The government wants to develop Hong Kong into a 'sports city'. But the economy is always their top priority.

Shooting is a popular sport in Hong Kong, so it is important to have a world-class facility here.

But the Hong Kong Shooting Association, which runs the sport in the city, says the government is delaying construction of the Tuen Mun range. Organisers of the 2009 East Asian Games originally planned to host the shooting events there.

Another range, in Lai Chi Kok, will be closed soon. The government should allow the association to use the Lai Chi Kok venue until the Tuen Mun range is built.

At the Games, 13 shooting events were cut to four because of the venue problem. This has cast doubt on Hong Kong's ability to host future international shooting events.

Building world-class sports facilities cannot be delayed any longer.

Ted Li, Fanling Rhenish Church Secondary School

More class time needed for diploma

The Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) will be introduced for the first time next year. There will be about 77,000 candidates striving for university places. Many secondary schools claim there isn't much time for students to prepare.

Some schools are even reducing their summer holidays, from six weeks to two.

HKDSE students will have to attend a lot more lessons than those who prepared for the HKCEE and A-level.

The extra lessons are necessary, because it would take about 31/2 years to complete the diploma syllabus. However, teachers have only three years to cover the new senior secondary curriculum. So the lesson times are definitely not enough.

Tim Tsoi, CUHK FAA Thomas Cheung Secondary School

The pros and cons of the internet

The internet is becoming more and more popular. Many people use it to keep in touch with others.

The internet allows people to share their thoughts and feelings through e-mails, and social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Although the internet is a wonderful tool that can help us in many ways, there are downsides, too.

For example, with less face-to-face interaction, people's inter-personal skills could become weaker. Also, those who get addicted to the internet could withdraw from society completely. This could lead to serious social problems.

And then there are hackers who could steal your personal information. Therefore, please beware of the pitfalls of the internet.

Melissa Tsui Po-yee, Heep Yunn School

We need to act to protect our Earth

We should protect the environment. For a start, we can recycle waste.

Many people think there are very few things that can be recycled. But in fact there are many, like newspapers, plastic bottles, aluminium cans and so on.

Collection points are not hard to find. You can find them in MTR stations.

The most important thing is to separate waste.

And we should reduce consumption by doing less shopping. Also, we should turn off idling car engines and buy products with less packaging.

Eric Kwan, Po Leung Kuk Wu Chung College

Is a strict teacher a good teacher?

Strict teachers can be good, but they are not always perfect.

Teaching requires certain skills, especially when syllabuses change regularly and students have a short attention span.

A strict teacher may make students keep their eyes on a page, but their minds may drift.

A good teacher should be able to spark students' interest and make them understand a subject.

Raoul Tam, Hang Seng School of Commerce