Legislators caught at ease

With two more weeks of work before the Easter break and the dissolution of the provisional legislature, members are getting 'demob-happy'.

Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong stalwarts and workers' representatives Yeung Yiu-chung and Ip Kwok-him sat through the debate on unemployment last Wednesday, giggling over their latest snapshots.

Peggy Lam Pei Yu-dja slipped into her seat in the council chamber and started flicking through the pages of the members' directory. She seemed to have as much difficulty as anyone brought up on Western alphabetical order and unused to ordering names by the number of strokes in the character.

Finally, she found what she was looking for. She opened it on the page with the entry Lam Pei, Peggy, JP and her own photo.

On the facing page was the entry for Wu King-cheong, Henry - and the picture of the gentleman on her right. At which point she turned to him, held out the book and politely asked for his autograph.

And what was Liberal Party chairman Allen Lee Peng-fei doing during Wednesday's proceedings? He was caught by the RTHK cameraman with his nose buried in Jonathan Dimbleby's controversial book The Last Governor. At least we know Mr Lee has not lost his interest in politics.

Becoming Hong Kong's first post-handover man in London immediately after serving as Chris Patten's private secretary may not show your perfect understanding of the motherland and the ways of her government and party to best advantage.