The lady, who is herself a lawyer, goes on. "I would like to explain that the whole spirit of the anti-discrimination law was to protect ladies, or men if necessary, from sexual harassment and to ensure that they get equal and fair treatment in the work place. It was not designed to stop innocent bits of fun such as a celebration of ladies' day or a free ladies' night in the bars."

She adds: "I have spoken to many members of the legal fraternity in this town who are of the same view. If someone really believes it is wrong to give away such freebies then I suggest he or she take [it] to Court and then have the matter settled once and for all. I am all for equal rights but this suggestion is just going too far and is ludicrous!"

A cursory view of the Sex Discrimination Ordinance shows that much of it indeed is concerned with harassment and employment. However, section 28 is explicitly headed "Discrimination in provision of goods, facilities or services" and appears to say that offering free drinks to women and not to men is discriminatory. The section is worded in terms of women, though elsewhere it is made clear that in most cases the word "woman" can be substituted for "man". We look forward to receiving further advice on this.

We wrote at length yesterday about Mr Justice Kevin Zervos' reasons for granting the Icon bar on Wyndham Street in Central, a judicial review against the conditions imposed on it by the Liquor Licensing Board. Much of this was to do with the conditions which were imposed on bars in an apparently arbitrary manner by the board in an effort to deal with the problem of noise.

However, a reader who is a long-term resident of Wyndham Mansion on Wyndham Street near the crossroads with Lan Kwai Fong urges us to highlight the "other side" of the story.

She says her location "bears the brunt of noise pollution" from the bars that are in Wyndham Street, and those in Lan Kwai Fong. "In an attempt to increase patronage, every bar, restaurant and club in this area tries to outdo the other and playing loud music seems to be one way of doing it."

While she says she is all in favour of business prosperity she does not understand why only some bars are required to close their doors and windows after 11pm. Her suggestion is that the licensing board should impose restrictions on playing loud music after a certain time on all bars. "There would be no injustice or discrimination then against anyone in particular. And, we could then expect, or insist on, the police enforcing the rule." She explains: "It used to be just the weekends when we would expect to spend sleepless nights; it is now pretty much any day of the week. A quiet night here seems to be the exception."

March is epilepsy awareness month in Hong Kong and Enlighten - Action for Epilepsy is launching a month-long campaign called "Paint the Town Purple" to encourage the people in Hong Kong to support those affected by epilepsy.

Purple (lavender) is the colour globally associated with epilepsy and is based on the idea that just as the lavender flower grows in seclusion, a person with epilepsy feels secluded. Enlighten believes that by building epilepsy awareness, it can improve the quality of lives of those affected by epilepsy.

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