'Mr Leung, help!! I can't breathe!" Hong Kong people are shouting loudly in their hearts.

The new government of Leung Chun-ying should be hailed for providing more allowances to the aged and funding new social enterprises to employ the underprivileged, such as the mentally or physically challenged. But making Hong Kong's air "breathable" is imperative, as people are dying because of air pollution.

On Aug 1, Hong Kong's Central district recorded an air pollution level (a government-monitored index) of 193, and at Yuen Long the reading was 202. Any reading above 100 is considered hazardous to health. Then on the morning of Aug 2, the air pollution index in Central hit a historic high of 212 (except for one period during a sandstorm in 2010).

The Hedley Environmental Index, a monitoring group, said a reading of 212 would lead to more than 17 premature deaths (triggered by complications stemming from poor air quality) and over 800 hospital admissions. Medical experts predicted that there would be a surge in the number of people seeking treatment for respiratory diseases in the coming days at public and private hospitals. A pediatrician in Central said he treated more patients on Aug 2 than usual, noticing that some of his patients' allergies and asthma were getting worse. Anyone can see that this pediatrician's case wasn't an isolated one.

The real situation could be worse than what we discern, since Hong Kong's air quality standards, which might have left some poisonous chemicals unaccounted for in calculating the pollution index, have not been revised since 1987. How a set of standards could go without being updated for 25 years is beyond belief.

Citizens in Hong Kong may notice that the pollution indexes in Central and Yuen Long are on average higher than many other districts'. It should surprise nobody. A lot of the pollution sources (pollutants) come from the Pearl River Delta, as industrialization continues in cities and towns in the delta area. Despite an agreement between Hong Kong and Guangdong governments on the control of emission levels, no noticeable results have been discerned. Yuen Long is right on the forefront as it is situated just south of the Shenzhen River.

Central district's case sounds cliched to many people who work there. All day long, people can see the trunk roads there packed with buses, private cars and minibuses. The poisonous nitrogen dioxide level in the business district can head only one way up.

Mr Leung's advisors should tell him that he would win people's hearts if the hapless people could breathe a bit easier. People don't have a choice. We have to breathe no matter how dirty the air is.

There are two immediate tasks that Mr Leung can take on to boost his popularity. Firstly, he should play tough with Guangdong authorities on the reduction of remissions. Yes, Guangdong's economic progress and industrialization are important. So are Hong Kong people's lives. Experts from both sides of the Shenzhen River should be able to strike a balance and come up with a win-win formula.

Secondly, laws must be enacted immediately to ban private cars entering certain districts if the pollution reading in that district is 50 percent above the acceptable level of 100. People who own cars or ride chauffeured cars are the middle class, the rich and famous, foreign executives and government officials. Mr Leung should have the political will to ask these privileged people to take the MTR or other modes of public transportation, should the index surge to 150 or above.

Mr Leung, give us not money but clean air.

The author is coordinator of Hong Kong Baptist University's financial journalism program.

(HK Edition 08/10/2012 page3)