Meanwhile, pro-Beijingers claim Hongkongers do not yet have enough maturity to be entrusted with unrestrained democracy. Both sets of advocates display astonishing arrogance.

Do any of them order dim sum in a local restaurant? Do they know that the customer must quickly study a stack of order pads, table cards, menu specials, window ads and seasonal offers, having previously worked out which dishes are usually available in which time zones on which days of the week, while ensuring that orders are placed and bills paid in the cheapest possible time zone.

This is the same population that zips in and out of Jockey Club betting centres, compiling multiple bets of devilish complexity in nanoseconds.

The same people go bargain-shopping every day, mentally noting and memorising a multiplicity of fractional differences in grams, catties and seasonal discounts, to be sure they will always get the best prices.

The same masters of mental arithmetic see stock exchange trends faster than their computer screens reveal them.

And this population of numerically adroit Hongkongers is thought to be incapable of assessing the 400 or so political permutations that the government pretends to offer them? Far from it.

Hongkongers already know that there is only one set of permutations that will be allowed to emerge from the so-called consultative process.

They are not going to waste their time playing the games of political animals.

Barry Girling, Tung Chung

Staff at airport hitting targets

Your correspondent Jerry Hausman, of Boston, US, complained about the time it took to go through immigration at the airport ('Long wait in line out of order', July 31).

The Immigration Department has a performance pledge to complete immigration clearance for 92 per cent of the visitors within a 15-minute waiting time at the airport.

According to our records, Mr Hausman's departure immigration clearance was completed at 3.06 pm on July 20, at the North Departure Hall. From 2.40pm to 3.15pm, eight counters, including one designated diplomatic/courtesy counter and two Hong Kong resident counters, were opened at that hall. Our computer and CCTV records show that the maximum queuing length was less than 20 passengers in a line and the relevant counter officer on average processed 1.79 passengers each minute during the last 30 minutes preceding Mr Hausman. After reviewing all the available information, we believe Mr Hausman should not have waited for more than 12 minutes for immigration clearance, which is within our pledge standard.

To maximise utilisation of resources, we have an established practice in place whereby regulators employed by the Airport Authority will direct visitors waiting in the line to use the designated diplomatic/courtesy and Hong Kong resident counters in an orderly manner, whenever these counters are not engaged.

Computer records show that about 15 per cent of the output of the diplomatic/courtesy and Hong Kong resident counters were visitors around this time.

The airport has a very busy summer.

The number of visitor arrivals has gone up by 12.4 per cent compared with July last year. We are certainly mindful of the increasing waiting time experienced by passengers particularly visitors to Hong Kong. We accord high priority to facilitating the clearance of passengers and are committed to seeking a continual improvement.

K. W. Chow, for director of immigration

Seeing less of HK landmarks

Shame on Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen for constantly putting profits ahead of people's interests and the environmental stability of Hong Kong.

On my regular visits to Hong Kong, I see less and less of what has made their city a special place. However, I see more and more shopping malls and more and more traffic.

I hope the new civic action spirit among young and old in Hong Kong will finally be able to make an impact on stubborn bureaucrats, who do not seem to have the interests of Hong Kong at large on their agenda.

Joseph T. Miller, Urbana, Illinois

Get billboards out of parks

As some of your correspondents have pointed out, regarding billboards in Statue Square, the sponsors of the 2009 East Asian Games, should promote their association through their own commercial activities rather than demanding advertising space in our parks and gardens in exchange for their support.

Cathay Pacific will benefit from extra arrivals during the Games. It has reaped billions by touting that it is Hong Kong's own airline and therefore entitled to special privileges that give it an advantage over other airlines flying into Hong Kong. It should show its gratitude through genuine sponsorship. Lee Shau-kee, of Henderson Land, who has the Grand Bauhinia Medal, should certainly display patriotic fervour by supporting the games with no strings attached.

The presence of a gaudily lit advert for a Japanese company like Canon is hardly appropriate beside the Cenotaph, where the fallen heroes of the second world war are remembered.

As our government is sitting on a budget surplus of almost HK$60 billion, there is certainly no need to sell off our sitting-out areas this manner.

The advertising boards cause visual pollution, block air flow, demonstrate a lack of respect for cultural and heritage icons and deny the public the right to sit in peace and relax.

They and similar promotions in other parks must be removed.

Candy Tam, Wan Chai

Bank has long history in China

Hendrik-Jan Stalknecht said the Netherlands has no need for 'that kind of money', when referring to the Singaporean and Chinese governments' interest in the takeover of ABN Amro Bank ('Dutch snub', August 1).

He might like to ponder the reality that ABN has been taking Chinese money for more than 100 years, having been established in Shanghai in 1903 and seemingly not feeling guilty for every guilder of profit made since then!

Mark Peaker, The Peak

Waste of plastic

You see outlets in food malls and shopping centres, offering disposable utensils (forks, knives, cups etc), which saves staff having to wash and re-use them.

You even see the utensils in popular Taiwanese drink shops and Chinese sweet shops. Given the popularity of these food and beverage outlets, when it comes to wasting plastic, it would not be a stretch to challenge the idea that plastic bags are our biggest problem.

I suggest that the government should extend its plastic tax so it covers such outlets. Hopefully, then, the owners of these utensils would reconsider their responsibilities to the environment.

Mark Chan, Tai Po