Just think of that on the threshold of decisions for universal suffrage for the whole of Legco and the "delicate" question of functional constituencies.

Mr Fowler suggests that Hong Kong today may not accept a "colonial relationship with Beijing", which is what we seem to have.

I beg to differ with him on this point. Hong Kong was never a colony of China. It has always been, geographically and demographically, an integral part.

The boundary between Hong Kong and mainland China, drawn after China's defeat at British hands after the opium wars, was an artificial one, and had been breached many times by waves of illegal immigrants who flooded the territory at the height of China's turmoil in the past century

It is not clear what Mr Fowler is going after. If what he has in mind is a relationship with China as though Hong Kong were an independent country, that would involve rewriting history, and may not be in the best interests of Hong Kong.

As someone who grew up in Hong Kong in the 1960s, I can vouch for the fact that the illegal immigrants from the mainland who fled to Hong Kong in the 1970s and 1980s primarily sought a better livelihood. Hong Kong's freedom was attractive, and still is today to many mainland Chinese.

But I doubt if many would press for Westminster-style parliamentary democracy not in keeping with Hong Kong's status as a special administrative region nor acceptable to China.

As for Hong Kong's democratic development, as the first principal assistant secretary for district administration in the city and New Territories administration responsible for implementing Hong Kong's first set of universal suffrage-based district elections, I can also vouch for the fact that Hong Kong started going down the democratic path only after then governor Murray MacLehose's visit to Beijing in 1979.

He learned there was no possibility of extending British rule after 1997, and so commenced a series of subtle moves to "return power to the people".

In the early 1980s, when I started promoting the novel, universal-suffrage based district board elections, there was little interest on the part of the public or the media.

Democracy only became the vogue after many deft policy and promotional moves by my then colonial masters in the last two decades of colonial rule.

Can the Transport Department tell us what happened to the park-and-ride facility at Sheung Shui MTR station?

First they reduced it to half the original size and when I went there recently it was closed.

Do they plan to provide another one? And what are they doing with all the data they collected from us over the years?

This service is important, as it encourages motorists to use the train instead of the car.

I would like to see some more environmentally friendly transport policies in Hong Kong, such as encouraging cycling, providing more buses and minibuses where needed (North District is poorly served, especially Sha Tau Kok Road to Fanling station, which has resulted in an increasingly high number of private cars on the road and around the station from 7am to 8am) and extending or maintaining the park-and- ride scheme.

Hong Kong officials could consider adopting some of the successful transport programmes in other more enlightened cities, although parts of Hong Kong may not be suitable for the popular bike sharing system seen around the world, including Hangzhou .

Where there is no MTR service, alternative transport methods must be offered.

Certainly at present some of us are forced to drive when we would prefer to use public transport.

Perhaps, then, we could show a good example to other Chinese cities which are struggling with rising motor vehicle usage and airborne pollution.

To meet future air traffic demand the Airport Authority wants to expand Hong Kong International Airport by constructing a third runway.

Some people have expressed doubts about whether Hong Kong needs a third runway. However, I agree with those who think the government should go ahead with this infrastructure project.

To start with the government needs to sustain and upgrade the development of our infrastructure to support the logistics industry.

Since reunification Hong Kong's infrastructure development has stalled. If we do not build a new runway the logistics industry will be hit.

An overloaded airport may cause delays for the logistics sector. We would lose our status as a logistics hub to mainland cities and could be marginalised.

Building a third runway can lead to more flights landing and taking off and lead to expansion of the business. It will be good for our aviation industry.

If the runway is not built our airport could be saturated and the neighbouring airports at Shenzhen and Guangzhou would benefit.

The third runway would also bring a lot of job opportunities through reclamation and construction. It would be good for Hong Kong residents, as it would be a boost for the city's economy.

I accept the government must strike a balance between economic development and environmental protection.

The government must come up with ways to mitigate the effects of the construction of a new runway on the marine ecology in order to reduce marine pollution.

I agree that introducing a post-secondary school vocational colleges system provides extra career options for Hong Kong students.

Students who struggle with academic subjects can choose to study in vocational colleges.

They can join different internship programmes and discover their own interests and potential in a more specific area. Also, this can sharpen their communication and problem solving skills.

Although there are some vocational programmes in Hong Kong, many people see students who study them as failures because they do not get into universities.

Yet is getting into a university the only way to further our studies and achieve our goals? The answer is definitely no.

There can be no guarantee that after getting into a university and graduating, you will definitely get a job.

We should remove the stigma associated with vocational courses and give support to those students who are considered as failures under the secondary school curriculum.

They may do very well at a vocational college and this can help them build up confidence and increase their interests in learning.

I understand that all parents want the best for their children. For some time now it has been felt by mothers and fathers in Hong Kong that extracurricular activities can give their children an edge and make them more competitive.

But some of these youngsters are sent to too many of these activities after school and during holidays. One survey found that some students join more than 11 classes even during their summer break. I do not think this helps with their personal development.

Parents who do this are failing to ask these young people what they really want. With so many classes to attend they end up often being very tired and they can develop serious psychological problems.

Parents must ask their children what they want to learn and what activities they would enjoy joining. All individuals have their own strengths and weaknesses and pursue their own hobbies. They should be given more freedom in deciding what they will do during their spare time.

If they feel under pressure they need to be able to go to their parents and seek advice. Parents should avoid having too high expectations and let their sons and daughters develop their own abilities.