Letters | ESG is great, but let’s fix Hong Kong’s freezing air con and excessive lighting first
- Readers discuss the ills of excessive air conditioning and lighting, local TV rehashing formulaic content, and feeling neglected in the government’s push to drum up voter enthusiasm
ESG reporting, which is handled by professionals, tracks the effectiveness of measures taken by reflecting the performance in numbers. But how about attending first to simpler ways of being kind to the environment? Companies should address the problems that Hong Kong people have been complaining about – excessive air conditioning and lighting – and make improvements we can immediately feel.
I boarded a double-deck bus from Yuen Long to Tai Po at about 9.30pm a few days ago. No doubt it had been a long day for many passengers and dimmer lighting would have allowed passengers to rest and relax. But, no, these franchised buses have strong lighting as bright as day.
Moreover, it was pretty cool that night, yet the air conditioning in the bus made it even colder than the outside. What’s the use of investing in new electric buses if bus companies don’t have the mindset of saving energy?
If you have been to shopping malls, train and bus stations, office buildings, roads and highways in mainland China and other countries, you would have noticed that the same places in Hong Kong are excessively lit.
My 200 sq ft office had 15 ceiling lamps, and lamps of 100W each were used before I complained. Such excessive lighting not only wastes energy but also increases operation costs.
When the weather first turned cooler this year, the central air conditioning brought the temperature in my office down to 18 degrees Celsius. Shopping malls in Hong Kong are also famous for their freezing temperatures.
If you are worried about road safety when it comes to highway lighting, my experience is that when the highway is darker, people actually tend to drive slower. Why make the highways so bright to give the drivers the confidence to drive faster?
Could building designers, property managers and transport operators first cut down on lighting and air conditioning, before they take on the ESG initiatives?
Joe Lee, Yuen Long
Let local TV recapture the inventive spirit of its heyday
In conversation with friends and family about TV programmes these days, we are more likely to talk about our favourite Netflix shows than local productions. In fact, bringing up Hong Kong TV may make you seem parochial.
As someone raised on local television, however, I decided one night to indulge in a bit of nostalgia and explore what the local channels were offering. I was surprised to find TVB airing a new episode of the decades-old variety series Super Trio in weekend prime time.
Even if this evoked fond childhood memories for me, and others who grew up in the 1990s, relying on exhuming past successes to satisfy present-day audiences is an intriguing strategy.
Indeed, it raises doubts about the creativity of local producers, given their penchant for recycling familiar content – cooking programmes, travelogues and talent contests – to fill airtime. What could help extricate local channels from this formulaic quagmire to resonate again with today’s diverse audiences?
Some have reasonably proposed that TVB reinforce its mainland partnerships and set out to appeal to a wider mainland audience. It would be following the example of local filmmakers who partnered with mainland talent to co-produce films and found success in mainland cinemas. Project Gutenberg and Cold War 2 are two examples.
It would be gratifying to see veteran entertainment executives recapture the innovative spirit of their early days. There may yet be hope for compelling locally-produced content that breaks free from formulas.
Rob Yau, Kennedy Town
Are the votes of English speakers wanted?
So far I have received leaflets from four candidates – presumably seeking my vote in the forthcoming election. However, none of the leaflets have any English, not even the names or even the initials of the candidates. Obviously, English speakers can be ignored.
Doug Miller, Tai Po
