None of the candidates in either the commercial (first) or the education subsectors indicated who they would vote for if the so-called chief executive 'election' were contested.

Frankly speaking, I found the whole costly exercise one big farce.

JOOP B.M. LITMAATH, Stanley

Fervour misplaced

There has been an outpouring of sentimentality now that the old Star Ferry pier in Central is being demolished. But has anyone stopped to ask themselves if it has any abiding architectural merit?

Patsy Cheng Man-wah writes of the clock tower's 'architectural beauty' in her Insight column 'The clock is ticking' (December 11). But while it is true that the old pier buildings are well-known and have been widely used for two generations, this in itself does not give them architectural merit - let alone beauty. In fact, the clock tower is ugly, and the whole edifice has the look of a prefabricated construction.

The clock tower on the new Star Ferry pier building is much more attractive. Perhaps the old clock face should have been moved there? The new ferry pier is also better equipped and better looking than the old one, so what are people complaining about? It even boasts a Starbucks.

We now hear that 'heritage' lobby groups are complaining that an underground public toilet in Sheung Wan is to be demolished. Are they joking? Is a stinking underground public convenience the best object they can find for their misplaced affections?

If these concern groups really want to encourage distinguished public architecture, they should get up a petition to demolish the appallingly ugly public library in Causeway Bay. This unattractive edifice spoils the view from Victoria Park.

The statue of Queen Victoria should be blindfolded, so that her majesty is not offended by this horrible construction.

ROB LEUNG, Wan Chai

Game lost to racism

It was a joy to see two Hong Kong players in the women's badminton singles final in the 15th Asian Games ('Historic day for HK sport with gold and silver double', December 10). As a mainlander who has lived and worked in this city for more than two years, I felt proud of both the winner, mainland-born veteran Wang Chen, and her rival, 19-year-old Yip Pui-yin. It was also heartening to read news reports of their friendship.

However, I am shocked at the narrow-mindedness displayed by the Hong Kong commentators and journalists during live coverage of the game on Cable TV's sports channel. All of them took Yip's side even before the game started and it was hard to tell from the tone of their commentary that the women came from the same country. The implication behind their frequent referrals to Yip as 'local' or 'indigenous' was also quite plain.

Of course, what's happened in Doha is a reflection of what happens every day in this city, with many Hongkongers viewing both residents and visitors from the mainland unfavourably. Such views may reflect the economic and political divisions that once existed between Hong Kong and the mainland, but now they are plainly discriminatory and prejudiced.

The reality has changed faster than people's minds, but regrettably there seems to be a lack of initiative to tackle the problem - as the badminton match showed. While there is much about Hong Kong of which to be proud, I am less than enamoured with the provincial attitude and lack of generosity shown by local residents. It does not fit with Hong Kong's projected image as 'Asia's world city'.

HAI XIN, Tin Hau

Trouble on our doorstep

I am writing with regard to the public consultation now under way as part of the government's Harbourfront Enhancement Review - Wan Chai, Causeway Bay and Adjoining Areas.

I have to confess that I was not even aware until last week that such a consultation was taking place. As a resident of Harbour Heights in North Point, I am about to have a new tunnel open on my front doorstep under the plan, and I only know about it because of a rare encounter with a neighbour who told me the bad news.

I therefore urge all North Point residents to stand up and be counted before the consultation ends this weekend. The consultation document seems to be big on ideas and visions, but vague on the details. All I know is that a new tunnel in North Point is going to involve reclamation and a significant long-term increase in noise and air pollution in our neighbourhood.

We need the government to give us more details. We need to ensure that our interests are well-represented. We cannot let this consultation slide past without speaking out.

IAN BORRETT, North Point

Good design takes time

The risk that design-build contracts lead to substandard solutions is well-documented. However well-intended, the specifications of the tender for the new Tamar government complex limit the opportunity for a spectacular outcome in unforeseen ways.

I therefore call on the government to exclude the time required for Town Planning Board approval to rearrange the open space and offices from the maximum time allowed for ground-breaking - and to inform all four contenders accordingly. This will enable better design and open spaces. Placing the buildings together on one end of the site will also make it hard to avoid podium-style solutions, limit visual corridors at ground level and hamper air ventilation.

PAUL ZIMMERMAN, Causeway Bay

Sevens tickets scrum

Like dozens of others who gave up their Saturday mornings to queue for Rugby Sevens tickets this weekend, I was turned away at the gates of the Hong Kong Stadium by an official who said the tickets were sold out - more than an hour before they were due to go on sale. He said we should have started queuing hours earlier, like the thousand or so people who had made it into the stadium to buy the entire ticket allocation for the local public. Instead, I put it to the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union that it should increase the number of public tickets.

How many of us who helped build the Sevens have been disappointed at the public sale - only to be forced to spend weeks scheming for invitations to corporate boxes or hoping that a contact might have an unwanted ticket at the last minute? How frustrating it is to then go to the Sevens and see rows of empty seats and half-full corporate boxes. How distressing it is to visit travel agents' websites as late as the month of the event and find tickets are still available - if you live in England or Australia.

The official kept telling the disappointed crowd that '80 per cent' of Sevens tickets - that is, 32,000 - are reserved 'for the people of Hong Kong'. But he later conceded that most of the 80 per cent is, in fact, allocated to sponsors and private clubs, and only 6,000 are actually reserved for the Hong Kong public.

It is right that sponsors and member organisations of the HKRFU be allocated tickets. Allocations to overseas travel agents are also understandable. But when this leaves life-long supporters feeling like second-class citizens every time the Sevens comes around, then something must change.

LIAM FITZPATRICK, Ma Wan

Labour market unjust

Letter writer Sam Fong's claim that a free market should dictate pay levels contains a serious fault ('Labour's true worth', December 10). More and more in this digital age, employers can move jobs to where cheap labour can be found, or replace it with robotics. However, it is far more difficult for labour to move where the pay is better. Your story yesterday on dental practices in London should drive home what free labour movement achieves ('Foreign fillings', December 11). A truly fair labour market requires many other conditions beyond the scope of this letter, but until Hong Kong and the rest of the world remove all barriers to labour movement, any open market analogy is a sad joke and labour needs protection - perhaps even from Mr Fong.

SCOTT HATCH, Shenzhen