Messages of calamity concern are rarely ever helpful

The fire that engulfed as many as eight tower blocks at a housing estate in Hong Kong last week was beyond the imagination even of Hollywood's screenwriters.

- RAHUL JACOB

The towers’ netting, which covers Hong Kong buildings like giant mosquito nets when refurbishment is underway, turned out to be made of highly flammable synthetic material. Each of the blocks enveloped by the blaze was 30 storeys high. Even though 2,000 firemen had rushed to the site, it took from Wednesday evening to Friday, 28 November, to douse the fire. At least 151 people died; the city declared three days of mourning earlier this week.

I happened to be in Hong Kong last week on a work trip. Yet, I was unprepared for the flurry of texts I received from friends, either commiserating about the tragedy or concerned for my safety. It was another reminder that in the age of 24-hour television and social media, bad news not only travels fast but has a distortive effect.

The public housing complex in Tai Po was some 30km away from the financial district where the office I was visiting was located. The telecasts that reach us in our living rooms and via horrifying videos on social media connect us, but also leave us disconnected. After all, even a cursory reading of the fire's details would have made clear that the calamity occurred in a gargantuan housing complex built by the government, far from the city centre where most business travellers work and stay.