SIMMONS ''We had to get quite cross. I feel very sorry for the staff but we had no alternative but to shout at them.'' - London-bound Cathay passenger John Simmons who blamed lack of information from management for lost tempers at Kai Tak. MUHSEN ''Kuwait shall return to Iraq in defiance of the Security Council and America.'' - Saddam Hussein's press officer Abduljabbar Muhsen in a press advertisement marking the defeat of Iraq in the Gulf War two years ago. BUSH OFFICIAL ''It's just a spanking for Iraq, not a real beating.'' - Bush administration comment on the bombing raids that followed soon after. PATTEN ''We all have different notions of what consti-tutes acceptable social conduct.'' - Governor Chris Patten on the Singapore Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew's remarks in a newspaper interview about the proposed political reforms. LEONG ''Successful practitioners considering a commitment of up to 20 or more years in a judicial career must look very seriously at what the future may bring.'' - Bar Association chairman Jacqueline Leong, at the opening of the legal year, warning that Chinese threats to the legal system were sapping confidence in the profession. EASON ''I do not think that it would be appropriate for this administration to introduce, or to be seen to be contemplating, any form of ethnic cleansing in this area on Sundays.'' - Planning, Environment and Lands Secretary Tony Eason replying to legislator Martin Barrow on the question of finding an alternative site to Statue Square for Filipina maids on their day off. LEUNG ''The road is a limited system and cannot be used over its capacity.'' - Transport Secretary Michael Leung announcing that private car registrations rose by ten per cent last year. MacGREGOR ''The actions of the Prince and Princess of Wales seriously embarrassed the commission and undermined the purpose of this carefully timed and emotively phrased statement.'' - Lord MacGregor, chairman of the British Press Complaints Commission, in a letter leaked to the press in which he complained that information had been fed to newspapers by the Royal couple. Last year he issued a statement condemning press intrusion into their affairs. BURMESE OFFICIAL ''Aung San Suu Kyi will be placed under restriction until the time of transfer of power.'' - Statement from the Rangoon military junta, saying its leading dissident will not be freed while it is still in power. PEROT ''Perot, why are you doing this? Why are you back into this after all the headaches.'' - Ross Perot, in a new set of commercials announcing his return to centre-stage with the help of a political watchdog organisation he plans to set up throughout the US.
