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SCMP Reporter

How can animal welfare be improved?

I cannot help it, I am infuriated. I have to put pen to paper. How can any government body be so incompetent?

I refer to your article on  the movement of the buffalo on Lantau Island (front page, Sunday Morning Post).

In one operation the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department managed to kill 99 per cent of a herd of cattle it was trying to relocate. In any other industry this fiasco would be considered criminally insane and result in some heads rolling. I come from a farming background and we regularly moved cattle around Britain.  I don't  remember losing even a single beast.

The persons responsible for this obvious abuse of power should be sacked or at least sent back to the Marks & Spencer women's underwear department where they would still probably mess things up.

Please, Ag and Fish, don't write back and tell me it is a different kettle of fish to move dairy cattle around Britain  to relocating a herd of buffalo on Lantau, I know it is! It is also a different set of rules and your staff should know this!

Paul Dodds, Lantau

What should be done to improve food safety?

A food safety network is preventive. There is no such approach in Hong Kong as there is no  power against suppliers of fresh products.

What the  government is trying to do is minimise risks at all stages of the process. As such, inspections are useless if we consider chemical contamination.

The problem is, there are only a few tests on sample batches of vegetables. Even so, the answer takes too long to analyse and decide whether the amount of pesticide is above a certain legal requirement.

In addition, the risk of contamination by chemical residues must be assessed according to the frequency we eat 'those' contaminated vegetables.

Education of mainland fresh food suppliers is of utmost importance, but  this is considered impolite and inconvenient.

Food safety is based on trust amid suppliers, not on a piece of paper, legal act or the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement.

A serious job needs to be conducted in building trust from the farmer to the consumer. We lack the kind of ability that would allow  officials to supervise the work that is or should be done by mainland officials at the farms. We should strengthen the relationship among  food safety professionals in a  transparent manner.

Jose Pinto, Macau

This is why I pay HK$30 for lettuce from the US. But it is a sad statement that in our modern city,  to protect my long-term health and well being, I need to pay a 300 to 400 per cent premium for  produce.

Then again, didn't Deng Xiaoping  once say,  'To use banned and cancer-causing pesticides to increase crop yields and make more money, thus becoming rich, is glorious?'

Will the mainland food producers ever develop a sense of ethics?

Dean Andrews, Central

How can Hong Kong's tourism image be improved?

It is essential Hong Kong's image as a shoppers' paradise  be protected by removing  unscrupulous shops forever from the retail scene. I suggest these  actions.

Sole agents should publicise authorised dealers and retail prices of branded goods. Also a hotline for complaints.

The  Tourism Board should name and shame shops known to cheat customers.

Diamond and gold jewellery shops should be inspected frequently by the Consumer Council or the Tourism Board to ensure that only genuine goods are sold. A 14-day money-back guarantee should be enforced by the Tourism Board.  Shops not registered with the Tourism Board should  not sell diamonds or gold jewellery.

Laws should be amended to give the Consumer Council or Tourism Board adequate powers of enforcement. New shops should be checked by verifying ID cards of employees and shop owners who might have been the subject of raids by customs officers.

The functions of the Tourism Board, Consumer Council, police and customs officers should be clearly defined.

Hawker control officers also should be given the power to seize pirated goods.  In front of Times Square and  near hawker control officers, DVDs of recent Hollywood films were  being sold at HK$20 each.  Shops behind Sogo still sell pirated DVDs of recent films, openly challenging the Customs and Excise Department.

Will the government give  priority to stopping the illegal activities of numerous retail shops? Shops in Chungking Mansions also should be raided.

Anna Naidu, Central

What should be done with historic pillar boxes?

Historic red pillar boxes should be  in a museum. I don't see why people seem to love the past more than the future. If the old pillar boxes are reinstalled, maybe we should consider using banknotes of decades past as well.

It is true the past is what we were and should be cherished. But people have to move on. Stop demonstrating for an old ferry pier, or bothering about the destiny of the red pillar postboxes.  We know well that when the time comes, something must be left behind.  To protect the boxes and Hong Kong's history,  not to hinder our development, the pillar boxes should be safely kept in a museum, but not in our way.

Calton Luk, Kowloon Bay

On other matters ...

As I understand the word boar,  confirmed by my dictionary,  it is a male pig, in fact, specifically, an uncastrated male.

Last night, I watched a news report on television about the 'wild boar' that got stuck in roadside railings in Tai Po.  The Post  reports that this 'boar' was  an adult female ('Squealing like stuck pig - because it was', April 14).

To the credit of Clifford Lo, the writer, he consistently refers to the animal as a 'wild pig' except in one sentence near the end where he quotes someone else who referred to it as a 'wild boar'.

Unfortunately, his care for accuracy is spoiled by whoever wrote the caption for the picture, where it is called a 'wild boar'.

Benjamin Rees, Mei Foo

Friends  told me that Turtle Cove was worth a peek, so I decided to walk there from Stanley at the weekend.

I walked along Stanley Village Road and turned right, at the roundabout where Stanley Gap Road ends. I was now walking along Tai Tam Road, towards Redhill Peninsula, one of  the city's leading eyesores.

I carried on down the hill and, seeing that the pavement narrowed towards the American Club on the ocean side of the road, I crossed over.  However, I came upon the most appalling stench of faeces and urine and soon saw the reason for this.

The road has  several apartment buildings, including a black monstrosity  opposite the American Club.  People were (usually  vicariously, i.e. their maids)  walking their dogs along  the pavement.

The dogs naturally  relieve themselves there  and attempts  to remove the mess fail to prevent the build-up  of stink and filth from those who do not clean up after their animals.

So there is  a double reason for owners not to walk their own dogs: first, to save the effort and, second, to avoid the reek of their own pet's excrement.

There is some visible recognition of the problem in that officials have built a sandpit  in front of the Manhattan for  dogs to use. However, it's so much easier not to walk the extra yard to use it, isn't it, when it is someone else who will breathe in your dog's smelly mess?

Is it a wonder that Hong Kong has a dog poisoner, or is it a wonder that it doesn't have several?

Freddie Fumier, Stanley



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