‘Better safe than sorry’, Hong Kong’s No 2 official says over school suspension
Chief Secretary Eric Chan addresses concerns from parents over earlier decision to suspend day schools on Friday, as morning sees calm weather
Hong Kong’s No 2 official has defended the decision to suspend school classes on Friday based on the weather forecast, saying it was better to be “safe than sorry” because of the unpredictability of rainstorms after angry parents slammed education authorities.
Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki, who chairs the steering committee on handling extreme weather, said the government had decided to halt certain classes due to the local forecaster predicting that Hong Kong could have faced its fifth-largest daily rainfall, or 390mm (15.4 inches), in an “extreme” case.
The predictions factored in the effects of remnants of tropical cyclone Danas, which brought heavy showers and thunderstorms to the city.
“Therefore, we chose to issue early warnings and make proactive preparations, even if it meant ‘doing too much’, even if the safety margin was excessively large, and even if volatile weather might lead to forecast deviations,” Chan said in a social media post.
“We would rather be safe than sorry.”
He said that issuing the warning on Thursday ensured residents had more time to prepare than if they were notified on the morning of a school suspension.
“[Otherwise] residents’ responses and arrangements would become hasty and difficult,” he said.