Sir, I saw The Courier’s recent article about Sunny-side Royal Hospital and I was mystified and disappointed as to why a historical photograph was chosen to illustrate it.
The site consists of numerous buildings and none of them look as portrayed in that photograph.
Most are in a very sorry state having been boarded up after attention from the elements, thieves and vandals and then abandoned.
It smacks of laziness choosing an archive photograph and belies the true state of affairs.
The general public must be wondering what all the fuss is about and it makes a mockery of the comments forwarded by those who have raised concerns.
Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, I note there is apparently a “master planner” who has been charged with preparing Sunnyside for sale.
The only evidence I can see of any master planning is from God himself who is doing a pretty good job of preparing the buildings to be only fit for demolition.
Of course, prospective buyers would probably be delighted if the buildings were in such a state of collapse that they needed to be demolished.
A blank canvas for all these new houses which will almost inevitably inhabit the site at some time in the future.
Alison Wallace. 18 Downie Way, Hillside, Montrose.
English and maths more needed
Sir, Jenny Hjul would have us abandon our desire to keep our ancient language alive and set us all on a course to learn foreign languages, French, German, Spanish and so on.
“Foreign languages help us to understand our mother tongue” (English?). She also says Scottish school-leavers won’t be able to compete with multilingual Europeans.
Several things come to mind. Firstly, she repeats the words of wisdom from my former deputy head when advising us on subject choice: “I think you should consider taking Latin, since it will help your English.”
Now there was good advice. Go and learn a dead language. I didn’t opt for Latin, since a scan through the job adverts at the time did not suggest any exciting career prospects.
Yes, pupils in European schools are taught a foreign language from primary: surprise, surprise, predominately English. So why are we wasting our time learning another language when we are already in possession of the almost universal language adopted throughout the world?
So we want to trade with other countries and not be disadvantaged by not conversing with others in their language. What about two of the most successful non-European trading nations in the world, America and Japan?
Where foreign language is taught in the USA, it tends to be Spanish mainly in meeting the demands of the large Hispanic population. Japanese children seek English as a foreign language. Do these countries bother much with French and German? The last time I was in Japan, I was told that there were 10,000 private teachers of English.
I personally think we should drop foreign language teaching altogether in school and use the extra time to concentrate on English and mathematics. These are the skills that appear to be holding back our young people from progressing in employment.
Milne Easton. High Street, Monifieth.
Jobs shouldn’t be at expense of the starving
Sir, I wish to express my deep concern for subsistence farmers in developing countries.
Our Government and charities give money to feed starving people.
One in eight people in the world go to bed hungry every night. Many children die of starvation every day.
Land is being taken by companies growing food for fuel to be used in biomass plants providing us with electricity. I accept small plants using local fuel but not large ones using fuel which has to be transported.
Residents in Dundee need jobs but not at the expense of starving people.
Marion L Peter. 27 Janefield Place, Dundee.
The safety of others had to be considered
Sir, I am saddened but not entirely surprised that the manager of the St Andrews Golf Hotel felt obliged to cancel the event due to be held there last Friday evening (Protest fear prompts hotel to cancel pro-Israeli charity ball, April 30).
He had to make a decision regarding the safety of others and, having received aggressive emails and phone calls (which I hope the police are going to investigate) and facing the prospect of a protest outside the hotel, he did what he thought was best.
However, Mick Napier of the Scottish Palestinian Solidarity Campaign says he hopes the cancellation “will set a precedent”. If it does, it will be a worrying one to all who believe in liberty and freedom in this country.
Hats off to the alternative venue which hosted the cancelled event at such short notice.
Angela Rennie. 88 Muirfield Crescent, Dundee.