Police must act if individuals are, say, throwing water bottles or trying to obstruct a private bus approaching a construction site.

It is also an offence to push a police officer.

It is important for the bar benders to recognise when they have violated the law. Although their calls for a wage adjustment are reasonable, they cannot expect public support, if they act as they did in Sha Tin on Wednesday.

I also think it was irresponsible for Lee Cheuk-yan and another legislator, 'Long Hair' Leung Kwok-hung, to support the actions of the strikers and criticise the police.

Jeff Leung, Wong Tai Sin

Sceptical about flooded Lamma

I noted with some dismay that your map illustrating the impact of a 30cm rise in sea levels due to climate change ('Warming may drown Guangzhou by 2050', August 30) appears to show Lamma Island completely submerged. Is there some instant karma here due to the fact that Lamma is the site of one of Hong Kong's biggest power stations?

An above-average number of Lamma residents may believe in the lost city of Atlantis, but we are sceptical about the lost village of Yung Shue Wan, as many of us have to walk 100 or more steps uphill to our houses.

John Sayer, Yung Shue Wan

No room at new Macau resort

In his letter, 'New resort was a let-down' (September 5), Andy Cheung should consider himself lucky - he managed to get a room in the Venetian resort in Macau.

Having booked a room, my wife and I still suffered the same wait for buses, but, worse, we couldn't even check in.

Along with about 1,000 other people, as informed by management, the hotel had overbooked and there were no rooms available for us. This was despite a confirmed booking with a confirmation number.

There was total chaos at the check-in counters and the staff did not know what they were doing.

No information was given to the guests queuing, and what little was gleaned was contradictory.

This is another company from the US that is attempting to do business in Asia with no proper planning.

One would have thought that they would have learned from the problems at Disneyland.

Andy Boulton, Shouson Hill

Typhoon chaos is avoidable

A lot of views have been expressed on the turmoil in the city caused by Typhoon Pabuk on August 10.

Some blamed it on the Observatory, some bashed the MTR Corporation. But in my opinion, the real cause of all the grievances was the lack of common sense and discipline on the part of the working population, including me and my friends.

No mass transportation system can handle a situation where such large numbers of people flock to its stations at the same time.

The Observatory gave an advance warning of two to three hours of the No 8 signal. I do not know how it could have done a better job. A period of two to three hours is what is required for people to get home in an orderly fashion. If we take a snapshot of our city every morning, we will find that most of us arrive at our workplace at 8.30 or 9am without any problems. This is because we don't all leave home at the same time. Now take the case of a typhoon.

If, for example, the Observatory warns at 1.30pm that the No 8 is likely to be hoisted at 3.30pm, what we need to do is leave our workplaces so we get home in time.

There is no need for us all to leave our workplaces at the same time. If we leave at different times, chaos can be avoided.

Of course, there are areas where there is a high concentration of offices.

This is all the more reason why people need to space out their departure times.

I have confidence in the wisdom and discipline of the Hong Kong people.

I would urge the relevant government departments to start doing something to try to get this message across to the public.

J. Y. K. Cheng, Quarry Bay

From glasnost to Louis Vuitton

On seeing the full-page advertisement on the back of Thursday's South China Morning Post, I found myself fighting back tears of despair.

Did a former leader of the Soviet Union (Mikhail Gorbachev) really allow Louis Vuitton to exploit his image and his mixed legacy to promote the company's sales of luxury leather goods, moreover, in a city already perversely proud of its economic inequalities?

Or was this part of the same bad dream that began on Wednesday, when I saw my daughter's school being exploited by a property developer in a massive poster at the Discovery Bay pier on Hong Kong Island?

Nick Walker, Discovery Bay

Sloppy spelling on board

I refer to the letter from Agnes Bianca Hall ('HK officials have done little to promote Olympic Games', August 30).

Well, the officials have done something.

At the entrance to Victoria Park, for example, an enormous electronic display board carries a message promoting the Olympic equestrian events to be staged in Hong Kong.

Amazingly, however, the display manages to incorrectly spell the word 'equestrian'. We are told to support the 'equestrain' events.

Does this example of sloppiness, in Asia's so-called 'world city', inspire confidence that our officials actually know how to stage and promote a world-class sporting event?

Jonathan Sharp, Tai Hang

Sammy sends wrong message

I was watching the drama Colours of Love on TVB Jade on Sunday night and was dismayed to see the main character, a detective played by Sammy Leung, appear to be smoking.

In the dialogue, there were numerous references to smoking. The implication was that the detective was a heavy smoker and had difficulty quitting.

There were repeated suggestions of the need to smoke during times of trouble.

I congratulate the government on passing the Smoking (Public Health) Ordinance.

However, having a character smoking on TV is a slap in the face for the administration's tobacco-control measures, while also setting a bad example.

I accept that this programme was shown at 10pm, but a lot of young people will have stayed up to watch it and Leung is very well known.

Also, this programme was being screened on Hong Kong's most popular television channel.

I think the Broadcasting Authority should look into this matter.

W. Y. Wan, Central