A sense of proportion, rather than extremist presumptions, will help us make wise public policy decisions.

If handled improperly, irreversible changes will be made to the natural ecology, landscape and recreational potential.” Of course we do not want to jeopardize the integrity of our country parks and do not want to handle development improperly. There is no question that we all treasure our country parks and do want to preserve as much of nature as possible. But a measured degree of developing the periphery of our country parks is not the same as giving up our country parks. The government and all interested parties can and should establish rules and procedures, particularly a credible mechanism for accountability, to make sure that any development on the periphery of our country parks will be handled properly, so we can say with confidence: “If handled properly, natural ecology need not be affected and our landscape and recreational potential may even be enhanced.”

Much of the alarmist rhetoric today about developing the periphery of our country parks goes like this: If an inch of our country park is given up in favor of development, then another inch and still another inch will be given up; eventually the country park will be lost. Such rhetoric is clearly alarmist. Instead, a sense of proportion, rather than extremist presumptions, will help us make wise public policy decisions.

The fact is in 1976, Hong Kong’s population was 4.52 million. Today, in 2018, our population is 7.43 million. Our population has gone up by more than 64 percent. But our country parks and designated conservation areas have expanded rather than shrunk to make way for our pressing housing and community needs.

Conserving our ecological system is important. Conservation is important. But meeting basic human needs is also important. We should do more for conservation, by way of reducing unnecessary consumption and particularly the use of fossil fuels. We should stop dumping our wastes into the ocean and adopt environmentally friendly incinerators instead of landfills. Singapore conserves less than 10 percent of its land area and still enjoys the reputation as a garden city. There is much we can learn from Singapore.