I realise that I am preaching to the choir here, because the Hong Kong people who read this paper are usually not the ones causing the problems. However, I must respond to Kenneth Leung's letter (South China Morning Post, September 29), in which he raised again the issue of the rudeness of the people of Hong Kong.
As an American living in Hong Kong, I must confess that I have wondered if there were two messages from the MTR announcer - one in English which tells people to stand back and let the passengers alight first - and the other in Cantonese which says, 'Please stand in a big glob in front of the door so that no one can possibly get out without knocking you down. And then, be sure to rush in while the passengers are trying to get out of the train.' However, what I want to take issue with Mr Leung about is his story of the elderly ladies on the Tsuen Wan line of the MTR and more particularly, the secondary students who did not give up their seat.
I am a great people watcher and I am always amazed at the 'pushiness' of some of the older Hong Kong people.
I watched an older woman come up to the queue for the bus last month - a queue in which I was standing. She looked at the long line of people in the queue and then just pushed in front of a secondary student and got on the bus. I am sure that this young student had a good mother, because she stood back and let the rude old lady on the bus.
However, in my opinion, we all pay the same amount of money (approximately) to ride the bus, or the MTR, and someone who is pushing and shoving, regardless of their age, should not be given privileges.
If the two ladies on Mr Leung's MTR were handicapped or extremely elderly, then I agree that they should be given preference. But I see no reason why any paying customer should have to give up a seat to someone who demands that they do so, just because they are old.