It is interesting that, notwithstanding education chief Arthur Li Kwok-cheung's earlier refusal to comment publicly on problems at the Hong Kong Institute of Education, my letter 'Only resignations can now rescue academic freedom' (January 31) has stung him sufficiently to elicit a response - no matter how arrogant, insolent and misleading. What Professor Li dismisses as 'hearsay' ('Hearsay, all hearsay', February 2), most historians (including historians of education) value as oral evidence. It is a valid procedure when writing modern history to listen to what people of integrity say, compare this with what people of more dubious principles say (or do not say), and check the whole against any other evidence - documentary, statistical, graphic or personality-based. Through such procedures, it becomes possible to evaluate what Professor Li calls 'different sources', to 'tell fact from fiction' and to attain a reasonable degree of objectivity. In Hong Kong, especially, where there is no appropriate legislation to protect public records, and documentary records are notoriously susceptible to manipulation, oral evidence is all the more important. As far as the substance of Professor Li's letter is concerned (if there is any), I should point out that I have never commented on the Hong Kong Institute of Education Ordinance. I am sure this ordinance is well intentioned. The trouble arises from practical politics, not legislative intentions. Letter writer Ian Scott comments that Professor Li did not respect the institute's autonomy a few years ago, when he proposed a merger before consulting staff or students ('Ousting corrodes standing of all tertiary institutions', January 30). In the same collection of letters, Jennifer Wong implied that it is typical of Professor Li to take revenge against opponents by influencing decisions to deprive their institutions of funds - adopting a policy of death by a thousand cuts. And Graham Warburton asks a number of challenging, but still unanswered, questions. To these, I wish to add one further query. Bearing in mind Paul Morris' clear record of achievement during his time as president of the institute, and taking into consideration the fact that the two reasons for his ousting advanced by the council's vice-chairman have not been confirmed, what persuaded the majority of the institute's council not to renew his contract? Insubordination? As Philip Yeung ('First let's have bread-and-butter democracy', January 31) and Stephen Vines ('Power without responsibility', February 2) would undoubtedly agree, if this is the case, so much the worse for academic autonomy. TONY SWEETING, Sai Kung We are gamblers I would like to believe that one of two financial facts in Friday's newspaper wrongly expressed 'billions' by a factor of ten, a common error when translating Chinese-language numbers. On page A4, we were told that the total value of retail sales in Hong Kong in December was HK$21.5 billion ('December surge by shoppers boosts yearly retail sales 7.3pc', February 2). On page B18, it was reported that turnover on the Hong Kong stock exchange last Thursday alone was HK$50.73 billion ('Property stocks jump as Fed keeps rates on hold'). Meanwhile, on page B1, the Securities and Futures Commission tells us it plans to relax short-selling rules so that trading volume on the stock exchange can be increased ('SFC moves to relax short-selling rules'). The SFC defends its astounding promotion of speculation by noting that 'short selling makes up about 5 per cent of total market turnover, far behind the 25 to 30 per cent in New York and London'. In view of the above, would it be unfair to ask your newspaper and all media to stop referring to stock exchange participants as 'investors'? We are all gamblers, and some are greedier than others, including the SFC. BARRY GIRLING, Tung Chung An exemplary employer Your article 'Workers protest after 3 beaten in pay row' (January 5) painted DeCoro in a very poor light, and I feel it is incumbent on me to let you and your readers know exactly what happened. By way of background, it was not DeCoro's choice to lay off the workers at its operation in Kuichong, Shenzhen, which had a total workforce of 74 people. We were forced to release them after the factory was shut down for environmental reasons. Following the closure, DeCoro approached the workers to negotiate compensation packages for each of them, at a meeting to be held on the evening of January 5. Nevertheless, on Tuesday, January 2, a group of about 50 workers arrived unannounced at DeCoro Pingshan factory (sister to the Kuichong operation) and forced entry to the premises, assaulting and injuring two of the security guards on duty and damaging DeCoro's property. They demanded an immediate meeting with DeCoro's management, to which we agreed. The report says that, after this meeting, the workers were 'assaulted by 100 security guards armed with iron bars after the management stormed out of the room...' This is simply untrue. We have only 80 guards in total, who work three separate shifts. As a result, it is simply not possible for 100 guards to have been present at the scene. In fact, there were only three guards on duty at the time of the incident. In the light of the disturbance caused by the workers, however, about 30 off-duty guards were called to the premises. None of the guards was armed with weapons of any kind. Indeed, all of our guards are strictly prohibited from bearing arms. While we have heard that iron bars were brandished, there is no evidence that they were carried or used by our security guards. On the following two mornings, about 70 workers (not 'hundreds', as reported) blocked the gates of our Pingshan factory, and as a result we had to send 2,700 workers home and lost two days of production. A meeting was eventually held on the afternoon of Friday, January 5, attended by four worker representatives and two DeCoro executives, with a final settlement being reached amicably the next day. The management team at DeCoro was very distressed by the whole incident - from the forced closure of the factory and the intimidation of its managers, to the laying off of the workers and the disturbances and injuries that ensued. DeCoro always prides itself on being an exemplary employer and will continue to act in a responsible manner towards its workers. LUCA RICCI, president and chief executive, DeCoro Tsang's big job Donald Tsang Yam-kuen might not have quoted from Winston Churchill, as he did when he ran for his first term - as you note in your Campaign Notebook on February 2 - but he is probably subconsciously still under the shadow of this great man. During the second world war, Churchill remarked: 'Give us the tools, and we will finish the job.' We all know what a great job he did, defeating Adolf Hitler. I wonder if Mr Tsang knows what tremendous effort and dedication are required to meet his campaign slogan 'I'll get the job done'. LAWRENCE NG, Fo Tan Why harbour rogues? Congratulations to your correspondent Greg Torode for his scoop about the high-living son of North Korea's mad dictator, Kim Jong-il. Why has Macau decided to be like all those other amoral countries that give refuge to scoundrels? After being exposed for allowing money-laundering, why is it now compounding its sorry record by granting residence to rich rogues? Is it because the pay-off is hard to resist? BEATRIZ TAYLOR, Cheung Chau Meeting our water needs I refer to two letters on the use of renewable energy for seawater desalination, 'Catch the winds of change to meet HK's water needs' by Ian Nicolson (January 18) and 'Catch the waves' by Doug Woodring (January 26). The Water Supplies Department has been conducting a pilot desalination plant study for completion in the middle of the year. Preliminary results indicate that seawater desalination using reverse osmosis is technically feasible in Hong Kong, although high power consumption is a major factor for consideration. The department is undertaking another study on total water management to map out long-term strategy on the distribution of various water resources and measures for meeting future demand. These resources include water from the Dongjiang, or East River, reclaimed and desalinated water, local yield, conservation measures, and so on. There is no definite plan on the use of desalinated water at this stage. If we are to plan for seawater desalination, there is no question that the use of renewable energy will also be explored. We would also implement all mitigation measures necessary to keep the environmental impact to a minimum and within acceptable levels. SUEN KWOK-KEUNG, Water Supplies Department
