Richmond - The Editor, Re: "Time to stop fencing around theft issue," News, May 9. I would like to formally express my disbelief on how certain food advocates came up with a lame excuse that certain Chinese immigrants will help themselves to community gardens if they don't see barriers.
First of all, let me just state the general fact that ignorance of the law is not an excuse, anywhere in the world. Secondly, one need not know how to speak, write, and understand English, to know that it is wrong to take what is not yours.
It is not a free-for-all, that whomever drives by can automatically dig up and scoop something to go, like a drive thru. It is so simple that the food grabbers only need to think to themselves: 'Did I plant the produce?' and 'did we participate in any way in this community garden?' You do not need a fence to have a reality check to realize you should not take what is not yours! This self-consciousness is so universal that it transcends any language or ethical barriers. There is no country in the living world wherein it is okay to take something which doesn't belong to you. At the end of the day, no one ethnicity is perfect. We are all people sharing and living in this great country of ours.
Jonathan Lee
Richmond
