1. It’s almost always hazy – and not just in the cities. The particulate matter pollution makes even sunny days appear like it’s about to rain. To add insult to injury, almost every advertisement with anything to do with ‘outside’ pictures a pristinely blue sky and copious sunshine, without the hint of grey. When stepping off the aeroplane, the distinct taste of tar hits the back of your throat.
2. You can’t drink the water from the tap – not anywhere. In fact, you can’t even brush your teeth with it or risk getting some nasty intestinal parasite.
3. You can’t plant trees fast enough because the frequency of landslips kills hundreds of people yearly.
4. While catching a taxi from the airport, the driver plays a continuous loop of birds singing, because most residents never hear those sounds.
5. You have an economy in over-drive, and yet you still think of yourself as ‘developing’.
6. Emerging infectious disease jumping from livestock to humans is now a near-regular occurrence, with new and weird diseases that threaten to become human pandemics and mutating with alarming speed popping up everywhere. Read the rest of this entry »
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