Attention should also be drawn to illegal car jockeys controlling the parking meters on Fuk Lo Tsun Road and other areas in Kowloon City.

Michael Li Hon-shing, executive director, Federation of Hong Kong Hotel Owners

I think the police are looking for the easy way out. By taking away the parking spaces, they then have the crime solved.

Instead, what they should do is frequently patrol the area, erect signs saying it is illegal for car jockeys to operate and place cameras high up to keep an eye on the parking spaces and cars.

Use the footage to arrest violators and put them in jail. Also punish restaurant owners who use the illegal jockeys. An expanded pedestrian area is of course welcome, but then take care you arrange proper and sufficient protected parking elsewhere or people will stay away and restaurants will lose business.

Jeffery Kuperus, Clear Water Bay

Q Should King Yin Lei mansion be declared an historical monument?

It seems clear that overwhelming popular opinion is behind saving the Stubbs Road Mansion from the wrecking ball of the developers. Many people have suggested in these pages, and to me personally, that it would make a great Chinese restaurant, a boutique hotel or a museum - or just about anything, as long as it was a public venue.

Visitors could send pictures of themselves at this amazing building all around the world - what better advertisement for Hong Kong?

The problem is cost. Which restaurateur or hotelier in Hong Kong (or anywhere) can afford the minimum $500 million required to rescue the mansion?

There is only one answer to this for the government. If we can spend $100 million on the Harbour Fest - something that was so fleeting and short-lived - surely the public coffers could cover the amount required to save something worthwhile to the community.

If we preserve the mansion, Hong Kong would have something that both visitors and locals alike could enjoy and remember. Spread over 100 years, $500 million would be a bargain for the government.

Peter Millward, Causeway Bay

On other matters ...

I refer to the article 'Bus drivers locked in pay dispute to stage a three-hour go-slow', published on Friday. As a regular bus user, I wish to express how frustrated I am that the New World First Bus union is taking industrial action so often and easily.

Union actions taken three times over the past year have simply caused great inconvenience and irritation to the public. The drivers' salaries are not considered low; they are above average to be precise, not to mention their 13-month pay bonus and free-ride benefit for family members.

The union should appreciate the fact that during a recession, not having a salary deduction is a good sign. Although the company made a profit last year, it must also deal with intense competition from the MTR, the impact of oil prices, fare discounts and the nightmare of Sars.

If the operating cost is going to increase due to the pressure of pay rises, it would no doubt pose a real threat to fares at the expense of passengers.

This industrial action is totally unfair to the public and irresponsible of the union. I hope that the company and the union will reach a mutual understanding and call off Wednesday's strike.

Elena Wan, Central

Regarding a report by Alex Lo headlined 'Tycoon fumes over 'sizzling' photos', published on Saturday, are you trying to tell me that the daughter, aged 18, of some billionaire doesn't know that there are millions of sharks out there just wanting to take risque photos of her in various poses? Wake up!

If the father had bothered to look after her, plus explain what the big, wide world is all about, then this would have never happened.

Sending her to the United States will certainly not help, it will just add fuel to the fire!

David Thornton, Shanghai

I recently read that it is estimated that nearly 50 million people participate annually in dragon boat competitions world-wide. The majority race in China and elsewhere in Asia, with more than 150,000 estimated participants in Europe; 50,000 in North America and 20,000 in Australasia. Why then isn't the Hong Kong government giving its full backing to a sport that the rest of the world regards (rightly or wrongly) as originating in our 'world city'?

I note the government has (under duress) coughed up a paltry $400,000 or so to save the event. When will everyone wake up to the fact that if we're to 'Live it, love it' and so on, then we must 'Support it'.

Bill Venn, Stanley

I don't believe it! After a second attempt to invite himself to Hong Kong on someone else's budget, John Lever, the crocodile hunter who never did get the elusive croc, is now stealing the thunder from someone who did - that poor fisherman who netted it and only got to show his back to the cameras!

Banu Suresh, Mid-Levels