Tatler Tales

Heard around Hong Kong this month

aspire for their kids to become athletes over, say, doctors, accountants or concert violinists, but the tasty perks loaded on fencer Cheung Ka-long, our second gold medal Olympian, and swimmer Siobhan Haughey, now the city’s most decorated Olympian, may change things a little. Cheung has bagged free travel for life on the MTR, HK$5 million from Henderson Land Commendation Scheme for Elite Athletes, HK$2.5 million from the Lam Tai Fai Charitable Foundation and a message of congratulations displayed on the Genting Dream cruise ship. All Tokyo Olympians will also receive a year’s free travel from bus company KMB, which has plans to commemorate Cheung, Haughey and other outstanding athletes by naming buses after them. The city’s fencing pistes and swimming pools are about to get very busy indeed.