Getting messages from overseas hoping I’m not affected by the tragedy in Tai Po. The fire at Wang Fuk Court is a big story worldwide not just because of the statistics (latest: 44 dead and a horrifying 279 unaccounted for), but because of the visuals. The beauty of Hong Kong’s juxtaposition of high-rises, mountains and sea suddenly turns surreal and nightmarish.
Nearby residents have been asked to stop delivering supplies to the area as volunteers can’t cope. McDonalds is donating thousands of meals.
Presumably we will hear how much bamboo scaffolding, plastic netting, and the close proximity of the apartment blocks contributed to the tragedy. Will we hear whether officials tasked with enforcement might have been negligent? Whether some of the NatSec budget could have been better spent on policing worksite safety? (This would be a good time to wrap up the endless subversive pancakes frenzies.) Or will the narrative speedily move on to rah-rah about heroic emergency services and support from the north?