A few days ago, the
Hong Kong Trail, which crosses five country parks on the
island, was named by Lonely Planet as one of the top 10
city hikes in the world. It confirms that our country parks
are a world-class treasure, particularly since they are so
accessible from the busy city centre.
Some 40 per cent of Hong Kong is country-park land; no
other major city can match that. These parks are Hongkongers’ great
escape; where city folks can head for fresh air, nature
and tranquil scenes. When severe acute respiratory syndrome
struck in 2003, thousands flocked to country parks, a safe haven
away from the virus-infected city, leading to enhanced
appreciation of the parks’ great value to our wellbeing. In 2011, they had 13 million
recorded visitors. They are the jewel in the crown
of Hong Kong , and we must spare
no effort to safeguard them.
To many people, specially low wage earners,
making a living in the city is suffocating, debilitating and
hardly bearable. But our spacious country parks welcome all,
irrespective of means. There, we can relax; breathe in nature’s
fragrances; hike in the midst of beautiful landscapes;
see plants, birds, butterflies and bugs, all the while nourishing the
seeds of happiness in our hearts. Simply put, we get
recharged. Feeling good, we then
head back to work for another productive time. Seen in this light,
country parks serve us well as Hong
Kong ’s eternal spring of energy and happiness.
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| 在郊野公園露營，是一代又一代年青人成長的美好回憶 鳴謝：Danny Photography 地點：長咀 |
Unfortunately, suddenly, the
whole city is talking about building houses in the
country parks. It is portrayed as a quick
fix to our chronic housing shortage. Anyone speaking up against the idea
is relegated to the rank of bird-brained “environmentalist”,
or denigrated for a lack of sympathy for those in
dire need of housing.
Population projections
of bygone years clearly indicated the growing demand
for housing. But the last government sat on its hands for a decade or so. Officials were the apathetic ones, not “environmentalists”.
The argument for turning country park land
into sites for housing is basically: “It’s a vast area
with few people – what a waste!” The idea also works well as a distraction,
taking our gaze away from the core issue – the
optimal use of all types of land in Hong Kong, including that
in the New Territories
In town, people are looking at
maps and doing their homework. There are so many specific
suggestions: use 1 per cent of the country-park area;
push back the country-park boundary by 30 metres; develop
Wong Nai Chung Gap and the Kowloon
reservoirs for low- rise homes (for the
rich?); a “great wall” of buildings along the coast of
southern Lantau (again, for the rich?).
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| 山上的龐然大物：少數人享受美景，後果是破壞港島山脊線和 郊野公園景觀， 由全香港的人承受，不可以讓這種惡例重複。 鳴謝：Lung Chuen Lo. |
Within a week, potential country-park
invaders are turning up everywhere. It’s like the emergence
and spread of cancerous cells. It takes only one
mutation to create an army of cancerous cells. In this case,
that mutation was Development Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po’s blog
article on 8 September.
It is disappointing that key
government officials cannot grasp the fundamental values
embedded in the country-park concept. Once one piece of
country-park land is surrendered, there may well be
no end to the attrition.
As the proverb says: give them
an inch and they’ll take a mile. And so it would go on. To conserve our country parks,
we have to prevent the first inch being given up. Thus, the first
line of defense is effectively the last line;
we have to fight the battle fiercely.
Those in power need to recognise that
the vast country parks are there for good reason. They
provide precious and invaluable services: giving families happy
times together; enabling young people to build their character
with hikes among the hills; energising tired souls;
uplifting the depressed; providing a stage for people to
enjoy group activities and develop collective strength
through social interactions. I could go on.
Suffice to say that there is
much more to our country parks than meets the
eye. The space is not
empty; it is full of meaning and its value to people is subtle
but profound.
Just think of the billions of
dollars people spend on fitness and training classes
every year. Country parks contribute to our well-being at
least as much, free of charge. They are a great natural resource for
all, and should not be depleted permanently in favour of the
one-off gains for a select few. That would be very poor
economics.
The sad fact is that those who
work in air-conditioned offices and never venture
into country parks are unable to appreciate their aesthetic
and spiritual value. They merely see the parks in dollar
terms, as valuable land lying empty and a wasted resource. It’s easy, using their logic, to
seek to push the government to release this “wasted” land
for building housing, thus bringing enormous profits.
But this push runs against the
wishes of ordinary people who treasure country parks as
somewhere where their spirit can be recharged.
For the man in the street,
pressed down by the burden of working for a living, country
parks offer a gasp of air. They will not let cancerous cells eat into the
parks.
