When considering the issuance of the warning, forecasters do take into account the forecast temperatures in Hong Kong as well as humidity and wind strength. After assessing all these factors - in the form of a weather stress index - forecasters issue the warning if the prescribed criteria are met. There is no question of the public being under-warned in humid weather.

For a warning system to be effective, it should be simple and easy to interpret. It should serve as a trigger for the orderly response of the government and the public, including the elderly and less privileged man in the street. In this respect, the Very Hot Weather Warning, by virtue of being an explicit warning of the heat hazard, has served the public well.

For sophisticated professionals such as Dr Lee, they are referred to a paper by Hong Kong Observatory officers published in the Meteorological Applications of the Royal Meteorological Society entitled 'Application of a weather stress index for alerting the public to stressful weather in Hong Kong'.

Dr M C Wong, for the director of the Hong Kong Observatory

Q Are five demerit points sufficient penalty for running a red light?

Just a note on the now hoary debate.

Clearly five demerit points are not enough to have an effect on 'professional' drivers. On Thursday, at 3.50pm, I boarded KMB bus KN8465 on route 1133 outside Wu Chung House, Queen's Road East, for a journey to Landmark.

The driver immediately ran the lights on the pedestrian-controlled crossing outside the Hopewell Centre and ran the lights at the Junction of Garden Road and Queensway. He may have run others. Not a bad performance in a distance of only about one kilometre.

Name and address supplied

Q How can we build a stronger reading culture?

In Hong Kong, entertainment usually means watching TV, browsing the internet or playing computer games, but few people spend their time reading books.

Reading is a good habit that can widen our knowledge. To provide for a stronger reading culture, the government should update books available at public libraries more frequently. Nowadays, books are too expensive, and libraries usually do not have the most updated books on the market.

Parents who have good reading habits should encourage their children to read more.

Children follow what their parents do.

In schools, students are always being asked to do many book reports. However, they will only think about reading a book if it is for homework.

Schools should not ask students to do too many book reports and undermine their interest. Students should know that books are for reading and enjoyment, not for turning in homework.

This has to be done only gradually, but when enough people have a real interest in reading, only then will Hong Kong have a reading culture.

Yiu Pun-wai, Shun Lee

On other matters...

I am writing regarding the article 'Mother and son in harbour death plunge' by Clifford Lo and Felix Chan, published on July 21. I was saddened by this news. Committing suicide is never an appropriate way to solve problems. We should treasure the time we have with our families.

Jerry Yip, Sheung Shui

Thank you to the South China Morning Post for reporting the prosecution of two of 'Asia's Finest' ('Officers fined for cruelty to animals', July 15). It is desperately sad that a beautiful animal has lost its life through the ignorance and neglect of its owners, but that they should be experienced police officers is indeed shocking!

How many other 'pets' throughout Hong Kong are kept in similar conditions, or worse, because it is expedient to do so? A decent living environment with sufficient space, regular exercise, clean water and adequate food and quality time socialising should be the rights of all companion animals and thus provided by their owners.

That a high proportion of the community seems unwilling or unable to acknowledge this is a poor reflection on our society. That two police officers perpetrated this cruelty is indicative of the generally low level of concern given and feeble action taken on animal welfare issues by both the Police Department and the courts - $5,500 appears to be the value set on that poor dog's life!

In other, more-enlightened countries, the two remaining dogs would be removed and the couple banned from keeping pets for several years or even life.

As for the guilty pair - who previously might have been admired as 'pillars of society' - are they now classified as criminals? Do they actually continue in public service without disciplinary action being taken or being suspended? Surely they have brought the police force into disrepute?

J. Green and O. Scherer, Mui Wo

I have noticed recently some shops selling VCD/DVD/music CDs in Mongkok are operating on a 24-hour basis. With the noise pollution they create, it's a nuisance especially at night when constant loud music is played. Can the government department clarify until what time they are allowed to play loud music, because it affects the people living in residential flats above the shops and they won't be able to sleep at all.

Can the relevant authorities please clarify this matter?

Name and address supplied

We would like to respond to T.J. Carey's letter (Talkback, July 18) regarding the MTR Tung Chung Line service.

We would like to clarify that there has been no reduction in the MTR Tung Chung Line timetable service since May 16, this year. The Tung Chung Line peak period takes place from about 7.30am to 9.30am. Trains operate at an average frequency of eight minutes. The train departure times from Tung Chung Station were slightly adjusted as of May 16 in advance of the opening of Sunny Bay station to accommodate the time needed for the extra journey time and station stop, but the actual number of trains operated during the peak period remains the same.

We appreciate Mr Carey's concern about the carrying capacity of the Tung Chung Line and wish to advise that the line was designed and built taking fully into consideration the ultimate population of the Tung Chung New Town after completion of all of the planned property developments.

In comparison with other MTR lines, patronage on the Tung Chung Line is relatively low. At present, the busiest Tung Chung Line train operating during the height of the peak period still has plenty of spare capacity to accommodate any patronage growth.

While more people are expected to use the Tung Chung Line when Hong Kong Disneyland and the cable car in Tung Chung open to the public, commuters worry as the holidaymakers will be travelling in the opposite direction at peak times and during non-peak periods.

We wish to assure our passengers that we will make adjustments when necessary.

Miranda Leung, MTR Corp

Some correspondents have complained about passengers eating and drinking in the MTR. I wish to add one more complaint.

Some students are playing on platforms of Prince Edward station and also running inside the trains.

Students should be well-behaved but they don't care that they could hurt passengers and themselves.

MTR staff also should keep watch on the students. The time for the students returning home from Prince Edward station is usually between 3.30pm and 4.30pm. I have written a complaint directly to MTR authorities but they have not acknowledged it or taken any action so far.

Name and address supplied