I feel sorry for the veteran social worker, known only as Ms Cheng, who says she was pressured to resign after pointing out abuse of the medical fee waiver system ('Fees-abuse whistle-blower resigns', April 8). Rather than turning on her, Ms Cheng's supervisors should have been grateful to her for exposing the problem. Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food York Chow Yat-ngok says the problem of medical waiver abuses is not serious as the Hospital Authority already subsidises 97 per cent of medical costs. It seems the more people get, the more they want. The authority carries most of the medicals costs and people still try to abuse the system. People are happy to use their own money to dine out, but they are unwilling to pay hospital fees if they get sick. Our government has been too generous in shouldering medical costs, misleading people into believing their health is its responsibility. The abuse of medical fees waivers represents just a small section of the exploitation of Hong Kong's defective social welfare system. I know patients and families who fraudulently claim social welfare benefits such as disability allowances and road-traffic accident compensation. Overworked doctors in public hospitals face an added burden verifying applications for disability allowances, sick-leave approval and other benefits for people who do not deserve them. I suggest social welfare benefits and medical subsidies be streamlined, and people re-educated to take responsibility for their own health. It is the welfare system, rather than the administration of the system, that causes abuse, as people are naturally dishonest and selfish. IRENE WONG, Sha Tin Whistle-blower wronged Social Welfare Assistant Director Sit Tung should be held accountable for his comments on RTHK defending the action of senior staff against Ms Cheng for exposing abuses of the medical fee waiver system ('Fees-abuse whistle-blower resigns', April 8). I think it is abhorrent of him (and would be for anyone in a senior position) to take the position on air that it was 'inappropriate' for the social worker to make the mistake public. He is basically giving a public warning to anyone with any sense of justice or good morals to shut up, or suffer the consequences. This has consequences that reach far beyond this episode, sowing the seeds for corrupt government. Bullying to cover up management shortfalls and corruption is endemic on the mainland. Any hint of it in Hong Kong should be nipped in the bud with a large pair of shears. Good on you, Ms Cheng! MICHAEL CUSACK-PASS, Discovery Bay Rethink betting rebates The plan to offer rebates on high-value bets has been presented as a harmless scheme that offers a win-win solution for Hong Kong and the Jockey Club. But is it? According to a report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's programme Four Corners, there is a disproportionate relationship between the high revenues received by gambling operators and the small number of gamblers who generate these. In other words, gambling operators rely on the disproportionately large spending of a small number of heavy gamblers. Heavy gambling, in itself, may not be such an evil - if only all gamblers played within their means. But, as the programme revealed, the gambling operators' biggest spenders may not necessarily be their wealthiest customers. Gamblers, like other consumers, can be conditioned to spend more. Everyday examples are frequent-flier and credit-card points, and buy-10-get-one-free schemes. This rebate scheme could potentially be the bug-zapper that lures the problem gambler moths to the flame. Problem gamblers don't just gamble once beyond their means, they do so time and again. The incentives for gamblers to spend more at the Jockey Club could end up like those low calorie-diets or, worse still, low-tar cigarettes: the perception of less harm results in the reverse effect as increased consumption more than offsets any reduced harm per serving. Further independently funded studies are warranted so this scheme does not turn out to be a tragedy of good intentions. GARY TIU, Mid-Levels Students left in the cold I wish to comment on Deputy Secretary for Education and Manpower Bernadette Linn Hon-ho's letter 'Education offered to all' (April 8). In defending the English Schools Foundation subvention, she argues that the education needs of English-speaking children in Hong Kong are covered, concluding: 'We offer, and will continue to offer, choices in the publicly funded and private sectors for both English-speaking and non-English-speaking children.' She reaches this conclusion via the vague assertions that 'our school system is more ready than before to take on English-speaking children' and that 'individual schools are developing their capacity on this front'. Whatever the specific merits or otherwise of the ESF subvention, I must take issue with the suggestion that real, equitable education choices are offered in Hong Kong. There are thousands of non-Chinese-speaking families with school-age children living, working and paying taxes here in Hong Kong. Some are very well off, others struggle to make ends meet and many are somewhere in between. Those that I am most aware of have been brought here by the Education and Manpower Bureau to teach in the local school system as native English-speaking teachers (NETs). These parents do not have an equitable choice for their children's education here. Despite the permanent secretary for education and manpower's assurance to the Native English-speaking Teachers' Association last year that their children could not be refused places in subvented local schools that use English as the medium of instruction, few have been able to find places. The private international schools Ms Linn mentions as alternatives are too expensive for most NETs, whose employment packages do not include education subsidies. Even the current ESF fees are quite a hardship on a teacher's salary - that is, assuming your children can find a place in one. NETs who wish to work here and make their contribution to Hong Kong education are faced with the choice of paying through the nose at ESF or international schools, or leaving their children behind in their home countries. Some who take the latter option would not do so if they could find a place in a suitable school here. Please, Ms Linn, do not assure the public that education is offered to all in Hong Kong. It isn't. But we would certainly like to see this happen. ANNE QUAINE, secretary, Native English-speaking Teachers' Association From the horse's mouth So now we have it straight from the horse's mouth ... air pollution is affecting performance and health ('Cruz seeks action on 'mucus issue'', (April 9). Dream Horse is not willing to be a silent witness, and champion trainer Tony Cruz deserves credit for speaking out on the issue. Now that racing thoroughbreds are being affected, perhaps Hong Kong's elite will take the air-pollution problem more seriously, and push the government for some strong action. NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED War would be madness Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymore Hersh reports that the United States is planning a massive bombing campaign of Iran that may involve nuclear bunker-busting weapons to ensure the destruction of the uranium enrichment facility in Natanz ('US plans to nuke Iran: report' April 9). He reports that President George W. Bush and others in the White House have come to view Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a potential Adolf Hitler, and quotes a senior Pentagon adviser as saying: 'This White House believes the only way to solve the problem is to change the power structure in Iran, and that means war.' This conclusion is quite predictable for an administration that is willing to spy illegally on its own citizens, start a war over nonexistent weapons and disclose the identity of one of its agents for petty revenge. The report says attempts to remove nuclear options from the war plan have failed, causing serious misgivings in the military. Yes, you read correctly, failed. If you are a US citizen, write to your congressmen and women and tell them that an attack, nuclear or conventional, against Iran is madness. CARSTEN JOHN, Tseung Kwan O
