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[15:28, July 27 1976]. Reports of abnormalities poured into the National Earthquake Authority in Tangshan: dead fish floated on water surfaces, birds flew in flocks aimlessly, mysterious lights shone from the bottom of the ocean and more. Scientists there analyzed the information and predicted a deadly earthquake. A request of evacuation was sent to the central authorities in Beijing.
[03:42:53.8, July 28 1976] An earthquake of an unprecedented magnitude (8.3 in Richter Scale) hit the unheralded people of TangShan, followed by a 7.1 magnitude aftershock, raising the number of casualties to 88,000, not to say the many injured and yet more who lost their homes.
The forecast made by the Tangshan observatory was only exposed a few weeks earlier, upon the 30th anniversary of the quake. If it had been announced on time, more people would have lived to commemorate the dead. In this particular calamity, although science is being availed to resilient natural disasters, it ultimately failed to serve the public. We can conclude that science must be held of paramount importance, over political expediency and all other factors: science not for military causes or lucrative purposes, but for public service.
Hong Kong is not noted for its high state of technology and breakthroughs in science, but it is true that many of its scientific organizations have been functioning remarkably well in the past few decades. Hospitals provided high-quality medical services, the observatory made accurate and succinct predictions while our business sector invented and manufactured a myriad of high-tech products. Our architectural and engineering sector formulated our city, and erected magnificent structures. It is fair and just to say that our general public has benefited deeply from the merits of high technology. How has Hong Kong, its government and its society made the use of science ubiquitous, readily accessibly everywhere and at all times, with such a high quality? In this essay I will give a delineation of the hardware and software that facilitates science to serve public.
First of all, let me take the recent dispute over 'nano-water' as an example. Shortly being introduced to the Hong Kong market, it was being inveighed against by the media, scientific professionals and scholars as being 'unscientific' and misleading. As a result, its market value dropped more than 40 % in Hong Kong. Why is that so? It is because Hong Kong people are intelligent enough to discern the empty claims made by the company that 'water molecules are separated into smaller clusters such that they are more easily assimilated by the body'. More precisely, most Hong Kong people know that water molecules already exist as its simplest form at the dimension of nanometers. The prefix 'nano-' in front of water would actually form a superfluous use of vocabulary, just like if one is called a 'meter-man', drives a 'meter-car' and eats a piece of 'centi-bread'. So we must give credit to our education system that permitted holistic learning of students in primary and secondary ages. Anyone who has received basic scientific education would be able to justify the validity of the advertisements. Assume that some are not able to do so, they are still hinted and advised by the media to stop consuming the water. Again, we must thank the active monitoring force of our media. These two prevent science from being abused in Hong Kong, which has built up our goodwill.
Our government, working in concert with our media, serves another salient role in this aspect. For example our custom officers and quality inspection staff work everyday in screening products detrimental to our health. Poisonous food (canned food using industrial salt or toxic addictives etc.) and other products (benzene car perfumes etc.) are rarely found in Hong Kong thanks to the strict standards of inspection. The quality of government services is monitored externally by the media effectively. I was one of the 100,000 stranded in the HK international airport on August the fourth owing to the typhoon Prapiroon. Both the airline companies and the HK Observatory were to blame, but without the media little can be done. The immense pressure exerted on the Observatory resulted in a review in the current typhoon signaling system. The airline companies were forced to open up more emergency call lines and apologize for the inconvenience caused. The media acts as a catalyst to ameliorate our systems by revealing its deficiencies. This would be one important asset for us to treasure.
In addition, our government reserves a large portion money in the budget for scientific purposes every year. The healthcare and medical services in Hong Kong are among the best in the world, but only a minimum fee is charged. This enables biology and relevant scientific disciplines to serve the public, regardless of their wealth or social status. Unlike other countries, the highways and roads in Hong Kong are completely free for civil use, allowing our citizens to benefit from modern transportation at a minimum cost. The government also plays an active role in introducing new technologies to the general public. The Octopus card, Smart ID card bring great convenience in our daily lives, making science more tangible to us.
In conclusion, in order to preserve what we have achieved in the past decades, and to allow the use of science in public service to flourish, we must not rest on our laurels, but continue our hard work in popularizing technology, promoting scientific and civil education, and maintaining the transparency of our society. Together we shall march towards a modernized Asia's World city.
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