UA raised standards

I doubt if Joel Delacey (letter headlined, 'Not giving the whole picture', South China Morning Post, January 23) has been to cinemas where patrons bring in grilled cuttlefish, chicken legs, styrofoam boxes of fried noodles with beef in oyster sauce, and fermented bean curd (the odour so pungent that you can smell it blocks away). I have.

So the United Artists cinemas are making a fortune by restricting food and beverage brought into their premises to that bought inside the cinemas. I am happy that I can be certain that I only have to put up with the popcorn and hot-dogs. (Although I must admit that I was surprised to find during a recent visit that two people reaching incessantly inside a tub for popcorn can generate such distracting noises).

UA cinemas have revolutionised the cinema business in Hong Kong.

As an avid visitor to the cinemas, I have watched over the past 10 odd years during which competition has forced the cinemas in Hong Kong to follow suit by raising the standard of the hygiene and quality of their establishments.

My children used to refuse to put their feet on the floor while seated, because of cockroaches crawling up their legs.

Watching rats running across the stage in front of the screen was part of the entertainment.

But as for the quality of the films shown, now that's a separate issue.

PONG YENG Mid-Levels