With photographers hogging the front row and standing on small step-ladders for better shots, some reporters were reduced to constructing crude platforms of their own to get a glimpse of the proceedings. Our building material for these improvised viewing platforms? Copies of CCB's thick prospectus.

We came with pens but would have been better served by binoculars.

Adding insult to injury, CCB chairman Guo Shuqing was apparently too busy to stop by the microphone set up in front of the pen of reporters and he was hustled away by officious bankers.

But executives and your bankers be warned. This kind of behaviour breeds bad karma. First-day trading of CCB's shares was anaemic, with the scrip closing up just 2.5 cents. We trust that this put a bit of a damper on last night's listing party at the Four Seasons Hotel.

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Can somebody please call Bank of China (Hong Kong) chief executive Gary He Guangbei and tell him that his office tower has been stolen?

Most newspapers carried special glossy ads in which Hong Kong and mainland companies, banks and law firms congratulated CCB on its listing. Its centrepiece was a nighttime shot of the Hong Kong island skyline.

There was just one thing missing - the Bank of China tower, which had been airbrushed out of the picture. The distinctive headquarters of HSBC (which helped sponsor the advertisement) and Standard Chartered (which did not) were not excised.

Bankers told Lai See that public relations firm Hill & Knowlton, which worked with CCB on its listing, came up with the idea. Ironically, Hill & Knowlton also handled communications for BOC during its listing three years ago.

'Is someone playing David Copperfield here?' asked one BOC insider, referring to the illusionist who can make massive structures disappear.

BOC's mainland parent lists in Hong Kong next year. When that happens, its distinctive Hong Kong skyscraper will surely be back in the frame.

top earners at henderson

Call it a case of high-stake sibling rivalry over at Henderson Land.

Peter Lee Ka-kit, eldest son of Henderson chairman Lee Shau-kee, was paid $4.18 million last year - 6 per cent more than he received in 2003. The pay package for Peter's younger brother, Martin Lee Ka-shing, increased 20 per cent to $3.81 million.

Both earned more money than their own father, whose remuneration fell 14 per cent to $2.89 million. So much for Confucian values.

Henderson's top earner was Lee the Elder's right-hand man, vice-chairman Colin Lam Ko-yin, whose pay package jumped 48 per cent to $15.3 million - more than those of all three Lees combined.

a sigh for bosox, a curse for yankees

Regular readers of this column will know that Lai See is a Boston Red Sox fan.

They may also remember that he recently tipped that the Bosox, who ended an 86-year title drought last year, would repeat as World Series champions.

Alas, they were swept away by the red-hot Chicago White Sox, who yesterday completed their tear through the playoffs and won their first World Series in 88 years. Our theory is that the Red Sox graciously stood aside to help ease Chicago's suffering.

As for the New York Yankees, who choked in the playoffs for the fifth straight year, Lai See hereby lays down a curse: Thou shalt not win it all again until the 22nd century.