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We have no reason to assure civil servants an iron rice bowl, much less a golden one, when the rest of us have to make do with a porcelain bowl chipped at the edge.

Liberal Party leader James Tien Pei-chun (above).

Mr and Mrs Hong Kong do not buy property when they are looking over their shoulders wondering whether they have a job.

John Saunders, property analyst at Credit Lyonnais Securities.

Although there may be lots of job vacancies in China, Hong Kong people may not be right for them.

Mak Ping-on of the Institute of Human Resources Management.

The economic and political future of the Asian region will be doomed if the two (China and Japan) fail to co-operate.

Tang Shiping, Professor of the Asia-Pacific Research Institute of the China Academy of Social Sciences.

Rich people should respect poor people . . . Hong Kong is lacking this kind of mutual help and respect.

Hong Kong Social Workers Association vice-president Chua Hoi-wai.

You can run but you can't hide.

Greenpeace International political director Remi Parmentier referring to the choice of protestor-unfriendly Doha as a venue for the WTO conference.

These are the busiest guys in the world. Why should they spend one or two days in Hong Kong?

Democratic Party economics spokesman Fred Li Wah-ming explaining the poor turnout at the latest meeting of the chief executive's Council of International Advisers.

Of course, the drug companies need to make a profit . . . But let them make it over 10 years, not two.

Jane Nalunga, a WTO Deniva delegate, pleading for easier access to patented drugs for poor nations.