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| Masks of Osama bin Laden and George W. Bush are on display at the Hong Kong International Toys & Gifts Show 2001, October 22, 2001. The masks are selling for US.90 each.[Reuters] |
The most-wanted man on the US list, Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden, has turned up at the Hong Kong International Toys & Gifts Fair, or at least Halloween masks bearing his image have.
Toy makers are trying to cash in on the notoriety of the man the United States blames for the Sept. 11 attacks on Washington and New York, and say they hope his masks will be a big Halloween hit.
``We foresee that there will be a big market and people will buy these masks for Halloween or parties,'' said John Lui, assistant sales manager at Perfectech International Trading Ltd.
And to show that he is giving equal time to all the key figures in America's war on terrorism, Lui said the company planned to offer masks of President Bush.
Lui, donning the prototype bin Laden mask for reporters, said he did not think it would cause problems for wearers in the United States. ``I don't think so. It's just for fun,'' he said.
Also on display at Perfectech's booth were a toy gas mask and banners showing images of New York fire fighters and bearing slogans like ``God Bless America.''
Another booth was displaying masks of Bush, bin Laden and a horned devil, for sale at .90 each.
A third company, Continental Latex Industrial Ltd., was in talks with clients to produce Bush masks, but a representative said there were no plans to produce a bin Laden version.
The mask makers have not been the only Hong Kong companies to seek profit from the September attacks.
A cap maker said its October orders jumped 30 percent from a year earlier as its China factory produced hundreds of thousands of baseball caps bearing patriotic slogans such as ``United We Stand,'' ``God Bless America'' and ``We won't forget 9-11.''
(Agencies)
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美國頭號通緝犯本·拉在香港"亮相"了！隨著萬圣節的臨近，香港國際玩具禮品市場上正在熱銷沙特富翁本·拉登頭像的面具。
玩具制造商們想盡辦法利用本·拉登，這位被美國認定為9·11恐怖事件制造者的恐怖主義頭目的名氣大賺一筆，他們希望這種本·拉登面具能夠成為今年萬圣節玩具市場上的亮點。
Perfectech國際貿易有限公司銷售經理助理約翰·盧伊說："我們預計拉登的面具會擁有巨大的市場，人們會樂于購買這些面具參加萬圣節晚會或者其它化裝晚會的。"
為了表示對此次美國反恐怖主義戰爭中的所有重要人物一視同仁，盧伊說該公司還計劃生產美國總統布什的面具。
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| 墨西哥一玩具店員工向人們展示該店中出售的本·拉登和布什模樣的乳膠面具。[路透社照片] |
盧伊戴上以本·拉登為原形的面具向記者展示，說公司不希望戴這種面具的顧客在美國會遇到麻煩。他說："我認為不會的，大家只是戴著玩的。"
Perfectech公司的展臺上還展出了一種防毒面具，廣告橫幅上印的是紐約消防員，還有"上帝保佑美國"之類的標語。
另一家公司的展臺則展出了以布什、拉登、頭上有角的惡魔為原形的面具，每個面具售價9.9美元。
另一家玩具制造公司大陸乳膠工業有限公司正在同客戶洽談生產布什面具的業務，但是該公司的一名代表稱，他們目前還沒有生產本·拉登的面具的計劃。
事實上，9·11恐怖事件發生后，并非只有香港的面具制造公司在大發其財。
一家帽業公司稱，由于他們中國大陸的工廠生產的棒球帽上都印有"團結起來，堅持到底"，"上帝保佑美國"和"我們永遠不會忘記9·11"等愛國口號，該公司今年10月的帽子定單比去年同期增加了30%。
（中國日報網站譯）
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Updated: 2001-10-26 01:00
