bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

additionalInfoBoxes

quizIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

SCMP Reporter

Q Who, if anyone, should be blamed for the handling of Harbour Fest?

I think the government deserves blame for spending time and money on an investigation of Harbour Fest to identify what, if anything, went wrong with the concerts.

It's time to move forward and beyond all the what-ifs. Let's identify Harbour Fest as what it truly was (and hopefully will be in the future) - much determination and hard work to bring about many wonderful nights of quality music and joy to Hong Kong.

Linda Noel, Tai Tam

Q Who should be held responsible for the Harbour Fest?

In two words: Mike Rowse!

Wy Sun, Mid-Levels

When you give  $100 million  to someone full of confidence but with no experience in organising concerts, the Harbour Fest fiasco is the predictable result. When you give a child full responsibility to do an adult's job, it's obviously the adult's fault. Mike Rowse, the government's frontman, and other officials involved, should take responsibility for wasting so much taxpayers'  money.

But you can't really blame the ex-AmCham head and his friends when Mr Rowse wrote them a blank cheque to do as they liked without government oversight.

The organisers, in effect, admitted they made mistakes:  the fest lasted too long with too many acts. In other words, it would have  been a lot more cost-effective, far more successful and less controversial if they had stuck  to fewer acts and a shorter period - the result of overambition without experience.

In conclusion: the Harbour Fest investigators should only look into government mishandling and maladministration.

Michael Hacking, Yuen Long

On other matters ...

In response to my letter published November 29, Chief Superintendent Tang How-kong claimed it was inaccurate and unfair for me to make allegations that the police were hiding the 'real' crime figures.

I explained that by hiding I meant that if you do not report crime or turn a blind eye to it, there is statistically no crime. I do not suggest that police are 'cooking the books' by telling us there were, let's say, 10 murders when there were actually 20.

Mr Tang then proceeds to say that it is one of the force's operational targets this year to maintain the fight against triad-related violence. Why is it only a target for this year? Shouldn't it be on top of the list every year?

We had 14 major anti-triad operations in the first 10 months,  yet every day police officers  stop cars travelling to the airport for being 5-10km/h  over the speed limit on a highway where 110km/h is allowed, and where, in my opinion, it is safe to drive at even higher speeds.

I do not say you should not have  speed traps but if we can spend so much time on checking  cars for speeding then why do we not have constant inspections of triad-operated businesses in order to make  crime more difficult?

Mr Tang then informs us  2,000 people were arrested for triad-related offences.

Can he also inform us for which type of offences these arrests were made, as the only ones we see on the news are the arrests of mainland prostitutes, whose activity I can hardly call violent.

I realise that we live in one of the safest cities in the world. I'd like to keep it that way and that can only be if we do not get too complacent with 'real' crime. Otherwise we will get American or European type situations, where the criminals rule and the innocent civilian is punished from all sides.

Looking at the latest figures, crime seems to be on the rise. I hope we can stop it and enforce a turnaround. I wish Dick Lee Ming-kwai, our new police commissioner, all wisdom and strength in doing so.

Jeffry Kuperus, Repulse Bay

I was  shocked to hear Michael Tien Puk-sun, the KCRC chairman, say  that cracks on railway tracks  are not uncommon.  His remark was made after a crack was found on the line at Kowloon Tong station  last Friday,  disrupting services and leaving thousands of commuters stranded.

When the  incident occurred during peak hours in the early morning,  the KCRC did not  immediately announce the disruption of services through the media, particularly the most  immediate channels such as radio and TV stations, on the grounds that it could repair the crack quickly.

After failing to do so, it claimed to have informed the media of the incident  between 8am  and 8.30am. As a  passenger, I don't  accept the apologies from the KCRC as it  tried  to hide  the truth.

Patrick Wong, Tsuen Wan

A survey reveals that the number of secondary student gamblers has increased sharply.

Fifteen per cent of them borrowed money to gamble. Most  tried gambling after soccer betting  was legalised. The problem is becoming more serious. Before legalisation, the official parties vowed that legalisation would not lead to an increase in the number of young gamblers. Now, it seems that was simply an empty promise. No action has been taken to educate the youth.

Our government is  shortsighted to take taxes from gamblers at the expense of the future of our society. They bet that legalisation will do little harm to society. The fact is that our government has lost the gamble. Youngsters learn how to spend before they learn how to earn a living. Some of them even borrow money to gamble. What will be the future of Hong Kong if we have leaders of this kind?

The government should do its best to correct the misbehaviour of the youngsters. Otherwise, I cannot imagine what our homes will be like  filled with gamblers in 20 years' time.

Joyce Chan Chung-yan, Tsuen Wan



talk back