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SCMP Reporter

Q Should first-aid training be compulsory for teachers leading field trips?

'Basic Life Support' training should be a must for  all teachers, kindergarten teachers, health workers, ambulancemen, police, swimming pool lifeguards, football stadium workers and coliseum workers.

In fact, if you do not have basic life support, deduct 10 per cent of their qualifications on interview. Or deduct 10 per cent of their pay if they do not get the certificate within one year.

Dr Wilson Lee, Caritas Medical Centre

Q Should market vendors in Wan Chai be allowed to stay?

In the same week that the old Star Ferry pier on Hong Kong Island is lost, in the same week that this paper has an excellent editorial on a 'Sad week for heritage', the next nail in the heritage coffin is firmly driven into place.

In your Business section on Thursday,   the death of the Wan Chai Market was announced under the heading 'Lau brothers pay HK$304m Wan Chai Market premium'. What better measure can we have of how the government values our heritage than this massive land premium.

At a time when the Lands Department cannot sell most of the land on its application list, when the land revenue target is already being met, and when the government has amassed enormous reserves and has a budget surplus, it concludes a deal to sell yet another important piece of the fast-disappearing 'collective memory' of Wan Chai.

Wan Chai Market is a 70-year-old Bauhaus-style building in a beautiful setting with trees forming a backdrop. It is in good repair and is vibrant and heavily used by residents.

If it was a derelict building and not used, then its demolition could perhaps be justified. There is no logical reason why it has to go.

Professional planners and architects, conservationists, the district council and Wan Chai citizens have all pleaded for it to be retained, but the Treasury and Lands Department in the search for HK$304 million have won through. Where was the Home Affairs Department, which is responsible for protecting our heritage, during this sad process?

What made the news of the sale even more ironic and sad was the excellent column on your leader page by Christine Loh. She captures the community mood over the loss of the Star Ferry pier to a road and a shopping mall. She can now add to her list the loss of Wan Chai Market to an residential building.

Her article was headed 'Deaf to people's wishes' and ends with the question: 'Has the government heard us?' The answer is a resounding 'No'.

Ian Brownlee, Happy Valley

Q What do you think of the new Star Ferry pier?

I do not mind the longer walk from the bus when I transfer to the ferry, but the bottleneck  at the turnstiles during peak hour seems worse than at the old location.

Passengers coming in from the right have to turn the corner and merge with those coming in from the left, and this can be awkward.

Even if the new pier allows for a better view of Kowloon on a clear day, how long will this view last before further reclamation turns Victoria Harbour into Victoria Strait, followed by Victoria Canal, and so on?

Chohong Choi, Kwun Tong

The bottom line: it is a travesty and very ugly.  Also, there are really no directions on how to exit. The footbridge to IFC is not even finished, and the walk to anywhere in Central  is at least 10 minutes or more. Who would even want to take the ferry to Central?

This is one of the worst moves ever by the government. It  should  ban teaching the history of Hong Kong because 10 years from now, there will be no historic sites in Hong Kong.

Chris Mellen, Tai Wai

Q Should people with disabilities be given fare discounts?

Public buses, rails and ferries all offer special fare discounts for students and the elderly. However, almost all  have forgotten the handicapped when it comes to fares.

The disabled are in a similar situation to the elderly but cannot enjoy the same benefits. In most other countries, the handicapped  enjoy transport discounts. Hong Kong should do what most other cosmopolitan cities have done.

Tweety  Tse, Ho Man Tin

On other matters...

I'm surprised Kevin Sinclair in his November 15 column doesn't know about The Road to Hong Kong from the film by the same name, which starred Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. It's a fun song whose lyrics also mention Kowloon.

There's also American songwriter  Hoagy Carmichael's song from the 1940s, Hong Kong Blues, which has rather whimsical lyrics.

Ray Cordeiro  surely has these songs in his collection of classics.

Isabel Escoda, Mui Wo

To James Warren in Thursday's   Talkback in response to my letter, I certainly understand his wife's hesitancy to physically intervene in the situation she observed. I am  not advocating that individuals put themselves in physical danger in these types of situations, but there are other ways of taking action, especially in an area like Causeway Bay where I often see police walking the beat.

Since everyone has at least one mobile phone, a call to the emergency line would have been a reasonable course of action.

I lived in Japan for several years and have lived in other areas of the world with very large Asian populations.

I agree with his impression that  turning a blind eye is much more prevalent here. I don't pretend to understand this situation, considering the general assertion in Hong Kong that family and community are so highly regarded.

I don't condone violence  and, like him, I was instilled with the moral understanding that violence against women is not to be tolerated.

To answer his question,  I have been in situations where it was necessary for me to intervene. I can say with conviction that if the need arises in the future, I would do what I could rather than hope someone else would take action. I would like to think that if I needed assistance, someone might do the same for me.

Gordon Shkurhan, Fanling

Regarding Chloe Lai's article 'Cash beats conservation at historic site' (November 13), what a shame!

The old Marine Police headquarters was completed in 1884 on the site of an old Chinese fort. The fine old colonial building - with a tunnel to the kitchens, together with the signal tower - was shared with the Land Police of the Tsim Sha Tsui district for more than a century.

The building, before reclamation took place, stood much closer to the harbour and had a bar. The captains of ships moored quite close by in those  days became 'honorary members' and they were great patrons of this splendid 'watering hole'.

How could these old salts repay the 'water police', as they were then called?

On sailing away to foreign lands, the captains collected cuttings and brought them back to Hong Kong. Someone with 'green fingers' would then plant them at the Marine Police site. I was assured that, at one stage, there was upwards of 40 different trees, shrubs and plants there that could not be found anywhere else in Hong Kong.

While oral history is often embellished over time, it is likely there is truth in the above. But, without doubt, what was a wonderful, relatively unspoiled green oasis in Tsim Sha Tsui has been spoiled so that yet another shopping arcade can be built.

What hope is there for the old Central police station on Hollywood Road, one wonders?

Dan Waters, Mid-Levels



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