This week I was actually ready to share with you how you can cook beautiful seafood, specifically fish. Always a sensitive subject when you aren’t a very good cook like me. Or when you major clients are chefs and you are effectively telling them how to do their jobs. But cooking seafood, like all things, depends on who you are, what you like and, in this case your discerning pallet. So, I will not miss the opportunity to regale you with some information. But if you don’t mind, I’ll defer that to next week. There is so much going on in Hong Kong and the world at the moment that I feel the need to let off some steam.
What has really got me going is the inconsiderate drivers in the village where I live. As you may be aware there have been a few issues in Hong Kong over the preceding months. Forget the virus which now appears to ‘plague’ our lives and is having a huge effect on all business, the aforementioned ‘issue’ was basically dissatisfaction with the Government. This led to protests on the streets which kept the local constabulary very busy. The protests seem to have abated for the time being, although I dare say the Police are in the midst of investigating and processing some 7,000 arrests. They are busy so what happens? They are unable to do some of the mindless tasks that keep a supposed sophisticated community working, like issuing traffic tickets. People then take advantage, are selfish and park anywhere. Streets become blocked and in the worst-case scenarios’ emergency vehicles can’t get to locations. How quickly the wheels follow off a system. And here is me ultimately preaching about taking little steps to save the Oceans. Pushing water uphill perhaps??
My musings continued and my angst further heightened on listening to a CNN interview with the well know American chat show host and comedian, Bill Maher. He spoke of many things, but his message was really how sad the world has become, when the bad immoral behaviour of mainly politicians, and one in particular… to name no names…..becomes the norm and even worse, accepted. I have to agree. How can we expect to maintain civilisation if this is how we are developing, deteriorating more likely? And finally…
There was a BBC piece, both on screen and on their website, regarding the state of the Amazon rain-forest. The ‘big machine’ as it is also known is in not very good shape. To quote the article verbatim. ‘Up to one fifth of the Amazon rain-forest is emitting more CO² than it absorbs…….’. This means that the Amazon – a vital carbon store, or “sink”, that slows the pace of global warming – may be turning into a carbon source faster than previously thought. I mean this is shocking.
These findings were the result of a decade-long study of greenhouse gases over the Amazon basin and showed that, primarily due to deforestation, around 20% of the total area has become a net source of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Now from school days, we know that while trees are growing, they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere; dead trees release it again. Millions of trees in the Amazon have been lost to logging and fires in recent years and so the machine is not working. The results of the study, which have not yet been published, have huge implications for the effort to combat climate change.
Do you find that shocking?? I certainly do… So, we are making a mess of the Amazon, and few seem to care, what then are my hopes for saving the oceans for future generations. How on earth do we change a mentality of ‘me’ ‘me’ ‘me’, of taking advantage to one of awareness and pro-activeness as regards sustainability. I’m open to thoughts, but surely we all need to look at ourselves, do not accept what is being perceived as the norm. And to save me from stress, stop parking all over my home village.
Chris has lived in Pak Sha Wan, Sai Kung for many years. He has been in Hong Kong since 1982, and is now in the family business, Pacific Rich Resources.
He is passionate about preserving the oceans and his blog, where this article was originally published, came out of his frustrations in dealing with supermarkets and them not being responsible. So he’s blogging, and working with others, to try to create change through social media.
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