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SCMP Reporter

Hong Kong has a great chance now to become a better place.

I completely agree with the letter 'Crass disaster reporting' (December 29) criticising the choice by some Hong Kong television stations to show families from here having dim sum in the areas affected by the tsunami.

By looking around us, we can understand how trivial, vulgar and meaningless are all the worries about salaries, bonuses, property prices, the Link Reit and so on. We have a chance to understand what really matters.

I would like to make a proposal. This year, do not put money in the red packets but send it to those who really need help. I am sure a lot can be raised in this way.

As for the 'good luck' meaning of lai see, put a small heart inside the red packet and take this opportunity to explain the importance of solidarity and humanity compared to money. This is the best wish you can give to another person.

FRANCESCO FORMICONI, Repulse Bay

Anson's inspiring appeal

Just before the first news of the tsunami devastation, I decided to donate many of my clothes - suits, jackets, T-shirts and ties - to the Salvation Army.

However, when we asked the organisation to collect them, it asked how many bags there were. I had packed all the clothes into one big suitcase. According to the person we spoke to, the Salvation Army does not collect 'just one bag.' I was asked to make my own plans for delivery.

Huh? This is the Salvation Army? With a 'philosophy' like this, it sounds more like the Salvation Barmy.

This reminded me of the last time I donated something to the Salvation Army - more than 500 CDs. When three rather surly gentlemen came to collect these, I asked if they could also take some framed posters. They refused.

Well, the donation of clothes and more will now go to organisations selflessly involved in relief work for the tsunami disaster survivors. Speaking of which, it was refreshing - and inspiring - to hear Anson Chan Fang On-sang, vice-chairman of Unicef Hong Kong, urging everyone  in this city to pitch in and help, and people in the street generously reacting to this appeal and to their hearts.

It takes a disaster of this magnitude to bring people of all cultures and religions together in the name of humanity. One hopes that the people who will contribute most to the aid funds are those who constantly grace our society pages and who have, for years, made a song and dance about the million-dollar 'summer' bungalows they have in exotic locations in Phuket, Phi Phi island and Colombo.

It would restore my faith in mankind if they put their hands into their bulging Gucci wallets and, along with all those multinationals such as fast-food and soft-drink companies - which have taken advantage of Asia's poverty stricken markets and cheap labour - give generously to the people who have given each of them so much - and now have nothing more to give.

HANS EBERT, Tsim Sha Tsui

Find better balances now

I was surprised to be criticised by Roy Prouse ('How can we 'pull together' without real government?', December 28) for urging people in my column ('In everyone's best interest', December 24) to 'pull together'.

Nowhere in the column did I use that phrase. Nor did I say that 'members of the public objecting to plans put up by the government or developers are simply pushing their own vested interests'. I made this point about the public housing tenants opposed to privatisation of the housing authorities' shopping centres, for the simple reason that it is true. I contrasted this with those speaking out about the Hunghom Peninsula and the West Kowloon hub. I am sure most are pursuing what they see as community rather than personal interests - the whole subject of the column.

Mr Prouse also criticises me for representing a functional constituency. I have already announced that I do not intend to stand in one again. I have also said that I have an open mind about broadening participation in these constituencies.

This brings us to his basic point that a new balance of public and private interests can only come with more representative government. It is quite obvious from recent controversies that policymaking has not kept up with public opinion.

I have said before that we need a broader-based political system, and that the business community needs to share political power. I have also said in the past that the main obstacles to political reform are hardliners in both the pro- and anti-democracy camps, who undermine Beijing's confidence in political change in Hong Kong.

The current review of constitutional development gives us some scope to open up the political system. To make the most of that, and to go further in future, we need to win Beijing's trust. How do we do that?

Maybe that brings us back to the phrase 'pull together'. In the meantime, the world will not stop. Even within the current structure, we must find better balances between different interests.

BERNARD CHAN, Legislative Council

ESF is not racist

I find it interesting that the letter 'Colonial racism' (December 29), by Pierce Lam, highlights as an example of racism the levy imposed on (principally) mainland migrant workers, but I will add no further comment to the many that have been made before on the attitude of numerous Hong Kong people towards their mainland countrymen.

However, the allegations of discrimination by the English Schools Foundation (ESF) in its admission policy and the operation of a 'blatant form of cultural apartheid' cannot be allowed to stand unchallenged. The criteria for admission to ESF schools is based on an ordinance (control of which is held by Legco, not a colonial administration) and a child's ability to learn and prosper in an English-language environment. I know that every effort is made to accommodate Hong Kong Chinese children (non-native English speakers), to the extent that the ESF accepts some children whose standard of English is, in my humble opinion, clearly inadequate, thus creating additional pressure on teachers.

The ESF bends over backwards to support Hong Kong people and the Hong Kong education system. The ESF is non-selective, secular and part of the government system, and it is the first choice for an increasing number of Hong Kong Chinese families, proof of the schools' perceived value in the community.

Yes, the ESF was created by a colonial government, but so were the Hong Kong laws regarding murder, theft and arson. Just because something was created under a certain, now less popular, rule does not make it automatically wrong.

NICK BILCLIFFE, Lamma Island

War danger after 2008

Hong Kong's future after 2008 is seriously threatened, not by economic failings but by military actions directed against Taiwan.

A report by a US think-tank warns of the danger ('Cross-strait war possible by 2012: US think-tank', December 24). By then the PLA will have assembled enough weaponry to overwhelm the island's defenders while the UN, rendered impotent by China's veto, stands by to await the violent outcome.

However, a more ominous timetable is linked to the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Before then, the central authorities will use psychological threats and cyber warfare to intimidate the Chinese people of Taiwan, since open warfare before the Olympics would destroy Beijing's  aspirations for athletic glory. But once the Olympics are over, the PLA generals will begin in earnest to retake the island.

Unfortunately, a cross-strait war, no matter how short or 'surgical', will have a devastating effect on Hong Kong's economy, destroying our tourism industry and making the Sars epidemic seem like a picnic. We citizens of Hong Kong must persuade Beijing to stop threatening war. Beijing  must seek a peaceful solution if it wishes to form a united, prosperous nation.

J. GARNER, Kowloon



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