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SCMP Reporter

Should savage tree pruning be classified as felling?

What have Hong Kong people got against trees? We have so much concrete and glass in our city; surely we need more greenery, not less. I have lived in Hong Kong for almost 15 years and am constantly amazed and saddened to see lovely trees lopped or felled for no good reason.  Recently some residents in Stanley blocked a plan to plant a row of trees in the new boardwalk area behind the market. Why? They claim they are dirty, increase the risk of bird flu and encourage mosquitoes. What can be done to stop this ludicrous nonsense?

Wendy Allen, Stanley

Ms Mok of Citibank Plaza Management Office says the banyan trees in the plaza were a 'city eyesore'.  Heaven preserve us from the philistines.  The mature and elegant banyan trees of Hong Kong - along Nathan Road, in our country parks - are a delight for residents and visitors alike. Clearly ignoramuses like Ms Mok should be allowed nowhere near them.

Ms Mok says we should not use the word 'hack' to describe the damage they've done to the 21 trees on Garden Road. Perhaps 'vandalism' would be a better word, judging from the sad photos in  the paper.

('hack' = 'to cut or chop irregularly, roughly or violently' - Collins English Dictionary. Seems a pretty fair description to me.)

Peter Forsythe, Discovery Bay

About three weeks ago the same thing happened to the roadside trees outside Elizabeth House in Gloucester Road in Causeway Bay. I am not a tree expert, just an amateur gardener, but I doubt if those trees will recover.

What is this passion for hacking? Why can't the property management companies be forced to employ qualified tree surgeons? Presumably the unskilled hackers come at a cheaper price. At this rate the urban areas of Hong Kong will be denuded of trees, which is bad for aesthetics and the environment.

Tony Collins, Central

This is not pruning.  I live in Kowloon Tong and the trees in our neighbourhood have also been lopped off in such a way that it is no different from felling them.

I contacted the Lands Department to lodge a complaint. However, they told me that given the trees are not in public areas, the private owners have a right to hire management firms to 'trim' the trees.

I was told that as long as the trees are not dying or completely felled, then they have not breached their lease conditions. The government needs to introduce effective measures to stop this abuse. Who wants to live in a city full of trees with no leaves?

Stefanie Willis, Kowloon Tong

Should an independent inquiry into the HKU controversy be set up?

I wonder if anyone finds the whole hospital authority private patient issue as contradictory as I do. Public hospital doctors can take on fee-paying private patients - presumably in many or most cases the same private patients who pay the taxes that fund the system, so in essence they are being charged twice, once by inland revenue and again at the hospital... Isn't this a bit strange?

Bernard Lo, Mid-Levels

What should be done to reduce light pollution?

Regarding Bonnie Tam's letter to the editor, 'Turn the lights out' (March 20), I strongly agree Hong Kong is severely wasting power during the day and night.

I have a billboard right outside my bedroom window and I could never get to sleep. To resolve this problem, I had to install a HK$500 curtain, which only blocks out some of the light.

If the lights were turned off at night, not only would I be saving HK$500 but Hong Kong's use of electricity would go down and 'we won't die of heatstroke caused by our own energy consumption'.

The reason why the temperature in Hong Kong is predicted to climb over the years is because of our incredible electricity consumption, which decreases by about 15 per cent at night. If all the useless lights for billboards and skyscrapers are turned off, the energy consumption will decrease much more than 15 per cent. Power plants wouldn't need to burn more coal and fuel.

Not only does this stop light pollution and save more energy, but it would also make our air cleaner. Almost all the fog and haze you see out your window is caused by pollution from power plants.

Another thing I think you should consider is how much energy we use during the day. Shopping malls with windows at every wall and almost every ceiling still have lights on during the day. I personally do not see the point of this as natural light from the sun is more than enough.

I think something should be done about our huge electricity consumption or else our children will have to suffer the consequences.

Brian Uretsky, Discovery Bay

What do you think of the WWF's fish guide?

I couldn't agree more with this meaningful guide. As I see it, this is just the first step to protect our marine life. Most importantly, people around the world should work together to make it viable.

All of us should be more serious about saving endangered marine species like humphead wrasse. Once they become extinct, no man-made value can compensate for such a huge pain to nature.

Money and technology can never recover the roles of fish in the food chain and repair our ecosystem. The damage is irreversible.

Because of artificial factors, marine life has been destroyed. Overexploitation kills the community of fish. Reclamation, overfishing and pollution speeds up the death of our sea.

Nature has already given the alarm to us by means of natural disasters.

Every one of us should take the responsibility of saving our environment by thoughtful action. Surely no one has an appetite for a sea of death.

Carmen Ng, Tsuen Wan

We have been eating threatened species of seafood for a long time. It's not only a cultural thing, but also a huge business in Hong Kong and the mainland.

I wonder how we can change our minds  and also  stop businessmen  exploiting endangered species.

In my opinion, people won't stop eating endangered fish under this list of 'recommendations', but they will if it is a law. Most importantly, I believe it is time to introduce this rule to the mainland because it is also a huge consumer of threatened species.

Derek Chan, Ho Man Tin



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