I refer to E. Herdman's letter headlined, 'Heartless passengers', which appeared in the South China Morning Post, on September 23. If Mr/Ms Herdman was disheartened by the attitude of some passengers towards a disabled young lady travelling in the KCR, I am shocked to learn that he/she did not do anything to try to help her. I would like to point out that on many occasions, on buses, on the MTR or the KCR and many times I have seen someone give up his or her seat immediately to let an old or disabled person sit down. At other times, when I was not in a position to offer my seat, I approached the person in need and then invariably there was someone who noticed at that time the plight of that person and provided help. If no seated passenger had realised that a seat would be welcomed, by an elderly person or someone who was disabled, it has been my habit to ask the fittest-looking passenger if he/she would like to offer his/her seat. Maybe Mr/Ms Herdman is new to Hong Kong otherwise he/she would have understood that people here although they are often self-centred, are by no means heartless. They lack initiative and are overcome by a kind of misguided 'shyness', but they will al ways praise a kind gesture. So, please, Mr/Ms Herdman, instead of criticising these people, try to understand and help them and show them what initiative can achieve. M. DUTARD Aberdeen
