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SCMP Reporter

Q Should activists give up the fight against the Central reclamation?

I love travelling around Hong Kong and I used to climb  Victoria Peak once a week. The view  is famous worldwide and tourists  enjoy the  harbour scenery.

Older citizens who have witnessed the city's development  might also have noticed the narrowing  of Victoria Harbour. In recent years, reclamation  has become a serious issue. According to some figures, the harbour was about 7,000 hectares in the '80s, but if the planned projects continue this year, the harbour will  be reduced to half its size.

These figures tell us that the view from The Peak won't be as beautiful as in the past. This will have a direct impact on tourism, on which we rely so heavily.

The government should not engulf the harbour and waste it.

One might claim that the skyscrapers contributed to the harbour's beautiful night view,  but the  recent economic slump led to unfavourable conditions for buying offices - which means many are not rented.  I don't think the view is good if a  skyscraper has only a few lights on.

Chang Kwong-wa, Hunghom

If you ask tourists what are the most attractive places in Hong Kong, their answers are inevitably The Peak and Victoria Harbour.

Continuous reclamation will lead to a very narrow harbour. If we compare an old and a new map, there has been a significant drop in the harbour area. Kowloon and Hong Kong Island have nearly joined to form a large landmass. This government project may solve the transportation problem in Central and Wan Chai, but what about marine transportation? One should be reminded that sea transport also will be congested if the harbour is too narrow. Our harbour is a gift from nature. Let's not destroy it.

Kwok Chi Hin, Hunghom

Q Do under-enrolled schools deserve to stay open?

The distribution of public resources to various social services should be fair and based on the community's needs. Education is no exception.

When student numbers  rise, more school places should be provided. When this rising trend reverses, it is time to reduce the number of classes or even shut under-enrolled schools.

Parents should not be so pessimistic to  believe their schools are being 'killed' and their children are being deprived of the right to education.  Students can take the chance to have better development in another school through interaction with a bigger pool of peers.

Name and address supplied

On other matters...

C.K. Lau's column (March 27) correctly exposes a poor situation in which dwellings quickly deteriorate because of an almost total lack of routine maintenance.

Buildings 50 years old should not be in such a bad state. The Urban Renewal Authority appears to  offer lazy owners a spring-board rather than a safety net. However, finance is a fundamentally limiting factor; firstly, to pay for maintenance and improvement and, secondly, for individuals  wishing to buy  the properties.

Perhaps the answer is for the  authority to follow the American example and set up (semi-public home-loan mortgage corporations) such as Ginnie and Fannie Mae, and their friend Freddie Mac.

Roger Emmerton, Mid-Levels

My wife is  driving in Hong Kong using a temporary driving licence valid to June 16. She is from a country whose licences are not recognised and therefore she is obliged to take a driving test to gain a full Hong Kong driving licence. After passing the written test,  a road test was booked for  yesterday at the Chung Yee Street Driving Test Centre using our private car, which she drives daily.

In accordance with the Transport Department's written instructions, along with other required documentation, we submitted our comprehensive insurance.   But the driving test centre refused to accept the insurance documents, stating that  a separate insurance document was needed stating the car could be used for  driving tests.

I understand this requirement under the Motor Vehicles Insurance (Third party Risks) Ordinance for cars being used by provisional licence holders, or using driving school vehicles for tests, but as my wife drives our  fully insured private car daily on a temporary licence issued by the department, can it be clarified under which law this refusal and subsequent postponement of the test was undertaken?

William Glenwright, Tai Po

As a  Kennedy Road resident and representative of the owners of Sakura Court, I am writing to express  grave concerns on  the transport impact of the proposed Hopewell Development scheme.

The development proposes a 61-storey hotel with 2,200 rooms, for which the ONLY vehicular access is in Kennedy Road. It has  a car park for 450  vehicles and a lay-by for four buses.  A ramp leads up to the hotel entrance from Kennedy Road,  which will be partially widened.

Kennedy Road  has a single lane,  with no possibility for it to  become two lanes or more. There are five schools and one  senior citizens' home on Kennedy Road. While it is a quiet residential area, it is also extensively used by traffic from Central and Mid-Levels to the Cross Harbour Tunnel, Happy Valley and onwards.

Our  concerns are:

Traffic increase generated by the hotel and the shopping mall;

A hotel with 2,200 rooms, which we understand will target mainland tourists  and result in a large number of buses. Where will all those buses park and what impact will they have on general traffic flow in Kennedy Road?;

A proposed flyover leading up to the hotel from almost opposite Sakura Court and very close to St Francis Canossian College and Primary School. We are concerned about the impact this will have on the safety of school children, residents and traffic entering and leaving the buildings close to the flyover;

School children, including residents' children,  use the narrow walkways on Kennedy Road.  We are concerned for their safety due to the increased traffic flow, traffic congestion and increased bus numbers; and

Vehicle congestion may easily cause delays in access to the three hospitals at the Kennedy Road/Wan Chai junction by ambulances and other vehicles.

Incorporated Owners of Sakura Court, Wan Chai

Congratulations to  the Ladies Circle Hong Kong, which has raised $85,000 for charity. Of that total, $6,000 was raised at the film premiere of Calendar Girls. In a quote from the film,  'the sunflower follows the sun, but the best is always last'. So I want to raise the issue of ageism in the 21st century.

Nearly two years ago, I became a 'trailing spouse' and followed my husband to Hong Kong, having left an intense job as a senior clinical nurse in research and gastroenterology in Yorkshire.

I wondered what I would do to  fill my spare time. I was invited as a guest at a Ladies Circle meeting. Group members  want to help as many people as they can and love the world. So I thought I'd  join. But to my horror of horrors,  at the grand old age of 48,  I was 'too old' to become a member - the  age limit is 45.

I know this is not just Hong Kong policy, but why? When does middle age end and old age start, I ask.

Get real girls, and move with the times. This is the day and age when the 50-year-old is the new 40-year-old. Many women are changing direction, starting their own businesses and achieving in society what they couldn't have before. I really think the Ladies Circle has lost the plot by dismissing the over 45s.

By the way ladies, if you need a Ms December for your calendar,  let me know!

Mary Thompson, The Peak

I refer to comments by Joseph Law, vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Employers of Domestic Helpers Association (March 18).

It is upsetting for all Filipino domestic helpers to hear Mr Law's critical remarks about our strange accents and not letting our employers' children learn English from us. At least we know how to speak, read and write in English, even if we have this strange accent.

Regardless of what English-speaking nation you are from, every country has its own accent. In our country, every village and province has its own accent.

And why criticise us? I've noticed and heard a lot of Filipinos talking to their employers and children who are Chinese.

We are all furious and feel we are being picked on  as always!

Rose Garcia, Mongkok

As a performing arts fan,  I am continually frustrated by the lack of coherent direction in Hong Kong's arts establishment.

First,  there are the  scheduling mysteries. For weeks, there is nothing on, then everything happens at the same time. Last weekend performances were held on the same dates by the Hong Kong Dance Company, the Hong Kong Ballet and a joint programme of Kunqu and Cantonese Opera (oh, and there was also something called the Rugby Sevens, which may have kept a few people occupied elsewhere).

Another  puzzling factor is why  Chinese opera is not promoted as a tourist attraction in Hong Kong. On the mainland, this  Chinese art form now depends largely on tourism revenue.  If there is one Hong Kong person who foreign tourists know, it is Jackie Chan, whose famed acrobatic skills are from his Chinese opera training.

Not all opera lends itself to this, but the dazzling display of martial arts  last week from the wonderful Zhejiang Kunqu Opera would have thrilled foreign spectators (even rugby fans) - if it  had been marketed to them.

Wonder of wonders, these shows even had  surtitles in English. This is a welcome contrast to the Chinese opera performance  at the Arts Festival, where non-Chinese speakers were expected to watch a 31/2-hour programme consisting mainly of dialogue based on  a couple of two-line synopses.  Almost all the non-Chinese in the audience gave up and left at the interval. The effort  for Chinese surtitles summarised in English would have been minimal - there is no excuse for an international arts festival to show so little respect for audience and artists alike.

Natasha Rogai, Tuen Mun



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