Dear Station Members,
Below is an Job Advertisement posted by a Govt Dept of the HKSAR today for a position which may be of interest to our Station Members. Please review & apply if any of you can meet the requirements.
best regards,
Sammy Au
Station Manager
Leisure and Cultural Services Department Non-Civil Service Contract Vacancy
(When dollars are quoted in this web page, they are Hong Kong dollars. About HK$7.8 = US$1.)
Arboricultural Adviser
Salary: HK$50,000 per month
Entry Requirements:
Applicants should have:
(1) a bachelor's degree in Botany / Biology / Forestry / Horticulture / Arboriculture or a related field from a Hong Kong university, or equivalent;
(2) a Certified Arborist qualification of the International Society of Arboriculture or National Certificate in Horticulture (Arboriculture) or equivalent;
(3) no less than three years of post-qualification experience in tree management work; and
(4) proven experience in providing tree management advisory service.
Duties: Advise the Department on and assist the Department in its tree management work; staff deployment for tree management; staff training for tree management work; management of tree database; and public participation in and public education on tree management.
Terms of Appointment: Successful candidates will be appointed on non-civil service contract terms for 2 years.
Fringe Benefits: A gratuity may be granted to the appointee upon satisfactory completion of the contract with a consistently high standard of performance and conduct. Such gratuity payable will be the sum which, when added to the Department's contribution to an MPF scheme in respect of the appointee as required by the MPF Schemes Ordinance, will be equal to 15% of the total basic salary drawn during the contract period. Rest days, statutory holidays (or substituted holidays), annual leave, maternity leave, sickness allowance, where appropriate, will be granted in line with the provisions of the Employment Ordinance.
Enquiry Address: Appointments and Establishment Unit Leisure Services Branch 7/F, Leisure and Cultural Services Headquarters 1 Pai Tau Street, Sha Tin, N.T., Hong Kong Enquiry Telephone: 2697 4932
Closing Date for Application: 28/11/2008
Newspaper(s) Advertised and Date(s): Career Times: 21/11/2008 Ming Pao: 21/11/2008
How to Apply:
(1) Application Forms (G.F. 340 (Rev. 3/2008)) are obtainable from any Public Enquiry Service Centres of District Offices, Home Affairs Department or any Job Centres of the Employment Services Division, Labour Department. The said form can also be downloaded from the Civil Service Bureau's web site (http://www.csb.gov.hk ).
(2) Completed application forms should reach the enquiry address on or before the closing date. Please specify the post you apply for on the envelope. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
General Notes for Non-Civil Service Posts :
(1) Non-civil service vacancies are not posts on the civil service establishment. Candidates appointed are not on civil service terms of appointment and conditions of service. Candidates appointed are not civil servants and will not be eligible for posting, promotion or transfer to any posts in the Civil Service.
(2) Candidates appointed must be permanent residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region unless specified otherwise.
(3) The entry pay, terms of appointment and conditions of service to be offered are subject to the provisions prevailing at the time the offer of appointment is made.
(4) It is Government policy to place people with a disability in appropriate jobs wherever possible. If a disabled candidate meets the entry requirements, he/she will be invited to attend the selection interview/written examination without being subject to any further shortlisting criteria.
(5) Holders of academic qualifications other than those obtained from Hong Kong institutions/Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority may also apply but their qualifications will be subject to assessments on equivalence with the required entry qualifications.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
ISA HK/China --- Incoming Mail (World Champions to train HK)
*** Our weekly Station Mail is for the information of Station Members only, but Station Mail has given up copyright & can be freely circulated. For administrative reasons, comments from outsiders are usually not entertained & may be circulated within our system locally & overseas. Please note Station Mail is sometimes given in Blog at http://isahkchina.blogspot.com , although images are usually not attached due to size. ***
Dear xxx,
Thank you for your e-mail enquiry which was followed by a phone call to make sure we were addressed. We wish to repeat our reply to you in an open Station Mail without disclosing your identity, since we thought your enquiry is of a nature interesting to our +700 Station Members & public. We thank your understanding on this.
It is indeed true that ISA HK/China has the ability & connection to invite world class champion climbers to conduct tree climbing training in our territory. We are part of the global ISA network which can be verified with ISA HQ (isa@isa-arbor.com) anytime.
The reason why we have not done so is obvious. We do not think our Station is ready to be taught by world champions for basic tree climbing while most of our Station Members would have difficulties in getting up 10 feet off the ground. It would be like inviting a Nobel Prize Winner to come to teach Kindergarten in our territory. Would that be justified?
HK appears to go for brands & credential collection is popular among our public. On the other hand, ISA HK/China would have great doubt in the belief that by inviting world champions to teach our beginners on the Certified Tree Worker (CTW) program would enhance the chance of getting this credential, if the students would not practise hard on their own to prepare for the exam.
HK would need to learn the basics first, if our Tree Work is to be performed satisfactorily. Tree Climbing is a start, & then Chainsaw Operation & Rigging in the field to follow. TCHK (http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/treeclimbinghk) can offer this kind of training but it appears that most of the enquiries would focus on getting the CTW credential alone. The CTW exam does not test for Chainsaw Operation & Rigging in the practical part. One has to master them outside the CTW credential.
Our Independent Practicing Arborist (IPA) system is meant to produce Arborists who can perform quality Tree Work in field operation under self-practice, besides other abilities. This system follows that of the Medical Practitioner & Practicing Lawyers since Arborists are Tree Doctors & Tree Detectives. You have to gain your Certified Arborist & CTW with other knowledge & experience in order to become an IPA. We wish you to head in this direction if you want to enter into self-practice eventually.
best regards,
Sammy Au
Station Manager
"Trees are good for the community. Trees need care like human beings. Arborists are the Tree Care Professionals."
----- Original Message -----
From: xxx
To: egc@netvigator.com
Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2008 8:14 PM
Dear Sammy,
Recently, i know that LCSD employ world champions come to HK do some tree work. Can ISA HK/CHINA invite theme to train us ???
reagrds,
xxx
為了不斷提升Yahoo! Mail，雅虎香港誠邀你參與意見調查
Dear xxx,
Thank you for your e-mail enquiry which was followed by a phone call to make sure we were addressed. We wish to repeat our reply to you in an open Station Mail without disclosing your identity, since we thought your enquiry is of a nature interesting to our +700 Station Members & public. We thank your understanding on this.
It is indeed true that ISA HK/China has the ability & connection to invite world class champion climbers to conduct tree climbing training in our territory. We are part of the global ISA network which can be verified with ISA HQ (isa@isa-arbor.com) anytime.
The reason why we have not done so is obvious. We do not think our Station is ready to be taught by world champions for basic tree climbing while most of our Station Members would have difficulties in getting up 10 feet off the ground. It would be like inviting a Nobel Prize Winner to come to teach Kindergarten in our territory. Would that be justified?
HK appears to go for brands & credential collection is popular among our public. On the other hand, ISA HK/China would have great doubt in the belief that by inviting world champions to teach our beginners on the Certified Tree Worker (CTW) program would enhance the chance of getting this credential, if the students would not practise hard on their own to prepare for the exam.
HK would need to learn the basics first, if our Tree Work is to be performed satisfactorily. Tree Climbing is a start, & then Chainsaw Operation & Rigging in the field to follow. TCHK (http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/treeclimbinghk) can offer this kind of training but it appears that most of the enquiries would focus on getting the CTW credential alone. The CTW exam does not test for Chainsaw Operation & Rigging in the practical part. One has to master them outside the CTW credential.
Our Independent Practicing Arborist (IPA) system is meant to produce Arborists who can perform quality Tree Work in field operation under self-practice, besides other abilities. This system follows that of the Medical Practitioner & Practicing Lawyers since Arborists are Tree Doctors & Tree Detectives. You have to gain your Certified Arborist & CTW with other knowledge & experience in order to become an IPA. We wish you to head in this direction if you want to enter into self-practice eventually.
best regards,
Sammy Au
Station Manager
"Trees are good for the community. Trees need care like human beings. Arborists are the Tree Care Professionals."
----- Original Message -----
From: xxx
To: egc@netvigator.com
Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2008 8:14 PM
Dear Sammy,
Recently, i know that LCSD employ world champions come to HK do some tree work. Can ISA HK/CHINA invite theme to train us ???
reagrds,
xxx
為了不斷提升Yahoo! Mail，雅虎香港誠邀你參與意見調查
Sunday, November 16, 2008
ISA HK/China --- Crown Thinning for Mature Trees
*** Our weekly Station Mail is for the information of Station Members only, but Station Mail has given up copyright & can be freely circulated. For administrative reasons, comments from outsiders are usually not entertained & may be circulated within our system locally & overseas. Please note Station Mail is sometimes given in Blog at http://isahkchina.blogspot.com , although images are usually not attached due to size. ***
Dear Station Members,
The Station Manager was called out to perform some Tree Pruning Work for about 40 no. of mature trees in an upper-class housing estate in the past few weeks. This housing estate is particular in that about half of the residents were against Tree Pruning & the other half were for. Therefore an Independent Practicing Arborist (IPA, http://isahkchina.blogspot.com/2008/08/isa-hkchina-independent-practicing.html ) was required to provide a third party opinion on anything to be done for this sentimental property. Curses & praises were equally loud during the operation.
A proper Tree Inspection with an Arborist Report was first carried out to ascertain condition & defects among the mature trees before any work was to be done. Crown Thinning under the supervision of the IPA was prescribed as the treatment after detailed diagnosis. Two pruning contractors were called in to perform the work while the IPA was required on site every minute to attend the progress, climbing up the trees with chainsaws if necessary for clarification & demonstration, to ensure no unnecessary cut was to be made for these old ailing trees.
Crown Thinning is something unusual in HK projects because most clients would just want tree parts removed for convenience rather than for future development of a tree. Selected photos of this particular job (due to protection of privacy) are attached for general reference as compared to common pruning job as seen in HK.
This particular client was also attentive to the Station Manager's advice to withhold the pruning to until lower temperature when the mature trees would be dormant. Dormant season is the best time for pruning mature trees due to inactive growth & lower chance of pest attack. However in our territory, pruning is mostly carried out during active growing season to trim back tree parts which would pose inconvenience or danger. Many trees are trimmed unnecessarily to restrain growth in this manner in the name of 'controlled pruning' by untrained personnel like common gardeners & construction workers. Is that one reason why we do not get the North American trees as shown in Station Mail just a little while ago?
Tree Pruning is very different from Tree Felling which would focus primarily on safety & efficiency. A simple comparison would be 'to kill an animal with surgery' against 'healing an animal with surgery'. Anyone can fell a tree with whatever tools & skills as long as the work poses no danger to themselves or public. But can everyone prune a tree to assist future development with good structure & health against wind & pests??
Dear Station Members,
The Station Manager was called out to perform some Tree Pruning Work for about 40 no. of mature trees in an upper-class housing estate in the past few weeks. This housing estate is particular in that about half of the residents were against Tree Pruning & the other half were for. Therefore an Independent Practicing Arborist (IPA, http://isahkchina.blogspot.com/2008/08/isa-hkchina-independent-practicing.html ) was required to provide a third party opinion on anything to be done for this sentimental property. Curses & praises were equally loud during the operation.
A proper Tree Inspection with an Arborist Report was first carried out to ascertain condition & defects among the mature trees before any work was to be done. Crown Thinning under the supervision of the IPA was prescribed as the treatment after detailed diagnosis. Two pruning contractors were called in to perform the work while the IPA was required on site every minute to attend the progress, climbing up the trees with chainsaws if necessary for clarification & demonstration, to ensure no unnecessary cut was to be made for these old ailing trees.
Crown Thinning is something unusual in HK projects because most clients would just want tree parts removed for convenience rather than for future development of a tree. Selected photos of this particular job (due to protection of privacy) are attached for general reference as compared to common pruning job as seen in HK.
This particular client was also attentive to the Station Manager's advice to withhold the pruning to until lower temperature when the mature trees would be dormant. Dormant season is the best time for pruning mature trees due to inactive growth & lower chance of pest attack. However in our territory, pruning is mostly carried out during active growing season to trim back tree parts which would pose inconvenience or danger. Many trees are trimmed unnecessarily to restrain growth in this manner in the name of 'controlled pruning' by untrained personnel like common gardeners & construction workers. Is that one reason why we do not get the North American trees as shown in Station Mail just a little while ago?
Tree Pruning is very different from Tree Felling which would focus primarily on safety & efficiency. A simple comparison would be 'to kill an animal with surgery' against 'healing an animal with surgery'. Anyone can fell a tree with whatever tools & skills as long as the work poses no danger to themselves or public. But can everyone prune a tree to assist future development with good structure & health against wind & pests??
Tree Pruning is sometimes regarded as properly done in our territory if a cut is performed from Branch Bark Ridge to Branch Collar alone, without much attention on why, where, how & how much to cut, & without much consideration on whether the tree would react by diverting interior reserves to develop responsive growth to compensate for the removal. Crown Raising is usually confused with Crown Thinning. Topping is regarded as proper Crown Reduction. Live examples can be seen in many of our public places where the tip of the tree is hardly touched, but only the lower parts taken off like a naked dancer.
There is also popular belief that Tree Pruning can be performed with Lifting Platform alone & Tree Climbing is an unnecessary chore. Therefore we rarely see the inside of the canopy is thinned out in our trees, but rather just the outside perimeter accessible by crane from bottom up. Hardly anyone would study the Tree Biology & Tree Biomechanics before any pruning job in our territory at present.
One of the best Tree Pruning Practitioner in the world from ISA called Tim Bushnell will be visiting HK during the HK Flower Show next March to deliver a seminar on proper Tree Pruning. ISA HK/China will try to arrange some seats for our Station Members for his seminar or demonstration or to organize our own Informal Dinner to welcome this excellent mentor. More details will be released in Station Mail later.
Maybe by listening to international exerts & compare with our own, we can make some sense out of how the advanced world would prune their trees, & discover why our trees would actually deteriorate faster after our pruning, not usually before.
best regards,
Sammy Au
Station Manager
"Trees are good for the community. Trees need care like human beings. Arborists are the Tree Care Professionals."
There is also popular belief that Tree Pruning can be performed with Lifting Platform alone & Tree Climbing is an unnecessary chore. Therefore we rarely see the inside of the canopy is thinned out in our trees, but rather just the outside perimeter accessible by crane from bottom up. Hardly anyone would study the Tree Biology & Tree Biomechanics before any pruning job in our territory at present.
One of the best Tree Pruning Practitioner in the world from ISA called Tim Bushnell will be visiting HK during the HK Flower Show next March to deliver a seminar on proper Tree Pruning. ISA HK/China will try to arrange some seats for our Station Members for his seminar or demonstration or to organize our own Informal Dinner to welcome this excellent mentor. More details will be released in Station Mail later.
Maybe by listening to international exerts & compare with our own, we can make some sense out of how the advanced world would prune their trees, & discover why our trees would actually deteriorate faster after our pruning, not usually before.
best regards,
Sammy Au
Station Manager
"Trees are good for the community. Trees need care like human beings. Arborists are the Tree Care Professionals."
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
ISA HK/China --- IPM accommodation
Dear ISA HK/China & TCHK Station Members,
Information on the conference details of 2008 IPM China in Chinese was received yesterday & is now attached for our Station Member viewing.
As accommodation for this conference will be very tight at the conference hotels, those who are coming with us must give us their names & number for booking latest by 9am of Thursday Nov 14, 2008. Late comers will have to make their own arrangement for accommodation themselves at the IPM in Foshan City.
Looking forward to hearing from you in due course.
rgds,
Sammy Au
Station Manager
Information on the conference details of 2008 IPM China in Chinese was received yesterday & is now attached for our Station Member viewing.
As accommodation for this conference will be very tight at the conference hotels, those who are coming with us must give us their names & number for booking latest by 9am of Thursday Nov 14, 2008. Late comers will have to make their own arrangement for accommodation themselves at the IPM in Foshan City.
Looking forward to hearing from you in due course.
rgds,
Sammy Au
Station Manager
Sunday, November 2, 2008
ISA HK/China --- North American Trees
*** Our weekly Station Mail is for the information of Station Members only, but Station Mail has given up copyright & can be freely circulated. For administrative reasons, comments from outsiders are usually not entertained & may be circulated within our system locally & overseas. Please note Station Mail is sometimes given in Blog at http://isahkchina.blogspot.com , although images are usually not attached due to size. ***
Dear Station Members,
Our Deputy Station Manager Mr. KM Li was invited by ISA HQ to attend the Liaison Meeting & Leadership Workshop at Champagne, Illinois, USA last month & he has brought back valuable information from ISA HQ to further develop ourselves in our territory of HK, Macau, Taiwan & China. ISA HK/China is perhaps the fastest growing ISA Affiliation around the world with +700 Station Members at present & we are prepared to penetrate into China this December to further expand ourselves in their +900 cities & hundreds of thousands of towns.
Besides bringing back valuable education from ISA HQ, KM has also taken many photos of the local trees in North America for us to enjoy & compare with our own. All of these photos are hereby compressed for e-mail transmission to save disk space. They are truly magnificent trees living up to the expectation of ISA Arboriculture in every angle.
Upon seeing these beautiful trees, our Station Members may ask themselves why our territory is not getting such trees in our public places. Or is HK too small to plant trees at the correct spacing, or is it because these American trees do not ' flower ' or 'scent ' to make us happy? Or are these American trees planted too few so that they do not re-construct a forest for our 'preservation' purpose? Or do these American trees do not match our China 'quality' ? Or do they not plant dense shrubs & groundcovers directly under to give colour & body? We are simply not sure what comment would be received on these 'foreign' trees for their ' wrong-doing ', or would we prefer trees of this quality in our city?
ISA HK/China will enter China very soon & we will promote ISA Arboriculture there with these ' American trees '. We do have similar quality of such trees in ETF to offer to the Chinese if they ask. We are not sure how acceptable trees of this quality will be in China, or would our brothers & sisters have a different view on them with reasons of their own? However, facts have spoken that these ' ISA ' trees are required & planted in many western nations at present.
Trees are permanent structures in a city like lamp posts & utilities. They are usually planted there for years for public enjoyment. If not selected & planted right, they may simply turn into Time Bombs.
Then how should we go about to choose them?
best regards,
Sammy Au
Station Manager
"Trees are good for the community. Trees need care like human beings. Arborists are the Tree Care Professionals."
Dear Station Members,
Our Deputy Station Manager Mr. KM Li was invited by ISA HQ to attend the Liaison Meeting & Leadership Workshop at Champagne, Illinois, USA last month & he has brought back valuable information from ISA HQ to further develop ourselves in our territory of HK, Macau, Taiwan & China. ISA HK/China is perhaps the fastest growing ISA Affiliation around the world with +700 Station Members at present & we are prepared to penetrate into China this December to further expand ourselves in their +900 cities & hundreds of thousands of towns.
Besides bringing back valuable education from ISA HQ, KM has also taken many photos of the local trees in North America for us to enjoy & compare with our own. All of these photos are hereby compressed for e-mail transmission to save disk space. They are truly magnificent trees living up to the expectation of ISA Arboriculture in every angle.
Upon seeing these beautiful trees, our Station Members may ask themselves why our territory is not getting such trees in our public places. Or is HK too small to plant trees at the correct spacing, or is it because these American trees do not ' flower ' or 'scent ' to make us happy? Or are these American trees planted too few so that they do not re-construct a forest for our 'preservation' purpose? Or do these American trees do not match our China 'quality' ? Or do they not plant dense shrubs & groundcovers directly under to give colour & body? We are simply not sure what comment would be received on these 'foreign' trees for their ' wrong-doing ', or would we prefer trees of this quality in our city?
ISA HK/China will enter China very soon & we will promote ISA Arboriculture there with these ' American trees '. We do have similar quality of such trees in ETF to offer to the Chinese if they ask. We are not sure how acceptable trees of this quality will be in China, or would our brothers & sisters have a different view on them with reasons of their own? However, facts have spoken that these ' ISA ' trees are required & planted in many western nations at present.
Trees are permanent structures in a city like lamp posts & utilities. They are usually planted there for years for public enjoyment. If not selected & planted right, they may simply turn into Time Bombs.
Then how should we go about to choose them?
best regards,
Sammy Au
Station Manager
"Trees are good for the community. Trees need care like human beings. Arborists are the Tree Care Professionals."
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
ISA HK/China --- Tree Felling by a 'Specialist Contractor'
*** Our weekly Station Mail is for the information of Station Members only, but Station Mail has given up copyright & can be freely circulated. For administrative reasons, comments from outsiders are usually not entertained & may be circulated within our system locally & overseas. Please note Station Mail is sometimes given in Blog at http://isahkchina.blogspot.com , although images are usually not attached due to size. ***Dear Station Members,
The Station Manager was called out by a housing estate to supervise Tree Pruning for their Mature Trees this week. While he was there, he saw a spectacular Tree Felling exercise by a local 'Specialist Contractor' who performed their work completely different from our usual international practices which is worth sharing with our Station Members.
In order to protect privacy of the parties involved, no details with regard to location, individuals or even tree species are given here. ISA HK/China has only academic interest in the event & would provide facts on the technical side only.
The tree to be felled was about 25m tall & it appeared either dead or dying. The 'Specialist Contractor' has hired a RB crane to do the cutting & lifting without Tree Climbing. The ' Tree Worker' doing it was said to be felling tree nearly every week & was notified to be well versed for the job. He began by putting himself inside a steel cage which was then hoisted up to 2/3 the tree length where he would begin the cutting. The only PPE he was wearing was the safety helmet, & he was without Fall Arrest Hardness of any kind. He brought in a nylon sling with him & tied that at the point of cutting which was also about 2/3 of the height of the tree. After securing the sling to the tree, he began cutting the trunk with a Hack Saw, not Chainsaw, from both directions.
After some heavy duty of removing trapped saw & strenuous severing in by hand, the tree suddenly snapped clean without any warning. As the trunk broke away from the tree, being tied together with the steel cage on the same anchor point above on the crane, the removed stem naturally swung & hit the cage with a bang, causing shock & swing to the cage. The worker inside could not stand still & slipped, but luckily he was not thrown out of the cage. After some commotion & settlement of the cage & removed trunk, the crane lowered the tree part & the steel cage together to the ground. The removed trunk was then cut into sections by ground staff for storage.
The same action repeated 3 times for the 25m tree to be cut to the ground. It must have been a thrill of a lifetime for the worker inside the cage & the audience were watching it with equal excitement. When the management staff asked the Station Manger for comments on safety of the work, the Station Manger just smiled & said they have employed a 'Specialist Contractor' who should know what they were doing.
HK relies on 'Specialist Contractor' to do our Tree Work & the 'Specialist Contractor' may nowadays require a Certified Arborist (CA) to sign for tendering, but not sure how often on site for actual supervision. Yet again by passing just 200 multiple choice questions to become a CA in our territory without actually demonstrating climbing & rigging, can this CA really supervise actual Tree Work? If anyone has any objection to the installation of the Independent Practicing Arborist (IPA) status in our territory, they should come with the Station Manager on site some time to find out how Tree Work is done locally. The Arborist Profession all around the world is known to be a Practitioner Trade with hands on skills & knowledge. Credential collection alone may not shine the actual value of this unique profession.
TCHK (http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/treeclimbinghk) has been kindly invited to perform a Tree Rigging & Felling exercise by Fung Kai School from 9am to Noon on Saturday Nov 1, 2008 for one of their hazardous trees. The photo of the 13m tall Alstonia to be felled is given in the attachment. Proper equipment & procedures in accordance with international practice will be demonstrated by TCHK Chiefs who will carry out the work. Fung Kai School has very kindly given us the permission to invite our Station Members to attend the event as an educational session for proper Tree Work. Anyone who is interested to attend may come by foot only, not by car, since all parking spaces will be used up for Work Zone & debris storage.
Let's hope who do not believe in proper Tree Work should be carried out by trained personnel only can come & see it with their own eyes for comparison on Nov 1. If not, ISA HK/China will be giving the same education to our brothers & sister up north very soon in China. We certainly do not wish to see if they can do it under ISA practice in future, whereas we here can not.
best regards,
Sammy Au
Station Manager
"Trees are good for the community. Trees need care like human beings. Arborists are the Tree Care Professionals."
Thursday, October 23, 2008
ISA HK/China --- CSGF Progress Visit and East Week Magazine report
*** Our weekly Station Mail is for the information of Station Members only, but Station Mail has given up copyright & can be freely circulated. For administrative reasons, comments from outsiders are usually not entertained & may be circulated within our system locally & overseas. Please note Station Mail is sometimes given in Blog at http://isahkchina.blogspot.com , although images are usually not attached due to size. ***
Dear Station Members,
Two counts of recent events are hereby reported in Station Mail as follows:
1. China Southern Green Fair (CSGF) Progress Visit on Oct 19, 2008
Two Station Members, Deputy Station Manager Tony Ng & the Station Manager were invited by the CSGF Organizing Committee to pay a progress visit in Zhongshan on Oct 19 to discuss the display, seminar & demonstration arrangement. Details of the proposed itinerary are attached for general reference, although hardly anyone would know for sure what the final arrangement would be, not until minutes before the Show is due to begin on Dec 26, 2008.
It appeared that only one seminar can be arranged at the CSGF although we do not know how long the duration would be. On the other hand, ISA HK/China will be meeting with various local landscape institutes of China & exchanges will happen.
There will be a Tree Rigging & Chainsaw Operation demonstration given for ISA HK/China at the Show & the photo of the dead tree to get the cut is attached. Photos of Mature Trees installed on site with millions of RMB at the CSGF venue are also attached for interesting viewing. ISA HK/China will not make comments on these trees since we are greeted in as VIP by the enthusiastic host at the CSGF.
2. East Week Magazine article on ISA HK/China
East Week Magazine has kindly come for an interview with ISA HK/China & TCHK last month, & a report has been published in this week's publication which can be bought over the news stand. The contents are self-explanatory, although the readers have to understand that any given information has been digested & filtered by the editors.
Please excuse the unclear printing of the article since they were compressed under a low resolution for e-mail transmission. Anyone who wants to read clear pages may have to buy off the magazine in a shop anywhere in HK.
East Week Magazine would usually have a circulation of +100,000 copies per week in Southern China & is usually displayed in public location like restaurants & hairdressers for coffee discussion.
We wish to thank East Week Magazine for taking interest in our activity & ISA HK/China loves publicity to promote ISA Arboriculture in our territory anytime.
best regards,
Sammy Au
Station Manager
"Trees are good for the community. Trees need care like human beings. Arborists are the Tree Care Professionals."
Dear Station Members,
Two counts of recent events are hereby reported in Station Mail as follows:
1. China Southern Green Fair (CSGF) Progress Visit on Oct 19, 2008
Two Station Members, Deputy Station Manager Tony Ng & the Station Manager were invited by the CSGF Organizing Committee to pay a progress visit in Zhongshan on Oct 19 to discuss the display, seminar & demonstration arrangement. Details of the proposed itinerary are attached for general reference, although hardly anyone would know for sure what the final arrangement would be, not until minutes before the Show is due to begin on Dec 26, 2008.
It appeared that only one seminar can be arranged at the CSGF although we do not know how long the duration would be. On the other hand, ISA HK/China will be meeting with various local landscape institutes of China & exchanges will happen.
There will be a Tree Rigging & Chainsaw Operation demonstration given for ISA HK/China at the Show & the photo of the dead tree to get the cut is attached. Photos of Mature Trees installed on site with millions of RMB at the CSGF venue are also attached for interesting viewing. ISA HK/China will not make comments on these trees since we are greeted in as VIP by the enthusiastic host at the CSGF.
2. East Week Magazine article on ISA HK/China
East Week Magazine has kindly come for an interview with ISA HK/China & TCHK last month, & a report has been published in this week's publication which can be bought over the news stand. The contents are self-explanatory, although the readers have to understand that any given information has been digested & filtered by the editors.
Please excuse the unclear printing of the article since they were compressed under a low resolution for e-mail transmission. Anyone who wants to read clear pages may have to buy off the magazine in a shop anywhere in HK.
East Week Magazine would usually have a circulation of +100,000 copies per week in Southern China & is usually displayed in public location like restaurants & hairdressers for coffee discussion.
We wish to thank East Week Magazine for taking interest in our activity & ISA HK/China loves publicity to promote ISA Arboriculture in our territory anytime.
best regards,
Sammy Au
Station Manager
"Trees are good for the community. Trees need care like human beings. Arborists are the Tree Care Professionals."
Monday, October 20, 2008
ISA HK/China --- HK Tree News (Tree Work Accident at Blue Pool Road, HK)
*** Our weekly Station Mail is for the information of Station Members only, but Station Mail has given up copyright & can be freely circulated. For administrative reasons, comments from outsiders are usually not entertained & may be circulated within our system locally & overseas. Please note Station Mail is sometimes given in Blog at http://isahkchina.blogspot.com/ , although images are usually not attached due to size. ***
Dear Station Members,
Attached is yet another sad piece of news of a Tree Work Accident which happened to a TCHK Member who is well known to the Station Manager for some time already, although he is not yet qualified by ISA or any international organization. The identity of this young man is protected because we believe he will somehow climb again in future, although he has truly learned a lesson the hard way this time.
Since it happened to a close associate of the Station Manager in TCHK in this unfortunate accident, the Station Manager actually spent half day without pay yesterday to investigate the cause of the accident together with the Labour Dept Inspectors who was there in a duty call. This accident was also widely reported in the press & in the internet news in HK.
After studying the tree, the equipment & the reported technique, it appeared to the Station Manager that it was a case of misjudgement by the Tree Climber on setting the Final Tie-in Point & the Lanyard Position during the Rigging Process to cause the collapse of the system which dragged the Tree Climber down from 15m height above to land on a pile of wooden debris. No equipment failure was detected by any party & no Safety Violation of ANSI Z133.1 (2006) was observed by the Station Manager. However, the technique of using a Figure-8 Friction Device on top of the tree to be controlled by the Tree Climber, instead of under by the Groundmen, is not an international practice nor recommended by ISA HK/China. This may be a technique self-invented by the Tree Climber at the time, who perhaps became over-confident with his own skills & experience, although this particular Tree Climber is known to have climbed for as little as only 2.5 years in all. Then when the system failed, he fell with it as well.
Tree Work is very dangerous indeed !! If an Independent Practicing Arborist (IPA), or even an experienced Certified Tree Worker (CTW) was present to supervise the work instead of letting some young climbers to go free with their zeal, this Tree Work Accident may be unlikely to have happened. This young man who was said to have punctured his lung & fractured some bones although luckily surviving the ordeal, may leave a shadow in the back of his mind to stay with him in his future climbing career. We also do not know how his injury would impair his ability to climb any faster or higher upon recovery. The next few weeks will be critical for him to tell.
There is a famous James Bond movie called "You Only Live Twice" who depicted this romantic agent to 'die' & then come back to life to accomplish his mission impossible. For Tree Climbers, we could only wish this can also be true, instead of "You Only Fail Once" ...
best regards,
Sammy Au
Station Manager
"Trees are good for the community. Trees need care like human beings. Arborists are the Tree Care Professionals."
Dear Station Members,
Attached is yet another sad piece of news of a Tree Work Accident which happened to a TCHK Member who is well known to the Station Manager for some time already, although he is not yet qualified by ISA or any international organization. The identity of this young man is protected because we believe he will somehow climb again in future, although he has truly learned a lesson the hard way this time.
Since it happened to a close associate of the Station Manager in TCHK in this unfortunate accident, the Station Manager actually spent half day without pay yesterday to investigate the cause of the accident together with the Labour Dept Inspectors who was there in a duty call. This accident was also widely reported in the press & in the internet news in HK.
After studying the tree, the equipment & the reported technique, it appeared to the Station Manager that it was a case of misjudgement by the Tree Climber on setting the Final Tie-in Point & the Lanyard Position during the Rigging Process to cause the collapse of the system which dragged the Tree Climber down from 15m height above to land on a pile of wooden debris. No equipment failure was detected by any party & no Safety Violation of ANSI Z133.1 (2006) was observed by the Station Manager. However, the technique of using a Figure-8 Friction Device on top of the tree to be controlled by the Tree Climber, instead of under by the Groundmen, is not an international practice nor recommended by ISA HK/China. This may be a technique self-invented by the Tree Climber at the time, who perhaps became over-confident with his own skills & experience, although this particular Tree Climber is known to have climbed for as little as only 2.5 years in all. Then when the system failed, he fell with it as well.
Tree Work is very dangerous indeed !! If an Independent Practicing Arborist (IPA), or even an experienced Certified Tree Worker (CTW) was present to supervise the work instead of letting some young climbers to go free with their zeal, this Tree Work Accident may be unlikely to have happened. This young man who was said to have punctured his lung & fractured some bones although luckily surviving the ordeal, may leave a shadow in the back of his mind to stay with him in his future climbing career. We also do not know how his injury would impair his ability to climb any faster or higher upon recovery. The next few weeks will be critical for him to tell.
There is a famous James Bond movie called "You Only Live Twice" who depicted this romantic agent to 'die' & then come back to life to accomplish his mission impossible. For Tree Climbers, we could only wish this can also be true, instead of "You Only Fail Once" ...
best regards,
Sammy Au
Station Manager
"Trees are good for the community. Trees need care like human beings. Arborists are the Tree Care Professionals."
Thursday, October 16, 2008
ISA HK/China --- Samples of International Quality Trees in HK
*** Our weekly Station Mail is for the information of Station Members only, but Station Mail has given up copyright & can be freely circulated. For administrative reasons, comments from outsiders are usually not entertained & may be circulated within our system locally & overseas. Please note Station Mail is sometimes given in Blog at http://isahkchina.blogspot.com/ , although images are usually not attached due to size. ***
Dear Station Members,
As you all know, ETF is the only Tree Farm in China that can grow trees to internatinal requirements of Central Leader, Live Crown Ratio, Strong Branch Attachment, Spiral Limb Arrangement, Taper, 10 x Trunk Dia. Rootball without Girdling Roots. This kind of quality does not just 'happen' with any tree but only after meticulous tree production method of Structural Pruning, Plant Health Care & other practices. These relevant skills have not yet been brought into China & China tree farmers are still producing trees like vegetables & paddies in especially Guangdong Province which is the main tree supplier to HK. Yet HK has been very tolerant of this practice to allow trees of China quality to plant all over our city. LCSD appears to be the only Govt Dept so far to demand international quality trees in their purchasing requirement for urban planting.
Under a training scheme on Nursery Stocks Standards & Structural Pruning with a Govt Dept which took place in Eurasian Garden in HK this March, samples of ETF trees were shipped down there for practical demonstration together with China quality trees to act as comparison. After the training session, these ETF trees were allowed to grow in Eurasian Garden in Sheung Shui for future educational purposes. Since TCHK (http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/treeclimbinghk) has now shifted all its Arbor Training from Fung Kai School to Eurasian Garden every Sunday, the Station Manager has decided to open up Eurasian Garden for anyone wanting to check out on ISA quality trees with prior appointment. Sunday would be the best day since TCHK will be providing other Arbor Training like Tree Climbing & Chainsaw Operation there. Therefore, why not come down to see both rather than one?
Anyone wishing to take advantage of this opportunity is welcomed to contact the Station Manager for arrangement by e-mail or 9090 6719.
Looking forward to upgrade the quality of trees in our territory to benefit our living with living examples rather than just rhetoric words.
best regards,
Sammy Au
Station Manager
"Trees are good for the community. Trees need care like human beings. Arborists are the Tree Care Professionals."
Dear Station Members,
As you all know, ETF is the only Tree Farm in China that can grow trees to internatinal requirements of Central Leader, Live Crown Ratio, Strong Branch Attachment, Spiral Limb Arrangement, Taper, 10 x Trunk Dia. Rootball without Girdling Roots. This kind of quality does not just 'happen' with any tree but only after meticulous tree production method of Structural Pruning, Plant Health Care & other practices. These relevant skills have not yet been brought into China & China tree farmers are still producing trees like vegetables & paddies in especially Guangdong Province which is the main tree supplier to HK. Yet HK has been very tolerant of this practice to allow trees of China quality to plant all over our city. LCSD appears to be the only Govt Dept so far to demand international quality trees in their purchasing requirement for urban planting.
Under a training scheme on Nursery Stocks Standards & Structural Pruning with a Govt Dept which took place in Eurasian Garden in HK this March, samples of ETF trees were shipped down there for practical demonstration together with China quality trees to act as comparison. After the training session, these ETF trees were allowed to grow in Eurasian Garden in Sheung Shui for future educational purposes. Since TCHK (http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/treeclimbinghk) has now shifted all its Arbor Training from Fung Kai School to Eurasian Garden every Sunday, the Station Manager has decided to open up Eurasian Garden for anyone wanting to check out on ISA quality trees with prior appointment. Sunday would be the best day since TCHK will be providing other Arbor Training like Tree Climbing & Chainsaw Operation there. Therefore, why not come down to see both rather than one?
Anyone wishing to take advantage of this opportunity is welcomed to contact the Station Manager for arrangement by e-mail or 9090 6719.
Looking forward to upgrade the quality of trees in our territory to benefit our living with living examples rather than just rhetoric words.
best regards,
Sammy Au
Station Manager
"Trees are good for the community. Trees need care like human beings. Arborists are the Tree Care Professionals."
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
ISA HK/China --- 2008 research in Branch Attachment Strength
Dear Station Members,
Attached is the latest research from ISA on Branch Attachment Strength (BAS) for anyone interested in the subject.
BAS is important in Tree Inspection & Risk Assessment in our territory since the two fatal Tree Failure cases in Ngau Tau Kok of 2006 & Stanley in 2008 both appeared to involve branch failure at attachment point rather than the common Root Crown Failure (RCF) which would topple the whole tree instantly. On the other hand, it appeared to be more common to have RCF in our territory since concrete paving is usually given to cover root zone of our city trees for public convenience. However, fatality case due to RCF has not been detected by this Station so far in our reports, although property damages appeared to be the sole outcome of this failure.
The research attached has re-iterated the common knowledge of Strong Branch Attachment would appear in a branch union where the diameter of the branch is less than half the diameter of the stem at the connection point. Nearly all Certified Arborists (CA) would have studied this for their exam, although some examples of deviation were also given to provide another insight for this conventional concept. The research also mentioned the BAS on other types of branch connection such as Included Bark & the results appeared to confirm the traditional findings.
The mathematics given in this research may be way beyond the exam domains of CA, & may the CA credential taken to be an entry into Professional Arboriculture rather than an end to learning. Our territory now has the Independent Practicing Arborist (IPA) credential which is the target after becoming a CA & every intention is to install the IPA as respected as any other professional status especially for entering China. Only by continuously upgrading & updating the knowledge of our profession that it will be accepted & respected in our territory. The Station Manger was only in Court last week for a Tree Dispute law case & he can very well say that IPA is one hail of skills to face the Cross Examination of the articulate Queen's Counsels on the opposite side.
Back to the attached research, the Station Manger apologizes again for the funny underlining in the attached pages since he was reading the article while travelling on a bus to ETF. Please ignore the underlining if anyone does not see any significance in it.
best regards,
Sammy Au
Station Manger
"Trees are good for the community. Trees need care like human beings. Arborists are the Tree Care Professionals."
Attached is the latest research from ISA on Branch Attachment Strength (BAS) for anyone interested in the subject.
BAS is important in Tree Inspection & Risk Assessment in our territory since the two fatal Tree Failure cases in Ngau Tau Kok of 2006 & Stanley in 2008 both appeared to involve branch failure at attachment point rather than the common Root Crown Failure (RCF) which would topple the whole tree instantly. On the other hand, it appeared to be more common to have RCF in our territory since concrete paving is usually given to cover root zone of our city trees for public convenience. However, fatality case due to RCF has not been detected by this Station so far in our reports, although property damages appeared to be the sole outcome of this failure.
The research attached has re-iterated the common knowledge of Strong Branch Attachment would appear in a branch union where the diameter of the branch is less than half the diameter of the stem at the connection point. Nearly all Certified Arborists (CA) would have studied this for their exam, although some examples of deviation were also given to provide another insight for this conventional concept. The research also mentioned the BAS on other types of branch connection such as Included Bark & the results appeared to confirm the traditional findings.
The mathematics given in this research may be way beyond the exam domains of CA, & may the CA credential taken to be an entry into Professional Arboriculture rather than an end to learning. Our territory now has the Independent Practicing Arborist (IPA) credential which is the target after becoming a CA & every intention is to install the IPA as respected as any other professional status especially for entering China. Only by continuously upgrading & updating the knowledge of our profession that it will be accepted & respected in our territory. The Station Manger was only in Court last week for a Tree Dispute law case & he can very well say that IPA is one hail of skills to face the Cross Examination of the articulate Queen's Counsels on the opposite side.
Back to the attached research, the Station Manger apologizes again for the funny underlining in the attached pages since he was reading the article while travelling on a bus to ETF. Please ignore the underlining if anyone does not see any significance in it.
best regards,
Sammy Au
Station Manger
"Trees are good for the community. Trees need care like human beings. Arborists are the Tree Care Professionals."
Thursday, October 2, 2008
ISA HK/China --- China Tree News (ISA in 2008 IPM)
*** Our weekly Station Mail is for the information of Station Members only, but Station Mail has given up copyright & can be freely circulated. For administrative reasons, comments from outsiders are usually not entertained & may be circulated within our system locally & overseas. Please note Station Mail is sometimes given in Blog at http://isahkchina.blogspot.com/ , although images are usually not attached due to size. ***
Dear Station Members,
Further to our initial efforts to promote ISA in China in the past few months, China has responded favourably in return, & this time on a national scale. The name of ISA is now officially recorded into the Chinese Greenery System for the first time & can be approached by millions of Tree Lovers in China through their own system.
Attached is a newspaper cutting of the China Gardening News (CGN) which is a national newspaper on greenery in China. CGN is the equivalent of Wall Street Journal for greenery in China & is an official "Party Newspaper" circulated to all Landscape Bureaus from Central Govt to Provincial, City & Town levels for their millions of greenery staff to read two times a week. CGN is also read by the public who have interest in greenery in China & this figure would be again astronomical. CGN is the most influential newspaper in China without doubt on greenery & finding a place there today for publicity is like finding water in desert. ISA HK/China somehow did it through IPM participation for free.
The direct translation of the heading in the report would be that "IPM Show has paved the way for ISA to enter China". It may not be what some of our international readers would like to acknowledge but China does not know ISA well enough to throw an open arm to invite us. The social sentiment in China towards anything foreign is still full of scepticism due to a hundred years of invasion history, & this will be the ice that ISA HK/China will work hard to break. We believe that ISA will be good for China, & we want our brothers & sisters to apprehend that.
The author of the article also made comparison in 'judging' a tree with the oriental & western angle. It then went on to the intention of ISA HK/China wanting to spread the knowledge of modern arboriculture into China for the benefit of trees there. Description such as Arborists are Tree Doctors & Tree Detectives were mentioned. The article ended by claiming how popular the IPM Show would be to bring about the hundreds of participants from across the countries.
With some calculated efforts, ISA is now officially registered in the China Greenery System in their database. This may raise some eyebrows in this Land of Old Dragons for them to pay attention to an 84 year old Tree Care Organization of the Western World which has constant research & education on Arboriculture & Urban Forestry, not as a hobby but as a municipal necessity. A lot of such information is also given for free for the benefits of mankind & a better living in the world. If this may all sound too good to be true for our brothers & sisters who think everything has to come with a price tag, it will then become our mission to confirm it to them, one tree at a time.
best regards,
Sammy Au
Station Manager
"Trees are good for the community. Trees need care like human beings. Arborists are the Tree Care Professionals."
Dear Station Members,
Further to our initial efforts to promote ISA in China in the past few months, China has responded favourably in return, & this time on a national scale. The name of ISA is now officially recorded into the Chinese Greenery System for the first time & can be approached by millions of Tree Lovers in China through their own system.
Attached is a newspaper cutting of the China Gardening News (CGN) which is a national newspaper on greenery in China. CGN is the equivalent of Wall Street Journal for greenery in China & is an official "Party Newspaper" circulated to all Landscape Bureaus from Central Govt to Provincial, City & Town levels for their millions of greenery staff to read two times a week. CGN is also read by the public who have interest in greenery in China & this figure would be again astronomical. CGN is the most influential newspaper in China without doubt on greenery & finding a place there today for publicity is like finding water in desert. ISA HK/China somehow did it through IPM participation for free.
The direct translation of the heading in the report would be that "IPM Show has paved the way for ISA to enter China". It may not be what some of our international readers would like to acknowledge but China does not know ISA well enough to throw an open arm to invite us. The social sentiment in China towards anything foreign is still full of scepticism due to a hundred years of invasion history, & this will be the ice that ISA HK/China will work hard to break. We believe that ISA will be good for China, & we want our brothers & sisters to apprehend that.
The author of the article also made comparison in 'judging' a tree with the oriental & western angle. It then went on to the intention of ISA HK/China wanting to spread the knowledge of modern arboriculture into China for the benefit of trees there. Description such as Arborists are Tree Doctors & Tree Detectives were mentioned. The article ended by claiming how popular the IPM Show would be to bring about the hundreds of participants from across the countries.
With some calculated efforts, ISA is now officially registered in the China Greenery System in their database. This may raise some eyebrows in this Land of Old Dragons for them to pay attention to an 84 year old Tree Care Organization of the Western World which has constant research & education on Arboriculture & Urban Forestry, not as a hobby but as a municipal necessity. A lot of such information is also given for free for the benefits of mankind & a better living in the world. If this may all sound too good to be true for our brothers & sisters who think everything has to come with a price tag, it will then become our mission to confirm it to them, one tree at a time.
best regards,
Sammy Au
Station Manager
"Trees are good for the community. Trees need care like human beings. Arborists are the Tree Care Professionals."
Monday, September 29, 2008
ISA HK/China --- 2008 CSGF in China
*** Our weekly Station Mail is for the information of Station Members only, but Station Mail has given up copyright & can be freely circulated. For administrative reasons, comments from outsiders are usually not entertained & may be circulated within our system locally & overseas. Please note Station Mail is sometimes given in Blog at http://isahkchina.blogspot.com/ , although images are usually not attached due to size. ***
Dear Station Members,
China is within the territory of ISA HK/China & all the time, we have been waiting for the right opportunity to promote ISA Arboriculture into there with relentless effort. Now with the joining of KM Li & Tony Ng as Deputy Station Manager, the Station Manager finally has additional energy to spare for exploring this vast & open country. China may remain as the final frontier for ISA Arboriculture with its vast territory, huge population & countless billions of trees. ISA could be seen with a chip of the puzzle missing if China does not join in, & ISA HK/China will take up this mission with our name bearing on it.
After signing for the biggest Flower Show called IPM in China for this December, ISA HK/China has yet again signed up for the 2008 China Southern Green Fair (CSGF) which may be a little smaller in scale, but will be a Trade Show of the Chinese Greenery Industry. CSGF is run in a similar fashion to TCI Expo in North America with trade people coming along as the majority. Information of the CSGF in Chinese is attached for reference.
ISA HK/China has managed to persuade both IPM & CSGF to put in education sessions & Tree Climbing Demonstration for us to promote ISA Arboriculture in their Show. This may be also the first time that in such kind of important Flower Show in China, the organizer has agreed for an international research & education organization to put up seminars for public education. In the past, this kind of Show would not mix in the conference element, since they were organized for buying & selling only, not public education. Therefore, when the Station Manager proposed to provide free seminar & demonstration to the Chinese organizer before signing, they did raise their eyebrows as to why we wanted to offer that.
ISA HK/China has explained in detail the ISA organization & mission to the Chinese organizers in order to get a place at these popular events. China has a very different landscaping system to HK in that they have Landscape Engineers only in their Landscape Bureau to master their greenery, similar to Nparks in Singapore in a way. Landscaping is viewed by the Chinese as part of engineering & their Landscape Engineers would need to look after trees from cradle to grave from design, installation, maintenance, regular inspection, risk assessment to final removal. ISA Arboriculture appears to fit in well with the Chinese mentality in that both are looking for research & development, & sustainability of tree care. We have appeared to talk in the same scientific language on trees with similar concerns on practicality & functions.
In our discussion with the Chinese experts so far, they have great appreciation in our Independent Practicing Arborist (IPA) system in that an IPA can write, climb, rig, operate chainsaws with international vision & connection. IPA is something that the Chinese Landscaping System does not currently have in equivalent at present. They have also appeared to favour our Certified Tree Worker (CTW) credential with respect to Tree Work to be regarded as not the same as construction work, & must be performed by specialists trained in the field for supervision & execution. Municipal Tree Work in China is performed by greenery workers of their own Landscape Bureau, supervised by their own Tree Experts, & not by common construction companies.
In a shorter term, ISA HK/China can see a great future for the CTW credential to develop in China, since CTW exam can be conducted in Chinese. CTW carries the basics in Tree Work knowledge & practice, like cabling & bracing, safety requirement, pruning & rigging. With the billions of trees in China in their 900 cities & their lack of ability in understanding English, CTW may fit in well with their current landscaping system. On the other hand, CA exam in our territory is conducted in English only since CA is required to connect to the world & need to advance themselves with international knowledge in CEU. CEU is currently conducted in English only in our territory.To translate the knowledge into English is also beyond the ability of ISA HK/China at present & then what about all the latest research that comes out in ISA nearly every month? It would therefore defeat logic to have our local CA not able to master adequate English, nevermind the IPA which the Chinese have appreciated so much.
We anticipate our promotion of ISA to spark off like firework in IPM & CSGF later on in December. Our Tree Climbers will also get their chance to flash off their feathers in front of an astonishing Chinese audience, who would not believe Tree Climbing could be carried out by ropes & harnesses for Structural Pruning & Rigging in a tree. Tree Climbing & IPA appear be the advantages for ISA HK/China to enter China & may we take maximum benefit out of them.
ISA HK/China really has the vision to develop China from now on, rather than to stay forever in tiny HK. May anyone willing to join us stand by our side, & we shall march in together to make history for their trees in this Land of Old Dragons.
best regards,
Sammy Au
Station Manager
"Trees are good for the community. Trees need care like human beings. Arborists are the Tree Care Professionals."
Dear Station Members,
China is within the territory of ISA HK/China & all the time, we have been waiting for the right opportunity to promote ISA Arboriculture into there with relentless effort. Now with the joining of KM Li & Tony Ng as Deputy Station Manager, the Station Manager finally has additional energy to spare for exploring this vast & open country. China may remain as the final frontier for ISA Arboriculture with its vast territory, huge population & countless billions of trees. ISA could be seen with a chip of the puzzle missing if China does not join in, & ISA HK/China will take up this mission with our name bearing on it.
After signing for the biggest Flower Show called IPM in China for this December, ISA HK/China has yet again signed up for the 2008 China Southern Green Fair (CSGF) which may be a little smaller in scale, but will be a Trade Show of the Chinese Greenery Industry. CSGF is run in a similar fashion to TCI Expo in North America with trade people coming along as the majority. Information of the CSGF in Chinese is attached for reference.
ISA HK/China has managed to persuade both IPM & CSGF to put in education sessions & Tree Climbing Demonstration for us to promote ISA Arboriculture in their Show. This may be also the first time that in such kind of important Flower Show in China, the organizer has agreed for an international research & education organization to put up seminars for public education. In the past, this kind of Show would not mix in the conference element, since they were organized for buying & selling only, not public education. Therefore, when the Station Manager proposed to provide free seminar & demonstration to the Chinese organizer before signing, they did raise their eyebrows as to why we wanted to offer that.
ISA HK/China has explained in detail the ISA organization & mission to the Chinese organizers in order to get a place at these popular events. China has a very different landscaping system to HK in that they have Landscape Engineers only in their Landscape Bureau to master their greenery, similar to Nparks in Singapore in a way. Landscaping is viewed by the Chinese as part of engineering & their Landscape Engineers would need to look after trees from cradle to grave from design, installation, maintenance, regular inspection, risk assessment to final removal. ISA Arboriculture appears to fit in well with the Chinese mentality in that both are looking for research & development, & sustainability of tree care. We have appeared to talk in the same scientific language on trees with similar concerns on practicality & functions.
In our discussion with the Chinese experts so far, they have great appreciation in our Independent Practicing Arborist (IPA) system in that an IPA can write, climb, rig, operate chainsaws with international vision & connection. IPA is something that the Chinese Landscaping System does not currently have in equivalent at present. They have also appeared to favour our Certified Tree Worker (CTW) credential with respect to Tree Work to be regarded as not the same as construction work, & must be performed by specialists trained in the field for supervision & execution. Municipal Tree Work in China is performed by greenery workers of their own Landscape Bureau, supervised by their own Tree Experts, & not by common construction companies.
In a shorter term, ISA HK/China can see a great future for the CTW credential to develop in China, since CTW exam can be conducted in Chinese. CTW carries the basics in Tree Work knowledge & practice, like cabling & bracing, safety requirement, pruning & rigging. With the billions of trees in China in their 900 cities & their lack of ability in understanding English, CTW may fit in well with their current landscaping system. On the other hand, CA exam in our territory is conducted in English only since CA is required to connect to the world & need to advance themselves with international knowledge in CEU. CEU is currently conducted in English only in our territory.To translate the knowledge into English is also beyond the ability of ISA HK/China at present & then what about all the latest research that comes out in ISA nearly every month? It would therefore defeat logic to have our local CA not able to master adequate English, nevermind the IPA which the Chinese have appreciated so much.
We anticipate our promotion of ISA to spark off like firework in IPM & CSGF later on in December. Our Tree Climbers will also get their chance to flash off their feathers in front of an astonishing Chinese audience, who would not believe Tree Climbing could be carried out by ropes & harnesses for Structural Pruning & Rigging in a tree. Tree Climbing & IPA appear be the advantages for ISA HK/China to enter China & may we take maximum benefit out of them.
ISA HK/China really has the vision to develop China from now on, rather than to stay forever in tiny HK. May anyone willing to join us stand by our side, & we shall march in together to make history for their trees in this Land of Old Dragons.
best regards,
Sammy Au
Station Manager
"Trees are good for the community. Trees need care like human beings. Arborists are the Tree Care Professionals."
Monday, September 22, 2008
ISA HK/China --- 2008 Green Thumbs Tree Climbing Competition results
Dear Station Members,
It is the utmost pleasure of ISA HK/China to announce to you that our Tree Climbers have achieved excellent results at the 2008 Green Thumbs Tree Climbing Championship in Singapore on 13.9.2008 as follows:
1. Champion Chainsaw Operator --- Tony Ng, Deputy Station Manager of ISA HK/China
2. Champion Work Safety & Health (WSH) Practitioner --- Tony Ng, Deputy Station Manager of ISA HK/China
3. Champion Chainsaw Operator Second Place --- Mr. SY Ho in the name of ISA HK/China from Fung Kai Tree Climbing
4. Master Challenge Second Place --- Mr. KW Lee in the name of ISA HK/China from Fung Kai Climbing
5. Men's Speed Climb First Place --- Mr. KW Lee in the name of ISA HK/China from Fung Kai Climbing
6. Men's Head to Head Foot Lock First Place --- Mr. KW Lee in the name of ISA HK/China from Fung Kai Climbing
7. Men's Head to Head Foot Lock Second Place --- Mr. SY Ho in the name of ISA HK/China from Fung Kai Tree Climbing
8. Women's Head to Head Foot Lock First Place --- Miss LS Chau in the name of ISA HK/China from Fung Kai Tree Climbing
All in all, our Tree Climbers have collected 8 Awards at the 2008 Green Thumbs Tree Climbing Championship for ISA HK/China & HK. This is the best results that HK Tree Climbers have ever scored in any International Tree Climbing Championship.
Besides where they would come from originally in our territory, all above climbers are members of TCHK (http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/treeclimbinghk) which is the training arm of ISA HK/China for practical skills in arboriculture including Tree Climbing, Chainsaw Operation, Aerial Rescue & Rigging. TCHK runs regular classes in Fung Kai School or Eurasian Garden nearly every Sunday for public entries.
It is our congratulation to the contestants who have worked so hard to bring honour to ISA HK/China & our territory. We also wish to thank Fung Kai School for providing the venue & facilities without which, there can be no Tree Climbing Champions of ours of today in Brisbane & Singapore. Modern Tree Climbing of ISA HK/China really started at Fung Kai School 2 years ago by the Station Manager to their students & the name of Fung Kai School will be down in history of modern arboriculture in China when ISA HK/China spreads into there later on in December.
Tree Climbing is on the rise in HK now & we have proven to the world that Chinese Climbers can compete internationally if we can be given facilities & proper training. It will be good if the HK Govt can consider to provide additional training ground in their parks or housing estates for us to develop proper Tree Climbing to the public, like Singapore is doing so in their city parks. With which, HK can certainly bring about further honours to our society & to arouse more interest to preserve & protect our trees by positively touching them.
Who would love a tree more than a Tree Climber who touches it?
best regards,
Sammy Au
Station Manager
Friday, September 19, 2008
ISA HK/China --- HK Tree News (Contracting out Tree Inspection and Public Commnet on Tree Work)
*** Our weekly Station Mail is for the information of Station Members only, but Station Mail has given up copyright & can be freely circulated. For administrative reasons, comments from outsiders are usually not entertained & may be circulated within our system locally & overseas. Please note Station Mail is sometimes given in Blog at http://isahkchina.blogspot.com/ , although images are usually not attached due to size. ***
Dear Station Members,
Below & attached are two sets of recent news concerning our local trees in the media:
(A) Contracting out Tree Inspection Work
The media has been asking for opinions among landscape professionals on contracting out Tree Inspection & Risk Assessment in HK. Some are in favour & some have reservation which is all natural in a free speech society.
The essence of the discussion really rests with the reliability & sustainability of contracting out the work, & how the work is going to be carried out & by whom. The HK Govt has by tradition employed many consultants in the engineering & planning field, & ISA HK/China has every confidence that our Govt has the ability to issue the right direction & requirement for contracting out Tree Work, if it ever becomes necessary.
There should also be a grading system as to which level of Tree Inspection is to be carried out by what level of expertise. For example, if the public untrained in arboriculture is to be invited to carry out elementary Tree Inspection work, then what should the see & report? The next level may be the Certified Arborist (CA) who are tested by 200 multiple choice questions only to become Certified. Then should they be asked to inspect trees which would require Tree Climbing for canopy defects? Should we decide on a size of a tree to be inspected for CA & beyond for a higher level like the Independent Practicing Arborist (IPA) who has a better experience & reliability?
For a detailed Risk Assessment on a mature tree, the Tree Assessor would need to be familiar with subjects like Tree Biology, Tree Biomechanics, & Tree Work like Structural Pruning, Cabling & Bracing, Decay Detection Methods, etc. Tree Climbing is frequently necessary to inspect structural faults in canopy & the Tree Assessor must have keen observation & experience in the body language of a mature tree. ISA HK/China would recommend training in advanced Tree Biology of Dr. Alex Shigo & Biomechanics by Prof Mattheck as a basic start in carrying out this kind of work, & it appears that all these are way beyond the testing requirement in the current CA exam.
It is therefore apparent that different level of expertise would be necessary to do different level of work, & every level should really take part to form a complete service to help our trees. Trees nowadays are public properties & they are regarded as permanent structures in our city, like lamp posts & traffic lights. Public participation would also encourage our public to protect trees & public resentment would be quelled once they have learned that trees are living creatures just like human beings. Trees do need care. ISA HK/China encourages public involvement in Tree Care & sees this is a way to better protect & preserve our valuable trees.
(B) Public Comment on Tree Work
This message is given in the attachment in Chinese from a local newspaper. ISA HK/China is only interested in the technical part for the discussion & not anything else.
ISA HK/China agrees with the Expert's opinion which is underlined in the message that to understand tree health, the inspector has to touch trees rather than photos alone. Tree Climbing may be necessary at times if canopy problem is suspected, e.g. decay & cracks. Tree Pruning has always been a complicated subject under intensive study at ISA all around the world. Pruning to a tree is like surgery to a human. Once any tree part is removed, it can not be nailed or glued back, & the tree will develop responsive growth to try to recover the lost part.
Another important consideration in proper pruning is the Wind Loading on a tree after pruning & in future growth. It appeared in our territory that a lot of trees failed its parts after pruning, not after installation. If the pruning creates large wound which can not be successfully compartmentalized by a tree lacking vigour, the decay would develop inside to spread to the root crown & topple the tree in wind. In the opinion of ISA HK/China, what trees have suffered most in our territory is from bad pruning, yet proper pruning would require the knowledge of Tree Biology & Wind Mechanics which are beyond the knowledge of common landscape workers. Pruning is much more than cutting at the right angle from Brach Bark Ridge to Branch Collar, but on why, where & how much to remove with what.
Tree Work is specialist skills known around the western world. Even in Britain among the many British Tree Experts discussed with the Station Manager in ISA meetings & communication, Tree Work over there is usually handled by their Arboricultural Officers who are trained & experienced Arborists. If HK is to carry proper tree care, this may be the general direction we suppose. We respect that our LCSD has the most number & experienced Arborists & best equipment in our Govt to carry out Tree Care. It would be good if LCSD may wish to help out on that.
best regards,
Sammy Au
Station Manager
"Trees are good for the community. Trees need care like human beings. Arborists are the Tree Care Professionals."
Dear Station Members,
Below & attached are two sets of recent news concerning our local trees in the media:
(A) Contracting out Tree Inspection Work
The media has been asking for opinions among landscape professionals on contracting out Tree Inspection & Risk Assessment in HK. Some are in favour & some have reservation which is all natural in a free speech society.
The essence of the discussion really rests with the reliability & sustainability of contracting out the work, & how the work is going to be carried out & by whom. The HK Govt has by tradition employed many consultants in the engineering & planning field, & ISA HK/China has every confidence that our Govt has the ability to issue the right direction & requirement for contracting out Tree Work, if it ever becomes necessary.
There should also be a grading system as to which level of Tree Inspection is to be carried out by what level of expertise. For example, if the public untrained in arboriculture is to be invited to carry out elementary Tree Inspection work, then what should the see & report? The next level may be the Certified Arborist (CA) who are tested by 200 multiple choice questions only to become Certified. Then should they be asked to inspect trees which would require Tree Climbing for canopy defects? Should we decide on a size of a tree to be inspected for CA & beyond for a higher level like the Independent Practicing Arborist (IPA) who has a better experience & reliability?
For a detailed Risk Assessment on a mature tree, the Tree Assessor would need to be familiar with subjects like Tree Biology, Tree Biomechanics, & Tree Work like Structural Pruning, Cabling & Bracing, Decay Detection Methods, etc. Tree Climbing is frequently necessary to inspect structural faults in canopy & the Tree Assessor must have keen observation & experience in the body language of a mature tree. ISA HK/China would recommend training in advanced Tree Biology of Dr. Alex Shigo & Biomechanics by Prof Mattheck as a basic start in carrying out this kind of work, & it appears that all these are way beyond the testing requirement in the current CA exam.
It is therefore apparent that different level of expertise would be necessary to do different level of work, & every level should really take part to form a complete service to help our trees. Trees nowadays are public properties & they are regarded as permanent structures in our city, like lamp posts & traffic lights. Public participation would also encourage our public to protect trees & public resentment would be quelled once they have learned that trees are living creatures just like human beings. Trees do need care. ISA HK/China encourages public involvement in Tree Care & sees this is a way to better protect & preserve our valuable trees.
(B) Public Comment on Tree Work
This message is given in the attachment in Chinese from a local newspaper. ISA HK/China is only interested in the technical part for the discussion & not anything else.
ISA HK/China agrees with the Expert's opinion which is underlined in the message that to understand tree health, the inspector has to touch trees rather than photos alone. Tree Climbing may be necessary at times if canopy problem is suspected, e.g. decay & cracks. Tree Pruning has always been a complicated subject under intensive study at ISA all around the world. Pruning to a tree is like surgery to a human. Once any tree part is removed, it can not be nailed or glued back, & the tree will develop responsive growth to try to recover the lost part.
Another important consideration in proper pruning is the Wind Loading on a tree after pruning & in future growth. It appeared in our territory that a lot of trees failed its parts after pruning, not after installation. If the pruning creates large wound which can not be successfully compartmentalized by a tree lacking vigour, the decay would develop inside to spread to the root crown & topple the tree in wind. In the opinion of ISA HK/China, what trees have suffered most in our territory is from bad pruning, yet proper pruning would require the knowledge of Tree Biology & Wind Mechanics which are beyond the knowledge of common landscape workers. Pruning is much more than cutting at the right angle from Brach Bark Ridge to Branch Collar, but on why, where & how much to remove with what.
Tree Work is specialist skills known around the western world. Even in Britain among the many British Tree Experts discussed with the Station Manager in ISA meetings & communication, Tree Work over there is usually handled by their Arboricultural Officers who are trained & experienced Arborists. If HK is to carry proper tree care, this may be the general direction we suppose. We respect that our LCSD has the most number & experienced Arborists & best equipment in our Govt to carry out Tree Care. It would be good if LCSD may wish to help out on that.
best regards,
Sammy Au
Station Manager
"Trees are good for the community. Trees need care like human beings. Arborists are the Tree Care Professionals."
市場足承接外判樹木管理
【明報專訊】康文署正研究是否需要把樹木護理工作外判，有園境師和樹藝師皆表示，本港有足夠承建商和樹藝師接收約72萬棵樹木，包括逾500棵古樹的檢查和護理工作；但有樹木專家表示，全面外判可能導致質素參差，建議康文署保留護理古樹的權力。
港有逾10間綠化承建商
園境師學會前會長、香港顧問園境師協會主席劉興達表示，本港有10多間綠化承建商從事綠化工作，包括園景設計及規劃、樹木檢查及護理等，部分一直為康文署工作，若政府開放保育樹木工作，相信有足夠能力承接。他又指出，政府可透過制訂保育樹木政策，監管園境師和承建商分區管理約72萬棵樹木，「當局可按區招標，聘請顧問公司評估區內所有樹木的重要性、存在風險及護理方法等，撰寫報告和落實護理計劃」。
國際樹木學會中國地區分會會長歐永森指出，本港約有110名註冊樹藝師，「樹藝師只通過筆試，與具實戰經驗、攀樹師牌照等的獨立執業樹藝師（IPA）不同，IPA 能為檢查報告負上法律責任，亦不偏幫政府或保育組織，能獨立工作」。本港現有5至6個執業樹藝師，有能力檢查全港樹木。
環團憂外判商參差
身兼樹藝師的長春社保育經理蘇國賢指出，他認為外判商的質素參差，而且會隨重新招標而不斷更替，不宜負責保育古樹工作。「始終古樹一死就沒有，康文署不能只看外判商的報告就當完成管理工作。」他認為古樹的管理應由康文署負責，至於其他樹木，則可透過加強監管外判。
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
ISA HK/China --- HK Tree News (Tree Work Accident in Lantau Island)
*** Our weekly Station Mail is for the information of Station Members only, but Station Mail has given up copyright & can be freely circulated. For administrative reasons, comments from outsiders are usually not entertained & may be circulated within our system locally & overseas. Please note Station Mail is sometimes given in Blog at http://isahkchina.blogspot.com/ , although images are usually not attached due to size. ***
Dear Station Members,
Below is yet another sad case of Tree Work accident which, according to the media report, has resulted in critical injury of a Tree Worker while he was cutting down a 20 m tall Eucalyptus citrioda in Lantau Island yesterday. The tree was said to fall unexpected in the wrong direction to pull the crane lorry along with it, hitting & pressing the Tree Worker while he was trying to escape. From the photos so shown, the section of tree would weigh at least a ton to cause serious damage to any human being underneath.
Tree Work is very dangerous!! In the West, Tree Work is mostly carried out & supervised by trained personnel like Certified Tree Worker (CTW) or equivalent, & would not be administered by construction workers or ordinary landscape workers. ISA HK/China also does not believe our current Govt Specialist Contractors are trained in Rigging, Tree Climbing, Arboricultural Safety Procedures, Tree Pruning & Chainsaw Operation like an ISA Tree Worker, & would recommend at least a CTW to be present on site to supervise or carry out any proper Tree Work, if not an Independent Practicing Arborist (IPA) who is expert in both.
Tree Work appears to be carried out some time somewhere in our territory everyday. ISA HK/China frequently hears accidents due to one reason or another. We have also noticed that this critical injury did not draw as much attention in media like the Stanley Tree Failure case. Would it be because it was a construction worker who got hit this time & not a prominent member of public? Or would it be becasue it was not a case resulting in fatality? Would any improvement in working procedure or supervision be reviewed & by whom?
In any case, Tree Workers in our industry may have to take special prayer at present to protect themselves. What else can?
best regards,
Sammy Au
Station Manager
"Trees are good for the community. Trees need care like human beings. Arborists are the Tree Care Professionals."
Dear Station Members,
Below is yet another sad case of Tree Work accident which, according to the media report, has resulted in critical injury of a Tree Worker while he was cutting down a 20 m tall Eucalyptus citrioda in Lantau Island yesterday. The tree was said to fall unexpected in the wrong direction to pull the crane lorry along with it, hitting & pressing the Tree Worker while he was trying to escape. From the photos so shown, the section of tree would weigh at least a ton to cause serious damage to any human being underneath.
Tree Work is very dangerous!! In the West, Tree Work is mostly carried out & supervised by trained personnel like Certified Tree Worker (CTW) or equivalent, & would not be administered by construction workers or ordinary landscape workers. ISA HK/China also does not believe our current Govt Specialist Contractors are trained in Rigging, Tree Climbing, Arboricultural Safety Procedures, Tree Pruning & Chainsaw Operation like an ISA Tree Worker, & would recommend at least a CTW to be present on site to supervise or carry out any proper Tree Work, if not an Independent Practicing Arborist (IPA) who is expert in both.
Tree Work appears to be carried out some time somewhere in our territory everyday. ISA HK/China frequently hears accidents due to one reason or another. We have also noticed that this critical injury did not draw as much attention in media like the Stanley Tree Failure case. Would it be because it was a construction worker who got hit this time & not a prominent member of public? Or would it be becasue it was not a case resulting in fatality? Would any improvement in working procedure or supervision be reviewed & by whom?
In any case, Tree Workers in our industry may have to take special prayer at present to protect themselves. What else can?
best regards,
Sammy Au
Station Manager
"Trees are good for the community. Trees need care like human beings. Arborists are the Tree Care Professionals."
工人鋸樹走避不及被壓危殆
9月18日 星期四 05:15
【明報專訊】東涌昨日發生罕見「塌樹」傷人意外。數名工人在東涌道鋸斷一棵高20米、直徑1米的大樹時，為安全計已利用24噸吊臂車及鐵鏈固定樹身，惟大樹被鋸下時疑因樹身太重，吊臂車不勝負荷被扯至翻側。一名工人走避不及被大樹壓傷背部，重傷昏迷，由工友合力救出送院搶救。
24噸吊臂車被拉至翻側
現場為大嶼山東涌道北行線近18區墳場路邊，路政署在上址進行東涌道擴闊工程，外判工程公司工人需將路旁數棵俗稱「檸檬桉」的桉樹鋸除。數棵桉樹均約20米高、直徑約1米，工人用鐵鏈綑綁樹幹後，再將鐵鏈連接到一輛24噸工程車的吊臂以固定樹身，然後用電鋸砍伐。
事發於昨午5時05分，歐某與工友在砍伐一棵桉樹時，大樹被鋸下翻側，疑因樹身太重，吊臂車不勝負荷被扯至翻側，在場工人大驚走避，但歐某走避不及被塌下大樹壓中背部倒地重傷，工友見狀合力將他救出，交由救護車送院。
路政署發言人表示，東涌道擴闊工程根據設計，承建商需在工地範圍分別移除、移植及新植樹木，數目共超過20萬棵。這次塌樹傷人意外，署方已要求承建商提交報告。
Saturday, September 13, 2008
ISA HK/China --- HK Tree News (Tree Rigging at Jockey Club Tak Wah Park, Tsuen Wan)
*** Our weekly Station Mail is for the information of Station Members only, but Station Mail has given up copyright & can be freely circulated. For administrative reasons, comments from outsiders are usually not entertained & may be circulated within our system locally & overseas. Please note Station Mail is sometimes given in Blog at http://isahkchina.blogspot.com/ , although images are usually not attached due to size. ***
Dear Station Members & Media Friends,
Attached are two sets of newspaper cutting concerning the Tree Rigging at Jockey Club Tak Wah Park in Tsuen Wan. The Station Manager hereby provides his side of the story with him commanding on site everyday for the work. This report is written under our Station Principles of Integrity, Professionalism, Participation, Fact-finding & Truth-telling with the knowledge & witness of an Independent Practicing Arborist (IPA). Station Members would appreciate the quality of an IPA in our territory, to comment on specialist work of this kind as entirely different from general landscape work of our Govt Approved Specialist Contractors.
To state out some facts, rather than just attending a 3 day session to complete the Tree Work for the two Erythrinas in this Park as acknowledged by the public, the Station Manager & his contractors have made 3 study trips prior to the work to ascertain Rigging Points & Work Plan. The final cleaning up of the brush was actually completed at 5pm on Saturday 13.9.08. It therefore took 3 days for the planning, 4 days for the rigging & 1 day for the cleaning up, making it a total of 8 days for the whole process.
One of the 2 Erythrinas was actually leaning towards a Third Class Historic Relic within the Park & any property damage there would be unthinkable. The bigger tree was situated in a peninsula straddling a lake with lamp posts, wooden railings & other structures underneath. This Park was always full of visitors at all times & a lot of them appeared to enjoy looking for attractions to entertain themselves. Then there were the TV & newspaper reporters with cameras & constant phone calls to the Station Manger asking for progress & judgment on why & worthiness to remove the trees. Social sentiments were strong to retain all or part of the trees & one Legco Members has advised the Station Manager to cut to a higher level in order to quell public outcry. The Station Manager has become the focus of the media, but has stood firm to carry out his duty as he was told.
On the equipment side, the Station Manager has deployed 1 no. of 10 inch extended chainsaw, 2 no. of 12 inch top handle chainsaw, 1 no. 14 inch top handle chainsaw, 2 no. of 18 inch back handle chainsaw & 1 no. of 30 inch back handle chainsaw, plus a varieties of Pole Saws & Hand Saws for the cutting. Among all 7 chainsaws employed, all has broken down eventually with the exception of the Oleo-Mac 18 inch chainsaw which was bought on the last day in Reclamation Street to complete the root stump grinding work. 3 rigging lines were also damaged & have to be thrown away. Then there were damages to Pole Saws, climbing equipment & accessories of all kinds since the work was demanded to be all completed including brush removal by evening of 13.8.08, so that the Park could be open safely for use for the Mid-Autumn Festival starting in evening of 13.8.08.
The work began at 8am on Tuesday 9.9.08 with LCSD staff repeating the Tomograph to finally ascertain decay positions. The cutting the smaller Erythrina began at 10.30am under care & the work did not stop to until nearly 8pm in the evening. In the cavities of both Erythrinas, there were concrete fillings of the past, steel nails, steel wires, roof tile chippings & rock particles which damaged the chainsaws one by one. There were also hundreds of insects of all kinds extruding from the trees as the cutting progressed & every climber was full of sawdust from head to toe during the climb. It was sunny & hot day everyday during the work & when the sweat mixed in with the sawdust & exhaust fumes from the chainsaws, the Station Manager would invite anyone disagreeing with Rigging to try to mix with us to enjoy the sensation of work of a Professional Tree Worker.
Among the heat, the exhaustion & the watchful eyes of the media during the Rigging, the work had to be completed within a designated time frame before the Mid-Autumn Festival. Any delay could invite attack from the public. Most of the Tree Workers who took part in the Rigging practically slept only 4 - 5 hours a night during the work & had all taken the Rigging work as a mission to demonstrate the exceptional quality of ISA Tree Workers in our territory. They all have an intention to show our public that Tree Workers are not the same as general landscape workers & they were proving this by deeds.
At the moment when the last piece of 3 meter trunk finally fell to the ground for the big Erythrina at 7.45pm on Friday 12.9.08, after wiping off his sweat & settled his emotion, the Station Manager looked up to the sky & said to himself:
"Kitty, we have done this one for you. We have removed yet other hazardous tree in HK for your sake."
It was a calm moment. There were smiles among all 6 workers who took part. The sky also appeared to smile back at us with a bright moon & passing cloud ...
best regards,
Sammy Au
Station Manager
"Trees are good for the community. Trees need care like human beings. Arborists are the Tree Care Professionals."
Dear Station Members & Media Friends,
Attached are two sets of newspaper cutting concerning the Tree Rigging at Jockey Club Tak Wah Park in Tsuen Wan. The Station Manager hereby provides his side of the story with him commanding on site everyday for the work. This report is written under our Station Principles of Integrity, Professionalism, Participation, Fact-finding & Truth-telling with the knowledge & witness of an Independent Practicing Arborist (IPA). Station Members would appreciate the quality of an IPA in our territory, to comment on specialist work of this kind as entirely different from general landscape work of our Govt Approved Specialist Contractors.
To state out some facts, rather than just attending a 3 day session to complete the Tree Work for the two Erythrinas in this Park as acknowledged by the public, the Station Manager & his contractors have made 3 study trips prior to the work to ascertain Rigging Points & Work Plan. The final cleaning up of the brush was actually completed at 5pm on Saturday 13.9.08. It therefore took 3 days for the planning, 4 days for the rigging & 1 day for the cleaning up, making it a total of 8 days for the whole process.
One of the 2 Erythrinas was actually leaning towards a Third Class Historic Relic within the Park & any property damage there would be unthinkable. The bigger tree was situated in a peninsula straddling a lake with lamp posts, wooden railings & other structures underneath. This Park was always full of visitors at all times & a lot of them appeared to enjoy looking for attractions to entertain themselves. Then there were the TV & newspaper reporters with cameras & constant phone calls to the Station Manger asking for progress & judgment on why & worthiness to remove the trees. Social sentiments were strong to retain all or part of the trees & one Legco Members has advised the Station Manager to cut to a higher level in order to quell public outcry. The Station Manager has become the focus of the media, but has stood firm to carry out his duty as he was told.
On the equipment side, the Station Manager has deployed 1 no. of 10 inch extended chainsaw, 2 no. of 12 inch top handle chainsaw, 1 no. 14 inch top handle chainsaw, 2 no. of 18 inch back handle chainsaw & 1 no. of 30 inch back handle chainsaw, plus a varieties of Pole Saws & Hand Saws for the cutting. Among all 7 chainsaws employed, all has broken down eventually with the exception of the Oleo-Mac 18 inch chainsaw which was bought on the last day in Reclamation Street to complete the root stump grinding work. 3 rigging lines were also damaged & have to be thrown away. Then there were damages to Pole Saws, climbing equipment & accessories of all kinds since the work was demanded to be all completed including brush removal by evening of 13.8.08, so that the Park could be open safely for use for the Mid-Autumn Festival starting in evening of 13.8.08.
The work began at 8am on Tuesday 9.9.08 with LCSD staff repeating the Tomograph to finally ascertain decay positions. The cutting the smaller Erythrina began at 10.30am under care & the work did not stop to until nearly 8pm in the evening. In the cavities of both Erythrinas, there were concrete fillings of the past, steel nails, steel wires, roof tile chippings & rock particles which damaged the chainsaws one by one. There were also hundreds of insects of all kinds extruding from the trees as the cutting progressed & every climber was full of sawdust from head to toe during the climb. It was sunny & hot day everyday during the work & when the sweat mixed in with the sawdust & exhaust fumes from the chainsaws, the Station Manager would invite anyone disagreeing with Rigging to try to mix with us to enjoy the sensation of work of a Professional Tree Worker.
Among the heat, the exhaustion & the watchful eyes of the media during the Rigging, the work had to be completed within a designated time frame before the Mid-Autumn Festival. Any delay could invite attack from the public. Most of the Tree Workers who took part in the Rigging practically slept only 4 - 5 hours a night during the work & had all taken the Rigging work as a mission to demonstrate the exceptional quality of ISA Tree Workers in our territory. They all have an intention to show our public that Tree Workers are not the same as general landscape workers & they were proving this by deeds.
At the moment when the last piece of 3 meter trunk finally fell to the ground for the big Erythrina at 7.45pm on Friday 12.9.08, after wiping off his sweat & settled his emotion, the Station Manager looked up to the sky & said to himself:
"Kitty, we have done this one for you. We have removed yet other hazardous tree in HK for your sake."
It was a calm moment. There were smiles among all 6 workers who took part. The sky also appeared to smile back at us with a bright moon & passing cloud ...
best regards,
Sammy Au
Station Manager
"Trees are good for the community. Trees need care like human beings. Arborists are the Tree Care Professionals."
ISA HK/China --- Tree Stories of RTHK (Last Episode)
*** Our weekly Station Mail is for the information of Station Members only, but Station Mail has given up copyright & can be freely circulated. For administrative reasons, comments from outsiders are usually not entertained & may be circulated within our system locally & overseas. Please note Station Mail is sometimes given in Blog at http://isahkchina.blogspot.com , although images are usually not attached due to size. ***
Dear Station Members,
Please kindly note that the last episode of the Tree Stories of RTHK will be shown at 7 pm of Tuesday Sep 16 on ATV Chinese Channel. This particular series will focus on the Arborist Profession, Tree Inspection, Tree Climbing, Structural Pruning & Tree Removal. This is a program worth recording for future reference since the knowledge & demonstration contained were not commonly shown on TV in HK in the past.
Those of you who complained about that you did not see very much of the Station Manager in the previous series should be seeing a lot of him in this coming one. The Station Manager will be providing comments as an Independent Practicing Arborist (IPA) on how to carry out proper Tree Work, & by the way, Tree Work is not only all about Tree Climbing alone, but along with many others. The Certified Tree Worker (CTW) credential in our territory has sometimes been mistakenly taken as a little better than an ordinary construction worker or gardener. While there are over 22,000 Certified Arborists (CA) in the world & only around 750 CTW, there must be something special about this functional credential.
The CTW exam has always had a very low passing rate in our territory & the CTW practical test has to climb a real tree with approved equipment & skills to imitate proper Tree Work on a tree. The Station Manager is not ashamed to say that he has used all these skills in removing the two ailing Erythrinas in the Jockey Club Tak Wah Park in Tsuen Wan in front of an ocean of media & public. He did not quite believe an ordinary construction worker could do the same within the time frame, under heavy pressure & potential danger to satisfy the curiosity of the media & public in this kind of work.
Arboriculture is definitely on the rise in HK & China now like never before. ISA HK/China will push hard to bring our skills & knowledge up north to benefit our 1.3 billion brothers & sisters to have safer & better trees in their +900 cities all over China, one tree at a time.
Happy viewing of the last episode of Tree Stories to all of you.
best regards,
Sammy Au
Station Manager
"Trees are good for the community. Trees need care like human beings. Arborists are the Tree Care Professionals."
Dear Station Members,
Please kindly note that the last episode of the Tree Stories of RTHK will be shown at 7 pm of Tuesday Sep 16 on ATV Chinese Channel. This particular series will focus on the Arborist Profession, Tree Inspection, Tree Climbing, Structural Pruning & Tree Removal. This is a program worth recording for future reference since the knowledge & demonstration contained were not commonly shown on TV in HK in the past.
Those of you who complained about that you did not see very much of the Station Manager in the previous series should be seeing a lot of him in this coming one. The Station Manager will be providing comments as an Independent Practicing Arborist (IPA) on how to carry out proper Tree Work, & by the way, Tree Work is not only all about Tree Climbing alone, but along with many others. The Certified Tree Worker (CTW) credential in our territory has sometimes been mistakenly taken as a little better than an ordinary construction worker or gardener. While there are over 22,000 Certified Arborists (CA) in the world & only around 750 CTW, there must be something special about this functional credential.
The CTW exam has always had a very low passing rate in our territory & the CTW practical test has to climb a real tree with approved equipment & skills to imitate proper Tree Work on a tree. The Station Manager is not ashamed to say that he has used all these skills in removing the two ailing Erythrinas in the Jockey Club Tak Wah Park in Tsuen Wan in front of an ocean of media & public. He did not quite believe an ordinary construction worker could do the same within the time frame, under heavy pressure & potential danger to satisfy the curiosity of the media & public in this kind of work.
Arboriculture is definitely on the rise in HK & China now like never before. ISA HK/China will push hard to bring our skills & knowledge up north to benefit our 1.3 billion brothers & sisters to have safer & better trees in their +900 cities all over China, one tree at a time.
Happy viewing of the last episode of Tree Stories to all of you.
best regards,
Sammy Au
Station Manager
"Trees are good for the community. Trees need care like human beings. Arborists are the Tree Care Professionals."
Monday, September 8, 2008
ISA HK/China --- 2008 Green Thumbs Tree Climbing Competition
Dear Station Members & Media Friends,
Owing to the sudden explosion of workload on the Station Manager after the fatal tree failure case in Stanley, it has become impossible & inappropriate for the Station Manager to be away from HK before the Mid-Autumn Festival period of now to Sep 16. It is therefore the biggest regret of the Station Manager to inform all of you that he can not attend the Green Thumbs Climbing Event in Singapore to take our Climbers to compete for our territory, despite all travel arrangement has already been booked & paid for.
On the other hand, ISA HK/China has designated our Deputy Station Manager Mr. Tony Ng to go in place of the Station Manager to this important event. We would advise anyone requiring information or liaison for this event, please kindly contact Tony for help & organization.
As for our Media friends, the Station Manager is open for calls from 7am to 10pm everyday as usual during this period. Please call in at 9090 6719 for any of your enquires on arboricultural matters with pleasure.
Thank you all for your kind attention.
best regards,
Sammy Au
Station Manager
Owing to the sudden explosion of workload on the Station Manager after the fatal tree failure case in Stanley, it has become impossible & inappropriate for the Station Manager to be away from HK before the Mid-Autumn Festival period of now to Sep 16. It is therefore the biggest regret of the Station Manager to inform all of you that he can not attend the Green Thumbs Climbing Event in Singapore to take our Climbers to compete for our territory, despite all travel arrangement has already been booked & paid for.
On the other hand, ISA HK/China has designated our Deputy Station Manager Mr. Tony Ng to go in place of the Station Manager to this important event. We would advise anyone requiring information or liaison for this event, please kindly contact Tony for help & organization.
As for our Media friends, the Station Manager is open for calls from 7am to 10pm everyday as usual during this period. Please call in at 9090 6719 for any of your enquires on arboricultural matters with pleasure.
Thank you all for your kind attention.
best regards,
Sammy Au
Station Manager
Saturday, September 6, 2008
ISA HK/China --- HK Tree News (Awakening of Tree Care in HK)
*** Our weekly Station Mail is for the information of Station Members only, but Station Mail has given up copyright & can be freely circulated. For administrative reasons, comments from outsiders are usually not entertained & may be circulated within our system locally & overseas. Please note Station Mail is sometimes given in Blog at http://isahkchina.blogspot.com , although images are usually not attached due to size. ***
Dear Station Members,
Ever since the fatal Tree Failure in Stanley on 27.8.2008, ISA HK/China has received enquiries on Tree Care practically every hour during daylight, from media, estate management, private homes & Station Members. The whole of HK appeared to go into frenzy all in a sudden about our trees. The Station Manager has been in the landscape industry as a profession since 1984 & has never seen the HK public paying so much attention on Tree Care any other time.
The internet news below gave information of the Memorial Service of the lovely angel Kitty on 5.9.08. The Chief Executive His Right Honourable Donald Tsang & Wife, & the Secretary for Home affairs Mr Tsang Tak-sing both attended the ceremony & offered their condolences. Many wept & cried at the service. The whole of HK appeared to grief in sorrow for the departure for such a young talent sent off by a failed mature tree.
This Station has been asked many times after the tragedy on what to do next. How should we weigh tree preservation against safety? How can we prevent future Tree Failure? Who should be liable should future failure happen again?
As mentioned time after time in past, ISA is a research & education organization & we do not get entangled with politics. However, in order to have our trees to become assets instead of liabilities in our community, we would recommend our trees to get special attention from design, selection, installation, maintenance, regular inspection, risk management & construction protection all the way. If mistakes are made at any of these stages, it is unlikely that we shall get good trees at the end. Particular focus should be paid at using quality trees for structure & health, other than just for flowering & scent. This Station has received reports from contractors on some of our 'flowering' species that they twisted like wrangled washings after Typhoon Nuri. Then what's the point of having them 'flowering' if easily failed?
Nursery Stocks Selection is another important area to focus upon because safe planting begins with safe trees. Trees with poor structure & health would require heavy future maintenance, if selected on site. For trees to arrive site in acceptable condition, packing & transport are both important consideration, or else they would become unsafe trees if not done right. This is one area that the Station Manger is trying to teach at the BLS course in CICTA later.
Structural Pruning to a young tree is like education to a young person. If Structural Pruning is not given at the correct time, it would be like youngsters growing up not going to school. The trees would grow in any manner as they please without direction & this would lead to heavy maintenance & perhaps potential hazards later. If incorrect pruning like topping is given to provide short term solution, the tree would usually develop into a long term liability & maybe even a Time Bomb.
When a tree is getting old & not regularly inspected, it may shed parts unexpectedly to become a tangible hazard. Then if hazards are not attended & corrected immediately, the tree or its parts may fail eventually to hit someone or something below.
It can be seen that putting in a tree is like giving birth to a human. We should not do it for pleasure & have to think about the responsibilities & liabilities after. Then if we think trees are so much troublesome & burdensome to be something to completely discard, then do we all want to live in a desert or in a concrete jungle without trees??
The departure of Kitty is sad, but she did not go in vain. She has wakened up HK to take a serious look at our trees to ask questions. In closing, with the same passion like all those with good hearts, we would say:
"Kitty, we all love you. Arborists in HK will remember you & you have wakened up our public on trees. Smile at us from above constantly, & we shall smile back ..."
best regards,
Sammy Au
Station Manager
"Trees are good for the community. Trees need care like human beings. Arborists are the Tree Care Professionals."
莊頌賢安息彌撒特首弔唁
(星島)9月6日 星期六 05:30
如天使般善良可愛的莊頌賢，不幸於赤柱塌樹意外中離世，無論是否認識她的人都感到痛心。頌賢的母校聖保祿學校昨為她舉行安息彌撒，近千名死者生前好友及學校師生出席哀悼，儀式上不少人傷心落淚，氣氛莊嚴傷痛，一名參加安息彌撒男子疑傷心過度暈倒。特首曾蔭權及夫人、民政事務局局長曾德成均有出席，慰問死者遺屬。
赤柱塌樹意外中死亡的莊頌賢離世十天，其母校聖保祿學校昨晨七時許，於基督軍王小堂，為頌賢舉行安息彌撒，近千人出席懷念這名年輕活潑女孩，包括頌賢父母、胞姊、生前好友、學校師生、特首曾蔭權、民政事務局局長曾德成、港大醫學院教授楊紫芝及聖保祿醫院院長方津生等。
唐英年曾德成送花籃
彌撒開始前，眾人排隊於入口的悼念冊簽名送上祝福，校方備有一本印上頌賢照片的祈禱文。頌賢父母及胞姊均穿上黑色衣服，他們在女校長黃金蓮及親友陪同下坐在教堂第一行，各人神情哀傷。曾蔭權及夫人進入教堂後，先上前慰問頌賢家屬才就座。
教堂內外放滿親友致送的花籃，特首曾蔭權、政務司司長唐英年、民政事務局局長曾德成亦有送上花籃慰問。教堂內座無虛設，祭台前放着一幅頌賢遺照，照片中她穿着淺啡色上衣，臉帶微笑，給人溫婉感覺，儼如一名小天使。遺照兩旁放滿高雅的白玫瑰及百合花，祭台亦點燃了蠟燭，教堂內充滿莊嚴及沉痛氣氛。
昨晨七時四十五分，彌撒正式開始，儀式以全英語進行，全體首先肅立唱聖詩「Amazing grace」，其後神父致詞悼念死者，並祝願她主懷安息。一名六十多歲男親友疑傷心暈倒，在場的方津生醫生即上前協助，將他送往鄰近的聖保祿醫院。
男親友傷心過度暈倒
彌撒尾聲時，曾蔭權夫婦領取聖餅後離開。彌撒儀式為時一句鐘，完結時出席者均向死者家屬擁抱慰問，包括民政事務局局長曾德成，其中莊母接受慰問時不禁心情激動，與親友相擁痛哭。
事發當日與頌賢同往赤柱的男性友人，昨慰問頌賢父母後，在頌賢的遺照前合眼祈禱，離開時他與好友擁抱悲哭，經友人安慰後心情才稍為平復。莊頌賢的父母及胞姊，在親友陪同下離開。頌賢父親莊堅琪為外科醫生，他昨被記者問及政府怎樣做才能給予頌賢及市民一個交代，莊父表示還未想到，他與妻女向記者道謝後離開。
Dear Station Members,
Ever since the fatal Tree Failure in Stanley on 27.8.2008, ISA HK/China has received enquiries on Tree Care practically every hour during daylight, from media, estate management, private homes & Station Members. The whole of HK appeared to go into frenzy all in a sudden about our trees. The Station Manager has been in the landscape industry as a profession since 1984 & has never seen the HK public paying so much attention on Tree Care any other time.
The internet news below gave information of the Memorial Service of the lovely angel Kitty on 5.9.08. The Chief Executive His Right Honourable Donald Tsang & Wife, & the Secretary for Home affairs Mr Tsang Tak-sing both attended the ceremony & offered their condolences. Many wept & cried at the service. The whole of HK appeared to grief in sorrow for the departure for such a young talent sent off by a failed mature tree.
This Station has been asked many times after the tragedy on what to do next. How should we weigh tree preservation against safety? How can we prevent future Tree Failure? Who should be liable should future failure happen again?
As mentioned time after time in past, ISA is a research & education organization & we do not get entangled with politics. However, in order to have our trees to become assets instead of liabilities in our community, we would recommend our trees to get special attention from design, selection, installation, maintenance, regular inspection, risk management & construction protection all the way. If mistakes are made at any of these stages, it is unlikely that we shall get good trees at the end. Particular focus should be paid at using quality trees for structure & health, other than just for flowering & scent. This Station has received reports from contractors on some of our 'flowering' species that they twisted like wrangled washings after Typhoon Nuri. Then what's the point of having them 'flowering' if easily failed?
Nursery Stocks Selection is another important area to focus upon because safe planting begins with safe trees. Trees with poor structure & health would require heavy future maintenance, if selected on site. For trees to arrive site in acceptable condition, packing & transport are both important consideration, or else they would become unsafe trees if not done right. This is one area that the Station Manger is trying to teach at the BLS course in CICTA later.
Structural Pruning to a young tree is like education to a young person. If Structural Pruning is not given at the correct time, it would be like youngsters growing up not going to school. The trees would grow in any manner as they please without direction & this would lead to heavy maintenance & perhaps potential hazards later. If incorrect pruning like topping is given to provide short term solution, the tree would usually develop into a long term liability & maybe even a Time Bomb.
When a tree is getting old & not regularly inspected, it may shed parts unexpectedly to become a tangible hazard. Then if hazards are not attended & corrected immediately, the tree or its parts may fail eventually to hit someone or something below.
It can be seen that putting in a tree is like giving birth to a human. We should not do it for pleasure & have to think about the responsibilities & liabilities after. Then if we think trees are so much troublesome & burdensome to be something to completely discard, then do we all want to live in a desert or in a concrete jungle without trees??
The departure of Kitty is sad, but she did not go in vain. She has wakened up HK to take a serious look at our trees to ask questions. In closing, with the same passion like all those with good hearts, we would say:
"Kitty, we all love you. Arborists in HK will remember you & you have wakened up our public on trees. Smile at us from above constantly, & we shall smile back ..."
best regards,
Sammy Au
Station Manager
"Trees are good for the community. Trees need care like human beings. Arborists are the Tree Care Professionals."
莊頌賢安息彌撒特首弔唁
(星島)9月6日 星期六 05:30
如天使般善良可愛的莊頌賢，不幸於赤柱塌樹意外中離世，無論是否認識她的人都感到痛心。頌賢的母校聖保祿學校昨為她舉行安息彌撒，近千名死者生前好友及學校師生出席哀悼，儀式上不少人傷心落淚，氣氛莊嚴傷痛，一名參加安息彌撒男子疑傷心過度暈倒。特首曾蔭權及夫人、民政事務局局長曾德成均有出席，慰問死者遺屬。
赤柱塌樹意外中死亡的莊頌賢離世十天，其母校聖保祿學校昨晨七時許，於基督軍王小堂，為頌賢舉行安息彌撒，近千人出席懷念這名年輕活潑女孩，包括頌賢父母、胞姊、生前好友、學校師生、特首曾蔭權、民政事務局局長曾德成、港大醫學院教授楊紫芝及聖保祿醫院院長方津生等。
唐英年曾德成送花籃
彌撒開始前，眾人排隊於入口的悼念冊簽名送上祝福，校方備有一本印上頌賢照片的祈禱文。頌賢父母及胞姊均穿上黑色衣服，他們在女校長黃金蓮及親友陪同下坐在教堂第一行，各人神情哀傷。曾蔭權及夫人進入教堂後，先上前慰問頌賢家屬才就座。
教堂內外放滿親友致送的花籃，特首曾蔭權、政務司司長唐英年、民政事務局局長曾德成亦有送上花籃慰問。教堂內座無虛設，祭台前放着一幅頌賢遺照，照片中她穿着淺啡色上衣，臉帶微笑，給人溫婉感覺，儼如一名小天使。遺照兩旁放滿高雅的白玫瑰及百合花，祭台亦點燃了蠟燭，教堂內充滿莊嚴及沉痛氣氛。
昨晨七時四十五分，彌撒正式開始，儀式以全英語進行，全體首先肅立唱聖詩「Amazing grace」，其後神父致詞悼念死者，並祝願她主懷安息。一名六十多歲男親友疑傷心暈倒，在場的方津生醫生即上前協助，將他送往鄰近的聖保祿醫院。
男親友傷心過度暈倒
彌撒尾聲時，曾蔭權夫婦領取聖餅後離開。彌撒儀式為時一句鐘，完結時出席者均向死者家屬擁抱慰問，包括民政事務局局長曾德成，其中莊母接受慰問時不禁心情激動，與親友相擁痛哭。
事發當日與頌賢同往赤柱的男性友人，昨慰問頌賢父母後，在頌賢的遺照前合眼祈禱，離開時他與好友擁抱悲哭，經友人安慰後心情才稍為平復。莊頌賢的父母及胞姊，在親友陪同下離開。頌賢父親莊堅琪為外科醫生，他昨被記者問及政府怎樣做才能給予頌賢及市民一個交代，莊父表示還未想到，他與妻女向記者道謝後離開。
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