I am writing on behalf of a group of grassroots-level tennis parents who are concerned about the development of tennis in Hong Kong. The development of tennis has suffered a great setback since it was kicked out of the focus sport list, because of its inability to produce world ranking players. Its financial backing from the Sports Development Board (SDB) was cut off last year just when we saw positive changes brought about by a new coach Ashley Hobson. In spite of getting no financial assistance from the SDB, the Hong Kong Tennis Association (HKTA) has retained Mr Hobson to run its development programme. Mr Hobson is the most devoted coach we have seen in the past 10 years and he has accelerated the development of a large group of junior players since his arrival 1.5 years ago. Tennis was a sport of the affluent in the past and most of the players produced by the programme under the Sports Institute were not from the grassroots level. Training in those days was focused on a limited number of players to produce results. Consequently, once a junior player quit playing tennis or went overseas to study, that player was lost for good and all the resources previously put into that player were wasted. The emphasis in the current HKTA program is to develop at grassroots level. On top of its regional development programme, the association is putting a lot of resources into its elite training programme and there exists a depth of talented grassroots players from age 12 upwards. This group of players comprise the future of tennis in Hong Kong. Some of them may quit or go abroad, but the majority will stay and represent the SAR if they are given the chance to develop. No one can guarantee that the programme will produce great players capable of winning medals in the Olympics or the Asian Games. However, not all the results from the current focus sports are achieved by players developed locally. The HKTA, Mr Hobson and tennis parents are working hard to get tennis back as a focus sport. It does not help that Mr Hobson was told to vacate his office at the institute. Mr Hobson has to administer the programme, look after players' tournament schedules and arrange for overseas travelling. He needs an office at the Sports Institute to be able to do that. The elite training programme needs the training facilities in the institute and Mr Hobson needs an office close to the training facilities for his administration work. If we want to co-host the 2008 Olympics in the SAR, we should have tennis players who can carry the SAR flag. The tennis programme should be given a chance to develop. PANG KWOK-LAM Kowloon Misguided As a former resident of Hong Kong and now as a frequent visitor and investor, I am extremely concerned about what appears to be a general witch-hunt by police within the nightlife scene in Hong Kong, which has resulted in a reluctance by people to patronise many venues to entertain themselves and their overseas visitors. Why is it that reputable venues are being tarred with the same brush as the not so reputable? When you consider that Hong Kong was once regarded as being at the forefront of nightlife and entertainment in Southeast Asia, it is a shame that such a reputation is quickly diminishing. Whilst I appreciate that the police have done a good job and that they do have a difficult task, why is it that these days they seem not to be as selective when deciding where to conduct their 'raids'? Are they not concerned about the negative impression that they are conveying? As a 20-year veteran player in Hong Kong, it is most disturbing to be in a venue enjoying oneself when all of a sudden the police appear, insist that proceedings are halted, licence checks are conducted and even more disturbing, identity checks are carried out on all and sundry - locals and visitors alike. Do they think that people are willing to simply accept what is being construed as harassment of their favourite watering holes? Has there been a shift in policy since the handover? Has the right to privacy diminished since the handover? One could not be blamed for thinking so if the way that the police are conducting 'licence checks' is any indication. A popular catch phrase these days is 'if this is what is happening in Hong Kong then I won't be back.' Can you blame people? Especially visitors who have never been subjected to the degradation of being treated like some kind of criminal at the whim of the police force. Are the police not aware of how embarrassing and insulting it is to Hong Kong residents, when they are entertaining their overseas clients and guests, to be confronted and asked to produce their identity cards? This kind of activity does not augur well for Hong Kong, especially during a time when visitor numbers have decreased dramatically. Visitors to Hong Kong, leaving with a negative impression cannot be expected to serve as ambassadors of Hong Kong as they have in the past. The appropriate authorities should take a long hard look at the current situation and take the necessary action to put the situation right, otherwise diminishing numbers of visitors and investors will become a permanent problem. And, what about the operators of these nightlife and entertainment venues. Are they expected to just stand back and watch their business investments ruined, through no fault of their own? What about the jobs, and the vacant hotel rooms and empty restaurant seats, and the property owners, and the suppliers and so on? In the end who will take the responsibility for killing the golden goose? And what will the police do when the venues are closed due to lack of patrons? Because sink it will if the situation is not rectified. Damage control is required now and police power should be directed towards the criminal elements, not towards the passive and law abiding. NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED Invitation Brian Hughes (Sunday Morning Post, March 29) is baffled that he has not been able to receive RTHK English programmes on his hotel's in-house sound systems. We have received similar complaints from other hotel guests from time to time. I must point out that this is not due to any fault on our part. We have tried but failed to persuade hotels to carry our English-language Radio 3 which we think provides the most comprehensive local and international news programmes as well as information on events taking place in Hong Kong. Many hotel guests in fact take part in Radio 3 programmes. RTHK stands ready to give whatever support is necessary to our tourist industry and we extend an open invitation to the Hong Kong Tourists Association and the Hong Kong Hotels Association to discuss the matter with us. If there are any technical difficulties which prevent the hotels from relaying Radio 3, perhaps our engineers may be able to help. J. DILLON Head/English Programme Services Radio Television Hong Kong Measures I refer to the letter from S. K. Lee letter headlined, 'Serious' (Sunday Morning Post, March 15) expressing his concern about franchised bus service. The Transport Department takes a very serious view regarding road safety, particularly buses which carry the largest number of passengers each day. To ensure the provision of safe and reliable bus services, we monitor closely the procedure and quality of bus maintenance work through various measures like: Daily spot-checks of in-service buses for their road worthiness and general condition. Annual vehicle examination to test the road-worthiness of buses before having their licences renewed; and, Certificate of fitness examinations which examine thoroughly the framework, brake components and parts of buses. Regarding the loud brake squeals from buses of the Citybus and CMB, we have requested the bus companies to make rectification. Citybus has put on trial new brake drums on buses with loud brake squeals while CMB cleaned the brake on the bus concerned on March 6 to minimise noise nuisance. LILY LAM for the Commissioner for Transport
