This is untrue. tom.com was granted some waivers to the applicable listing rules, but no more than any other company which applied for similar waivers. This was made clear in the Stock Exchange's news release dated 13 March 2000, which included a chart detailing the waivers granted to the various companies.
FTSE Mondo Visione Exchanges Index:
Stock Exchange Of Hong Kong: A Report To European Parliament Includes Inaccuracy About GEM
Date 25/10/2000