JUST as there are those in touch with the heartbeat of nations, I like to keep my finger on the pulse of this dynamic, multi-cultural crossroads. Or at least the bit in the pub round the corner from my office.
I took the pulse only last week with a vox pop session in the main bar.
Peter Sherwood: Good morning. I'm keeping my finger firmly on the pulse of the city. I was wondering if you could tell me what the Basic Law is? No man is an island? Sherwood: No, guess again.
Uh, you reap what you sow? Sherwood: Sorry.
Is it a clever reference to the ordinary cop on the beat? Sherwood: Excuse me sir, what do you think the Joint Liaison Group is? It is a bunch of crazies at a party discussing small, hand-rolled cigarettes containing the dried leaves and flowering tops of the hemp plant commonly known as something beginning with M.
Sherwood: Madam, could you describe the purpose of the Joint Liaison Group? Certainly. A group of highly-paid Hongkong people sit in a dark room for 10 years while a group of lowly-paid and even wealthier people from China blow smoke at them from across a large table. This is to test the effects of passive smoking. Now, unless you're trying to pick me up, go away and ask Dr Judith Mackay.