W
hen Alice Hudson first moved to Hong
Kong, she spent afternoons on the
balcony of her serviced apartment,
looking out over the windswept green
trees of Victoria Park. It rained every day for a week
and the air felt far from filthy. She had been warned of
Hong Kong’s alarming pollution levels and cautioned
to brace herself for “pollution headaches”, but all the
well-meaning advice seemed unwarranted. Things took
a turn shortly after, however, when she started viewing
apartments. The rains subsided, and the once-clear views
were replaced by a hazy sky that held a firm grip on the
skyline.
It wasn’t the outdoor air pollution that surprised her.
Instead, she was encountering a persistent chemical smell
in most renovated apartments, and mouldy walls in the
older buildings she viewed. Her agent reassured her it
was nothing ventilation and a quick paint job couldn’t
fix. Despite zeroing in on the perfect city pad, sunlit and
removed from street traffic, her toddler – who spent most
of her time indoors – developed a persistent raspy cough.
s i c k
Home
Smog is easy to spot in Hong Kong.
But did you know that the effects of
poor air quality are making their
way inside your home, too?
Aquin
Dennison-Mathew
investigates.
44
Playtimes
68
