Color in monochrome photos

This is a photo I shot in Taipei's international airport last October. It's not very colorful except for the country's mostly red flags. I don't think this shot would work in B&W, but I also don't think it would work if the rest of the shot (apart from the flags) had been colorful. The flags "pop" because the surroundings do not.

Canon G11, hand held, ambient light; photo here is greatly reduced from the hi-rez original.

Here's another example, from Bali last year, taken at Pura (temple) Gading Wali. You could shoot this in monochrome as far as the plants in the foreground are concerned, but the scarf on the statue really needs to be in color.

Same camera, with an Olympus 1.7x telephoto lens mated to the Canon with a Lensmate adapter. Photo again greatly reduced from the original.

But this shot of a fabric store in Ubud, Bali, obviously needs to be in full color, while this

, of a beach near the aforementioned temple, should be close to monochrome for the best effect.