I think knowledge is very important, but won't guarantee you'll be rich.

Pauline Wong

Sister trouble sorted

Siblings seldom get on well together. My sister and I fight often.

A friend of mine told me that patience is important when dealing with siblings and she inspired me to fix the quarrel with my sister.

It's really not all that difficult to get along with your siblings when you do it from your heart and treat them as you would treat your friends.

Yip Tung-yu, Christian Alliance S.C. Chan Memorial College

Now is the time

Some students are not very good at time management. They seem to think time is not valuable, that they can do things 'tomorrow'. But this is wrong. Time is precious. If you waste a minute, it is gone forever.

We should not waste a moment of our lives. We should learn from people who are terminally ill. They suffer but don't give up their lives. Their time is important to them. We should treasure our time and do it now.

Amy Lau Yuk-ching, Leung Shek Chee College

You're the best

Many people don't accept themselves. They worry about their looks, their results at school, family issues. They are always comparing themselves to others.

But people who think they are inferior to others are wrong. They need to think of themselves as a boss, or a queen or celebrity. They need to imagine that they are the most beautiful, knowledgeable, richest people in the world.

They need to accept themselves for who they are.

Li Mei-yin

Own your tomorrow

People always say we will never know what tomorrow will bring. I think we have the chance to build our own tomorrow.

Only you control your life. All the things you have done in your past are the most important elements of your future. For instance, if you haven't done your homework today, you will be punished by your teacher tomorrow.

No matter what others say, the only person who can change your life is you. Think about what you really want, work more, try more and learn more. Never give up when you feel discouraged.

Besides, you never know what tomorrow will bring.

Tracey Ng, The Chinese Foundation Secondary School

Stop the storms

The recent snowfall on the mainland caused severe damage and chaos. But China was not the only place to experience severe weather conditions. South California in the United States battled with fires caused by strong winds.

All of this extreme weather is due to the El Nina phenomenon and related to our bad environmental habits which cause global warming.

We need to do something.

First of all, we produce too much toxic gas from various kinds of incinerators and transport. I suggest reducing the use of personal transport in favour of public transport, and using LPG in our cars instead of petrol or diesel. This would not only reduce the amount of gasses released into the air, but also help to prevent a future energy crisis. Also, we could install a catalytic converter in our cars to filter nitrogen oxides.

Secondly, we waste a lot of paper and should use both sides of the paper to write or print. This would save trees which prevent landslides.

Issac Cheung, Ju Ching Chu Secondary School

Save our opera

It's a pity to hear interest in Cantonese opera is declining. Professionals say it this is due to a lack of facilities. I think it's a shame that we Chinese don't try harder to keep our traditional culture.

Young people are just not interested in going to a show. Perhaps they find it too noisy, too long, or unrelated to them. To solve this problem schools should hold opera classes to introduce the art to children. Producers could shorten the scripts and try to get stories that are more relative to teenagers.

The government should make more venues available at a cheaper rate so tickets can be sold more cheaply. I hope these suggestions will help to preserve Cantonese opera.

Chin Kei-yu, Our Lady of the Rosary College

Look within yourself

We always blame others when we fail. If she fails, my classmate always blames our teacher for setting an exam that's too hard for us.

When I fail in mathematics I always say I'm not intelligent enough.

We always blame others, but we never blame ourselves for not trying hard enough. We make excuses for our failure, blaming it on luck or other circumstances.

We can't solve a problem with blame. I think we should blame ourselves before blaming others.

Karl Mok

Time to digest

I remember last year our biology teacher said that if we chewed French fries for longer than we usually do we'll find out that they taste sweet.

I knew what the problem was - I was eating too fast. And I started to notice that most Hongkongers eat too fast.

We are forced to eat fast as the lunchtime is so short. I think we should have the right to digest our food.

Adrian Lau, Yan Oi Tong Tin Ka Ping Secondary School