Letters to the Editor

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Everyone is born equal

Mr. Woo Kwong-ching, chairman of the Hospital Authority, advocated the idea that those who pay more tax should be given greater voting power by preserving or even expanding functional constituencies.

He argued that it is unfair for the wealthy businessmen to have the same voting power with those who are tax exempted. He said that since they contributed a lot to the revenues of the Government, they should have more say on government policies in terms of voting power.

Mr. Woo must have forgotten that the right to vote is a basic human right for every eligible citizen regardless of one’s wealth and social status.

Only a tyrant wants everything to be under his control and share nothing with his peasants. The upper class, although having the same voting power as the lower class in geographical constituencies through direct election, are actually exerting greater influence on government policies. This is because a lot of them can vote in the functional constituencies and the election committee, and not many people from the lower class have such a right. They can even influence government policies directly since they have easier accesses to government officials.

Most important of all, it is more blessed to give than to receive. Since they are already enjoying a much higher living standard than the lower class, there is simply no reason for them to fight for greater voting power at the expense of the lower class, who are the majority of society.

More time is better

Being a year two student at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, I am expressing my feelings about the duration of school years of university in Hong Kong.

In my opinion, three years is too short for us. In order to fulfil the requirement of universities, we have to study at least five to six courses in one semester. As a result, our school days are filled up with deadlines for homework and projects. We always have to work from dusk ’til dawn in order to meet the deadlines.

In my experience, I hardly learn anything useful under this situation. Moreover, if we actively participate in extra-curricular activities, such as university open days, then we don’t have much time left for studying.

I always wonder why we have to be in such a hurry. In the past, we could have stayed here for four years. Why did they have to change this system? If we had one more year, we could have more time to look for something that we are really interested in and spend more time on it. I think this would make the university life more meaningful.

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