‘Amazing Bovid’ photo contest winners claim their prizes

Natasha Ramsey and Mink Chan, the two main winners of the Amazing Bovid of Lantau photo competition, received their prizes in a ceremony in Pui O on Saturday.

Natasha won the judges’ and artistic awards for her photo, Look into my soul, taken at Lower Cheung Sha Beach in 2013.

Natasha Ramsey with her winning photo

Natasha said when taking the photo she felt a strong connection with the animal.

“As I took the photo I felt a really strong bond. It felt it wasn’t just an animal, it had a deep soul and high intelligence,” she said. “From then on I used to photograph them all the time, and sit with them, and just be at peace with them.

Natasha says the buffalo pass through her Mui Wo garden several times every day.

It didn’t feel threatening, she says, adding that for her young daughters it is completely normal. “We give them enough space. Without them coming every day it would be quite sad.”

Mink Chan receives her prize from environmental photographer Martin Williams, a member of the judging panel

The other major winner was Mink Chan, who won the Outstanding awards for her portraits of cattle and buffalo in Shui Hau.

Mink, an indigenous Shui Hau resident, said she shot all of her photos around the village within the space of two days.

Mink, with LBA president Ho Loy, shows her winning photos

The ceremony took place at the sponsors’ sites Garden Plus and The Water Buffalo. Other major sponsor was natural cosmetics company Lush.

Winners and sponsors: Suzette Sanchez (Garden Plus), Natasha Ramsey, Mink Chan, Jenny Riley (Water Buffalo), Ho Loy LBA)

 

Photo (top): One of Mink Chan’s award-winning photos, Kiss

 

Citizens group assails land task force on reclamation

A non-government group has attacked the new government land task force, saying it has already breached its commitment to examine all of the city’s land supply options.

The Citizens Task Force on Land Resources, an independent group created as a civil society counterpart to the government body, says when established the task force promised it would have no pre-conceived ideas about land supply options and would consult widely.

But in its first public statement earlier this week, the government committee expressed its support for the East Lantau Metropolis (ELM) and five other reclamation projects, including two on Lantau.

Task force chairman Stanley Wong Yuen-fai had already declared land reclamation as “one of the most appropriate and practical ways of increasing land supply,” with public consultations going ahead next year, the citizens group said in a statement.

It said the task force had ignored other means of adding to the land supply, including 1300ha of brownfield land, more than 800ha of short-term lease land, 3300ha of temporary government land and 140ha of vacant land government sites.

It warned that the 1000ha ELM in the central waters between Lantau and Hong Kong Island involved complex economic, environmental and technical considerations and was already “a huge controversy” in the community, adding:

[We] cannot imagine how the task force can agree on such a huge and complex reclamation plan in such a short period of time

Members of the citizens group include legislators Eddie Chu and Andrew Wan, Paul Zimmerman from Designing Hong Kong, academics, engineers and representatives of other NGOs.

Police seize HK$4m in contraband off Tung Chung pier

Police and Customs officers have confiscated HK$3.9 million in electronic goods and seafood following an operation off Tung Chung.

In an early morning operation on Wednesday they intercepted six men carrying boxes from private vehicles to a speedboat at the Tung Chung ferry pier, Oriental News reports.

The smugglers abandoned their goods and cars and jumped into the speedboat. A Marine Police vessel gave chase, but lost conact when the speedboat reached mainland waters.

In a separate operation, a Marine Police patrol intercepted another speedboat loaded with cargo west of the airport. They arrested a 45-year-old man on board.

From the two incidents, officials seized seafood and electronic products worth HK$3.9 million,  including bird’s nest, sea cucumber, mobile phones, video game cards, portable memory sticks and digital cameras.

Photo: Wikimedia (Creative Commons)

New land body endorses ELM and further Lantau reclamation

Carrie Lam has promised a fresh approach to dealing with land supply issues, but in its early decisions new land supply task force has merely endorsed plans initiated by her predecessor.

The committee, set up in September, has reaffirmed the East Lantau Metropolis (ELM) and accepted government recommendations on reclamation at five other sites, including two on Lantau

Task force chairman Stanley Wong Yuen-fai said after the group’s Tuesday meeting that the ELM, a 1000 ha housing and business district scheme in central waters, should go ahead, Post 852 reported.

The ELM, which involves building  on reclaimed land around Hei Ling Chau and Kau Yi Chau islands, is currently stuck in Legco seeking funding for a HK$200 million “strategic study.” If it proceeds, the development, which would connect Mui Wo and Central by freeway, would be Hong Kong’s biggest ever infrastructure project, costing as much as HK$400 billion.

But major engineering works off outlying islands may not end there.

Proposed reclamation sites (Source: CEDD)

A Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) report to the committee stated there may be “opportunities” for more artificial islands “in the southern part of the central waters (in particular the waters off South Cheung Chau).”

The report calls for reclamation work on north Lantau sites of Siu Ho Wan and Sunny Bay as well as southwest Tsing Yi, Ma Liu Shui near Sha Tin and Lung Kwu Tan west of Tuen Mun.

A 2011 CEDD study made exactly the same recommendations.

CEDD said it had recently completed a technical study on Siu Ho Wan and would begin an engineering assessment of reclamation at Sunny Bay next year.

The department, which says since 2000 Hong Kong has dragged its feet on reclamation. Between 1985 and 2000, it created more than 3000 ha of reclaimed land, including the area under Tung Chung, while since than only 690 ha of land was been generated.

It says only 6% of Hong Kong land is derived from reclamation, compared to 24% in Singapore. But nearly 70% of Hong Kong territory is locked up in country park, almost all of it unsuitable for development. However, 27% of Hong Kong’s developed area is in fact based on reclaimed land.

A 2004 court ruling ended reclamation in Victoria Harbour.

Photo: Kau Yi Chau

Seven runners disqualified from Lantau race for ‘taking cabs’

It’s happened to most hikers. The heat, the long miles and the steep climbs get too much – so we jump into a cab.

But seven runners – and possibly more – had the same idea during the Salomon LT70, a gruelling  cross-country race from Mui Wo to Tai O and back on October 28.

In a post on the Lantau Base Camp Facebook page, race director Martijn Doekes said that over the years “we’ve heard some rumours about people taking a taxi, bus or a shorter course” on LT70, which is quite vulnerable to short cuts.

With pain in my heart I have to accept that this year again there were such stories, and we found that it really happened. For some the lure of some easy ITRA points does it, for others it is being too lazy and tired to fix an honest mistake the right way, but whatever way, you only receive an official time if you finish the race along the official course.

He said organisers had checked data uploaded to Strava, a site where runners share their results, and after reviewing the times between checkpoints found seven runners with times they could not explain.

This only applies to those who use Strava, however. As one person posted on Facebook – what about those who don’t share their data on Strava?

One reason for the shortcuts may be that the race is a qualifying event for the prestigious Ultra-Trail du Mont Blank, or UTMB.  But Doekes pointed out:

If you don’t complete the LT70 along the official course, you are cheating on yourself, and disrespecting the efforts of your fellow runners. If you are just in it for the points, save yourself some money because the ticket to UTMB will not be worth it. With such attitude you will not come far, and you are cheating an honest runner out of a chance of a lifetime to run that race.

Doekes told Lantau News that the disqualified runners won’t suffer any penalty in future races. He hoped that people don’t feel “inclined to personally prosecute people who are DQed. Our main aim is to get the message out that LT70 is not a race to not take seriously.”

He said in future races organisers would add more resources to verify runners’ times.

Rock climber airlifted to hospital after 6m fall near Yi O pool

A 41-year-old man is in hospital with serious head injuries after falling six metres while rock-climbing near Yi O.

The man, surnamed Chan, was rescued by a helicopter and sent to hospital on Saturday afternoon, according to a Ming Pao report.

Chan, an experienced rock and canyon climber, went alone to the foot of the Shui Lo Chu Stream, near the so-called infinity pool. The Hong Kong Mountaineering Association rates it a grade 4 in degree of difficulty.

Chan fell, suffering serious head wounds, and was rescued by a passing Water Supplies Department patrol. They called a Government Flying Service helicopter which airlifted him to hospital.

The Shui Lo Cho pool is a popular but illicit tourist attraction. The watercourse supplies Tai O’s drinking water. Tourists who swim in the pool risk a penalty of a $50,000 fine and up to two years’ jail.

Tung Chung dog poisonings: death toll rises to 11

The toll in the Tung Chung dog poison case is now 11 following the deaths of five more pets.

In the latest incident, an 80-year-old resident of San Tau, where six dogs died in the early hours of Saturday, called police at 8am Sunday morning after two of his dogs fell ill.

A female dog died at the scene and the other was sent to the SPCA.  The second dog, a male, died this morning, SPCA told Lantau News.

Three more dogs died at the Tung Chung Animal Clinic on Saturday, all of whom had been near the Hau Wong Temple, about three kilometres east of San Tau.

Local residents have said they found meat balls suspected of being mixed with poison near the temple and had shared photos via social media, Apple Daily reported.

The head of the pet clinic said that at about 11am on Saturday a dog owner brought in two pets he had been walking at the Hau Wong Temple. Both were vomiting and were suspected of being poisoned.

One died shortly after reaching the clinic, while the other stabilised after receiving an injection. However, after the effects of that wore off at around 6 pm it began convulsing again. The owner, not wanting to see it suffer further, agreed to let it be euthanised.

At 4pm another dog was brought to the clinic which had also been walked near the Hau Wong Temple. The owner said she had seen the dog eating something on the side of the road. After she returned home, it began to convulse and died only a few minutes later.

The AFCD is conducting post-mortems on the deceased animals.

Police arrested a San Tau man on Saturday morning on suspected criminal damage after he allegedly slashed his neighbours’ bike tyres following the sudden deaths of six of his dogs. Lantau North police are investigating.

 

Photo: Hau Wong Temple, Tung Chung

Six dogs dead, tyres slashed in N. Lantau village dispute

Police have arrested a 45-year-old villager who allegedly slashed his neighbours’ bicycle tyres after six of his dogs died from poison.

The villager, surnamed Cheng, was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage. He is said to have had a series of arguments with his neighbours in San Tau, a coastal village opposite Chek Lap Kok Island, about 4 kilometres west of Tung Chung.

When Cheng’s wife fed their dogs congee early yesterday morning, one of them immediately began to vomit and convulse, HK01 reported. It died shortly after, followed by five others in quick succession. Two others are missing.

SPCA staff visited the village yesterday morning and confirmed the dog deaths were a result of poison.

Mrs Cheng with her dogs (HK01 screenshot)

Mrs Cheng said her husband was an indigenous villager who had moved back to San Tau about a year ago. But the couple had felt targeted by the villagers.

Just two days ago she had been woken by dogs barking at 4am. She found one of dog injured but had also encountered a neighbour with a torch near their home. “I wondered why he was wandering near our home at that early hour,” she said.

But unnamed villagers told HK01 that Cheng wasn’t popular in the village and had threatened his neighbours with knives and broken their windows. Before he and his wife moved in, the village was peaceful, they said.

Due to the poor relationship between Yin and its neighbors, the police were called to the village almost every week. said: “We are so anxious we have even installed closed-circuit television and new gates,” one said.

Lantau North Police are investigating.

 

Photo (top):  ‘Dangerous dog within’ – San Tau sign

 

Helicopter rescue on Ngong Ping after 3-hour search

A 65-year-old man was airlifted out of a steep canyon near Po Lin Temple yesterday after a three-hour air and land search.

The man, surnamed Lau, had called police at 11 am saying he was on the edge of a cliff 15 minutes away from Big Buddha and was planning to jump.

Police and fire crews conducted a ground search. After being unable to locate Lau they called in the Government Flying Services helicopter, HK01 reported.

At about 2 pm, rescuers found him at the bottom of a ten-metre cliff near Ngong Ping.

Lau, who reportedly had a degenerative liver disease, was sent to hospital at 4:15pm.

Police said his hands and feet were injured in the incident, but a preliminary investigation found no suspicious circumstances, Oriental News said.

 

Samaritans Helpline 2896 0000

Suicide Prevention Service 23820000

Photo: Rescuers lift Lau into GFS helicopter (Oriental News)

Rooftopping teens breach security in Tung Chung high-rise

Teenagers have broken through the security in at least one Tung Chung high-rise to go rooftopping a couple of hundred metres above the ground.

Rooftop, Caribbean Coast

In a series of photos posted online by a parent show images of teen rooftoppers on top of Caribbean Coast residential block and other unidentified locations.

MTR Corp, which owns and manages four Tung Chung residential complexes, said in an emailed statement that it was aware of:

unauthorised access by a resident and her guests to the rooftop of one of the residential blocks at Caribbean Coast in late September this year. The unauthorised persons triggered the door alarm and our security guards and police were immediately summoned to handle the case. The unauthorised persons were requested to leave the rooftop accordingly.

However it was unable to throw any light on other photos, taken at night.

Caribbean Coast

Tung Chung resident Sean Earl, who posted the images online, said they had been passed on by an acquaintance who found them on his teenage son’s phone.

I have since found out that kids made their way on to the roof through lax security practice, specifically leaving them the key in the alarm lock which enabled the kids to get up their without setting off the alarm. A CCTV camera would not hurt either.

He said building management struggled to find a happy medium in managing children’s behaviour – sometimes overreacting to minor breaches and turning a blind eye to the more dangerous activities.

Unidentified location

Unidentified location