Festival Furnace

Each year, prior to the Hungry Ghost Festival, certain community organisations distribute free bags of rice to elderly people.

While I applaud the effort to honour those who've helped build Hong Kong, I question the wisdom of having more than 1,000 seniors queue at a sports ground in Kowloon City in the brutal summer heat.

Six of the old folks had to be treated for heat stroke; two wound up in the hospital. The temperature on the day hit a high of 33C, with a relative humidity ranging from 69 - 84%. That meant the temperature equalled 43 - 51C on the heat index.

That isn't festive, that's a furnace. Couldn't organisers have arranged the giveaway in a nice, air-conditioned mall?

The idea is to celebrate the festival, not to create more hungry ghosts.

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