DAVE DEARMAN, Tuen Mun

Mind the MTR louts

The scene last Friday: An MTR train pulls into Central station. The doors open. Two passengers, an 85-year-old gentleman and an able-bodied man of about 30, both make beelines for the one vacant seat in the carriage.

The 'youngster' just pipped the old-timer to the post. The latter then stood close to the 30-year-old in an effort to shame him. But, immediately after sitting down, the younger man closed his eyes and feigned sleep. The rest of the people in the carriage all maintained their inscrutable expressions.

One could be excused for assuming that the moral of the story is: Life in the real world is tough. Or, you've got to look after No 1. Or, perhaps, God helps those who help themselves.

DAN WATERS, Mid-Levels

Peas in a pod and poetry

I liked your Political Animal report headlined 'Anson and Donald - like peas in a pod' (October 4). Whether it was the writer's intention or not, the headline has another level of meaning - calling to mind the famous poem composed by Cao Zhi when his life was threatened by his elder brother Cao Pi, the Emperor of Wei.

Cao Pi had always felt threatened by his younger brother, who was famous for his literary talent. Thus, when he succeeded his father upon the latter's death, he decided to eliminate Cao Zhi. He gave his younger brother one chance to save his own life: if Cao Zhi could compose a poem in seven steps, he would let him live. Being a literary genius, Cao Zhi did. The poem goes like this (my own rendering):

While the peas are being cooked by

burning the pods,

the peas are crying in the pot.

From the same roots they have grown,

but see how keen one is to put the

other down!

SIMON YAU, Kowloon City

Disparity riddle

As a local law student, I was surprised to notice upon reviewing the Eastern Magistrate's Court lists since July, that ethnic minorities accounted for more than 37 per cent of all hearings for pedestrian offences. According to the 2001 census, ethnic minorities make up only 5.1 per cent of the population. Could it be that ethnic minorities in Hong Kong are particularly ignorant of road safety or do they just suffer from prejudiced policing?

ROB LEE, Pok Fu Lam

Police boats all at sea

I wrote to the South China Morning Post last month suggesting the Marine Department check on the rubbish that trawlers bring back to the harbour as a way to deter them from dumping their refuse off our shores ('Floating litterbugs', September 16).

On the same sailing trip that inspired that letter, we noticed a number of computer monitors floating around Rocky Harbour. As they were fairly large and an obvious navigation hazard, we assumed that the marine police had also seen them and were taking action - if only in the interests of public safety.

I was therefore surprised to read that the police did not know about the monitors coming ashore around Tai Long Wan ('The day computers crashed on the beach', October 1).

It raises the question of what the large police boats sitting in Rocky Harbour, Port Shelter and off Tai Long Wan are actually doing. You seldom see them deploying their lighter and speedier auxiliary boats these days, and their inquisitiveness and powers of observation seem somewhat lacking.

CHRISTOPHER LAVENDER, Central

29,000 nights indeed

I refer to Richard Straw's highly amusing letter 'Leave smokers be' (October 5). I abhor cigarette smoke and regard smokers as junkies, but he does have an interesting slant on the issue.

First of all, I must point out that, although Queen Elizabeth is a non-smoker, she does provide for guests who smoke. This is in keeping with good manners. We all know the health hazards, but I would defend any smoker's right to indulge the habit where it is not specifically banned. After all, people want to feel comfortable.

Come on, Mr Straw, why not let smokers pop off to some remote place to cough themselves to death and allow the rest of us to pursue alternative forms of hedonism in a smoke-free atmosphere? Only 29,000 nights, you say? What a sobering thought. We spend far too much time preaching and pontificating, and far too little on more important things. Thank you for your brilliantly humorous wake-up call.

ANGELA JACKSON, Central

Rallies undemocratic

Why have Hong Kong's local TV news stations - at least, the Chinese-language ones like Phoenix -provided daily, lead-story coverage of street demonstrations to remove Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian from office? The story hardly merits the interest and has received little mention in international media.

One wonders to what extent Beijing may have orchestrated - or, at least, encouraged - the protests, because their entire premise reflects a profound contempt for democratic processes.

Observers need only look at the military takeover in Thailand to see what happens when a fragile democracy with a history of one-party dictatorship allows a vocal minority to disregard the will of the majority expressed in its elections results. Taiwan's legislature has repeatedly tried, and failed, to impeach Mr Chen. If legislators cannot effect a removal by legal means, street demonstrations are not the way to go, unless the organisers are looking for a reversion to the undemocratic methods of Taiwan's past.

PAUL CHRISTOPHER, Central

Par for the political course

There is a blind spot in Kenneth Choy's argument that the Taiwanese should use the ballot box rather than street protests to oust President Chen Shui-bian ('No reason to march', October 3). That is, he cannot see that even democratisation is subject to the golfing principle 'par for the course'. He will have been enlightened by two opinion-page pieces the same day - Frank Ching's article 'Playing with fire' and Christopher Johnson's 'Democracy, the Asian Way'. From these it is apparent that the par has been set too low for both Thailand and Taiwan's political courses. To jump instantly to so-called full democracy is to invite candidates like Mr Chen, their supporters and foreign instigators (of whom there are plenty in Hong Kong) to take advantage of it to pursue independence. No thanks, politics is not something to be experimented with.

PETER LOK, Heng Fa Chuen

Old enough for Mozart

We would like to respond to two letters on your pages conveying differing views on the age limit for admission to performing arts venues ('Too young for Mozart', September 30, and 'Mozart was young once', October 3).

The Leisure and Cultural Services Department is committed to promoting arts and culture to people from all walks of life. Presently, the hirer or organiser of an event decides on the admission age limit for a particular concert, taking into consideration factors including marketing strategies, the target audience and operational requirements. The venue management carries out the admission control accordingly.

Under normal circumstances, classical or serious concerts will admit children of six or older, giving them the opportunity to appreciate fine music in a concert hall, and thereby grooming musical talents (as your reader Andrew Jones points out in the second letter). We consider this arrangement appropriate because children of six have started primary school, and should have begun their training in observing rules and regulations. According to our observations, most children behave well during concerts at our venues.

We are sorry, however, to read of Lai Tsz-cheong's unpleasant experience during The Marriage of Figaro at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre last month ('Too young for Mozart'). The venue management has always endeavoured to provide a comfortable environment for our patrons and artists. To avoid disturbance to the parties concerned, we remind our patrons to switch off all beeping devices, mobile phones and pagers before the start of all performances. These house rules are also contained in our programmes and notices displayed at all entrances. Our ushers and duty staff closely monitor the situation in the auditorium during the performance and take action to stop inappropriate behaviour whenever spotted. We apologise for our staff's failure to spot the inappropriate behaviour during the performance in question. We have already reminded them to be more vigilant.

We believe that, given more opportunities, guidance and support from accompanying adults, our young audiences can learn the right etiquette for concert halls and behave well when attending cultural programmes.

RANDA WAN, senior manager, Hong Kong Cultural Centre