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

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

It is possible for attitudes to change
There have been numerous letters written over the past month about the attitudes and manners displayed by people on the MTR network.
 It is an indication that  we  genuinely have an issue at hand. Yes,  attitudes are taught by parents, but this is not the only avenue  through which we  Learn. I  agree with Terry Scott ('Bad attitude comes from parents', July 27) that proper manners, at least for adults, are  inherently known. But so is 'smoking is bad for health' something that we know, yet  there are still millions of smokers around. 
The problem  is not solely one of 'selfishness'; it is also about 'awareness'. People just need to be reminded that it is the right and prudent thing to do to be courteous and attentive to the needy. If this 'reminder'  were to be displayed prominently, we would see a change of attitude very quickly.
 If everybody in Hong Kong took the attitude that 'if we should' then 'we must', I am sure we would have a better city both in terms of productivity and in terms of character and virtue.
Albert Soo, Tseung Kwan O 
Lawmakers have had it too easy
While the new Legislative Council building at Tamar may not yet be ready for immediate occupation, and  there may indeed be room for improvement as regards public access, it is meaningless for lawmaker Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee,   to complain that it would take her a few more minutes to travel there from her law office  ('And the way in seems to be missing altogether', July 28). 
Of course it would take Ms Ng a bit longer, for the building is located further away from  her chambers than is the case  with the present Legco building. 
Or does Ms Ng want the new building to be placed just next to her office, so that she can  spend more time in her private legal practice?  
Is Ms Ng aware that hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong people take much longer to commute between their homes and different offices every day but without the benefit of the handsome allowances payable to our pampered legislators?
Ms Ng's  complaint not only shows how thoroughly  spoiled some of our legislators have become, it also gives credence to the allegation that legislators of the functional constituencies (of which Ms Ng is one) are simply oblivious to the daily lives of the public.
Raymond Wong, Happy Valley  
Negative comments not helpful
I was shocked by the comments of  Hong Kong football coach Liu Chun-fai's   ('HK underdogs face tough rematch', July 28).  
How can the head coach of the team - a person whose job it is to motivate and inspire -  make comments such as 'we don't really have a chance for moving into the next round'?  The manager of the team is responsible  for keeping team morale high. Negative comments do not inspire players. 
Saudi Arabia are clearly better than Hong Kong, but in sports, as in life, anything is possible and the coach  should not have belittled their chance of success. Also, the fact that the national team was not even playing in Hong Kong Stadium was outrageous.  
It was forced to  use the Siu Sai Wan Stadium  due to the Barclays Asia Trophy  being contested in Hong Kong Stadium. The Hong Kong Football Association should either have changed the date so the national team could play in Hong Kong Stadium, or cancelled the event entirely. 
Admittedly, the Asia Trophy  generated more revenue than a World Cup qualifier, but it is all about national pride and prestige.  Hong Kong citizens should show they care more about the World Cup qualifier than a series of trivial pre-season matches for some British clubs. 
If we cannot even let our own national team play in their own stadium, we are showing no confidence in Hong Kong football and indifference towards our national team. 
The Asia Trophy is also detrimental to the Hong Kong team because some key players for the national side were on the team sheet for the Kitchee versus Chelsea game for the Asia Trophy. By allowing these  players to tire themselves out for their club instead of letting them focus on playing for their country, we are signalling to them that a friendly match is more important than a World Cup qualifier.
 To succeed in sport, we must show our intention to win. Instead, we showed a readiness to surrender and lose before the game had even started. 
Ryan Voon, The Peak
Good case  for bus firm subsidy
In your  editorial ('Better use of buses the way forward', August 1), you report that the government has responded to requests from bus and ferry operators for oil price subsidies by asking 'why should taxpayers subsidise bus passengers?'
There are many good reasons for subsidising public transport operations, whether government-owned or otherwise. 
This concept is common worldwide and is in fact already practised, albeit selectively, in Hong Kong. The MTR Corporation is partially owned by private investors and yet receives massive government subsidies for its capital projects.
Yet another example of selective subsidisation applies to private car owners. Miles of roads and under-utilised tunnels, highways and bridges have been built with government money for the ultimate  benefit of  private car owners, although the original excuse used to justify this expenditure was that these roads would enhance prospects for commerce.
So why shouldn't bus companies also receive help?
There has been a distasteful campaign against buses in recent years, blaming them for much of our downtown roadside air pollution. Nothing can be further from the truth. 
The root cause of roadside air pollution is congestion owing to too many vehicles per se. 
Rich and middle-class private car owners have been attempting to get public buses off the roads and force passengers to use the MTR so that they can have the privilege of having downtown roads almost exclusively to themselves.
P. A. Crush, Sha Tin
We should make our voices heard
The idea of Hong Kong people taking more ownership in electing the next chief executive in 2012 deserves the support of every one of us in the disenfranchised complement of the 1,200-member Election Committee. I refer to the views expounded  by Albert Lai Kwong-tak ('Finding a fix', July 21) and Kevin Rafferty ('The media and people of Hong Kong must frame debate for its next leader', July 30).  
Both propose an open platform for the candidates to debate pertinent issues in front of the public to enhance accountability beyond the small-circle Election Committee. Rafferty says the South China Morning Post can  identify debate topics, draw up a list of potential candidates, and conduct interviews and debates. An independent opinion poll will be employed to measure the public 'vote'. 
I have only two suggestions to add. Since the Post remains an English-language publication, it should join forces with a Chinese-language paper of equal reputation (as Rafferty said, 'serious, non-partisan reporting on the widest range of issues') in order to gain stronger and wider acceptance and representation. Ming Pao comes to mind. 
As such an event would incur considerable cost, the public should show  its commitment by chipping in. Fortunately, we can all dig into the public purse for that. For those of us who still have nowhere to spend the HK$6,000 handout, there is now a worthwhile cause to put the money towards. The contribution can even be made in the name of the Hong Kong government. 
 While Beijing has cast the voting majority out of the  chief executive selection process, yet wants the next top person to be widely accepted by the  public, this is  an opportunity to show our initiative and resolve and, true to the spirit of 'Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong',  overcome the challenge of a smooth  transition to universal suffrage in 2017. 
Charles Chow, Causeway Bay
Is this the beginning  of the end?
Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee's call for early engagement of the National People's Congress on the subject of foreign helpers seeking permanent residency ('Get Beijing ruling over maids', July 28) and claim that early interpretation would cause less damage to Hong Kong's judicial independence brings to mind a slogan displayed by demonstrators in the Lehman Brothers mini bonds debacle. 
 It read: 'Mini skirts are skirts, but minibonds are not bonds.'
Is the mini-constitution heading in the direction of the minibonds?
Marian Schneps, Wan Chai




PLA carries out first South China Sea patrol of year as Philippine tensions continue

What the Philippines’ bid for a UN Security Council seat means for China

Malaysia calls for Myanmar truce as Asean pushes for peace, as bloc seeks South China Sea code

Taiwan and Philippines try to figure out how to navigate the return of Donald Trump

South China Sea

Letters