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PROTESTING may be small change to some, but there are (legal) limits

Angry about the Eastern Harbour Tunnel's recent $10 toll rise for passenger cars (from $15 to $25)? Who isn't?

As original protest goes, though, we were impressed by one reader's expression of discontent.

'Since May 1, I have been using a large handful of small coins [to pay the toll] whenever I am forced to use the Eastern Harbour Tunnel as my personal passive form of protest,' he writes. 'Most of the toll collectors know what this is about and I trade my time for their inconvenience.'

Mind you, there is a legal limit to this penny-wise, time-foolish form of civil disobedience. According to the July 1997 Coinage Ordinance, you can use only $1, $2, $5 and $10 coins to pay amounts up to $100. And believe it or not, the ordinance allows the use of smaller coins (10, 20 and 50-cent pieces) to pay amounts only up to $2.

So if you want to cause the tunnel operator maximum grief but still stay within the bounds of the law, pay off your toll with 23 one-dollar coins and 20 10-cent pieces.

SHAREHOLDERS MARCH ON their pride

To feed or not to feed the punters, that is the question. For Henderson Land Development, Hutchison Whampoa, PCCW and most other blue chips, the way to shareholders' hearts is through their stomachs, with dim sum, shark-fin soup, sushi and other treats served up at company annual general meetings. Others, notably BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) and MTR Corp, take the zookeeper's 'please do not feed the animals' approach and withhold free fare.

Just so there would be no disappointment, BOC even made a point of warning shareholders in its pre-AGM circular: 'Please note that refreshments will not be served'.

Even so, almost 200 shareholders showed up and did their corporate duty on empty stomachs. Could a new era of no-nonsense shareholder activism finally be dawning in this town?

irish eyes smile for cup miracle

There was no raining on Venetian managing director Frank McFadden's parade yesterday. Even as the heavens poured down on the ground-breaking ceremony for his company's Cotai strip development in Macau, the Irishman was all smiles.

'God has been very generous to us with the rain,' Mr McFadden said. 'It makes an Irishman feel at home. I consider it a very lucky occasion for me.'

The Irish, of course, are as prone as any to grouse about the weather - the only consolation for which in Ireland is that if you don't like it, you only have to wait five minutes for it to change. (Alas, it usually changes for the worse.)

So we suspect there was another reason for Mr McFadden's good mood: he had stayed up to watch Liverpool's miracle comeback in the European Champions League final against AC Milan.

Everybody knows it was the Irish who built Liverpool. So consider it a European cup triumph for the Emerald Isle.

No wonder Mr McFadden was beaming.

DEFENDANT'S lifelong TRIAL

Someone is in the s*** - literally.

In court tomorrow for his second pre-trial review is defendant Shit Chi-wo. Assuming some court clerk isn't guilty of a typo, we'd say poor Mr Shit was guaranteed a tough life at birth.



Lai See