Beijing's first red alert a wake-up call to all

One evening almost two weeks ago, when I chatted with a taxi driver amid a thick, apocalyptic smog that shrouded Beijing, he asked me: "How come fewer people wear face masks, when the air gets worse? "

He appeared to already have the answer, as he quickly said: "Perhaps we are numb now. There is really nothing we can do about it."

His words left me speechless for the rest of the ride. I didn't wear a mask, like many of my colleagues. But few of us would admit that we don't feel anything about the foul air that hits the city with increasing frequency. Rather, we've become resilient or even stoic after years of living with smog.