Hi dear 5D,
Hope you all remember the submission deadline for your news folder. BTW, I'd like to remind you to send your articles to the SCMP by Oct 25, plus a copy to this blog with your name and the title at the top. To celebrate our grand opening, here's the good news :
DO NOT worry about the length of your work, quality is more important !
DO try to recall what we've shared through your IP and choose some interesting topics to start with ! (DO NOT repeat what you yourself have done !)
DO send your articles to the appropriate sections of the SCMP.
DO proofread your work before sending your work to me and to the SCMP ! (peer proofreading is highly recommended !)
Look forward to seeing/ reading your articles !
Love,
Ms Joe Chan
Chan Ting Him (23)
ReplyDeleteDear Ms Chan
here is one of my article
It is pleased to hear that Charles Kao Kuen become Hong Kong first laureate. His invention, optical fibres, had made exchanging large files around the world in a few seconds possible. Although he has contributed so much to us, he got the price when he has forgotten what he did. The prize is less meaningful to him than before. I think that the prize should be given to him earlier.
On the contrast, Obama has received the prize so early that he has done almost nothing to the world. I deem that it is unacceptable for awarding a prize to a person in order to encourage him contributing the world peace. On the other hand, others, like Michael Jackson, who are shortlisted have really made a bigger contribution than to the world. The reason of Obama getting the prize is “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples” and that is the duty of every country’s leader.
I haven't sent to SCMP yet! Hoping you can give me some advice to improve.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletehi dear Ting Him,
ReplyDeleteFirst I'd like to clarify to all in 5D that I'll only make some corrections based on your original work in order to keep your writing authentic.
title ?
It is pleased to hear that Charles Kao Kuen has become the first laureate of Hong Kong. His invention, optical fibres, has made exchanging large files around the world in a few seconds possible. Although he has contributed so much to us, he got the prize when he had forgotten what he did. The prize is less meaningful to him than before. I think that the prize should have been given to him earlier.
On the contrary, Obama received the prize so early since he has done almost nothing to the world. I deem that it is unacceptable for awarding a prize to a person in order to encourage him to contribute to the world peace. On the other hand, others, like Michael Jackson, who were shortlisted, have really brought a greater significance than him to the world. The reason for Obama getting the prize is “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples” and that is the duty of every country’s leader.
Chow Tsz Wing 5D (8)
ReplyDeleteThe problem of smoking
It is cheerful to know that the number of people seeking help to quit smoking keep increasing. Smoking is bad for our health, bad for the earth and the most serious is that it will affect others. Therefore, it’s happy to know that many people want to stop smoking. However, the professor of University of Hong Kong mentioned that if there are no further measures, those people will be drawn back to the habit. Therefore, I also agree that the government should increase the tax on smoking. As the higher the price of cigarettes , the less the people want to buy them. Besides, I think the government can also limit the selling places of cigarettes. It is because the more difficult the people can buy cigarettes, the fewer chances they can smoke. To make a beautiful Hong Kong and make the citizens healthier, the government should implement the laws to stop smoking in Hong Kong as soon as possible.
Thank you for helping me to correct my terrible grammar
Tse Ho Yan (15)
ReplyDeleteTOPIC : POLICY ADDRESS
Last week, the policy address was delivered. According to a survey conducted by CUHK, the latest policy address was the least popular of any of the five delivered by Donald Tsang Yam-Kuen. What make this policy so unpopular? As the big issues are still not tackled and many key pledges he had made during election campaigns have disappeared.
One of key pledges is the universal suffrage. Yet, after two years, it is still not in a progress. Same as the fair-competition law, which is still not implemented. Another example is about the pollution. While the world is finding ways to meet the challenges of climate change, our government is not even able to deal with the air pollution.
Worse still, there is no solid measure to help all those disadvantaged in the policy address. The elderly, poor and also the jobless people need aid from the government. Nevertheless, there is no measure to fight against the poverty; the word 'poverty' even doesn’t exist in his policy address. Besides, the income gap between the rich and poor in Hong Kong is the widest among the world's wealthiest economies, according to a UN report. In his policy, he seem doesn’t notice the extreme disparity in Hong Kong!
Undoubtedly, we cannot say he has achieved nothing, but what he did isn’t enough, especially about the big issues. It is extremely disheartening to see that government show no intention to deal with the problems.
How long should we wait for the government to show the real concern to the main issues we are facing? All these problems should be tackled quickly. Hopefully, in the coming policy address, Mr Tsang can fulfill more his pledges instead of prevaricating about the big issues.
TOPIC : Obama's nobel peace prize
Dear editor,
I am writing in response to an article entitled “Nobel award inappropriate” written by Tony Chow dated 13th October. In his letter, he thinks the Nobel Peace Prize to US president Barack Obama is a serious mistake yet I am afraid I cannot agree his opinion.
No doubt, giving this award to Obama who is only 10 months into his presidency is a bit premature. However, I don’t think it is a serious mistake. Acknowledged by Nobel peace committees as a Nobel Peace Prize’s winner, Obama will be very likely to try his best to fulfill all his diplomacy and talks. Since he cannot dismay all his supporters and also the Nobel Peace committees. The award also acts as an encouragement. It encourages Obama to continue his verbally promises and carry on maintaining world peace.
Tony Chow says that if indeed US policy has reversed and rhetoric changed, substantive results have yet to materialize. I see the point that there may be a potential threat, but is it possible for a peace laureate to overthrow all his policy about maintaining peace? If he does so, he will be harshly denounced by people all over the world! Will he take the risk? I don’t think so. Besides, before he made all his verbally promises and policy, he didn’t expect to obtain this award. So why did he make all these promises and then overthrow them later? Moreover, his verbally promises and diplomacy actually have already raised some concerns about world peace. He did not put any policy about peace into practice yet it has already affected the world!
All in all, I don’t think it is a serious mistake. On the contrary, I think this decision is not only wise but also inspiring. It encourages all the world leaders to cooperate to maintain the world peace.
THANKS FOR YOUR PROOFREADING =]
Ho Lai Chu 5D(10)
ReplyDeleteThe Crisis We Are Facing
This year,aside from the suffer from the financial crisis,the whold world is facing the pandemic disease,swine flu,which originates in Mexico.Within a few months,the disease is threatening Hong Kong.
In Hong Kong,a principal of the Canadian International School died and he was confirmed with awine flu after his death.From the information provided by the hospital spokeswoman,the principal was suffering from multiple organ failure,including of the heart.
After the death of the principal,the school adopt a few precautions against swine flu.The procedures included taking temperature at home.This is a very common precaution among most Hong Kong school.The measure can prevent students spreading the virus in the campus.Every schools in Hong Kong are alert to the severe situation now.
For the whole society,the Hong Kong government has planned a subsidy scheme before the winter flu peak.Children and the senior citizens would be subsidised by $80 and $130 respectively for the vaccinations at private clinics.The elderly get not only the flu vaccination subsidy,but also a subsidy for vaccination against pneumococcal disease.Whether the measure is feasible or not is unknown.In spite of some difficulties facing by the governemnt,the policy is a crucial step for public to fight against the flu.
Outside Hong Kong,in the Asia region,it is a big challenge for the world to avoid outbreak in poor countries.Their poor living conditions are a breeding ground for the virus.Country with large populations are vulnerable to the severe illness.It is not easy for the wealthy nations to share their vaccinations with the poor one owing to the limited supply of vaccinations.Explosive outbreak may occur in those poor countries.
Students,citizens and the wealthy countries are all suffering from the flu.All of us must be vigilant to fight the disease.
All citizens should take up their responsibility to care about their own hygiene.Washing hands more frequently is a feasible method.
Wealthy countries should try their best to help the poor one.Rising the living standard there,this can prevent those countries become a breeding ground.
I hope that the whole world can work together and help each other to prevent the flu.The epidemic disease could really cause a long term effect on the whole world.
Thanks,Ms Joe Chan=D
Leung Cheuk San (35),,
ReplyDeleteHi, Ms Chan, my topic is mainly talking about the relics of Chinese.
Before reading these three news articles, I did not notice that historical relic of Chinese is very expensive and beautiful. The twelve bronze heads in the world, which made by Jesuits for the Chinese Emperor, were looted form Beijing’s Summer Palace. They were originally in Summer Palace but they were stolen in 150 years ago by British and France. They are not only beautiful but also important for archaeologist to study the China in the past. Some months before, a bidder from China had won the auction, but he refused to pay for two bronze heads. I think his action is very bad. Although he wanted to help China Government to get back the bronze head, his action was a shame to Chinese, it brings shame to all Chinese. I hope China Government can get back all the bronze heads to China because they are our historical relics which can not be substituted by other things.
Chan Man Fong 5D(2)
ReplyDelete1)The shortage of energy
With the soar demand of energy, more and more fossil fuels are burnt to satisfy people’s need. However, the amount of fossil fuels such as coal and petrol are not infinite but limited. Therefore, now we are facing a problem of shortage of fuels.
For the consumer, the shortage of energy would lead to the increase of price of electricity. The price of natural gas, petrol and diesel for cars and other vehicles rises. In the market, new technology and energy efficiency measures become desirable for consumers seeking to decrease transport costs. People will not only face financial difficulties, but also affect their normal lives.
The reason for the shortage of fuel is mainly because of the overuse of electricity. For example, air conditioner consumes a high amount of electricity. So, the authority appeals citizens not to open the air conditioner when the weather is cool. Or adjust it to an appropriate temperature which is 25.5゜. This is one method to relieve the shortage of fuel.
The other method is to develop renewable energy. Nowadays, renewable energy such as solar energy, wind power and tidal power are having raised importance in relieving the consumption of energy.
Despite these methods to relieve the problem, the most important thing is to reduce the use of fuels. We should always remember to treasure and be grateful to the resources that the earth gives us.
2)Climate change
Recently, ministers from 20 countries came together to tackle the most serious problem which is climate change. The main reason of climate change is due to global warming, which is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's ear-surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century and its projected continuation.
The main reason for global warming is likely because of the excess emission of greenhouse gases. Thanks to the burning of fossil fuels, much more carbon dioxide, which is a kind of greenhouse gases, is being emitted. And this risen increase of burning of fossil fuels has led to serious increase of greenhouse gases, which in terms of the worsen of global warming.
Refer to last week’s conference, it focused on a technology that can help to tackle the climate change, which is carbon capture and storage (CCS). This technology really gives help to deal with the problem as it can remove 90 per cent of the carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power stations. It can also help coal to turn into a low-carbon fuel.
Countries should cooperate to deal with the problem of climate change. Now, CCS is a good method to help to relieve the global warming. Therefore, all the countries should co-operate with each other to develop CCS and lower the level of carbon dioxide.
Thank you ms chan for proofreading=]
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAlan Shek(40)
ReplyDeletetopic:Cross-border rail come at last
The controversial cross-border rail has reached a final plan and with a price tag of $65.2 billion dollars after 9 years of discussion. However, I still have a few concerns about the rail.
First, is the rail really worth building? It is no doubt that the express rail will make a connection with the China’s express rail network and have a better connection between China and Hong Kong. As we can see in the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, after a long period of discussion, the programme is out of date. The demand of the bridge has reduced. The new bridge seems wasteful. The bureau spokesman said the line was expected to earn $28.1 billion in 50 years, not even half of the cost. Why would we build a rail with low revenue or even loss? Why should the history repeat on the rail?
About the joint checkpoint of the rail, I think it is more convenient to have custom at every station. Y This helps to connect with the mainland’s express rail network as the main purpose of the rail is to connect that network. This could increase the attractiveness of the rail.
As the rail is now at final stage, the plan won’t change. I hope the government start this quickly as we are already years late with the mainland’s express rail network. it will be luck that the optimism of government could really bring revenue back.
Topic:Methane hydrate, Key to future
Methane hydrate, a recently discovered resource, is a key to our future life. It is a kind of alkane and gives out little smoke and smell under combustion. Discover of the ice-like substance is going to affect our future life. Methane hydrate is a clean fuel and still a large reserve in our planet. It has such a large reserve that it has 3 times of the reserves of other main fossil fuels. If the technology of excavating and extracting that methane is well-developed, it could replace other fossil fuels such as oil and coal. This can solve the energy crisis all over the world.
However, a slow development of the technology may lead to a great impact on global warming. It has 25 times of the effect on the planet with a same amount of carbon dioxide if methane is being released into the atmosphere. In countries like USA and Russia, which are main gas producer, they release billions cubic metres of methane into the air while gas and oil operations. Those main oil and gas operators should improve their measures on methane leakage.
For China, excavating the methane hydrate quickly is the solution to tackle both of the problems. This could solve the energy crisis in mainland and also release the pressure on the global warming nightmares. Nevertheless, the methods of excavating those methane hydrates must be developed with speed as global warming become more serious, ice melts and methane hydrate will be released.
How to deal with methane and methane hydrate is the key to our future, every country should put an eye on it.
thx Ms Chan!Good Day!
Lam Hoi Yan (12)
ReplyDeleteTopic : Extreme disparity between the rich and the poor
The United Nation has announced a report that reflected Hong Kong is the most rich-poor disparity region. It is important to face up the serious problem in Hong Kong. It is because the poverty gap will cause social differentiation easily. The Hong Kong’s poverty population reach 1.23 million people, according to the Hong Kong Council of Social Service‘s recent survey. The Government must take measures to balance the disparity. The Government measures to tackle poverty there is still insufficient.
There are many families which are receiving Comprehensive Social Security Assistance always discriminate against by others due to poor. It may also affect the next generation of the families and psychology of the whole families. The problem of rich-poor disparity will be more serious in Hong Kong. Therefore, Government must concern about "intergenerational poverty" problem. Let the next generation pick up the self-confidence, as soon as possible out of poverty. Long-term wealth disparity caused by long-term effects on Hong Kong, I hope the Government can rectify the problem as soon as possible, introduce more favorable policies for the poor, let the majority of the people of Hong Kong had a better life, enjoy their life!
My dear JC, thanks you for your proofreading! =D
Ken Li (37)
ReplyDeleteTOPIC: Climate change
Climate change has been a widely concerned issue since the 20th century. In 1997, different countries in the world signed the Kyoto Protocol which pledged these countries to set targets on the reduction of carbon emissions. However, the effect of this treaty is not notable because the United States, which was the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, refused to adopt any effective domestic emission controls.
In 2007, the world emits about 30000 million tones of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Many scientists and environmentalists point out that the soaring carbon emission will cause the average global temperature to increase by several degrees, which in turn drives our earth into disastrous situation.
First, Climate pattern will change. For example, the distribution of rainfall may become more uneven. Some regions may suffer drought and crops will fall while some regions will have more frequent storms and flooding. These will result in great economic loss.
Moreover, the climate change will lead to a surge of global sea level owing to the the melting of the polar icecaps. Low-lying regions like Maldives will be more likely to flood. In the long run, these regions will be submerged by water.
Seeing the catastrophic effects of climate change, the leaders of every country in the world should work together in the Copenhagen Summit to strike a deal to address global warming. Otherwise, it will be irretrievably too late.
TOPIC: Natural Disaster
It is sad to hear about the natural disaster happened in the Philippines. During the occurrence of the disasters, the survivors are vulnerable and desperate. Their homes and families are scattered. They have to squeeze into makeshift evacuation centres which is under hot and humid condition. There is no running water .What they can do is only wait for food rations and other relief aids. The city has descended into chaos and schools are ordered closed.
It is hard for us who are living in a safe city like Hong Kong to imagine the scene. We are definitely luckier than the people in the Philippines. Although Hong Kong is hit by typhoon several times a year, very little damage and casualty are caused every year. However, people in the Philippines are not that lucky. Many people in the Philippines still have no food and water. In contrast, all of the basic needs of Hongkongers are satisfied. There should not be any reason for us to grumble or complain. Therefore we should appreciate what we are given.
thx JC for proofreading!
Wong Man Yi (19)
ReplyDeleteTopic 1 : The historic Central Market
Dear Editor,
I writing in response to an article entitled “Activists try again to save Central Market” dated on 1st October. Here is my feedback on the question “Should Central Market be preserved?”
The Central Market should be preserved. The first reason is that it is the last piece of 1930s Bauhaus architecture in Hong Kong. The Wan Chai Market was partially demolished for a high-rise that we can no more chance to observe it, and what we have left now is the Central Market. There is no doubt that we have to sacrifice something while developing, but is it worth to sacrifice a historic low-rise building?
The history of the Queen Pier should not be repeated.
The second reason is that the Central Market provides a place for the stalls and it is a memory of them. There are many stalls which have been opened for plenty years. It seems like to them that the market gives them a place to have their own stalls in order to raise their families. Moreover, they have lots of memories in the market that are witnessed their lives.
In conclusion, the Central Market should be preserved as it is the last historic and valuable low-rise building in Hong Kong and it plays an important role in the stalls’ owners’ lives.
Topic 2 : The new six pillars of economy in Hong Kong
The government promotes six new pillars of economy in Hong Kong under the financial crisis striking the whole world. The new six areas are education services, medical services, testing and certification services, environmental industries, innovation and technology, and cultural and creative industries.
In my view, education is the most important area in the new six pillars. Firstly, the more well-developed education is, the more hopeful Hong Kong is. As the children are the owners of the future, they can produce a great city if they are well-educated. No international city is built up by uneducated people. The parents are will to spend money on it to train up their children.
Secondly, education is the base of the development. For the other five new pillars, they will be all failed if there is no educated person to plan and carry out them. Enforcing the above pillars, the people have to learn relevant knowledge and skills to make them success. Thus we are benefiting not only the education industry but also the other five industries now and in the future with a greater repay.
All in all, the success of the new six pillars of economy is based on education. The government should pay more attention on developing the education industry in order to help the Hong Kong economy in short and long term.
Lau Ka Ho 34
ReplyDeleteTopic:Lead poisoning in China
Recently,the health authorities found that about 1,000 mainland children had excessive levels of lead in their blood after tests on more than 2,700 children under the age of 14.
I think it is a unacceptable problem that occurs in a advanced country. Lead smelting is not only a long-term accumulation of pollution, but also a health problem. It makes many children who are living within a kilomere of the three major lead smelters got excessive blood lead level. It is a long-term influence. Children cannot recover immediately. They may get some sequela after recover from ecessive blood lead level.
According to the new, the city had a 52-year history of lead production. It means the lead production is not only affect this generation, but also the generation before. I think these lead smelting industries should move to other places, where are far away from residents, quickly.Also, the government should monitor these industries tighter
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteKwok Hiu Ying Jessie 11
ReplyDeleteTopic: Conflict between Mainland students and Hong Kong students
The government has allowed the pupils from mainland to take short-term courses in Hong Kong‘s universities. Chief Executive Donald Tsang has also earmarked two sites for private universities in Ho Man Tin and Wong Chuk Hang. Mainland students have more chance to study in Hong Kong. In long-term, they will become rivals of Hong Kong students to get a degree in university. Is that good for allowing mainland students study in Honk Kong? The possibility of Hong Kong students to go in universities had already difficult. If they have to fight a degree with them, the chance will become slim. It is no doubt that some mainland students are very outstanding, they need a higher education to study. Could government provide more degree for those students? Make sure that there are no conflict between Mainland students and Hong Kong students. I am in hopeful anticipation of students could have a chance to study in universities and get success in their life.
Thank you for your proofreading! Ms Joe Chan*
Hi Tsz Wing,
ReplyDeleteThe problem of smoking
It is cheerful to know that the number of people seeking help to quit smoking keeps increasing. Smoking is bad for our health, bad for the earth and most importantly, bad for the non-smokers. Therefore, it’s happy to know that many people want to stop smoking.
However, a professor of University of Hong Kong mentioned that if there are no further measures, those people will be drawn back to the habit. Therefore, I also agree that the government should increase the tax on smoking. As the higher the prices of cigarettes are, the less people want to buy them. Besides, I think the government can also limit the selling places of cigarettes. It is because the more difficult the people can buy cigarettes, the fewer chances they can smoke. To make a beautiful Hong Kong and make the citizens healthier, the government should implement the laws to stop smoking in Hong Kong as soon as possible.
Topic:Green Living
ReplyDeleteAfter reading these three news on Green Living, I find that the most important thing is to help to “cure” the Earth. Not only because the earth had been destroyed by human factors, but also it is our responsibility to protect our home— the Earth. I think Hong Kong-developed electric car will be a good beginning of environmental protection. Hong Kong is not the only city to use electric car. For example, it also common use in some small town in Europe. If it can be widely use in Hong Kong or other countries, and it will be a good way to reduce the greenhouse gas to ease up the air pollution. However, the electric car maybe too expensive for some families. Therefore, I hope the government will do something to help to solve that financial problem. The government should also promote electric car to the public so as to make it widely use in Hong Kong.
Another way to help is to bring your own bag instead of using the plastic bag. People could also practicing household recycling by themselves. There are variety of ways to help the environmental protection but will it work? I think it is depend on how much we have work on it. Thus, do not wait until it is too late and take action now!
ms JC::THX for proofreading
2)Situation :You’re writing to a friend of yours who studies in Tai Po Secondary School (in which the voluntary drug testing scheme takes the first place.)
ReplyDeleteShow your sympathy and persuade her to approbate the scheme.
Dear Joey,
Sorry I haven’t written for a while --- I’ve been really busy preparing for my coming examination. It’s well-known that the controversial voluntary drug-testing scheme‘ll be introduced in Tai Po by the end of this year. It is anxious of you as you’re involved in the pilot test, isn’t it? However, you don’t need to be horrified because several revisions and improvement had been taken steps by the authorities.
At first, the government’s designated counseling centers are established which aim to help drug users to fight against narcotics. Their clients are not only the drug addicts, but also for those who tried illegal medicines once or twice, they are all welcomed so as to create an anti-drug atmosphere.
Moreover, the manpower resources are as crucial as the equipment. To alleviate the burden of the councilors, three more staffs have been employed to cope with the anticipated extra workload. In addition to this, another one staff member is hired also to conduct a review of the school’s educational model. Thus, the review‘ll access whether it ‘s feasible to concede students with drug problems, whether the school can handle such students and whether the school has expertise and resources to help them. By the way, a team of nurses and social workers from the centre‘d perform the test confidentially.
As you know, after implementing this programme, the government’d focus on the long-term preventive measures, such as conducting a public consultation on compulsory drug tests ( it sounds scary, isn’t it?). What’s more, taking hair samples’d also be one of the possible options. How surprising it is!
I bet you’d be relieved a lot after more details ’ve been clarified. Don’t be nervous and step out boldly as I always be with you.
Think positive!I’m so confident in you that you must get a pass in the scheme!
Write soon and let me know what’s going next.
Talk to you soon.
Julie
1)A letter to the Editor inquiring into the light bulb’s scandal
ReplyDeleteDear Editor,
I would like to express my opinions about the light bulb scandal issued from the latest Policy Address .Controversy has been raised by the political parties towards Tsang ----- who is the suspect of favoring his in-law’s light bulb business intentionally when he launched a scheme to foster the use of green light bulbs. In spite of his denial towards the allegations, he has failed to declare the conflict of interest in order to clarity the purpose of promoting this programme. Would he have considered such a risk which has the ability to provoke the accusations before? The light-bulb cash coupon scheme inevitably show his politically insensitivity as we can see many loopholes in this project.
On the first, public eye is bright as snow and moral. However objective we are, there is no doubts that many suspicions are built on this incomprehensive plan. What was Tsang’s true motive --- for the betterment of Hong Kong’s environment or enrichment for his son’s in law, Anthony Mok Kam-chuen? To deteriorate the problem, the latest rating for the policy address which is conducted by the university of Hong Kong has dropped immediately to the lowest in the past five years after his delivering. The figures have shown that public disapproval as well as discontent are accumulated among different social ladder.
More seriously, Tsang has been criticized by comparing him to Chen Shui-bian, the Taiwan’s former president who was convicted of corruption and bribe ,by at least four local Chinese newspaper in these days. Frankly, if he had thought before leap, he would absolutely be adorable at this moment.
On the second point, it is so unjustifiable for all power uses to finance the HK$100 cash coupon that people are extremely unhappy as they are forced to pay. Many civic groups even challenge Tsang Yam-kuen by boycotting the energy-saving light bulbs scheme to teach him a lesson.
All in all, Tsang has to shoulder all the responsibility for his failure even though it has no evidence to convict his fault up to now , or else a judicial review is going to be seeked by the league of Social Democrats. It is of utmost importance for him to revamp his scheme in order to boost the public confidence again. Experience is the best teacher, I do hope he could be more conscientious to avoid repeating the history. As a student, I just have to wait and see for the further alternation. I wonder Tsang could not only overcome these obstacles, but also be applausive for the next time!
Yours faithfully,
Julie Chan
Hi Ho Yan,
ReplyDeleteThe POLICY ADDRESS 2009
Last week, the policy address was delivered. According to a survey conducted by CUHK, the latest policy address was the least popular of any of the five delivered by Donald Tsang Yam-Kuen. What makes this policy so unpopular? The main reasons are that the big issues are still not tackled and many key pledges he made during his election campaigns have disappeared.
One of the key pledges of the public is the universal suffrage. Yet, two years were over, it is still not in progress. Same as the fair-competition law, which is still not implemented.
Another example is about the pollution. While the world is finding ways to meet the challenges of climate change, our government is not even able to deal with the air pollution problems facing us.
Worse still, there is no solid measure to help all those disadvantaged in the policy address. The elderly, the poor and also the jobless people need aid from the government. Nevertheless, there is no measure to fight against the poverty - the word 'poverty' even doesn’t exist in his policy address. Besides, the income gap between the rich and poor in Hong Kong is the widest among the world's wealthiest economies, according to a UN report. In his policy, it seems that he has not noticed the extreme disparity in Hong Kong!
Undoubtedly, we cannot say Mr. Tsang has achieved nothing, but what he did isn’t enough, especially about the imminent issues. It is extremely disheartening to see that our government is showing no intention to deal with the problems.
How long should we wait for the government to show the real concern about the main issues we are facing? All these problems should be tackled quickly. Hopefully, in the coming policy address, Mr Tsang can fulfill more his pledges instead of prevaricating about the big issues.
TOPIC : Obama's nobel peace prize
Dear editor,
I am writing in response to an article entitled “Nobel award inappropriate” written by Tony Chow dated 13th October. In his letter, he thinks the Nobel Peace Prize to the US president, Barack Obama, is a serious mistake. Yet, I am afraid I cannot agree with his opinion.
No doubt, giving this award to Obama who is only 10 months into his presidency is a bit premature. However, I don’t think it is a serious mistake. Acknowledged by Nobel peace committees as a Nobel Peace Prize’s winner, Obama will be very likely to try his best to fulfill all his diplomacy and talks. Since he cannot dismay all his supporters and also the Nobel Peace committees. The award also acts as an encouragement. It encourages Obama to continue his verbal promises and carry on maintaining world peace.
Tony Chow says that if indeed US policy has reversed and rhetoric change, substantive results have yet to materialize. I see the point that there may be a potential threat, but is it possible for a peace laureate to overthrow all his policy about maintaining peace? If he does so, he will be harshly denounced by people all over the world! Will he take the risk? I don’t think so.
Besides, before he made all his verbal promises and policy, he didn’t expect to obtain this award. So why would he make all these promises and then overthrow them later? His verbal promises and diplomacy indeed have already raised some concerns about world peace. He has not put any policy about peace into practice, yet it has already affected the world!
All in all, I don’t think it is a serious mistake. On the contrary, I think this decision is not only wise but also inspiring. It encourages all the world leaders to cooperate to maintain the world peace.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteTitle: National day of China
ReplyDelete1st October, this is the day filled with delight and patriotism. It staged the biggest military parade ever.
Police blocked off a wide area around central Beijing’s Tiananmen Square for the show. There were thousands of troops and hundreds of tanks moving around. Uncountable goose-stepping soldiers put on this display of military hardware. Reported by the news, they had used a long period of time practicing. Also, a celebration of a strong country, money was not a factor that needed to concern.
However, it seemed to me that huge military parade and national day are apart. National day was a time for sharing the happiness of a birthday belongs to us. We could see the improvement of our country had made. In every year, this day is a mark for our growing country. Apart from this, the purpose of displaying weapony, It is reminiscent of violence and wars. Undoubtedly, the pomp was very successful. It is questionable that linked military with birthday.
As far as I concerned, no matter how grand your parade is, how rhythmical the stepping is, the inside of a country is the most important. It is well-known that there are huge gap between rich and poor, rampant corruption, severe pollution and the riot of western areas of Tibet and Xinjiang. In my view, those problem must be settled down first. Those time and money had spent on the pomp could be really helpful for the Chinese in deep distress. If the problems above have been solved, the new China truly triumphed over all sorts of difficulties and setbacks.
Hi Lai Chu,
ReplyDeleteThe Crisis We Are Facing
This year,apart from the suffering caused by the financial tsunami,the whole world is facing the pandemic disease,Swine flu,which is originated in Mexico.Within a few months,the disease started to threaten Hong Kong.
In Hong Kong,a principal of the Canadian International School died and he was confirmed with awine flu after his death.From the information provided by the hospital spokeswoman,the principal was suffering from multiple organ failure,including the heart.
After the death of the principal,the school has adopted a few precautions against swine flu including students' taking temperature at home.This is a very common precaution among most Hong Kong schools.The measure can prevent students spreading the virus in the campus.Every school in Hong Kong is alert to the severe situation now.
For the whole society,the Hong Kong government has planned a subsidy scheme before the winter flu peak.Children and the senior citizens would be subsidised by $80 and $130 respectively for the vaccinations at private clinics.The elderly get not only the flu vaccination subsidy,but also a subsidy for vaccination against pneumococcal disease.Whether the measure is feasible or not is unknown.In spite of some difficulties facing the governemnt,the policy is a crucial step for the public to fight against the flu.
Outside Hong Kong,it is a big challenge for the world to avoid any outbreak in the developing countries.Their poor living conditions are a breeding ground for the virus.Country with large populations are vulnerable to the severe illness.It is not easy for the wealthy nations to share their vaccinations with the poor ones owing to the limited supply of vaccinations.Explosive outbreak may occur in those poor countries.
All of us must be vigilant to fight the disease.
All citizens should take up their responsibility to care about their own hygiene.Washing hands more frequently is a feasible method.
Wealthy countries should try their best to help the poor ones.Improving the living standard there,they can help prevent those countries from becoming a breeding ground.
I hope that the whole world can work together and help each other to prevent the flu.The pandemic disease could really cause a long term effect to the whole world.
Hi Cheuk San,
ReplyDeleteThe relics of Chinese
In the past, I did not notice that historical relics of Chinese is very expensive and beautiful. The twelve bronze heads in the world, which made by Jesuits for the Chinese Emperor, were looted form Beijing’s Summer Palace by British and French. They are not only beautiful but also important for archaeologists to study the history of China.
A few months ago, a bidder from China won the auction, but he refused to pay for the two bronze heads. Although he wanted to help Chinese Government to get back the bronze heads, his action was a shame to Chinese. I hope China can get back all the bronze heads because they are our historical relics which cannot be substituted by other things.
(so what can we do ? --> explain a bit more on your comment on that "patriot")
Choi Wing Tat [28]
ReplyDeletetopic: minimum wage
Just after the economic tsunami last year, each social ladder had stood for a hard time especially the lower-class. Some of them even cannot cover the basic needs by they earned. People now want minimum wage much then ever. Some thinks that, stating minimum wage is for letting citizen afford for their basic needs and able to cover a family’s expenses. But some stands for opposing that, a statutory cannot combat poverty and say that this is not the main reason for stating minimum wage.
However, I think whatever the reason is, the most important is to state the minimum wage as quick as the Government can since some people have not been recover after the tsunami. Obviously, this minimum wage policy can help them as least for the basic life. Some say that, the Government should choose a correct time to state the minimum wage. This can prevent the increase in unemployment rate, but I don’t think so as this policy should help the working poor actually. Their situation is improved and so I do not think that this policy may bring out those great disadvantages. Thus, this policy should be stated as soon as possible for helping the poor in the society who are now suffering too.
topic: health
Health is now being more and more valued to people as we all start to carry weight on it. Having that many cases of heart disease, cancer which is linked to obesity or even our daily life, this tells maintaining healthy is actually done by our habits.
I think the first thing to maintain a healthy body, is having a good diet. In ancient Chinese, we divided food to positive and negative and we had to get a balance point. As well as nowadays, we need to maintain a balance in our diet such as less salt, oily food but more whole grain and vegetables. However, people seem had forgotten all this and so find it difficult to keep health.
Second, we need to do enough exercises. Exercises regulate our metabolic activities and help improve strength of our body. It may also help the oxygen consuming and even decrease the chance to have heart disease and keep fit.
Third, the most important one is to keep optimistic. Emotion can affect one’s health directly. When someone is facing something unhappy, the resistance to disease will decrease and even some may choose eating snacks for reducing stress. So keeping happy is important for health.
thank you very much=]]
yip ka yan (20)
ReplyDelete(1) Imposing the minimum wage
Imposing the minimum wage is a contentious issue, it has been argued for a long time to reach a consensus. In my view, it should be set as quick as it could.
Although the working poor are unskilled and not well educated, without their helps, our society could not work well. For example, if there is a lack of security guards or cleaners, how would our society become? Therefore, we should also respect the working poor which are at the bottom of the social ladders.
As the working poor works hard to make ends meet and helps the society, they should be able to receive a reasonable wage which could support their basic expenses. It is unfair for them to receive such a low paid while Hong Kong has enjoyed steady growth over the years.
Although minimum wage should not affect the economic freedom and competitiveness and unduly jeopardizing flexibility in the labour market, it should also consider the labour rights.
The existence of a growing class of working poor in the society is not conducive to our city development. Minimum wage could help tacking this problem and improve our social conditions.
Seeing that there is a need of imposing the minimum wage, the government should work it out as fast as it could.
(2) Healthy Living style is important for Hong Kong people
Hong Kong is an advanced and well developed city and is praised as Pearl of Oriental. The name shows the hard working characters of Hong Kong people. In order to finish the works, burning the midnight oil is a common practice for all the Hong Kong people. Working hard to achieve the goals causes the unhealthy living style. Many of us have forgotten the importance of health. Without a healthy body, how could we work effectively and efficiently?
To finish their meals as quick as they could, fast food and the food served at restaurants has become the best choice of Hong Kong people. Despite the speed of the food served, the fast food is very unhealthy to our bodies. It contains high content of meat, salt and oil.
To have a healthy body, we should maintain a balanced diet. Referring to the food pyramid and following the ratio of food intake it suggested could lead to a healthier diet. We should have food without too much fat, salt and sugar, as these unhealthy ingredients could cause many diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes and obesity. Everyday, we should eat a large amount of grain products, likes rice, noodle, and bread, etc, to supply energy for our daily activities. We should also have two fruits and one vegetable in ratio.
Besides obtaining the right ratio, we should also have a suitable amount of food, don’t eat too much or too less. A moderate amount of food is enough. Skipping meals is harmful to our stomach and we could not get enough energy for our basic need. Too much food is also harmful that it would cause obesity.
Water is a necessary element to maintain our lives. In order to have a healthy body, we should drink eight glasses of water everyday.
Moreover, doing exercises is also essential to maintain our health. Despite the busy working time, we should spend some time on doing exercises. Millions of research dollars and hundreds of lengthy studies are coming up with the same answer: the killer diseases in developed nations are increasingly linked to lack of exercise.
Doing exercises is actually not a difficult thing to deal with. We should at least walk 8000 steps a day. It could be achieved easily if we choose to walk instead of taking cars. Also, spending an hour for running or playing basketball with friends could also improve our health.
Seeing the importance and the benefits of maintaining a healthy living style, we should take actions now.
thank you very much for proofreading : )
Hi Man Fong,
ReplyDelete1)The shortage of energy
With the soaring demand for energy, more and more fossil fuels are burnt to satisfy people’s need. However, the amount of fossil fuels such as coal and petrol are not infinite but limited. Therefore, now we are facing a problem of shortage of fuels.
For the consumers, the shortage of energy would lead to the increase of price of electricity. The prices of natural gas, petrol and diesel for cars and other vehicles rise as well. In the market, new technology and energy efficiency measures are desirable for consumers urging to decrease transport costs. With the situation getting worse, people will not only face financial difficulties, but also have their daily lives affected.
The reason for the shortage of fuel is mainly the overuse of electricity. For example, air conditioner consumes a high amount of electricity. So, the authority appeals citizens not to turn on the air conditioner when the weather is cool. Or they should adjust it to an appropriate temperature which is 25.5゜. This is one method to relieve the shortage of fuel.
The other method is to develop renewable energy. Nowadays, renewable energy such as solar energy, wind power and tidal power are advocated for relieving the consumption of energy.
Despite the methods to relieve the problem, the most important thing is to reduce the use of fuels. We should always remember to treasure and be grateful to the resources that the earth gives us.
2)Climate change
Recently, ministers from 20 countries came together to tackle the most serious global problem which is climate change. The main reason for climate change is global warming, which is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's ear-surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century.
Global warming is being worsened by the excess emission of greenhouse gases. Thanks to the burning of fossil fuels, much more carbon dioxide, which is a kind of greenhouse gases, is being emitted. The increasing burning of fossil fuels has led to serious increase of greenhouse gases, which accelerates the vicious cycle.
Last week’s conference focused on a technology that can help to tackle the climate change, which is carbon capture and storage (CCS). This technology has brought hope to the problem as it can remove 90 per cent of the carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power stations. It can also help turn coal into a low-carbon fuel.
Countries should cooperate to deal with the problem of climate change. Now, CCS is a good method to help to relieve global warming. Therefore, all the countries should co-operate with each other to develop CCS and lower the level of carbon dioxide.
Lam Wang Tat 5D (33)
ReplyDeleteHi Miss Chan,
Here is my first article
the theme: medical incident
Topic: how to improve our medical system
In recent years, we usually hear some medical incidents from the news. It means that there are still a lot of loopholes in our medical system. Medicine is very important so we must have a flawless system.
First, the hospital should not set up fixed emergency measures. No one knows what kind of emergency incident will happen so we should do different things on different cases. For example, someone faints in front of the hospital. We should call the doctor in the hospital for help but not call 999.
Second, the quality of healthcare staff must be improved. Most of the medical incidents are made by some careless mistakes. It is unforgivable that the nurses change the babies accidentally. The government should be more exact to train the healthcare staff.
Finally, some hospitals said that they hadn’t made mistakes. Only themselves know whether they made the mistakes. But these news had told us that we must face up to this problem immediately. No matter how many policies the government had carried, if the quality of the services is low, all these policies are meaningless.
I will post my second article later
Thanks for your proofreading^^
Hi Alan,
ReplyDeletetopic:Cross-border rail come at last
The controversial cross-border rail has reached a final plan with a price tag of $65.2 billion dollars after 9 years of discussion. However, I still have a few concerns about the rail.
First, is the rail really worth building? There is no doubt that the express rail will make a connection with the China’s express rail network and guarantee a better connection between China and Hong Kong. However, as we can see in the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, after a long period of discussion, the demand for the bridge has reduced. The new bridge seems wasteful. The bureau spokesman said the line was expected to earn $28.1 billion in 50 years, not even half of the cost. Why would we build a rail with low revenue or even a loss? Why should the history repeat on the rail?
About the joint checkpoint of the rail, I think it is more convenient to have customs at every station. This helps to connect with the mainland’s express rail network as the main purpose of the rail is to connect that network. This could increase the attractiveness of the rail.
As the rail is now at final stage, the plan won’t change any more. I hope the government start this quickly as we are already years late with the mainland’s express rail network. it will be lucky that the optimism of government could really bring revenue back.
Topic:Methane hydrate, Key to future
Methane hydrate, a recently discovered resource, is a key to our future life. It is a kind of alkane which gives out little smoke and smell under combustion. The discovery of the ice-like substance is going to affect our future life. Methane hydrate is a clean fuel and still a large reserve on our planet. It has such a large reserve that it has 3 times of the reserves of other main fossil fuels. If the technology of excavating and extracting that methane is well-developed, it could replace other fossil fuels such as oil and coal. This can solve the energy crisis all over the world.
However, a slow development of the technology may lead to a great impact on global warming. It has 25 times of the effect on the planet with the same amount as carbon dioxide if methane is being released into the atmosphere. Countries like USA and Russia, which are main gas producers, release billions cubic metres of methane into the air during gas and oil operations. Those main oil and gas operators should improve their measures on methane leakage.
For China, excavating the methane hydrate quickly is the solution to the problems. This could solve the energy crisis in mainland and also release the pressure brought by the global warming nightmares.
Nevertheless, the methods of excavating those methane hydrates must be developed at high speed as global warming is becoming more serious.
How to deal with methane and methane hydrate is the key to our future which every country should put an eye on.
Dear Hoi Yan,
ReplyDeleteTopic : Extreme disparity between the rich and the poor
The United Nations has announced a report that reflects Hong Kong is the region with the worst rich-poor disparity. It is important to face up the serious problem in Hong Kong because the poverty gap will cause social differentiation easily.
The Hong Kong’s poverty population has reached 1.23 million, according to the recent survey conducted by Hong Kong Council of Social Service. The Government must take measures to balance the disparity.
Many families in Hong Kong which are receiving Comprehensive Social Security Assistance are always discriminated against by others. It may affect the next generation of the families and the whole families psychologically. The problem of rich-poor disparity will then be more serious in Hong Kong.
Therefore, our Government must show its concern about the "intergenerational poverty" problem. We should the next generation pick up the self-confidence as soon as possible. Long-term wealth disparity is surely causing long-term effects on Hong Kong. I hope the Government can rectify the problem as soon as possible by introducing more favorable policies for the poor. Let the majority of the people of Hong Kong have a better life and enjoy their life!
Hi Ken,
ReplyDeleteTOPIC: Climate change
Climate change has been a widely concerned issue since the 20th century. In 1997, different countries in the world signed the Kyoto Protocol which pledged those countries to set targets on the reduction of carbon emissions. However, the effect of this treaty is not notable because the United States, which was the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, refused to adopt any effective domestic emission controls.
In 2007, the world emitted about 30000 million tones of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Many scientists and environmentalists have pointed out that the soaring carbon emission will cause the average global temperature to increase by several degrees, which in turn drive our earth into a disastrous situation.
First, the global climate pattern will change. For example, the distribution of rainfall may become more uneven. Some regions may suffer drought and crops will fall while some will have more frequent storms and flooding. These will result in great economic loss.
Moreover, the climate change will lead to a surge of global sea level owing to the melting of the polar icecaps. Low-lying regions like Maldives will be more likely to be flooded. In the long run, these regions will be submerged by water.
Seeing the catastrophic effects of climate change, the leaders of every country in the world should work together in the Copenhagen Summit to strike a deal to address global warming. Otherwise, it will be irretrievably too late.
TOPIC: Natural Disaster
It is sad to hear about the natural disaster in the Philippines. During the disaster, human beings became vulnerable and desperate. Their homes and families were scattered and they had to squeeze into makeshift evacuation centres which was under hot and humid condition. There was no running water .What they could do was wait for food rations and other relief aids. The city had descended into chaos and schools were ordered closed.
It is hard for us who are living in a safe city like Hong Kong to imagine the scene. We are definitely luckier than the people in the Philippines. Although Hong Kong is hit by typhoon several times a year, very little damage and casualties are caused every year. However, people in the Philippines are not that lucky. Many people in the Philippines still have no food and water. In contrast, all of the basic needs of Hongkongers are satisfied. There should not be any reason for us to grumble or complain. Instead, we should appreciate what we are given.
Ms Chan, thanks for helping me to correct my grammar.
ReplyDeleteHi Man Yi,
ReplyDeleteTopic 1 : The historic Central Market
Dear Editor,
I am writing in response to an article entitled “Activists try again to save Central Market” dated on 1st October. Here is my feedback on the question “Should Central Market be preserved?”
I do believe the Central Market should be preserved. The first reason is that it is the last piece of 1930's Bauhaus architecture in Hong Kong. The Wan Chai Market has been partially demolished for a high-rise so we have no more chance to help preserve it. What we have left now is the Central Market.
There is no doubt that we have to sacrifice something while developing our city, but is it worth sacrificing a historic low-rise building?
The history of the Queen's Pier should not be repeated.
Second, the Central Market provides a place for the stalls and it is a memory of them. There are many stalls which have been opened for plenty years. It seems that the market gives them a place to have their own stalls in order to raise their families. Moreover, they have lots of memories in the market that have witnessed their lives.
In conclusion, the Central Market should be preserved as it is the last valuable historic low-rise building in Hong Kong and it plays an important role in the stalls’ owners’ lives.
Topic 2 : The new six pillars of economy in Hong Kong
The government promotes six new pillars of economy in Hong Kong while the financial crisis is striking the whole world. The six areas are education services, medical services, testing and certification services, environmental industries, innovation and technology, and cultural and creative industries.
In my view, education is the most important area in the new six pillars. Firstly, the more well-developed education is, the more hopeful Hong Kong is. As the children are the owners of the future, they can produce a great city if they are well-educated. No international city is built up by uneducated people. Parents are willing to spend money on it to train up their children.
Secondly, education is the base of the development. For the other five new pillars, they will all fail if no educated people plan and carry them out. Enforcing the above pillars, people have to learn relevant knowledge and skills to make them successful. Thus we are benefiting not only the education industry but also the other five industries.
All in all, the success of the new six pillars of economy is based on education. The government should pay more attention on developing the education industry in order to help the Hong Kong economy in both short and long term.
Hi Ka Ho,
ReplyDeleteTopic:Lead poisoning in China
Recently,the health authorities in China found that about 1,000 mainland children were suffering excessive levels of lead in their blood, after the tests on more than 2,700 children under the age of 14.
I think it is an unacceptable problem to an advanced country. Lead smelting has not only led to a long-term accumulation of pollution, but also a health problem. It has made many children who are living within a kilomere of the three major lead smelters get excessive blood lead level. It is a long-term influence. Those children cannot recover immediately. They may face some side-effects even after recovering from ecessive blood lead level.
According to the news, the city (?) has had a 52-year history of lead production. It means the lead production has already endangered the lives of many generations. I think these lead smelting industries should move to other places, which are far away from residents, quickly. Also, the government should monitor these industries more rigidly.
Hi Jessie,
ReplyDeleteTopic: Conflict between Mainland students and Hong Kong students
The government has allowed the pupils from mainland to take short-term courses in Hong Kong's universities. Our Chief Executive Donald Tsang has also earmarked two sites for private universities in Ho Man Tin and Wong Chuk Hang. Mainland students have more chance to study in Hong Kong. In long-term, they will become rivals of Hong Kong students who are eager to get a place in university.
Is that good for allowing mainland students to study in Honk Kong? The possibility of Hong Kong students to go into universities is already difficult. If they have to fight for a degree with them, the chance will become slimmer. There is no doubt that some mainland students are very outstanding. Could the government provide more degree courses especially for those students to make sure that there is no conflict between Mainland students and Hong Kong students ? I hope all able students could have a chance to study in universities and achieve success in their life.
Hi Jay, what is your class no. ?
ReplyDeleteTopic:Green Living
After reading widely on Green Living, I find that the most important thing is to help to “cure” the Earth. Not only because the earth has been destroyed by human factors, but also it is our responsibility to protect our home— the Earth.
I think Hong Kong-developed electric car will be a good beginning of environmental protection. Hong Kong is not the only city to use electric car. For example, it is commonly used in some small towns in Europe. If it can be widely used in Hong Kong or other countries, it will be a good way to reduce the greenhouse gas and relieve the air pollution.
However, the electric car may be too expensive for some families. I hope the government will do something to help to solve that financial problem. The government should also promote electric car to the public so as to make it widely used in Hong Kong.
Another way to help is to bring your own bag instead of using the plastic bag. People could also practise household recycling by themselves. There are various ways to help with environmental protection but will they work? I think it all depends on how much we work on it. Thus, do not wait until it is too late and take action now!
Jay's class no. is 5
ReplyDeleteHi Julie, (no.2...remember to write your class no.! Also, sending it to SCMP, u'd better give it a title instead of a situation!)
ReplyDelete2)Situation :You’re writing to a friend of yours who studies in Tai Po Secondary School (in which the voluntary drug testing scheme takes the first place.)
Show your sympathy and persuade her to approbate the scheme.
Dear Joey,
Sorry I haven’t written for a while --- I’ve been really busy preparing for my coming examination. It’s well-known that the controversial voluntary drug-testing scheme will be introduced in Tai Po by the end of this year. You're anxious as you’re involved in the pilot test, aren't you? But I think you don’t need to be horrified because several revisions and improvement have been carried out by the authorities.
At first, counseling centers have been established to help drug users fight against narcotics. Their clients are not only the drug addicts, but also those who tried illegal medicines once or twice. They are all welcomed so as to create an anti-drug atmosphere.
Moreover, the manpower resources are as crucial as the equipment. To alleviate the burden of the counsellors, three more staff have been employed to cope with the anticipated extra workload. In addition to this, another staff member has been hired also to conduct a review on whether it ‘s feasible to concede students with drug problems, whether the school can handle such students and whether the school has expertise and resources to help them. By the way, a team of nurses and social workers from the centre will perform the test confidentially.
As you know, besides implementing this programme, the government has focusd on the long-term preventive measures such as conducting a public consultation on compulsory drug tests ( it sounds scary, isn’t it?). What’s more, taking hair samples would also be one of the possible options. How surprising it is!
I bet you’ve been more relieved after getting more details from me. Don’t be nervous and step out boldly as I'm always be with you. Think positive!I’m so confident in you that you must get a pass in the scheme! Write soon and let me know what’s going on.
Talk to you soon,
Julie
Hi Julie agqain,
ReplyDelete1)A letter to the Editor inquiring into the light bulb’s scandal
Dear Editor,
I would like to express my opinions about the light bulb scandal triggered by the latest Policy Address .Controversy has been raised by the political parties towards Tsang ----- who is the suspect of favoring his in-law’s light bulb business intentionally when he launched a scheme to foster the use of green light bulbs. In spite of his denial towards the allegations, he has failed to declare the conflict of interest in order to clarity the purpose of promoting this programme. Would he have considered such a risk which has the ability to provoke the accusations before? The light-bulb cash coupon scheme inevitably shows his political insensitivity as we can see many loopholes in this project.
First, public eye is bright as snow and moral. However objective we are, there is no doubt that many suspicions are built on this incomprehensive plan. What was Tsang’s true motive --- for the betterment of Hong Kong’s environment or enrichment for his son’s in law, Anthony Mok Kam-chuen? To deteriorate the problem, the latest rating for the policy address which was conducted by the University of Hong Kong has dropped immediately to the lowest in the past five years after his delivering. The figures have shown that public disapproval as well as discontent have been accumulated along the social ladder.
More seriously, Tsang has been criticized by comparing him to Chen Shui-bian, the Taiwan’s former president who was convicted of corruption and bribe ,by at least four local Chinese newspapers in these days. Frankly, if he had looked before leaping, he would absolutely be more adorable at this moment.
Second, it is so unjustifiable for all power users to finance the HK$100 cash coupon that people are extremely unhappy as they are forced to pay. Many civic groups even challenge Tsang Yam-kuen by boycotting the energy-saving light bulbs scheme to teach him a lesson.
All in all, Tsang has to shoulder all the responsibility for his failure even though it has no evidence to convict his fault up to now , or else a judicial review is going to be sought by the league of Social Democrats. It is of utmost importance for him to revamp his scheme in order to boost the public confidence again. Experience is the best teacher, I do hope he could be more conscientious to avoid repeating the history. As a student, I just have to wait and see for the further alternation.
Yours faithfully,
Julie Chan
Hi Ka Wai, (what's your class no.?)
ReplyDeleteTitle: National day of China
1st October, 2009 was a day filled with delight and patriotism. It staged the biggest military parade ever.
Police blocked off a wide area around central Beijing’s Tiananmen Square for the show. Thousands of troops and hundreds of tanks were moving around. Countless goose-stepping soldiers put on this display of military hardware. Reported by the news, all of them had spent a long period of time practicing. Also, for a celebration of a strong country, money was not a matter of concern.
However, it seemed to me that grand military parade and national day were apart. National day should be a time for sharing the happiness of a birthday with us. We could see the improvement our country has made. Every year, this day is a mark for our growing country. Undoubtedly, the pomp was very successful. It is questionable to link military with birthday.
As far as I am concerned, no matter how grand your parade is, how rhythmical the stepping is, the inside of a country is the most important. It is well-known that there is a huge gap between the rich and the poor. Rampant corruption, severe pollution and the riot of western areas of Tibet and Xinjiang have never been solved. In my view, those problems must be settled down first. The time and money spent on the pomp could be really helpful for the Chinese in deep distress. If the problems above are solved, the new China will truly triumph over all sorts of difficulties and setbacks.
Hi Sam,
ReplyDeletetopic: minimum wage
Just a year after the economic tsunami, each social sector is still suffering from a hard time, especially the lower-class. Some of them even cannot cover the basic needs by how much they earn. People now want minimum wage much more than ever.
Some people think that advocating minimum wage is for letting citizen afford their basic needs and be able to cover a family’s expenses. But others argue that a statutory cannot combat poverty and say that this is not the main reason for putting forward minimum wage.
Whatever the reason is, to me, the most important is to state the minimum wage as soon as the Government can since some people have not been recovered after the tsunami. Obviously, this minimum wage policy can help them as least with their basic need. Some say that the Government should choose a correct time to stimplement the policy in order to prevent the increase in unemployment rate, but I don’t think so as this policy should be aimed at helping the poor working class.
topic: health
Health is now being more and more valued to people as we all start to carry weight on it. Having many cases of heart disease, cancer which is linked to obesity or even our daily life, this tells our health is indeed correlated with our habits.
I think the first thing to stay healthy is having a good diet. In ancient China, we divided food to positive and negative and we had to get a balance point. Nowadays, we need to maintain a balance in our diet such as less salty and oily food but more whole grain and vegetables. However, people seem to have forgotten all about this but found it difficult to eat healthily.
Second, we need to do enough exercise. Exercise regulates our metabolic activities and helps improve our strength. It may also help with the oxygen consuming and even decrease the chance of heart disease.
Third, the most important is to be optimistic. Emotion can affect one’s health directly. When someone is facing something unhappy, the resistance to disease will decrease and even some may choose to eat snacks for reducing stress. So being happy is important for our health.
Hi Ka Yan,
ReplyDelete(1) Imposing the minimum wage
Imposing the minimum wage is a contentious issue which has been argued for a long time to reach a consensus. In my view, it should be set as quickly as it could.
Although the working poor are unskilled and not well educated, without their help, our society could not work well. For example, if there was a lack of security guards or cleaners, how would our society become? Therefore, we should also respect the working poor which are at the bottom of the social ladders.
As the working poor work hard to make ends meet and help the society, they should be able to receive a reasonable wage which could support their basic expenses. It is unfair for them to receive such a low pay while Hong Kong has enjoyed steady growth over the years ?
Although minimum wage should not affect the economic freedom and competitiveness and unduly jeopardizing flexibility in the labour market, we should also consider the labour rights.
The existence of a growing class - the working poor - in the society is not conducive to our city development. Minimum wage could help tackle this problem and improve our social conditions.
Seeing that there is a need of imposing the minimum wage, the government should work it out as fast as it could.
(2) Healthy Living style is important for Hong Kong people
Hong Kong is an advanced and well developed city which has long been praised as a Pearl of the Orient. The name shows the hardworking characters of Hong Kong people. In order to finish the work, burning the midnight oil is a common practice for all the Hong Kong people. Working hard to achieve the goals leads to the unhealthy living style. Many of us have forgotten the importance of health. Without a healthy body, how could we work effectively and efficiently?
To finish their meals as quickly as they could, fast food and the food served at restaurants has become the best choice of many Hong Kong people. Despite the speed, fast food is very unhealthy to our bodies. It contains high fat, salt and oil.
To have a healthy body, we should maintain a balanced diet. Referring to the food pyramid and following the ratio of food intake it suggests could lead to a healthier diet. We should have food without too much fat, salt and sugar, as these unhealthy ingredients could cause many diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and obesity. Everyday, we should eat a large amount of grain products likes rice, noodle, and bread and so on to supply energy for our daily activities. We should also have two helpings of fruits and one vegetable in ratio.
Besides achieving the right ratio, we should also have a suitable amount of food. Don’t eat too much or too less. A moderate amount of food is enough. Skipping meals is harmful to our stomach and we could not get enough energy for our basic need. Too much food is also harmful as it would cause obesity.
Water is a necessary element to maintain our lives. In order to have a healthy body, we should drink eight glasses of water everyday.
Moreover, doing exercise is also essential to our health. Despite the busy working schedules, we should spend some time on doing exercise. Millions of research dollars and hundreds of lengthy studies are coming up with the same answer: the killer diseases in developed nations are increasingly linked to a lack of exercise.
Doing exercise is indeed not a difficult thing to deal with. We should at least walk 8000 steps a day. It could be achieved easily if we choose to walk instead of taking cars. Also, spending an hour for running or playing basketball with friends could also improve our health.
Seeing the importance and the benefits of maintaining a healthy living style, we should take actions now.
Choi Mei Ting (7)
ReplyDelete(1)Topic: Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen in the light-bulbs saga
The latest fifth policy address delivered by Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-Kuen, has not improved him and his fellows’ reputation, but accompanies with an allegation of conflict of interests. Mr. Tsang, though, denied any wrongdoing.
Here is a question: did he or did he not know his son’s father-in-law is in the light bulb business? On my view, he must know what his in-laws do, unless he does not care about his in-laws. Thus, I would be surprised if our chief executive could have overlooked the possible conflict of interests.
In fact, according to a green group, the government had used Philips products before the policy on energy-efficient bulbs was announced. It undoubtedly makes the scandal more believable.
On the other hand, Secretary for the Environment Edward Yau Tang-wah has been quick to claim ownership of the light-bulb voucher initiative.
Indeed, no matter who was the originator of idea, during the administration’s top level deliberations on the contents of the policy address, Mr. Tsang should have been aware of the potential conflict of interests and the fallout what would follow.
Nevertheless, it is a bit too harsh to compare our chief executive to Chen Shui-bian, Taiwan’s disgraced former president. Mr. Tsang is only suspected of favouritism towards his son’s father-in-law, whereas Mr. Chen was convicted of corruption involving millions of dollars.
It is also unfair to Mr. Tsang’s immediate family and relatives who are themselves not public figures but are put in the limelight under such intense scrutiny.
Undeniably, the light-bulbs saga is controversial. However, we should not be distracted from the more serious contents of the policy address ad other important matters of the day.
To dispel our doubts, I think Mr. Tsang should stand up and explain everything.
(2)Topic: Somali pirates and poverty
Since last year, the whole world has faced a problem prevalent in the past: the attack of the Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean. Indeed, there are pirates in Somalia over years. However, they become more active recently. I believe the increasing poverty is the major cause of this situation.
Somalia is suffering from civil wars and instability continuously, until now. Since the government was overthrown in 1991, different groups and parties in the country have armed and fought for power and places, causing a chaos in the country.
Ravaged by violence and anarchy for almost two decades and affected by the inflated prices, according to the Somalia Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit, the monthly expenditure for food and other basic needs for a family of six has risen 85 per cent in the past two years.
Under this condition, people in Somalia, where there is no law, can only survive by becoming pirates, without any punishment.
Although the harsh situation in the country makes the people in Somalia become pirates, we should bear a bit responsibility.
Previous Chinese rescues of hostages and cargo hijacked by Somali pirates were achieved through negotiations and paying ransoms. Undeniably, paying the ransom is so far the safest way to rescue hostages, but to some extent, it only feeds the evil greed of the pirates.
To tackle the problem of Somali pirates completely, I believe the United Nations should help stabilizing the political situation and improving the life of the people in Somalia.
THANKS JOE CHAN FOR YOUR PROOFREADING =]
Hi Wang Tat,
ReplyDeletethe theme: medical incident
Topic: how to improve our medical system
In recent years, we usually hear about some medical incidents. It means that there are still a lot of loopholes in our medical system which is very important so we must fight for a flawless system.
First, the hospital should not set up fixed emergency measures. No one knows what kind of emergency incident will happen so we should be flexible on different cases. For example, when someone faints in front of the hospital, we should call the doctor in the hospital for help but not call 999.
Second, the quality of healthcare staff must be improved. Most of the medical incidents were caused by some careless mistakes. It is unforgivable that the nurses changed the babies accidentally. The healthcare staff should be trained more intensively.
Finally, though some hospitals claimed that they hadn’t made mistakes, these news told us that we must face up to this problem immediately. No matter how many financial policies the government has carried out, if the quality of the medical service is low, all these policies are meaningless.
Hi Mei Ting,
ReplyDelete(1)Topic: Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen in the light-bulbs saga
The latest fifth policy address delivered by Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-Kuen, has not improved his and his fellows’ reputation, but triggered an allegation of conflict of interests. Mr. Tsang, though, denied any wrongdoing.
Here is a question: did he or did he not know his son’s father-in-law is in the light bulb business? In my view, he must know what his in-laws is doing, unless he does not care about his in-laws. Thus, I would be surprised if our chief executive could have overlooked the possible conflict of interests.
In fact, according to a green group, the government had used Philips products before the policy on energy-efficient bulbs was announced. It undoubtedly makes the scandal more believable.
On the other hand, Secretary for the Environment Edward Yau Tang-wah has been too quick to claim ownership of the light-bulb voucher initiative.
Indeed, no matter who was the originator of the idea, during the administration’s top level deliberations on the contents of the policy address, Mr. Tsang should have been aware of the potential conflict of interests and what would follow.
Nevertheless, it is a bit too harsh to compare our chief executive to Chen Shui-bian, Taiwan’s disgraced former president. Mr. Tsang is only suspected of his favouritism towards his son’s father-in-law, whereas Mr. Chen was convicted of corruption involving millions of dollars.
It is also unfair to Mr. Tsang’s immediate family and relatives who are themselves not public figures but are put in the limelight under such intense scrutiny.
Undeniably, the light-bulbs saga is controversial. However, we should not be distracted from the more serious contents of the policy address and other important matters of the day.
To dispel our doubts, I think Mr. Tsang should stand up and explain everything.
2)Topic: Somali pirates and poverty
Since last year, the whole world has been facing a problem prevalent in the past: the attack of the Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean. Indeed, there have been pirates in Somalia over years. However, they have become more active recently. I believe the increasing poverty is the major cause of this situation.
Somalia is suffering from civil wars and instability continuously, until now. Since the government was overthrown in 1991, different groups and parties in the country have armed and fought for power and places, causing chaos in the country.
Ravaged by violence and anarchy for almost two decades and affected by the inflated prices, according to the Somalia Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit, the monthly expenditure for food and other basic needs for a family of six has risen by 85 per cent in the past two years.
Under this condition, people in Somalia, where there is no law, can only survive by becoming pirates, without any punishment.
While the harsh situation in the country has pushed the people in Somalia to become pirates, we should bear certain responsibility.
Previously, Chinese government rescued hostages and cargo hijacked by Somali pirates through negotiations and paying ransoms. Undeniably, paying the ransom is so far the safest way to rescue hostages, but to some extent, it only feeds the evil greed of the pirates.
To tackle the problem of Somali pirates completely, I believe the United Nations should help stabilize the political situation there and improve the life of the people in Somalia.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteLam Wang Tat 5D (33)
ReplyDeleteMe again!! Here is my second article!!!
2. the theme: health of students
Topic: what harm our bodies?
Health is always the most important for us, especially for students. There are two main health problems—swine flu and obesity for students now.
Swine flu is spreading widely now. Although the epidemic situation has been better, we still need to do the precautionary measures well. But the students always do not cooperate with the school. It is difficult to prevent the flu. If the students do not cooperate with the school, the school should do the precautionary measures. For exanple, the school should cancel some activities which have close contacts between students.
Obesity of students has been discussed for many years. But the problem is still serious. Many organizations have given a lot of advices to the restaurants and the foodbox supplies. But i think the students are more needed to be adviced. It is because the students have choices to have meals. We should teach them how to choose food. It is more useful than giving advices to the restaurants and the foodbox supplies.
Anyway, the most important thing is we would keep hygiene and maintain good living habit. Our health is controlled by us.
Thanks again!!!^^
Wong Lok Ting 5D (17)
ReplyDelete1 Policy address
Chief Executive Donald Tsang's fifth policy address, titled "Breaking New Ground Together". It focuses on not only the development of six key industries but also environment.
Firstly, Conserving is the key part of Central is a major point in Tsang's plans. In order to provide better ventilation in Central, the area should not be used for high-rise development. It has many historic building with different culture such as Central Market, the Central Police Station Compound. There full of our collective memory. It can redevelop to art housing to attract more tourism.
Secondly, Tsang announced in his policy address that every household would be given a HK$100 voucher to buy energy-efficient light bulbs. Being environmental-friendly is a good direction, but does everyone needs fluorescent bulbs? It may encourage people to buy fluorescent bulbs although it is not necessary. It is not the anticipation which the government wants. I suggest government provide the energy-saving equipment coupon instead of bulbs coupon. It is more satisfy to different people. The government also should promote more energy-saving information to public.
It is good starting for preserve our environment. I hope it can improve and continue but not only saying.
2.High-speed Hong Kong-to-Guangzhou rail link
The Hong Kong section of the new cross-border express train will be the most expensive high-speed railway in the world per kilometer. The high-speed rail link at least cost the HK$39.5 billion. Not only money and the Tsoi Yuen villagers, it has many unobserved problems.
Firstly, the government increase the compensation for land appropriated for the railway from about HK$200 per square foot to about HK$500 per square foot. It is costly! Many people ask a question,’ Is it worth?’ In my opinion, I do not think it is worth because these villagers have to leave their family. Most of them are former, and they do not have another skill to find other job. can the repay recover the cost of government spend? It is doubly.
Secondly, the terminus set in West Kowloon is not a good choice. The government claimed that It will take 14 minutes for passengers to reach Futian in Shenzhen and 48 minutes to Shibi in Panyu. It seems very convenience. Indeed, passengers should use 11 minutes go from West Kowloon terminus to MTR station. In additional, West Kowloon is not the destination for most passengers. They should take other transport to Central.
In conclusion, the high-speed rail link has many problems, the government investigates more. More consultation is preferred.
THX:D
Mak Wai On (38)
ReplyDeleteTopic:Climate change
All of us know that the carbon dioxide emitted by different country is the major cause of global warming. The more carbon dioxide emits, the worse global warming is. Fortunately, the two biggest developing nation (China, India) stand together on climate change an unite ahead of Copenhagen talk with pact. This co-ordination can turn the screws on USA, the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, which refused to pay the fiscal and lifestyle costs of deep cuts on heir emissions. On the other hand, it can also encourage the developing states to invest more in limiting global warming.
The effect brought by global warming has become more obvious. There are much more extremely weather effects occur like, earthquake, typhoon, tornado etc. They are not only threat our life but also cause a great economic loss. Therefore, all the countries in the world should pay their responsibility to limit the global warming.
Thank you for proofreading *v*
Topic:Slimming programmes
ReplyDeleteNowadays,we can see numerous advertisements of slimming programmes on TV,newspapers and magazines and so on.Those slimming companies claim that they can help people who are overweight to lose weight and become slim within a short period of time.Many people are attracted by it as there is an increasing number of people who join slimming programmes every year.
However, is it really effective to lose weight in a healthy way by joining the slimming programmes? I guess not!
The advertisements of slimming programmes are usually deceptive.In order to attract more customers,they ususlly find famous slim models to be present in the advertisements, but are those famous models becoming slim just because of joining the slimming programmes? Added to that, most of the programmes are exorbitantly expensive. Although some slimming companies claim that customers can get a fullly refund in case of their failure in slimming, in fact it is not really true. The main reason is that they want to attract more customers.Afer wfailure, they ould use different kinds of excuses and refuse to give a refund. Furthermore, the slimming programmes usually have the side effects that will constitute a menace to our health. People may get malnutrition problem easily. The result is serious, isn't it ?
Slimness doesn't mean beauty. We should not care too much about our appearances.Having a banlanced diet and regular exercises is more effective and healthy to lose weight when compared with joining the slimming progammes.
Tsoi Tsz Chun (41)
ReplyDeleteHi, Ms. Joe Chan
(1) Topic: Express Rail Link To Guangzhou
Undoubtedly, this rail link will give a big convenience to businessmen since they don’t need to worry about if the weather is good. Instead, train compartments will become temporary transportation for businessmen. It takes them to famous cities like Beijing and Shanghai within only a few hours. Also this rail link will bring not only long-term significant but also instant benefits to Hong Kong.
However, this cross-border railway project affected the Tsoi Yeun Village. There are totally 150 families have to move away from the site of this project. I feel depressed on our government. They shouldn’t ignore the villagers feelings. Villagers are also humans. No one will leave their home with only just a few money.
Besides, in this 150 families, majorities are elderly they have been farming for their two three of life. Most of them didn’t go to school. How can they know where the bus is going to? This is the main problem of the elderly there.
Furthermore, the elderly there, have nothing to do if they moved to the cities since they only know farming. Farming is their entertainments.
I'm so sorry that I hand in this homework late.I wonder if you could forgive me.@.@
Topic: disaster
ReplyDeleteRecently, the density and intensity of misfortune increase rapidly among the world, which is because of the global warming.
The greatest victims are the developing countries.
One of the examples was the deluge in Manila in September. Impoverished residents in villages far away from city didn’t receive any warnings. On the other hand, the rescue dealt with problems, people had to wade to a safety place.
The main reason is that the authority is lack of technique and fund to build up technological equipments for detecting disasters, and the citizens cannot leave until the misfortune coming.
To prevent the tragedies occur again, first we should endow the developing countries and share new technology with them. Secondly, we should give a hand to them when their place are devastated by disasters, for example, donate useful materials to them through charitable organizations. Finally, for long-term measure, surely is to reduce the greenhouse gases emission.
Tragedy will not be stopped unless everyone on the planet participates in.
Dear Joe,xd
ReplyDeleteThanks for proofreading~
meka 13
ReplyDeleteTopic: crime
Nowadays, not only in other countries, there are many crimes in Hong Kong too. Some cases like family problem,dangerous driving problem and illegal are always happened.in my view,about the family who burning charcoal in flat, the father was crazy and silly that he said he had not bought charcoal and did not know what inside the pot but his estranged wife found that there was charcoal inside the pot and actually the charcoal must be put by the father.I think it is strange and the man maybe acted as a doodle to deny the case. Talking about the case that the driver who had drived the minibus onto the footpath was more silly than the father in above case.If he was on a hurry, he should not drive onto the footpath and actually,he was lucky that his behaviour was recorded by someone and uploaded to youtube so he was fined!
And I think illegal immigrate is a familiar case that many people were not immigrated legally. Although they were using terrible technique, they also could nit escape from police.
In conclusion,we must not try to commit any crimes and behave well to be a upstanding citizen!
Sorry!I hand in late!/3\ er...
However,thz for your proofreading~~
=P
Ip Long Fung(31)
ReplyDeleteTopic:The achievement of banning smoking
After few mouths of banning smoking.We can find that the achievement of banning smoking is quite success. Now, there are very less people will smoke on street and in the resturant.These changes are made by thr policy of banning smoking.This is the victory of HK people.
As we all know that,smoking will affect our health,especially our lung.Also Second-hand smoke which is more humful to others,it contains so mamy carbon dioxide etc.Luckly, the situation become better . Many smoker give up smoking because of ban smoking.Finally I hope the number of give up smoking will be increase .Let HK become are non-smoking place!
thz.
Cheung Pak Shing (27)
ReplyDeleteTopic : Laureate of Noble prize
I am writing in response to the SCMP article “Despite illness, laureate ‘enjoys life’.” dated October 14, 2009.
I totally agree with the writer, who said Kao Kuen’s fading memory does not stop him enjoying the present.
Although Dr Kao suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, he lives happily, having nothings to worry about. Now, Dr Kao is just like an innocent child who asks for not drinking up all the milk. Some may think that it is pitiful that such a great scientist has forgotten all about science. Some even think it is a satire that Dr Kao, who known as the “Father of Fibre Optics”, received the Noble prize so late that he cannot even memorize what fibre optics actually is now.
That may be true, but in my view, forgetting the scientific achievement is not that bad at all. At least Dr Kao can enjoy his remaining years without anxiety or worries. He is physically old, but he has a childish heart.
Besides, Kao’s family is considering donating part of the Noble prize money to St James’ Settlement for its services to dementia patients. I greatly appreciate Dr Kao’s generosity to the others.
I think Dr Kao has set a good example for us to follow. We should contribute not only to the science technology, but most importantly, to the society and the others.
Chan Wai Cheong (24)
ReplyDeleteDear Ms Chan,
A GOOD show of the policy address
The policy address has been announced before. It becomes the hottest topic between Hong Kong people. Their concerns aren’t the six production industry designed by chief executive of Hong Kong but the smallest policy. That is the policy of compact fluorescent lamps.
I think the people are over-reactive and in this policy. I am interested in why they can put all the concentration in this policy. Is it because the cost of the lamp or the relationship between him and his relation? This is very amazing that they don’t notice the main policy and the other hard work of his team. I believe the next policy address can be easily done that they can only give TWO sentences like the policy of the lamp.
About the government, I think they are very careless that they underestimate how reactive people are but I think it is difficult to avoid. Maybe next time, the chief executive goes to 7-11 to buy something and someone finds that one of his relations is working in that 7-11 so the headline of the newspaper is: the benefits transport of the government and 7-11!
Therefore, I always enjoy the show of the policy address.
This is a late homework but i think it is better than doing nothing. BTW, my aticle is too bad and I cannot sent to the SCMP!
Li Man Kuen (14)
ReplyDeleteTopic : National Day
China celebrated 60th anniverary on 1st October with a lavish parade and extravagant pageantry to display the country's growing might and national pride.
Hongkongers turned out in their hundreds of thousands to celebrate the 60th anniversary by viewing the harbour fireworks display and attending th flag-raising ceremony.
In the years before, many youngsters in Hong Kong did not know much about National Day. They were young, and they did not learn about it at school. But since 1997, they have learned a lot more about China and its history, especially in secondary schools. They have at least one lesson a month about life, economy and society on the mainland. So they have learned about the nation's development.
China is becoming stronger and more important globally. We can see China has participated in many international colocation summit. We can see how successful the 2008 Beijing Olympics is. We can see how fast Shanghai and Nanjing are developing.
I am really happy to be a Chinese and I feel proud to be a Chinese.
Hi, ms chan
maybe i've made a lot of mistakes,,,thanks for your proofreading.
Lam King Ngo (32)
ReplyDeleteTopic: Light Bulb Scheme of the Policy Address
Last week, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mr Donald Tsang Yam-kuen present his 09-10 policy address to the public. One of the points is that there will be $100 coupons for buying energy-saving light bulb.
In my opinion, that is really unbelieveable. The policy address seems to be talking about the environment. That might be good but I do not really think in that way. Just from the last piece of newspaper I have read yesterday, the news article is comparing two kind of light bulbs. One is energy-saving light bulb and the other one is about the LED Light bulb. At the result, the LED light bulb seems to be more environmental-friendly than the energy-saving light bulb. So why didn't Mr Tsang promote this LED to the public.
I think that is the point and I was wondering if he has any reasons.
Hi Wang Tat,
ReplyDelete2. the theme: health of students
Topic: what harm our bodies?
Health is always the most important for us, especially for students. There are two main health problems—swine flu and obesity facing students now.
Swine flu is spreading widely now. Although the pandemic has been relieved a bit in Hong Kong, we still need to take the precautionary measures well. But the students always do not cooperate with the school. It is difficult to prevent the flu. If the students do not cooperate with the school, the school should tighten the precautionary measures. For example, the school should cancel some activities which allow close contacts among students.
Teenage obesity has been discussed for many years. But the problem is still serious. Many organizations have given a lot of advice to the restaurants and the lunchbox suppliers. But i think students should ne the ones to get more advice on choosing the right food. It is more useful than giving advice to the restaurants and the lunchbox suppliers if we tackle the root problem.
All in all, we should keep our hygiene well and maintain good living habits. Our health is controlled by ourselve.
Hi Lok Ting,
ReplyDelete1 Policy address
Our Chief Executive Donald Tsang's fifth policy address, titled "Breaking New Ground Together", focuses on not only the development of six key industries but also protecting the environment.
Firstly, Conserving the key part of Central is a major point in Tsang's plans. In order to provide better ventilation in Central, the area should not be used for high-rise development. There are many historic buildings preserving different local culture such as the Central Market and the Central Police Station Compound. They are full of our collective memory. They can redeveloped to be art complexes to attract more tourists.
Secondly, Tsang announced in his policy address that every household would be given a HK$100 voucher to buy energy-efficient light bulbs. Being environmental-friendly is a good direction, but does everyone need fluorescent bulbs? It may encourage people to buy fluorescent bulbs although it is not necessary. It is not what the government wants. I suggest government provide the energy-saving equipment coupon instead of bulbs coupon which could satisfy the needs of different people. The government should also promote more energy-saving information to the public.
It is a good starting to preserve our environment.
2.High-speed Hong Kong-to-Guangzhou rail link
The Hong Kong section of the new cross-border express train will be the most expensive high-speed railway in the world per kilometer. The high-speed rail link at least cost HK$39.5 billion and the peaceful life of Tsoi Yuen villagers.
The government has increased the compensation for land appropriated for the railway from about HK$200 per square foot to about HK$500 per square foot. It is costly! Many people ask a question,’ Is it worth?’ In my opinion, I do not think it can help the villagers no matter how much compensation they get because these villagers have to leave their family. Most of them are farmers, and they do not have other skills to find other job.
Besides, the terminus set in West Kowloon is not a good choice. The government claimed that It will take 14 minutes for passengers to reach Futian in Shenzhen and 48 minutes to Shibi in Panyu. It seems very convenient. Indeed, passengers need to spend 11 minutes to go to MTR station from West Kowloon terminus . In addition, West Kowloon is not the destination for most passengers. They need to take other transport to Central.
In conclusion, the high-speed rail link has brought about many problems. More consultation among the public is preferred.
Ng Wing Fung(39)
ReplyDeletetopic:Environment and Climate Change
Recently,the effects of global warmming and other Climate Change are becomming more and more obvious.China is one of the countries most susceptible to the adverse effects of climate change, mainly in the fields of agriculture, livestock breeding, forestry, natural ecosystems, water resources, and coastal zones.Climate change has already caused changes in the distribution of water resources all over China.These extreme climate phenomena show that we are bocomming dangerous.
So,in my view,we are committed to avoiding these extreme climate. Maybe the some of animal like polar bear will extinct one day.So we must do something now and save the ecosystem and also ourselves.
Chan Rocky Ka Lok(22)
ReplyDeletetopic:conserve or rebuild??
Here is my article
Firstly,Hong Kong have so many historic building. Lt is time for us to decide whether we should rebuild or conderve.Lt is difficult for us to make any decission.Historic building had given many great and happy's memory for us.
Secondly,on the one hand,for Hong Kong,I think we should restructure the old historic building in stead of the new building because Hong Kong need to keep competiting with other country.On the other hand,I would like to preserve all our historic building.^_^
Lastly,the conservation of these buliding such as preserve our memory,isn't it?Also,the government had consultate our idea that we should tell the government what we think,rebuild or conserve?
My class no. is 9
ReplyDeleteHung Ka Wai (30)
ReplyDeleteTopic : Liu Xiang
After drop out in 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Liu Xiang had been operated and relaxation for nearly one year. In September, Liu Xiang win runner up in ShangHai International Track and Field Complete. This is a good news to all Chinese, who were despond in Olympic Games.
Liu Xiang is the first champion of Chinese in Olympic Track and Field Games. He started to training since he was only seven. At first high jump was the most stress for him. But, when he was twelve, he started to train hurdle.
Liu Xiang win his first International Champion in 2001, he was only 18 years old. The world started to focus on Liu Xiang. In 2004, he win the champion in Athens Olympic Games, this soon become a myth to Chinese people. But in 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, he drop out compete since of injure, this news stir the hall world.
The days before, Liu Xiang has just won the Chinese Games. It is really a good news to all of Chinese people.
Chan Kit Lam (1)
ReplyDeleteTopic : medical incident
Hong Kong hospitals had made a lot of mistakes, such as mix-up of two babies and inject five new born baby with an anti-tuberculosis vaccine that was dangerously past its use-by time. These mistakes are extremely inadmissible. Luckily, this can be noticed on time, otherwise, it will be a very big problem in the future. Hospital staffs are unacceptable to make any mistakes because it is about patients’ safety. The government should do something to avoid these problems occurs again.
Firstly, the government is also responsible to its mistakes. The government should change its traditional curriculum to teach the new emergency measure. And government should train the nurses again seriously. They should not make any mistakes. If they make some mistakes, people’ live will be in risk. So training is the best way to improve the standard of stuff.
Secondly, Government can also hold some course for nurses to pursue further education. When they learn more, nurses will not make any mistakes.
Thirdly, giving them more holiday is also an efficient measure. If they have a few holiday, they will be too tired to work. More vacation can give enough time for them to relax. Therefore, they will work more effectively.
2009-2010 Policy Address
ReplyDeleteTsang aims for steady path in economic storm
Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-Kuen vowed to keep the Asian financial hub on course despite global economic turmoil, while promising help to the city's most vulnerable.
In his annual policy address, Tsang said there would be no turning away from the territory's "big market, small government'' ethos.
"We will address squarely the challenges ahead with effective crisis management and improvements to our systems,'' Tsang told legislators.
Tsang will chair a task force to monitor the impact of the global crisis on the local market, and promised increased supervision of the financial sector.
He said rules on fund managers would also be tightened and more disclosure required for investors, following the Lehman Brothers "mini-bond'' scandal.
I think Tsang’s Policy Address has not putting a close eye on the citizen which is living under the Poverty Line, nowadays many domestic violence were being reported on the TV everyday, some of the cases are the family cannot afford their children’s school fees.
So I think the first thing Tsang should do is to solve these domestic violence problems, for example, he can increase the social awareness, etc.
Chan wai ho (25)
ReplyDeletetopic:Disaster
In recent years,there were some disasters appearing in different countries.They had destroyed many things from the people.However, I think the most terrible one is tsunami.
It is very difficult to detect tsunamis out in the ocean because they are usually very small in deep waters. Often a tsunami at sea will seem like a swell of water. Since tsunamis can hardly be detected,when every time tsunami occurs,the death toll is astonishing.
I am very sad to hear that there was a tsunami in Asia in 2004.In this case,almost 250,000 people had been killed.
In conclusion , all disasters act like an evil.It will take away many things from people.So I am looking forward to seeing that our technology can be more advanced as fast as possible.When the disasters can be detected before they come,we can have enough time to design some preventive measures.Then there will be fewer people facing the death so early.
Chau Chi Wang (26)
ReplyDeleteTopic: Somalia pirates
Nowadays, globalization enhances the national communication. As the result, marine transportation is better utilized by different countries. Pirates also take this chance, they hijacked many bulk carriers especially around Somalia. It is a growing scourge for all countries.
A few weeks before, a mainland bulk carrier in the Indian Ocean was hijacked by Somalia pirates and they were amid warnings from pirates that they would execute the 25 Chinese crew if Beijing attempted to rescue them.
Although it is a good chance for China to show off his military power to other countries, 25 Chinese may injure or die. If the treatment of Chinese government is not good enough, they may be killed. Also, Somalia pirates cannot be underestimated. Rescue the ship is not just a piece of cake. Casualties will be inevitable if armed conflicts occur.
For my view, paying the ransoms is the most suitable emergency method. Yet, it will encourage them. Thus, Chinese government should send a large amount of navy with the help of other countries to eliminate the Somalia pirates after rescuing the ship. At the same time, we can show off our power to other countries. It can tell all the people that China becomes a big country now.
Even though, we may lose a large amount of money but we can rescue the victims without having any casualties and show our power. I think that is the best way to treat this issue.
oh my god
ReplyDeletei tried to post it exactly at 11 o'clock
but my computer is too slow >.<"
sosad
CHAN, Chun Hoi (21)
ReplyDeleteTopic: Find Employment
At the financial tsunami, getting a job is more and more difficult than before, not only because of the financial crisis, but also the ability.
The New York Times plans to shed 100 newsroom jobs, and they have only 45 days to decide whether accept or not, The Los Angeles Times has dropped to about 600 employees... Most of the news i saw about the situation of American's Employment are about shedding jobs, maintaining the salary, I believe this is what problem that most of the employees are facing, except China.
There is a programme offering about 4000 internships at China, about 200 Hong Kong graduates have signed up, the purpose of these scheme is to provide a stopgap for people unable to find works. But most of the internships are not satisfying the job although it is only a stopgap which have a lower standard for job seekers, and the reason why they can't get the job is that they are more hopeful about jobs prospect and low response.
At the one side of earth, people are losing job because of the bad employment environment.At the other side of earth, people can not get a job because they are not well prepared, low response and too hopeful about the job prospects. We can do nothing to help people who loss job since the financial crisis, but they can help themselves by working harder, well prepare and not day-dreaming.
Chow Wing Hung 5D 29
ReplyDeleteTopic:Policy Address
Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen delivers his Policy Address 2009-2010 Although I am a student, I concerned with this once a year event-Policy Address.
This year,the slogan is 'Breaking New Ground Together' It can classify to this following topic.Trade and logistics,medical service,development or my most concernedtopic-Education. Reserve sites in Ho Man Tin and Wong Chuk Hang for operators providing self-financing degree programmes, which are expected to provide some 4 000 places. I think government should give more chance to local student. They give too many academic degree to the mainland student. I suggest government put more resources to us is better than now.
"We need not worry about the new competitive landscape. With an open mind, pioneering spirit, and full preparation, we can break new ground together."said Donald Tsang Yam-kuen. The media also focus too much on 'light-bulbs'. If we want our government to address the employment and poverty issues, we should follow their suggest and try to do it better yourself.Don't always complain the others, our common efforts in promoting the development of our industries is more important.
hi ms chan
ReplyDeletehere is my hw....
chan wing yan (3)
topic: protect our environment
I am writing in response to the opinion that people should protect their precious environment. I do agree with this opinion. First of all, I believe, protecting environment will not affect schoolwork. Moreover, many youngsters feel it is cruel to turn off the air-conditioner in the hot summer and turn off the light at night. Anyway, I am not asking to do something intensely.
Many people consider that saving energy is a kind of waste time. This is not true. To many, they only need to do some petty actions, like turn off the television when you don’t need it, and turn off the bedroom light when you are in the living room. These are very simple after all. As most of us are good citizens, I am sure, if we keep on doing it, we will help a lot in protecting our environment.
thz=]
Leung Wan Yin (36)
ReplyDelete1} HK income gap 'widest among rich economies'
As a country becomes more developed,the income gap between civilian disparate more since those who are not well-educated can not find a good job. In Hong Kong, the riches 10% citizens enjoy on-third of the money while the 'underprivileged' share only 2% and the income gap become even more disperate among rich economies. This phenomenon is difficult to avoid since an expense must be exist for the development of a country.
2}More money needed for science research
'The father of fibre optics' Professor Charles Kao recently won the Nobel Prize. He had been working very hard for it due to the lack of resources and facilities, he had to work for a company in order to obtain enough 'tools'. Scientific research needs a great variaty of resources and lots of advanced facilities. A repeat of Kao's success will be likely only when the government provide more 'tools'for them.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Wai On,
ReplyDeleteSorry to get back to all of you so late as I was busy marking the test papers !
Topic:Climate change
All of us know that the carbon dioxide emitted by different countries is the major cause of global warming. The more carbon dioxide they emit, the worse global warming is becoming. Fortunately, the two biggest developing nations (China, India) stand together against climate change and this co-ordination can turn the screws on USA, the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, which refused to pay the fiscal and lifestyle costs of deep cuts on heir emissions. On the other hand, it can also encourage the developing states to invest more in limiting global warming.
The effect brought by global warming has become more obvious. Much more extreme natural disasters occur like earthquake, typhoon, tornado and so on. They not only threat our life but also cause a great economic loss. Therefore, all the countries in the world should shoulder their responsibilities for tackling the global warming.
Hi Ting,
ReplyDeleteTopic:Slimming programmes
Nowadays,we can see numerous advertisements of slimming programmes on TV,newspapers,magazines and so on.Those slimming companies claim that they can help people who are overweight to lose weight and become slim within a short period of time.Many people are attracted by it and there is an increasing number of people who join slimming programmes every year.
However, is it really effective to lose weight by joining the slimming programmes? I guess not!
The advertisements of slimming programmes are usually deceptive.In order to attract more customers,they ususlly find famous slim models to be present in the advertisements, but are those famous models becoming slim just because of joining the slimming programmes? What's more, most of the programmes are unreasonably expensive. Although some slimming companies claim that customers can get a full refund in case of any failure, in fact it is not guaranteed. The main reason is that they simply want to attract more customers.They would refuse to give a refund with different excuses . Furthermore, the slimming programmes usually have the side effects that will constitute a menace to our health. People may get malnutrition problem easily. The result is serious, isn't it ?
Slimness doesn't mean beauty. We should not care too much about our appearances.Having a banlanced diet and regular exercise is more effective and healthy to lose weight when compared with joining the slimming progammes.
Hi Tsz Chun,
ReplyDelete(1) Topic: Express Rail Link To Guangzhou
Undoubtedly, Express Rail Link To Guangzhou will give a big convenience to businessmen since they don’t need to worry if the weather is good or not. Instead, train compartments will become temporary transportation for businessmen. It takes them to famous cities like Beijing and Shanghai within only a few hours. Also this rail link will bring not only long-term significance but also immediate benefits to Hong Kong.
However, this cross-border railway project has adversely affected Tsoi Yeun Village. There are totally 150 families which have to move away from the site of this project. I feel depressed with our government. They shouldn’t ignore the villagers' feelings. No one is willing to leave their homes.
Besides, among those 150 families, the majorities are elderlys who have been farming for their whole life. Most of them are uneducated. How can they know where the bus is going to? This is the main problem of the elderly there.
Furthermore, the elderly there would have nothing to do if they moved to the cities since they only know farming.
Hi Joycelyn,
ReplyDeleteTopic: disaster
Recently, the density and intensity of misfortune increase rapidly among the world, which is because of global warming.
The mostly affected victims are the developing countries.
One of the examples was the deluge in Manila in September. Impoverished residents in villages far away from city didn’t receive any warnings while the rescue team was dealing with the problems by evacuating the villages.
The main reason was that the authority is lacking technique and fund to build up technological equipments for detecting disasters, and many citizens could not leave in time.
To prevent the tragedies from occuring again, first we should endow the developing countries and share new technology with them. Secondly, we should give a hand to the victims of the devastated areas by, for example, donating useful materials to them through charitable organizations. Finally, the long-term measure is surely to reduce the greenhouse gases emission.
Tragedy will not be stopped unless everyone on the planet participates in.
Hi Meka,
ReplyDeleteTopic: crime
Nowadays, not only in other countries, there are many crimes in Hong Kong too. Some cases like family violence and drink driving happen almost every day.In my view,about the family who burnt charcoal at home, the father was so crazy that he said he had not bought charcoal and did not know what was inside the pot. However, his estranged wife found that there was charcoal inside the pot and actually the charcoal must be put by the father.I think it is strange and the man might act as a doodle to deny the case.
The case that the driver drove the minibus onto the footpath was more silly than the above case.Even if he was in a hurry, he should not have driven onto the footpath and actually,he was lucky that his behaviour was recorded by someone and uploaded to youtube so he was fined!
I also think illegal immigration is a familiar case that many people do not immigrate into HK legally. They escaped from police in unscrupulous ways.
In conclusion,we must not try to commit any crimes but behave well to be an upstanding citizen!
Hi Long Fung,
ReplyDeleteTopic:The achievement of smoking ban
After banning smoking indoors for a few months,We can find that the achievement of is quite successful. Now, there are fewer people smoking in the street and in the resturant.These changes are made by thr policy. This is the victory of HK people.
As we all know ,smoking will affect our health,especially our lungs.Also Second-hand smoke is more harmful to others because it contains much carbon dioxide. Luckily, the situation has become better . Many smokers give up smoking because of the ban.Finally I hope the number of people who quit smoking will increase .Let HK become a non-smoking place!
Hi Pak Shing,
ReplyDeleteTopic : Laureate of Nobel prize
I am writing in response to the SCMP article entitled “Despite illness, laureate ‘enjoys life’.” dated October 14, 2009.
I totally agree with the writer who said Kao Kuen’s fading memory does not stop him enjoying the present.
Although Dr Kao is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, he lives happily, having nothing to worry about. Now, Dr Kao is just like an innocent child who asks for not drinking up all the milk. Some may think that it is pitiful that such a great scientist has forgotten all about science. Some even think it is a satire that Dr Kao, who is known as the “Father of Fibre Optics”, received the Nobel prize so late that he cannot even recall what fibre optics is.
That may be true, but in my view, forgetting the scientific achievement is not that bad at all. At least Dr Kao can enjoy his remaining years without anxiety or worries. He is physically old, but he has a child-like heart.
Besides, Kao’s family is considering donating part of the Nobel prize awarded money to St James’ Settlement for its services to dementia patients. I greatly appreciate Dr Kao’s generosity to the others.
I think Dr Kao has set a good example for us to follow. We should contribute not only to the science technology, but most importantly, to the society and the others.
Dear Wai Cheong,
ReplyDeleteA GOOD show of the policy address
The policy address has become the hottest topic among Hong Kong people recently. Their concerns aren’t the six production industries designed by the Chief Executive of Hong Kong but the smallest policy-the policy of compact fluorescent lamps.
I think some HK people are over-reactive to this policy. I am interested in why they can put all the concentration on this policy. Is it because the cost of the lamp or the relationship between Mr. Tsang and his in-laws? This is so amazing that they don’t notice the main policy and the other hard work of his team. I believe the next policy address can be easily done that they can only give TWO sentences like the policy of the lamp.
About the government, I think they are very careless as they underestimated how sensitive people are but I think it is difficult to avoid. Maybe next time, the chief executive goes to buy something in 7-11 and someone finds that one of his relatives is working in that 7-11. So the headline of the newspaper will be: the benefits transport of the government and 7-11!
Therefore, I always enjoy the show of the policy address.
Dear Man Kuen,
ReplyDeleteTopic : National Day
China celebrated its 60th annivesary on 1st October with a lavish parade and extravagant pageantry to display the country's growing might and national pride.
Hongkongers turned out in their hundreds of thousands to celebrate the 60th anniversary by viewing the harbour fireworks display and attending the flag-raising ceremony.
In the years before, many youngsters in Hong Kong did not know much about National Day. They were young, and they did not learn about it at school. But since 1997, they have learned a lot more about China and its history, especially in secondary schools. They have at least one lesson a month about life, economy and society on the mainland. So they have learned about the nation's development.
China is becoming stronger and more important globally. We can see China has participated in many international colocation summit. We can see how successful the 2008 Beijing Olympics was. We can see how fast Shanghai and Nanjing are developing.
I am really happy to be a Chinese and I feel proud to be a Chinese.
Dear King Ngo,
ReplyDeleteTopic: Light Bulb Scheme of the Policy Address
Last week, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mr Donald Tsang Yam-kuen presented his 09-10 policy address to the public. One of the points is that there will be $100 coupons for buying energy-saving light bulbs.
In my opinion, the policy address seems to be talking about the environment. That might be good but I do not really think in that way. The newspaper article I read yesterday was comparing two kinds of light bulbs. One was energy-saving light bulb and the other one was the LED Light bulb. As a result, the LED light bulb seemed to be more environmental-friendly than the energy-saving light bulb. So why didn't Mr Tsang promote this LED to the public ?
I think that is the point and I wonder if he has any reasons behind his proposal.
Dear Wing Fung,
ReplyDeletetopic:Environment and Climate Change
Recently,the effects of global warming and other Climate Changes are becoming more and more obvious.China is one of the countries which are most susceptible to the adverse effects of climate change, mainly in the fields of agriculture, livestock breeding, forestry, natural ecosystems, water resources, and coastal zones.Climate change has already caused changes in the distribution of water resources all over China.These extreme climate phenomena show that we are in great danger.
So,in my view,we are committed to tackling these extreme climate problems. Maybe some animals like polar bear will be extinct one day. So we must do something now and save the ecosystem and also ourselves.
Dear Rocky,
ReplyDeletetopic:conserve or rebuild??
Hong Kong have so many historic buildings. Lt is time for us to decide whether we should rebuild or conserve them. It is difficult for us to make any decission.Historic buildings have given us great and happy memory. I think we should restructure the old historic buildings like other countries.I would like to preserve all our historic buildings.^_^
Lastly,the conservation of these bulidings is like preserving our collective memory,isn't it?we should tell the government what we think when consulted,rebuild or conserve?
Dear Ka Wai,
ReplyDeleteTopic : Liu Xiang
After dropping out in 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Liu Xiang has undergone numerous operations and relaxed for nearly one year. In September, Liu Xiang won the runner up in ShangHai International Track and Field Complete. This is good news to all Chinese, who were frustrated in the Olympic Games.
Liu Xiang is the first champion of Chinese in Olympic Track and Field Games. He started his training since only seven. At first high jump was the most stressful for him. But when he was twelve, he started to train hurdle.
Liu Xiang won his first International Champion in 2001, when he was only 18 years old. The world started to focus on Liu Xiang. In 2004, he won the champion in Athens Olympic Games, and this soon became a myth to Chinese people. But in 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, he dropped out due to injury. This news stirred the whole world.
The days before, Liu Xiang has just won the Chinese Games. It is really good news to all Chinese people.
Dear Kit Lam,
ReplyDeleteTopic : medical incident
Hong Kong hospitals have made a lot of mistakes recently such as the mix-up of two babies and injecting five new born babies with an anti-tuberculosis vaccine that had dangerously expired. These mistakes are extremely inadmissible. Luckily, they were noticed in time, otherwise, it would cause a very big problem in the future. It is unacceptable for Hospital staff to make any mistakes because it is about patients’ safety. The government should do something to prevent these problems.
Firstly, the government needs to admit that they are also responsible for the mistakes. The government should change its traditional curriculum to teach the new emergency measures. Moreover, the government should provide intensive on-job training for the nurses again. They should not make any mistakes. If they make some mistakes, people’s lives will be at risk. So training is the best way to improve the quality of out medical staff.
Secondly, Government can also hold some courses for nurses to pursue further education. When they learn more, nurses will not make any mistakes.
Thirdly, giving them more holiday is also an efficient measure. If they have few holidays, they will be too tired to work. More vacation can give enough time for them to relax. Therefore, they will work more effectively.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDear Tin Lun,
ReplyDelete2009-2010 Policy Address
Tsang aims for steady path in economic storm
Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-Kuen vowed to keep the Asian financial hub on course despite global economic turmoil, while promising help to the city's most vulnerable.
In his annual policy address, Tsang said there would be no turning away from the territory's "big market, small government'' ethos.
"We will address squarely the challenges ahead with effective crisis management and improvements to our systems,'' Tsang told legislators.
Tsang will chair a task force to monitor the impact of the global crisis on the local market, and promised increased supervision of the financial sector.
He said rules on fund managers would also be tightened and more disclosure required for investors, following the Lehman Brothers "mini-bond'' scandal.
I think Tsang’s Policy Address has not put a close eye on the citizens who live under the Poverty Line. Nowadays, many cases involving domestic violence are being reported on TV everyday, in some of the cases, the family could not afford their children’s school fees.
So I think the first thing Tsang should do is to solve these domestic violence problems, for example, he can increase the social awareness.
(copied too much from articles)
Dear Wai Ho,
ReplyDeletetopic:Disaster
In recent years,there were some disasters appearing in different countries.They had destroyed many things of the people. I think the most terrible one is tsunami.
It is very difficult to detect tsunamis out in the ocean because they are usually very small in deep waters. Often a tsunami at sea will seem like a swell of water. Since tsunamis can hardly be detected,when every time tsunami occurs,the death toll is astonishing.
I am very sad to hear that there was a tsunami in Asia in 2004.In this case,almost 250,000 people were killed.
In conclusion , all disasters act like an evil.It will take away many things from people.So I am looking forward to seeing that our technology can be more advanced as fast as possible.When the disasters can be detected before they come,we can have enough time to design some preventive measures.Then there will be fewer people facing the death so early.
Dear Chi Wang,
ReplyDeleteTopic: Somalia pirates
Nowadays, globalization has enhanced the national communication. As a result, marine transportation is better utilized by different countries. However, pirates also take advantage of this chance. They hijacked many bulk carriers especially around Somalia. It is a growing scourge for all countries.
A few weeks before, a mainland bulk carrier in the Indian Ocean was hijacked by Somalia pirates and they were amid warnings from pirates that they would execute the 25 Chinese crew if Beijing attempted to rescue them.
Although it is a good chance for China to show off his military power to other countries, many Chinese may get injured or die. If the treatment of Chinese government is not good enough, they may be killed. Also, Somalia pirates cannot be underestimated. Rescuing the ship is not a piece of cake. Casualties will be inevitable if armed conflicts occur.
For my view, paying the ransoms is the most suitable emergency method. Yet, it will encourage them. Thus, Chinese government should send a large amount of navy with the help of other countries to eliminate the Somalia pirates after rescuing the ship. At the same time, we can show off our power to other countries. It can tell all the people that China has already become a big country.
Even though we may lose a large amount of money, we can rescue the victims without having any casualties but show our power. I think that is the best way to treat this issue.
Dear Chun Hoi,
ReplyDeleteTopic: Find Employment
After the financial tsunami, getting a job is more and more difficult than before, not only because of the financial crisis, but also the ability.
The New York Times plans to shed 100 newsroom jobs, and they have only 45 days to decide whether to accept or not, The Los Angeles Times has dropped to about 600 employees. Most of the news i read about the situation of American's Employment are about shedding jobs, maintaining the salary. I believe this is what most of the employees are facing, except China.
There was a programme offering about 4000 internships in China and about 200 Hong Kong graduates signed up. The purpose of this scheme was to provide a stopgap for people unable to find work. But most of the applicants could not get the jobs although there was no demanding requirement for job seekers. The reason why they could not get the job was that they were hopeful about jobs prospect but unaware of their qability.
At one side of earth, people are losing job because of the bad employment environment.At the other side of earth, people could not get a job because they were not well prepared. We can do nothing to help people who lost their jobs due to the financial crisis, but they can help themselves by working harder and preparing better
Dear Wing Hung,
ReplyDeleteTopic:Policy Address
Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen has delivered his Policy Address 2009-2010. Although I am a student, I am concerned about this annual big event-Policy Address.
This year,the slogan is 'Breaking New Ground Together' It can be classified into the following topics-Trade and logistics,medical service,development and the topic significant to me-Education. The Address proposes reserving sites in Ho Man Tin and Wong Chuk Hang for operators providing self-financing degree programmes, which are expected to provide some 4 000 places. I think government should give more chance to local students. They are giving too many academic degree places to the mainland students. I suggest government provide more resources for us.
"We need not worry about the new competitive landscape. With an open mind, pioneering spirit, and full preparation, we can break new ground together," said Donald Tsang Yam-kuen. The media also focuses too much on 'light-bulbs'. If we want our government to address the employment and poverty issues, we should follow their suggestions and try to better ourselves. Don't always complain about the others as our common efforts in promoting the development of our industries is more important.
Dear Wing Yan,
ReplyDeletetopic: protect our environment
I am writing in response to the opinion that people should protect their precious environment. I do agree with this opinion. First of all, I believe, protecting environment will not affect schoolwork. Moreover, many youngsters feel it is cruel to turn off the air-conditioner in the hot summer and turn off the light at night. However, I am not asking to do something intensely.
Many people consider that saving energy is a kind of wasting time. This is not true. To many, they only need to do some petty actions, like turning off the television when you don’t need it, and turning off the bedroom light when you are in the living room. These are very simple after all. As most of us are good citizens, I am sure, if we keep on doing it, we will help a lot in protecting our environment.
Dear Wan Yin,
ReplyDelete1} HK income gap 'widest among rich economies'
As a country is becoming more developed,the income gap between civilian is getting wider since those who are not well-educated cannot find a good job. In Hong Kong, the richest 10% citizens enjoy one-third of the money while the 'underprivileged' share only 2% and the income gap has become even more disparate among rich economies. This phenomenon is difficult to avoid since an expense must exist for the development of a country.
2}More money needed for science research
'The father of fibre optics', Professor Charles Kao, recently won the Nobel Prize. He had been working very hard for it even with a lack of resources and facilities. He had to work for a company in order to obtain enough 'tools'. Scientific research needs a great variety of resources and lots of advanced facilities. Kao's success will be likely to repeat only when the government provide more 'tools'for them.
Dear Yiu Hing,
ReplyDeleteDear Editor,
I am writing in response to a recent issue about the illegally dumped construction waste in the New Territories. Not only
has it affected the appearance of the area, but also fertility of the soil of the land. Plants may not grow on those lands because of the
toxic substances in the waste. However ,the people who dumped the waste are not the only to be blamed,but also the government
, even we as citizens.
Firstly, the people who dumped the waste have not considered the effect of the waste on the land. The land may become
barren on account of their selfish act. What's more , the landowners should not allow the waste to appear on their land.They should
protect their properties for the sake of themselves and the environment also.
Apart from the above , the government's response towards these environmental issues has been found inadequate. Only one
person has been prosecuted for illegal dumping. It shows the low efficiency of the government, It should take action promptly without procrastination.
Moreover, our citizens' awareness towards the environment is still too weak. The education to the citizens is not enough.
That's why selfish companies dumped their construction waste on the land. It is because they are lacking education.
I believe we should organise more campaigns to raise people's awareness towards environment and pollution.
To sum up , if we still have the misconception that it is still early to tackle environmental problem,our next generation
will end up in a highly polluted Hong Kong. We should join hand together in order to save our Hong Kong , our home. Every second
counts.
Dear Yiu Hing,
ReplyDeleteDr Charles Kao Kuen , our Hong Kong's first Nobel laureate , has been diagnosed an Alzheimer's patient . Many Hongkongers feel pity that he cannot enjoy his honor and accomplishment of being a Nobel winner . Even so , I have another perspective that I believe he is enjoying his life at present.
Suffering from Alzheimer's disease , Kao Kuen does not show sadness to us . Although he may have forgotten he is ' the father of fibre optics ' ,he does not have to spend time on physic or calculations ,even a second . He is just as happy as a child . He does not need to deal with those troublesome staff , face cameras or do interviews with journalists . He can enjoy eating and drinking in healthy moderation , he does things he likes .
It is pleased to see that he is not frustrated about having this disease . Why do we still have to doubt his happy life?
What we need to concern is not Kao getting Nobel prize , but to support the one who is taking care of him , his wife . It is not a piece of cake to take care of an Alzheimer's patient . It needs to be forbearing and uncomplaining . We should show our respect to his wife .
Finally , despite being the first Hong Kong's Nobel laureate , we should not disturb his life anymore. The time of visiting should be reduced for the sake of him . There should not be any camera , interview or journalists. Letting Kao have his day peacefully is the best we should do.
Dear Ching Yu,
ReplyDeleteThe ‘unfair’ light-bulb scheme
The demand for clarification on the energy-saving light bulb scheme has been sprung up in the community. Chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen is requested to give responses to the public with explanations on ‘why didn’t he declare his son’s father in-law’s light bulb business before launching the scheme’. People doubt whether Donald Tsang had considered the conflict of interest before he announced the Policy Address.
Despite the public requests, members of a legislative body support Donald Tsang and claim that in this case, it is not necessary for him to declare his in-laws business according to the declaration system. And up to now, the government has not done anything to deal with this conflict.
Considering the story as a whole, I wonder if the public is really concerned about the Policy Address or the criticisms are just based on the resent of citizens towards the government aroused by the recent financial crisis. On the 26/10, the Alliance of Lehman Brothers Victims paraded, requesting Donald Tsang to explain whether there was a conflict that his in-law got a partial refund from the Lehman Brothers and demanding explanations on the energy-saving light bulb scheme in the Policy Address. The victims of Lehman Brothers have linked the cases together. Although there may be other reasons behind, I strongly believe that the public has lost confidence in the government after the case of Lehman Brothers. The anger towards the government will just get more intense.
The criticisms towards the government will be triggered at anytime in the future as citizens could never feel satisfied with all the policy that the government is promoting. I believe that the only thing to comfort the citizens is to do everything in a proper way that there should be no conflict in any cases. Not only Donald Tsang but also other members of the Legislative Assemblies should be aware of their every movement and try to avoid being involved in any of these scandals.
(336 words)
Dear Ching Yu,
ReplyDeleteCharles Kao
For most Hong Kongers, the Nobel Prize this year seems more important than ever before. Charles Kao has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics for his groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication. Although Charles was not born in Hong Kong, he was once the principal of The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Most Hong Kongers think he is a Hong Konger and are very proud of his achievement.
Charles Kao spent nearly half of his life on the invention of the optical fiber. It should be the greatest gift for him to achieve the Nobel Prize for Physics. Unfortunately, he has been under the shadow of Alzheimer's disease for some years. He has forgotten the great invention done by him. Newspapers interviewed him but he seems to know nothing about optical fiber. Yet, the couple may donate part of his US$700,000 award to two organizations that deal with Alzheimer's disease.
Other than the achievement, the media focuses on the love between Charles Kao and his wife, Gwen Kao May-wan. During the interviews, Charles Kao always looked at his wife and when he was being asked if he love his wife, he answered that ‘yeah, she is very good’. Charles Kao forgot his greatest achievement but he could never forget his wife, the one who is always on his side and takes care of him since he suffers from the Alzheimer's disease. It is a heart-warming story.
Others may see it as a pity because Charles Kao dose not ‘know’ about winning the Prize . It may be true but the way I see it is that he could finally be released. It was surely tough work to invent the optical fiber and now Charles Kao can enjoy his retired life with the one he loves. I believe it is the most important thing for everyone. Maybe the others would think that reputation and other’s praises are better than any other thing. In this case, Charles Kao remembers his wife instead of the achievements he has made, even with the Alzheimer’s disease.
I think we can learn from Charles Kao as it is an inspiriting story for teenagers. The efforts we put would be paid back but love is more important. Try to enjoy our life and treasure everything we have at this moment. Memories are not long-lasting but love could always be.
(396 words)