CATCHY Cantonese phrases have been swamping the media lately: 'Fat man Jimmy Lai has gone mad again. He says Apple Daily will sell for two bucks only.' It is far too early to say if Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, who made his fortune selling jeans and T-shirts and became a press baron by successfully launching Next magazine five years ago, has really gone mad with his $1 billion investment to launch a new Chinese newspaper in a fiercely competitive Hong Kong market with more than 20 established titles.
But his $2 appeal has certainly driven the owners of other Chinese newspapers mad by breaking their tradition of selling at $5, regardless of size and circulation.
Because Lai has a reputation of being strongly anti-communist, the Apple controversy has also taken on a political dimension.
At a time when some newspapers have exercised self-censorship in the face of pressure from Beijing, Lai has vowed that his paper will not back away from stories that might offend China.
Last year, he took everyone by surprise by publishing a highly critical commentary on Chinese Premier Li Peng's visit to Germany, where Mr Li was visibly disturbed by anti-Chinese protesters. Lai regarded that as a disgrace to the Chinese people.
His Giordano clothing outlet in Beijing was subsequently closed by the authorities for failing to register properly and was not reopened until a few months later.
To prevent his media interests from affecting his clothing business, which has a large number of outlets in China, Lai has given up all executive positions in the clothing chain he built up.