Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing to express my views on the sale of books that contain unhealthy contents at the fair.
I went to the Hong Kong Book Fair this year and noticed an indecent scene. Many book stalls were selling books that contain sexy images of teenage models and comics that promote violence. I was let down absolutely. This was unacceptable and should have been banned from the fair.
The fair put stress on cultivating Hong Kong citizens’ reading habit and letting them keep in touch with a great variety of books. To ensure this could be achieved, books sold at the fair must not contain unhealthy contents. There should not be books like this at the fair.
Besides, books that contain sexy images of teen models and comics that promote violence impose negative impacts to teenagers easily. Teenagers are growing into young adults and still learning new things. These books give the messages of violence and sex to the teenagers, teaching them to solve problems by violent means and be more open-minded towards sex. Such books do more harm than good to teenagers indeed. The unhealthy contents will only lead to more teenage crime and misbehaviours of teenagers, like bullying their peers for self- interests and participating in compensated dating. This explains why we often see teenagers bullying others, getting pregnant at a young age and dumping their babies, in the headlines nowadays. That is why these books should not be sold at the fair.
The Hong Kong Book Fair provides a chance for us to get in touch with literature and learn to appreciate it. It is a chance for educating people the appropriate and proper attitudes towards reading. There are so many ways that teenagers could access unhealthy contents nowadays, such as the Internet. We could not prevent teens from accessing unhealthy contents in the Internet as it is widely used. So, why don’t we begin with the fair while we can still do it? Why can’t the fair uphold its own right values and preserve the good tradition to promote a healthy reading culture?
Once again, I would like to tell you how dissatisfied and disappointed I was when I found that the book stalls were selling books that contain unhealthy contents at the fair. I insist that these books should not be sold at the fair in the future. I hope that actions will be taken to improve the situation and no unhealthy contents could be seen at the fair next year. Thank you for your consideration.
Yours faithfully,
Pat Lee