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SCMP Reporter

What can be done to help green industries develop?

Environmental protection has caught the attention of the general public. By developing green industries, our refuse can be recycled and this will avoid waste. To help developing green industries, several measures can be taken. First of all, the authorities should promote the importance of environmental protection.

They can hold talks in schools, co-operate with private companies and use celebrities to get across their message.

The government could also launch a variety of campaigns to try to get people into the habit of recycling.  Through education, the environmental awareness of the public can be enhanced.  Once they become more environmentally aware, people will be  willing to support recycling programmes and this could lead to the further  development of green industries.

The government could also help these industries develop by offering them a variety of discounts.

It could charge lower-than-average tax rates to green industries or offer premises at a lower rent.

These actions could lessen the financial burden faced by existing operators in green industries and this would help with their cash liquidity.  Consequently, they can make additional investments, for example, spending money on more advanced machinery and helping staff develop new skills.

Measures should be implemented that tempt people to get involved in green industries and this can also help with their development.

I really believe that with the help of the government and the general public, green firms can develop into mainstream industries in Hong Kong.

Joseph Poon, Wan Chai

How should income from the helpers' levy be used?

As it was taken away from the helpers unfairly in the first place, it should be given back to them, and directly - not via employers. The government has records of the affected domestic helpers who are still in Hong Kong and can probably trace most of those who have left through support organisations and by advertising in the press of their countries of origin, telling them how to apply for the payment.

The accrued interest and the money not claimed within, say, six months should be used to provide under-cover leisure and recreation facilities that give priority to domestic helpers on Sundays.

The levy should, of course, be scrapped and the helpers' wages increased by HK$400.

This will not affect employers of domestic helpers and the government can, quite obviously, afford it.

Peter Robertson, Sai Kung

Should the present hire-car system continue at Discovery Bay?

I refer to recent articles and letters regarding the Discovery Bay hire-car controversy. Let us pause and remind ourselves of some basic principles, none of which should (hopefully) pose an intellectual challenge:

The civil service, including the Transport Department, exists to serve the community, including Discovery Bay residents. The community does not exist to serve the civil service;

The salaries and benefits of all civil servants are paid out of the public purse. Hong Kong taxpayers, including many Discovery Bay residents, contribute to that purse; and

Laws, rules and regulations are not immutable. They can, and should, be revoked or amended if they impede the smooth functioning of society in any of its aspects, including the Discovery Bay hire-car service.

It has yet to be argued that such service is, in its present form, in any way detrimental to the interests of anybody, except perhaps the rule-book pedant sadly detached from reality.

I look forward to the implementation of these principles.

Timothy Conti, Discovery Bay

What do you think of pay-TV services?

I am in a similar position to that of Angela Soh (Talkback, July 11).

I subscribe to Now TV's ESPN/Star Sports package, even though I wish to subscribe to just ESPN and only to watch one sport that is played for only five months out of the year - American Football.

I am not enthusiastic about soon needing to subscribe to the HK$218 monthly  package, which has a minimum contract of 12 months.

So it was with hesitant delight that I read PCCW's reply (Talkback, July 13), where it was stated that, should Ms Soh be willing to reject the five-month free offer, she can remain with the ESPN/Star Sports channels.

Alas, there was more to the 'offer' than met the eye.

I called the hotline on two separate occasions and was told that it is 'impossible' to not pay for the package.

What PCCW is offering Ms Soh seems to be that she can keep her two channels and omit the others from the package, but she will still need to pay HK$218 each month.

Paying only for what I want to watch?

PCCW's sales pitch certainly sounds more and more hollow.

G Marques, Lai Chi Kok

I recently subscribed to Eurosport on Now TV after seeing all the channel previews trumpeting their live coverage of the European professional cycling circuit.

Of course the premium pro-cycling event in the calendar is the Tour de France.

This year, the first two days, which took place in England, had more than two million spectators  on the roads.

Imagine how disappointed I am  to have discovered I have no Tour coverage at all on Now TV, as Eurosport is not covering it, and even ESPN has dropped its daily report.

When ESPN switched to Now TV a couple of years ago, I followed it across from Cable, purely for the three weeks of Tour de France coverage every July. And I have been looking forward to nightly live coverage as promised, much like the Giro D'Italia last month.

Picture  my utter dismay at seeing  a canoeing programme all night on Europiffle when they should be showing the Tour.

Pathetic, and what is the only event that Hong Kong athletes have  won anything in apart from windsurfing? Cycling, with Wong Kam-po being the most successful of our home-grown athletes over the past few years, in both Asian and international competition.

I'm really fed up and I want to cancel my subscription to both ESPN and Eurosport, and all other sports channels for that matter.

Peter Millward, Causeway Bay

What do you think about hotline services?

The general comment you hear when discussing hotline services seems to be that they are time-consuming, very demanding and try your patience.

When it comes to using these  services, you should be prepared to spend a lot of time on the phone.

First, you have to listen to the message and choose which language in which you want to listen to the rest of the messages and then you have to choose the right option for the questions.

I find the whole process to be troublesome, as it wastes customers' time.

Once you are lucky enough to actually get to talk to a member of staff, they will tell you that you have to wait and they will call you back.

They call you back the next day. But if they don't, then you have to go through the whole process again.

If your internet connection or phone is not working, then you can phone the hotline and they will fix it for you.

But you will probably have to wait two or three days for that to happen. In the meantime your phone is not working, so surely the company should refund you for those two or three days you have had to wait for them to make the repairs.  Of course, that never happens.

Tai Kwun-kit, Sheung Shui

What do you think about the quality of schools?

I felt some sympathy when I read about the latest poor exam results ('A-level English pass rate at a 12-year low', June 29).

I do feel for those candidates who were sidelined.  Public exam results are used as a benchmark to measure the quality of school.

However, I do not think we should blame schools for the declining standards in English.

I think the root problem lies with the attitudes of students.

If you observe a lesson at a secondary school or even in one of Hong Kong's universities, you will be amazed at how silent the classroom is.

When teachers or lecturers put questions to students, most of them are reluctant to give a response.

To put it in another way, when a difficulty arises, students seldom try to look for the solution.

It seems to me that most students have lost their motivation and their passion for acquiring  knowledge.

Michael Woo Pak-ning, Ho Man Tin



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