More recently the KCRC opened its new Ma On Shan line before all the stations had been fully completed. This led to the bizarre sight of workers on site wearing hard hats while unprotected passengers braved the potential hazards of spanners dropping onto their heads or tripping over on unfinished pavements near station entrances.

Our railway companies also seem to have the ability to escape safety rules that are applied rigorously to other forms of public transport. The KCRC has recently taken to partially blocking train windows with cardboard advertising boards. There is even a suggestion circulating among Disneyland site contractors that the MTRC has acceded to a request from Disney's management to paint over the windows on one side of Disneyland trains to prevent passengers from seeing uncompleted construction sites.

It is an essential safety feature on all types of public transport for passengers, and rescuers in the event of an accident or incident, to have unimpeded visibility through windows to facilitate escape or rescue. Why are the rail companies apparently exempted from this and other safety codes of practice?

P. A. CRUSH, Sha Tin

Is it rational to smoke?

The letter 'Smoky Japan' (February 4) questions the rigour of my research on the facts about smoking and raises the issue of smoking and health in Japan.

Everything I wrote is fact. The research involved checking the statistics from Hong Kong and the UK, which are readily available on the Internet. The last paragraph of my letter referred to personal experiences. Perhaps you have to see these things happen with children you care about before you can appreciate the point. I do not consider them matters of jest.

In my original letter, I chose data from the United Kingdom because I grew up there in the 1950s when virtually all the adults around me smoked. Several members of my own family died early of cancer as a result.

Also, the British survey is interesting because it gives details of the socio-economic background of smokers (the higher up the ladder the less likely you are to smoke), and how addicted smokers are, as measured by how soon they need to smoke after waking in the morning (at worst within five minutes).

I did not do any research on Japan but I can remember a restaurant meal there which literally took my breath away. The hosts were charming and the food was excellent, but it was the worst dining experience because of the high number of smokers.

The article 'Who's the real villain?' (February 4) makes some valid points about rational thought, human choice and personal responsibility. However, I wonder how rational it is to choose to smoke when the evidence weighs heavily against it as a rational choice, and how rational it is to cater to a minority of smokers in restaurants. Responsibility must surely extend beyond the individual in order to have a harmonious society.

ESTHER MORRIS, Mid-Levels

Self-centred pilots

As a frequent flier I feel obliged to respond to the many (too many) articles that have appeared in your newspaper over the past few years regarding the sacked Cathay Pacific pilots called the 49ers. I would particularly like to see more space devoted to the plight and inconvenience suffered by the thousands of paying passengers that resulted from their self-centred actions. From where I sit, down the back of the plane, they do not deserve to pilot these aircraft.

NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED

Genocide blame

For all that Eisenhower's 1961 observations on the military-industrial complex are now accepted as prescient, and though I agree that silence on genocide is betrayal (though Richard Fielding and I seem to differ on the degree of moral opprobrium to attach to industrial-scale gassing of people), Mr Fielding has still got his facts wrong ('Silence is betrayal', February 7).

The international finance industry does not fund the IMF: the member nations do. Being a beneficiary of a pension fund does not make one an owner of its shares: in Hong Kong it is in fact legally necessary that one is not an owner. Pension funds are indeed only minimally involved in the defence industry - even the controversial Carlyle Group only has four per cent invested in it. I am all in favour of ethical investment, but not of damning whole sectors of an industry with inaccurate and unsubstantiated generalisations of culpability for genocide. Perhaps if he directed his ire towards rulers who rob their countries and shoot their own people (Iraq excepted), he would be nearer the mark, morally.

PAUL SERFATY, Mid-Levels

Mother tongue is best

We have opened Pandora's box with the controversy over the proposal to change the medium of instruction in some schools. But instead of fearing changes in our status quo, we should start a Hong Kong-wide discussion for the benefit of future generations.

Some parents who lack confidence in Chinese as a medium of instruction just do not see evidence that Hong Kong scientists and mathematicians who gained international recognition went to CMI schools before studying overseas. The benefits of mother-tongue education are a fact not only in Hong Kong but the world over. Yet most parents still have the misconception that their children can learn better in 'brand-name' English-medium schools.

May I put the following question to help activate the neurons of those practical parents who are seemingly superstitious about EMI schools. Since China has become the place for great business gains in the world, has any non-Chinese community or world-class city adopted Putonghua as the medium of instruction in the foundation education of their students? If not, why?

KENDRA IP, To Kwa Wan

Sex-bias consultation

I refer to the article 'Justice for all' (January 27). In regard to the survey on public attitudes towards the legislation against sexual discrimination, the sample of 2,000 is not representative at all, especially when Deputy Secretary for Home Affairs Stephen Fisher says, 'We are not talking about black and white here. We are talking about an area where different people have different views'. It seems that the government is under pressure to quicken the pace of the legislation. I urge that the government undertake a comprehensive public consultation similar to that for the 3+3+4 education system carried out by the Education and Manpower Bureau.

NAME, ADDRESS SUPPLIED