Well, who knows? On Sunday morning, as I made my way towards The Press Room for the world's slimmest brunch (more anon), my progress was held up first by a black Alphard with a police escort proceeding at a funereal pace displaying "Give tax rebate of HK$10,000" and "Waive salaries tax for a year" stickers, and then by a ragtag mob of masochists staggering along on the 24th of their 26-mile jog/walk along Hong Kong's roads. (I tip my hat to the smart 10,200 out of the 60,000 "entrants" who never actually made it to the start line, let alone the finish line).
And then. And then, as if these two omens were not enough, this morning I am sent this "Letter to the editor" by an anonymous source at my daughter's school, telling me it has received 29/30 in an English assessment.
Just what are they teaching our children these days, I want to know, and who is corrupting our youth with their cynical, non-conformist, un-Confucian views?
Dear Sir/Madam,
I write in response to the recent heated debates regarding our city hosting the 2023 Asian Games. As a citizen of Hong Kong, I am made quite anxious by our government's decision to take on responsibility for such a big occasion. And I firmly believe that having our city host this event would not only waste a large amount of money and space, but would also fail to meet the government's actual aim for hosting the Games – to encourage Hong Kong citizens to be more active and to participate in more sporting activities.
Hong Kong people being more active? Were they ever even "active" in the first place? It's a sad but obvious truth, but Hong Kong people have just never had the same enthusiasm for sport English, American or Australian people have. A good example of that would be from the 2009 East Asian Games which Hong Kong hosted. How many people attended that? The stadiums were completely empty most of the time. The government even ended up having to distribute free tickets to the public, just to save its embarrassment. The government claims hosting the event would revitalise people's interest in sporting activities, but how so? If people have never experienced sport on an individual or team basis, why would watching an unfamiliar event suddenly enthuse them with a love of sport?
The total amount of money spent on the 2009 East Asian Games was around HK$240 million. For the 2023 Asian Games, the government originally gave an estimate of HK$6 billion. A little later, following protests at this exorbitant figure, the government pulled a rabbit from the hat by announcing that the costs would now be HK$500 million, or 12 times less than the original estimate. Given the enormous difference between the first and final sum, even moderately intelligent Hong Kong people began to wonder if the government knew what it was doing. The suspicion remains that the powers-that-be view the Games as a way of keeping the working classes in employment for 10 years through vast infrastructural projects.
To really fulfil the aim of creating more active Hong Kong people, I believe hosting the 2023 Asian Games would do no help whatsoever. Instead, perhaps renting out public sporting facilities for free, or organising more district sporting competitions would easily do the job, and not cost a whopping HK$500 million.
Yours sincerely,
Victoria Page
Creative Secondary School
"Creative"?! Western pollution, more like. Where isPeter Lok of Heng Fa Chuen when you need him?
And then. And then, as if these two omens were not enough, this morning I am sent this "Letter to the editor" by an anonymous source at my daughter's school, telling me it has received 29/30 in an English assessment.
Just what are they teaching our children these days, I want to know, and who is corrupting our youth with their cynical, non-conformist, un-Confucian views?
Dear Sir/Madam,
I write in response to the recent heated debates regarding our city hosting the 2023 Asian Games. As a citizen of Hong Kong, I am made quite anxious by our government's decision to take on responsibility for such a big occasion. And I firmly believe that having our city host this event would not only waste a large amount of money and space, but would also fail to meet the government's actual aim for hosting the Games – to encourage Hong Kong citizens to be more active and to participate in more sporting activities.
Hong Kong people being more active? Were they ever even "active" in the first place? It's a sad but obvious truth, but Hong Kong people have just never had the same enthusiasm for sport English, American or Australian people have. A good example of that would be from the 2009 East Asian Games which Hong Kong hosted. How many people attended that? The stadiums were completely empty most of the time. The government even ended up having to distribute free tickets to the public, just to save its embarrassment. The government claims hosting the event would revitalise people's interest in sporting activities, but how so? If people have never experienced sport on an individual or team basis, why would watching an unfamiliar event suddenly enthuse them with a love of sport?
The total amount of money spent on the 2009 East Asian Games was around HK$240 million. For the 2023 Asian Games, the government originally gave an estimate of HK$6 billion. A little later, following protests at this exorbitant figure, the government pulled a rabbit from the hat by announcing that the costs would now be HK$500 million, or 12 times less than the original estimate. Given the enormous difference between the first and final sum, even moderately intelligent Hong Kong people began to wonder if the government knew what it was doing. The suspicion remains that the powers-that-be view the Games as a way of keeping the working classes in employment for 10 years through vast infrastructural projects.
To really fulfil the aim of creating more active Hong Kong people, I believe hosting the 2023 Asian Games would do no help whatsoever. Instead, perhaps renting out public sporting facilities for free, or organising more district sporting competitions would easily do the job, and not cost a whopping HK$500 million.
Yours sincerely,
Victoria Page
Creative Secondary School
"Creative"?! Western pollution, more like. Where is
3 comments:
If that is really your daughter's own work, it's highly creditable.
Like father, like daughter?
Absolutely, Winifred. And didn't Stanley Fish tell us that all texts are joint productions?
Tapas, I'm not sure what you mean. I did, however, admire the seek-and-destroy mission she carried out on the presupposition carried by the comparative in "more active".
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