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| Good work by Arts Festival I am writing to express my thankfulness to the Hong Kong Arts Festival Association for choosing so many great programs for Hong Kong audiences every year. I watched seven programs this year and all of them were fantastic. The one I liked most was the guitar solo concert by the highly acclaimed classical guitarist John Williams. Such programs are rarely seen in Hong Kong. His performance that night was great and I could see that most of the audience enjoyed the show very much. I also appreciate that the Hong Kong Arts festival Association gave many chances for local artists to try out more experimental projects. For example, they invited the actor Cheung Tat Ming this year to do a drama. Although Cheung is most famous for his comedies, this time he made use of the resources he received and made a very experimental drama. I consider this performance the best show by Cheung. What I want to say is, although many people consider Hong Kong a cultural desert, it is actually far form that. There are many art lovers in the city and they are eager to watch high standard performances. People always say that the government should not spend so much money on organizing arts festivals, as no one in Hong Kong will really appreciate arts. This is not true. I urge all these people to go see the performances in Arts Festivals this year before they make any judgement. And I beg the government to give more funding to the festival so that it can become even better. Kwong Hang Yin Cross-strait situation I would like to express my concern about the cross-strait situation. Mainland Chinese officials said recently that if Taiwan declared independence, a war would be inevitable. The cross-strait situation has had its ups and downs in recent years, and this is, I believe, not the worst. This is not the first time for Chinese officials to say something as stern as this. Being Chinese myself, I certainly do not hope such a thing will happen. I think that Chinese officials said that just because the presidential election in Taiwan was approaching. I really hope that it was just a gesture. The cross-strait situation is really a tough issue for both the Chinese and Taiwanese governments. However, I think they should always resort to reason and not violence. Although they might have different political beliefs and they do not at one moment believe in the other side’s thoughts or ideologies, violence solves no problems. We should learn from history. We certainly don’t want to see people of the same race fighting each other. Just take a look at the disputes between India and Pakistan or the former Yugoslavia. Should we learn something? Isn’t the casualty great enough for us to stop thinking of having wars? Moreover, the unstable political situation would certainly hinder economic growth. Besides, the rest of the world is waiting to take advantage when China and Taiwan have quarrels. So, at this moment, what the Chinese and Taiwanese officials should do is to think twice before they say or do anything. One wrong step could become a disaster. If a war really breaks out, who would suffer most? And who would benefit most from it? They should not do anything that would sadden their peoples and gladden their foes. Margaret Ng The war is not over Acquisitions are not necessarily good for Hong Kong. When Pacific Centry CyberWorks successfully made a deal to acquire Hong Kong Telecom, many Hong Kong people regarded it as a victory for Hong Kong over Singapore. However, it’s naive of those who share such a thought. During the negotiations between PCCW and Cable and Wireless, many doubted that China exerted its political muscle by supporting PCCW in the acquisition war. Moreover, it was Singapore Telecom which took the initiative to talk about a possible acquisition with the Hong Kong Telecom. PCCW just followed suit. According to some reports, even though PCCW succeeded, since it spent a large sum of money in this war, it has to pay a hefty amount of interest, which may be transferred to the users in Hong Kong. Mr. Richard Li said that his business is for the interest of Hong Kong, but whether it is true or not can only be tested by time. No one can assure what will happen in future. At the same time, while Hong Kong people are crazy about PCCW’s success, they probably missed some news from Singapore. The Singapore government is going to give computers to those who don’t have one. It is taking substantial steps to make all Singapore a “Cyber City” where the systems in the country are connected. Everyone can enjoy Internet access. On the contrary, Hong Kong is still just talking about developing technology. So, Hong Kong people, please don’t be crazy about one “victory” of an acquisition war. A bigger one is coming. Name withheld by
request Hackers are like robbers I want to say I much I am annoyed by all those hackers on the web. Personally, I see no point in hacking into other people’s web sites. Don’t they know that they will bring a lot of harm to the people involved? Some friends of mine tell me that they try to hack into various web sites because they think it is fun and exciting. I think they are just being selfish. Hacking into web sites is no different from breaking into a house. Both actions are stepping into others’ privacy. Hackers, if you feel bored, go do something exciting but meaningful! Name withheld by request |
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