It's almost certain Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa has had some sleepless nights recently - but his lack of a good night's rest has not always been due to the pressures of life in the top job. After almost six years under wraps, the lengths the boss will go to for a decent night of shut-eye have been revealed by a well-placed source. It has emerged that Mr Tung will only retire for the night by resting his weary head on a pillow filled with anything but feathers. On his first overseas trip to Europe after becoming chief executive in October 1997, a Hong Kong government employee in Brussels had to make a 700km round trip to London by train to deliver a 'special' pillow Mr Tung had left behind in the Belgian capital. It is unclear who paid for the privilege or why a substitute pillow could not be bought in London because Mr Tung's aides yesterday said it was difficult to recall the exact circumstances of the event. But sources have confirmed the cushion crisis began when Mr Tung and his entourage checked into the Conrad Hotel in Brussels to find that only feather pillows were available. An alternatively filled headrest was bought outside the hotel. But when Mr Tung arrived at London's plush Dorchester Hotel on the next leg of his European sojourn, the freshly purchased pillow was missing. 'He won't use a feather pillow, it has to be foam-filled or similar. There must have been some panic when the Brussels pillow didn't turn up,' the source said. The Sunday Morning Post filed a list of questions to the Chief Executive's Office last week but was met with a blanket statement. 'Details of the event as described in your enquiries cannot be ascertained due to the passage of time and change of staff,' the spokesman said. 'But the chief executive did not attend to the logistical arrangements which were made by the staff responsible for organising the visit.'