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SCMP Reporter

HK is a city that has so much going for it
I refer to Andrew McLachlan's 'Once-wonderful Hong Kong now faces steep decline' (October 31).
As a Hong Kong resident I feel compelled to put the record straight. The forecast of Hong Kong's decline is pessimistic. Like any vibrant city Hong Kong has peaks and troughs and this city has an enviable reputation for bouncing back from testing times - economic (the 1990s market crash), medical (Sars) or political (the 1997 handover).
The 'wonderful years' mentioned from the 1970s to the 1990s were probably that way for expatriates. During those  years, Britain was still in control of Hong Kong. Before the handover, expatriates were treated as first-class citizens while locally-born Chinese people with the same qualifications and experience received second-class salaries and benefits by comparison. However, those of us who stayed on in Hong Kong through the uncertain years of the late 1990s, are proud that we had confidence in this great city and helped it make such a stunning recovery. It is also heartening to see that the unfair gap between expatriate and local employment terms has been significantly reduced.
What about quality of life? This is a product of several factors including, among other things, working conditions, education, medical services, law and order, freedom of speech, heritage awareness, and not just pollution or the Hang Seng Index. Unlike Singapore, Hong Kong is not a nanny state. Yes, we have possibly the best police force in the world, cutting-edge medical expertise and top-class universities, but Hongkongers are not complacent and have a proud history of self-reliance and self-improvement.
Hong Kong has proved able and willing to tackle economic, political and health crises and now pollution is high on the agenda. I agree that switching off idling engines, stopping extravagant light shows and recycling waste are all worthy objectives to tackle various kinds of pollution. I have every confidence that we will succeed. It's a shame that the correspondent did not balance his criticism by mentioning that 43 per cent of Hong Kong's land area consists of country parks.  Rather than whinge about the negative aspects of our environment, stress the good aspects as an example to follow.
Our forefathers made Hong Kong what it is and it is our duty  to make it better.
Jasmine Nicholson, The Peak
Lack of talent a serious problem
I agree in part with James Tien Pei-chun's views of Hong Kong's looming talent shortage ('We can't just wait for new talent to turn up', November 9). Manpower has been working in the territory for more than 10 years  and we are well aware of the problems facing businesses in attracting talented staff.
Earlier this year we conducted research on the topic of 'Talent Shortage' and found that 41 per cent of employers globally are finding it more difficult to fill jobs that require skilled technical workers, such as engineers and technicians. Hong Kong's talent shortage is even more acute, with 49 per cent of surveyed employers  finding it difficult to fill positions. This is a significant increase over the 2006 statistics, with 31 per cent of 741 surveyed Hong Kong employers saying they had difficulties in recruiting staff.
Of the 758 surveyed employers in Hong Kong for 2007, we found that the 10 most sought-after posts included sales representatives, managers, engineers, accountants, and IT professionals. Hong Kong's employment problems  are among the highest in the region, certainly higher than China's, which had  19 per cent of surveyed employers stating problems with finding qualified staff.
We  need to reach out globally to people and encourage them to come and work here. Where I differ with Mr Tien is in how to make this happen. He suggests that the government step in and fix the problem, but I feel  this goes against the spirit of  non-interventionism. We should focus instead on how to import talent and encourage cross-border recruitment without involving the government.
Christopher Lynch, director, Manpower Professional
We must curb air pollution
A number of people have highlighted problems in Hong Kong, the most serious one being air pollution.
We have to try and solve the problem of air pollution, which is causing some people to get respiratory diseases.
The government must do more to restrict emissions from vehicles and it must restrict the height of buildings, so that they do not block air flow.
There also has to be co-operation, with the local authorities in the Pearl River Delta, to cut pollution on the mainland.
Yeung Kwok-yun, Kwun Tong
Reusable option for lunchboxes
Our landfill sites are almost full and the government  seems  reluctant to deal with this problem.
I think the meal suppliers to schools should provide reusable lunchboxes.  However, the cost of buying such lunchboxes is high, so students should be willing to pay for them.
Tuck shops in schools should also provide  reusable tableware, which can help   protect the environment. The government should assist the food suppliers and tuck shop operators.
Tiffany Chan, Lam Tin
Simple solutions
Because of family tragedies, many people have a negative image of Tin Shui Wai.
There are a lot of  low-income families in Tin Shui Wai and many people have low educational standards. When they can find work, it often involves working long hours. This can make people bad-tempered and cause conflicts within the family.  There is not much for young people to do in the area and some of them hang around in groups and risk becoming involved in triads.
Families need to be given more support. There are social workers, but none are available on a Sunday.
This gap could be filled by volunteers who could listen to families with problems.
More facilities need to be provided where residents can relax after they have finished a long working day. There should be a hawkers' centre and more community and youth centres.
If these places were built, it could provide some job opportunities for residents.
With a more positive approach, it is possible that Tin Shui Wai can lose the tag of 'city of sadness'.
Kyle Chan, Sheung Shui
Olympic link
There is much talk about 2008 marking Hong Kong's debut in the Olympic Games and how difficult it is to generate public enthusiasm for the equestrian events, but the city was crucial in China's first-ever team appearance at a Summer Games.
As featured in the South China Morning Post ('Game of their lives', July 28), Hong Kong provided virtually the entire China Olympic football team that played at Berlin in 1936. Those were the heroes who blazed the Olympic trail for the motherland, and I am surprised that recognition of them is absent.
Although records are scarce, it is now proven that South China Athletic Association provided eight footballers, led by the one player whose name lives on - Lee Wei-tong.
A statue dedicated to this former pupil of Queen's College can be found in Guangdong province but there is nothing at all in his birthplace, Hong Kong.
Vincent Heywood, Kowloon City



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