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SCMP Reporter

Mike Rowse sure gets around.

Or should that be Mickey (as in Mouse).

The InvestHK director-general was due to attend two ceremonies last night, both within minutes of each other.

Under the alias of Cocktail Mike, he was set to show up at the opening ceremony of the first Asian representative office of Dutch bank F van Lanschot Bankiers at the China Club in Central.

That was due to start at 6.30pm.

He was also expected to make a speech at a reception for senior executives of Hong Kong-based Chinese enterprises, a do at which the press were expected to register by 6pm, meaning speeches would likely start close to 6.15pm.

That function was being held at the nearby JW Marriott in Admiralty.

Still, that is quite a lot of attending and addressing within 15 minutes or so.

You know that old saying, 'He would go to the opening of an envelope'.

Either that or he has a body double.

VONG GONE

Vong - the restaurant atop the Mandarin Hotel - is a popular haunt.

But as of September this year, you can say bye-byes to the fine dining eatery and fave executive lunch spot that stands there today.

Not the bar, mind you. Just the restaurant.

A hotel spokesman said yesterday that Vong was to be turned into another 'concept' altogether.

After five years of being, well, the same, it is a natural process in the hotel world, apparently, to move on.

Thank goodness they're not touching The Chinnery. We can forgo a Vong Black Plate, but beer and bangers and mash must stay.

TRAINING DAY

Good on the bankers of Hong Kong. Maybe.

Someone from the Hong Kong Society of Financial Analysts has found that it took the No 1 spot for fund-raising at last year's annual Trailwalker event within the banking/finance sector. It raised HK$250,000 for charity. A hefty amount.

Or is it?

Oxfam, the recipients of Trailwalker, don't have information on the total amount raised by each category, so the top fund raiser in each category is the proxy, some sneaky researcher found out.

In previous years, the most raised within the banking/finance sector was:

1997: HK$300,000

1998: HK$200,000

1999: HK$250,000

2000: HK$453,488

2001: No official number on the Web site but the researcher believes it to be roughly HK$300,000.

It looks like last year was pretty flat.

Oxfam isn't complaining though. The total money raised increased from HK$11 million in 1997 to HK$17 million last year despite the recession and deflation.

According to the researcher, this was partly achieved through a 25 per cent increase in the number of teams (from 720 to 900).

There is no time like the present. Time to get training.

NO SUCH THING AS A . . .

Folks at CLP Group are an inventive bunch. At its recent media spring reception, the power company provided reporters with a selection of recycled office desk products  - including a steel namecard holder made from old boiler tubes.

They were from the ribbed water tube located at Castle Peak Power Station's boiler furnace hopper. What?

There was also a crystal paper weight. Inside it was furnace bottom ash. Sounds painful.

Actually, CLP said, the ash was a by-product of coal-fired power generation and contains milstones, alumstones, iron and calcium. But you can't eat it.

Journalists, however, still weren't complaining. They had a lovely silver post-it note holder with a magnet and group games to play (including the timeless classics CLP Who's Who? and Hide and Seek).

But best of all, their goody packets contained the usual red lai see  packet.

The perks!

The big question being how much was in them? Well you can't have everything.

Inside was a business-card sized calendar and a laminated card with CLP contacts.

At least there is always the free lunch.



Mickey Rowse's Roadrunner impression