The New Express Train Link

[Sigga]

While I am far from anti-nuclear (indeed I think it is probably the future of electricity generation) ... do you have ANY IDEA of the disruption to local residents THAT would involve? I can guarantee more than 150 villagers would need to be relocated.

Or does this fall into the "well I think it's a good idea so for my good ideas we can disrupt as many as we like".

No. I don't think the high-speed link is necessary. No one should be moved for it. Remember, we're to have the link because otherwise we will get marginalised. Excuse me if I don't quake.

However, a project that would help clear our air and perhaps even save lives is a different matter.

Anyway, there's a big empty space in West Kowloon that the government's just begging to develop. Not the best use of the space, but at least no one lives there.

Or here's an idea - get rid of the loss-making Disney thing and site the plant there. Two birds, one stone.

[jahoga]

How about Kai Tak? I'm sure the Chinese tourists would prefer to tour a nuclear plant than a cruise terminal!

[Dreadnought]

...Disney thing and site the plant there. Two birds, one stone.

Hey, hey... don't touch the Disney space. That's for the Water Park.

[bookblogger]

Or here's an idea - get rid of the loss-making Disney thing and site the plant there. Two birds, one stone.

That's a great idea!

[bookblogger]

Rubbish! Lee Cheuk Yan is just a two faced hypocritice. He certainly protected worker and women rights over the Kam Lai Wai saga didn't he??

The Kam saga was a non-event. I don't see how it affects Lee's track record. He's worked hard and ethically for many years.

Really, if you want to pull legislators up for what they have or haven't done, you could aim at far more deserving targets like Timothy Fok or Philip Wong, who are held in place by vested interests and have never done anything for the people of HK.

[HKITperson]

The Kam saga was a non-event. I don't see how it affects Lee's track record. He's worked hard and ethically for many years.

Really, if you want to pull legislators up for what they have or haven't done, you could aim at far more deserving targets like Timothy Fok or Philip Wong, who are held in place by vested interests and have never done anything for the people of HK.

Well Timothy Fok is just a waste of space. Just the sight of seeing him makes me want to whack him. All he wants is publicity. But we know he's an a**e. Others such as Lee Cheuk Yan pretends to take the moral high ground when they too are a t**ts.

[MovingIn07]

with a more easily quantifiable benefit

...er... NO. Not at all easy to quantify. The cost of electricity from a nuclear plant is more expensive that alternatives (so we will have the line "the most expensive power plant in the world" to replace "the most expensive rail line per km in the world".)

The benefits - clean air and less CO2 - are almost completely impossible to quantify.

I'm not saying it's not a good idea, but if you think that this would be an easy solution you are very mistaken. It just highlights that one man's white elephant is another man's "no brainer solution". Anybody building nuclear plants in the USA in the late 60's thought that they were doing it because it would be "too cheap to meter". Um no. They have been losing money ever since.

Forecasting the benefits of ANYTHING is fraught with difficulty. Believe me - I do it for a living. You can just do you best, highlight the assumptions and hope that people make good decisions for the right reasons.

PS - to the redblobber - I fail to see how my previous post was "back tracking". I was pointing out the hypocrisy of saying that disrupting people is a good enough reason to stop a rail line but not a good enough reason to stop something that somebody wants. And even if I had back - tracked - why is that wrong? If I were convinced by arguments in the thread that I should change my views (which I have not been, yet, but some posts have put forward some useful debate) is that not a good thing? That we actually listen (well, sort of) to each other rather than just ranting wildly along our own preconceived views?

[timklip]

then i defer to your expertise i guess

[Load Toad]

Asia Sentinel - Hong Kong's Latest White Elephant



If they can do this - they can do anything.

Not for us - for them.