bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

SCMP Reporter

Harbourfront revamp ideas get short shrift
 I was privileged to attend the public forum  on the 'Urban Design study for the New Central Harbourfront'  on February 28, organised by the Planning Department at the request of the Harbourfront Enhancement Committee.
 I was very impressed by the many presentations from  members of the public representing themselves and  organisations. Their criticism of the government's  proposals and their innovative ideas to achieve a high-quality Central harbourfront were very impressive.
 However, I have considerable concern that, despite being presented with these creative ideas, the government will still not include any of them in  plans for the new Central  waterfront.
 If  officials  refuse to incorporate the many good suggestions in their development plan,  they should explain to the public why they are not doing so.
 As a long-term resident of  more than 60 years in Hong Kong, I have been very upset by the extensive reclamation in the  harbour. 
However, if the reclaimed land is developed well it could be a great advantage to Hong Kong and would at least ameliorate the loss of an important part of the harbour.
 We must not miss this historic opportunity to make our new Central harbourfront something that future generations of Hong Kong people can be proud of.
J. D. Mackie, Sha Tin
Use tax cash for tobacco control
While  applauding the 50 per cent tobacco tax rise,  discerning Hongkongers will ask how  the extra money is to be spent.  
It is already apparent that the public will need more  services to help people quit smoking.  
Some designated tobacco control agencies, like the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health, should receive more resources other than the dwindling government subvention,  for their ever-more important mission.
 In the United States, that is  exactly how  the administration is paying for its  health bill during the current recession. When President Barack Obama signed an extension of the Children's Health Insurance Programme on February 4,  Congress agreed to raise federal cigarette taxes to help pay for the extra coverage. It is expected that the federal tax on a pack of cigarettes will increase by 160 per cent.  
 We have a golden opportunity to beef up the public health capacities in tobacco control. Earmarking tobacco tax for this purpose is a  sensible option. 
Dr W. Y. Wan, director, Public Health Consultancy Network
Mugabe never deserved degree
David Francis Urrows congratulates his alma mater the University of Edinburgh for having the 'gumption' to revoke the doctoral degree it awarded to Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, in 1984 ('Welcome mat inappropriate', March 3).
 He says this makes it a 'real university'. But what sort of university honours a man who has just sanctioned the killing of  thousands of innocent people in a tribal vendetta? I visited Matabeleland in 1983 when the gukurahundi massacres were being carried out by the dreaded North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade.
 It is estimated 20,000 people, mostly poor villagers, were killed. The Matabele are still grieving about those atrocities, especially as most of the bodies were thrown into disused mineshafts.
 The local belief is that the spirits of the dead cannot rest until their earthly remains have been taken to their ancestral burial grounds.
 No doubt in 1984 Mr Mugabe was considered a 'good bloke' by left-wing British academics, who turned a blind eye to his minor failings. 
He had, after all, ousted the Rhodesian 'racist' Ian Smith, the b?te noire of trendy intellectuals at the time. Now Edinburgh University gets a righteous frisson by revoking the degree it so foolishly bestowed.
 No wonder Mr Mugabe didn't bother to comment.
Julian Thomas, Lantau 
Western nations the aggressors
China may not always do things in a righteous way, as pointed out by Renata Lopez ('Destructive past', March 10).
However, that  does not give others an excuse to pillage our national treasures.
 Let us not forget that  western nations  sailed halfway round the world to invade China in the first place.
 Such greed is exactly the origin of the recent financial tsunami. I could not believe people from those 'civilised' countries could disguise their delinquent behaviour in the past in such a way.
Lawrence Kong, Quarry Bay
Tragic effect  of downturn
Hong Kong, like many regions of the world, is very concerned with the effects of the economic downturn. 
Unemployment, debt and a slowdown in economic activity require action from governments and the community.
 A sad and unfortunate effect of the economic troubles is likely to be an increase in the suicide rate. Official figures show that more than 5,000 people committed suicide in Hong Kong in the five years to 2006. 
These figures are likely to be an underestimate because of the likelihood of many unreported/hidden suicides. 
The recent economic downturn is likely to see a big increase in these numbers.
 It has been said that, for each person committing suicide, at least six other people are affected. That's at least 30,000 people close to those who have died suffering devastating feelings of grief and loss.
 The Samaritans multilingual, suicide prevention service and the Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention  are organising an English-speaking support group for those bereaved by suicide (the centre already runs Chinese-speaking groups).
 The first meeting will be on March 20. We aim to provide a safe, confidential environment in which bereaved people can share their experiences and feelings, giving and receiving support from each other.
 If any readers  would like to attend, please telephone  2896 0000  (email: jo@samaritans.org.hk) for further information.
Liz Chamberlain, director, The Samaritans 24-hour multilingual suicide prevention service
Finance chief was out of order
 The strictures from the financial secretary - telling our  university graduates to be happy if they get HK$4,000 a month in their first work placement - shocked me ('Be grateful for HK$4,000, John Tsang tells graduates', February 28).
 That is because these comments came from an official who is paid far more than that each day.  
 Many of today's  graduates in Hong Kong are the very first in their families to get a degree. 
That means they will soon enough be expected to help their less-well-off parents. But how can they do that on a pittance?
 Hong Kong business owners take rich pickings for themselves, by employing tens of thousands of  workers in their mainland factories, on pitifully poor wages. And, in doing so, they also pollute our air.  
 So it is galling to hear that a top official in Hong Kong is in favour of such slave labour rates of pay for  fresh graduates.
 If that is all a degree can earn for them, they might as well not have bothered getting one.
 Rob Leung, Wan Chai



Letters