I refer to Maria Ferstl’s letter (Modes of address, TMID, 17 October).

Maybe in Austria it’s insulting, but it’s not insulting to address an unmarried woman by “Miss/Sinjorina” in Malta. In North America it’s common to use Miss or Mrs although many have switched to Ms. When, on one occasion, I addressed a lady as Mrs, she smiled and said to me: “Miss”.

Apparently, the “Ms” had been introduced to be used for married and unmarried women and I don’t see anything wrong with that although in general, I tend to address mostly everyone by their first name. I hate to be addressed as Mr Grech – I prefer if they call me Alfred.

Alfred Grech

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