Sun Chuen in Lai Chi Kok and Island Harbourview in Tak Kok Tsui -- found the parking spots in these places jumped on average of a whopping 167 percent compared to 52 percent for residential units in the last six years.

In the same period, second-hand homes rose an average 84 percent across the city, according to data from the Rating and Valuation Department.

"It is even normal to find parking spaces transacted at above HK$2 million, and HK$1 million is becoming the entry point for parking spaces in Hong Kong," said Alun Jin, a property analyst at Mizuho Securities.

Even Sha Tin parking spots are sizzling hot -- one was sold last week at HK$2.5 million, and another at Tseung Kwan O Plaza for HK$2.08 million.

Jin attributes the high prices to real estate developments constructing fewer parking spaces. Between 2006 to 2016, the number of registered private cars rose 48 percent to 189,281. But the number of car park spaces only increased by 9 percent or 54,520 units according to Mizuho Securities.

But is it worth plonking down HK$2 million for a car park space -- up to HK$4 million in Kennedy Town -- and then renting it out only for a few thousand a month? How long would it take to finally make your money back?

However, hold onto it long enough and you could possible double or triple your money back in a shorter time span than if you bought a flat in the same period....

Sounds like another real estate bubble forming already...

Dim Sum Treat

Some of our dim sum dishes, including a half eaten malai goh on the left

This morning a friend took us to a traditional place in Kowloon for dim sum. It's called Fung Shing Restaurant which is run by two brothers, with the original location in North Point, and the other in Prince Edward. Any other Fung Shing Restaurant is a "fake" one, according to my friend...

Deep-fried dumplings with chicken broth

We got there at 10.30am and we were very lucky to find a table for the three of us in the small dining area on the first floor of the building so we didn't have to share.

The clientele is middle aged, so we were the youngest ones there. No matter -- we were all there to enjoy the food.

The first dish to come out were deep-fried dumplings with a bowl of chicken broth. Even when dunked in the broth, the dumplings were still crispy and soft inside. Next came the steaming hot malai goh or Malaysian steamed cake, and it was stellar. The steamed cake was so fluffy and not too sweet that we enjoyed every bite.

The prized malai goh that was so fluffy and not too sweet

Then in quick succession came several dishes. Har gao, or steamed shrimp dumplings that were quite large and full of shrimp meat, though the skin was on the sticky side. The chicken feet were delicious, and weren't steamed too long, making them more flavourful, while the fluffy char siu baos were not cloyingly sweet.

An interesting dish we also tried was goose webs and taro wrapped with tofu skin. The skin was so thin, while the combination of the goose webs with the starchy taro was really interesting and not sitting in oil either.

We also ordered tripe in a light curry sauce, and the last dish to come was cheung fun, or pan fried rice rolls with scallions, in a thin mixture of peanut, sesame and sweet plum sauce with a generous sprinkling of sesame seeds.

We waited a long time for these pan-fried rice rolls

Needless to say we were so full afterwards and the bill was so reasonable too -- HK$263 for three!

My friend tells me dinner here is very good too and I hope we can try it sometime!

Fung Shing Restaurant

1/F-2/F, European Asian Bank Building

749 Nathan Road

Prince Edward
2381 5261

Closing Loopholes Too Late?

A potential buyer checks out the models for Harbour Glory in the showroom

The Leung Chun-ying administration thought it was clever when it announced Tuesday evening that first-time home buyers could not purchase multiple flats without paying the 15 percent stamp duty.

Starting midnight on Wednesday morning, it has changed to one flat per person, but now buyers are skirting the issue by having entire families show up and buying a flat in each of their names.

On Wednesday, a family bought three flats at Harbour Glory, Cheung Kong's latest project in North Point. The three units together totaled HK$170 million (US$21.8 million), and to avoid paying the 15 percent stamp duty, the purchases were put under three individual names.

"It's not illegal, but it's creative," said Sammy Po, chief executive of Midland Realty's residential department. "Whenever there's a new policy, buyers and sellers always come up with a new way to minimize the impact."

A show flat demonstrating one of the bedrooms

His firm brokered two groups of customers each buying two units of three-bedroom apartments at Harbour Glory.

One group was a father and son, they had never bought HK flats before, and each bought 1,062 sq-ft flats at Harbour Glory for a total of HK$60 million, after a 34 percent discount from the developer.

"As the two flats were bought in two separate contracts, and neither of them owned properties under their names, they are not subject to the 15 percent stamp duty," said Po. Each buyer had to pay 4.25 percent duty, or HK$1.27 million.

The Hong Kong government had hoped that this latest measure would curb the number of flats being sold, which some critics said was too little too late.

Secretary for Transport and Housing Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung said the introduction of the 15 percent stamp duty was an attempt to curb the rise of housing prices, but they soon realized some buyers took advantage of buying multiple flats under one purchase.

He claimed the government was aware of the issue all along, but needed time to gather more data and monitor the situation.

Harbour Glory is Cheung Kong's project in North Point

"We have adopted the most cautious approach to handling [the issue]. We did not leave the loopholes unattended," Cheung added.

The percentage of such cases increased to 4.7 percent between December last year and March this year, up from 3.4 percent in 2013 and 2014.

Just last month alone there were 184 cases of multiple flats bought under one transaction, involving a total of 435 flats.

"Before November, such trends were not something to be concerned about," Cheung said.

But pan-democrat lawmaker James To Kun-sun, who first warned of the need for cooling measures back in 2013, said the latest measures were "too late".

It's funny how the Hong Kong government doesn't question where people get gobs of cash to buy multiple flats, and thinks it needs to monitor the situation for a while? Meanwhile the prices of flats continue to rise, effectively making the government's measures seem half-hearted, at worse a joke.

This is an indication of how government officials have no idea how the average Hong Kong person lives, or don't have the ordinary resident's best interests at heart.

How is chief executive-elect Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor going to deal with the issue? Judging from her toilet paper buying fiasco, one thinks she also has her head up in the clouds...

The Waiting Game Begins

Potential buyers check out Upper East but many have given up down payments

You know the economy is not looking good when potential home buyers are not purchasing homes -- because they think prices will go down even further.

Some buyers have even walked away from deals even though they have put down deposits.

"Developers that require purchasers to put down a small initial down payment will be hit the hardest," said Alvin Cheung Chi-wai, an associate director at Prudential Brokerage. He added buyers would rather cut their losses by forfeiting their deposits if they believe an economic slump is coming.

The media has reported at least 30 such cases so far this month, 11 of which were at Kowloon Development's Upper East project in Hung Hom. Five cancellations were made at Cheung Kong Property Holdings' Beaumont in Tsueng Kwan O, and four at The Aspen Crest in Diamond Hill developed by Far East Consortium International.

One buyer signed an agreement for two flats at Upper East for a total of HK$11.8 million, but gave up the HK$2.55 million initial down payment.

That's a lot of dough, rich or not.

That project has the most number of defaults so far because it required potential buyers to put down payments of just 5 percent. Because of this deal, including a 14 percent discount, it sold 340 units, 40 percent of which were bought by investors this month. Down payments for the cheapest flats -- 194 square feet -- were just HK$150,000.

Kingswood Villas in Tin Shui Wai

The market for luxury and secondary flats was also slow, with sellers cutting prices to entice buyers. A 806 sq ft flat at Pacific Palisades in North Point Hill sold for HK$14.5 million, HK$1 million less than the original asking price.

"This is the first deal for North Point Hill so far this month," said Terry Chan, associate director at Centaline Property Agency.

In Tin Shui Wai, a 546 sq ft flat in Kingswood Villas, the city's most active housing estate in terms of turnover, changed hands for HK$3.92 million, the first unit to be sold for less than HK$4 million in the past few years.

Real estate agents report the secondary market has plunged to a 20-year low.

This is good news for first-time home buyers, but it's a waiting game now, trying to figure out how low prices will go... who's in?

Hong Kong's Polluted Air Persists

Hong Kong's air quality can go to extremes like these pictures show...

Well what do you know! Us living in Hong Kong are breathing in air that exceeds the World Health Organization's standards for over 280 days last year.

The black spots are Des Voeux Road in Central and Hennessy Road in Causeway Bay.

"The overall picture is worse than we thought," said Simon Ng Ka-wing, chief research officer at Civic Exchange, a think tank that worked with the University of Science and Technology on the research.

"Our government must make it a policy priority to improve roadside air quality in major urban street canyons."

It's interesting Civic Exchange says this when its founder Christine Loh Kung-wai is the Under Secretary for Environment...

The WHO daily air quality guideline says PM2.5 should not exceed 25 micrograms per cubic metre. But in the Hong Kong study conducted between March last year and February this year, Central and Causeway Bay exceeded the standard by almost 280 days of the year.

In districts like Western, Admiralty and most of Wan Chai, the air quality standard was surpassed by over 200 days, while it was 150 days in North Point.

Des Voeux Road in Central was the most polluted at an average of 55 micrograms per cubic metre -- far exceeding the WHO guideline of 10 and the local guideline of 35.

It was followed by Hennessy Road, between Tonnochy Road and Yee Wo Street in Causeway Bay, and King's Road in North Poing.

Professor Jimmy Fung, head of HKUST's division of environment, said areas with good ventilation and lower buildings helped disperse pollution.

He said the government should devise a long-term strategy to improve wind and air dispersion in urban street canyons through new developments and urban redevelopment opportunities, as well as policies to decrease traffic emissions.

Ng says hundreds of thousands are exposed to roadside pollution on a daily basis, and a recent University of Hong Kong study says a high PM2.5 concentration led to a higher death rate among the elderly by increasing their risk of developing cardiovascular problems.

It's shocking to find the PM2.5 levels were so high considering over two months in that study period the Occupy Movement shut down major thoroughfares and supposedly decreased air pollution... or so we thought.

In the meantime, Fung says the government should consider pedestrianization schemes and low-emission zones in locations where roadside air quality is really bad.

But will the government earnestly try to do something about this? With the task of trying to sell the electoral reform package to the people, air quality probably doesn't have as high a priority...