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David Evans

Not making an appearance at this year's fifth anniversary handover celebrations were ankle barriers.

Taking us back to July 1 1997, a diplomatic source told Lai See  that mainland officials had insisted that ankle barriers be erected in front of the seated dignitaries.

The source informed us that many mainland men prefer a thin lightweight short stocking as opposed to a cotton sock.

Unfortunately, it is so thin that it tends to crumple around the ankle and is plainly visible when the wearer is sitting and the trouser cuff rides up.

The officials didn't want the world staring at a row of China's most powerful men sitting on a stage wearing crumpled socks.

According to our source, mainland officials were told that His Royal Highness Prince Charles - who probably doesn't mind people seeing his bespoke Saville Row socks bearing the official crest - does not do ankle barriers.

Photographs from the time suggested a compromise was reached on waist-high barriers.

Yesterday's celebrations did away with the need for barriers of any variety as officials were seated facing the stage.

TV pictures revealed SAR dignitaries - including Chief Secretary for Administration Donald Tsang Yam-kuen and Financial Secretary Antony Leung Kam-chung - seated in the front row with legs crossed and socks on show.

Whereas Chinese officials - including President Jiang Zemin - were sat slouched in their chairs with legs thrust out straight in front, socks not quite so visible and thus retaining their crumple-free dignity.

Grin and bare it: Carlsberg beer company may be counting the cash after a successful advertising campaign during the World Cup Finals but it appears to have made a couple of boobs with customer relations.

In an advertisement targeting men, soccer-playing female models were photographed starting to lift their tops after a match in order to exchange them with opponents - a traditional sign of friendship after an international match.

Seven people complained to the Broadcasting Authority on the grounds the advertisement is indecent, denigrating to women or a bad influence on children.

The ad was promoting a national team football jersey give-away by the beer company. Consumers could also collect key-rings and mouse-pads in exchange for ring-pulls.

Unfortunately, the campaign - described as a victim of its own success by marketing manager Terry Yu - has also left many beer-guzzling football fans empty-handed and a little fuzzy-headed.

'I collected more than 4,000 points more than a week ago . . . but whenever I tried to redeem prizes I get the answers from redemption centres that the prizes are not available,' said a disappointed fan.

When interviewed a few weeks ago Mr Yu said the company had run out of stock of jerseys because more viewers than expected had participated in the promotion.

Carlsberg's whoppers appear to be a result of insensitive customer profiling and underestimating demand.

They clearly need to stay abreast of public sentiment.

Smelly story: Convincing investors that there is money in muck is Alan Yu Ying-choi, vice-president of CK Life Sciences International.

The soon-to-be-listed Li Ka-shing-owned company makes environmentally friendly fertiliser that it has long claimed will revolutionise the agriculture industry.

The company - which is eyeing a Growth Enterprise Market listing later this year - has also said it is developing drugs to treat cancer and HIV. patients.

At a press conference Mr Yu said the company has also been approached by Harvard University in the United States but couldn't go into details as the information was market-sensitive.

He also said he was getting by on just five hours' sleep a night because he spends so much time marketing the company in the build-up to its initial public offering.

Well, someone has to come up with all that fertiliser for investors.

Graphic: whee02gbz



HK officials ankle-deep in controversy