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SCMP Reporter

Is there such a thing as a 'Curse of Chek Lap Kok'?  Suspicious minds at Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (Hactl) have been mulling over the possibility since last week's blackout at its SuperTerminal 1 facility, which prompted renewed export restrictions.

 Some cargo punters have even hinted at something called the '51 day jinx'.

 Take a look at the facts.

 The cargo handler was not able to announce it was operating normally at Chek Lap Kok until August 26: 51 days after the airport's opening.

 Then, last Thursday - exactly 51 days of operation later - the company experienced the massive power failure which prompted this week's restrictions at its Chek Lap Kok facility.

 Idle speculation? Perhaps.

 Still, what are the chances Hactl boss Anthony Charter will call in the geomancers come December 5? Roger Brand, an executive with a foreign enterprise operating in Hong Kong which shall remain nameless, sent us the following fax this week:  'Dun & Bradstreet has written to tell us a minor company in our group merits inclusion in its list of the Top 2000 Foreign Enterprises in Hong Kong.

 'This company is very small. So small, in fact, that we have put the company in members' voluntary liquidation because, like so many groups, we are focusing on core activities.

 'Does our action mean that Dun & Bradstreet will no longer be able to list 2,000 foreign enterprises in Hong Kong? Has Hong Kong's economy contracted so much?'  Over to you, Dun & Bradstreet.

 Choy Wai-tak, operations manager of the company's local publications division, told us there were only '3,000 to 4,000' foreign enterprises in Hong Kong - some of which were 'quite small'.

 Part of the letter's purpose was to 'verify' Dun & Bradstreet's information, Mr Choy said.

 This information seems a tad out of whack.

 Mr Brand tells us two larger companies in the group he works for have until now been ignored by the book's authors.

With all of the troubles plaguing the mainland's international trust and investment corporations - better known as 'Itics' - there have been plenty of suggestions for alternative names for them.

 One suggestion for the 'Itic' acronym has been: In a Terrible Insolvency Crisis.

 Another has been Instigating Terribly Ignominious Collapses.

 But maybe it's simply their penchant for doing dosh at an extraordinary rate that should be taken into account when considering a new moniker for the companies.

 Perhaps they could simply be titled Lose-itics.

Some weeks ago, Lai See made a joke about the possibility McDonald's would start issuing futures in cuddly toys, such as McSnoopies and McWinnie-the-Poohs.

 Little did we know this would be taken seriously by the Golden Arches.

 Today, they start selling what are effectively McSnoopy futures.

 Loyal burger-munchers will be able to purchase coupons that allow them to buy an 'extra value meal' and a Snoopy for $23.80.

 But they will have to wait until at least December 28 to surrender their beagle futures for the real McSnoopy.

 We predict this could spark another round of coupon riots, a la the cake coupon and video coupon battles that have gone on over the past year.

 The newly-established Snoopy Futures Commission (SFC) will no doubt have their hands full watching for hot dogs.

Producers of Operation Billionaires, the movie about crime boss 'Big Spender' Cheung Tze-keung, have made sure to milk the publicity surrounding his trial this week for all it's worth.

 Not only have they got their timing spot on by releasing the movie in Hong Kong cinemas this week.

 They have also been spending big to promote the film.

 The front page of one leading Chinese language paper on Monday was taken over with what appeared to this uneducated reader to be a full-page headline translating as: 'Will Big Spender be acquitted and freed?'  Turns out this was nothing more than a huge advertisement for the film.

 Maybe the phrase 'Operation Billionaires' really refers to the cost of the movie's marketing campaign.



Hactl counts cost of unlucky number