As education chief, Arthur Li, you are fully accountable
Arthur Li Kwok-cheung has accepted the role of secretary for education and manpower; perhaps there is some misconception about what it entails. The ministerial system was introduced to Hong Kong to enhance government accountability. In an advanced, open society such as Europe, a government minister has a truly heavy responsibility. He stands at the apex of formulating and executing policy - co-ordinating and mediating between the inputs of experts, the government and the people. Importantly, he is delegated by the head of government to be accountable, and should be the main conduit for explaining policy to stakeholders.
Professor Li denies interfering in the decision by the council of the Hong Kong Institute of Education not to reappoint Paul Morris as president, saying he 'respects their autonomy'. But the training college is not autonomous, since so many members of its ruling council are appointed by the government. And as the government minister, Professor Li is responsible for this decision, and should be prepared to account for it. On this basis, he is also responsible for the governance of the institute.
According to hearsay, he has been strenuous in preventing it from becoming a university. Some malicious gossip explains this as follows: if the college became a university, it would have to be granted an appropriate governing structure. Then it would have more freedom to criticise government policies that no educationalist would support, such as third-world class sizes.
ANDREW CARVERHILL, Mid-Levels
No academic free lunch
It is naive to complain about the threat to academic freedom posed by recent events at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. Just as there is no such thing as a free lunch, there is no such thing as academic freedom. There is always a price to pay, and academic institutions in Hong Kong must pay - first, for relying on government handouts (instead of diversifying their income base) and, second, for failing to come up with the goods to justify the largesse.
If, like the institute's vice-president for academic affairs, Bernard Luk Hung-kay, you openly criticise the people who pay your salaries, you cannot expect to get away with it - unless you can come up with the goods that nobody else can.
Other than generating a few ephemeral headlines, I don't see any of these institutions coming up with winning discoveries or breakthroughs that deserve my support or producing any world-renowned scholars to make me proud.
It's time for the government to put an end to the self-righteous arrogance of academic administrators and make them accountable for the results they produce. As long as they continue to get handouts from the government, they are accountable to this community.
CHARLIE YEUNG, Sheung Wan
What a waste of money
So the three-year inquiry into the extravagant money-wasting of Harbour Fest has resulted in a HK$156,000 fine for InvestHK director-general Mike Rowse. I wonder how much the three-year inquiry cost the taxpayer? Perhaps there can be an inquiry into the costs of the inquiry? And, you know, it could go on and on, ad nauseam, cheerfully wasting even more of our taxes on appointing lawyers and investigators and keeping the boys in government in jobs.
Every day at the bus stop, I see such officials grinning at me from their vast canvas posters. I'm not surprised they're so happy, with opportunities to secure prolonged work on inquiries like this. Still, they have to do something to occupy the time between now and drawing their fat pensions.
SIMON PARK, Sheung Wan
Respectful remembrance
I was a little disappointed by your obituary on Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation chief Yeung Kai-yin ('Stellar career marred by humiliating scandal', February 9). It seems to me to overemphasise his admittedly abrasive manner at the expense of his good qualities and his significant contribution to Hong Kong's development. I worked for and with Yeung as a young administrative officer. While no one would pretend that he was an easy boss, I felt this was outweighed by his enormous sense of commitment and his seriousness of purpose.
He was given a series of challenging posts and he was well known for being immensely hard-working. I remember a filing cabinet in the old Economic Services Branch completely full of documents to do with setting up the MTR. They ranged from strategic-level submissions to the Executive Council to minute details of the senior staff's employment conditions. Yeung had a hand in almost all of them, writing many of them himself - some in his distinctive ultra-neat script. It was tedious bureaucracy, perhaps, but such dedication was required to get the wheels of the MTR turning smoothly.
The last time I came across Yeung in a governmental context was during his chairmanship of the Vocational Training Council. This was an honorary, unpaid position and his health was already failing. Nonetheless, he devoted himself to the council's affairs with his customary drive and intellectual vigour, concentrating his efforts in his specialist fields of financial management and control in a period of economic recession.
However, my favourite memory of Yeung is a personal one. A few years ago my son was running the London Marathon in aid of a charity and I asked various friends if they would sponsor him. Yeung replied with a terse demand for a certificate of the number of kilometres actually run. This was duly provided and his consequent donation was the most generous of them all.
I will remember him with respect and affection.
RACHEL CARTLAND, Mid-Levels
The real wine culprits
So businessman and restaurateur Allan Zeman hypothesises that high import taxes on wine are discouraging tippling in restaurants and tarnishing Hong Kong's image as a fine-dining destination ('Cellars' market', February 10). According to the article, tax adds HK$40 to the price of a bottle of wine such as a Cloudy Bay sauvignon blanc. Given the lowest restaurant price for this wine is HK$450, removing the tax altogether brings the price down to $410.
Now I don't think the average customer who thinks that HK$450 is too expensive is suddenly going to find HK$410 affordable - assuming that restaurants fully pass on any tax savings. Since Mr Zeman is concerned that Hong Kong's image is damaged by the high cost of wine, he should investigate what is really pushing up its cost: restaurant mark-ups.
STEPHEN CHOW, Mid-Levels
Simons say
I'm not sure which of the letters from the two Simons in Saturday's paper is more offensive: the simple elitism of Mr Osborne, who mocks the frugality of people queuing to save a small amount of money in 'A long wait for HK$2' (February 10), or Mr Patkin's familiar attacks on environmentalists in favour of his 'capitalism is God' attitude ('Greenie gibberish').
I suppose the former could be accepted as making a wry observation, although Mr Osborne obviously has no appreciation of the underclass in this town, who labour long and hard for a pittance.
Mr Patkin, however, has often stated his belief that nothing should stand in the way of the pursuit of personal financial wealth. Unfortunately, as usual, he attacks without any evidence to support his views. This may be because he previously embarrassed himself trying to back up his arguments against global warming by quoting a US senator who has accepted massive funding from the oil and gas industry ('Shrill alarmism', October 2).
I've taken a little time to look into Mr Patkin's Capitalist Solutions think-tank. In both the term 'think-tank' and his claim to support 'rational' self-interest, I believe he is falling short of his goals.
JOHN BRUCE, Pok Fu Lam
Offensive to men
I take great offence at Renata Lopez's letter 'What men want' (February 10). She writes: 'It's a fact that most men really want their mates to be their mothers, servants and/or sex slaves ...' A fact? Please state your source of information, or keep quiet.
I do not treat my wife like that, and my men friends are all respectable human beings and loving husbands. Do not generalise based on a few nasty encounters you may have had or heard of.
RENNIE MARQUES, Mei Foo
US$25m winner
I would like to claim Sir Richard Branson's US$25 million prize for coming up with a way to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere ('Branson in US$25m challenge to beat global warming', February 10).
So the experts think the challenge is difficult as 'no carbon-capturing technology exists'? The device that can most effectively remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is a tree.
ANDY SMAILES, Pok Fu Lam
