I REFER to the Saturday Special on the increase in prices of food.

THE Straits Times report, 'A woman as prime minister of Singapore?' (March 21), of the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware) inaugural ThinkBox forum, Is Singapore Ready For A Hillary Clinton?, was a generally balanced and succinct account of the main issues debated, and the conclusions of the debating teams, panel and audience.

I REFER to Ms Lee Li Cheng's letter on March 31, 'Cabby cheats take passenger for a ride'. The distance between Lichi Avenue and Potong Pasir is about 1.2km and that from the junction of Lichi Avenue along Upper Aljunied Road to Potong Pasir is 1.8km - a difference of 600m.

In my view, he was simply trying to get out of the quandary when he was questioned on the shortcut.

A BIG thank you, Mrs Atima Joshi ('Hindi as Mother Tongue needs MOE guidance', March 29), for belling the cat.

I WOULD like to say a big 'thank you' to the staff and management of the National Library Board (NLB), who have worked hard to make its services so convenient for users.

WE REFER to the letter 'Not enough done to keep beaches clean' by Mr Kevin Chua Hock Meng (March 26).

I REFER to the letter, 'Beware the mozzies in this blooming feast' by Mr Pang Hee How on Friday.

I READ with concern the report on candidates who are no-shows at scheduled interviews (my paper, March 31). At the risk of opening a can of worms, I suggest this is symptomatic of a larger problem in society today - a dire lack of empathy, or the ability of understand and share the feelings of others.

AGAIN, banks and insurance companies seem to have increased their advertising efforts by phone. I have been overseas for several weeks and have received numerous calls on my cellphone, mostly during the night at my location. Worst of all, most callers just ring once, then hang up.

IT IS heartening to know Singaporeans are increasingly aware of events like Earth Day and Earth Hour, but much can still be done to educate the public and businesses about the dangers of environment-unfriendly and wasteful practices.

I REFER to last Tuesday's report, '40 Sri Lankans duped of 'big sums', ditched by rogue agents'.