Letters | John Lee must regain youth’s trust to get Hong Kong back to normal

Readers discuss Hong Kong’s young vaccine holdouts, ways technology can improve education, Chinese scepticism about mRNA vaccines and why international travellers are reluctant to visit Hong Kong

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Letters

Published: 11:30am, 12 May 2022

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Our next chief executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s primary task will be to lead Hong Kong back to normality. Recently, Hong Kong’s health chief said the fifth wave of the pandemic was under control, with case numbers declining significantly. Students began to return to school and public examinations were held as usual.

For colleges and universities, a number of programmes require students to take their final exams on campus. At the same time, they must have received at least two vaccine doses to enter campus. According to government figures, the two-dose vaccination rate for the 20-29 age group is almost 94 per cent, while for the 12-19 age group it is 86 per cent. Why aren’t these figures higher?

One may argue that a handful of students remain unvaccinated for medical reasons. However, from my observations at work, a number of students are choosing not to get vaccinated because of animosity towards the government. They are mainly frustrated by the lack of upward mobility, which is driven by the decades-long decline in real wages and shortage of public housing.

As a result of their decision, these students will not be allowed to take some of their final exams, and will have to drop those classes to avoid getting an “F” on their transcript. This will delay their graduation, as well as their careers.

In his manifesto, Lee promises to enhance the education system and raise the competitiveness of the next generation. However, it seems clear that some students disagree with government policy and are willing to put their careers at risk to express their disagreement. To address their concerns, our chief executive must lay out a feasible plan for improving the career paths of our undergraduates. Today, they earn on average 25 per cent less than 25 years ago. The new administration should work to build a better relationship with our youngsters. Without their trust, leading Hong Kong back to prosperity will be a distant goal.

Dr Marcus Liu, College of Professional and Continuing Education, Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Make the most of technology in education

We refer to a recent letter on e-learning (“Help teachers better use online resources”, April 28). We agree that the Education Bureau should revamp the EdCity e-learning website to offer more useful materials to local schools.

According to the SAMR model proposed by Ruben Puentedura, technology can be used to adapt traditional teaching materials at four levels: substitution, augmentation, modification and redefinition.

At the simplest level, substitution introduces technology without changing the style of teaching, e.g., presenting a reading exercise in an electronic document instead of on paper. Augmentation goes one step further, e.g., allowing students to complete the exercise online and receive immediate feedback. Modification transforms the learning process; students can be assigned individualised tasks based on their past performance. Redefinition allows for the creation of completely new tasks using technology like virtual reality.

Regrettably, most of the materials provided by the Bureau are downloadable files remaining at the stage of substitution. We call on the Steering Committee on Strategic Development of Information Technology in Education to review and enhance these materials using the SAMR model.

Zhen Niu and Yuting Chen, Kowloon Tong

China’s reluctance to use an mRNA vaccine is costly

I refer to “Beijing’s chance to prove it’s more pragmatic than the West” (May 8). In December 2020, BioNTech and Fosun Pharma announced an agreement to supply China initially with 100 million doses of their mRNA-based vaccine. Almost 17 months later, Beijing has yet to approve the vaccine’s use – although Fosun has supplied Hong Kong and Taiwan with millions of BioNTech vaccine doses in the meantime.

If the gap in China’s Covid strategy persists because it would “lose face”, then the agonising lockdowns it is implementing against Omicron instead are a high price to pay.

A reopening of China’s economy to the world would first and foremost benefit China itself. But right now, this seems wishful thinking, as there are no signs that China will change its strict zero-Covid policy before the 20th Party Congress in late 2022 – which could mean another six months of economic hardship for people and business.

Jürgen Kracht, Repulse Bay

Travel resumes, but tourists aren’t convinced

I think the government’s damaging Covid-19 restrictions are weighing on the minds of international travellers. People are reluctant to travel to Hong Kong or mainland China for fear of getting stuck in a lockdown in case of another wave of coronavirus. And it isn’t just tourists; many residents have sought to move overseas. The coming years may see more emigration. It’s unfortunate this fear has become embedded, but understandable that people may prefer to put their trust in open governments. Covid-19 has certainly opened my eyes to how governments worldwide function.

Rishi Teckchandani, Mid-Levels