Kase Ng, a 24-year-old manicurist and member of the Michael Jackson Hong Kong Fan Club, told CNN by phone she had been planning to go with four friends to his August 1 concert in London.

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The two brought in Shen, an investment banker in New York and Hong Kong, and then lured Min Fan, an executive from a state-owned travel company.

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One fan, Josh Thomas, has flown from Hong Kong to be home for the game and another, Martyn Piper, has travelled from Alberta in Canada.

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If history is any guide, the process will hurt, says Joseph Fan, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

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"That's why the shares of Advanced Information or Total Access Communications (TAC) in Thailand and TRI in Malaysia have been hit, " says a Hong Kong fund manager who has been a big cellular fan.

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Citic Pacific's managing director is Henry Fan, who took a leave of absence as a member of Hong Kong's executive council and chairman of the city's Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority after the company's announcement.

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