Survey - One In Five HK Residents Considering Leaving Because Of Filthy Air - AFP

[hatrack]

HONG KONG (AFP) — In recent years, a thick haze originating from factories in southern China has enveloped Hong Kong for large chunks of the year, blocking views of its famous harbour and raising health fears. Combined with the city's home-grown pollution, scientists and business leaders say it presents a serious economic risk to the financial hub, both for its ability to attract and retain talent and the associated health costs.

When Teena Goulet moved to Hong Kong in 1995 she thought she would never leave but five years after moving here, the keen outdoorswoman developed a chronic cough. For someone who spent all her spare time outside -- hiking, dragon boating, rowing -- health was a major concern and after being diagnosed with adult onset asthma, Goulet, 45, decided last year to leave. "It is just so vibrant and so safe," the US banker said of Hong Kong. "There is an amazing quality to it. Doing business is so easy, the low tax is great, the food and restaurants are great.

"I would have retired there," said Goulet, speaking by phone from her new home in California. "But when you cannot breath, it kind of tells you what to do." Within a week of moving to California last March, her cough stopped.

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A recent study commissioned by think tank Civic Exchange said one in five residents were considering leaving Hong Kong because of its dire air. Of the more than 1,000 people surveyed, 97 percent were local Chinese. Michael DeGolyer, a political science professor at Hong Kong Baptist University who did the study, said the mood was such that one "tipping point" could provoke an exodus, particularly among managers and administrators. "And Singapore wants them," said DeGolyer. The American Chamber of Commerce found in a recent member survey that 70 percent knew of professionals who had either left or were considering leaving because of the pollution.

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http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5itXP5-7P2MM0WKZJ2Mjv6rEZ-NVw

[Old and In the Way]

1. The Pearl of the Orient

It really is too bad...Hong Kong is beautiful, but the pollution from Shenzhen and DongGuan makes the city look like it's in a permanent fog.