Halloween is coming up, meaning the world of Hong Kong will soon be shaken by spirits flooding our already crowded city. But sometimes things get a little complicated, especially for us ignorant Dark Siders. Boss Milfo decided to take us all out for some “pee-in-your pants” fun last week at Ocean Park, but it turned out we didn’t really get most of the heavily sponsored horror stories. It was an insightful experience though: apparently nothing scares the shit out of a Chinese vampire than a rotating yin yang sign on your yellow hat. Plus we have to admit that The Forbidden Mall is cleverly constructed: nothing more spooky to us Hong Kongers than not being able to buy stuff (as the currency used is only available to dead people). Muhaha.

Back to the real world now. SCMP earlier this week reported about some creative dealings of our property developers with regard to the numbering of floors. Henderson Land for example skipped 48 floor numbers in its 39 Conduit Road apartment block so that it can market the top two floors of the luxury project as 68 and 88, both of course being auspicious numbers in Chinese numerology. Henderson Land is owned (61.88% of shares) by Lee Shau Kee who in 2007 was named the 22nd richest person in the world by Forbes. Does he need the money? Well, as his son recently spent millions at Four Seasons for a baby-shower, he probably does.

A rival property developer dismissed Henderson Land’s marketing ploy as utterly ridiculous and called for action, yet the government reported that these tricks are legal and superstitious Chinese can decide for themselves whether or not to buy a flat. As Henderson Land is currently in talks with a potential buyer of a duplex unit with the most auspicious address in the Conduit Road tower – on the 88th floor (actually the 45th and 46th floors) – at a price tag of HK$ 100,000 per square foot – Lee Shau Kee seems to have the last laugh here. Some have compared these practices to the Lehman minibonds disaster, and warned that if Hong Kong is again found to be poorly regulating certain markets, the world will take notice.

Don’t mess with our mentally ill superstitious though, as they can go pretty far. And who knows, maybe they’re doing the smart thing. We’d hate to be visited by the single braided girl one day, taking away our Yahoo! accounts.