Tongue-tied on dialect

Finance chief Henry Tang Ying-yen is an articulate man in any language he speaks. This may be why he effortlessly slips in and out of English and Cantonese, even speaking a butchered form of the latter during a speech in English to mark the opening of Ngong Ping 360 this week. So the troubled cable car became Ngong Ping sam lok ling, as '360' may be pronounced by non-native Cantonese speakers, much to the amusement of those present.

Thursday's was a belated official opening of sorts, given the cable car has been up and running since mid-September. Perhaps government officials only felt safe to grace the cable car with their presence this week after it had had eight service disruptions.

Still, Mr Tang put on a brave face, saying the glitches were 'acceptable' given the complexity of the transport system and unpredictable weather experienced in the wilds of Lantau.