DIDN'T LIKE THE BUDGET? GIVE LEUNG THE BOOT

Old ladies, crouched under flyovers, have been beating the hell out of Financial Secretary Antony Leung with their shoes.

The 'beat the small man' ritual has long been a Hong Kong favourite. You hand $40 and an image of your hated one to a curse-specialist old dear and she bashes the life out of it with the heel of a shoe while mumbling curses like 'may your legs fall off'. Traditionally, the 'small men' are just that - landlords, bosses, neighbours and so on.

But now, according to Reuters, since last week's super-tough Budget the city's voodoo ladies have been inundated with requests to bash Leung. Judging by the PR problems he is having, it may be working.