Christianity and Islam share a common belief in the holiness of marriage and want married sexuality to be respected by society, not prostituted for commercial purposes. Pornography, adultery and other forms of sexual immorality strike at the dignity of marriage in both Islamic and non-Islamic cultures.

One can praise the modest dress of Islamic women without denigrating the social freedoms and clothing styles adopted by Christian women. Would Ms Wolf condemn the dress worn by Polynesians who go topless in hot, humid climates? We can readily accept condemnation of immodest clothing, but it has nothing to do with Christian tradition. Likewise, we can critique the mores and cultural features of the Islamic world without denigrating the essential religious message of Islam.

Both faiths have the same challenge, namely to uphold sexual morality and the spiritual dimension of marriage in our commercially-dominated society that has learned to use sex as a 'come-on' to attract consumers. A perfect example is Hong Kong's own MTR, if we judge by the overwhelming barrage of semi-nude models in adverts. Please don't blame Christianity for the excesses of advertising executives.

J. Garner, Sham Shui Po

Careful checks on roadworks

I refer to the letter by C. Thomasson ('Why can't our potholes be fixed for good?', September 8), concerning the resurfacing works in Tsing Yi Road West and Tuen Mun Road.

The Highways Department attaches great importance to the material quality and workmanship of road resurfacing works. We provide full-time works supervision of contractors. We collect on-site bulk samples of asphaltic materials and core samples of all resurfacing works for laboratory testing to verify the material quality and workmanship. All newly completed works are subject to a year of defects liability period. Contractors must rectify any defects related to substandard work at their own cost.

Tuen Mun Road was built in the 1970s and is a busy road. We resurface it regularly to keep it safe and serviceable. Some road sections under severe conditions, such as the uphill slow lanes, are resurfaced every two years. Resurfacing of other sections is less frequent. We resurface the road in sections and stages, to minimise traffic disruption. Our records reveal that all recently completed resurfacing works are in proper condition.

It is probably due to confusion on the part of road users who think different sections of resurfacing works are repeated resurfacing done over a short period, because these sections are close together. To ensure long-term improvement, we plan to reconstruct the entire road and the work will start this year.

Tsing Yi Road West has served for 20 years and is also resurfaced regularly. We last resurfaced a 150-metre long section of its slow lane near the junction with Liu To Road in September 2007. It has performed properly since then, except for a 30-metre long middle portion which had a rutting problem. Despite resurfacing it again in March, the rutting problem has recurred. We have found that heavy trucks on the slow lane start to brake in this portion of the lane. The pavement is old and coupled with more frequent exposure to this stronger braking, the surface of this part of the slow lane gets rutted.

To address the root of the problem we will reconstruct this portion of pavement next month, from its surface down to the founding base, so as to restore it to its full strength so it can sustain the frequent braking by trucks.

Victor Chan, senior engineer, public relations, Highways Department

Bad driving in Discovery Bay

I live in Discovery Bay and many of the observations in the Motoring section's Footdown column [about a 'Golf Buggy Grand Prix'] are absolutely correct ('Possibility of a 'DBGP' ', September 13).

The buggy drivers talk on their mobile phones; their kids are unrestrained, either in a proper child's seat or by a seat belt; the drivers themselves are also unrestrained. They drive with little attention paid to other traffic (as you point out, trucks and buses) and rarely signal - although that is not unique to Discovery Bay.

Jeff Heselwood, Discovery Bay

Pan-democrats must do more

The make-up of the Legislative Council has changed following the September 7 election. The pan-democrats held 23 of the 60 seats in the chamber.

As an ordinary pro-democracy citizen, I expect the pan- democratic legislators to perform better than they did in the last Legislative Council.

Besides scrutinising governmental policies, helping to enact laws and their other usual duties, they should sensibly utilise their popular mandate to ensure we face a proper democratic future.

Under the Basic Law, it will be up to the government to introduce any political reforms.

However, the pan-democratic legislators should not just confine their activities to using the veto to block any reforms they view as unsatisfactory.

They have a popular mandate and should actively mobilise the public to engage in the discussion over political reform and to participate in the mass movement fighting for better democracy.

Talking politics inside the chamber and leading the social movement outside the chamber are equally important in ensuring we move towards a more democratic Hong Kong.

Michael Ko, Sham Shui Po

People's choice

I find Chris Yeung's logic hard to follow in his Observer article ('Beijing's hand in polls more of a ham's fist' September 17).

If it were true that Beijing's invisible hand intervened heavily in the Legco elections, how come Choy So-yuk did not get re-elected? In the case of Hong Kong Island, the facts do not support Yeung's innuendos. The so-called Beijing-backed candidate Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee scored highly in all the middle class areas where the Civic Party did well. Is it possible that Beijing's officials were so influential that they could mobilise votes for Mrs Ip in those heavily independent areas?

I think the intense competition between Mrs Ip and the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong and the electoral outcome, including the Liberal Party's huge losses, show that it was the people of Hong Kong who called the shots, not Beijing's officials in Hong Kong.

Simon Chan, Mid-Levels

Good performer

Michael Gerson, a Washington Post columnist, raises a flawed question ('What has happened to the real Obama?', September 17). Barack Obama has never been real, he just plays oh-so-beautifully to the gallery.

I am not a US citizen and have no preferences for the 'red' or 'blue' camp, but I believe Senator Obama has become a global phenomenon that calls for a special case study in crowd psychology.

Raynah Sivaraman, Mid-Levels