The Pulse：Disqualification of candidates in by-election: discussion with Nathan Law, air pollution &

Two weeks ago, 21-year-old Alice Chow Ting, a member of Demosisto, deferred her final year at university, renounced her British citizenship, and submitted her application to run in the up-coming by-election. The by-election is designed to fill six seats previously filled by pro-democracy lawmakers who have been kicked out of Legco. However Ms Chow’s application to run has been disallowed, alongside three others would-be candidates. With us in the studio is the Chairman of Demosisto, Nathan Law, one of the six pro-democracy lawmakers disqualified six months ago and, I may add, also among the three Occupy movement leaders who have just been nominated as Nobel Peace Prize laureates by US lawmakers.
Last Monday, according to the World Air Quality Index, Hong Kong’s air pollution was five times worse than in Beijing. The pollution level was at an “unhealthy” 192 on the Air Quality index, compared to 34 in Beijing where air quality was, for once, categorised as “good”. Thirteen general stations and three roadside stations were recording levels in the “Very High” to “Serious” risk ranges. Tung Chung and Tuen Mun saw the worst of it. It was the second time in five days that pollution had posed serious health risks.
Michael Wright, the former Director of Public Works, died in London last Friday at the age of 105. He was known in Hong Kong as the “Father of Public Housing”, a man who had determined that even public housing tenants should have the dignity of a private kitchen and toilet. This became known as the “Wright Principle”. A prisoner of war during the Japanese Occupation, he was later tasked with rebuilding and developing Hong Kong and was in charge of many major infrastructural projects, including the Lion Rock Tunnel, the Mass Transit Railway, the Central Government Offices in Central, Queen’s Pier, and City Hall. Last June, The Pulse spoke to him in London.