Q Should the government link research funding to GDP growth?
The question you posed on Saturday reminded me of a scenario: a child, already given regular pocket money without many questions asked by dad, wanted upward adjustments for spending money based on dad's improved income, irrespective of how many hours the man had to work to bring in the money. Here the poor father is the taxpayer who usually has no say in how his contribution is being spent by researchers.
It was said in the article that funding for research is usually a number of percentage points of GDP in developed countries but in Hong Kong it is only 0.5 per cent. This is a very interesting academic comparison as one is actually comparing 'countries' with 'cities' that, though I am no mathematician or academic, would be 'sets' to 'sub-sets' in secondary school mathematics. Why didn't the academic concerned cite any supporting information in your article on how additional research funding could be beneficially used, what areas of expertise to put the money into, and how Hong Kong society would benefit? Has he or his peers not done any background research on such matters?
If research funding from the government is simply to enable academics to generate tens or hundreds of papers each a year to secure their positions, please give us taxpayers a break. One would be surprised to know what proportion of the budget is actually allocated for tertiary education, including research, in Hong Kong. If one has to spend the same proportion for education in one's own family budget, one really has to be prudent. Why should the government link research funding to GDP growth in the first place?
Alex Tam, Sai Kung
Q Should penalties for cruelty to animals be increased?
