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SCMP Reporter

The latest monstrosities to make their way to the Legislative Council are the unattractive noise reduction barriers near the Tolo Harbour.

You know, the ones they put there to minimise noise and totally destroy the aesthetic value of the place.

The Environment, Transport and Works panel had a few choice words about the eyesore on Friday.

Tommy Cheung Yu-yan of the Liberal Party pointed out the psychotropic nature of the barriers.

They make him feel dizzy.

'It's like travelling in a time tunnel,' he pointed out.

Given that drivers are often flooring it at more than 100km/h, such is the effect of the towering blue and green barriers along both sides of the highway.

'It has caused safety problems,' Mr Cheung insisted.

'Even the [Environment, Transport and Works] bureau chief [Sarah Liao Sau-tung] said she almost had a car crash over there yesterday,' he said.

He suggested that drivers be supplied with blinkers. The government however does not believe in horsing around.

Instead it will spend HK$8 million tearing the Tolo Harbour barriers down.

Blunders never cease.

EATING RIGHT

Courtroom 24 has been the scene of some intense legal sparring for airlines Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragonair.

The latter last week failed to thwart a public inquiry over Cathay's attempt to resume services to the mainland.

An application for a judicial review was turned down.

Dragonair, you may recall, has accused Cathay of coveting its lucrative mainland routes - Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen.

After an exhaustive morning of legal wrangling, the parties piled into the High Court lifts to make their way to lunch.

Cathay's director of corporate development Tony Tyler - who had just undergone cross-examination himself - turned to his barrister.

'Let's do Chinese,' he said.

It seems Mr Tyler is taking Cathay's corporate strategy to heart.

Or at least to his stomach.

BEATEN BY THE BUS

Consumers in Hong Kong are a potent force to be reckoned with.

Take the callers to RTHK's public affairs programme, Talkabout. All kinds of contentious issues are debated with vigour and passion.

Late last week, Raymond Tang Yee-bong, the privacy commissioner, was in the hot seat to discuss his recent decision to back the banks over the sharing of positive credit data.

A huge consumer issue, privacy is an acute concern - and there is no guarantee that by handing over positive data or having a good credit record, you will get a cushier deal from the banks.

We eagerly tuned in for the live discussion.

And waited. And waited.

It seemed consumers were more concerned about seat-belts on buses.

Mr Tang received the grand sum of just two questions.

Talk about road kill.

TESTING TIMES

Chief Secretary Donald Tsang Yam-kuen has no time for slackers.

Hong Kong needs a workforce that can speak fluent English and Chinese. Training was key to keep us competitive as an international city, he told the Legislative Council last week.

And what a set of initiatives he has unveiled.

All applicants for civil-service posts at degree or professional level will need to get a pass in the Use of English papers in the civil-service recruitment exams.

For other civil-service posts with academic qualifications below degree level, job applicants need to have gained a certain grade in the English language syllabus.

Grade E.

E?

Tough standards indeed. Now, how do you spell blancmange?

NUMBER'S UP

An Ohio man recently dialled D for disaster.

John Mullen Jr thought he was calling a sex chat line.

In fact, he got through to chief Guy Turner of the Cleveland police, according to Web site Ananova.com.

The officer used another line to trace the call. In the meantime, Mr Mullen allegedly made sexually explicit remarks for 15 to 20 minutes.

Chief Turner stayed on the line while other officers made their way to Mr Mullen's home.

They found him asleep in bed.

Obviously Chief Turner was lacking in the dirty talk department.

So much for The Filth.



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Government brings down the barriers

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