ENGLAND'S Churchill, Cuba's Castro, the Philippines' Ramos - even the Terminator in his everyday guise as Arnold Schwarzenegger - and Hong Kong's David Tang have more than power, wealth or fame in common. Each made the cigar his trademark.
With Christmas bringing its annual gift-idea-blackout to millions struggling to find the right present for someone special, cigars, pipes and accessories may be the ideal choice for the increasingly beleaguered smoker.
Sir Winston Churchill was probably, along with Fidel Castro, one of the world's most high-profile cigar lovers, seldom seen in public without a fat Havana jutting from his bulldog lips.
Castro, president of the nation that produces some of the world's great cigars, was nothing short of a living, walking advertisement for his country's most famous product.
President Fidel Ramos of the Philippines has lately been seen less frequently with a cigar clutched in his hand - thanks to his support for the no-smoking lobby. But early in his presidency it was one of his hallmarks, a not unselfish way of helping to promote the Philippines' own cigars to the world.
In Hong Kong, the choice of cigars available to the Christmas shopper is as wide-ranging as the prices they will pay for them.