Amid turmoil in China’s property market, the public seethes

Lampooning Hui Ka Yan has become something of a national pastime in China. Once one of the country’s richest men, the tycoon was detained in September for unspecified crimes. His company, Evergrande, the world’s most indebted property developer, is on the cusp of death; a debt-restructuring plan for it has collapsed. No sooner did news of Mr Hui’s detention spread than a flood of jokes at his expense surged through China’s social media, pillorying his extravagance and pomposity. The humour was bitter: tens of thousands of homebuyers feel cheated by his firm.