A DOSE OF REALITY Clement Chow wrote in his letter on May 14 that 'panic is saving us' from the Sars outbreak. Mr Chow should be aware that between March 11 and May 13, 225 people are reported to have died from Sars - that's about 110 per month. In a ''normal'' year in Hong Kong there are an average of 3,000 deaths from pneumonia, or 250 per month. In other words, this time last year we were 2.2 times more likely to die from 'typical' pneumonia than from Sars this year. Where were the masked people and the economy-destroying panic then? In Hong Kong we have seen a Sars recovery rate of about 86 per cent, with less than 6 per cent of deaths occurring in people aged below 44. Yuen Kwok-yung, professor of microbiology at the University of Hong Kong, has been quoted as saying that most Sars deaths were caused by the serious side effects of the steroids which suppressed patients' immunity and made them more susceptible to infection by other bacteria. The virology chief at the US Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases at Fort Derrick has said: 'Ribavirin [the drug used in Hong Kong to treat Sars patients] has significant toxicity and does more harm than good - it is the only drug conclusively shown [to be] ineffective in the experiments on Sars so far.' Now is the time for responsible journalism to counter this epidemic of ignorance which is infecting peoples' minds and devastating the economy of Hong Kong. This media frenzy is disproportionate to the actual threat and is symptomatic of a chronic incapacity to calibrate risk. To put this in proportion, throughout 2000 a total of 65,313 people in the United States died from influenza or pneumonia - that's 178 a day. Where was the outcry of epidemic then? West Nile Fever has killed 280 people and infected more than 4,000 since August last year, an average of 440 per month. Where is the World Health Organisation travel advisory warning people not to go to the US, thus hurting its economy? Sars is not nearly as threatening as succumbing to the most devastating twin ailments of all time: ignorance and fear. BEN COOK Deep Water Bay WINE-LED RECOVERY The Sars crisis has had a serious impact on most, if not all, businesses in Hong Kong, none more so than the hotel and hospitality sectors. Most hotels are suffering single-digit occupancy rates, which in turn is having a knock-on effect on their food and beverage outlets. Most restaurants in Hong Kong have suffered a similar fate, with businesses temporarily suspending operations or going into liquidation at an alarming rate. Some businesses have been forced into crisis-management mode and either opted to give employees unpaid leave or, worse still, have dramatically downsized to ensure their survival. These events have had a negative impact on spending power and consumer confidence. While the government is considering proposals to provide assistance and stimulus to the hardest-hit sectors of the business community, measures are needed to resuscitate confidence and demand, which are thankfully showing signs of improvement now that Sars has been brought under control. Some hotels and restaurants have had to resort to offering patrons complimentary services, such as allowing them to bring their own wine with no or minimal corkage fees being charged. This results in lost revenue on wine sales, which in happier days provided the highest profit margins for these businesses. Therefore one way in which the government could stimulate demand would be to significantly reduce customs duty on wine, which is currently 80 per cent and one of the highest in the world. If we are promoting Hong Kong as a world city to prospective tourists and visitors, why are we out of synch with many other major industrialised countries in relation to duty on wines and spirits? This coupled with an unfavourable exchange rate has pushed the landed cost of these items to record highs. This has rendered the price of wine offered for sale in restaurants and hotels prohibitively expensive. If the duty was reduced even temporarily to a more modest level, the cost reductions could be passed on to customers, which in turn would stimulate consumption resulting in increased revenue for the hospitality trade and no doubt to the government from an increase in revenue from excise duty. CAMILLE JOJO Central FIGHTING DISCRIMINATION In reference to the letter from K.K. Liu (South China Morning Post, May 12) about fighting bans aimed at the Hong Kong business community, the Equal Opportunities Commission would like to repeat that it is opposed to all forms of discrimination. The Sars outbreak has highlighted the need for Hong Kong as a world-class city to adopt a complete set of laws which would fight all kinds of discrimination. It has been brought to the commission's attention that Hong Kong people who are travelling, working, studying or visiting overseas have, in many instances, been discriminated against because of the Sars outbreak in the city. The commission believes that such actions may, in some instances, be unnecessary or too broad. Some may also amount to discrimination based on race/nationality and assumed disability. Without doubt, such restrictions are ultimately damaging to the broader interests of the community and business. The commission has received and handled close to 400 Sars-related enquiries and complaints from Hong Kong residents since the outbreak began in March. Although discrimination occurring overseas falls outside our jurisdiction, we are liaising with several overseas bodies with parallel jurisdiction to see if they can assist Hong Kong residents who are facing problems abroad. Once we have collated the data, the information will be available on the commission's website at www.eoc.org.hk . ANNA WU Chairperson Equal Opportunities Commission EDUCATION UNDER ATTACK The government initially insisted that delinking the salaries of university staff from those of the civil service did not necessarily imply that university budgets would be cut. However, it proposed a 10 per cent cut in university funding just two weeks after it put forward the delinking proposal, suggesting that the government must have seen the proposal as necessary to implement university budget cuts. In addition to the 10 per cent cut (worth $1.18 billion), the government will also stop funding for taught masters degrees ($680 million) and drastically cut funding for associate degrees/higher diplomas (about $1.28 billion). When fully implemented during the next few years, these cuts will amount to staggering 27 per cent of current budgets. This will also come on top of the proposal to cut university salaries by 6 per cent, a flow on from the proposed salary cuts in the Civil Service, and the 15 per cent cut during the past six years. Unfortunately, this trend of university funding cuts is unlikely to be reversed, and further cuts of about 15 per cent have mentioned for the 2005-08 triennial. To single out universities for such huge budget cuts is a big step backwards, as this will lower the quality of higher education at a time when Hong Kong needs more high-quality graduates to help it improve the economy and compete with neighbouring countries. Students will also be affected by these drastic cuts in funding, especially students enrolled in associate degree/higher diploma programmes, as fees will need to be much higher. I would also like to comment briefly on the Director of Audit's report, which was discussed by the Legislative Council's public accounts committee on Wednesday. The report concluded that after a cost-of-living adjustment, the salaries of local academics were generally higher than those in the UK and the US. However, this conclusion seems to be based on incomplete data. For example, like all other professionals in Hong Kong, academics have long working hours, which can include week-day evening teaching for masters degree programmes and normal scheduled teaching on Saturday morning. While the proportion of senior academic staff in Hong Kong universities has remained static, the trend is up in the UK as a result of competition from the private sector. The report also made no attempt to consider other factors related to the general quality of life in Hong Kong compared to other major industrialised countries. Further, there was no attempt to compare the salaries of academics with the salaries of other local professionals. The Director of Audit could also easily have concluded that all professionals in Hong Kong are being paid more than their overseas counterparts. The salaries of frontline university teachers are broadly in line with other professionals in Hong Kong: lawyers and doctors, architects and engineers, and middle and top managers at various corporations. If all these additional factors had been considered, the Director of Audit might have reached a different conclusion. C.W. CHAN Chairman Academic Staff Association University of Hong Kong SPORT COULD SAVE US The proposed stadium at the Kai Tak site would be outstanding and attract major sporting events, concerts and shows from all around the world. Does the government really think it can attract tourists by advertising Hong Kong overseas as the 'city of life'? It's a waste of money. If people wanted to come they would come anyway, but more events in the city would give them an extra incentive. Put the money into sports - both for adults and children. As a sports promoter myself, I find it very challenging not to have a proper multi-purpose stadium. Sports is a common language. I am glad that Olympic chief Timothy Fok Tsun-ting recognises that and I hope that more and more people will back his cause. In the wake of the Sars outbreak, it will take more than just an advertising campaign to bring people back to the city. KEITH FONG Happy Valley
