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SCMP Reporter

Do gifted children need legal protection?

Hong Kong has many talented children but they are not getting enough support.  Because of this they cannot  make the most of their talent.

There are  many cases of this  in Hong Kong. Therefore, I think legislation is needed so we can ensure these gifted pupils get a  suitable education.

Some of these young people are talented enough to start their university studies at an early age, but pressure should not be put on them to do this. We should take their wishes into account.

If they want to continue to study in classes with students of the same age, then their parents should let them do so.

However, we should not regard gifted children as special and put too much pressure on them. In spite of their abilities, they are still young and they should be allowed to enjoy a happy childhood.

Chan Chun-kit, Tsuen Wan

I do not think gifted pupils need greater protection. Although children may have different talents, all pupils are the same.

If the gifted students were given more legal protection, this would be very unfair  on the other pupils.

Kwan Shing-hin, Shun Lee

What do you think of GPS taxis?

The global positioning system would benefit drivers in a variety of ways.

In today's society, it is important to provide high-quality services. Therefore, it is time for taxi firms to make improvements. GPS would prevent arguments between drivers and passengers because the whole trip would be recorded. Because the drivers know this, passengers would probably enjoy a  more efficient and reliable service.

I think the most important aspect of GPS is that it offers taxi drivers more protection, because they can press an alarm linked to a control centre if there is an emergency.

My only concern is with the equipment. If every trip is being recorded,  there will be times when some of the equipment is out of order and has to be repaired, and this may affect the efficiency of the taxi service.

However, I think the benefits outweigh the disadvantages and our taxis should be fitted with these navigation devices.

Eric Wong Hok-sing, Diamond Hill

Should there be public toilets in MTR stations?

I remember that when I was young, I wished there were public toilets in MTR stations.

It always annoyed my parents when I needed to go to the toilet, because it was very inconvenient to find one. We would have to get off at the next station and my parents would have to take me to the closest shopping mall.

So far I have not asked to use the staff toilets and I do not think making these toilets available to members of the public, in an emergency, solves the problem. It would be a cause of annoyance for passengers and MTR staff.

The MTR Corporation says there are technical obstacles to building public toilets in MTR stations, but I think that is just an excuse. If it is possible to have staff toilets, then it must also be feasible to have public toilets. They are one and the same thing.

Although it would prove costly for the MTR Corp, there is a clear need for these facilities and it would ensure passengers enjoyed more comfortable journeys.

Ho Hin-yui, Sau Mau Ping

On other matters ...

I refer to the report, 'Girl, 5, almost loses finger ice skating' (August 26).

I believe there must be better management of the ice rink at Cityplaza shopping mall in Taikoo Shing.

When I was still at secondary school, I visited the ice rink in 1992, slipped and broke my hand. However, I am now a good skater.

I visited the  rink on  August 24 at about 7pm. The central and the right part of the rink had been already fenced off for training purposes and that area took up about two-fifths of the rink.

The rest of the rink was filled with children and inexperienced skaters because of the training area. There were some bottlenecks on the rink,  especially around areas where  skaters have to turn.

Also, some skaters were practising spinning at these turning points and this was dangerous.

Some people were skating hand in hand and others were crowded together  chatting. This created blind spots for skaters and I saw a number of minor  falls.

The  staff patrolling the rink were doing nothing to curb these problems. Some staff members just appeared to be showing off their skating skills rather than taking notice of what was happening.

Things were made worse by the fact that the people in the training area sometimes skated into the main rink. This  made things even more hazardous for other skaters.

I was able to avoid the problems I have described, but what does a child do in such circumstances?

I will not be going to that ice rink again and I would urge senior management to take a serious look at all safety issues so that there are no more accidents. Ensuring safety is more important than making money.

The relevant government department should also be looking at the safety issues at the rink and treating this as a top priority.   Safety issues should be  linked to licence renewal.

Stanley Lam, Tseung Kwan O



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