Was Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa's reticence at the height of the Sars crisis a subtle form of spin or just defensive floundering? Either way, it did not seem to cut the mustard. Now, in the harbour landfill debate, officials are (relatively speaking) falling over themselves to appear empathetic and consultative. So, it is probably safe to say that Hong Kong is in for a serious ratcheting up of the practice of spin.

Spin, as opposed to propaganda, advertising or public relations, has a particularly glossy, contemporary ring to it. People are at once repulsed and attracted. Both the critical Spin Cycle: Inside the Clinton Propaganda Machine, by Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz, and Spin Man, by PR heavyweight Thomas Madden, were bestsellers.