The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade issues travel advisories for all countries in the world, and the list is nothing short of exhaustive. Obviously Hong Kong’s perpetual air pollution gets a mention (and it touched the nerves of the local media), as well as the haze that descends upon Singapore between July and October.
But Australian major cities are not totally spotless in regard to air pollution. Last Saturday I was quite surprised by the reduced visibility on the roads when driving under the broad daylight of noon. Since it was not supposed to be a foggy day, the only possibility was a haze or smog of some kind. I never thought that it could occur on a day with lighter traffic like the weekend.
The lab where I am working now is located on the 8th floor of a hospital building adjoining the main building of the research institute, and we have to go through an outdoor stairway whenever we want to enter or exit the main building. The stairway offers an unhindered view of Melbourne’s western suburbs, which happens to be quite a good indicator of the air quality especially on sunny days. While the view is crystal clear on many days, there are also days when it appears blurry and hazy in a distance. Those hazy days account for 20 to 30 % of all sunny days by my reckoning.
Despite this, it’s hard to argue against the fact that Melbourne’s air quality is overall far better than most Asian cities (at least not as serious as Hong Kong where the opposite side of the Victoria Harbour can be rendered almost invisible on days of heavy pollution). However, I must say I haven’t paid much attention to Melbourne’s air pollution until now, when I have the chance to observe it day in day out. So should there be a travel advisory on Melbourne regarding the air pollution? I’ll let the Department of Home Affairs to decide.
澳洲外交部對全球所有地區都有發出旅遊忠告，巨細無遺，香港的長期空氣污染，以至新加坡七至十月間可能出現的煙霧都榜上有名，香港的傳媒當然關注。
不過澳洲大城市也非十全十美。星期六中午駕車時，便驚覺百多米前的視野，在太陽直射下竟有些濛朧，那時並非有大霧，想必是煙霧或光化霧，沒想到連交通較少的星期六也會看到這些污染現象。
我現在的實驗室位於與研究所主大樓相連的醫院大樓的八樓，每日往返主大樓都得走一道戶外樓梯，從樓梯可直望墨爾本西區，又沒其他高樓阻擋，景色開揚，居高臨下，每日空氣質素好壞一目了然，尤其是陽光普照的日子，看看遠方的景物是清晰還是灰濛濛，便可對那天的空氣質素心中有數。我雖沒正式統計，但遠方灰濛濛的日子，晴天時大概也有兩至三成。
當然墨爾本的空氣質素要比香港和不少亞洲大城市都好（起碼不至於一個維多利亞港之隔便灰霾重重），但從前並沒特別留意墨爾本的空氣污染問題，直至現在能每日親眼觀察，才知道問題也不可忽視。至於這個空氣污染問題值不值得寫入旅遊忠告，我想可以留待澳洲內政部考慮吧。
Cool views from my lab
實驗室外的無敵景色
Last week I played host to an Australian friend working in the Netherlands at the moment. As he has never been to Melbourne before, I offered to show him around and take him to dinner.
I started talking about city streets, and told him about King Street which has attracted a lot of negative publicity. More than a street of office buildings, King Street is also full of bars and night clubs that breed much alcohol-fuelled violence at night. While it’s safe to go there during the day, I told my friend that he should avoid that street at night unless there is a very good reason. I remember making the same advice to another friend from Hong Kong who came to Melbourne for a 2-month course, and his course instructor also said the same thing.
My Australian friend then asked me if there were places in Munich and Hong Kong which were to be avoided. I said that there was none in Munich, to the extent that I could not even describe any part of Munich shabby or run-down. As to Hong Kong, I said that people only had to be more careful in certain places but there was no need to avoid any particular place.
We went to a well-known trendy bar nearby after dinner, and above the entrance door there was a clear sign saying ‘No alcohol served after 1 a.m.’. This must be a recent policy adopted in the Melbourne city council area. That reminded me of a proposal by my local council to have alcohol served in plastic cups instead of glasses after 23:00 to reduce the risk and incidence of violence arising from alcohol consumption in bars and clubs. Is such violence becoming a much more serious issue now, I wonder?
It is indeed a pity that a local host has to advise his visiting friends to avoid certain parts of city, as I told my friend. There’s no way for me to gauge how bad alcohol-induced violence has become in Melbourne. If the authorities are implementing this myriad of policies even though the situation is not so grave, it is not going to do much favour to the public’s impression on Melbourne. But as Australians are known for their love of alcohol, and alcohol doesn't mix well with the hot-headed and hot-blooded - especially the youths, I’m afraid the real situation cannot be taken too lightly.
上週接待一個正在荷蘭工作的澳洲朋友，他從沒來過墨爾本，我當然要盡地主之誼，帶他逛逛然後吃頓飯。
介紹到市區街道時，我便告訴朋友，這裡有條King Street，是辦公室區之餘，酒吧夜店多，酒醉鬧事的暴力事故時有發生，白天到那裡問題不大，但入夜後沒必要則千萬別前去了。想起去年有香港友人來墨爾本報讀一個為期兩個月的課程，我得悉後亦奉勸他避免去King Street，連那個導師也如是說。
那個澳洲朋友聽罷，問我慕尼黑和香港也有沒有這些「生人勿近」的地點，我說，慕尼黑的確沒有，甚至可以說較為破落的地區也沒有，香港的話，祇要小心提防一下便行，絕無甚麼不可涉足的地方。
飯後往附近另一家挺有名的酒吧繼續聊聊，一進門便看到「淩晨一點後停止賣酒」這告示，應該是墨爾本市政區新實行的政策，我馬上聯想到，我所居住的市政區，也考慮在酒吧推行晚上十一點後賣酒以塑膠杯代替玻璃杯，以防酒客可以用玻璃施襲傷人，酒醉暴力這問題，是不是真的日益嚴重？
我告訴朋友，對着外來的訪客，作東道的要勸告他們切勿前往市內某些地方，其實不是甚麼光采的事，而針對酒醉暴力的問題，出了如此多下策，就算真實情況不至這麼壞，也難免給大眾的印象打個折扣，但澳洲人向來嗜酒成性，青年又往往好勇鬥狠，問題恐怕不簡單了。
But Australian major cities are not totally spotless in regard to air pollution. Last Saturday I was quite surprised by the reduced visibility on the roads when driving under the broad daylight of noon. Since it was not supposed to be a foggy day, the only possibility was a haze or smog of some kind. I never thought that it could occur on a day with lighter traffic like the weekend.
The lab where I am working now is located on the 8th floor of a hospital building adjoining the main building of the research institute, and we have to go through an outdoor stairway whenever we want to enter or exit the main building. The stairway offers an unhindered view of Melbourne’s western suburbs, which happens to be quite a good indicator of the air quality especially on sunny days. While the view is crystal clear on many days, there are also days when it appears blurry and hazy in a distance. Those hazy days account for 20 to 30 % of all sunny days by my reckoning.
Despite this, it’s hard to argue against the fact that Melbourne’s air quality is overall far better than most Asian cities (at least not as serious as Hong Kong where the opposite side of the Victoria Harbour can be rendered almost invisible on days of heavy pollution). However, I must say I haven’t paid much attention to Melbourne’s air pollution until now, when I have the chance to observe it day in day out. So should there be a travel advisory on Melbourne regarding the air pollution? I’ll let the Department of Home Affairs to decide.
澳洲外交部對全球所有地區都有發出旅遊忠告，巨細無遺，香港的長期空氣污染，以至新加坡七至十月間可能出現的煙霧都榜上有名，香港的傳媒當然關注。
不過澳洲大城市也非十全十美。星期六中午駕車時，便驚覺百多米前的視野，在太陽直射下竟有些濛朧，那時並非有大霧，想必是煙霧或光化霧，沒想到連交通較少的星期六也會看到這些污染現象。
我現在的實驗室位於與研究所主大樓相連的醫院大樓的八樓，每日往返主大樓都得走一道戶外樓梯，從樓梯可直望墨爾本西區，又沒其他高樓阻擋，景色開揚，居高臨下，每日空氣質素好壞一目了然，尤其是陽光普照的日子，看看遠方的景物是清晰還是灰濛濛，便可對那天的空氣質素心中有數。我雖沒正式統計，但遠方灰濛濛的日子，晴天時大概也有兩至三成。
當然墨爾本的空氣質素要比香港和不少亞洲大城市都好（起碼不至於一個維多利亞港之隔便灰霾重重），但從前並沒特別留意墨爾本的空氣污染問題，直至現在能每日親眼觀察，才知道問題也不可忽視。至於這個空氣污染問題值不值得寫入旅遊忠告，我想可以留待澳洲內政部考慮吧。
Cool views from my lab
實驗室外的無敵景色
Last week I played host to an Australian friend working in the Netherlands at the moment. As he has never been to Melbourne before, I offered to show him around and take him to dinner.
I started talking about city streets, and told him about King Street which has attracted a lot of negative publicity. More than a street of office buildings, King Street is also full of bars and night clubs that breed much alcohol-fuelled violence at night. While it’s safe to go there during the day, I told my friend that he should avoid that street at night unless there is a very good reason. I remember making the same advice to another friend from Hong Kong who came to Melbourne for a 2-month course, and his course instructor also said the same thing.
My Australian friend then asked me if there were places in Munich and Hong Kong which were to be avoided. I said that there was none in Munich, to the extent that I could not even describe any part of Munich shabby or run-down. As to Hong Kong, I said that people only had to be more careful in certain places but there was no need to avoid any particular place.
We went to a well-known trendy bar nearby after dinner, and above the entrance door there was a clear sign saying ‘No alcohol served after 1 a.m.’. This must be a recent policy adopted in the Melbourne city council area. That reminded me of a proposal by my local council to have alcohol served in plastic cups instead of glasses after 23:00 to reduce the risk and incidence of violence arising from alcohol consumption in bars and clubs. Is such violence becoming a much more serious issue now, I wonder?
It is indeed a pity that a local host has to advise his visiting friends to avoid certain parts of city, as I told my friend. There’s no way for me to gauge how bad alcohol-induced violence has become in Melbourne. If the authorities are implementing this myriad of policies even though the situation is not so grave, it is not going to do much favour to the public’s impression on Melbourne. But as Australians are known for their love of alcohol, and alcohol doesn't mix well with the hot-headed and hot-blooded - especially the youths, I’m afraid the real situation cannot be taken too lightly.
上週接待一個正在荷蘭工作的澳洲朋友，他從沒來過墨爾本，我當然要盡地主之誼，帶他逛逛然後吃頓飯。
介紹到市區街道時，我便告訴朋友，這裡有條King Street，是辦公室區之餘，酒吧夜店多，酒醉鬧事的暴力事故時有發生，白天到那裡問題不大，但入夜後沒必要則千萬別前去了。想起去年有香港友人來墨爾本報讀一個為期兩個月的課程，我得悉後亦奉勸他避免去King Street，連那個導師也如是說。
那個澳洲朋友聽罷，問我慕尼黑和香港也有沒有這些「生人勿近」的地點，我說，慕尼黑的確沒有，甚至可以說較為破落的地區也沒有，香港的話，祇要小心提防一下便行，絕無甚麼不可涉足的地方。
飯後往附近另一家挺有名的酒吧繼續聊聊，一進門便看到「淩晨一點後停止賣酒」這告示，應該是墨爾本市政區新實行的政策，我馬上聯想到，我所居住的市政區，也考慮在酒吧推行晚上十一點後賣酒以塑膠杯代替玻璃杯，以防酒客可以用玻璃施襲傷人，酒醉暴力這問題，是不是真的日益嚴重？
我告訴朋友，對着外來的訪客，作東道的要勸告他們切勿前往市內某些地方，其實不是甚麼光采的事，而針對酒醉暴力的問題，出了如此多下策，就算真實情況不至這麼壞，也難免給大眾的印象打個折扣，但澳洲人向來嗜酒成性，青年又往往好勇鬥狠，問題恐怕不簡單了。
Comments
黑心一點說，這邊是研究酗酒問題的絕佳地方。。。
我也不明白，德國人同樣嗜酒，酒量比英國、澳洲人祇有過之而無不及，但（至少以慕尼黑來說）也不覺有甚麼問題。
歡迎光臨！歐洲人飲得勁唔勁都要睇吓係邊個國家，例如德國、法國人，其實成年人通常都飲得算適量有節制，祇係班靚飲得勁d啫。你得閒可以睇下下面嗰篇新聞：
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122842679622780557.html
極同意。我在德國旅行時，碰著好像是紅酒節，難以想像，人手一杯，整個晚上，竟然是秩序井然，還是室外的！四周都是飲大咗（我認為啦，個個都面紅紅）的人，竟然無事發生！
換了是在蘇格蘭，哈哈，等著明天看頭條新聞罷。。
據當地人說，酗酒問題，是因為以前這裡十一時以後便沒有酒賣，所以有很多binge drinking（中文是什麼？）。就算現在規限鬆了，這文化依然遺留下來。
來自希臘的朋友說，她自小就飯後一小杯紅酒，所以很早就懂得節制。