The renowned conductor in charge of Hong Kong's leading orchestra has pulled his family out of the city because of its pollution, a news report said yesterday.
Dutch maestro Edo de Waart, who conducts Hong Kong's acclaimed Philharmonic Orchestra, told the Sunday Morning Post he had moved his wife and two children to the US state of Wisconsin to get them away from the worsening smog.
His comments came as city leaders consider a new pollution alert system to give residents better and earlier warning of bad air days.
"We have a four-year-old son who has some asthma problems," De Waart told the Post.
"The air quality is terrible in Hong Kong. I don't know what it does to the little kids who grow up there, and we just don't want to take the risk. It is that simple," he said
De Waart is one of the most high-profile figures yet to leave the territory because of pollution, although his contract means he will return to work with the orchestra 14 weeks a year.
He took up the baton here in 2004 as chief conductor and artistic director on a five-year contract, with an option for a further five years.
Business groups and top companies have increasingly warned that Hong Kong's pre-eminence as Asia's financial hub is at risk as executives leave or refuse to be located here because of the unhealthy atmosphere.
Late last year, global investment bank Merrill Lynch warned that worsening air quality was likely to drive banks like itself from the territory.
Its words echoed similar warnings by the British, US and local chambers of commerce, who all called for immediate action to ease pollution.
A recent survey said one in every three days last year saw pollution levels that were bad for health. Pollutants, mostly drifting in from southern China's heavily industrialized Pearl River Delta, have reached near-dangerous levels.
Tourists have also lamented the disappearance of the city's famous harbor and spectacular skyline beneath a blanket of smog.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was