But in the same breath, the government is spending millions of taxpayers' money to defend its right to fill in the harbour.

The government accepted many years ago that the harbour is a strategic asset to be protected and developed wisely. So let us develop this asset wisely and spend a fraction more of the money available in cleaning up our biggest drawcard.

Stephen Anderson, Mid-Levels

I think the government should have a detailed report on how the money is spent in helping to revive Hong Kong so that no money is wasted on unnecessary items.

Also, the government could reduce the amount of money used on the Harbour Fest event so some cash could be spent on other things - $130 million is quite a lot of money for a concert and some of the bands performing are not well known in Hong Kong so I don't think the Harbour Fest will get a lot of attention.

Patrick Pak-kiu Wong, Tsuen Wan

The underlying issue underscoring the Harbour Fest is integrity. What do InvestHK and the American Chamber of Commerce know about entertainment?

Were local entertainment professionals consulted on how best to run the project, or which artists were most relevant to Hong Kong people?

How much of this money is going towards developing the undernourished local artists and the local arts scene?

What alternatives were explored to create a genuine festival atmosphere?

Are there any peripheral activities or other art forms such as installation art, performance art or roving entertainment?

This money has been put in the hands of people unqualified to effectively allocate it, serving their most basic mandate, that is, to raise positive energy and entertain Hong Kong.

Yes, they should darn well let us know how they are spending this money. It's not theirs.

This is from a local performance artist leaving Hong Kong for lack of local work.

Name and address supplied

The government is under obligation to disclose the expense report to the public. Indeed, it is necessary to establish some monitoring policy to control our government in sponsoring such an extravagant activity.

Whether we host this Harbour Fest is, of course, not an option anymore; but I still hope it can be a good show. If it isn't, it can provide a good lesson. Show us the expense report.

Name and address supplied

Q Is Hong Kong ready for a second Sars outbreak?

After the first outbreak of Sars, I expect that Hong Kong officials have a lot of experience and are on the alert. However, after hearing the news about the latest case in Singapore, I think it is really disappointing that hospitals still do not have a concrete system to adopt if Sars returns.

And as for medical treatment, will we still take the anti-Aids drug Ribavirin while so much foreign research has suggested that it is totally useless for treating Sars?

Bridgit Lee-siu yin, Fanling

Q Should cigarette adverts be banned altogether?

It is no exaggeration that smoking does harm to one's health. Medical research shows that cardiovascular diseases, lung cancer and various respiratory infections are caused by smoking.

Just looking at smoking's bad consequences, there is no reason why cigarette adverts should be allowed.

Moreover, one can obviously see that there are many youngsters who smoke. Who is to blame for that? Undeniably, young people should bear part of the responsibility. However, why does our government still allow cigarette adverts while they educate our youngsters not to smoke and put labels on cigarette packets warning of the dangers of smoking? What should our youngsters do?

Some people may raise the issue of freedom of choice - everyone can choose to smoke or not, so adverts have no influence. However, it is not a matter of rights - it is a matter of right and wrong. If smokers can talk about their rights, what about other people's right not to be harmed by second-hand smoke?

Given the harmful effects of smoking, especially on the young, there is no excuse for allowing cigarette advertising at all.

Diana Wong On-yi, Tseung Kwan O

Why do we need to ban tobacco advertisements?

Many people argue that tobacco ads increase the potential for the average person to try cigarettes and become addicted to smoking.

But just imagine, if you are a non-smoker who dislikes smoking, would you be attracted by a mere plain poster? Of course not. In fact, after the smoking ban in public areas, social attitudes towards smoking have changed for the better.

What will happen if we ban cigarette advertisements? Our advertising sector will be hit hard because the tobacco industry is a huge customer. Without this revenue stream, the advertising industry will shrink. Hence, thousands of people will lose their jobs, contributing to the already high unemployment rate.

But even worse, Hong Kong's free-market policy will be completely destroyed by such government intervention.

To conclude, a ban on tobacco advertisement would be most unwise - please do not just look at one side of the picture.

Davin Chan Ka-ho, Shau Kei Wan