OFF THE VINE: Devil's work for idle hands?

<p>Who did we spot the other day walking down Chater Road in Hong Kong </p><p>muttering to himself but none other than Merle Hinrichs, the man who </p><p>came to Hong Kong with thrippence more than 25 years ago and built the </p><p>Asian Sources publishing empire. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In fact, now it's called Global Sources and is into all sorts of </p><p>important media, Internet and e-business things - but that's serious </p><p>business, not for these pages. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>How sad, we thought. A man who has everything that money can buy, </p><p>talking to himself as he walks through Central. There but for the grace </p><p>of God ... </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Then we spotted the tell-tale cord. Yes, Vine fans, Merle hasn't flipped </p><p>out. He's now using one of those new-fangled hands-free attachments for </p><p>his mobile phone. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Sorry, Merle, but for a moment we thought ... </p><p><BR><BR> </p>