For the love of Christmas

Santa and his elves giving out presents to the children that wrote him letters at Galleria Mall, Abu Dhabi. Khushnum Bhandari / The National

With reference to Kamal Tabikha's article Cairo celebrates Christmas with Santa Claus, twinkling lights and reindeer antlers (Dec 21): I love the spirit of Christmas, the feeling of shared humanity, the festive lights, all the pomp and fuss. It all shows that people do make an effort to make others happy. Regardless of the religious aspect, any occasion that brings people together, adds smiles and joy should be celebrated. Here's to a safe, festive and happy holiday season to us all.

Fathima Sayed, Johannesburg, South Africa

It's never too late. A businesswoman in her '90s

With reference to your article Meet the Indian grandmother who started a business at 90 (December 20): she is certainly an inspiration to us all.

Hema Mehra, Mumbai, India

This is such a motivation for people who think their time has past. Salute.

Dr Sarita Mehta, Jaipur, India

Such determination and firmness in an elderly lady is wonderful to see. She is a role model for younger people. More than that, at age 95, Harbhajan Kaur, is a good example for people closer to her age or even a few decades younger.

Abdul Qayoom, Srinagar, India

Let's do more for animals and the climate

With reference to Robert Tollast's story Images of dead giraffes highlight Kenya climate crisis (December 14): this is tragic, and to think it might be only the beginning of the climate change disaster. The world needs to do a much better job of caring for our wildlife.

Saima Anwar, Karachi, Pakistan

A privacy check on social media – not a bad thing?

With reference to Evelyn Lau's report Facebook's 'Lock Your Profile' feature has come to the UAE (December 21): it also makes it difficult when adding people to Fb groups. A locked profile may not get you access.

Rachael Partington, Abu Dhabi

The revealing choices and taxes of Elon Musk

With reference to Alvin R Cabral's report Elon Musk to pay more than $11bn in taxes this year (December 20): I found the details in this report interesting. Elon Musk is a fascinating man in any case. His reply to Elizabeth Warren was intriguing. He said he does not draw a salary from either SpaceX or Tesla. Just as an experiment, it would be insightful to see what the government would spend that $11 bn of tax on – would be informative to see a breakdown of expenditure, versus a comparison of what Elon Musk would do with that money and what that might mean for Bitcoin or space flights, if anything. Mr Musk likes to take risks. Maybe there is something to be learnt from his courage.

Andre Van De Haar, Port Elizabeth, South Africa