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SCMP Reporter

How can developers be pushed to turn green?
The Friends of the Earth report on the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department's voluntary energy efficiency registration scheme ('Tenants miss out on energy savings: study', January 28) demonstrates that personal virtue is not sufficient encouragement to property developers to make buildings environmentally robust.
Regulatory authorities around the world increasingly recognise the need to re-examine existing legislation in response to new realities related to energy scarcity, pollution prevention and climate change.
The Hong Kong government should treat energy efficiency with the same seriousness and sophistication as it does  structural stability, fire safety and the public health aspects of a building's plumbing systems.
In the future, Hong Kong will rely heavily on the quality of its building stock  to remain competitive in the global marketplace, and government leadership is required to ensure that property developers provide the community with valuable assets, not inefficient, wasteful long-term liabilities.
Peter Gorer, Somerville, Massachusetts, United States
At what age is it okay to leave children home alone?
Parents who have to work should try their best to ensure their child is not left at home alone, either by sending them to a day-care centre or employing a domestic helper.  They should not be left on their own until they are old enough to cope.
Children can probably be left at home alone when they have turned 11. By that age, they are normally in secondary school and are more aware of the potential dangers that may exist in the home.
But parents should show more concern towards their children,  and children should understand their parents' difficulties. Paying more attention to one another can prevent many  accidents.
Cheung Man-in, Tseung Kwan O
Should children be allowed onto racecourses?
Many teenagers take an interest in betting on horse racing, even though they cannot go to the Happy Valley or Sha Tin racecourses.
Of course, it is important for young people to focus on their school studies.   However, I do not think there is anything wrong with them going to the racecourse, as long as they are given the appropriate guidance by their parents.
If there are strict controls placed on them at the racecourse, then participating in this kind of social event can even help to broaden the horizons of young people.
It can give them a kind of social training that they cannot get with the normal school curriculum.  It is all part of the experience of growing up and as long as they are with responsible parents, the experience of being at the races can help them understand how to deal with success and failure.
Pang Chi-ming, Sheung Shui
On other matters...
Together with all ex-servicemen in Hong Kong, I was delighted to read that although ungraded, the Cenotaph has at last been recognised as a heritage site ('Heritage sites recognised, but remain ungraded', January 28).
Annually, more than 300 people, including surviving war veterans, relatives of those who died, and ex-servicemen gather at the Cenotaph to commemorate those who gave the supreme sacrifice during times of war and conflict.
Although the chapel in Hong Kong Cemetery is recognised, no mention is made of the cemetery itself, nor of the other war cemeteries in Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong and China branch of the Royal British Legion regularly helps visitors who wish to visit or locate a relative who is buried here.
Over the past three years, we have had pilgrimage tours organised  from Britain, specifically for relatives of those who are buried in one of the war cemeteries here. For many, it was their first - and sometimes last - opportunity to personally visit the grave.
As Lee Ho-yin, director of the architectural conservation programme at the University of Hong Kong said of the Cenotaph, 'it commemorates the hardship and victory experienced by the people as a whole during the second world war'. What commemorates this more than the graves of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice?
We would therefore ask that the war cemeteries in Hong Kong be included in this list.
Brigadier Christopher Hammerbeck, executive president, the Royal British Legion (Hong Kong and China branch)
The Antiquities and Monuments Office has recognised a list of 34 sites as heritage sites. However, they have not graded them or declared them as monuments for the purpose of heritage preservation.
Instead, if any publicly funded project might affect these sites, a heritage impact assessment must be carried out. This    is clearly insufficient. The government  has to be  criticised as it has failed to fully appreciate the importance of heritage sites in Hong Kong.
If these recognised sites are so important as to reflect the value of Hong Kong's past, surely they deserve higher status than the requirement of an impact assessment? The government must also promote the importance of these sites  to raise the public's level of awareness.
Various campaigns, advertisements, public and school tours should be organised to  get Hongkongers interested in their city's history.
It is only  when the majority of the city's citizens are truly  interested in the fabric of our city that total preservation work can be carried out.
The success of heritage preservation not only hinges on the successful preservation of these sites, but also on the raising of locals' interest in and knowledge of the city's history.
H.C. Bee, Ho Man Tin
May I, through  these columns, extend my gratitude to the kind and charming lady who gave me a lift in her taxi to my home on Conduit Road on a rainy Thursday last week.
She also refused to take any money from me, saying that it was on her way, although it probably would have been cheaper for her to take an alternative route.
I have lived in Hong Kong all my life and this is the first time I have experienced such goodwill from a stranger.
More people like her would only further Hong Kong's ambition to be 'Asia's world city' rather than a surfeit of skyscrapers and theme parks.
Bina Nihalani, Mid-Levels



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