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SCMP Reporter

Is closing schools the right move amid the flu outbreak?
It is obviously important for students to attend school.
We need well-educated young people to ensure that Hong Kong remains competitive.
However, because our children are such a treasured asset, it is essential that we do our best to protect them.
Young children are especially vulnerable when there is a flu outbreak.
Therefore, I think it was essential to suspend classes to try to prevent a further spread of the flu.
The deaths during the present outbreak have shown that we all have to be alert regarding the flu virus.
With primary school and kindergarten children, it is difficult to ensure they take the necessary precautions.
They often do not realise the importance of keeping their own masks to hand.
They might even exchange masks with other children when they are playing.
With the schools closed, contact between students is reduced and this can  prevent further transmission of the illness.
Examinations and formal lessons can be rescheduled and recommence after the Easter holiday ends.
Peter Yu, Yau Tong
The deaths of children from flu-like symptoms have forced officials to decide to close some schools in Hong Kong.
What is happening reminds me of the Sars outbreak  in 2003. I think it is important to exercise caution, so as to try to avoid further tragedies.
It was a good idea to start the Easter break early because of the flu problem.
Schools are packed with students, teachers and ancillary staff and it is easy for the flu virus to spread.  Primary school and kindergarten pupils  are particularly vulnerable when an outbreak like this occurs.
Also, it is more difficult to get very young children to stick to the necessary hygiene rules that can help prevent the spread of flu.
Suspension of classes is a workable and effective preventive measure for schools to adopt at this stage.
Although such a measure interrupts a school's routine, in terms of lessons and other activities, I believe prevention is always better than a cure. It is always important for officials to react quickly to these outbreaks.
Chan Wing-ki, Kwai Tsing
I think closing schools and giving pupils an early holiday was the only way to deal with the flu outbreak in Hong Kong.
Primary pupils are not aware of what they need to do to protect themselves and it is easy for them to be infected by other  children.
Also, suspending classes will help relieve the heavy workload teachers face, as they must be involved in cumbersome preventive measures if a school remains open.
For these reasons, it made sense to close the schools a little bit earlier than planned.
Vicki Cheung, Sau Mau Ping
I was saddened to read about the death of three-year-old Ho Po-yi  and I hope we can be better prepared in future to cope with flu outbreaks.
For example, a medical expert commented that the 'government's promotion of the flu vaccination programme this year was inadequate.' ('Lesson from Sars outbreak 'not learned',' March 7).
Nevertheless, I do think the authorities acted swiftly following Ho Po-yi's death and  the situation has improved since the Sars outbreak, and  medical officials learned from that experience.  However, you can never predict the future.
The important thing is that as Hongkongers we should all work together to get through this difficult period.
Melody Chan, Kwun Tong
Do you think MTR fares should be cut?
I think from the point of view of MTR passengers, there should not be a further reduction in fares.
If there is a further fare cut, then more people will use the MTR rather than buses and minibuses.
This will lead, during the rush hours, to a rapid increase in the number of users of the MTR system and stations will become more congested.
It will take longer for passengers to board trains and the MTR will become a less efficient system.
Ken Yiu, Kwun Tong
On other matters...
Trupti Patel's  letter regarding the pollution created by the demolition of the Tung Hing Building in Hung Hom (Talkback, March 11)  is a mirror image of the conditions endured by Tsim Sha Tsui residents living near the now-defunct Tung Ying Building on Granville Road.
This was also a functional building with an interesting mix of small stores, a Wellcome supermarket and two floors of medical services catering for all manner of ailments and conditions cut down before its time.
The noise pollution commences long before the building is demolished. For months beforehand the tenants move out, always on a weekend and with lots of loud banging from early morning until late  evening. Then the demolition process, followed by piling.
Your correspondent is moving out, so  will miss the next stage that makes the previous two seem positively benign; the excavation from the rock face of four basement floors -  Woody Woodpecker on steroids, at full volume, 7am until 7pm, without a break, six days a week.
Developers try to work on a Sunday  so many calls to the police and Environmental Protection Department  are required before they get the message that  residents are vigilant and will not sacrifice public holidays to keep them in the Forbes Top 20.
Even with the windows closed and daily cleaning, you can write your name on the furniture. It is better not to imagine what damage the dust is wreaking on your lungs.  Streets look like the entrance to a quarry, with long rows of double-parked construction vehicles with their engines running. Complaints of potential delays to emergency services are ignored. The actual construction and fitting out of the new building will entail further disruptions.
The  department must implement measures to encourage developers to renovate rather than redevelop. A good start would be to restrict construction noise to eight hours a day, five days a week, with mandatory lunch breaks and 10-minute pauses every hour.
Landfill charges that reflect the true cost of dumping construction waste and more stringent regulations on construction-related air pollution and noise levels are a must. Developers should be required to fund the cost of double glazing to  residences with legitimate grievances.
The social costs involved in the premature destruction of buildings in a crowded city  can no longer be ignored.
Mary Melville, Tsim Sha Tsui



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