C2 Monday, March 14, 2016

Every March, when HongKong’s pro-Beijing heavyweights gather in the

capital for the “two sessions” of the National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, they feel the political thermometer up north for the latest temperature of the central government’s policies towards the city.

This year, along with many Hongkongers, they are looking for signs on two issues: whether Beijing will turn more hawkish in dealing with Hong Kong after the Mong Kok riot and whether it will drop any hints as to its preference for the city’s next leader.

To the surprise – or relief – ofmany, there have been no fresh stern messages from top leaders besides the reiteration of Beijing’s strong opposition to any acts advocating independence.

The two leaders who joinedthe Hong Kong delegations’ discussions came across as very moderate – top legislator Zhang Dejiang (張德江) urged the city to grasp the opportunities offered by the nation’s 13th five year plan, while CPPCC chairman Yu Zhengsheng (俞正聲) stressed the importance of engaging the youth. Neither of them mentioned Mong Kok.

But to be honest, Hong Kongis never the main theme of these two annual meetings. Not to mention that this year the talk of the nation is the tough challenges China is facing in sustaining its economic growth.

It was under this big picturethat Hong Kong was urged to refrain from street politics and focus on economic development. Zhang was direct enough to warn that opportunities for the city “may not come again”.

Understandably, Beijing didn’t see Hong Kong’s fundamentals as having changed significantly overnight because of the Mong Kok riot. It apparently believes most Hongkongers, including young people, prefer stability, not violence.

What worries Beijing more isthat if the city does not capitalise on its own advantages and the country’s development blueprint, it means Hong Kong will have failed to play its unique role in helping China ’s further opening up.

One episode further illustratesBeijing’s latest thinking.

Last week, in quite a rare move, local reporters were reminded by the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office that its director, Wang Guangya (王光亞), would talk to them when attending the day’s meeting.

Upon arrival, Wang told reporters that the central government was aware of the concerns of some Hongkongers that Beijing would get tougher after “what happened recently”. But quoting President Xi Jinping (習近平), Wang gave an assurance that Beijing was determined to uphold “one country, two systems” and would ensure there was no distortion in its implementation.

It was at that point Wang wassuddenly asked by a reporter about his possible retirement amid recent speculation. Wang’s instant reaction was “why should I go?” but he quickly added that he was already above the official retirement age and prepared to step down “at any time”.

This unexpected answer wassurely well worth a story; only that reading too much into it could miss the point as the 66-year-old was merely giving a standard reply, since the retirement age for ministerial-level officials like him is 65.

What matters more is will hego soon? The answer is “unlikely” as two major political battles in Hong Kong are approaching: the September Legislative Council election and the 2017 race for the city’s next leader.

The last thing Beijing wants tosee is Hong Kong being further politicised and ignoring economic development because of the two coming elections.

Meanwhile, it’s worth notingthat just as no top official has talked about the Mong Kok riot directly so far, none has commented on Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying’s performance.

But silence sometimes speakslouder than words. While not mentioning Mong Kok can be translated as Beijing placing the economy above politics, no comment on the chief executive during the two sessions can also be seen as a “not the right time yetfor campaigning” signal to whoever intends to run for the top job, Leung included.

So it’s all back to basics – theeconomy.tammy.tam@scmp.com

Officials handling city issues focus on economy, not Mong Kok riot or the coming CE election

It’s back to basics for Beijing leaders on their HK policy

one of many projects. It involves only a small part of the whole industry. We need HK$180 billion of works each year, out of which HK$70 billion is for public-sector projects,” said Tse. “If [Legco] does not approve this every year, then our industry is affected.”

According to Tse, filibusteringin Legco in the last two years dis-rupted the orderly flow of funds from the government, which harmed the industry by causing cash flow problems.

This in turn caused job worriesfor the 400,000 people employed in the sector, he said.

Coming out to receive a peti-tion from construction industry representatives, insurance sector legislator and Finance Committeechairman Chan Kin-por told pro-testers he would attempt to put as many projects to a vote as possiblebefore July, when committee meetings are due to end.

In response, Labour Party law-maker Lee Cheuk-yan said the ultimate goal of pan-democrat lawmakers was only to halt “whiteelephant projects”.

Over 2,000 construction workers braved the rain yesterday to pro-test against filibustering in the Legislative Council, saying the tactic used by pan-democrats to delay the roll-out of infrastructureprojects had affected their liveli-hood and the city’s economy.

The participants, ranging fromlabourers and sub-contractors to surveyors and engineers, gath-ered outside Legco in Admiralty tocall on lawmakers to give the green light to funding for public works projects.

Thomas Tse Che-wah, chiefexecutive of the Hong Kong Con-struction Association, who spoke on behalf of 15 organisations present at the protest, said the industry remained very con-cerned even after the legislature passed the controversial request by the government for an extra HK$19.6 billion to finish the high-speed rail link to Guangzhou.

“The express rail link is only

Allen Au-yeungallen.auyeung@scmp.com

Cut out filibustering, says angry construction sector

Construction workers wield cutout scissors outside the Legislative Council to symbolise a wish for filibustering to end. Photo: Dickson Lee

POLITICS

Age: 45

Education:Bachelor in computer science, Chinese UniversityMaster of Statistics, University of Hong Kong

Career:Experimental officer at Hong Kong Observatory, 1993-1996Founder of Weather Underground of Hong KongMeteorologist at UN ESCAP/WMO Typhoon Committee, 2015- present

CLARENCE FONG

Some decision-making by [the Observatory] is controversial and we will voice our views when necessary

even become a close partner of the Observatory.

“The Weather Undergroundand the Observatory monitor the same sky with the same data, so we are not enemies,” he says.

“However, some decision-making by the Observatory is con-troversial and we will voice our views when necessary.”

Fong brings up the cold snapon January 24, which saw tem-peratures drop as low as 3.1 de-grees Celsius, more than five de-grees lower than what was origi-nally predicted by the Observa-tory and the lowest reading in the city since 1957. The Observatory was widely slammed for its accu-rate prediction.

“The Observatory received themajor numerical forecasts we did but they did not present it well enough, for example, mentioning probabilities or alternativescenarios,” Fong says.

“There is still room for im-proving their presentation skills.”

The event also brought to lightthe growing role of unofficial online forecasters, some of whom predicted the temperature with more success than the Observa-tory. Fong says anyone who is interested can monitor and fore-cast weather.

But interpreting and present-ing data in an objective way is still a skill that requires a degree of professionalism and he encour-ages those who do not have theexpertise to continue using the Observatory forecasts.

“This is an important learningprocess. However, the comments should be scientific and objective, not subjective with personal pref-erence or even exaggerated toattract people’s attention or hit rates,” he says.

“The general public in HongKong do not have the knowledge tointerpret unofficial weatherinformation, therefore the Obser-vatory still plays an important role in delivering messages and con-ducting public education.”

At 45, Fong says he doesn’tchase storms as often now – he has a wife and daughter. But heremains the same passionate lover of storms as he was as a boy charting storms behind a radio set. He still helps weather servicesimprove their forecasts and save lives.

Last year he joined the Macau-based Typhoon Committee of the UN Economic and Social Com-mission for Asia and the Pacific and World Meteorological Organ-isation Tropical Cyclone Pro-gramme, an intergovernmental regional body, as a meteorologist.

“My job is to encourage strongcollaboration between members so they can benefit with better forecasts and disaster-risk reduc-tions, to save more lives andreduce economic and social loss,”he explains.

Apple IIe. After graduating from Chinese University with a com-puter science degree he scored a job as an experimental officer with the Observatory, only to leave after three years citing a con-flict between his job and his inter-est.

“Sometimes you will see deci-sion-making which is not truly scientific. If you want it to be sci-entific, make it your interest,” Fong told the Post in 2003.

He went on to found the well-known Weather Underground of Hong Kong website in 1995, at the advent of the internet, and years before the Observatory went on-line with its own webpage.

The primary aim of WeatherUnderground, Fong said, was to share data and information – an email list was used before the website was created – about stormand weather events to other weather enthusiasts and experts.

But Fong found himself pro-viding an even more important public service – monitoring the performance of the Observatory. Fong has never shied away from expressing a healthy scepticism ofthe government forecaster’s warning systems and response mechanisms.

The website even has a sectionassessing the accuracy of official forecasts. His belief that typhoon warning signals are strongly influ-enced by commercial “interests” is shared by many.

Fong says Weather Under-ground has been able to change perceptions and appreciation of weather in Hong Kong. The checking and balancing seems to have paid off.

“The Observatory started torelease more information on theirwebsite since the establishment of Weather Underground,” says Fong. “More people have becomeaware of and interested inweather.”

After Typhoon Prapiroon hit in2006, Fong was thrust into the spotlight after criticising theObservatory’s old typhoon warn-ing system as “not representative or valid”. The system was laterrevised under mounting public pressure.

Fong still takes pride inWeather Underground’s position as an “independent” source of weather information free from the constraints of bureaucracy.

But he admits that its focus hassince shifted from monitoring the Observatory’s performance to raising public education.

It still hosts an immenselypopular discussion forum and Facebook page boasting over 100,000 followers.

Weather Underground has

On July 26, 1978, Hongkongers breathed a sigh of relief asTyphoon Agnes – in the South China Sea and heading straight for Guangdong – swerved west and away from the British colony just 80km south of the coast.

But Agnes stunned the publicwhen it made a sudden U-turn, or “cyclonic loop”, near Hainan Island (海南) and came charging back. The No 8 storm signal was raised for the second time in a week.

Heavy rain from the stormdamaged 1,000 hectares of crops across the New Territories. A woman was killed in a landslide and two people drowned in a taxi “when it plunged into a pool of standing water”, according to a Royal Observatory report. More than 100 casualties were reported.

Glued to the radio throughoutthe storm was awestruck seven-year-old Clarence Fong Chi-kong,who began recording Agnes’ movements on a weather map. Over time he would do the same for all storms that hit Hong Kong, complete with his own observa-tions and forecasts.

Storm chasing quickly becamea hobby. Improving forecastsbecame a mission.

As a secondary school pupil,Fong wrote his first forecasting system using Basic (Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) with his first computer, an

Ernest Kaoernest.kao@scmp.com

Clarence Fong left the Observatory to form his own Weather Underground website in 1995 and pursue his mission of better informing the public

THE WEATHERMAN WHO’S A BREATH OF FRESH AIR

CITY

A sleep-monitoring device which comes with an automatic adjust-able pillow could be the answer for people who suffer fromobstructive sleep apnea or simply snore too much.

Every year, more than 3,000people worldwide die of sleep apnea-related issues – a disorder where a person stops breathing orexperiences instances of shallow breathing while asleep.

These episodes could last fromseconds to several minutes – the longer, the more dangerous.

University of Science andTechnology professor Zhang Qian said more than 90 per cent ofpeople who snore have breathing issues at night and could develop sleep apnea.

Zhang, a Tencent professor ofengineering, developed a small device which is attached to a per-son’s finger to monitor sleep qual-ity and whether there is enough oxygen in the bloodstream – a tell-tale sign of inadequate breathing.

When such an episode hap-pens, the device triggers theadjustable pillow, which moves and tilts the person’s head into another position, effectivelyreopening the breathing channel.

“You know how when yourpartner snores and you give them a push and they stop? It’s kind of like that,” Zhang explained.

The system can also be hookedup to a medical centre, triggering an alert when the monitor detects an episode. The doctor or staff canthen manually adjust the pillow.

The technology was tested onseveral hundred patients with moderate levels of sleep apnea at hospitals in Guangdong. It cut thenumber of low oxygen dips per night from around 25 times to 11 on average, while shortening the duration of those episodes from 25 seconds to around 7 seconds.

“It’s extremely crucial theselow oxygen dips don’t last long – because long periods could be very dangerous,” said Zhang.

The technology, which Zhangworked on with a Shenzhen com-pany, is currently awaiting certifi-cation from the mainland’s China Food and Drug Administration.

International approval wouldbe required for the device and pil-low, costing up to HK$2,000, to be sold in Hong Kong.

Jennifer Ngojennifer.ngo@scmp.com

Professor develops gadget that detects low oxygen and intervenes in sleep apnea episodes

Automatic pillow that cuts snore dangers

TAMMY TAMCITY BEATPROFILE

Sleep monitoring system with pillow. Photo: SCMP Pictures

In Memoriam

Diane Stormont1959-2012

Mum, Katie, Andrew, Sandra & Alejandra