Bank thanks Police The following letter was sent to CP Eddie Hui Ki-on. Dear Mr Hui, ON behalf of the Bank, I would like to thank you for your support for the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon 1999 held on February 28. It was a spectacular day, with over 7,000 athletes in both the marathon and 10 km races, running through the streets of our city. It is our aim for this event to become Hong Kong's event - something the community looks forward to at the Lunar New Year and something everyone benefits from. The Marathon has grown from strength to strength in the past three years, and it would not have been possible without your support. Sincerely, E. Mervyn Davies Group Executive Director- HK, China & North East Asia Standard Chartered Bank

Stiffer penalties for driving offences urged DEAR SIR, I recently read that the Austrian Parliament proposed legislation concerning people convicted of 'Rrink Driving/Driving Under the Influence' and 'Reckless Driving'. The proposals included that such persons be sent to the public mortuaries to view the dead bodies of road accident victims. Also recommended was that such people be sent for 'community service' type work in rehabilitation centres for people who had lost limbs in traffic accidents. The idea is obviously to shock the convicted persons and "The confrontation with often senseless suffering and death will certainly be more effective than just paying a fine."Such programmes are already in existance in parts of the USA. Although the drink driving/reckless driving problems in Hong Kong are not as bad as those in other countries, it could be lessened even further by the introduction of similar programmes. The next time senior officers go before the Transport Advisory Committee or make representations to the Transport Department, perhaps such a proposal could be put forward! A bit of short sharp shock treatment may wake some drivers up. Nick Pearson Enforcement and Control Traffic Hong Kong Island Reply . . . . DEAR SIR, MR Pearson's letter has made a very important point in that it is obviously highly desirable to lessen the incidents of accidents caused by drink or reckless driving. While not going to the length of taking offenders to the mortuary, we are pushing for greater awareness by the public through more graphic advertising and the use of television announcements of public interest (APIs) to put the message across. As you will be aware we are advocating lowering the alcohol limit from 80 mg per 100 ml of blood to 50 mg and there are other initiatives such as random testing that can be tried before taking the rather drastic measures advocated by Mr Pearson. We will however take Mr Pearson's suggestion on board and bear it in mind if considered necessary in the future. P. Croft for Chief Superintendent Traffic