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Letters

Police were right to curtail illegal acts
I refer to the article by Gordon Mathews ("Lost generation", December 4).
I totally disagree with him that the government or the police are to blame for today's youth being radicalised.
Police officers repeatedly urged citizens not to go to the area around the main government offices in Admiralty on the night of November 30, because they considered it to be a dangerous zone.
Nobody should have gone there and participated in what was an illegal activity.
The protesters police tried to stop from advancing towards the offices were wearing helmets and goggles and some of them had weapons.
Officers were carrying out their duties in an atmosphere that was hazardous and chaotic.
The student leaders who called for protesters to gather on that Sunday night, knew what the outcome would be and they wished to escalate the movement.
Did they really expect the police to stand by and do nothing or use no force at all in order to stop them from their illegal and aggressive actions? Also, deciding when force is excessive is highly subjective.
There will be little public sympathy for those who claimed they were hurt even though they were innocent bystanders, as they should not have been there in the first place.
I agree with the letter from Richard Agon that "our police deserve all the compliments and encouragement for their professionalism" ("Police have shown utmost patience", December 4).
Cecilia Clinch, Mid-Levels
 
Citizens will just not accept mock election
While the Occupy protests may subside or change character, I believe you are mistaken to expect any genuine endgame over the structure of the coming elections ("Endgame calls for voluntary retreat", December 4).
The reason I say this is because the fundamental issue has not been resolved: namely, will the 2017 election for chief executive be truly democratic or not? According to article 34 of the Chinese constitution, all citizens have the "right to vote and stand for election" while article 35 guarantees the right "of procession and of demonstration".
The proposed electoral mechanism for 2017 would seem to be in clear violation of article 34, while statements that Occupy Central has behaved illegally would seem to violate article 35. So much for the law.
What about politics? Eighty per cent of Hong Kong's people now have secondary or post- secondary education. They simply know too much to be satisfied by a mock election.
They are too accustomed as well to "freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, [and] of association" (guaranteed by article 35 of the Chinese constitution) to be silent or passive.
The only way the central government can put the issue to rest is to hold a genuinely democratic election. Otherwise it will fester, and preoccupy politics, indefinitely.
Arthur Waldron, Lauder professor of international relations, University of Pennsylvania, US
 
Get to root of the problem in countryside
Many farmers on the mainland are struggling to make ends meet. Some have been forced to migrate to the city to seek employment, leaving their family behind in the countryside.
However, in urban areas they face difficulties because of the household registration system. Without legal entitlement in a city, migrants often find they cannot get welfare. If they do bring their families with them, their children may not get a place at a school.
These restrictions make the lives of many migrant workers even harsher.
Even though there are changes under way, even if these workers are classed as residents in cities, they will still face an uphill struggle.
Most of them do not enjoy high levels of education and do not have the skills that are in demand in companies operating in cities.
This means they can only look for low-skilled jobs which offer low pay.
What the government needs to do to deal with these problems is to implement rural reforms.
For example, it could help farmers by lowering or cancelling the high taxes that they pay. This would leave them with more in the way of disposable income, enabling them to buy not just daily necessities, but also some luxuries.
The government also has to have better urban planning in rural areas, such as better transport systems and an infrastructure that includes entertainment venues so that people can enjoy a better quality of life.
The government must devise long-term strategies and have a comprehensive platform of rural reforms. The problems people are experiencing in the countryside can no longer be ignored.
Helen Wong Yan-lam,Kowloon Tong 
 
Impressed by very honest Hongkongers
On a cruise from Tokyo to Singapore, I spent a few days in Hong Kong last month. I think I was your luckiest visitor ever.
On the way to the Maritime Museum, I mislaid my smartphone with all my photos from Tokyo to Hong Kong in it. I was getting very worried as I searched for it.
Finally I asked an employee at the ferry pier where the museum is located in Central, and was told that a woman had handed it in and I was given instructions about how I could collect it.
The member of staff at the pier with the mobile greeted me with a warm smile and said I just had to sign for it.
I felt very grateful that the citizens of Hong Kong are so honest.
A couple of days later, my sandal was broken so I took it with me on the free shuttle to the nearest mall.
In a very fine shoe shop I was told that it was too late in the year for the store to sell sandals, although the prices were too high anyway, so I went looking for a shop that did repairs.
In a small side street, I saw a man repairing women's shoes.
He was able to repair my sandal and did so by sewing it rather than gluing it.
I am ashamed to admit that I could not get him to accept more than HK$5 for the job that was worth several times that much.
Hong Kong was so good to me during my stay.
Beth Macdonald, Bergen, Norway 
 
Citizens can cut reliance on electricity
Factories make air pollution worse in and around Hong Kong. However, it has proved difficult to curb emissions from all these plants.
However, while effective controls on companies may take time, all citizens can take the initiative to reduce their carbon imprint.
We can all try and cut back on our consumption of electricity, for example, trying to do without air conditioners during the summer.
Tai Yin-mui, Shenzhen
 
Government should take the initiative
Companies and the civil service decided on a retirement age of 60 more than 40 years ago when people had shorter lifespans.
However, with advances in medical science, people enjoy longer and healthier lives and will require sufficient income to live into their 80s.
They must do this in a city which has no universal retirement scheme.
Also, the Mandatory Provident Fund is no help to housewives or people from the grass roots on low incomes.
Hong Kong has an ageing population and so there is a pressing need to extend the retirement age. In fact there are some jobs where people could comfortably work into their seventies.
If firms and the civil service stick with an inflexible retirement age policy then the workforce will shrink and will lose talented people.
At the same time, the government will be having to spend more on the Old Age Living Allowance. This will mean fewer resources are available for other important areas of public expenditure such as education and urban renewal.
If the government takes the lead to extend the retirement age, large companies will follow.
Regular health checks can be undertaken to ensure that older employees are healthy and still able to work.
Of course, it is also important for the government to implement policies which can lead to a higher birth rate.
However, this requires long-term measures whereas a decision to increase the retirement age can be made in a relatively short period of time.
Gabriella Cheng, Sha Tin 
 
Why exact fare turnstiles were replaced
I refer to the letter by Christopher Ruane ("Star Ferry wrong to scrap cash turnstiles", December 4).
With pier notices in place in advance, to effectively improve access flows at turnstile entrances, we abolished the use of obsolete exact-fare turnstiles in June.
We replaced them with a contemporary model of turnstiles/gates accepting Octopus fare paying cards in response to their increasing popularity.
Instead of having to count out coins for an exact fare and inserting them one by one in an exact-fare turnstile, passengers not using an Octopus card can conveniently purchase a fare token in a fare token vending machine unit.
Two fare token vending machine units are in place in front of each turnstile entrance. Unlike the obsolete exact fare turnstile, each fare token vending machine unit not only accepts coins, notes and multiple purchases but also gives change automatically.
Samson Leung, operations manager, Star Ferry
 


Letters to the Editor, December 09, 2014

Radical rural reforms are needed. Photo: Xinhua

Opinion

I refer to the article by Gordon Mathews ("Lost generation", December 4).


Letters to the Editor, December 09, 2014

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}I refer to the article by Gordon Mathews ("Lost generation", December 4).

I refer to the article by Gordon Mathews ("Lost generation", December 4).