May 14, 2005-Take an Island

The Soko’s-Put Up A Parking Lot

We sailed out to the Soko Islands on Sunday; they are a beautiful sight, one of Hong Kong’s jewels, one of it few remaining jewels.

There are still beautiful sights in Hong Kong, but you must be selective where you look.

The problem with Hong Kong’s natural beauty is that it is disappearing fast. You look one way and you see natural beauty, turn you head slightly, you see a construction project. For over a hundred years the engineers of Hong Kong have been busy busy busy. They have filled in much of Hong Kong’s once stunning Victoria Harbor to make more room for office towers and cars. They filled in Penny Bay to make room for Disneyland, and they put up a huge power station on Lamma Island, once the haven for artists and hippies. The engineers have filled and dug and put up and torn down and made their mark on just about every one of Hong Kong’s Islands and on many of the hills of the New Territories.

Now they have a new plan for the Sokos. They wish to build a terminal for natural gas tankers. Where would you want to build a gas tanker terminal except one of the last basically undeveloped islands in Hong Kong?

That’s the bad news. The good news is that a local environmental group, The Living Islands Movement, is opposed to this gas tanker terminal and may be gearing up for another fight, fresh off their spectacular victory stopping the super prison on the Hei Ling Chau. They have a number of initiatives underway but if they can focus on this one, maybe the Sokos have a chance.

So we’ll root for them, maybe even help out a bit, but we won’t count our chickens. The engineers lost the last fight, but their record is still 100 to1. I think we’d better enjoy the Sokos while we have a chance.

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Hong Kong