Change in air as wave of nostalgia sweeps over Lion Rock

THE COMIC BOOK Broom-head stole the limelight at the annual book fair last summer. The much publicised booklet has sold some 40,000 copies at the expense of Secretary for Security Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee. Many are curious about what the controversial publisher is up to this year. The answer is: Under the Lion Rock.

Independent publisher Sub-Culture has been in a pugnacious mood over the past couple of years. Earlier, it poked fun at Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa and his wife Betty Chiu Hung-ping, in a volume entitled Old Idiot Tung. Pacific Century CyberWorks chairman Richard Li Tzar-kai has also been the target of a similar publication.

Some critics said the books were in bad taste, but that did not prevent them from dominating the best-seller charts.

Jimmy Pang Chi-ming, the man behind the projects, insists he was only seeking to capture the people's state of mind. But now, instead of identifying further targets for their frustration, locals seem to have become more accommodating.

The approval rating of Mr Tung has rebounded as the public yearns for a harmonious climate to resolve the current economic difficulties.

Financial Secretary Antony Leung Kam-chung touched the right chord in his maiden Budget speech by reciting the familiar theme song for the Cantonese drama Under the Lion Rock.

The lyrical refrain runs: 'Of one mind in pursuit of our dream, all discord set aside, with one heart on the same bright quest, fearless and valiant inside. Hand in hand to the ends of the Earth, rough terrain no respite, side by side we overcome ills, as the Hong Kong story we write.'