Further Fiddlesticks and Forked Tongues At Work

Snakes Alive! What does it take to become a Fung Shui master? An ability to fiddle with sticks and stones and words?

Why does the Heung Yee Kuk chairman always have to pick the stick? What special quality does he, er, possess?

Why not ask self-styled Fung Shui master Tony Chan? He'll probably charge an arm and a leg, but then again he is in need of some dough.


Fung Shui is just a scam and a Chinese version of Hocus Pocus


Reference


Taoist omen warns Hongkongers to beware of 'wicked people' (SCMP; paywall)

Fortune-tellers interpret unlucky 95 as meaning CY's policies may fail and he may face turmoil
Tuesday, 12 February, 2013, 12:00am

Ada Lee ada.lee@scmp.com

Heung Yee Kuk chairman Lau Wong-fat. Pic Felix Wong

Hongkongers were warned they faced "wicked people" and obstacles in the Year of the Snake, after one of the unluckiest possible omens was drawn in a Taoist ceremony yesterday.

A stick bearing the number 95 was drawn by Heung Yee Kuk chairman Lau Wong-fat at Sha Tin's Che Kung Temple in the annual ritual. The prediction for stick 95 says: "In a splendid carriage you embarked on your journey. Today, you came home barefoot. Is it that you failed the imperial exam? Or did you lose all your gold in business?"

It reminds Hongkongers to "beware of wicked people", and says "nothing is going well".

Mak Ling-ling, one of the most famous fung shui masters in the city, said the stick could be saying the policies put forward by the government could fail although they sounded glamorous in the beginning.

"It could mean the government's strategy was not right. It might be confident, but there are obstacles," she said. She did not think "wicked people" was a specific reference.

This is the third bad-luck stick to be selected in a decade; following one in 2003, when Hong Kong was hit by the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak, and another in 2009, when it was hit by the global financial turmoil.

Chu Ling-ling, a fortune-teller at the temple, said the stick meant uncertainties would trouble the economy. The horse carriage in the verse was a reference to Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, who was born in the Year of the Horse, she said.

There would be political turmoil, and although Leung would not fare too badly in the first half of the year, he could face trouble towards its end. "Leung needs to change his way of doing things. He should refrain from being too tough, and he needs to rebuild his credibility, so people will trust him again," she said.

Lau tried to put a positive spin on it, saying: "Hong Kong will continue to be prosperous and stable ... An unlucky stick could be good, too."

Meanwhile, Hong Kong's first Year of the Snake baby, a girl, arrived at Union Hospital in Sha Tin at 0.17am on Sunday.

Good fortune awaits as the Snake slithers in (SCMP; paywall)

Saturday, 09 February, 2013, 12:00am

Phila Siu and Ng Kang-chung

Fung Shui master Mak Ling-ling. Pic David Wong

Chill out Hongkongers, the economy in the Year of the Snake will be better than it was last year.

That is the verdict of fung shui masters as the city bids farewell to the dragon and greets the snake tomorrow morning.

The fung shui masters differ in their forecasts of what lies ahead for Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and the government.

"The economy will be better than last year, although it will still not be very bustling," master Mak Ling-ling said. "But for C.Y., his Chinese zodiac sign is the horse, and that is not a good thing in the Year of the Snake. In Chinese we have a saying that the snake winds around the legs of the horse when the horse tries to move."

Master Ma Lai-wah forecast the economy would continue to grow but cautioned that people would not have more money in their pockets until August.

The key is to invest in exports and avoid speculation in property, as prices will rise and fall about 10 per cent several times, he predicted. "And be ready for more disharmony between Hongkongers and mainlanders, because the cultural differences will get deeper."

Ma said Leung had the characteristics of an eagle, which do not get along well with snakes.

But Raymond Lo, popularly known as "Fung Shui Lo", predicted an easier year ahead for Leung. "The Year of the Snake is symbolised this year by water sitting on top of fire," Lo said. "The animal sign for horse does not directly clash with the snake. So it will be a comparatively more stable year for Mr Leung.

"For people born in the Year of the Horse, a snake year brings the flower of romance, so they can expect a more sociable year. In short, Mr Leung will still face challenges but he will remain OK."

As for Hong Kong's economy, Lo said the fire symbol attached to a year often generated optimism, and the economy should turn more stable compared with the dragon year.

"Banking is [associated with the element of] metal and it needs fire to melt it into useful tools. And finance and stock market are more related to fire," he said. "We may expect improvements in the economy."

Healing Hands Hocus Pocus

Q: Why do otherwise intelligent people fall for scams?

A: Because they believe they are intelligent and therefore do not think they are stupid enough to be tricked.

Reiki rears its ugly head again in Hong Kong. Pic from here.

Apparently, reiki practitioners use their hands "to transfer qi, or life-force energy. It is based on the principle that we all have qi running through us - the more we have the happier and healthier we feel. If our qi is low, we fall ill or feel stressed."

What a load of mumbo jumbo ... we may as well substitute "qi" for "midichlorians" and it will make just as much sense (i.e. nonsense). Here's the verbal diarrhoea quote from the news story):

"Reiki doesn't require anything special. Just place your hands on anyone you want to heal. You can use it on your family members or yourself."

Oh OK then. If a person is feeling unhealthy, they should just lay their own hands upon themselves ... free of charge ... and they will miraculously heal themselves. If reiki is so wonderful, why hasn't it shaken up the public health system in Japan (its place of origin) and other countries?

It is unfortunate that the Fifth Evolution Asia Yoga Conference will be held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on June 9 to 12. Charlatans, crackpots, charmers and seductresses with sexy bodies will promote reiki, yoga, pilates, astrology, nia technique, ayurveda, qi gong and meditation to gullible, witless attendees who have lots of cash to splash and few brain cells to use.


About Hong Kong Hocus Pocus

Search posts with: Hocus Pocus


Healing hands (The Standard)

Ivy Ong-Wood
Tuesday, May 31, 2011

As a physiotherapist, Ivy Mok Ka-pik is in the business of healing. The 31-year- old has a bachelor's degree in physiotherapy from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University but she was eager to add to her knowledge.

"Some of my friends took a reiki course and told me how good it was. As I was interested in alternative therapy, I thought reiki would be helpful in hands- on treatment," she said.

After returning from a two-day "attunement" course, Mok tested to see if the technique worked. "I had a client with chronic back pain. She had tried physiotherapy and acupuncture for a year but with no significant improvement. So I gave her two sessions of nothing but reiki.

"After the second session she called me up and asked me: 'What did you do? All I saw was you putting your hand on my back. But today I woke up and the pain had disappeared.' So I knew it was working."

So what is reiki? According to the International Center for Reiki Training, it is a Japanese technique developed by Mikao Usui in 1922 for stress reduction and also healing.

Practitioners lay on hands to transfer qi, or life-force energy. It is based on the principle that we all have qi running through us - the more we have the happier and healthier we feel. If our qi is low, we fall ill or feel stressed.

Mok has been a physiotherapist for nine years and has been practicing reiki for two. But you don't have to be a professional healer to benefit from the technique, she said. "Many of the friends who took the course aren't therapists. Reiki doesn't require anything special. Just place your hands on anyone you want to heal. You can use it on your family members or yourself. I don't feel tired so easily now that I practice it."

She has met her share of skeptics, of course. "I tell them be open and pay attention to how they feel, not what they think. Most patients don't get any special feeling during a session but find they have recovered after that."

Mok mostly uses the technique in addition to her other therapies. "I don't think you can be a therapist using only reiki."

During the session, she lays her hands on the patient and taps into both their qis. "Sometimes, I feel abnormal pain and discomfort on body parts other than what a patient has told me and I will ask. I've had patients asking me in surprise: 'How did you know I have a migraine?'"

Usually, Mok uses reiki for chronic cases - such as when a patient has tried different treatments without results. "It's like a last resort."

You can learn more about reiki, yoga, pilates, astrology, nia technique, ayurveda, qi gong and meditation at the Fifth Evolution Asia Yoga Conference, to be held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on June 9 to 12. The conference, which is sponsored by Pure Yoga, offers almost 200 classes for all levels, with over 60 different styles of yoga presented by more than 50 world-renowned faculty members.

Shopaholics are also catered for - a more than 20,000-square-foot Yoga Bazaar selling yoga products, books, DVDs and CDs. Open to the public, it will also hold yoga demonstrations and events.

Professors Sprout Mumbo Jumbo

Whether Fung Shui is good or bad depends on the natural levels of iron in an individual's blood and the way they combine with magnetic fields.

Claims Professor Patrick Lau Sau-shing, who represents the architectural sector in the Legislative Council of the HKSAR Government

The chief executive's house behind the offices represents the "brain of the dragon", which is Hong Kong. So to place a large office block in front of Government House would be to block the flow of water - which represents money - into Hong Kong.

Claims assistant professor of architecture and fung shui disciple Michael Chiang Hong-man

Fung Shui (or Feng Shui) is one of Hong Kong's best-known Hocus Pocus scams. Just look at Tony Chan ... and this even without his ultimate scam in trying to hoodwink judges into getting his hands on the late Nina Wang's billions. Even supposedly smart and intelligent people are suckered brainwashed into believing in it.

We are intelligent conmen, academics even, and we believe in dragons. Pic by Felix Wong.

Excerpts from Blocking Government House a fung shui no-no (SCMP; paywall)

Chris Ip
Apr 16, 2011

The redevelopment of the Central Government Offices in Central has been criticised on a host of grounds linked to the environment, preservation and unnecessary waste.

The latest reason put forward by concern groups? Poor fung shui.

Qualified architect and fung shui disciple Michael Chiang Hong-man said that water - which represents money - comes in from the north. The chief executive's house behind the offices represents the "brain of the dragon", which is Hong Kong. So to place a large office block in front of Government House would be to block the flow of money into Hong Kong.

"Right now the government has obvious problems even with so much money," Chiang said. "What are they going to do if they have no money?"

But Abraham Razack, the lawmaker representing the real estate and construction industry, said although there were good reasons to preserve the site, fung shui was not one of them.

"Whether it's built or not should not be based on fung shui," he said, chuckling. "But we live in a society that's superstitious."

The government plans to pull down the 52-year-old West Wing of the current Central Government Offices after staff relocate to the Tamar site. In its place will be a 32-storey commercial block with 23,000 square metres of floor space and an underground mall, owned privately.

The Government Hill Concern Group, a collection of 20 advocacy associations, says the buildings are structurally sound and part of Hong Kong's history.

"At the moment no architect can predict whether once you build a beautiful house and live there you'll be prosperous and happy forever," he said. But according to Chiang, fung shui has been developed over hundreds of years and is an "environmental science".

Chiang is a member of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects and Royal Institute of British Architects, a class-one registered architect in China and an assistant professor of architecture at the University of Hong Kong.

Chiang also said the 32-storey block replacing the West Wing combined with the 10-storey East Wing block would create an imbalance. In fung shui, they represent a protective "green dragon" and "white tiger" respectively and in practical terms they create a buffer from typhoons.

Architect Lee Yuet, who is not a fung shui expert, agreed. "You are immediately making an imbalanced thing," he said. "From simple common sense, it's no good."

But setting up an office building might not be all bad vibes. The design of the building would open up more space in between the current East and West Wings, said Professor Patrick Lau Sau-shing, who represents the architectural sector in the Legislative Council. In fung shui terms that would mean opening up Government House to the north, leading to better chi.

However, Lau said that it all depended on the person living in Government House - Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen. Whether the fung shui was good or bad depended on the natural levels of iron in an individual's blood and the way they combined with magnetic fields.

"But I'm not an expert," he added.

Contemptible Chinese Charlatans

Fung Shui Master Tony Chan Chun-chuen is only the latest in the long long line of fraudsters who prey on the gullible. His claim to the late Nina Wang Kung Yu-sum’s HK$100 billion fortune has just been thrown out by Hong Kong’s High Court.

It is a pity that Nina Wang is not alive to launch court proceedings against Tony Chan's fung shui scams. This is because similar scams have recently been dealt with in court cases, with the contemptible Chinese charlatans receiving lengthy prison sentences.

[Despicable Huckster Tony Chan. Photo from SCMP.]

It is simply incredible that there are plenty of dodgy hocus pocus happenings in Hong Kong, such as:
- Sex Therapy for Good Fortune
- Purple astrology
- Sex Therapy Cure for Hair loss

And here’s another sex swindle where an unidentified and gullible 47-year-old female clerk was conned in to having sex with two “Taoist masters” and racked up a debt of HK$1.5 million.
- Sex-ritual clerk conned of $1.5m in holy racket

About Hong Kong Hocus Pocus

Suffer Little Children … Literally

A New York Times article shows more Hocus Pocus happenings in Asia. This time, it’s to do with parents' obsession with their children’s height.

SEOUL, South Korea — With acupuncture needles trembling from the corners of her mouth like cat’s whiskers, Moon Bo-in, 5, whined with fear. But the doctor, wearing a yellow gown patterned with cartoon characters, poked more needles into her wrists and scalp. “It’s O.K., dear,” said her mother, Seo Hye-kyong. “It will help make you pretty and tall. It will make you Cinderella.”

[Trainer Choi Hyong-jin helped Kang Hyon-sung, 5, and his sister, Kang Hyon-hee, 7, as they tried a special treadmill during a growth-spurring exercise at the Seojung growth clinic in Seoul. Pic courtesy of Woohae Cho for IHT.]

In the article, there’s the obligatory irrelevant and banal quotes. For example:

“If you think of a child as a tree, what we try to do here is to provide it with the right soil, the right wind, the right sunshine to help it grow. We help kids regain their appetite, sleep well and stay fit so they can grow better.”

Too bad these quacks conveniently avoid looking closely at the “seeds” first. Not every “seed” is a sequoia; some may be willows, cedars, elms or bauhinias, so to speak. You can feed and exercise a child as much as possible, but if the right genes are not present then there’s going to be lots of disappointment and resentment somewhere down the line. Incidentally, children don't photosynthesize either!

Here’s a banal quote:

“My dream is to open growth clinics in North Korea,” said Dr. Park [who recently opened 36 joint-venture growth clinics in China and said the quest to become taller was regionwide], “so that, once we unify, children from both sides will be able to stand shoulder to shoulder, not with one side a head taller than the other.”

Suffer Little Children … Literally.

Trouble with Alopecia? Try a Breast Massage!

Do you suffer from hair loss? Are you desperate? Have money? Gullible?
Then try this amazingly astonishing alternative treatment (free for women)!!
It’s the Brilliant Breast Massage Treatment Program For Hair Loss!
No medicine. No pills. No bitter-tasting Chinese concoctions.
RESULTS GUARANTEED!!
Sign up here today!!

A 28-year-old woman in Hong Kong who suffers from hair loss (cause unknown; cause unverified) was introduced to an “alternative doctor” (read “quack”) by a priest back in 2005. This 68-year-old quack charged the woman HK$2,000 (US$256) for 10 massage sessions. The sessions allegedly involved the quack fondling the woman’s breasts and private parts to "stimulate her lotus". Quite what effect stimulating one’s lotus has on one’s hair growth is a hitherto unknown position in the medical world … but hey, it sure sounds like it’ll be fun once clinical trials are approved!

If this really was true (massaging breasts to induce hair growth), would it be reasonable to expect that in a sexually-liberated society utopia all the beautiful women would have healthy, long, luscious locks of hair and the men would have silly grins on their silly faces?

And, considering what the pharmaceutical companies have done with marketing Viagra for women (i.e. reciprocal treatments for the other sex), one would think that men would jump at the legitimate chance of having their man boobs breasts fondled (not to mention their “lotus” stimulated) in a desperate attempt to throw money at this “alternative treatment” to avoid hair loss.

If only it was true!!

About Hong Kong Hocus Pocus


From The Standard
`Sex therapy' cure for hair loss, court told (Dec 10, 2009)
Porn videos seen as cure for hair loss, court hears (Dec 11, 2009)

The court had earlier been told the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, met Chan for the first time in his Sheung Wan clinic in September 2005. He was recommended to her by a priest.

He first persuaded her to buy a pack of 10 massage treatments for HK$2,000.

A few months later, at a massage in the middle of winter, Chan told her to strip. During "treatment" sessions, he allegedly fondled her private parts to "stimulate her lotus."

As part of the next round of treatment in 2006, Chan allegedly fondled her breasts and said she needed more intensive "sex therapy" to help her hair grow.

Hocus Pocus For Premiership Players Revealed

So much for the “super housewife healer” and her horse placenta miracle massage treatment of elite sport stars. Frank Lampard of Chelsea FC did not accept her controversial alternative therapy … and within three weeks following standard massage treatment mainly performed by his own medical team, he was fit enough for last Saturday’s showdown visit to Arsenal.

[Robin van Persie; photo courtesy BBC sport]

Unsurprisingly, Robin van Persie of Arsenal was not present for his team’s 3-0 loss to Chelsea. In desperation, he had also sought the services of Serbian housewife Mariana Kovacevic. She could not help, and now van Persie has revealed that his initial diagnosis was wrong and would now be out for up to five months.

One reason why alternative health treatments receive some credibility (some would say more than they deserve) is due to desperation.

Related Post
Hocus Pocus For Premiership Players

Hocus Pocus For Premiership Players

It appears some local bloggers (e.g. Ulaca and In Black and White) like to comment on football or soccer, particularly but not exclusively from England’s Premier League. I’m also a fan so I’ve been thinking about posting something about soccer but with HKSARblog’s usual skepticism about certain practices.

So how about: Desperate and Injured Premiership Players Place Faith on Placental Fluid Miracle Cure?
The media circus started when Arsenal’s star striker Robin van Persie injured his ankle a week ago when playing for Holland against Italy. The initial diagnosis was that he had a partial tear in his ankle ligaments and would be sidelined for six weeks. He then announced that he was going to Belgrade in Serbia to seek a “mysterious housewife” who apparently can help players recover quicker by using placental fluid. Initially, the media did not know much about the treatment, by first saying that the woman massaged placental fluid taken from horses on the injured area. Next, it was dripped on. And now, there are reports that injections of placental fluid are involved. No one appears to know exactly what this alternative therapy is, or who this woman is.

Despite this, it later emerged that a whole gaggle (plethora? pile? posse?) of premiership players (e.g. Liverpool’s Glen Johnson, Fabio Aurelio, Yossi Benayoun and Albert Riera; Chelsea’s Frank Lampard; Manchester City's Vincent Kompany and Pablo Zabaleta) and some top European players have also been treated by this “Mariana Kovacevic” who has at least three aliases and four different addresses. Why all the secrecy? Tax evasion perhaps, or something more sinister?

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger (usually considered rational, relative to other Premiership managers that is) said he “recognised the psychological benefits such a treatment may have on an injured player”. Yes, Arsene may be on to something here. As with many alternative therapies, the placebo effect can sometimes be significant.

Furthermore, we are talking here about elite athletes in the prime of their lives, whose body conditioning can be significantly different compared with “normal” people (i.e. ordinary citizens who do not maintain their bodies at above-average condition on a full-time and prolonged basis). For instance, if you treat a bunch of injured people with the same therapy and divide them in to two groups (one group being young elite athletes; the other being older, unfit and overweight people), it would not be unreasonable to perhaps expect a difference between the groups in their recovery period and performance. A good example would be swine flu: there have been cases of professional football players who have caught swine flu, and none have died. Whereas in other demographics, some people have died from swine flu.

This is why proper clinical trials should always be arranged, rather than relying on testimonies; in this case testimonies from superfit elite athletes.

Still, all this Hocus Pocus malarkey in the Premiership is interesting to follow. Eventually, the truth will out.

#35 Hong Kong Hocus Pocus

It's a heartache
Swathi Maa leads a workshop on how to avoid heartbreak and depression, ahead of a healing and meditation session. Workshop, HK$700 (US$90); healing, HK$350 (US$45), both at New Age Shop, 7 Old Bailey St, SoHo.

[NOTE: If one fails the 'preventive' workshop, at least there is the 'curative' session available to further waste one's time, money and brain cells.]

About Hong Kong Hocus Pocus

#34 Hong Kong Hocus Pocus

Bigger and better
Renee Claire leads a magnified healing workshop. New Age Shop, 7 Old Bailey St, SoHo, HK$1,900 (US$244).

About Hong Kong Hocus Pocus

#33 Hong Kong Hocus Pocus

Same old song
Kirtan chanting with Lawrence and Nina. New Age Shop, 7 Old Bailey St, SoHo, donation (i.e. synonym for “tithing”).

About Hong Kong Hocus Pocus

#32 Hong Kong Hocus Pocus

We've only just begun
Elisabeth Jensen leads a beginners' Isis Lotus healing workshop. Bishop Lei Hotel, 4 Robinson Rd, Mid-Levels, HK$2,900 (US$372).

About Hong Kong Hocus Pocus

#31 Hong Kong Hocus Pocus

Chakra it out
Aimie Mok leads a chakra healing workshop. New Age Shop, 7 Old Bailey St, SoHo, HK$180 (US$23).

About Hong Kong Hocus Pocus

#30 Hong Kong Hocus Pocus

Shock and aura
Karim leads a workshop on learning to see auras. New Age Shop, 7 Old Bailey St, SoHo, HK$350 (US$45).

About Hong Kong Hocus Pocus

#29 Hong Kong Hocus Pocus

May the force be with you
Renee Claire leads a workshop on the Pleiadian light force matrix initiation. New Age Shop, 7 Old Bailey St, SoHo, HK$300 (US$38).

About Hong Kong Hocus Pocus

#28 Hong Kong Hocus Pocus

Hands in the air
John Fyfe leads a palmistry workshop. Shakti Healing Circle, 3/F Waga Commercial Centre, 99 Wellington St, Central, HK$1,250 (US$160).

About Hong Kong Hocus Pocus

#27 Hong Kong Hocus Pocus

Star struck
Jenny Atkinson leads an astrology workshop. New Age Shop, 7 Old Bailey St, SoHo, HK$350 (US$45).

About Hong Kong Hocus Pocus

#26 Hong Kong Hocus Pocus

Power points
Kari Schroeder gives a free talk on matrix energetics. 7pm-9pm, Balance Health, 27/F, 3-5 Arbuthnot Rd, Central.

About Hong Kong Hocus Pocus

#25 Hong Kong Hocus Pocus

Bodily sounds
Angie Tourani gives a free introduction to BodyTalk therapy, ahead of workshops. Rm 708 Rightful Centre, 11 Tak Hing St, Kowloon; workshops, HK$8,800 (US$1,100).

About Hong Kong Hocus Pocus

Chinese Cherry Picking

The following sentence sounds pretty lucky: “Eight [people] work at the "888" noodle shop in the basement of the Cameron Centre in Cameron Road” … until you realize these "lucky eight" were victims who succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning.

Do people (i.e. numerologists, Chinese astrologists, Fung Shui practitioners, and those who believe in such Hocus Pocus) take notice of the “lucky” number eight in such negative situations? Clearly not. It is human nature that people only pay attention to “lucky” numbers that confirm their biases and will usually ignore any incidents that reject their predetermined view.

Related Post Chinese Fiddlesticks!

Reference (SCMP; subscription required)

10 ill after inhaling gas at noodle shop
Clifford Lo
Aug 13, 2009

Ten people at a Japanese-style noodle shop in Tsim Sha Tsui ended up in hospital yesterday when the ventilation system broke, raising carbon monoxide levels to 20 times the standard level.

Eight of the victims work at the "888" noodle shop in the basement of the Cameron Centre in Cameron Road. There was also one customer - a three-year-old boy - and a man who works in a ground-floor shop.

Last night a 27-year-old man was in serious condition in Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the others had been discharged.

Six fire engines, eight ambulances and a mobile casualty treatment centre were dispatched after the restaurant workers complained of inhaling gas and feeling unwell just before 2pm. Most said they felt dizzy or were having difficulty breathing. They were connected to oxygen masks after being carried into ambulances.

Police cordoned off a section of Cameron Road while firemen wearing breathing apparatus and carrying gas detectors were tracing the source of the gas. Shops at ground level were ordered to close until about 6pm.

Workers from the Drainage Services Department were called in to open the covers of nearby manholes to carry out checks. The Fire Services Department said there was a high concentration of carbon monoxide in the restaurant and an initial investigation showed it had been caused by a faulty ventilation system.

Lo Kam-wing, Tsim Sha Tsui fire station commander, said the level of carbon monoxide at one time was 20 times higher than the standard level.

"Carbon monoxide is a colourless and odourless gas. Inhaling the gas makes it difficult to breathe and you feel dizzy," he said.

A fire officer said the gas level was raised because there was no fresh air being pumped into the restaurant.

Choi Kin, former president of the Medical Association, said the percentage of carbon monoxide in fresh air was low and it would not have a fatal effect even if the level was 20 times higher than normal. However, inhaling large amounts could cause suffocation and brain damage.