Q Is it necessary to study the economic impact of a total ban on smoking? In Hong Kong we have to wear seat belts in vehicles and crash helmets on motorcycles, safety boots, helmets and conspicuous vests on work sites, to protect individuals from injury to themselves and others and, in the long term, to reduce costs of medical treatment. Safety and health come ahead of making a buck. Likewise, preventing smokers from injuring and killing others as they exhale the 4,000 poisons in second-hand smoke must be an urgent safety issue, not something to be delayed by the tobacco lobby. Everyone should have the right to a smoke-free workplace - and sooner, not later. Independent economic impact assessments in countries such as the US and Australia have reached the same conclusion, which totally contradict the doom and gloom predictions of 'Big Tobacco' and its paid henchmen. James Middleton, Pat Heung, New Territories Q Is the ESF school building planned for Discovery Bay too big? I attended last year's meetings held by the English Schools Foundation in Discovery Bay to discuss the school. Much thought had clearly gone into its schedule of accommodation, so I believe it is extremely self-centred that a small number of residents persist in complaining about its size. What is clear from their various reasonings (ie, can't read questionnaires, noise, do not want children near their houses, etc) is there will always be selfish superficial objections from some individuals without a stake in the school or who have not studied the detailed provisions contained in the plan. It is excellent to have a long-overdue alternative to the overrated and overpriced Discovery Bay International School. Its size reflects good design and it means improved opportunities for the children of the area. I believe that the size of the school is moderate and is insignificant when viewed against the muddy-yellow Chianti mass development and its rabbit-hutch units. I strongly support building this school as designed, without further delay, for the benefit of all those children who are waiting for it to open its doors. Paul Hobson, Discovery Bay On other matters... I was fascinated to read an advertisement in the South China Morning Post (January 24) promoting Friends of KMB's '18-District Selection of Good Passenger Campaign'. Apparently the aims of the campaign are 'to impel civic consciousness' and 'to create a more harmonious and caring living environment'. Might I suggest to Friends of KMB that their efforts at impelling civic consciousness, and creating a more harmonious and caring living environment would be better directed at their friends in the Kowloon Motor Bus management rather than at long-suffering passengers. It is KMB management who are responsible for disturbing the large proportion of their passengers who do not appreciate being forced to hear the company's noisy TV broadcasts while riding the bus. Such behaviour hardly sets a good example of civic consciousness nor is it likely to create a more harmonious living environment. It is KMB management who promote their exploitation of franchised bus passengers as a 'captive audience' for advertisers 'to push their products and services', to paraphrase the RoadShow website statements ( http://www.roadshow.com.hk/ main.html). Perhaps KMB could explain how such exploitation helps to create a more caring society? KMB's support of this campaign is hypocrisy at its most blatant. Likewise, the encouragement and support that KMB's friends in the Transport Department are giving to this campaign begs the question why, if the department is so concerned about civic consciousness, has it done nothing to prevent KMB from disturbing its passengers. Jill Taylor, South Horizons Is it just me or does anyone else smell a rat? Suddenly subscribers to Star TV are told that we have to switch to Now Broadband by January 27 to continue access to this station. How convenient for PCCW that if you can't get enough subscribers by offering a superior product, you just buy out the competition and force us to join. Now we have the pleasure of endless phone calls to the hotline, visits by technicians (who don't seem to be all that familiar with their own equipment) and gadgets and wires all over the place. Susan Cheng, Parkview After watching the painstaking but ultimately doomed efforts last weekend of Britain's marine conservation department to save a whale stranded in the Thames, it's all the more depressing to read of yet another killing of a wild pig here. Has the Agricultural, Fisheries and Conservation Department declared open season on all wild pigs? And why don't they dispense with the pretence of their 'conservation' tag when 'extermination' would be more appropriate? I was angered by an earlier report of three pigs being killed near Kwai Chung Hospital when I felt tranquiliser darts would have been sufficient to allay any danger, if indeed there was any. When was the last time someone in the city was attacked by a pig? In the latest killing in a Clear Water Bay village, the department claims that they were acting out of mercy. That may have been the case, but if so, what of the pack of wild dogs responsible for savaging the pig? Are they still roaming free? If the dogs were capable of inflicting such horrific injuries on an imposing 160kg pig, imagine what they might have done if they had surrounded a child or a lone hiker? Sadly, dog attacks in this town are all too frequent. It is not the pig in its own hillside habitat which should be causing the villagers alarm but the slavering dogs that run riot there. Was anything done to control these dogs or prosecute their owners? Such dogs are probably the single biggest threat to Hong Kong's wildlife. Debbie Barnes, The Peak
