The advertisement even has a quote from 'Superman' that says: 'Wherever you live you need to eat a grey mullet.'

The Li-like character is holding a fish to advertise that if you buy two grey mullet you can get some Japanese dried scallops free. The advert is for a company called Nest 1964, which is more famous for selling birds' nests.

We understand the people at Cheung Kong (Holdings) were none too happy with the ad, although nobody at the company would talk about it on the record, or say whether Li was considering legal action over the use of his image without consent.

An expert in local copyright law said although Li has no rights to the 'Superman' name, he would have a case as it could amount to a false endorsement.

High-rise folly

The guessing game is still on as to who paid the incredible price for the duplex on the supposed 68th floor of 39 Conduit Road, the 46-storey luxury tower built by Henderson Land Development.

As usual, most speculation surrounds wealthy mainlanders, but then there are millions of them these days. However, we do know it wasn't Soho China chairman Pan Shiyi. The Beijing-based property boss told us that he thought the Hong Kong market was too expensive, saying: 'I am not a fool.'

Well, some fool paid a world record HK$88,000 per square foot of saleable area for the duplex when other apartments in the area are fetching around HK$10,000.

But as Henderson chairman Lee Shau-kee put it: If someone wants to pay that price, 'you can't blow him up'.

Talking of 'Uncle Four', in the light of his defence of the marketing gimmick of selectively numbering the floors in the tower, we think he should change his nickname to 'Uncle 88'.

Peak times for comedian

Someone who will appreciate the funny side of the property market is comedian Stephen Chow Sing-chi.

We understand he has moved into one of the houses he developed at the former HSBC 'Skyhigh' site on the Peak.

Chow and Ryoden Development had four luxury villas built on the site, one of which sold for HK$300 million, or about HK$41,500 per square foot in June.

Transparent to the dollar

Sun Hung Kai Properties has taken corporate transparency to a new level. In its latest annual report, the No1 property developer has included a line about how much each director has earned in the year at the bottom of their biographies.

For example, chairman Madam Kwong Siu-hing, who was described as 'well-respected by the board and senior management of the company', received a fee of HK$120,000 for the past financial year to June.

However, we note that the report lists Walter Kwok Ping-kwong as a non-executive director without mentioning he was chairman for 18 years. His fee was HK$130,000.

A vocal supporter of the firm's corporate governance practices, Walter Kwok had one of the lowest attendance records among directors, missing two of the year's four board meetings.

A matter of balance

For the notoriously hardworking folks in Hong Kong, today is a day to loosen up.

About 120 companies are taking part in Work-Life Balance Day being organised by Community Business. At least 60 of them have signed up for encouraging staff to leave on time and enjoy healthy eating, while others have opted for an exercise hour, holding work-life balance seminars or having family time when they invite family members to tour the office.

Seize the day!