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Hong Kong does not
restrict free speech

I'm afraid some of the points in your Dec. 23 editorial, "Hong Kong keeps law restricting protests," do not represent the full picture of our handling of public assemblies. Freedom of assembly, procession and demonstration are explicitly guaranteed by our constitutional document.

Restrictions may be imposed only on public meetings and processions when they are in the interests of national security, public safety, public order or the protection of rights and freedoms of others.

Your editorial quoted criticisms by local commentators that our requirement for prior notification of a public meeting or procession was "a curb to freedom of expression and the right of assembly."

While they may express such views, our legal requirement is similar to those implemented in metropolitan cities like New York, San Francisco, London, Paris and Berlin. Our law requires notification be made seven days before a public meeting or procession.

The law also provides, however, that the commissioner of police may accept shorter notice if he "is reasonably satisfied that earlier notice could not have been given." If he does not accept shorter notice, he must give reasons. (In practice, he does accept shorter notice frequently.)

Our requirement for prior notification is necessary for the police to make arrangements to facilitate demonstrators and minimize inconvenience to others. This is particularly important for a small yet busy place like Hong Kong.

Your editorial also seemed to associate the low turnout rate of the annual candlelight vigils to commemorate the June 4 incident with the alleged barring of the organizers from traveling to mainland China. The fact is the annual candlelight vigils are held every year and bear witness to the freedom of assembly enjoyed by the people of Hong Kong before and after July 1, 1997.

I also cannot agree with your view that the recent debate in our Legislative Council and the subsequent vote in favor of retaining the relevant provisions of the Public Order Ordinance was "one way to discourage protests and tighten Beijing's grip."

Since July 1, 1997, more than 7,000 public meetings and processions have been held. During this period, only three public meetings and two processions were rejected due to concerns for public safety and public order. Three of these events were subsequently agreed to after the organizers had revised their routing, venue or scale.

Our law also requires police to give clear reasons for objecting to a public meeting or procession. Organizers who are aggrieved may appeal to an independent appeal board chaired by a retired judge and made up of non-official members.

Therefore, there are no grounds for any person to say that freedoms enjoyed by those in Hong Kong are being "eroded."

Eliza Yau
For the Secretary of Security
Special Administrative Region Government
Hong Kong

Repeat murderer cannot be rehabilitated

The comment by deputy public defender Ronette Kawakami on convicted murderer Samuel Cooper Jr. is absolutely incredible: "Giving Cooper a minimum term of 100 years gives him no meaningful opportunity for rehabilitation" (Star-Bulletin, Jan. 9). She said the 100 years becomes a sentence of "life without parole."

Rehabilitation for a repeat murderer? Should he ever be released, I hope Cooper lives next door to Kawakami and not in my neighborhood.

Gil Riviere
Waialua

Man killed 18 years ago is still mourned

He would be 51 years old now had he lived. But 18 years ago, on the night of Jan. 9, 1983, his life ended in a flurry of gun fire. A shot from the .357 Magnum aimed at his back delivered the death blow.

He never stood a chance as the bullet tore through his body, exiting through his heart. He fell, probably face down, in the mud, and there his life ended.

Only a coward would shoot a friend in the back. Only a coward would never own up to killing a friend.

The men who were present that night, men who Keith Williams knew and trusted, and the woman who my father dubbed "the black widow," a girlfriend of one of the men, know the truth.

Shame on them for hiding behind their cowardice all these years. Some say we should forgive the killers, but how can we forgive those who are unrepentant?

Keith Haig Makakaualii Williams was a husband, father, son, brother, grandson, cousin, nephew and friend. He is gone, and his family awaits the day when his killers are brought to justice.

Robin Williams Makapagal
Kaneohe

Military isn't really needed in Hawaii

The latest study revealing the thousands of tons of hazardous waste disposed of in Makua Valley is one more reason why some demand a transitional phaseout or immediate withdrawal of the military from Hawaii.

The myth that the occupation has benefitted the people here, particularly the sensationalism about putting food on our tables, is a cry of desperation against the inevitable.

There has never been a comprehensive study proving the U.S. military has ever economically benefitted these islands. It's been all about "bringing home the pork" at taxpayer expense.

The military around 1990 provided less than 5,500 local civilian jobs at Puuloa (Pearl Harbor) out of Hawaii's total workforce. With a transitional phaseout, these jobs could be transferred to newly created or other markets.

In addition, the justifications of national security and protection of Hawaii's citizens are exaggerated when you consider the events of, say, 1874, 1887, 1893, 1941 and 1991, and the bombings and destruction of Puuloa, Kahoolawe, Pohakuloa, Mokapu and Makua.

Today, the military makes us a major nuclear target. Print that! When you add in the social, cultural and environmental impacts any comprehensive study must consider, the inevitable may just mean the inevitable.

Tony Castanha

General McCaffrey lost war on drugs

The farewell address by Gen. Barry McCaffrey, aka the Drug Czar, was as hypocritical and misleading as his four-year crusade while leading the failed war on drugs.

In leaving his post, he calls for drug prevention and treatment as the key elements of dealing with substance abuse. Yet, during his four-year reign, he consistently requested (and received) funding that heavily favored the law-enforcement approach, with two-thirds of the budget going for interdiction and prosecution, and one-third for drug prevention and treatment.

Has he finally seen the light or is this more of his doubletalk?

When the general claims that drug use by teen-agers has declined by 21 percent during the last two years, one must wonder what he has been smoking.

Surveys sponsored by his very own office tell a different story. Perhaps this is a result of wishful thinking, but it is more likely an effort to put a good spin on the outgoing administration.

McCaffrey had four years during which he could have honestly addressed the failed war on drugs. Instead, he persisted in what he believed was the politically (and militarily) correct thing to do, which was to ratchet up the war through spending more and more on policing and incarceration.

Hopefully, the next administration will choose a wiser course, such as that recommended by the outgoing general.

Donald M. Topping

Bikes can be dangerous to pedestrians' health

Now that the mandatory bicycle helmet law has been enacted to protect the kids from injury, we must pass a law requiring warning signals on bicycles.

Such a regulation is needed to protect people from injuries, especially senior citizens walking on sidewalks. Many of us have had close calls.

Howard Shiroma

Death of Palolo woman must be remembered

To commemorate the tragic and senseless loss of a member of our community, I propose the Lillian Bill.

Like the Brady Bill, our elected officials waited for a tragic incident to occur before they came to their senses. Let's not wait for another member of our community to fall victim to a severe injury or death as a result of New Year's fireworks. Act now!

Political Band-Aids and unenforceable laws are the direct result of our elected officials taking the easy way out. They tried to find common ground by passing politically safe legislation.

This isn't getting the job done. They know it and we know it.

Instead, let's commemorate Palolo resident Lillian Herring's death with a bill to ban fireworks and save lives. I'm not referring to fireworks used for religious and/or cultural purposes, but to those during New Year's Eve and the Fourth of July.

Which politician will now step forward and, yes, possibly run a career risk, to do the right thing and propose the Lillian Bill?

Martin Schiller

Quotables "My health is still good, and what will I do if I don't cook? I just have to find someplace else." Helen Chock OWNER OF NATIONALLY HONORED HELENA'S HAWAIIAN FOODS Being forced to move after 55 years because landowner Kamehameha Schools has plans for her Kalihi location "At least in Hawaii, you haven't found a way to tax the sunshine, yet." Steve Forbes FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE In his keynote speech at the 25th annual Small Business Hawaii Conference

City's bus service is rewarded for inefficiency

TheBus can afford to be an inefficient and ineffective entity, because whenever there's any shortfall in the operating cost, officials simply ask for more funding. In fact, the people running TheBus would like to have an increased budget every year to justify the "increased" service.

Yet what about its purchase of new equipment like those extra-long buses that I've seen stranded on the side of H-1 more than five times since they began their service? Do we need to buy such expensive buses?

Instead, cut the operating expenses!

Let's face it -- Honolulu will not have a mass-transit system that most working people will ride. The main reason is the city's lack of commitment to provide a truly comprehensive form of mass transit.

Ron Darmawan
Kapolei

Shipboard gambling has many advantages

Although I hate all forms of gambling, if Hawaii must have a new source of imcome to pay its bills, shipboard gambling may be the way to go.

The state will earn more income with shipboard gambling than with land-based gambling. Here's why: In addition to the tax that both forms of gambling pay, shipboard gambling vessels will also have to pay the state another 2.5 percent of their gross sales in 2001, increasing to 4 percent in 2005. This is because gambling vessels must have a commercial permit to operate in Hawaiian waters.

If shipboard gambling turned out to be a mistake for Hawaii, all the state has to do is tell the owners to take their gambling ships elsewhere. Closing the door on gambling is not so easy with land-based casinos since, once they are built, they are most likely in Hawaii forever.

With shipboard gambling, the gaudy casinos are located on a gambling ship anchored or sailing well off shore. Unlike land-based casinos, shipboard gambling is not in our hotels, communities or in our face.

Shipboard gambling vessels will be required to pay all of their taxes in full and on time. They have to do this in order to renew their annual commercial permits.

Shipboard gambling ensures zero tolerance for drugs. The U.S. Coast Guard will not permit drugs on board any vessels in Hawaiian waters. Also, ship owners and operators must drug screen all personnel.

Shipboard gambling means every job is a U.S. citizen's job. The federal Jones Act will ensure that all gambling vessels are owned and operated by U.S. citizens. This means real employment opportunities for Hawaii residents.

B. Robert Hampton

Weirdness is becoming the norm among young

Body piercings, tattoos, weird haircuts, baggy pants, hooker clothes? Is it Halloween again already? I can't tell. Let me check my calendar.

Relax, parents and teachers. Things will all snap back to square one again some day soon. The shock factor is wearing thin. While the need to outshock each other to get that fix of instant attention is growing, bizarreness doesn't command the respect it once did.

When every day is Halloween, it becomes the norm. How many rings can you put on just one face before someone notices? Eventually, the only way left for the next generation to shock will be to turn a complete 180 degrees and act like normal civilized human beings again. They may even earn their attention through real achievements. Shocking!

Michael Van Dorn

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