Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at [email protected] 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. The government’s ineffective response to the heavy rain in early September
drew much criticism. Therefore, I am putting forward three proposals to minimise the inconvenience and loss.
First, to get the public better prepared, the Hong Kong government should also issue SMS warnings – as has been done in mainland China, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea – in the event of a typhoon No 8, extremely heavy rain, hail, and very cold or hot weather, to all mobile phone users in the city, including tourists.
We should put behind us the criticism of the government’s
first use of SMS during the epidemic in March last year. That criticism may have been due to a different reason, not the use of SMS itself.
It was greatly disappointing to see commuters trapped in the vicinity of Wong Tai Sin MTR station during the period of heavy rain. According to media reports, passengers were asked to leave the station.
Second, to better handle such situations and protect commuters, central coordination is required. The key is a common operational picture (COP), a platform with geographic information at its core, which facilitates the exchange of real-time information between different departments for immediate coordination and resource allocation. The COP would also function as a command centre for logistics and personnel mobilisation.
Third,
extreme weather is worrying, but meteorological satellites can provide information to enable people to be prepared. For example, Japan’s
Himawari and the US Geostationary Operational Environment Satellite are used for real-time weather reporting, and tracking of intense storms.
Low-Earth orbit satellites with many operating paths, which can circle the planet in about two hours and provide over 10 readings daily, have become popular. They can offer information on real-time weather changes and improve the accuracy of forecasting.
If the chief executive intends to establish a joint emergency response mechanism with other cities in the Greater Bay Area to address natural disasters, it is necessary to enhance the application of advanced information technology in Hong Kong to reduce the impact of extreme weather.
Dr Winnie Tang, adjunct professor, faculties of engineering, social sciences and architecture, University of Hong Kong
A two-step proposal for renminbi internationalisation
De-dollarisation is the common theme among member states of the Brics grouping, comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. And the renminbi is the front runner. I propose the following two steps to accelerate the internationalisation of the Chinese currency.
First, the Hong Kong dollar should be backed by gold, in addition to the US dollar
-denominated securities in the Hong Kong government’s Exchange Fund worth billions. At the current price of nearly US$2,000 (HK$15,650) per ounce, it will take about 5,000 metric tons of gold to back the HK$2 trillion or so currently liquid portions of Hong Kong’s money supply. Beijing has substantial
gold reserves, so the central government can help in such an exercise.
The
Chinese government bonds issued in Hong Kong should be tradeable in renminbi as well as Hong Kong dollars. This means that an international investor, or a foreign central bank, would be able to buy Chinese government bonds with renminbi and sell them for Hong Kong dollars, which would be backed by gold.
Beijing would need to issue much more government bonds to satisfy demand, allowing China to be able to easily borrow from other countries, a privilege that comes with having a global reserve currency, just like the
US dollar, euro, pound sterling and
Japanese yen.
This two-step process of renminbi internationalisation has a unique advantage for Beijing – it does not require the relaxation of China’s capital account, as the renminbi and Hong Kong dollar bond transactions would take place in Hong Kong, not on the mainland. China need not relax its
foreign exchange controls so there would be little risk to the domestic economy from the internationalised renminbi.
China could have its cake and eat it too.
Guy Lam, The Peak
Waste charging scheme could result in more dumping
I totally agree with the column, “Why Hong Kong’s household waste disposal law requiring the use of prepaid rubbish bags won’t get people to ‘dump less’ (
August 31).
While the government is urging people to dump less, they are in effect forcing us by legislation to dump more. On the one hand, we
are required to pay for and dump plastic bags designated to be used for waste disposal. On the other hand, the bags given to us by groceries and other packaging will have to be dumped because we can no longer reuse them as garbage bags.
I sincerely hope our government will consider a more convenient mode of imposing a levy on residents, perhaps in the way that government rates are levied, in a sum that is more easily payable.
Otherwise, this law will only backfire – people will just dump rubbish in the most convenient way, probably in public rubbish bins. Then our fragrant harbour will become filthy. Is that what the government wants?
Esther Fung, Kwun Tong
