Reskinning the South China Morning Post (SCMP)

South China Morning Post has just changed its look and feel online in what I call a long overdue exercise. Up to yesterday I was seeing the "fine print" website. As web browsers advanced far beyond the 600 by 800 screen resolution, it took a long time before SCMP realized a need to adjust and comply with usability issues. I bet usability guru Jakob Nielsen would be gnashing his teeth if he saw the site that's supposed to be Hong Kong's lead model in web innovation. Worry no more, as the new site was launched today.

But a quick look at the site earlier in the afternoon, it appears that the site was hurriedly launched. On many sections of the page, blank boxes filled the pages. There was even an instance when I saw a few lines of JavaServer Pages error (screen shot). Not enough stress test? Was the agency commissioned to build it beating the deadline to avoid penalties?

As I compare the site with regional media powers, SCMP has some catching up to do, not just in functionality but also in look and feel, where more people would easily notice.

New features include transitioning photos in the homepage, which is becoming common sight on news sites. The Philippines' GMA News, my favorite news source from my country, has similar photo functions albeit less user-friendly due to lack of controls.

The new site is comparable to a revamped Straits Times of Singapore, whose previous design I liked better; both sites are offered on subscription basis so if you're interested in reading news stories, you have to get a paper subscription or opt for online subscription at a lower cost.

I am not sure why Straits Times and SCMP charges for subscription while Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Herald Tribune or Economist show many parts of its news stories for free and can handle ads-based news sites. It's their business and I have nothing to do with it.

No RSS feeds available. This site doesn't need one because if I were to subscribe to it, I'll end up frustrated because I'll only see a news preview with a few sentences before getting confronted by that Login box.

Tourist numbers still look promising

Total visitor arrivals to Hong Kong exceeded 2.17 million in April 2007, a year-on-year increase of 2.3%, the Hong Kong Tourism Board announced.

The increase took the cumulative total for January to April 2007 to more than 8.79 million, 5.3% higher than in the first four months of 2006.

Almost all regional markets showed growth over April 2006 arrivals, with double-digit increases seen from Europe, Africa and the Middle East (221,551, 12.6%), while the Americas (166,246, 8.3%), and Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific (65,564, 7.8%) also recorded robust performance. As for the short-haul markets, Taiwan (191,523, 5.4%); South & Southeast Asia (242,192, 3.2%); and North Asia (152,301, 4.4%) all performed encouragingly.

Arrivals from Mainland China fell slightly by 1.8% to 1,089,240 in April. Nevertheless, overall visitor numbers from this market in the first four months of 2007 remained ahead of last year, increasing by 3.5% to more than 4.86 million. Of the visitors from the Mainland, who represented 50.0% of the April total, 530,568 travelled under the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS). This was 48.7% of the Mainland arrivals for the month, and 11.3% more than in April 2006.

Commenting on the Mainland market performance, HKTB Chairman The Hon James Tien emphasized that it would be important to look at the overall arrival trends rather than focusing on the monthly fluctuations.

"Despite the slight drop in April, our provisional figures show that there was encouraging growth of arrivals from Mainland China in May so far," Tien said. "As the year progresses, we’ll continue to work very hard to maintain steady growth of the Mainland market. As well as encouraging repeat visits by Mainland travellers, we’ll continue to develop the high-potential secondary cities. We’ll also co-operate with the travel trade to ensure that visitors can enjoy a quality and memorable experience in Hong Kong."

In April 2007, some 1.28 million arrivals (59.0% of the total) stayed in the city for at least one night, while the remaining 892,000 (41.0%) were classified as same-day in-town visitors. In January-April 2007, over 5.33 million (60.7%) visitors stayed overnight, with some 3.45 million (39.3%) leaving on the day of arrival.

Hotel occupancy across all categories of hotels in April 2007 was 82%, which is four percentage points lower than in April 2006. The geographic location with the highest occupancy in April was Yau Ma Tei/Mong Kok, where hotels recorded a rate of 87%. The average achieved hotel room rate across all hotel categories was HK$1,410, 11.5% higher than in April 2006. The average hotel occupancy for January-April 2007 is 84%, three percentage points lower than in 2006. The average achieved hotel room rate is HK$1,232, 13.4% higher than in the same period of 2006.

Hong Kong spam law carries stiff penalties

I am often at the receiving end of calls from non-English speaking recordings of special products and what have you's. I can't complain anybody because I can't even identify the number they are using.

I am also receiving a considerable number of spam e-mails in the past. But thanks to Gmail's efficient spam filtering techniques, and Thunderbird's ever-wiser anti-spam tool, I don't receive that much unsolicited mails promoting certain weight loss medicines. But for those who still receive that much garbage, it's a pity to them.

Now, Hong Kong has its new anti-spam policies that aim to punish outlaws with stiff penalties and even imprisonment. I am sure a lot of people in the 1980s can't imagine that because of a computer offense, someone can land in jail.

Officials in Hong Kong were preparing Tuesday to introduce new laws against spam e-mail that bring five-year prison terms and fines up to 130,000 US dollars for persistent offenders. The regulations, which come into effect Friday, come in the wake of growing numbers of complaints from residents and businesses across the city of 6.9 million of being bombarded by junk e-mails.

However, experts warned that the law would not lead to a sudden drop in junk e-mails because an estimated 90 per cent come from overseas - mostly the United States, Europe and mainland China - and are beyond Hong Kong's jurisdiction and control.

From Friday, people who receive junk e-mails may complain to Hong Kong's Office of Telecommunications Authority, which will investigate the cases. The law also covers junk faxes and prerecorded telephone messages.

The Hong Kong government resisted calls for cold calls from telesales agents to be included in the new legislation, saying that outlawing such calls could cost tens of thousands of jobs.

Reasons why you should get a Filipina domestic helper

Filipina domestic helpers can be ideal house helpers for Hong Kong people.

They have children back in the Philippines.
Which means: They know how to properly take care of their employers children. This is a sad reality in life that Filipinas leave their children to take care of other people's kids. Just to make both ends meet.

They used to be manage eateries in the Philippines
Which means they are great cooks. While Filipino food is virtually unknown in Hong Kong due to absence of Filipino restaurants, these noble overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are fast learners of Chinese, Western and other cuisines!

They used to be teachers
Which means: They are perfect suit for growing kids. I happen to live near a school and as a common sight all over Hong Kong, I find Filipinas who bring and pick up their wards at school. The schooling does not end up there. At night, they ready their school books and help the kids finish their assignments. Do I need to mention they have great English language skills?

They are great lovers
Which means: They are devoted to the ones they love. So devoted that children who grew up under their care often think they are their biological mothers. That's why it's a tear jerking experience to see a child cry his/her heart out when he finds out his che che is going back to the Philippines. Parents even make compromises such as longer vacations and better pay just to prod the loving helper to defer her departure and sign a fresh contract.

They lived a tough life back in the province
Which means: They are reliable in tough times and always have the initiative to work hard/smart. The bad side of this is that they are subjected to abuse such as sleep, rest or food deprivation.

They are housewives
Which means: They know how to budget the money. They often stretch the budget by scouring for the cheapest commodities the town has to offer. Chinese people are generally thought as penny-pinching folks even back in the Philippines. Therefore a certain skill of making things work out of a limited budget handed to a helper to the grocery is often necessary.

They are spiritual
Which means: They were raised to respect the elderly, be courteous and honest (almost, save for Preslyn Catacutan as a suspect). They can teach children good manners and right conduct.

So it's actually paying for a teacher, a house manager, a cleaner, a cook and a caretaker, all rolled into one. Yet unscrupulous employers still manage to abuse and underpay them. Watch out you morons, remember those things will all come back to you.

Hong Kong childhood obesity growing

Ever wonder why a the business of slimming centers is proliferating? Wonder no more as one of the obvious reasons to this is that more and more people are becoming obese in Hong Kong. Even I have gained weight since I came here.

Such experience of obesity has brought physical and emotional stress that a recent finding showed that it is among the reasons of suicide among Hong Kong women whom I assume to be more conscious about their physical features than men.

The problem is penetrating in a growing portion of the society as it creeps through Hong Kong's school-age children.

Hong Kong is facing a childhood obesity crisis with the percentage of overweight
schoolchildren in Hong Kong almost doubling in the past 13 years, less than half a generation, a news report said Saturday. A study by the city's Chinese University found 22.5 per cent of boys and 16.8 per cent of girls were overweight last year compared to 8.9 per cent and 11.3 per cent respectively in 1993.

Data on more than 30,000 children aged six to 18 was collected for the survey with a child defined as overweight if he or she was 20 per cent above the average weight for someone of the same sex and height.

Unhealthy diets, lack of exercise and an increasing amount of time spent on the internet and computer games have been blamed for increased child obesity in the densely-populated city of 6.9 million.

Researcher Stanley Hui told the South China Morning Post the average Hong Kong child was last year 6 per cent heavier than someone of the same age and height in 1993.

Paediatric specialist Alfred Tam said increasingly unhealthy lifestyles and parents' misconceptions about obesity in childhood were contributing to the trend.

"Some parents think it's acceptable for their children to be fat as they will grow taller and be thinner in the future, which is not a good attitude," he said.

Another factor blamed for increasing obesity is the gradual switch in Hong Kong from traditional rice-based diets to more western-style diets including deep-fried fast food.

Is fat trading (photo) advisable? Just kidding .. :)

New government portal launched

The website of the government portal of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has been revamped into a newer, fresher look. I admit that the older one's revamp is long overdue. The launching of the new version is a refreshing start for every Hong Kong resident to view.

Features are more prominent and navigation to specific areas are now easier to do. Inquiring basic services such as tax payments, housing questions, facility booking and job postings are now clearer and more comprehensive.

You can access the new website at http://www.gov.hk/en/residents/.

The bun festival

Hong Kong's largest fishing island celebrated its annual Bun Festival Thursday. Contestants climbed a 10 metre tower on Cheung Chau, trying to grab as many of the cakes as possible.

Dancing lions and fire crackers. The celebration took place in front of the Cheung Chau Pak Tai Temple at midnight Thursday.

It started with a strike of the gong and competitors rushing up the bun tower ... a symbol of good luck. This is the first year the buns have been made of plastic.

It's the third bun snatching and there were no surprises as to who would get the most buns in three minutes. Kwok Ka-ming came in first again after winning the last two competitions.

The Taoist rite can be traced back to the Qing Dynasty, when Cheung Chau was devastated by a storm then a devastating plague outbreak.

Locals held a ceremony to placate the gods and clear the bad luck from the island.

The festival is now timed to coincide with Buddha's birthday. Three days prior to the festival, islanders stick to a vegetarian diet. It's believed the buns ensure smooth sailing and a good catch for fishing boats.

Closing in at Hong Kong's wealth gap

Hong Kong is a land of contrasts, varieties and lots of choices. Take the restaurants scene for example, you'll be spoiled with over 10,000 dining selections from more than 100 different country specialties.

Sadly, the distribution of wealth is very uneven. The top-earning 1 percent of Hong Kong's 3.5 million workers contributes 36 percent of salary-tax revenue, according to tax consultants Ernst & Young LLP, while the top 100,000 wage earners account for 60 percent. In the 1997-1998 fiscal year, the top 100,000 salary earners of the 3.2 million workers contributed 55 percent of the city's wage-tax receipts, the accounting firm said.

The gap between rich and poor is indeed big and the situation is getting worse. Expensive living expenses is pushing many people out of their houses. The worst of all is about those living on "caged houses", cramped homes with little space to spare or in the streets (read: homeless beggars).

From SAWF News, here's a tale of families living on such conditions.

Space is limited in the cage Kong Siu-kan calls home: a few pieces of clothing are stuffed at one end of his bed, other items perch on a makeshift shelf and a glass of water sits beside his pillow.

Kong's fellow tenant, 78-year-old Tai Yum-po, has made better use of his space: he hooks his towel, jackets, pot noodles, bags of washing powder and toothpicks to his bed.

Hidden behind the high-rise office blocks and glitzy shopping malls of Hong Kong, a huge number of ordinary people have been left behind by the economic boom since the city returned to Chinese rule a decade ago.

As as international financial hub it boasts some of Asia's richest people and more Louis Vuitton shops than Paris or New York.

Yet out of its seven million residents, an estimated 1.25 million -- people like Kong and Tai -- live below the poverty line.

They share a room with nine other men in one of Hong Kong's notorious "cage dwellings" -- small, dingy flats that have been further subdivided into cages where there is no room for anything other than a bed.

For these men, home is four walls of rusty steel wire mesh with a sliding door at one end that allows them to slide in and out.

"I tried to find work for years, but I'm getting old and no one would hire me. So I gave up," said Kong, a thin, 61-year-old father of two grown-up sons with whom he has lost contact.

"I couldn't have imagined I would have ended like this but I don't feel too bad about this any more," he said.

Official figures show a growing chasm between the rich and poor: one in 15 households in 2006 had a monthly total income of 770 US dollars or less (6,000 HK dollars), four percent more than a decade ago.

Those earning 3,850 US dollars or more a month have risen two percent.

Cage dwellings are just one example of worsening poverty in this southern Chinese territory, where only 35 percent of the 3.4 million working population pays income tax and the top 100,000 earners contribute 60 percent of salaries tax.

Built in the 1940s to accommodate a wave of Chinese refugees fleeing the civil war on the mainland, about 100 cage homes remain, housing some of Hong Kong's poorest and most downtrodden.

Economically, Hong Kong has had a rough ride of the past 10 years since the end of the colonial era.

It was plunged into turmoil by the Asian financial crisis of 1997 -- which sparked a seven-year recession -- as well as the fallout of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks in the United States, avian flu and an outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

At its nadir, in early 2003 when SARS plunged the city into psychological and economic depression, home values had fallen 70 percent and gross domestic product slumped to 3.3 percent.

Although the economy has made a full recovery, figures show the number of people on low-paid jobs has risen sharply, as has the number working more than 55 hours a week.

Ho Hei-wah, director of the Society for Community Organisation, a rights group, said wages that were cut during the economic slump have not returned to pre-1997 levels partly because more jobs have been lost to mainland China.

"One big problem is, even if people have jobs, their salary is very low. We call them working poor," he said.

Closer integration with China has meant more Hong Kong companies have moved to the mainland to tap into its breakneck growth and cheap labour, leaving the city with fewer jobs and workers forced to accept lower wages to get them.

Low Usick Kan, a scaffold worker of 40 years, said fewer jobs and low pay had forced workers to seek employment in the neighbouring booming casino haven of Macau, where the monthly allowance just for housing and transport is higher than a Hong Kong wage.

Wong Hung, an assistant professor at the social work department of Chinese University, said the absence of a minimum wage policy was also to blame.

"Jobs are getting fewer and fewer but we have more workers with no minimum wage protection. I can only expect the trend of lower income to continue," he said.

Mr Leung, a Chinese mainland immigrant who did not want to give his first name, works 12 hours a day six days a week as a security guard for 6,000 Hong Kong dollars a month.

His wife brings in an extra 4,000 dollars by working in a restaurant, but they have barely enough to provide for their family of two teenagers.

The outcome: the four are among 130,000 people who live in what is termed "inadequate housing."

The Leungs live in a cubicle big enough for a bunk bed, a small fridge, a desk and a fold-up table. It has no windows: for ventilation they rely on the draught from holes above the walls.

It is one of 13 sub-units in a dimly-lit, 50-year-old building with flaky walls, wet broken concrete floor in the communal kitchen, a toilet without a seat and another floor with broken tiles.

The blackened ceiling and walls show the age of the building.

"Hong Kong is so great, isn't it," Cheung said sarcastically as he sweated on the bunk bed with three fans on full power.

Cheung said the room gets so hot he sometimes sleeps on the tiny area left in the cubicle; the children are forced to study on the bunk bed.

Life might seem more comfortable for Yuen Chi-ming, a cleaner at a swanky air-conditioned office block and who lives in a government-subsidised complex, but he only gets 4,800 dollars a month for working 10 hours a day.

"The rich get richer; the poor get poorer. That's a fact," he said.

"There's nothing we can do. You may get rich by winning the lottery, but that's only a dream. A lot of people dream about it but it would never come true."

HK billionaire Joseph Lau's B787 jet buying reason

If you're in Hong Kong and buying a burger, preferring to take it out instead of eating within its premises, you say "TAKE AWAY" not "TAKE OUT" or anything close to "EAT OUTSIDE". Sounds weird to me because I used "TAKE OUT" many times in the Philippines before.

By the way, a Hong Kong tycoon who has ordered a 153-million-US-dollar Boeing was driven to VIP private travel by the sight of a First Class passenger in his underpants, a news report said Thursday.

Joseph Lau, 55, head of Hong Kong-based Chinese Estate Holdings, is buying a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which has 223 square metres of cabin space and was designed to carry up to 300 people.

aining his purchase, Lau, one of Asia’s richest men with a personal fortune estimated at more than 2 billion US dollars, says an unpleasant experience in First Class made him switch to VIP jets.

He told the South China Morning Post he was horrified when a fellow passenger stripped to his underwear. ‘The passenger changed into his pyjamas in front of the others,’ he said.

‘I felt embarrassed, and I am a man, let alone how the women would have felt.’ After the experience, Lau had ordered six private jets for himself, including the Dreamliner.

Lau is also known as an avid art collector and hit the headlines last year when he paid 17.4 million US dollars for an Andy Warhol portrait of late Chinese leader Mao Zedong.

Boeing claims to have seven private orders for Boeing 787 Dreamliners for use as private jets. The first 787 jets will be produced in July.

Tenth Anniversary Contest

Are you a Hong Kong resident? If you answered yes and you like to get a chance to win one of ten Cathay Pacific tickets to any place you like (provided Cathay Pacific is operating: from Aberdeen to Zurich), you can enter a contest organized by the government in line with the 10th Anniversary of the Hong Kong handover.

Rules

1. All Hong Kong residents are eligible to take part in the lucky draw. Each person can win only one prize.
2. Only e-card recipients outside Hong Kong can submit entries. But winners of the lucky draw will be Hong Kong residents who send the cards.
3. An e-card recipient can submit only one entry. But a Hong Kong resident can send e-cards to as many of his or her friends and relatives outside Hong Kong as he wishes.
4. Winners of the air-tickets must comply with the terms and conditions applicable to the prize ticket set out by Cathay Pacific Airways (see "Prizes" below).
5. The organiser reserves the right to interpret and amend the rules of the lucky draw.
6. The organiser is not responsible for any lost, late or misdirected entries.
7. Employees of the organiser are not eligible to take part.

How to Enter

1. After receiving an e-card, an overseas recipient should print out an attached entry form which only recipients will see on receipt and send the completed form by airmail to Information Services Department, Room 319, 3/F., Murray Building, Garden Road, Central, Hong Kong.
2. The names of both the e-card sender and recipient must be included on the back of the envelope.
3. The deadline for entries is 14 June 2007, according to the postmark on the envelope.
4. The winners will be chosen by lucky draw.


Prizes

* There will be a total of 12 return air tickets.
* Twelve winners will each receive one ticket for a return flight between Hong Kong and any destination with which Cathay Pacific and Dragonair have direct flights. Code-share flights not operated by Cathay Pacific or Dragonair are not applicable.
* The winners will be the Hong Kong residents named on the entries. The winners can use their tickets for themselves or have it transferred to an overseas friend or relative to visit Hong Kong. The tickets are not redeemable for cash, and after issue, are non-transferable and non-re-routable.
* The ticket must be issued and collected within two months from the date of the results announcement, or be forfeited. Tickets issued will be valid for six months.
* The tickets are on a bookable basis under "E" class for ECONOMY, but are subject to embargo periods (e.g. Christmas, New Year and Lunar New Year).
* The holders of the ticket are on a lower boarding priority than the normal fare paying passengers. They are liable for all taxes or security charges applicable to the tickets.

Deadline

The deadline for entries will be 14 June 2007 according to the postmark of the entries.

Announcement of Results

* The lucky draw results will be announced on 29 June 2007.
* The results will be published in the South China Morning Post and Ming Pao. The results will also be uploaded on www.gov.hk/10.
* Winners will be informed individually.

Enquiries

Information Services Department: 2842 8808

Send a card now!

Hong Kong expat apartments the most expensive

A day after I posted that the number of gweilos in Hong Kong is falling, the flats they left are probably getting more in demand than ever.

Hong Kong's high-end apartments are the world's most expensive to rent, followed by Tokyo and New York, reflecting high living costs in those cities, a survey on expatriate accommodation showed Tuesday.

An executive three-bedroom apartment in Hong Kong costs more than $8,500 a month to rent, according to the survey by human resources consultancy ECA International, based in the United Kingdom.

Rents for typical expatriate apartments in Hong Kong rose an average 10 percent last year and 15 percent in 2005, thanks to the Chinese territory's robust economic growth, said Lee Quane, general manager of ECA International Hong Kong.

The gap between Hong Kong and other cities was widening, he added. This is going to give us all sorts of headaches and backpains, I guess.

The survey compared rental prices in 92 locations worldwide, the firm said in a statement.

Tokyo rents for expatriates averaged $7,358 while in New York, they were $7,249.

Moscow was ranked fourth most expensive at $6,526, followed by Seoul, London, Mumbai and Shanghai, the survey found.

The Venezuelan capital of Caracas was ranked ninth as expatriates there need to live in high-security compounds for safety reasons, Quane said. Paris was 10th.

The cheapest location of the 92 cities was Nairobi, Kenya, where a three-bedroom apartment cost about $1,000 a month, the survey said.

Hong Kong expat numbers falling

Wondering the number of "gweilos" we see on in Hong Kong are falling? That's because their numbers in Hong Kong are actually dwindling. Hong Kong’s expatriate population has plunged by one third in five years as British, American, Canadian and Australian citizens move out in their thousands, a news report said Sunday.

As the former British colony prepares for the 10th anniversary of its return to Chinese rule, figures show the number of western expatriates has fallen from 106,740 in 2001 to 71,150 in 2006.

The fall in British citizens has been particularly steep with the total British population falling from 13,490 in 2005 to 11,420 last year, the South China Morning Post reported.

Over the same period, the number of Canadian citizens fell 14.6 per cent, Americans by 5.8 per cent and Australians by 7.3 per cent, according to Immigration Department arrival and departure records.

There has, however, been a rise of 2 per cent in the number of Indians and 1.7 per cent in the number of Pakistanis living in the city of 6.9 million from 2005 to 2006.

Analysts say that the fall in the western population is caused by increasing localization of jobs as well as its expensive international schools and worsening air pollution.

Hong Kong was a British colony for 156 years before reverting to Chinese sovereignty under a ‘one country, two systems’ arrangement in July 1997.

Perhaps we still see many of them, even so many of them in the streets or at Lan Kwai Fong. But probably they are only in Hong Kong for a few days as tourists and are only trying to live the Hong Kong life. Realizing that the pollution is not getting any better and more jobs are getting localized, there's more than just money Hong Kong can offer

Changes in immigration policies

The Hong Kong Immigration Department further relaxed its policies regarding entry of dependents of Hong Kong residents. I commented back mid last year about the changed policy on spouse not needing to get a working visa before s/he can work.

The Security Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region announced Friday that it had relaxed the immigration policy governing the entry of dependents for residence in Hong Kong.

The existing dependent policy is restrictive in that Chinese Mainlanders admitted into Hong Kong for work or study can bring in their dependents, while foreigners and overseas Chinese with dependents residing on the Mainland can not.

The relaxed policy allows the dependents of these foreigners and overseas Chinese to apply to reside in Hong Kong. This will help Hong Kong attract and retain overseas talent, the bureau added.

The relaxed dependent policy will take effect in mid-2007 to allow Mainland spouses and unmarried dependent children under 18 of the following categories of people to reside in Hong Kong as dependents:

1. People admitted for employment, investment and training under the General Employment Policy;

2. People admitted under the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme;

3. Foreigners and overseas Chinese admitted under the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme;

4. Overseas Chinese admitted for employment; and,

5. Overseas students admitted for studying in full-time undergraduate or post-graduate programs in local degree-awarding institutions.

The length of stay of dependents is linked to that of their sponsors. They are required to leave Hong Kong as and when the sponsors leave.

The launch date of the new policy and the application procedure will be announced later, said the bureau.

The myth behind "Bible Truth"

One day after Hong Kong's Television and Entertainment Licensing authority (TELA) said it had received 838 complaints about the Bible by Wednesday noon, the number swelled to 1,700 according to IHT.

The complaint was about a claim that the Bible is worse than the Chinese University student publication "Student Press" which asked readers whether they'd ever fantasised about incest or bestiality. The complaint seeks to classify the Bible has more content that describes sexual and violent content, including rape and incest.

It's ridiculous. People want to be vindicated for what they did by dragging the Holy Bible into the whole mess. I am a Catholic and I feel terribly offended with what these people are claiming to be the truth, as published in the website www.truthbible.net.

"If there is rape mentioned in the Bible, it doesn't mean it encourages those activities," said Reverend Wu Chi-wai. "It's just common sense . . . I don't think that criticism will have strong support from the public," he added.

The claims, though purportedly coming off a thorough research, is a product of a misguided thought and aims to mislead the public with unsubstantiated sources. How many of these people even bother to open the Bible, let alone find these sexually themed topics? Growing up, I have met different types of people, and the most disturbing are those who pretend to know everything even if the barely know anything.

Less than ten percent of Hong Kong's population are Christians and Catholics, many of whom are Filipina domestic helpers.

The Obscene Articles Tribunal ruled that pages within the February, March and April editions of the newspaper, produced for students at Chinese University, together with two online versions broke the law. The tribunal plans to announce its penalty later.

I can't read the contradictions posted in Traditional Chinese text. I wish I could read it or its authors provide an English copy so I better understand the claim.

When I read the article "Hong Kong offended by Holy Bible?", I feel shamed simply because I am in Hong Kong, a Christian who believes in the Bible. It's the ignorance that prevails here at the moment.

"I am profitably engaged in reading the Bible. Take all of this Book that you can by reason and the balance by faith, and you will live and die a better man. It is the best Book which God has given to man." -- Abraham Lincoln

In Ma Lik's mind

June 4 is fast approaching. For those who aren't aware or failed to remember, it's the date when Tiananmen Square Massacre took place in the heart of Beijing. Every year, Hong Kong people commemorate the unfortunate event with gatherings. These gatherings take place even after Hong Kong was formally turned over to China, whose leaders are alleged masterminds of the gruesome killing of hundreds (or thousands) whose photos appear on South China Morning Post a few days ago.

One hot topic these days was quoted from Ma Lik, the head of DAB political party here in Hong Kong.

When asked about a political reform topic, Ma Lik has this to say about the Tiananmen Square incident:

We should not say the Communist Party massacred people on June 4. I never said that nobody was killed, but it was not a massacre

"A massacre would mean the Communist Party intentionally killed people with machine guns indiscriminately,

I wonder where was he when the incident happened.

Journalists covering the crackdown described tanks and troops armed with machine guns fighting their way into the city and suppressing the protests. Four days afterward, an announcer at the Beijing Radio station read a report that troops had killed thousands of people.

Even Ma Lik's party-mates were not comfortable with his statement.

"Our chairman has stirred up an argument," said Lau Kwong-wah, a DAB lawmaker. "If this caused some unnecessary damage and debate, the DAB is willing to apologize."

Mr. Ma, told Hong Kong reporters on Tuesday that 'gweilos,' local slang for 'foreigners,' shouldn't be allowed to decide what really happened at Tiananmen, the South China Morning Post newspaper reported. Hmm... only Chinese are allowed, I guess?

July 1 is also fast approaching. By then, Hong Kong will mark its first decade under the name Hong Kong SAR (Special Administrative Region). Two pandas were delivered in the territory as a gift from the "motherland" as a goodwill gesture in time for the Handover celebration.

It was especially worrisome time in Hong Kong during the botched revolt in 1989. As the territory prepared for the British handover to China, the scenes of helpless civilians crushed by the mighty force of the Army could replicate in here. Good thing nothing happened like that, yet.

McDonald's making shelters for the homeless

I recently read an article about the trend about young Japanese people who have less income spending the night at net cafes not merely to surf but actually to seek a place to rest. It's a cheap way to keep arcades crowded without having to spend on more expensive means of accommodation.

Hong Kong may be reaping the benefits of economic development but not everyone in the territory is able to capitalize on it. There are still beggars on the street and people who are evicted from their flats as their landlords demand higher property rental rates.

McDonald's may be Hong Kong's version of those cafes as it caters to the less affluent members of the society as News24 reports.

Hong Kong - No longer just a restaurant for people to munch a burger, McDonald's in Hong Kong has recently become a shelter for some down on their luck, a local paper reported this week.

People who cannot afford high rents or who want to save a few dollars on late-night transportation have opted to sleep in some of the fast food restaurants which operate around the clock, said the mass-market Apple Daily on Monday.

A picture taken by the newspaper at 04:00 in a downtown McDonald's in Tsim Sha Tsui, a popular tourist district, showed at least eight men resting on their arms and occupying a table each.

The paper called these people "McRefugees" - a term imported from Japan, where a growing number of working poor have been spending the night at McDonald's.

A man the paper identified only by his surname, Lo, was among about 10 people sleeping recently in one of the McDonald's in Hong Kong.

"I had lost my job for about a month. I have no money to pay my rent, so I come here to sleep," said the man in his 30s.

No customers complaints

"It has air conditioning here. It's better than sleeping in parks."

The man added he would rent a place as soon as he got paid for the job he started a few weeks ago, the paper said.

A woman, whose name was not given, said she was sleeping at McDonald's to save a few dollars on transportation.

"I'm a nightshift waitress. I finish work at 02:00. I sleep here until dawn when the train resumes services," she told the paper, referring to Hong Kong's Mass Transit Railway which runs its last train shortly after midnight on weekdays.

McDonald's said customers are welcome to visit the restaurants anytime and that they "haven't received any complaints regarding customers staying in the restaurants for a long time," it said in a written reply to The Associated Press.

The fast food chain has increased the number of its 24-hour restaurants from a few to 55 last year as it realised Hong Kongers are working and dining at late hours.

Home to 'McGamers'

There are now more than 200 McDonald's restaurants in Hong Kong.

The fast food chain has also become a new playground for "McGamers" - people who play portable games such as PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS for hours in McDonald's.

Kevin, A 29-year-old gamer identified only by his first name, said: "I don't have to worry about not being able to find somebody to play with here."

The failed overseas absentee voting

Looking at the traditional politicians who visited Hong Kong recently (Defensor, Singson and Zubiri) wooing Filipinos to cast their votes in their favor, they could have better spent their time back in Manila and the provinces as the turnout of Overseas Absentee Voting in Hong Kong was so bad that it caused the Consulate General in Hong Kong to gather community leaders in identifying the reasons why few Filipinos voted in this year's election.

I used to register in 2003 for the 2004 elections; I was unable to vote. Now I did not even consider to register as I never planned to vote at all. I don't know the candidates anyway.

Over 10,000 expatriate Filipinos working in Hong Kong headed to polling stations on Monday to pick their choice of senators in the national elections in their home country.

The workers, mostly domestic helpers, cast their votes at the Bayanihan Kennedy Town Centre for overseas maids.

According to Carmela Panes, spokesperson for the local Philippine Consulate General, of the 96,523 Filipinos in Hong Kong, 1,50,000 are registered to vote, and 14,693 have voted already.

One expatriate said she hoped for fraud-free elections and an improved Philippine government.

''I hope everything is clean,'' Victoria said of the electoral process.

Another said she hoped for a peaceful election.

''I feel very sad every time violence happens in the Philippines,'' said Marias C Macaso, referring to the country's political instability amid campaign violence that has left at least 113 people dead.

Monday's election of local and congressional representatives is likely to do little to ease the situation.

Opinion polls showed the opposition certain to hold onto control of the Senate.

The House of Representatives was likely to remain in the hands of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's backers, which would doom any effort to launch a third impeachment bid against her over allegations that she fixed the 2004 election.

Security forces were on full alert in a country prone to election violence.

In addition, police warned that communist guerrillas planned to attack military and civilian targets, including armouries, telecommunication facilities and power plants, and undermine the balloting.

Kicking the habit or just simulating it

I am not a smoker, so I am not sure how should I react to this battery-powered cigarette.

A battery-powered cigarette has been created in Hong Kong to help smokers kick the habit.

The Ruyan "e-cigarette" is an electric device that delivers nicotine to inhalers to re-create the experience of smoking.

SBT Company first developed the e-cigarette technology in 2003. The firm is now owned by Golden Dragon Group Ltd.

SBT Vice President Scott Fraser said: "It's more similar to smoking physiologically as well, people are getting their dose of nicotine absorbed much more readily with our product than with the nicotine gum which takes about 5 minutes, up to 10 minutes to be absorbed.

"It activates a flow sensor which draws the solution from the cartridge in the atomising chamber where it's vaporised into tiny droplets which then exhale."

The cigarettes sell for around 1,600 yuan (£105) each and are already available in China, Israel and Turkey.

Hong Kong pedestrians walk not fast enough?

Surprise, surprise. Hong Kong may not be included in the survey, but if it is, people's usual perception that pace of life in Hong Kong may not be as fast as Singapore's or Guangzhou's if walking speeds will be a measured parameter.

A study of cities across the world shows pedestrians are upping their pace at an alarming rate as they scurry from place to place, determined to cram as much as possible into each day.

Scientists say it is symptomatic of a modern life driven by e-mail, text messages and a need to be available 24 hours a day.

The most dramatic increases were found in Asia among the fast-growing "tiger" economies.

Pedestrians in Singapore were crowned the world's fastest movers, walking 30 percent faster than they did in the early 1990s, and in China, the pace of life in Guangzhou has increased by more than 20 percent.

Copenhagen and Madrid were the fastest European cities, beating Paris and London. And despite its reputation as "the city that never sleeps," New York ranked only eighth in the pace race, behind Dublin and Berlin.

Richard Wiseman, a professor of psychology at the University of Hertfordshire who helped conduct the research, used a 1994 study of pedestrians' speed as a comparison and found that on average city dwellers now move 10 percent faster.

"The pace of life in our major cities is now much quicker than before," he said. "This increase in speed will affect more people than ever, because for the first time in history the majority of the world's population are now living in urban centers."

Wiseman is worried by the rising need for speed.

"We just have this feeling that we should be producing and active all of the time," he said. "That is fuelled by the email, text, mobile phone culture."

"But there has to be an upper limit, because if this trend continues, we will arriving places before we have set off."

The study was carried out with the help of the British Council, which promotes British cultural links with countries around the world.

Researchers in each city found a busy street with a wide, flat pavement, free from obstacles and sufficiently uncrowded to allow people to walk at their maximum speed. They then timed how long it took 35 people to walk 60 feet.

They only monitored adults on their own, and ignored anyone on a mobile phone conversation or struggling with shopping bags.

The times, in seconds, recorded in 32 cities across the world are listed below:

1) Singapore (Singapore): 10.55

2) Copenhagen (Denmark): 10.82

3) Madrid (Spain): 10.89

4) Guangzhou (China): 10.94

5) Dublin (Ireland): 11.03

6) Curitiba (Brazil): 11.13

7) Berlin (Germany): 11.16

8) New York (United States of America): 12.00

9) Utrecht (Netherlands): 12.04

10) Vienna (Austria): 12.06

11) Warsaw (Poland): 12.07

12) London (United Kingdom): 12.17

13) Zagreb (Croatia): 12.20

14) Prague (Czech Republic): 12.35

15) Wellington (New Zealand): 12.62

16) Paris (France): 12.65

17) Stockholm (Sweden): 12.75

18) Ljubljana (Slovenia): 12.76

19) Tokyo (Japan): 12.83

20) Ottawa (Canada): 13.72

21) Harare (Zimbabwe): 13.92

22) Sofia (Bulgaria): 13.96

23) Taipei (Taiwan): 14.00

24) Cairo (Egypt): 14.18

25) Sana'a (Yemen): 14.29

26) Bucharest (Romania): 14.36

27) Dubai (United Arab Emirates): 14.64

28) Damascus (
Syria): 14.94

29) Amman (Jordan): 15.95

30) Bern (Switzerland): 17.37

31) Manama (Bahrain): 17.69

32) Blantyre (Malawi): 31.60

Hong Kong movies losing appeal?

From an Associated Press article published at Kuwaiti Times, Hong Kong movies are giving way to China-themed flicks due to a huge following in the growing Chinese market. In a way it might be detrimental to Hong Kong's distinctive movie industry, where Jackie Chan and other big names in the show business have made a name for themselves before plunging into Hollywood.

* Movies are shot in Mandarin instead of Hong Kong's Cantonese language.

* Stricter rules in movies may mean less movies with gang violence and sex topics and will give way to period dramas

* Movie producers are always wary and often ask if the movie can be shown in China. If not, production may halt or script be changed.

There are exceptions of course as "Protege" its their way to the market as censors think the message of educating China's people on drugs is served well using the movie as a medium.

But Hong Kong has always been known for Chan's stunts or the thrills of "Infernal Affairs", one of the celebrated movies in recent years.

Other types of Hong Kong movies are average at best, which is why I am never inspired to watch one soon after I watched A1 Headline with Jacqueline in 2004.

Not a good trend to see as the movie industry has been on a downturn due to SARS not too long ago and persistence of movie piracy.

Hong Kong movies, long known for their stylish violence, are being geared toward the expanding Chinese market and stricter censorship standards there, and observers are worried that Hong Kong cinema is losing its edge.

Hong Kong-Chinese co-productions are now the norm. Top directors favor ancient Chinese epics that appeal to a broader audience and are less likely to offend Chinese censors wary of bloodshed or flesh baring. Stories about gang feuds and urban love stories are becoming rare, giving way to period dramas.

John Woo, who made the Hong Kong gangster classic "A Better Tomorrow" and moved on to Hollywood fame, is about to start shooting "Red Cliff," based on a famous ancient Chinese battle.

Such movies are more often shot in the national Chinese dialect of Mandarin rather than Hong Kong's native Cantonese.

"Now the first thing Hong Kong investors will say is you have to find a mainland Chinese partner. Can this movie be released in mainland China? If it can't, (they'll say) 'I'll have some concerns,"' said Peter Tsi, executive director of the Hong Kong International Film Festival.

The shift toward more culturally generic topics is motivated in part by a heightened sensitivity to China's authoritarian government, which, despite free market reforms, screens media content carefully. Ann Hui, a respected Hong Kong director, said she was careful about portraying a Chinese policewoman in her Chinese-financed love story "Goddess of Mercy." "The Chinese censorship system bans quite a few topics," including sex, violence and "the dark side of real life," she said.

Some film industry insiders fear China's ideological control is stifling creativity in this freewheeling former British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997. "When the trend is to seek out mainland Chinese investment, topics set in mainland China and relying on the Chinese market, it's hurting the fundamental quality that's unique to Hong Kong movies," director Stanley Kwan said.

William Pfeiffer, chief executive of Hong Kong-based Celestial Pictures, said many believe one of the territory's most celebrated movies in recent years, "Infernal Affairs," would not have been made, given its theme. (The crime thriller, which inspired the Academy Award-winning "The Departed," portrays an undercover gangster's success in infiltrating the police.) But Hong Kong filmmakers have shown a pragmatic streak, saying they're willing to work within China's content constraints.

"Sometimes when you're inspired, you can make a good movie even if you accept compromises," Hui said. Veteran actor Andy Lau holds up his new movie about a drug lord's downfall, "Protege," as an example of the kind of diversity possible in China-oriented movies.

Despite its subject matter, the movie was cleared by Chinese censors, but Lau said: "We changed it to an ethically inspiring movie about the kind of disaster drugs inflict upon people. We convey in every scene that using drugs is wrong." Filmmakers also say money-minded Hong Kong movie investors have always practiced self-censorship.

"When it comes to movies that are harshly critical of the government, tell me, how many Hong Kong movies have very political topics?" Kwan asked.

Hui said in the 1970s and '80s, Hong Kong investors considered love stories risky unless they featured big stars.

And producer Andre Morgan maintains that the harshness of Chinese censors is overstated.

"I'm just kind of bored with all of this nonsense I read in the Western press and even the Asian English-language press that makes the censors out to be these mysterious bad guys you can't deal with. This is not accurate," he said.

Despite the greater effort to cater to mainland Chinese tastes, the ultraviolent, fast-paced gangster thrillers that harken back to Woo still remain. Director Johnnie To has continued Woo's legacy with his gang movies, "Election" and "Election 2." Yau Nai-hoi, who wrote the two To movies, said it's still possible to make distinctive local movies as long as filmmakers budget according to expected returns. "It's about the math," he said.

Pfeiffer said Hong Kong stars, directors and writers who work in China still apply their unique brand of creativity to Chinese projects.

"Yes, if you're shooting in China you have to play by the censorship rules there, but in any case, it still will have the look and feel of Hong Kong picture," he said.

China tourists can't get enough of Hong Kong

While browsing at my iGoogle personalized page today, I came across a page that explores a fake Disneyland in China whose slogan is "Because Disneyland Is Too Far". Currently down (hmm, I don't think this is the work of the crafty ones who deliberately shutdown sites that rule out of favor of China; nah, it's a known fact that China is a haven for copycats), the page has photos and videos about the apparent Disney-themed park.

"No, it's not Minnie Mouse, it's a cat actually", an official who insists that the character does not mimic the famous Disney mouse.

Turning our focus to Hong Kong, with the same cast of characters in Hong Kong attractions, mainland China brothers and sisters, their numbers have gone up during the Golden Week celebration which is taking place this week.

I guess they learned their lessons: more people visiting as independent groups and less going for tour trips that were tainted with news about scams. From Monsters and Critics.

Chinese visitor numbers to Hong Kong during the May 'Golden Week' holiday jumped by nearly a quarter from a year ago despite fears that a series of shopping scams would keep them away, officials said Friday.

More than 355,000 people from mainland China crossed into Hong Kong from April 28 to May 3, 24.5 per cent more than during the same period last year and accounting for 61.7 per cent of all tourist arrivals in the six-day period.

The surprise jump in arrivals came after tourism officials predicted numbers would fall by 10 to 15 per cent because of bad publicity ahead of the holiday over shops ripping off Chinese tour groups.

Chinese state television channels broadcast reports of visitors to the city of 6.9 million being sold fake diamonds and being pressured into buying items from shops where tour guides are paid commission.

In another well-publicized case, 500 Swiss watches found in a popular tourist shop with price tags of 1,000 US dollars each turned out to be counterfeits.

The rip-offs appeared to have done little to deter Chinese visitors from coming to Hong Kong, according to the figures released Friday by the territory's Tourism Commission.

However, fewer visitors came as part of tour parties. Instead, 67 per cent arrived on individual travel permits, an increase of almost 10 percentage points on the figure for the same period last year.

More than half the 26 million visitors to Hong Kong last year came from mainland China. Chinese tourists are credited with reviving Hong Kong's economy after the 2003 crisis caused by an outbreak of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome.

News at Seven Thirty

Not long ago, the idea of flashing subtitles on the news stories on television screen for viewers to read was put into action. Similar to many TV screens in Hong Kong where Chinese characters translated from the news presenters, interviews and even soap operas, news stories are better understood by the audience.

Just when I tuned in late to ATV News for its "Main News" at 7:30 in the evening, I was able to hear Nick Waters sort of bidding goodbye to his loyal "Main News" audience for the past ten years on his presumably last assignment as a newscaster. I am not sure if he is leaving the company, but for him to stay ten years at ATV, providing an English voice to a predominantly Cantonese news airwaves of Hong Kong was a relief for a foreigner like me.

He joins Chris Lincoln, Anne-Marie Sim (Water's partner in the Main News), Regina de Luna, Joe Kainz, Yonden Lhatoo and other prominent English-speaking reporters all of whom have been accompanying me in keeping in touch with the latest stories of Hong Kong and beyond.

When a reporter leaves his post, televiewers like me sometimes think where have they been: Did they leave their post? Were they assigned to another timeslot? A few will know until formal announcement is given and is a rarity in the industry.

I like watching the ATV World's Main News or News at Seven Thirty over at TVB Pearl because both of them feature local stories: government plans and reports, accidents and crimes as well as peculiar stories from around Hong Kong. These segments have a local feel not found in morning news feeds like the World News Tonight or Sky News. It's like preferring to read South China Morning Post's City section over the headlines or sports news.

I have been fascinated by Asia which is why I was so fond of the defunct Focus Asia as well as BBC's Asia Today and Football Asia.

Another TV feature that sends me little shiver is Earth Live. Seeing places on television that I have been to (example shown on Earth Live was Vienna, Dusseldorf and The Hague) projects a special feeling in me.

Hong Kong examinee for a fee

There are various types of ways to cheat in school exams. When I was in the university, I heard of different methods: writing patters in hankies, drawing formula diagrams on palms, inserting a micro print of definitions on shoe soles and cheating (seating) arrangements to properly distribute the "brain density" within the classroom.

Times have passed and newer techniques replaced the obsolete ones. Technology played a major role in cheating tests, from websites teaching how to cheat exams that lead to banning of devices such as iPod and cellphones at examination centers.

But nothing beats the most risky method: portraying to be the examinee and taking the exam on his/her behalf. In Hong Kong a bogus Form 6 student was recently convicted of doing that for her friend (or client, whichever is more appropriate) to pass her math exams.

From EarthTimes.

A Hong Kong university undergraduate who took a sixth form maths examination for a candidate terrified of failing was Monday sentenced to 240 hours of community service. Leung Hoi-ting, 20, admitting fraudulently taking the sixth form examination in place of her 18-year-old friend Yuen Wai-chi in what is believed to be the first case of its kind in Hong Kong.

Undergraduate Leung, who looks similar to her friend, turned up in Yuen's place at an examination centre last May and showed Yuen's photo ID card before taking the exam in her place.

Anti-corruption investigators later arrested her after another student complained that Yuen had been offering money before the exam to anyone who would take it for her and pass.

The magistrate at Monday's hearing told Leung she had committed a "very serious offence." Yuen was sentenced to 80 hours of community service at an earlier hearing.

Leung lost her university place as a result of her arrest for fraud, the court was told. It is now known what score she achieved when she fraudulently took the maths exam.