I FOUND the article in the South China Morning Post on July 12, hard to stomach. I was one of the crew who volunteered to help on the flight and in my entire nine-year flying career, this was the most wonderful and rewarding flight I have ever worked on. Iam sure the rest of my colleagues on the flight, would agree. I am surprised your reporter did not recognise the kindness and generosity showered on these children. It was just so touching to see the looks of excitement mixed with curiosity on these innocent faces. From the time they entered the aircraft until they disembarked, there was an intense fascination in their eyes which perhaps your reporter mistook for air-sickness. I would like to fill readers in on what actually happened. We took off from Hongkong and flew at an altitude of 1800 feet taking in the sights of Hongkong. Since we were flying at such a low altitude and the weather was poor, there was a mild turbulence, which is normal. However, the children hardly noticed this as they were so busy listening to the interesting commentary from our captain and they squealed with delightful ''waahs'', while the photographers clicked away. Yes, a few children were unwell, but that is only to be expected for those in mild turbulence, excited and nervous about flying for the first time in their lives. All our children walked off with Cathy Pacific fun packs, games, sweets and toys after being treated to a delicious refreshment inflight and lunch on the ground. They had that feeling of satisfaction mixed with disappointment as their fantasy had come toan end and they had to step back to reality. I wish your report had recognised the effort put in and goodwill shown by all CX staff and by the guardians of the homes, who worked so hard to put a smile on the faces of the underprivileged children. Our reward was to see the children so happy and we are looking forward to putting more smiles on the faces of the people we care about. M. PEREIRA Senior Purser Cathay Pacific Airways
