He has since convinced her that it is a fine idea.

It is good to see such a healthy matrimonial relationship.

Obviously the meaning of marriage for the couple has changed over time.

We refer to Mr Wu's previous comments at the function.

He was talking about - surprise - building a bridge to Zhuhai.

Mr Wu cast his mind back to 1949 to put things in perspective. At that time, there was much opposition to the notion of a harbour tunnel from one of the ferry operators.

They would obviously lose the business of carrying cars across the harbour.

Mr Wu himself admitted this process was a real pain.

His wife lived in Kowloon. Driving to see her took such a long time.

Mr Wu then admitted that it even prompted him to wonder why he didn't find a wife on Hong Kong Island instead.

LOST BOTTLE

Delegates at the Credit Suisse First Boston Asian Investment Conference may have noticed a few empty seats yesterday.

Not to mention cancelled sessions.

The Singaporeans appeared to represent the biggest no-show, presumably due to the fact their government has imposed a veritable state of emergency to curb the spread of pneumonia.

Others, like Samsung executives, opted for a teleconference rather than travel to Hong Kong, Asia's virus city.

And we were shocked to see a few Australian companies giving the conference a wide berth. The session featuring the Fosters Group, for example, was canned.

Talk about taking the . . . .

DISAPPEARING ACT

One executive very much in attendance at yesterday's conference was Mike Butcher, PCCW's chief operating officer.

Members of the press were quite keen to ask him a few questions after his presentation. But he had legged it.

Vanished.

Nobody saw him leave. The only conclusion was that the hall was equipped with a secret passage for quick getaways.

Apparently this is the third time in recent months that he has successfully dodged the waiting press.

Very Catch Me if you Can. One minute he's there, the next he's not.

Much like the promise of a PCCW dividend.

SURE CURE

Pneumonia panic continues to dominate most office e-mails, and it seems the Bank of China is no exception.

Executives were sent a recipe for prevention.

No, not a mask.

A recipe.

Take one big bowl of water, mix in some traditional Chinese medicine ingredients, boil for 1.5 hours, and then drink.

Unfortunately the recipe comes from doctors at a Guangzhou University exceedingly close to the original outbreak of the deadly pneumonia, so we hope they take it with a pinch of salt.

Or consider an alternative.

A shot of whisky, gin and a dash of lemon. Heat and then skull.

UNDER THY THUMB

The party police are gearing up for this weekend.

In particular, the Convention and Exhibition Centre has released an advisory flyer for the Rolling Stones concerts.

As usual, no food, no drink, no drugs, no video cameras and no excessive clapping.

Thorough searches will be conducted at the venue's doors and all bad things will be confiscated.

And then there's the seating arrangements.

People in the cheap seats: don't even think about moving out of your cage.

In fact, keep bums firmly on seats at all times.

Standing on them is verboten.

It is all just so sex, drugs and rock&roll.

In party-pooper land.