It is very strange when you consider how advanced Hong Kong is in many other ways.

I once again say 'no' to stone walls and railings on the hiking trail on Old Peak Road. The railings or stone walls are eyesores and detract from the public's right to enjoy the natural environment.

Fencing proposals on Old Peak Road are an irresponsible waste of public money. I walk on this trail and find it perfectly safe. I also believe that I, and other users, can be responsible for our own safety.

Drop these fencing proposals and leave Old Peak Road alone. Public resources should instead be channelled into projects that will actually help real people, not those that simply irritate them.

William Sargent, Wan Chai

Polarisation of the haves and have-nots

It is uncertain that one in 10 people in Hong Kong are living in poverty, as reported by the former commission on poverty ('One in 10 Hongkongers caught in the poverty trap, study finds', November 4). What is certain is that the income gap is widening.

Rising prices of some new flats have become a burning issue in recent months. While some people can afford HK$70,000 per square foot for a unit, others can only afford to live in a shoebox.

Hong Kong's high Gini coefficient also reveals the polarisation of rich and poor. When the income gap widens, there are no positive effects, just drawbacks.

Sustainability, which is about equality in environmental, economic and social terms, has become a greater concern in recent years. If the government only focuses on economic development, at the expense of social welfare, it risks violating the principles of sustainability.

Bibby Wan, Sha Tin

Prosperity isn't just about monetary wealth

Hong Kong was ranked 18th among 104 economies in the recently published 2009 Legatum Prosperity Index, with its economic fundamentals ranked first, education 39th and personal freedom 67th. Such results are encouraging but these rankings may not all be totally justifiable.

Hong Kong's first-place economic fundamentals are due to its gross domestic product, domestic savings and investment (all above the global average), with 4 per cent unemployment and 2 per cent inflation. But these statistics were taken before the arrival of the 'Great Recession'. No one could tell how far Hong Kong has fallen behind because of the financial crisis and, as long as we are still suffering losses from the downturn, these figures reflect nothing about our current economic health.

Meanwhile, it is interesting to see Hong Kong was ranked 67th in personal freedom, with most Hongkongers saying they were happy with the level of choice and diversity in their lives. While it may be true that we have fewer choices, compared with nations that ranked high in terms of freedom, any constraints are not of great concern if most people are not bothered by them.

All in all, true prosperity is about monetary wealth and life satisfaction as well.

To become a really prosperous society, Hong Kong still has a long way to go.

Lyn Wong, Tseung Kwan O

Students need more than mock exams

The reason why students seek help from celebrity tutors, as Calista Wong writes ('No need for costly tutors,' October 24), is more than simply getting tips or learning exam skills.

These children feel helpless in their daytime school lessons.

Take English lessons, for example. Many students tell me that their English teachers simply give them HKCEE mock exam papers to do every day, throughout the term.

They feel they have not learned anything.

These students are simply seeking help from these tutors. Nobody should be blamed. However, we as teachers should really think about why it is that so many of our students fall asleep in our lessons or even skip classes.

Agnes Chan, Lam Tin

Lamma drug story discredits residents

Your report 'Expats held in Lamma drug bust' (November 1) was mere sensationalism that did huge and undeserved damage to the island's inhabitants.

If you wanted a front-page article, it would have been fairer to criticise the police for such a misconceived operation, or to have placed the really large drug seizure reported on the inside page on the front page instead.

It would have been far more appropriate to have lambasted the police for an appalling waste of public funds in their failed effort to entrap a handful of petty drug users and their suppliers.

Ten years ago, police might conceivably have had more success but, since then, the island has become a sanctuary for those seeking a more agreeable and healthy lifestyle for their children, with the vast majority being honest members of society.

Jonathan Coleman, Ap Lei Chau

Government records are a historic resource

Your report on whether to open secret-police archives in Romania and other former communist countries in Eastern Europe ('Should Romania let sleeping dogs lie?', September 21) should give Hong Kong people pause for thought.

The point is not that the police in Hong Kong are likely to have amassed thousands of dossiers on the local population but, rather, that the Romanians - and other nationalities - recognise the value of preserving the police files.

As Virgiliu-Leon Tarau, of the Romanian National Council for the Study of Securitate Archives says, the files will have immense value for generations to come. The archives contain details of the lives of ordinary citizens - the history of the Romanian people.

So, too, the records of the Hong Kong government document the lives and activities of the people of this city.

How we lived and worked, how Hong Kong developed and thrived will be of significant interest to future generations. Yet, without an effective system for the selection and preservation of government records, our history will be lost to us - and to them.

Don Brech, Causeway Bay

The other Obama

Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo is apparently cashing in on his famous brother's name ('Nightmares from his father for Obama brother', November 5).

I'm glad, however, that he has set the record straight about his father, who was obviously a smooth operator (with women) and an opportunist - something US President Barack Obama glossed over in his biography.

I have wondered why the US president highlighted his father in the title of his book, making him sound like an inspirational person in his life, when he was actually a disreputable character.

It was his Kansan mother who was the admirable one.

Renata Lopez, Wan Chai