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SCMP Reporter

Do you think the language policy should be revised?
Since the current language policy fails to develop truly bilingual students, it should be reviewed.
Hong Kong is  an international city with many foreigners who communicate in English.
However, most people who live here are native Cantonese speakers and many of them have also learned Putonghua. This raises questions about which is the most important language.
English is an international language, Cantonese is our mother tongue, while Putonghua is the official language of the nation. I think all three languages should be used in our schools,  in a balanced way.
Obviously, English will be used during English lessons, but I do not think it should be the medium of instruction when it comes to the teaching of maths, science and history.
Using English as the medium of instruction for every subject may not be helpful to students and may not lead to an improvement in English.
Because Cantonese is our mother tongue, we are more familiar with it than with English.  That is why I think subjects like science and history should be taught in Cantonese.
Putonghua should be used for Chinese language and Chinese history. I believe Putonghua can help improve students' Chinese writing skills.  It will also boost job opportunities for young people, as more visitors are coming to Hong Kong from the mainland.
Kwok Chiu-yin, Kowloon Tong
Is the Sevens ticketing system fair to everybody?
I will assume that a significant proportion of the 2,500-plus people herded around So Kon Po well into Saturday afternoon would have thought the same thing at some point - there has to be a better way.
Seriously, Hong Kong Rugby Football Union (HKRFU), could you have disenfranchised your supporter base  more than you did? Your website claims that the 'HKRFU believes that the ticketing policy has been successful'.
This 'belief' is as patently wrong.
There  is a solution that is both fair and equitable, a solution that ensures a fair dissemination of tickets to all interested parties, and one that doesn't require countless domestic helpers waiting in the  dead of night to claim tickets to an event they have no intention of attending.
It's called a ballot. And it works.
David Harrigan, Happy Valley
Will you be upgrading for digital TV?
I will be willing to upgrade my television set so I can get the digital signal.
First of all, the picture quality from digital TV will be better than what you get at the moment with the  analogue signal.
This means that the  quality of viewing will improve for me and my family.  Also, there   will be better programmes to watch.
The fact is that high-definition television is an  inevitable technological development.
I think that even though we will have to buy new sets, the advantages from the introduction of digital TV will outweigh the disadvantages and I think it is worth upgrading.
Sam Ling Kin-ka, Yuen Long
On other matters...
With all the recent talk about preserving Hong Kong's heritage and the growing desire to embrace non-tangible heritage, I was dismayed last week to discover the total obliteration of an important element of Hong Kong's history.
As far as I can tell, it was done without any consultation with the public and was completely unnecessary.
The Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation started in 1910 [originally as the Kowloon-Canton Railway Council] and merged with the MTR Corporation a week ago last Sunday. This was almost 100 years of service and it deserved to keep its name, regardless of which company operated and managed it.
I have only lived in Hong Kong for just over three years but I was shocked and somewhat  bereft at not seeing a single sign or, indeed, any evidence that the KCR had ever existed.
I can imagine that others, who have lived here longer, were even more unhappy.
This is yet another disturbing example of the lack of consideration for Hong Kong's culture, history and the public's feelings.
I, for one, object to the obvious expense that went into this destruction of history and would welcome seeing some expense and effort going into putting the signs of this historic railroad back where they belong, in the view of the public.
Joy Al-Sofi, Sha Tin
Although a number of people complained after last month's Government House open day, I revisited it with pleasure.
Some visitors complained that they had no access to the chief executive's office. But if you tour the White House, as I did years ago, you don't go through the Oval Office; and 10 Downing Street isn't open to the public at all. Surely, for security reasons, that is a rather unrealistic demand.
In particular, the lovely Government House gardens have clearly been very much improved in recent years, and the gardeners have done a good job labelling most of the plants, in both languages.
Though it is understandable that the new fish pond should not be so close to the visitors' route that the fish are fed tidbits or, even worse, fished for, it would certainly have been nice to have been able to catch at least a distant glimpse of it.
The ballroom, which used to be open, is cordoned off these days. Perhaps that could be opened up, once again, on future open days, if only to give more space for the thronging mass of visitors within its spacious and elegant confines.
No charge was made to tour this fine old building, but how about making a small charge in future, to generate funds for a suitable local charity?
All in all, we must thank the chief executive for so kindly allowing thousands of people to tramp through his residence - an experience that not many people would relish.
It made for an interesting and enjoyable visit for thousands of people.
Paul Surtees, Mid-Levels



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