Some of you may remember your first business dinner with the Chinese in which you were meant to be impressed by a slimy and stringy substance in a bowl. Little did you probably know about the butchery prestige associated with this fine dish back then. Hopefully things are a little different by now.

The shark fin industry is so lucrative that there’s even a mighty mafia run out of Taiwan, dictating affairs as far as Costa Rica. Of course there are many groups and activists working diligently to stop shark finning practices such as CITES, WWF, and Greenpeace. In March a convention will be held about the scalloped hammerhead and whether it should become an endangered species. This species is currently responsible for the most lucrative fins and if listed as endangered, it’s like a special edition LV bag! And hence, will probably be regarded even tastier.

Luckily some of Hong Kong’s finest are making efforts to contribute to the prevention of cruelty to animals and such. Just last week, SCMP reported about a grand celebration of fine wines at the Hotel Nikko with guests including none other than our beloved satirical columnist Chip Tsao. The purpose of the event was to promote an exclusive line of wines and the cases of wine sold at the event would graciously benefit the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Bravo! Lots of money must have been donated. We also hope everybody enjoyed the shark fin’s soup which was served during dinner.

Guess it’s one of those cultural things that can never be changed, no matter how destructive or environmentally irresponsible it may be. On the other hand, if more sharks are added to the list of endangered species, we may be confronted with a much bigger problem one day: an increase in the number of irrational Chinese women. Far from endangered already!