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Ben Kwok

developers avoid uprising with u-turn over high-rise razing

You say you want a revolution

Well, you know ...

We all want to change the world

But when you talk about destruction

Don't you know that you can count me out ...

Like the Beatles, Lai See hinted that a Revolution Against Destruction was in the making yesterday - and it was soon so.

Sun Hung Kai Properties and NWS Holdings have succumbed to mounting public pressure and backed down from their plan to tear down the Hunghom Peninsula.

In an unprecedented joint statement that lamented 'discord in the community', the firms noted that they were both based in Hong Kong and 'do not want to see the community divided'.

'More importantly,' the statement continued,  cuttingly, '[we] do not want to precipitate an assault on private property rights and freedom of contract, as this would impair the business environment in a free economy. [We] place great emphasis on community harmony, and have therefore decided to change [our] plans...'

Eat your heart out Nostradamus. And look out, Link Reit, change is in the air.

red herring smoked out

For a listing candidate supposedly in the information dissemination business, Beijing Youth Daily was a bit of a disappointment yesterday.

At a luncheon for 200 fund managers, the Communist Youth League mouthpiece eschewed the usual practice of handing out draft prospectuses (so-called red herrings) with detailed financial information. Instead it gave each attendee a free copy of the newspaper. Errr, useful that.

But never fear, dear jilted fund manager - we obtained a copy. See our lead article on B3.

mountains to mohammed

It seems the Fatties' Calories Club (aka the Foreign Correspondents' Club) is getting serious about health matters. Following a last-minute delay of an expert roundtable dinner on the subject of staying fit while staying put, the club has arranged a demonstration of its Health Club exercise equipment today from 10am to noon.

All well and good that, but from what we can tell most members would probably benefit more from a tour group outing to discover exactly where the club gym is located.

cultural boundaries

The winds of change seem to be buffeting big business in Asia. Sports goods giant Nike yesterday issued an apology to (some) customers who were offended by its  'Chamber of Fear' advertising campaign on the mainland.

The television commercial featured young NBA superstar LeBron James battling - and of course defeating - a cartoon kung fu master and a pair of dragons. This supposedly suggested a symbolic cultural defeat of China by the west.

Nike swiftly apologised, saying it did not mean to hurt the feelings of Chinese consumers. 'Since entering the China market in 1982, Nike has very much cared for Chinese customers,' it stressed.

Maybe they should also have apologised for not knowing that sometimes one shoe doesn't fit all sizes.

mea culpa

On the issue of apologies, Lai See owes one to the Securities and Futures Commission.

Yesterday we mentioned that the watchdog had been forced to retract comments related to the besieged Link Reit IPO. In fact, the SFC only declined to elaborate on its earlier comments.

investment strategies

Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp outgoing chairman David Eldon seems to have an eye for the deal.

Shortly after last year's Sars outbreak he snapped up a luxury Mid-Levels flat for a cool  $20 million. When he sought tenants shortly afterwards, the game among journalists was to discover the lease term (its expiry was presumed to correspond with  his planned retirement and  departure from his Middle Gap Road mansion).

Other top brass apparently had similar ideas in the aftermath of Sars: HSBC group chairman bought a pad on The Peak.

We presume that Mr Eldon's colleagues cast a wry smile at his speech earlier this year warning of an impending bubble. 'I don't mind speculators in the market. But if they play far too much and if they are going to ride property prices [up] too quickly, I don't think it's a good thing for Hong Kong,' he intoned.

Now that Mr Eldon has fixed his departure date from the bank next year, at least his tenants can start looking around for alternative digs.



Lai See