Letters | Legco election: Hongkongers must speak up through the ballot box
- Readers discuss the first election post-reform, slam a Shanxi school for focusing on pupil backgrounds, note lessons from warring Scandinavia and Europe for today’s leaders, call for Covid-19 to be made a priority into next year, and suggest a theme song for G20 talks
Some may disagree with the electoral reform. This system is not perfect, but the central government has not resiled from the constitutional goals of universal suffrage enshrined in Articles 45 and 68 of the Basic Law either. In light of this, I urge all eligible voters to go to the ballot box this December and make their voices heard.
I also urge members of the Election Committee to elect a more diverse slate of candidates, including technocrats and those less known or from different political camps.
Anfield Tam, Quarry Bay
How can school focus on pupils’ background?
Such a practice encourages needless comparison and may lead to differential treatment, with “leaders’ children”, “powerful and dominant department officials’ children” and “entrepreneurs’ children” receiving more care and resources from the teaching staff. This would not only be discriminatory but also increase the likelihood of bullying among students.
Thankfully, the school was reprimanded. Schools should focus on educating students.
Rosa Chen, Tseung Kwan O
History offers rich lessons for leaders today
In this geopolitical situation, we can only hope that leaders, especially of larger nations, are referring to history’s lessons.
Only centuries ago, Scandinavian countries were still battling it out until they eventually learned to live with each other in “win-win mode”. Europe did not heed Scandinavia’s lesson and suffered two damaging world wars, with Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan witnessing the instant devastation of the nuclear option.
We can only hope that global leaders learn from the experience of both Scandinavia and Europe.
Finn Nielsen, Discovery Bay
Covid-19 must remain global priority into 2022
Priority should be given to developing nations with low inoculation rates, such as in Africa, which has just over 6 per cent of the continent vaccinated, according to Our Word in Data. In Congo, for example, only 2.2 per cent of people are vaccinated. This is distressing.
However, there are also many countries such as India – which suffered from vaccine shortages earlier on – which have not yet been able to start administering booster shots. With the time between the first and the second vaccine doses stretching from 12 to 16 weeks, India has one of the world’s longest gaps. The ideal time gap between the two doses should be about four to eight weeks.
An important challenge in vaccinating most of the world by 2022 is to convince non-believers to take the vaccine. In every country, there appear to be an estimated 15-25 per cent of the population, or more, who either do not believe in vaccinations or have fears and reservations. These fence-sitters will have to be persuaded to accept the vaccine for the common good.
Finally, pharmaceutical companies should continue prioritising research into Covid-19 so as to reduce all vaccine jabs to just one. Even better if all we needed was a tablet or nasal spray. Covid-19 variants of the disease also need to be investigated and vaccine updated.
Rajendra Aneja, Mumbai, India
A theme song fit for a talk fest
Herb Stark, North Carolina, US