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Letters

Education can help cultivate filial piety
An amendment to the law on protection of the rights and interests of the aged on the mainland came into effect on July 1.
It stipulates that adult children must financially and mentally support their aged parents, and frequently visit them if they are living away.
The traditional Chinese value of filial piety is diminishing. In recent years, an increasing number of old people have been abused or abandoned, which not only saddens our hearts, but also negatively affects social stability.
Various measures, such as a nationwide voluntary programme on caring for the "empty-nest elderly", have been implemented on the mainland to rectify this situation, but in vain.
Enacting moral standards as a legal requirement is a bit sad, but this is a proactive measure to arrest the moral decline and promote filial piety.
In practice, however, how is it possible to ensure that the visit is an act of love and not just a fulfilment of the law? Do the young understand the physical, psychological, mental and social needs of their parents and do they know how to get along with them? Many young mainlanders work away from their home towns. The amendment may place an extra burden on their already heavily pressured lives. What kind of support should be provided to help them find a way to relieve that pressure and avoid them taking it out on the elderly?
What can be done to ensure elderly parents understand the pressure facing their children?
In supporting elderly family members, quality is often more important than quantity. Therefore, instead of arguing about the frequency of visits, which is not specified in the amendment, there should be an examination of how in society the advantages of the filial piety legislation can be brought into full play.
Public education is crucial. It helps enhance the awareness of young and old of population ageing, understand the challenges of elderly life, and develop effective knowledge and skills to communicate with and take care of elderly people. As a result, positive moral values and a positive attitude towards ageing will be developed.
Legislation helps, but only through education can filial piety be engraved in one's heart. Public education on elderly care is essential in promoting moral values, strengthening family ties, encouraging respect of the aged, and ultimately achieving a healthy and harmonious environment in an ageing society.
Diana Lee, chair professor of nursing and director, Nethersole School of Nursing, Chinese University of Hong Kong
 
Sale of chain will be good for shoppers
I refer to your editorial ("Rumblings in an empire affect all", July 25) and like most others in Hong Kong I am a customer of Li Ka-shing's ParknShop chain.
I will not be crying any tears if Mr Li and his associates divest of this chain, and hope that this supermarket monopoly will not be perpetuated.
Genuine competition is long overdue in the grocery market. It is unsatisfactory when we do not have a convenient choice.
I have long held the impression that ParknShop's overbearingly dominant market position has allowed the company to place customer satisfaction well down its list of priorities.
Charlie Chan, Mid-Levels
 
Personalised offers already acceptable
I refer to the article by Kevin Rafferty ("Big Brother of the skies", July 17).
The New Distribution Capability (NDC) will support airlines making personalised offers to customers who choose to receive them, but that hardly amounts to the "Big Brother in the sky" scenario described by Rafferty. Experience and research show that customers want to be recognised and rewarded for their loyalty; and airlines can already make personalised offers when customers visit airline websites and provide their frequent flyer number, for example. There is no suggestion this is being abused.
The merchandising trend towards a-la-carte rather than all-inclusive packages is becoming more common across the travel and tourism sector, and airlines are also adopting it.
NDC modernises the air travel distribution standards to accommodate this trend. It will close the information gap between what's available on an airline website and through a travel agent, making it much easier for airline customers to make informed decisions on price, amenities and services.
Today customers buying from an airline website have access to all of that airline's fare and scheduling options and can also choose additional options such as priority boarding and extra legroom if offered by the airline.
Currently such options are rarely available on the systems used by travel agents, because the data exchange standards for these systems predate the internet and cannot provide much more than the base fare and frequency. So the customer or agent has to visit multiple airline websites in order to make comparisons, which is tedious and inefficient.
The International Air Transport Association also expects NDC to result in increased competition. Airlines are making enormous investments in their products, such as fully lie-flat seats and luxurious airport lounges. But all the agent or customer sees is a booking code. In an NDC environment, airlines will be able to display and promote their products, just like on their websites.
NDC will not change the legal responsibilities airlines, travel agents and system providers have to protect consumers' right to data privacy, and passenger information will not be treated differently than it is today. Customers will always have the option to compare fares and additional services without providing any personal information.
Eric Leopold, director, transformation financial and distribution services, International Air Transport Association
 
These carbon taxes are ineffective
Killing Australia's carbon tax is a good idea but it should happen now, not later. Replacing it with an emissions trading scheme (ETS) is a very bad idea. It should not be replaced with anything.
The carbon tax is a known amount, simple in principle, needs no bankers or brokers, and all receipts end up in Australian hands. It is easy to abolish at any time.
The ETS is a variable and unpredictable carbon tax. It creates business uncertainty, is complex, encourages brokers, lawyers and speculators and it will drain our money to middlemen and into the European carbon credit casino. And it will create a growing army of vested interests who will forever oppose its abolition.
Neither of these taxes will have any beneficial effect on climate.
Viv Forbes, Rosewood, Queensland, Australia
 
Wrong way to convey right green message
I was extremely concerned to learn that turtle-shaped inflatable toys were used as an unnecessary weapon in a petition ("Turtle power", July 26). According to the Chinese press, 350 of these toys were used.
I was very disappointed that Greenpeace chose this form of action, given that it is an organisation which promotes environmental protection.
Simply looking at the photo, which showed a crowd of turtle-shaped balloons taped around the CLP logo, I believe the campaigners had made the right calculation if their aim was to grab media attention.
However, surely the environment is polluted by the use of such large amounts of the material that was used to make the toys.
When legislators, environmental groups and citizens are all arguing over the expansion of landfills, why did a green group take the initiative to presumably generate more waste?
Although I appreciate that Greenpeace was seeking to use creative means to advocate saving energy, I hope it can consider the consequences of its actions and give greater thought to the use of materials.
I trust these campaigners took care of the inflatable toys and ensured they were not added to the volumes of waste generated in this city.
I would advise the organisation in future to give greater thought to the campaigns it wishes to undertake.
Li Hing-wan, Tai Po
 
Not the most inspiring call to arms
You reported Benny Tai Yiu-ting as saying that on July 1 next year Occupy Central may not paralyse Central, merely "cause inconvenience" ("Protest may not cripple Central", July 25).
How is this distinction to be interpreted: traffic backed up to Causeway Bay rather than paralysing Kowloon as well?
Mr Tai [the campaign's core organiser] is also reported to have said the objective of the demonstration is to "get arrested". "Take to the streets, cause inconvenience and get arrested" must be the least arousing call to arms in political history.
Perhaps this is understandable in the light of his statement that his movement will not table a proposal but offer a platform that has a public mandate.
Perhaps the organisers of the forthcoming "deliberation day" - those professionals, lawyers, students, teachers and social workers - will be carefully sieved and screened for their ability to explain the difference between a proposal and a platform.
Clearly this is silly season for Occupy Central, a time perhaps for those who have funded the movement to date to ask for their money back.
David Hall, Mid-Levels


Letters to the Editor, August 01, 2013

The mainland's elderly have more protection. Photo: EPA

Opinion

An amendment to the law on protection of the rights and interests of the aged on the mainland came into effect on July 1.


Letters to the Editor, August 01, 2013

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}An amendment to the law on protection of the rights and interests of the aged on the mainland came into effect on July 1.

An amendment to the law on protection of the rights and interests of the aged on the mainland came into effect on July 1.