David Bird
15-02-05, 01:44 PM
'Lucky tree' falls on unlucky couple
From correspondents in Hong Kong
February 15, 2005
From: AAP
A HONG Kong tree that according to legend is imbued with lucky powers proved unlucky for two people when part of it collapsed on them, police and government officials said.
A huge branch from the city's famous Lam Tsuen Wishing Tree fell on a 62-year-old man and a four-year-old boy as they were making Chinese New Year wishes Saturday.
They were released from hospital after treatment to head wounds.
Reports said the branch had been overburdened by traditional wishing tokens, comprised of slips of paper tied to oranges.
"The two people were injured when the branch fell on them as they threw oranges into the tree," a government spokesman said.
Thousands of people flock to the tree in the northern rural Lam Tsuen village to throw their wishes for the Chinese New Year into its branches.
Ancient folklore has it that if an orange hooks onto the tree's branches, the wish written on the slip of paper will come true.
The government spokesman said agriculture staff would assess the safety of the rest of the tree.
The tree's collapse is the latest incident in which traditional Chinese rituals have clashed with modern safety regulations in Hong Kong.
A festival in which children would scale huge towers dotted with buns was banned in 1978 after 100 people were injured when one of the towers collapsed.
The ancient ritual of sweeping ancestors' graves is under review as bonfires of the collected debris have caused countless hill fires.
Source (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12252551-13762,00.html)
From correspondents in Hong Kong
February 15, 2005
From: AAP
A HONG Kong tree that according to legend is imbued with lucky powers proved unlucky for two people when part of it collapsed on them, police and government officials said.
A huge branch from the city's famous Lam Tsuen Wishing Tree fell on a 62-year-old man and a four-year-old boy as they were making Chinese New Year wishes Saturday.
They were released from hospital after treatment to head wounds.
Reports said the branch had been overburdened by traditional wishing tokens, comprised of slips of paper tied to oranges.
"The two people were injured when the branch fell on them as they threw oranges into the tree," a government spokesman said.
Thousands of people flock to the tree in the northern rural Lam Tsuen village to throw their wishes for the Chinese New Year into its branches.
Ancient folklore has it that if an orange hooks onto the tree's branches, the wish written on the slip of paper will come true.
The government spokesman said agriculture staff would assess the safety of the rest of the tree.
The tree's collapse is the latest incident in which traditional Chinese rituals have clashed with modern safety regulations in Hong Kong.
A festival in which children would scale huge towers dotted with buns was banned in 1978 after 100 people were injured when one of the towers collapsed.
The ancient ritual of sweeping ancestors' graves is under review as bonfires of the collected debris have caused countless hill fires.
Source (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12252551-13762,00.html)