{"id":2054,"date":"2015-03-10T02:53:49","date_gmt":"2015-03-10T02:53:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web02.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters2\/archives\/2054"},"modified":"2015-05-24T07:13:07","modified_gmt":"2015-05-24T07:13:07","slug":"countryparks-should-not-be-turned-to-housing-sites2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/archives\/2054","title":{"rendered":"Countryparks should not be turned to housing sites"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Adjudicators, c<\/span>hair<\/span>person<\/span>, ladies and gentlemen,<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s motion is that \u201cCountry park<\/span>s<\/span> should be turned into sites for housing in Hong Kong\u201d. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>As the opening speaker of the <\/span>opposition side<\/span>, we are against today\u2019s motion. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>There are three reasons, \u201cSEE\u201d to support our arguments.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The first \u201cS\u201d stands for sociology. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>It\u2019s agreed that the ultimate goal to solve Hong Kong<\/span>\u2019s<\/span> housing problem is through better urban planning and population control. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Turning country parks into housing sites cannot solve the root causes of Hong Kong\u2019s housing problem<\/span>,<\/span> which is the problem of overpopulation due to ineffective immigrant control. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Around one hundred mainlanders cross the border and fill our space every day. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Besides, we should notice that Hong Kong\u2019s total area of 1,000 square kilometers is dominated by hills and mountains. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Sixty percent of natural hillsides have slopes of 20 to 45 degrees. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Even if we are able to turn all country parks into housing sites, though only a small portion can be used, the housing problem in Hong Kong cannot be solved as more and more immigrants means increasing housing demand. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Some people also have queried why we do not make use of the 2,300 hectares of vacant government sites to solve the imminent housing problem. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>My second speaker will further elaborate on this point.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The second \u201cE\u201d stands for ecology. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>We should remember that, with loosen immigrant controls once one piece of country park land is surr<\/span>endered<\/span>, there may well be no end to the attribution. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>That means the utter destruction of Hong Kong\u2019s remaining ecosystem. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>The country park is home to many local organisms, including some endangered species. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>The natural ecosystem also promotes the recycl<\/span>ing<\/span> of carbon and nitrogen produced by urban life. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>For example, the photosynthesis of plants absorbs carbon dioxide and produce<\/span>s<\/span> oxygen which allow<\/span>s<\/span> citizens to have fresh and clean air. For the man in the street, pressed down by the burden of working, country parks offer a gasp of air. Country parks also provide precious and invaluable service such as giving families happy times together, enabling young people to build up their characters with hiking, etc. <\/span>\u00a0W<\/span>e saw no reasons in erasing such an important natural resource just for compensating for the consequences of poor urban planning. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>My third speaker will develop on this part.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The last \u201cE\u201d stands for economics. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>To deplete an important resource permanently in favor of the one-off gains for a selected few would be very poor economics. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>There are no cosmopolitan<\/span> citie<\/span>s<\/span>,<\/span> except<\/span> Hong Kong, whose countryside is <\/span>accessible to a busy city centre. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>The Hong Kong trail was named by Lonely Planet as one of the top 10 city hikes in the world. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>In 2011, they <\/span>are<\/span> 13 million recorded visitors and we should spare no effort to safeguard the green jewel on the crown of The Eastern Pearl. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Our opponent should notice that 11 country parks are responsible for the water supply system. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>These parks were designated with the important purpose of protecting the catchment<\/span> areas<\/span> from contamination. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>They should also notice that with the economic boom in the Pearl River Delta, Guangdong province requires more water supply every year as we do.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The development in country<\/span>park<\/span>s<\/span> will reduce the self-reliance of water supply in the city and is detrimental to Hong Kong\u2019s economics in the long run. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>My fourth speaker will give you more stati<\/span>sti<\/span>cs to justify the view.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

All in all, as today\u2019s motion is beneficial<\/span> to none<\/span>, <\/span>but just<\/span> bringing harm to Hong Kong in social, ecological and economic prospects. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Today\u2019s motion shall fall. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Thank you!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Adjudicators, <\/span>hai<\/span>perso<\/span>, ladies and gentlemen<\/span><\/p>

<\/span><\/p>

Today\u2019s motion is that \u201cCountry par<\/span><\/span>should be turned into sites for housing in Hong Kong\u201d.<\/span><\/span>As the opening speaker of th<\/span>opposition sid<\/span>, we are against today\u2019s motion.<\/span><\/span>There are three reasons, \u201cSEE\u201d to support our arguments.<\/span><\/p>

<\/span><\/p>

The first \u201cS\u201d stands for .........<\/span><\/p>Read More<\/a>","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":8474,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","language-en","classlevel-others","schoolyear-36"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2054"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2054\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2219,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2054\/revisions\/2219"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}