Is the bottom one of these two letters too hilarious to be sincere?

I agree with Mr Thomas Ling (’Tackle the problem not the symptoms’, Aug 20) that upping financial incentives and maternity, paternity or childcare leave is barking up the wrong tree. This illustrates the adage that money cannot buy everything. Much reflection is needed on attitudes to life, career and relationships.

For one thing, young women today are almost totally lacking in fu dao (the way of women), a Confucian ethic. According to Confucius, ‘a woman should serve her family first and herself last’. Young women today are too arrogant, too loud and don’t even know how to sit properly. It makes one wonder about their parents and shudder at the thought of them becoming mothers.

Give the men a break. Changing nappies is a woman’s job. Men are made for greater things than this. You wouldn’t ask a woman to carry a tonne of bricks, would you? Girls have to be taught their domestic duties and women have to be more hardworking at home. Girls should not grow up thinking the home is not their responsibility.