Less polluted air could save HK $4b a year

HONG KONG – BETTER air quality in Hong Kong could save as many as 1,600 lives and HK$21 billion (S$4.3 billion) a year, according to a new study.

In addition, 64,000 hospital ‘bed days’ and 6.8 million family doctor visits could be saved, said the report released yesterday.

Air pollution in Hong Kong has deteriorated markedly in the past decade; some say it is starting to affect the city’s economic lustre by making it harder to attract overseas talent to work here.

The report said Hong Kong had poor visibility 45 per cent of the time and was worse than Los Angeles, London, New York and Paris in terms of ‘respirable particulate air pollution’ levels.

‘If it was an infectious disease, there would be a crisis,’ Mr Anthony Hedley from the University of Hong Kong’s School of Public Health told a news conference.

‘This is a medical emergency.’

Besides his department, the Department of Community and Family Medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Institute for the Environment at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the Civic Exchange think-tank took part in the study.

The researchers estimated that HK$1.5 billion could be saved per year in tangible health care costs, HK$500 million in productivity lost due to pollution-related illness and HK$19 billion in intangible costs, including the value of lost lives and willingness to pay to avoid illness. — REUTERS, ASSOCIATED PRESS

Wong Kar-Wai

SCMP
Sunday, May 22, 2005

Private eyes
By Vivienne Chow and David Watkins

Wong Kar Wai

Director Wong Kar-wai. Photo: K.Y. Cheng.

THE MASTER OF light and shade he may be – but he’s the master of shades, too. Wong Kar-wai never steps into the public arena without his prescription sunglasses, refusing to take them off even when indoors. With his eyes hidden from view, it’s sometimes impossible to tell where he’s looking, what he’s thinking or whether he’s finished answering a question after one of his customary pauses.

Many rumours have circulated about why Wong hides his eyes. Some say he suffers from a rare disorder and is ultra-sensitive to light – although the sensual, luminous colours of his films would suggest otherwise. Others says it’s vanity – an attempt to look like the chain-smoking characters who populate his movies. Or maybe he simply dislikes being interviewed.

The truth is more down to earth, derived out of a basic need for privacy: they’re his disguise. “I have no problem with the press – I give interviews all the time. Sunglasses are like a uniform for me,” says Wong, smoking his umpteenth cigarette. “I don’t have a name card, so I have glasses. Without these sunglasses, people don’t recognise me. That way I can have more privacy with my family when I don’t wear them. Some people do things in opposite ways.”

Although his films are filled with tragic types suffocated by romantic longing, Wong in person is cheerful, to the point of being playful. And although he imposes a dimmed view of the world on his eyes when facing reporters – as he does on the day he’s at Taikoo’s UA Cinema, promoting his part in Eros, a directorial menage a trois with Steven Soderberg and Michelangelo Antonioni about erotic love – it’s what his eyes see through the camera that the world is clamouring for. Continue reading “Wong Kar-Wai” →

The Four Noble Truths

Shortly after his Awakening, the Buddha delivered his first sermon, in which he laid out the essential framework upon which all his later teachings were based. This framework consists of the Four Noble Truths, four fundamental principles of nature (Dhamma) that emerged from the Buddha’s radically honest and penetrating assessment of the human condition. He taught these truths not as metaphysical theories or as articles of faith, but as categories by which we should frame our direct experience in a way that conduces to Awakening:

(1) Dukkha: suffering, unsatisfactoriness, discontent, stress;

(2) The cause of dukkha: the cause of this dissatisfaction is craving (tanha) for sensuality, for states of becoming, and states of no becoming;

(3) The cessation of dukkha: the relinquishment of that craving;

(4) The path of practice leading to the cessation of dukkha: the Noble Eightfold Path of right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.

Because of our ignorance (avijja) of these Noble Truths, because of our inexperience in framing the world in their terms, we remain bound to samsara, the wearisome cycle of birth, aging, illness, death, and rebirth. Craving propels this process onward, from one moment to the next and over the course of countless lifetimes, in accordance with kamma (Skt. karma), the universal law of cause and effect. According to this immutable law, every action that one performs in the present moment — whether by body, speech, or mind itself — eventually bears fruit according to its skillfulness: act in unskillful and harmful ways and unhappiness is bound to follow; act skillfully and happiness will ultimately ensue. As long as one remains ignorant of this principle, one is doomed to an aimless existence: happy one moment, in despair the next; enjoying one lifetime in heaven, the next in hell.

The Buddha discovered that gaining release from samsara requires assigning to each of the Noble Truths a specific task: the first Noble Truth is to be comprehended; the second, abandoned; the third, realized; the fourth, developed. The full realization of the third Noble Truth paves the way for Awakening: the end of ignorance, craving, suffering, and kamma itself; the direct penetration to the transcendent freedom and supreme happiness that stands as the final goal of all the Buddha’s teachings; the Unconditioned, the Deathless, Unbinding — Nibbana (Skt. Nirvana).

More…

Green Rage

While there were reports recently about road rage across the Causeway, I also want to alert Singaporean golfers about ‘green’ rage on the golf course. Last week, my wife and I went to a golf resort in Johor hoping to have a nice golf getaway. What happened on the green made us think twice about risking it again. At one of the holes, I had the unusual luck of driving the ball beyond my normal range and it landed about 20m from the flight in front. This flight consisted of four men in their forties. I realised it and we shouted and waved our hands at them as an apology. One of the men reciprocated by hitting my ball into the rough and armed with their clubs, they then charged at us in their buggies. They got off the buggies and a slew of vulgarities followed. With their clubs they threatened to beat us up. Naturally, my wife was terrified as this was a quiet weekday afternoon and we were in the middle of a forest where there were just the two of us besides the men. We could not reason with them. To avoid violence, we took off in our buggy but they were hot on our heels spewing more vulgarities until we reached the clubhouse. We hope fellow Singaporeans take extra precautions should they go golfing across the Causeway as there are hooligan golfers there.

Oh Lian Chye

Singapore signs contract for 12 F-15SG fighters

By Robert Karniol JDW Asia-Pacific Editor
Bangkok

 
Singapore will acquire 12 Boeing F-15SG fighters for delivery in 2008/09 under a contract concluded on 12 December, with the option to order a further eight platforms.

“The F-15SG, which has a configuration unique to Singapore, will be the most advanced variant of the F-15 and will operate as the Republic of Singapore Air Force’s (RSAF’s) next-generation multirole fighter jet,” Singapore’s Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) said while announcing the contract.

Analysts are confident that Singapore will eventually take up its option to acquire the additional eight F-15SGs, making a total acquisition of 20.

However, it is unclear whether this will be followed by any additional procurements of this aircraft.

The RSAF is thought to require another 20 advanced fighters when it replaces the F-5S Tiger II air-defence/attack aircraft around 2015.

More F-15SGs are one option but the RSAF could instead opt for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) in combination with unmanned aerial vehicles.

http://www.janes.com/defence/air_forces/news/jdw/jdw051213_1_n.shtml

Knowledge

“If a man empties his purse into his head, no one can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.”

– Benjamin Franklin

Economics

‘Something which cannot go on forever, won’t.’

– the late United States economist Herbert Stein, top economic adviser to both the Nixon and Ford administrations.

Banyan Tree

 

“When my wife Claire and I backpacked in Asia or Europe during our younger, budget-conscious days, it was the romance and intimacy we remembered and associated with our accommodations, no matter how humble. Surely, other people would also cherish such memories, even if they had more money? That was my starting hypothesis. So, with intuition and a hankering to recapture the magic of romantic and intimate holidays in a culturally evocative and exotic setting, Banyan Tree was born.

The name Banyan Tree comes from the fishing village on Lamma Island in Hong Kong where Claire and I lived for three idyllic years before I joined the family business. Yung Shue Wan, or Banyan Tree Bay, despite its modest, rustic village setting, symbolized for us a sanctuary of romance and intimacy. Yung Shue Wan is hardly luxurious, but it proved that when two people have a wonderful experience, the place they had it in acquires a magical quality. Our hotels aspire to be the Yung Shue Wans, or sanctuaries, for our guests whatever their age or origins.

As a development economist-cum-journalist backpacking in the region, I was distressed by irresponsible tourism—destruction of the physical environment; exploitation and degradation of the cultural environment. My subsequent experience in rehabilitating the 600 acres of land that Laguna Phuket stands on today, from an abandoned tin mine into an award-winning environmental showcase offering five resorts, showed me what responsible tourism could do. These experiences—one negative, one positive—taught me that as tourism practitioners we have the immense responsibility and yet also the power to do something positive about our physical and human environment.

Through activities like the Green Imperative Fund and a group-wide committee to coordinate corporate social responsibility initiatives, we have been able to uphold that commitment. Larger-scale projects, such as marine conservation initiatives in the Maldives and the little things (refillable containers for non-toxic, biodegradable toiletries) ensure the continued preservation of our ecological environment.
Continue reading “Banyan Tree” →

The Wit and Wisdom of Peter Lynch

Peter Lynch

January-4-2006
By Kaushal B. Majmudar, CFA

We were fortunate to have an opportunity to hear Peter Lynch speak at an investment conference in New York about a year ago. Peter is, of course, the famed ex-manager of the Fidelity Magellan Fund. Under his stewardship, the Magellan Fund, which he ran from 1977 to 1990 grew from a small $20 million fund to $14 billion in assets when he stepped down to focus on family and other interests. In 1983 (just 6 years after he took over), the fund had grown to $1 billion on the back of Peter’s exceptional performance. More specifically, according to a secondary source quoting Valueline, Lynch achieved an average annual return of 29% per year over his 13 years running the Magellan Fund.
Continue reading “The Wit and Wisdom of Peter Lynch” →

Sheldon Adelson

‘My parents had little to give to me in terms of starting me off in this world. We slept in a bedroom that could hold only one bed and that was for my parents. The four children slept on the floor. And that’s the way that we started out. But…I felt myself very rich, because when I look back and think what my parents gave to me, they gave me values and that’s the most important thing.’

– Sheldon Adelson, founder of Las Vegas Sands Resort and ranked by Forbes as the world’s 15th richest man

Swaps and Derivatives by Phillip Wood

Hong Kong

Derivatives 

Derivatives is a generic term used to describe futures, options, swaps and various other similar transactions. Apart from interest swaps, most derivative contracts are contracts for differences – the difference between the agreed future price of an asset on a future date and the actual market price on that date.

Futures Contracts

A futures contract is a contract under which one party agrees to deliver to the other party on a specified future date (the “maturity date”) a specified asset at a price (the “strike price”) agreed at the time of the contract and payable on the maturity date. The term “forward contract” is often used in relation to private contracts not transacted through an organised exchange.

The asset may be a commodity or currency or a debt or equity security (or a number or basket of securities), or a deposit of money by way of loan, or any other category of property.

The effect is to guarantee or “hedge” the price. The hedging party protects himself against a loss but also loses the chance to make a profit.
Continue reading “Swaps and Derivatives by Phillip Wood” →

Travelling

“Once you get home, nobody will be remotely interested in what you did or what you saw. Why should they be? All they’ll want to know is whether or not you ‘had a good time’, and your notion of a ‘good time’ is unlikely to be theirs. The best kind of traveller is a thief on the prowl, looking for illuminating moments. Travelling, unlike tourism, is just living more intensely, freed for a short time from the constraints of being whoever it is we’re accustomed to thinking we are. It’s being on the prowl, beholden to nobody, for the beautiful self we’d forgotten was locked up inside us.”

Robert Dessaix in “The Age” newspaper, 18.ix.04.

Bus Uncle

The film starts out when the protagonist, a middle-aged man, reacts strongly when a young man sitting behind him taps his shoulder to ask him to keep his voice down while talking on the phone.

“I don’t know you. You don’t know me. Why do you do this?” the infuriated bus rider says, punctuating the sentence by jabbing his right hand downward in the air.

When the young man, who rarely talks back during the argument, expresses an unwillingness to continue the conversation, the middle-aged man explodes, “This is not resolved! This is not resolved! This is not resolved!” – now a new catch phrase in Hong Kong.

He goes on to say, “I face pressure. You face pressure. Why did you provoke me?”

In another twist, just when the dispute seems to have ended after the young man apologises and the two shake hands, the young man takes issue with profanity used by the middle-aged man, who then launches into another round of profanities.

The video has inspired numerous spoofs, including a karaoke version and a rap song using the middle-aged man’s refrain, “I face pressure. You face pressure.” Internet users have also added Chinese and English subtitles.

It still isn’t clear who shot the film and it isn’t certain if the film was staged or not. The middle-aged man has not been identified but a man claiming to be the victim of the verbal abuse has been interviewed on Hong Kong’s Commercial Radio.

“Why did I just sit there? I paid to be on the bus. You don’t think I would get off the bus and waste my money, do you?” said the man, identified only as Alvin.

A very liquid investment

Finance Asia
Timothy Cuffe, 13 April 2006

Fancy owning your own bar?

My father was never one to dispense advice lightly, but on the odd occasion that he allowed himself the extravagance he would put forward a gem. Aside from his sage counsel on marriage, his other chestnut was: “Son, if you are ever going to invest your money in anything, make damn sure that it is something you know a lot about.” So here I am writing about investing in bars, a subject that I think I know an awful lot about. In fact, I would imagine my dad would be rather proud of all the comprehensive research I have done on the subject. With the high density of expat professionals in Asia, owning a bar sounds like the ideal investment for many potential entrepreneurs and bonus-laden investment bankers. Unfortunately owning a bar is not always about rooms filled with friendly conversation, pulling a few pints and people enjoying themselves. There is definitely more to the enterprise once you step behind the counter. “Owning your own food and beverage outlet can be hugely rewarding in many ways, but be aware that owning your own bar is a little like a relationship,” says Mark Leahy, a partner in the Singapore-based McCraic Holdings, owners of BQ, Molly Malone’s, Father Flanagan’s and Dharma Kebabs. “A successful business needs constant love, attention and care. It’s a long term commitment and if you neglect it, it can quickly lose its charm.” It is important to be realistic about the amount of work involved in running your own business, especially a bar, pub or restaurant. People think owning a bar is all about sipping cocktails, enjoying the craic with friends, but they often overlook the amount of hours that are involved in creating the idea for the bar, setting it up, stocking it and organizing and managing staff. “Running a bar isn’t easy – there are a lot of potential pitfalls to owning one,” says Lawrence Morgan, owner of Jem in Hong Kong’s illustrious Lan Kwai Fong district. One of the primary stumbling blocks in owning a bar is lax cost control, and that all begins with the property’s lease agreement. In Hong Kong, leases on commercial property are classically six-year agreements with a three-year rent review. Unfortunately, with soaring property values, bar proprietors who negotiated favourable leases three years ago are now seeing their landlords ask for another 40% or more when their review comes up. “Given the steep rise in property values and subsequent rental increases, a lot of bar owners are beginning to look at the numbers and realize that it just won’t work anymore,” says Morgan. Continue reading “A very liquid investment” →

Old mystic beliefs simmer on Merapi

Straits Times
By Salim Osman
Indonesia Correspondent

MERAPI (CENTRAL JAVA) – ALMOST two weeks after the eruption of Merapi, several thousands among the more than 20,000 villagers who had been evacuated to safe shelters at the bottom of the 3,000m mountain are returning to their homes on its slopes to tend their livestock and crops.

This is despite warnings that the danger posed by the volcano has not passed.

It continues to spit lava, gas and clouds of ash.

They join other villagers who had refused to be evacuated when the authorities stepped up the alert to its highest level two Saturdays ago, before the eruption the day after.

The villagers’ action in the central Java province may seem like the fatalism of rural people everywhere, but it speaks of a deeper, buried layer of Hindu traditions among the people for whom the Islamic faith, though dominant, still remains a recent veneer.

The man who embodies these ancient traditions, which amount to Javanese mysticism, is 79-year-old Mbah Marijan, an elder in the Kinahrejo hamlet, just 4km from the crater.
Continue reading “Old mystic beliefs simmer on Merapi” →

The crash: picking up the pieces

Common sense do’s and don’ts when the markets are volatile.
By Vijay Bhambwani

The recent crash in the markets has left players dumb founded. Most of the participants I talked to were shell shocked beyond the point of normal reactions. Obviously, nobody had a chance to offload long positions since markets opened “gap down”. There are lessons in it for us, so we do not relive history in the near future.

There are three aspects to a trade – identification of a trade, initiation of a trade and management of trade. Initiating a trade is the easiest part, you just call your broker and execute. The identification is slightly difficult. The management of a trade is the most difficult. Most traders shut their eyes after initiating a trade and leave things to fate – this is especially true in case the trade goes against them. The commonest mistake is to let a bleeding trade run till your margin account dries up and your broker squares up your trade. Money management is invariably the most important aspect of your trading strategy. Handling risk, threat to capital is where most traders are lacking.

The mantra to profitable trading was aptly put forward by commodity trader and best-selling author William F Eng, “Successful traders control risk, and when they cannot control it, they manage it”. Most of the players resort to leveraging of capital. While we initiate our trades with the concept of “going concern” assuming that we will make profits and continue to trade perennially, it makes sense to assess the downside potential first. Remember, in leveraged trades, profits and losses are magnified to the extent of leveraging. Most of the traders who lost money recently were those who built up excessive large trading positions. While “big” is a relative term, we must honestly assess our comfort level and trade within our own limits where we can trade in lots where the positions do not overwhelm us.
Continue reading “The crash: picking up the pieces” →

CJ to young lawyers: Take up litigation

Straits Times, May 21, 2006

Expressing concern over falling numbers, he urges more newbies to stand up in court to argue cases

By Elena Chong 

MANY young lawyers do not want to stand up in court and argue a case, a cause of concern for the legal profession in recent years. Yesterday, the new Chief Justice weighed in, telling his audience of 202 lawyers admitted to the Bar, to consider litigation as their choice of practice. 

Litigation lawyers perform an essential role to protect the rights of clients in civil cases and defending those charged with crimes.

‘In a legal world where the successful corporate lawyer is admired for his business acumen, it is the successful court lawyer who is held in awe for his forensic skills,’ said CJ Chan Sek Keong.
Continue reading “CJ to young lawyers: Take up litigation” →

Mountain Biking in Hong Kong

 

Mountain Biking Activities

There are ten areas in country parks for mountain biking activities under a permit system. Mountain biking permit issued for current Mountain Bike Trail is also valid for the new areas.

Mountain Biking Trail and Sites

  1. Sai Kung West Country Park (Wan Tsai Extension)
  2. Sai Kung West Country Park (Footpath between Hoi Ha Village and Wan Tsai Peninsula)
  3. Tai Lam Country Park (Tai Lam Mountain Bike Trail)
    * Opened on 3rd January 2005
  4. Shek O Country Park (Hong Kong Trail from Tai Tam Gap to To Tei Wan)
  5. Lantau South Country Park (Catchwater road from Pui O to Kau Ling Chung)
  6. Lantau South Country Park (Chi Ma Wan Country Trail )
  7. Lantau South Country Park (Footpath on Chi Ma Wan Peninsula)
  8. Lantau South Country Park (Coastal trail from Mui Wo to Pui O)
  9. Sai Kung West Country Park (Pak Tam to Pak Sha O)
  10. Clear Water Bay Country Park(Ng Fai Tin to Ha Shen Tuk).
    (This trail is not open on Sunday & Public Holidays.)
    * Revised in April 2003

 

But how to get to the trails?

http://www.hkmba.org/en/article.php3?story_id=29

NT returns!

Alamak! My good old hosting company Sphereosoft pulled the plug on me. Or rather, Pacific Internet pulled the plug on them because they didn’t pay money to Pacific Internet.

So all their servers were held hostage by Pacific Internet. A no-win situation for either.
For the curious, visit
http://forums.vr-zone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=65064
http://www.sgwebhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=8476

Efforts to contact my old hosting company and emails to Pacific Internet have gone unanswered. Since I’m out of jurisdiction, I think too troublesome to sue. So I’ve shifted over to Swiftroute which is reputed to have a better track record and service standards. A little bit more expensive, but what you pay is what you get.

But money cannot compensate the fact that all the data from my previous blog is lost… ;(

This of course, doesn’t really matter, because very soon, I will be putting more information on this site.