I refer to 'Discrimination against expats' (August 13).
Is it within the Immigration Department's mandate to accept or reject people who apply for permanent residency based on whether they are single, have Hong Kong Chinese girlfriends or speak Cantonese?
If the answer is yes, then the department is the final arbiter of some very subjective criteria.
Since when is it within immigration's powers to conduct social policy for Hong Kong? It is amazing that even though the government lost its court case for this very reason - being subjective and arbitrary, as far as unconditional stay is concerned - immigration has become even more powerful, and sadly, more subjective.
It is also sad for Hong Kong too when career bureaucrats can have so much unchecked power.
Lack of transparency (remember Sars, Article 23, the financial secretary's car scandal and the 85,000 housing units annually amid other examples) has been highlighted as evidence of the government's incompetence.