This weekend marks the end of an era, or so I hope. After 33 years, the cross harbour swim competition will take place once again in Hong Kong. The brave souls who will be part of the 800 participanting in this event, should be commended for their efforts. Many in the public have expressed concerns about the hygiene of the water, and though I have my reservations about the water too, I am in full support of the cross harbour swim as I believe it is something good for Hong Kong – it is pushing the limits. I believe this attitude is needed in this city otherwise filled with paranoia, fear of change and complacency when it comes time to speak up, especially when it comes to raising concerns on environmental issues.

I would like to congratulate the organisers for rallying interest among the Hong Kong public. The funny thing is that it wasn’t just a few that was interested in taking part, the event was completely oversubscribed, much like an offering on the stock market; where the less spots there are, the more that people want it. In this case, this is great stuff, as it shows the demand for sports, community activities and their appreciation for the ocean.
 

Come down on Sunday morning of October 16 at the Quarry Bay Park to stand at the finish line of this 1.8 kilometre race. The starting point of the race is at Lei Yue Mun, which was chosen in order to catch the strong in-coming tide, so that the water flushing into the harbour will be relatively clean, as opposed to the murky polluted water that is normally flushed out of the harbour.
 

Let this mark a change in awareness and let this be an opportunity to bring our ocean and harbour back to life. The government is on the right track by banning fishing trawling in our waters within 18 months, and we can complement this good work by really bringing the pollution levels down so that big events like this can happen. When they happen, tourists will come.
 

Let’s push things to the limit a bit more in this city because when that happens, the goal posts move. We can make big improvements if we don’t allow dumping into our city drains - all of which end up in the sea. We can impose a rebate on all plastic bottles to reward those who help collect them. We can also ban the use of traditional styrofoam containers that in fact don’t break down and continue to pollute our seas.
 

All in all, we can make some great, high-impact changes, without much effort, if we really cared to make a change. Swimming across the harbour will hopefully help those with blinders on to see some of the potential here.