MOBILE PHONES

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that people in Asia are obsessed with mobile phones. Well here is a story that combines their love of mobiles with their love of superstition and "lucky numbers"

SHANGHAI, China, April 13 (UPI) -- An online buyer in Shanghai bid $1.1 million for a lucky cell phone number from an initial bidding price of only $12.
The deal was closed on EachNet.com on Sunday for 9,000,201 yuan after 70 bids online. The bidding started on March 27 on EachNet.com, one of China's biggest e-business Web sites, China Daily reported Tuesday.
The lucky number is 135-8585-8585, which sounds like "let me be rich be rich be rich be rich" in Chinese. Chinese people traditionally favor numbers with pronunciations similar to words that mean good luck and avoid numbers that sound like bad luck.
This is believed to be the highest bidding price for any lucky number in mainland China. Both the buyer and the seller are from Shanghai but remained anonymous after the deal. It was reported that the seller was an online shoe salesman who collects cell phone numbers as a hobby.
The seller must pay a commission of $2,700 to EachNet.com.

That is US$1.1mil by the way - not HK$1.1mil.

How insane is that?

And what about the seller? A man who "collects cell phone numbers as a hobby"? That is definitely below trainspotting on the list of pass-times, though he's having the last laugh. Please god just don't let him go and buy more numbers with the money. Let him do something useful with it like blow it all on wine, women and dim sum.