Dear Editor,
Re: “Alice is aiming the wrong way,” Letters, April 22.
In Hatem Ela-Alim’s letter to the paper regarding Alice Wong’s position on the vetting of groups looking to the federal government for funding of summer jobs, you took a couple of unrelated swipes at her in connection with her Hong Kong roots.
Since I was for many years a resident of Hong Kong, I naturally like to keep in touch with what is going on there today.
It therefore shocked me to read in your letter your statement, and I quote, “increasing use of the death penalty and prevalence of torture” in Hong Kong.
Records show that the last hanging took place in 1966; that is 52 years ago and thereafter, up to the present day, Hong Kong has continued to follow the lead of her original colonial masters, i.e. Britain, in this respect and not that of her new Motherland, the People’s Republic of China, where many thousands of executions take place annually.
I am not sure how you define “torture” so cannot really refute your claim.
Unofficial torture, i.e. the roughing up of suspects in their cells, takes place in every country in the world, including, I am certain, our own.
So, yes, this form of torture does take place in Hong Kong, but I am certain it never has been and never will be official policy.
Lastly, one thing we can agree on is the degree of racism in Hong Kong.
Anyone who does not have the fortune to be born a ‘son of Han’ is very definitely looked down on.
Europeans, from their long time superior position in Hong Kong society, seem to be able to laugh off the “gweilo” slurs as a bit of a joke.
However, for Filipinos, and other south east Asians, it is anything but a joke, because the racism practised by locals against them severely affects their everyday life.
In this connection, my Chinese wife of 55 years is still queried by her so-called Chinese women friends, as to why she chose to marry a “gweilo.”
The strong inference being that, since they already know her husband was once a sailor, my wife must have been “less than pure” when we met.
Some things will never change!
Nick Wilson
Richmond
Re: “MP Wong protecting rights of some, not others,” Letters, May 6
Keith Paterson’s letter is an example of some of what has gone awry in our society… submit to government ideological coercion or be punished.
For the government to deny public funds for the Canada Summer Jobs program unless grant applicants attest to the Liberal government’s ideological views is unprecedented overreach in our democracy.
In point of fact, Mr. Paterson, it is not a question of respect for individual human rights, that is, respect for the freedom and dignity of every human life.
In question is an attestation requirement where the moral, ethical and social concerns with some of the “values” in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms conflict with the Charter’s fundamental freedoms – that is, the freedom of conscience and religion and freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression.
It is not a question of entitlement, just fair and equal treatment without discrimination against and intolerance of those whose values don’t align with the Prime Minister and the Liberal Party.
For Mr. Paterson to suggest that the many exemplary charitable and non-profit organizations who conscientiously object to sign have a sense of entitlement and that their expectation that the Charter “should protect their right to disrespect and limit the rights of others who don’t share their beliefs” is simply ludicrous.
Neda McDonald
Richmond
