[gr.mk.ii]

I really haven't experienced this anywhere else, so it puzzles me.

I've noticed that most of the time here, when a local person enters a public restroom or even the shower room at the gym, they start hacking and spitting like they're trying to get yesterday's dinner back up.

Is it grease in the food they eat that settles at the back of the throat and refuses to leave? Some genetically defined overproduction of phlegm? Does anyone know why it's so common?

[timklip]

personally, I think it has to do with the grey sludge we breathe everyday. Coming from the Canadian prairies, where the only air pollution comes from the neighbors pig farm, I never had the constant phlegm in my throat that I do now (and that's only after 4 years here...) Stick around a while (if I assume correctly by your number of posts that you've recently arrived). You may likely be coughing up a lung beside Ah Chan someday...

[Hanenosuke]

So that's what you think? Hmm. I guess it could be a reason ... too bad the government has decided to yet again postpone (oh big surprise!!!) studying the London/Singapore congestion charge method.

[Boris]

Originally Posted by Hanenosuke

So that's what you think? Hmm. I guess it could be a reason ... too bad the government has decided to yet again postpone (oh big surprise!!!) studying the London/Singapore congestion charge method.

I fail to see the advantage of a congestion charge in HK.
a) Taxis - exempt
b) Buses - exempt
c) Delivery vans and lorries ( registered ) - exempt or discounted charge
d) LPG / Bifuel vehicles - exempt
e) Ti Ti ( chauffeured ) limos doing the Lunch Party / Landmark / Cartier run - if you have to ask the price you must be poor - the charge would be a real social / environmental badge of honour for them.

That leaves a very small pool of ( regular ) income and another reason for Hk'ers to whine about wastes of taxpayers money.

[PDLM]

Why would taxis be exempt? They aren't in Singapore. The toll gets added to the fare payable by the passenger. And there's no reason for delivery trucks to be exempt - with time of day pricing you can use that to spread the pollution load at least.

[Sigga]

There are a couple of 'old' guys in the office nearby who are really pissing me off. Every time they're in the toilets they start doing that horrible sound, then they spit all their foul juices into the sink, often leaving little yellow bits in there.

I can handle it when it's done in the toilet cubicles (just), but doing it in the sink while people are standing next to them and washing their hands is just disgusting. They seem to think this is normal behaviour, and it carries on for a couple of minutes each time.

Does anyone else have to suffer this?

[XI_YAN]

as far as I know the whole spitting thing is to get rid of the dragon? / spirit in the throat which makes you sick so spitting is good preventative health measure.

[freeier]

Originally Posted by PDLM

Why would taxis be exempt? They aren't in Singapore. The toll gets added to the fare payable by the passenger. And there's no reason for delivery trucks to be exempt - with time of day pricing you can use that to spread the pollution load at least.

err. what has sg got to do with this ?

[xieza]

>>Is it grease in the food they eat that settles at the back of the throat and refuses to leave? Some genetically defined overproduction of phlegm? Does anyone know why it's so common?

Born and raised here, I used to be alright. But in recent years, as a young guy, I've been constantly "hacking and spitting" too. Even if I don't go out in a day, there could be something awful in my nostrils. I don't know why, but the phlegm seems to be unending in the cavities.

[Skyhook]

Funny, I can't even remember the last time a hucked up a gorby, its precious little to do with anything but your up bringing. Even upper demographic HK people, dont spit and huck.

In regard to the road charge idea, it would pay to use a little more indepth thought regarding this.

Majority of the cars on the road that are contributing most to the road side pollution index are diesel commercial vehicles used for mass transportation and logistics/deliveries.

The few privately owned vehicles out there that only drive once or twice a week on the weekends, should not be punished when they dont drive frequently enough to warrant an even higher cost than whats already applied.

A delivery vehicle would cover 80,000 K's a year ( atleast ), a private car is about 10,000 K's a year, doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure out who's polluting most, on a carbon-tonne basis.

Have a think about the families who live out in the sticks, who don't have convenient access to public transport, unlike the city slickers. And if the HK island city slickers want the luxury of a heavilly polluting gas guzzling sports/Limo car, whack them another 500K ontop of the sticker price of their next V10 Lambo, or V12 AMG SLR Mclaren or Mayback62.

I can see more than a few whiners when the transport industry starts charging higher delivery prices, when and if they start slugging diesel vehicles.

What the the govt needs to do, is set up a central vehicle mileage register during MOT checks, taking note of the odometer, and then using the existing E-tag that is currently used on tolls as a cross reference measure of comparrison. Billl users who do more than 10,000 K's a year privately, and set commercial distance ranges, where logsitics companies can work out more efficient methods of delivery, ie fewer trips of half laden trucks.

Anyway, a bit off topic lol