Letters to the Editor, November 6, 2017
Many visitors would love nature tours
Hong Kong rightly prides itself on its reputation as an international finance centre. Tourists coming here enjoy touring the urban areas, including shopping malls and restaurants.
However, we also have a great deal of natural beauty and more must be done to promote ecotourism. There is the Hong Kong geopark and there are so many beautiful hiking trails in our country parks which can be easily reached using public transport. We are not making the most of these areas and there should be a lot more nature tours. We need to encourage visitors to look beyond the great restaurants and the beautiful views of the harbour.
I do not think the government and its relevant departments have done enough to promote nature tourism, here or abroad.
Officials could coordinate with green groups so that a wide variety of ecotours can meet different tastes. One obstacle to developing ecotourism is the attitude of so many local citizens, who fail to recognise the importance of environmental protection.
I would like to see more education so that these negative attitudes change and more Hongkongers start caring about their environment.
Kaecee Wong, Kwun Tong
Airport falling short of former high standards
The Airport Authority is pushing ahead with development of the third runway. Doubtless when finished, this will greatly increase the airport’s capacity to handle arriving and departing aircraft. This is all well and good, but even now with two runways, the airport appears incapable of handling aircraft and passengers efficiently once on the ground.
My flight on October 20 landed more or less on time from Fukuoka but once the aircraft was parked on the apron, passengers were unable to disembark for 20 minutes pending installation of access steps.
To add insult to injury, our baggage did not start arriving at the carousel for 65 minutes, long after we’d cleared (the very efficient) immigration.
Shortly after the opening of the airport, you could almost rely on being able to collect luggage and be on your way out of the airport within 20 minutes or so. But no longer. Friends tell me inordinate delays at busy periods are now almost the norm.
Hong Kong airport clearly needs to smarten up its act well before the third runway opens, or else become an also-ran in the airport stakes.
Doug Miller, Tai Po
Cybersecurity is important with apps
We all use a lot of apps on our computers because they are so convenient. Teenagers are particularly fond of computer games, but they must be wary of possible pitfalls.
It is so easy to pay extra for add-on features to games using your credit card. This can prove expensive and you have to give out a lot personal information.
Young people have to take care what sites they are on when giving out personal details, whatever they are purchasing, and check that it is secure, so they do not become victims to hackers. For example, if they are ordering an item to be delivered, they have to give out a full address.
I think all users of apps have to think more carefully about cybersecurity.
Ken Ting, Tseung Kwan O
Students must learn to respect local culture
I can appreciate that what happened might cause some youngsters from abroad to think twice about going to Australia to study.
Obviously young people want to enjoy having an education in a peaceful environment.
While some people in Australia have said this attack was an isolated case in Canberra, we should not disregard the possibility of racism involved in it. A lot of Chinese students attend schools and universities in Australia. Some of them and some tourists from the mainland may anger local citizens with their behaviour.
Young mainlanders going abroad to study must be sensitive to local feelings and respect the culture of the countries they visit as students.
Lily Yuen, Kwai Chung
Schools should get across good diet message
Schools need to recognise there is a problem and organise lectures where experts talk to students about how to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
They should also look at what items are on sale in the school tuck shop and make sure that there is a wide selection of healthy snacks, including salads and fruit.
This is important, because students spend a lot of time in school and many will use the tuck shop regularly. So there needs to be a wide selection of healthy food for sale to help them have a really nutritious diet.
Schools should also put more physical education lessons on the syllabus.
This matters, because after the school day they often have so many commitments, such as homework and tutorial classes, that they do not have enough time to get any exercise.
Schools do have to address this problem of bad diet.
Kaley Au Yeung, Tseung Kwan O
