I have read with interest recent letters complaining about the Hongkong & Yaumati Ferry Company's (HYF) ferries. I am a resident of Mui Wo and think the HYF deserves our congratulations. There have been many complaints that the new ferries are too small to handle rough seas. I would remind these people of how unsteady the old triple-decked ferries were in heavy swells. The ferry would frequently tilt 30 degrees or more, occasionally allowing sea water to rush in over the lower deck gunwales. How could the new ferries possibly be worse than that? Additionally, anyone who has sat on the open lower deck of a triple-decked ferry in high winds will remember the driving rain and splashes from waves that soaked passengers despite the plastic sheets hung across the openings. For years residents of the outlying islands have demanded a late night ferry. HYF has finally provided one (for Mui Wo and Peng Chau at least) at 3am. I have not seen any mention of this in any letter about the new services. I keep seeing references in newspapers and on television as to how little time the new ferries save for passengers. People have complained that Peng Chau's new ferries are 'only' 15 minutes faster - a 33 per cent reduction! The old triple-decked ferries to Mui Wo took 55 minutes (75 minutes when they went via Peng Chau). The new ones take 25 to 30 minutes. Furthermore Mui Wo and Peng Chau now only share one ferry a day - the 3am - when they used to share five or more. Many people initially complained about the added expense of the new ferries, saying that for families with children in school the extra cost was prohibitive. HYF promptly reduced the fares for uniformed schoolchildren to $10 for children over 12 and $5 for younger children. The result is that now people just complain that the ferries are too expensive and do not mention schoolchildren anymore. No one seems to have said anything about the improved conditions on the new ferries. For those who have forgotten I would remind them of the less pleasant features of the old ferries: rats and cockroaches aplenty, mangy cats (supposedly rat-catchers), the occasional centipede, people drinking and smoking at the backs of ferries, rock-hard seats, blatant and noisy gambling on the lower deck, fighting one's way on or off the ferry past trolleys loaded with cargo, Arctic conditions on the upper deck, and deafening and unintelligible announcements warning passengers of the dangers of pickpockets (or something). Do people really miss any of that? The enclosed design of the new ferries will help stop littering by inconsiderate passengers. It used to be a common sight to see passengers (island residents included) throwing rubbish overboard. Hopefully the new ferries will help put a stop to this. The new design will also stop people jumping or falling off (a sad incident a year or two ago comes to mind where a man jumped or fell off an HYF ferry and was killed by the propellors). I have seen many references in the media to the supposed chaos at the ferry piers. How I laughed when the promised 'first day of school' mayhem at the Central piers did not materialise. It brought a smile to my face to see all those television reporters standing around doing nothing, and the subsequent frenzy surrounding the single passenger who had reportedly suffered from bad ventilation was laughable. It would be a relief to hear fewer hysterical complaints about the new ferries. The service (to Mui Wo at least) has been running virtually flawlessly for the last few weeks and yet all we see in the media is complaints. TIMOTHY HOUGHTON Mui Wo