I do not understand this strange antipathy towards football gambling.

Oliver Mark (South China Morning Post, July 4) claims that children see their parents gambling on football and think it is okay to follow suit. But they also see their parents and many others gambling on horse racing, the Mark 6, when they play mahjong, and even on stock and property markets.

Taking risks is what makes (and occasionally breaks) Hong Kong, making it such a special laissez-faire economy.