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Letters

Incinerator scandal can still be halted
In his letter ("Incinerator will adopt proven, cost-effective technology on island", August 5) Elvis W. K. Au, assistant director of environmental protection, confirmed that the Environment Bureau intends to press ahead with commissioning the building of a monstrous incinerator in Hong Kong.
He said the Environmental Protection Department considered it "important to achieve a more balanced distribution of waste facilities". Why? What is the benefit of this?
He also said the department wanted a "more efficient interface with the refuse transfer network". How can this be achieved if the waste is moved dozens of kilometres through one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, away from the source of the waste? There is simply no sense in his arguments.
It is simply outrageous that officials will not consider other strategies for managing the waste that we all produce. There is a viable and valid Plan B, which encourages the effective reduction and recycling of waste closer to its sources, with small-scale thermal treatment of residual waste as a final option, rather than building a huge incinerator factory on a remote island.
Why won't the department pause in its headlong rush into an irreversible commitment to incineration? Why won't it do its job and protect the environment?
The answer may be simple. With incineration there is no need for any kind of waste control strategy - you just close your eyes to the problem and throw all the trash in the furnace without worrying about the future.
Hong Kong deserves much better than this.
The department does not yet have approval for the funding for the incinerator. It will probably go to the Finance Committee in October, so there is still a chance that it will not get the HK$18 billion that it is seeking.
Is it too much to hope that our legislators will wake up and stop this scandal before it is too late?
Michael Pratt, Lantau
 
Cutting waste at source is best solution
There is an ongoing debate about finding solutions in Hong Kong to our waste problems, given that our landfills are nearing saturation point.
In looking at the suggested options, I think the priority should be to cut waste at source. All citizens can help in this regard by, for example, buying items that use less packaging. Is food that is wrapped up in a lot of packaging really more hygienic?
If we are concerned about freshness, we can always have our own reusable bags that zip up. This is just another step towards a more sustainable world.
We also need to cook only as much food as we need. So much uneaten food is now discarded in bins and ends up in landfills.
Buffets are particularly wasteful and people should be asking themselves if they really need to go to them.
Of course, hotels can always give away food not eaten at buffets, but some are probably reluctant to do this because they fear that if someone became ill as a result of eating it, they might face legal action.
We must all give more careful thought to these issues if we want to create a greener world.
Ella Choi, Kowloon Tong 
 
Buying a flat without seeing is no big deal
I refer to the letter by Cody Lam ("Regulations fail to protect flat buyers", July 31).
In the case of Cheung Kong's Mont Vert development in Tai Po, I believe it is a matter of choice rather than morality.
The 10,000-plus prospective buyers all knew they would not be allowed to view the flat they intended to buy before making the decision to purchase, yet most of the flats were bought on the first day of sales.
I fail to understand why there is such a fuss about this. Every day thousands of people around the world buy properties without viewing them.
I am not aware of any country which stipulates that a no-viewing policy is illegal.
This whole issue of the Cheung Kong development has really been a storm in a teacup. It appears to me to be another smear campaign instigated by anti-property-hegemony activists.
Chloe Chong, Pok Fu Lam
 
A question of standards in English
A number of correspondents replied to my letter on the native-speaking English teacher scheme ("NET scheme needs overhaul to improve its effectiveness", June 27), including the Education Bureau ("NETs' work is more than poetry reading and conversations", July 8).
My purpose was to call for a review of the cost-effectiveness of the NET scheme, having been in place for so many years, and to seek improvements, not to disparage the contributions made by hard-working NETs. I apologise to NETs who felt offended by my letter.
However, this is not to conclude there is no room for improvement. In some schools, NETs are deployed as drama teachers or poetry readers.
Some fix grammar more conscientiously than others. Some students get more opportunity to be taught by NETs in some schools than in others.
As Betty Bownath conceded ("NETs are making a huge difference to students' confidence", July 3) detailed handbooks sent to schools by the bureau are mostly ignored.
NETs are seen by the bureau as "resource teachers", not key leaders in charge of the English curriculum in each school. Their effectiveness is bound to be undermined by the limited and supporting role they play in schools.
The bureau must be clear about their objectives in designing and implementing their English programmes.
Is English to be taught as a foreign or as a native language in public and aided schools? If it is agreed it's the former, which makes sense in Hong Kong's predominantly Cantonese environment, we need plenty of teachers with a high standard of English who can fix grammar, and instil good writing and speaking skills.
In American schools and universities where a language is taught as a second language, intensive grammatical drilling, quizzes, speaking and writing exercises are conducted regularly to ensure students grasp the necessary language skills.
It is not enough to have NETs as "resource teachers". If they do well, maybe more should be provided to each school and given more responsibility.
Bureau surveys justifying its philosophy and methodology should be taken with a pinch of salt.
The bureau's bureaucrats are known to be stubborn, defensive and resistant to change, until change is irresistible.
The history of Hong Kong's education reforms under the stewardship of officials in the bureau is littered with too many sorry tales of misguided reform initiatives, which have produced dire consequences for the students.
Nothing these officials say can be taken at face value.
Regina Ip, legislator
 
Frequent false alarms could lead to disaster
Again on Monday I was in a public building when the fire alarm went off, in this case the Tai Po Hui Market.
This was, of course, not the first time; it happens all the time, and I am still appalled at the effect of a fire alarm on the shoppers and stall holders. The effect is absolutely nothing.
In this case, the alarm stopped after a minute or two, though the lights kept flashing. People in the market went about their business undisturbed, as if nothing special was happening. The security staff were just as apathetic.
What made this alarm different from the many false alarms I have experienced before is that there followed a barely audible message in Cantonese and English, which said "This is an emergency, please go to the nearest exit." It did not help that you could hardly hear it, but for whatever reason, it was, like the alarm, completely ignored.
We have become so accustomed to false alarms that it has got beyond the "crying wolf" stage. I have to admit being one of those who ignored it, and left the market only after I finished my shopping, quietly hoping that there was indeed no real emergency.
These false alarms are a serious safety hazard. Alarms are meant to alarm people so they realise there is an emergency. The prevalence of false alarms, however, has only resulted in everyone ignoring them.
If an alarm rings for 10 minutes, people may start to take notice, but in case of a real fire the time window in which you can make it out alive may have long passed.
Wouter van Marle, Tai Po 
 
McDonald's should learn from mistakes
Hong Kong citizens have become concerned by the case of out-of-date food from the Shanghai Husi plant which was supplied to McDonald's here.
McDonald's initially denied that it had any products from the plant, but then had to admit it had and made an apology for what it called confusion.
As customers, when there are problems regarding the food being sold by a company, we expect full disclosure.
We want to know the whole truth. I had expectations with regard to McDonald's and I feel disappointed by the company.
McDonald's should have acted swiftly to deal with this crisis and co-operated fully with the relevant government departments, but that is not what happened.
Its Hong Kong outlets are part of the global chain of fast-food restaurants. The way the local management behaved was unacceptable and the firm's reputation was harmed.
I hope it can learn from these mistakes and try its best to regain our confidence.
Isabella Yu Po-sze, Kwai Chung


Letters to the Editor, August 9, 2014

Mont Vert controversy storm in a teacup. Photo: Bloomberg

Incinerator will adopt proven, cost-effective technology on island

A general view of Shek Kwu Chau.

Letters to the Editor, July 31, 2014

McDonald's can learn from the meat scandal. Photo: AP

Native English teacher scheme needs overhaul to improve effectiveness

NETs' work is more than poetry reading and conversations

NETs' work is more than poetry reading or conducting conversations. The teaching of language forms is an integral part of their work, as it is for other English teachers.

NETs are making a huge difference to students' confidence

Opinion

In his letter, Elvis W. K. Au, assistant director of environmental protection, confirmed that the Environment Bureau intends to press ahead with commissioning the building of a monstrous incinerator in Hong Kong.
