Letters | Colonial street names are part of Hong Kong’s history and nothing to be ashamed of
- Readers oppose a proposal to remove street names associated with the city’s colonial past, disagree that quarantine rules for pilots are lax, and recount a bad experience with the public health care system
During my travels, I have traversed Queen Elizabeth Walk en route to a recital at the Victoria Concert Hall in Singapore, enjoyed the view from the southern coast of Viti Levu driving along Queen’s Road towards Fiji’s capital Suva, and played golf at Royal Malta Golf Club near Albert Town in Malta (named after Queen Victoria’s consort, Prince Albert).
As former Singaporean prime minister Lee Kuan Yew once observed, colonial street names are part of a place’s heritage and legacy, and not something to be ashamed of – even for a proud ethnic Chinese like Mr Lee.
Remembering that the primary purpose of street names is to enable the efficient location of an individual property by emergency services, delivery drivers, taxis, and the public, the mass renaming of streets and places would merely inflict inconvenience, disorientate vast numbers of people, and divert valuable government resources from much more important and beneficial projects. Hong Kong should stick to the pragmatism it is renowned for and avoid your correspondent’s petty virtue-signalling.
Nicholas Tam, Sai Ying Pun
Rid of its past, Hong Kong will need a new tourist slogan
It’s clear that there remain many sights that point to the city having had a past. Legco must immediately set about getting rid of such eyesores as the old Supreme Court building, the old Wan Chai Post Office, St John’s Cathedral and Government House, making sure that these are replaced by buildings with no readily distinguishing features – except perhaps the shape of a bauhinia flower here and there.
After this has been done and any hint of the city having had interesting times has been removed, the Tourism Board could sell the city with slogans such as “Visit Hong Kong – the city with no past”.
David Gwilt, emeritus professor, Chinese University of Hong Kong
Pandemic-hit city should thank its pilots, not vilify them
No doubt then he will be the last among us to complain when supermarkets and shopping malls have empty shelves and his online orders fail to turn up on his doorstep. Does he think that stuff appears by magic?
Imagine this for a job description: “Wanted: cargo pilot. You will work multi-week closed-loop shifts with continuous periods of quarantine and self-isolation at both ends. You will be exposed to a dangerous pandemic which may put you and your family at risk of serious health consequences or even death.
“Your position may be terminated at any time and there is a decent chance that your employer will go bust. You should expect to be generally vilified and held up as a scapegoat by society at large in your home country.
“Pay: about half of what it used to be.”
To all the pilots, aircrew, ship crew and truck drivers, I say thank you for your service to Hong Kong. Very many of us appreciate what you do to keep life as normal as possible for our pampered population.
David Brown, Discovery Bay
Helper’s experience a black mark against public health care
To seek treatment for pains in her lower abdomen, my helper went twice to the A&E department of Prince of Wales Hospital. Both times, the hospital did all sorts of tests and gave her a lot of painkillers. But the pain did not go away.
I then took her to a gynaecologist who said she needed surgery, and provided me with a letter addressed to A&E. My helper had an ovarian cyst as big as 13cm in diameter. We rushed to Prince of Wales Hospital, where she had all the tests again, but the doctor in charge said it was not an urgent surgery and told us to go back after two years.
In less than 24 hours back home, my poor helper was curled up on her bed screaming in pain. I had to call the ambulance to pick her up. When she got admitted this time, she was immediately operated on.
We are all relieved but I am still furious that she was refused timely treatment. Just because a patient has to go to a public hospital doesn’t mean they deserve to suffer pain longer.
Patricia Chan, Sha Tin
