Personal Development & Interpersonal Relationships
個人成長與人際關係
Give Chung-yin's parents the true story
還頌賢父母一個真相
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The old tree that fell last week led to the unfortunate death of Hong Kong University student Chong Chung-yin. Her parents are, naturally, distressed by the sudden loss of their beloved daughter. Earlier, Chong's father told the media that there had been no communication from the Authority to express consolation  . He also said that although residents had complained about the tree as far back as two years ago, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department had not dealt with it. Society will mourn the unfortunate death of a young girl with a bright future. Many people will, like Chung-yin's father, want the matter clarified. This is something the Authority should not evade .
The dead cannot be resurrected. After the tragedy, Chung-yin's father had been unconcerned about compensation. Compensation in terms of money is quite meaningless to him. He is believed he had been in such grief that he questioned the authority's cold reception  and its use of the word "acceptable" in response to the incident.
Society sympathizes with family
Faced with Chung-yin's father's remarks, Director of Leisure and Cultural Services Chow Tat-ming was quick to say he felt sorry about the incident and that his attempts to contact the Chongs to express consolation had been unsuccessful. He also explained that he had used the word "acceptable" at a press conference in reference to the condition of the tree and not the incident.
Records show that the Leisure and Cultural Services Department had expressed consolation at a press conference on the day of the accident, and said help would be provided. Chung-yin's father is a professional and his family is Affluent . The authority's attempts to contact him and provide assistance are signs of care and concern. The family is very concerned about the department's definition of the word "acceptable".
There should be no reason why officials would describe the tragic incident caused by the collapse of the old tree as "acceptable". Chow said he was referring to the results of the inspections made before the tree fell. If this explanation is acceptable, then the family of the deceased and the public will ask: "If the results of the inspections were `acceptable', why did the tree suddenly fall and kill someone?"
According to the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, the tree is on its list of old and valuable trees. Detailed inspection would have been conducted on the tree every six months using sonic tomograph devices. Other than the health of the tree, the inspections also covered an assessment of the risk of the tree falling. The tree was passed as safe during the last inspection. An examination after Typhoon Nuri revealed no problem.
Painstaking investigation to clarify matters
Although the department inspected the tree twice and found no problem, it collapsed and caused casualties . It clearly indicated that the preventive measures taken were accident-prone. But people are still divided about where the problem lies. Some academics and conservation groups suspect the tree had long been infected by insects. Some residents had complained about a bad smell emanating from it, and requested its removal. Some sceptics even said that the authority had ignored the complaints because it was worried about controversy over digging up the tree. There have been no objective and convincing answers to the above questions.
Chung-yin's death is heart-breaking and the matter will not stop here. The public wants to know whether it was due to flaws in the inspection system or human negligence . How high are the chances of it being an accident? And as for the policy for conservation of old trees, how will the authority deal with complaints related to old and valuable trees and under what conditions and procedures will one be removed?
Losing a beloved daughter is a very painful experience for the parents. Consolation from officials are only an expression of sympathy . What the government can really do is to look seriously into the cause of the tragedy and let the truth out, account for the incident to the parents and family of the deceased , and let society learn a lesson.
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