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Dear Stan,

You can't imagine how happy our son Icey was to see his pictures in the GulfWeekly social scene section.

Thank you so very much.

Warmest regards,

Wendy Tiongson

Dear Editor,

I refer to the Social Scene report in GulfWeekly dated July 1-7, 2009 concerning the Alternative Christmas Dinner at the Dilmun Club in Saar.

Unfortunately you forgot (conveniently?) to mention on behalf of the many respectable and loyal members that the end of their evening was thoroughly ruined by the disgraceful behaviour of a few 'members'.

If the current committee does not take appropriate action and ban all of them, then for sure the members will no doubt vote for a completely new committee at the next AGM.

A disgusted Dilmun Club member of 25 years.

Editor's note: GulfWeekly's representative had left the venue before any alleged incident.

A club spokesman said: "The Dilmun Club has a well published and established complaints procedure that every member of the club has access to and this remains the correct and proper way for members to air their complaints/comments.

If a member has a problem, the correct way to address the committee is directly in writing and not through the media."

Dear Stan,

Last week's 'Whisperer' asked why there is a difference between the price of British passports obtained in the UK and overseas.

This is because operations are run on a cost recovery basis, and it costs more to issue passports overseas than it does in the UK. The fees for a passport issued overseas are the same anywhere in the world. Three elements make up the pricing which are: i) the overseas costs of issuing; ii) the cost of providing consular assistance/help to British nationals who find themselves in difficulty whilst overseas; iii) and an Emergency Consular Premium which covers the extraordinary costs arising from disaster overseas that affect British nationals.

We offer advice about the passport application process and costs to anyone who calls or visits the Embassy, including on applications in the UK.

The British Embassy's website (https://ukinbahrain.fco.gov.uk/en/) also carries details of both the process and costs in Bahrain, as well as a link to the Identity and Passport Service website, which covers the equivalent information for applications in the UK.

Applicants can apply at any time before their passport expires, so can certainly do so during a UK visit.

If anyone has questions about the passport or other British Embassy services please visit our website or email us on british.embassy@batelco.com.bh

Andy Stephenson,

Political Officer,

British Embassy, Bahrain.

Dear Stan,

Thanks so much for publishing the picture of our community service visit to Riffa centre in this week's GulfWeekly issue.

Thanks and regards,

Vani Krishnan and

Shantini,

Community sevice

co-ordinators,

Indian Ladies

Association.

Dear Stan,

Re: The article in GulfWeekly (June 3-9) on my son Jathin's inclusion in the Canon photography magazine with his picture taken at this year's Grand Prix.

The July edition of Canon PhotoPlus finally arrived, which is available in the newsstands. It features Jathin's photo evaluated by Mr Drew who is a professional motorsports photographer specially F1 (He was here in Bahrain sometime back for the photoshoot of the race).

All the photos selected to be in the photosection of PhotoPlus are all scrutinised by a professional panel of experts.

I'm happy that the PhotoPlus comments on Jathin quite justifies your projection on Jathin in the GulfWeekly.

Best wishes,

Prem Narayanan.

Dear Stan,

Regarding last week's front page article about me, I just read it and I do like the piece, thank you. However, kindly note that my race time was 1hr 55min and not 155min and the time I was shooting for was 1hr 40 min and not 144min.

A runner's time at a race is more important to him than placing and a title.

I know it is a glitch but I'd like to put it straight.

Myrna Saliba.

Editor's note: Whoops, sorry Myrna, we're happy to set the record straight. Perhaps we should send the reporter concerned out for a run with Myrna as punishment.