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SCMP Reporter

Q Have you suffered  at the hands of  a communications company?

My husband and I have been billed for many IDD calls that we did not make. I have complained many times to the telecommunication company involved, but on only one or two occasions have they agreed to adjust the charges.

I  am glad that the problems of telecom firms overcharging or using sales trickery are now being revealed.

According to my observations, a telecom company will offer very attractive IDD rates to bring in new customers or encourage existing customers to use their IDD system. They then simply overcharge the customers.  How do I know? I have  monitored and checked our bills myself.

If they overcharge each customer even by as little as  $1 each month, it adds up to a lot of money.

They have other tricks too, such as publishing advertisements for cheap rates but with the very small print revealing that the offer is only for a limited time, involves peak and non-peak periods and is not applicable to mobile phones.

Would the relevant government departments explain how these problems are being dealt with?

Sally Low, Discovery Bay

Q Have hygiene officers gone too far in the key-dropping case?

We were shocked but not surprised by your  story about Lau Shiu-fun, charged by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department with littering, when all she  apparently did  was drop her door key.

Too often, junior public servants seem to be out of control. More attention needs to be given to basic education of lower-ranking officers. We hope that the officers involved in the incident with Mrs Lau will be held responsible for their actions.

David Pyott, United Migrant Workers Interim Trust

It's absolutely ridiculous that eight anti-littering inspectors intimidated housewife Lau Shiu-fun for apparently only dropping her key in the street. She was interviewed on television and she brought up an interesting point. What if she had dropped money instead? She'd have been fined money for dropping money!

Although the government releases data every few months on how many people have been fined for littering, and one often sees inspectors stationed on busy streets, I wonder why so little is actually done to clean up our streets.

I've noticed that smokers waiting for a bus always stub out a cigarette and throw it on the ground before boarding. It happens all the time, but I have never seen any of these smokers/litterbugs fined. Why is this?

Harry Chen, Mei Foo Sun Chuen

Q Will funding cuts undermine the quality of education?

So, education and manpower chief Arthur Li Kwok-cheung thinks a 33 per cent reduction in funding is not a cut. I sincerely hope this attitude was not learned in the operating theatre. How short-sighted is it possible for the government to become?

Mr Li claims this cut is nothing but a legitimate readjustment of funding to reflect the falling birth rate.

Yet it will still result in  nothing less than a reduction in the quality of education  relative to the future needs of Hong Kong.

A falling birth rate means that the population is ageing, and in an ageing population the burden of economic production and wealth creation falls increasingly on a smaller percentage of the people.

In short, our workforce needs to become better equipped  in order to improve its  edge in an increasingly competitive international environment. We need, therefore, to radically improve the quality of our education at this time, just to keep pace. I venture to suggest that this is impossible unless spending on education is increased,  not cut.

Mr Li and the government are facing completely the wrong direction. Their policy, unless reversed, will leave Hong Kong  a bitter legacy.

David John Eason, Tai Po

On other matters ...

I refer to the letter from Mary Melville in response to the Talkback question 'Is getting exercise fair justification for axing the Canton Road station?', published last Wednesday, and would like to make the following clarification.

Ms Melville made statements to the effect that the KCRC's real plan is the construction of an underground shopping mall under the guise of a pedestrian link between Nathan Road and the proposed West Kowloon station, and the KCRC plans on 'running this tunnel under Kowloon Park'. This is incorrect.

The KCRC has committed to spending $300 million to extend the existing Middle Road subway of East Tsim Sha Tsui Station, through Kowloon Park Drive and the Peking Road subway to Canton Road. There is no plan to include shops along the extended subway.

The primary purpose of the planned subway extension is to provide a comfortable and sheltered environment for the travelling public to walk from East Tsim Sha Tsui to Canton Road.

While the KCRC remains and will continue to be a transport service provider, non-fare revenue plays an important role in supporting railway projects and service enhancement.

Station shops and shops along subway links not only generate extra income, but also provide added convenience for passengers. It is therefore beneficial to the travelling public if station and subway shops are set up wherever possible.

Grace Lam, KCRC



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