bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

SCMP Reporter

Offer to 'heal' gays just thinly disguised bigotry
I am not homosexual, and it would be easy to  condemn Amanda Chan and her religious views  and leave it at that.
But her letter ('Therapy can help people change', June 1) is thinly veiled bigotry.
The idea that the New Creation Church can help people 'quit their homosexuality' as they might give up smoking  raises the questions: 'Why should they, and what has it got to do with you?' Clearly Ms Chan's church finds homosexuality offensive or it would not attempt to make 'troubled and burdened' homosexuals change to - I imagine - troubled and burdened straight people. And does the church offer the same therapy to heterosexuals who want to go the other way?
Homosexuality is not simply a belief about one's self, but a psychological and a physiological reality that today is ever more peacefully accepted.
No amount of counselling will ever convince Jackie Chan that he is a tall black actor. And alcoholics sworn off drink are forever alcoholics.
We might not like it and struggle and curse wanting to be different, but that will never change anything.
In  personal development seminars I have worked on, we would always support people wanting to live their dreams - that, with dedication, they could be whatever they chose.
While generally true, the notion can be specifically false. No short and unco-ordinated young girl will ever become a prima ballerina, no matter how much she might want it.
It has been said that human beings are 85 per cent water and a set of beliefs, and one of the most popular beliefs is (believe it or not) 'I am not enough.'
Like religious belief, it needs no hard evidence to support it. And we can choose to change that negative view.
A belief, any belief, does not necessarily need the backing of definite proof; and religious faith is, by its very nature, at odds with any serious empirical and scientific data.
I resent   the intolerance and prejudice - in the guise of helpful transformation - demonstrated in Ms Chan's letter.
Homosexuality is not a negative belief. It is a positive fact.
Peter Sherwood, Discovery Bay
Homosexuality is not a personality disorder
I am shocked and surprised by the ignorance of Raymond Ip and Amanda Chan ('Counselling is always worth trying out', and 'Therapy can help people change', June 1), who compared homosexuality to smoking and weight loss in responding to the article 'Gay Christian walks away from religious therapy' (May 18).
Homosexuality is not a choice. You cannot choose to be gay, nor can you choose to be straight; similarly you cannot choose to be black, white or yellow. It is who you are as a person.
Imagine living in a foreign land where you are the only Chinese, a minority feeling pressure to conform, and someone comes to you and says that, for HK$1,000, they can change you, so you don't have to be Chinese but can be like the people around you. Would you pay HK$1,000 to sign up for such a programme?
I recommend that Mr Ip and Ms Chan watch For the Bible Tells Me So, a powerful documentary about homosexuals and religion. I hope they can instead teach 'compassion, tolerance, acceptance, understanding' and embrace diversity. God Bless.
Douglas Tsai, Tsim Sha Tsui
Domestic helpers raise our standard of living
I doubt if Rowena Hawkins ('Foreign domestic helpers have a very good deal in Hong Kong', June 1) has ever worked a domestic helper's day.
How can she compare a housewife to a domestic helper, when a housewife takes care of her own family and not someone else's?
The average working day of a domestic helper is 15 to 18 hours, rising early in the morning before the family and retiring late at night after all the work is done.
The minimum wage of the helper is HK$3,480 a month.
Working six days a week, a helper makes about HK$130 a day, or HK$7-8 an hour. I wonder if Ms Hawkins would ever work for such a low wage. I wonder if she would be happy to share a room with her employer's children, take care of her employer's ageing parents, walk her employer's dogs and clean her employer's car, aside from all the other necessary domestic, child-rearing, cooking, cleaning and other duties.
After a long week, a helper would just like to rest. Is this too much to ask? Many are not able just to stay at home on their rest day, as they would have to work if they did.
After a long work day, Hong Kong workers return home, rest, eat a home-cooked meal and enjoy being with their families - and the reason they are able do to this is because of their domestic helper.
So please, Ms Hawkins, before you do the whining, work a helper's day - then we'll listen.
Jemma Watkins, Pok Fu Lam
No buts about tobacco ban in restaurants
I read about the dismay of the Wan Chai Business Association about how some members' bars and restaurants were being forced by the Tobacco Control Office to provide clean air to their staff ('Fuming bar owners to unite after losing smoking exemption', June 1). I took immediate action to ease their pain.
As a public service and to create a level playing field, I have checked the relevant websites, identified 72 'bars' in Hong Kong that have a smoking exemption - yet hold a general restaurant license. I have requested that Tobacco Control pull their exemption. I even found one smoking nightclub that holds a full restaurant licence.
If Noel Smyth can, with a straight face, point to the licence on the front door of his shop that states boldly that Delaney's is a restaurant, and then say it is not a restaurant - then he should be doing stand-up comedy.
Annelise Connell, Stanley
Appalled that refugees denied education
I was shocked to learn of the refugee brother and sister who have been waiting for six years in Hong Kong for their case to be heard by the UNHCR   without access to schooling ('Refugees pay heavy price for lack of access to education', June 1).
What kind of Asia's World City are we? If we cannot allow these refugees to work here, at least let them educate themselves. That would do no harm to Hong Kong.
Who will be responsible for their six wasted years  without education?  What is the purpose of this restriction?
Murtaza Bajar, Mid-Levels
No pain, no gain
Green groups have tried many ways to raise awareness about greenhouse gas emissions,  in schools and the media, but it seems little has come of it.
Hong Kong will join other Asian cities on June 21 by turning off lights for an hour starting at 8.30pm.   I see this as a useless way of saving energy. People will not give up their modern conveniences  such as air-conditioning and  electric lights.
Can you imagine if there were no lights when you went to a restaurant or shopping mall? Can you imagine there being  no air-conditioning system in the shopping mall or in a classroom after you've had a PE lesson when it is above 30 degrees Celsius? Surely not.
People know about being environmentally friendly and how important it is to protect the world. But they will not act because they want to continue enjoying the benefits without making any sacrifices. Whatever the green groups do, they will not make a big difference in improving the situation.
Likewise, the government can do nothing unless citizens have self-control and awareness of protecting the world.
Janet Siu, Tai Po



Was remaking classic Hong Kong films like Police Story, A Better Tomorrow a good idea?

Why Jackie Chan hated doing The Protector movie, a 1985 Hong Kong-US co-production

Why aren’t we pushing Hong Kong harder as a hub for kung fu fans?

Panda Plan movie review: Jackie Chan meets CGI animals in abysmal action comedy

Jackie Chan

Letters