In the past, when I went to gatherings with my mother’s colleagues, they would praise me for being cute and polite. However, when I met them recently, they kept asking about my studies, my school results, my career plans.

What was most annoying was how they talked about their sons and daughters in university. Comments on their scores and superiority are still ringing in my ears.

I always compare our education system to a casino. The early years are used to win money for gambling. The knowledge we gain is the wager, on which success, or the lack of it, depends. If you lose, you lose your chance to embark on life from a higher starting point. If you win, then, congratulations, you can start at a higher point. But what about the loss of our valuable childhood?

Christine Wong, Lam Tin

Divorcees are punished twice over by taxman

Married people have double the tax allowance of a divorcee, as he/she is now alone.

Fact is, however, that the government does not allow the ­alimony paid to be listed as a tax ­deductible, nor can you claim for double the tax allowance.

When the receiving ex-partner is working, they would logically get the allowance – but they should also add the alimony to their ­income and pay tax over it.

The paying ex-partner is, in the current tax system, “punished” twice, as he/she also has to pay tax over the money paid to the ex.

Hong Kong is set for a budget surplus of nearly HK$160 billion this year, where the original estimate was HK$16.3 billion. With so much spare cash, the Inland Revenue Department should give some much-needed relief to such alimony payers.

Jeffry Kuperus, Clear Water Bay

Raise the bar for hiring ­­bus drivers

I also think there should be a higher standard of entry. More ­detailed and strict interviews can help confirm that drivers have the required skills and attitude. Along with more rigorous training and welfare benefits, this can improve morale and passenger services.

Celia Cheung, Kwai Chung

‘Emperor Xi’ would mean a leap backward

It is not a matter of whether Xi is doing a good job or not. Having the power to stay in office as long as he wishes is a great leap backward for China.

The Communist Party has long tried to justify the ­legitimacy of its unique “democracy”, assuring us that it can represent 1.3 billion people because it makes decisions in their best interest; that, with hundreds of millions of ­uneducated farmers, it may not be yet the right time for genuine ­democracy – “one person one vote”. But, with the spread of education and wealth, we the people should be able to expect that we are at least walking towards a brighter future.

Unfortunately, the proposed amendment to the constitution is an assault on that hope. It is no different to officially admitting that democracy and human rights are nothing but slogans in China. Also, it means the political system can never make progress.

This is heart-wrenching to me as a Chinese. This will not only do harm to the general public but the party as well, because it may cripple the balance of its self-maintaining politics. I sincerely hope there would be opposition from the party, if it still has a say. It is an understatement to call this decision a mistake. We cannot ­afford to put China at risk of crowning another emperor.

Yow Tsz Chung, Tin Shui Wai

Appalled at ‘sex slave’ cheerleaders

I also thought how ironic it was that the very same Koreans who suffered at the hands of the Japanese would set up a “comfort women” system of their own.

Sandy Yuen, Kwai Chung