Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at letters@scmp.com or filling in this Google form . Submissions should not exceed 400 words, and must include your full name and address, plus a phone number for verification. In 2018, the Audit Commission criticised the Buildings Department for its poor management of illegal signboards. Two shortcomings were highlighted in its report. The first was the poor public response to the voluntary validation scheme for unauthorised signboards. The second was the ineffectiveness of departmental surveys in identifying dangerous, abandoned or unauthorised signboards. More than three years have gone by and there is still no sign of improvement. Chief executive candidate John Lee Ka-chiu has pledged to adopt a result-oriented approach and foster change in the government. His pledge reflects the difficulty of improving the bureaucratic system. The deep-rooted culture of “the less I do, the less I do wrong” has spoiled the spirit of civil service. Seniority and, in particular, personal relationships, appear to outweigh capability, output and academic achievement when it comes to promotions. There seems no punishment for those who underperform; ridiculously, they are sometimes rewarded for their inaction. All this creates a discouraging atmosphere for those with real enthusiasm to serve the public. The failure of management in government departments leads to public mistrust of the administration and undermines policy effectiveness. The Civil Service Bureau and all government department heads should echo Lee’s pledge and review the appraisal and promotion system for civil servants. Jordan C.M. Tam, Tai Po Schools reopen, but bus services aren’t back to normal The government has relaxed social distancing rules and allowed the resumption of face-to-face teaching in schools. Yet a large number of bus routes across the franchised operators have still not resumed their normal services. This is a serious issue, but the Transport Department appears to have turned a blind eye to it and adopted a no-urgency approach. It has allowed operators to continue offering a low-quality service. In doing so, it has indirectly helped operators to scoop up more revenue at citizens’ expense. Joseph Lee, Quarry Bay Help teachers better use online resources With the pandemic, high-quality online learning material has been in great demand. The Education Bureau shares a range of e-learning material through the government-owned EdCity. This one-stop portal for learning and teaching resources offers 1,209 items for English language education alone, including lesson plans, worksheets and classroom activities. Yet these materials may be receiving very little attention from schoolteachers: the number of downloads for 20 randomly selected lesson plans ranges from 48 to just two, according to data provided by the bureau. While the bureau stressed that download rates cannot reflect the actual deployment of the resources, which are also disseminated in other ways to schoolteachers, it can certainly do more to make these materials more teacher-friendly. In its curriculum guide for English, the bureau recommends EdCity resources but leaves the selection to teachers. The bureau can instead indicate clearly how these resources can be used to teach the key learning areas of text types, language items and functions, as well as language skills listed in the curriculum guide. We also found that quite a few resource items are links to materials developed by third parties such as the British Council (for example, the Movember lesson plan). As adaptation of these materials may be restricted by copyright, the bureau should instead encourage more local schoolteachers to contribute learning resources to the EdCity sharing platform under Creative Commons licenses. Mingyue Li and Li Yuan, Kowloon Tong Four key areas of healing for Hong Kong It would be a miracle if the political and generational differences of seven million people in Hong Kong could be successfully managed. The would-be chief executive and his team have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to achieve this feat. There are four areas of opportunities in education, housing, government credibility and the ageing population. First, the Education Bureau needs to nurture talent with global skills and good character. It has to set policy for the school curriculum to support both knowledge and curiosity about global skills for the future, such as in financial technology and the data sciences. The young need to be guided to learn critical thinking skills to be able to fact-check the internet ocean of misinformation while respecting and embracing diversity and both eastern and western cultures. General education is about creating a safe space to develop such skills and knowledge. Secondly, address housing as a basic human need. Governor Murray MacLehose transformed Hong Kong in the 1970s; half a century later, the city’s top brass can once again turn housing from a source of grief to one of hope. The government has the financial leeway to build affordable rental flats as a way out of poverty for the many Hongkongers still living in cage homes. Thirdly, the government can become the best employer in the city. It needs to better manage the morale and stress of public servants, and attract top talent with a clear mission – to serve Hongkongers under “one country, two systems”. Two summers of discontent. One big difference: Murray MacLehose Last but not least, address Hong Kong’s ageing population and their needs. Old people should have comfortable living spaces with a sense of community and reliable medical care – at some point, many will need some kind of assisted living. The Greater Bay Area enables the city government to craft a vision for old people to spend their sunset years comfortably, happily and safely in the city and maybe beyond. Education is the backbone of Hong Kong’s bright future. Housing relief provides hope for millions who cannot afford a home. Improving the morale of public servants improves the morale of all seven million Hong Kong residents. Managing population ageing needs a multi-year plan and it is time to get started. Olivia Tam, California