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SCMP Reporter

Q Should the distribution of leaflets on streets  be banned?

Yes it should. The practice wastes a lot of paper. Most people consider promotion leaflets useless and throw them into the rubbish bin immediately. It is also not environmentally sound.

Hui Yeung Yeung, Kwun Tong

On other matters ...

If Shakespeare were German, I don't think we would  have the pleasure of reading his masterpieces  in Hong Kong's public libraries.

If he were an Italian, or Japanese ... it  would not be  much different. Is English so superior to other  languages that English publications should be the only foreign-language material allowed in our public libraries?  Foreign literature doesn't even have a corner to call its own. Not even the Nobel prize-winning masterpieces.

If the Leisure and Cultural Services Department insists on keeping such a policy in purchasing reading material, I beg that it  at least make an exception for the Central Library.

If foreign newspapers could be ordered, if foreign-language learning centres could be set up, I see no reason why a request to buy Nobel prize-winning literature in German be rejected at all.

Desmond Chan, Yau Tong

I am curious: do the authorities measure the pollution levels differently these days? For the past few days the 'haze' has become thicker and thicker - and yet we remain in the orange readings as always.

This is nothing new - for the past six months or so the readings don't seem to match the air I am breathing.

I would welcome any feedback from those in charge. I won't hold my breath, although I wish I could.

Elaine Butterfield,

Deep Water Bay

I was helping my cousin to fill in application forms for Primary One places for his daughter.

Some forms from private schools asked for religious affiliation, which I think is appropriate, for those schools are of a particular religion.

But some asked for details beyond my imagination, for example, position among children, and names of parents' secondary schools.

I understand the position of a child among siblings will affect the child's learning, but shouldn't this be asked, if there is a real need, after the child has been admitted?

Why is there a need to fill it out on the application form?

By the same token, I don't think it is any of the school's business to know the names of the schools of the parents. Will the primary school only admit children whose parents attended famous schools?  What's the point of all this?

As an educator, I am very upset to see schools abusing the system.

Anson Yang, Chai Wan

I appreciate the MTR's efficient service but am disappointed that it has failed to improve its display system on train arrival on the platforms along the Tung Chung line since I first wrote to it on March 26, 2002.

As a typical Hong Kong citizen with a busy life, my utmost concern is  how long I must wait before the next train arrives.

Presently, on other MTR lines, one  easily knows the arrival time of the next train from the display panels on the platforms that continuously  displays a countdown  to the time remaining before the next train arrives.

Yet, on the platforms along the Tung Chung line, the panels display the information in a complicated  manner, and then only  occasionally.

It is particularly disappointing after one has anxiously waited for several minutes for the information, the panel finally reads, 'The next train to Hong Kong will arrive in six minutes'.

Continuous displays of  train arrival information are particularly important  as trains on the Tung Chung line are not so frequent and sometimes  arrive at 10-minute intervals. My relatives, friends and I have suggested the MTR improve the situation through various channels including letters to the MTR, radio phone-in programmes and the MTR hotline  during the past 31/2 years.

Yet, nothing has been done.

Would the MTR please explain whether it is possible to display the train information on the  Tung Chung Line  as  on other MTR lines? If so, when?

Kenneth Kwok, Tsim Sha Tsui

I think  Paul Yip of the Suicide Research and Prevention Agency ('Focus on Tsing Ma bridge deaths', August 29) is being naive to ask why people bent on suicide choose that bridge from which to jump.

Surely those desperate people are only being thoughtful, because jumping off any of the city's skyscrapers could mean hitting people  below. It's certainly much neater to consign your body to the deep than to the hard concrete. Just as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco has been the site of many suicides over the years, the Tsing Ma Bridge is surely an attractive venue for those wishing to end their lives in a less unpleasant manner.

Name and address supplied

With reference to the letter of Benedict Tai dated September 12 on behalf of the commissioner for transport addressing the many complaints about the infotainment services that have been foisted on KCR passengers, I would like to point out that a number of important issues have been glossed over and even ignored.

Mr Tai mentions the direction signs on trains and platforms.

This ignores the complaints raised by a number of disgruntled commuters regarding the negative impact and inconvenience they now encounter while searching for the elusive quiet zones.

Passengers are paying for a fast, safe and convenient form of public transport and greatly object to having to waste time and energy trekking up and down platforms and trains.

The requirements of the elderly, the disabled, and passengers accompanying small children,  are being  ignored, as are  safety issues when commuters are required to   walk through moving trains trying to find a seat in a convenient, noise-pollution-free carriage.

Mr Tai also neglects to address the fact that television monitors placed at the centre of the carriages are certainly not compatible with the provision of a safe transport system.

The French security services recently issued a warning that a financial centre in Asia is a probable target for a terrorist attack.

In view of this and the recent domestic incident of the arson attack on the MTR, all obstacles that could impede movement should be removed from carriages.

The Transport Department in this instance is being negligent in not ensuring that the KCR service places passenger safety above commercial initiatives.

As the KCR is 100 per cent publicly owned, the concerns of the commuter must be addressed and passengers who object to being bombarded with advertisements are entitled to a stress-free journey and to equal opportunity.

The Transport Department should change its policy from that of always supporting the transport provider to one that takes into consideration the legitimate concerns of members of the public.

Mary Melville, Tsim Sha Tsui



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