Zeman socks it to 'em

It is one small step for mankind, but for Lan Kwai Fong's visionary businessman Allan Zeman, it is a huge stride. He has started wearing socks for the first time in almost 50 years.

As one of Hong Kong's few major Western tycoons, Zeman (above) has owned many things: most of Lan Kwai Fong, a $25-million yacht, garment companies, movie interests and property concerns all over China, the United States and British Columbia in Canada. Lots of stocks, but no socks.

The sight of Zeman's ankles (between kidskin moccasins and bespoke silk trouser-legs) had become - along with Chief Secretary Donald Tsang Yam-kuen's bow ties - one of Hong Kong society's weirder beacons. 'I never liked socks, couldn't trust them,' Zeman said. 'They would always be falling down. So about the age of seven or eight I just stopped wearing them.'

But a recent bout of pneumonia changed all that. 'My doctor advised me to wear socks as a precaution against the cold,' he told SAR. 'So I went out and bought 10 pairs of black and navy socks from Brooks Brothers. And what can I say: wearing them felt very strange.'

SAR says: welcome back to the normal world.