LettersLegco election: Hongkongers must speak up through the ballot box

Many Hongkongers are closely watching the upcoming Legislative Council election. Since it is the first legislative election since the improvement of the electoral system, many consider this to be a benchmark of how much dissent Beijing would allow in the new political order. With a handful of non-establishment candidates fulfilling the nomination threshold, Beijing evidently is prepared to invite diverse political participation in constructive policy debates. Some may disagree with the electoral reform. This system is not perfect, but the central government has not resiled from the constitutional goals of universal suffrage enshrined in Articles 45 and 68 of the Basic Law either. In light of this, I urge all eligible voters to go to the ballot box this December and make their voices heard. I also urge members of the Election Committee to elect a more diverse slate of candidates, including technocrats and those less known or from different political camps. As Xia Baolong, director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, noted, Beijing expects good governance as a solution to Hong Kong’s deep-rooted social conflict. By fostering a political environment welcoming of talent, Hong Kong can fix its problems in housing, poverty and sustainable development one by one. Last month, President Xi Jinping fleshed out his “common prosperity” concept, and both the country’s 14th five-year plan and the Hong Kong chief executive’s policy address unveiled the blueprint to inject vitality into the city’s economy through further regional integration. It’s time for Hongkongers reflect on their role in this grand development strategy and equip themselves for future challenges. Anfield Tam, Quarry Bay How can school focus on pupils’ background? I was disgusted by the news that a school in Shanxi province had categorised its students by their parents’ backgrounds (“School caught mapping children’s backgrounds and social status”, November 6). Such a practice encourages needless comparison and may lead to differential treatment, with “leaders’ children”, “powerful and dominant department officials’ children” and “entrepreneurs’ children” receiving more care and resources from the teaching staff. This would not only be discriminatory but also increase the likelihood of bullying among students. Thankfully, the school was reprimanded. Schools should focus on educating students. Rosa Chen, Tseung Kwan O History offers rich lessons for leaders today In this geopolitical situation, we can only hope that leaders, especially of larger nations, are referring to history’s lessons. Only centuries ago, Scandinavian countries were still battling it out until they eventually learned to live with each other in “win-win mode”. Europe did not heed Scandinavia’s lesson and suffered two damaging world wars, with Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan witnessing the instant devastation of the nuclear option. We can only hope that global leaders learn from the experience of both Scandinavia and Europe. Finn Nielsen, Discovery Bay Covid-19 must remain global priority into 2022 The priority for this year and the next is to continue the fight against Covid-19 (“Global Covid-19 cases pass 250 million as Europe outbreak worsens”, November 9). Only 51 per cent of the world population has received one Covid-19 vaccine dose and just 40 per cent is fully vaccinated. Until 80 per cent of us are fully inoculated against Covid-19, we are not safe. Priority should be given to developing nations with low inoculation rates, such as in Africa, which has just over 6 per cent of the continent vaccinated, according to Our Word in Data. In Congo, for example, only 2.2 per cent of people are vaccinated. This is distressing. Next, the priority should be to administer vaccine boosters to health workers and senior citizens, who are vulnerable. The United States and many European countries have started doing this. However, there are also many countries such as India – which suffered from vaccine shortages earlier on – which have not yet been able to start administering booster shots. With the time between the first and the second vaccine doses stretching from 12 to 16 weeks, India has one of the world’s longest gaps. The ideal time gap between the two doses should be about four to eight weeks. An important challenge in vaccinating most of the world by 2022 is to convince non-believers to take the vaccine. In every country, there appear to be an estimated 15-25 per cent of the population, or more, who either do not believe in vaccinations or have fears and reservations. These fence-sitters will have to be persuaded to accept the vaccine for the common good. Finally, pharmaceutical companies should continue prioritising research into Covid-19 so as to reduce all vaccine jabs to just one. Even better if all we needed was a tablet or nasal spray. Covid-19 variants of the disease also need to be investigated and vaccine updated. Rajendra Aneja, Mumbai, India A theme song fit for a talk fest I have a suggestion for a theme song for the recent G20 talks and, for that matter, the seemingly never-ending talk between our major political parties (“Biden ‘disappointed’ by Xi, Putin absences at G20 as leaders promise effort to limit global temperature rises, but fail to offer firm commitments”, October 31). I’m thinking of the Beatles’ We Can Work It Out. Herb Stark, North Carolina, US