Swine Flu H1N1 Confirmed in Hong Kong

The first confirmed Swine Flu H1N1in Asia is reported in Hong Kong.  This was carried from a Mexian visiting Hong Kong on 30Apr and he stayed at Metropark Hotel in Wanchai.

Bad news for us and hope it will not start spreading the flu across Hong Kong and has a wider outbreak.

HSBC Plans to Cut Another 1,000 Jobs

HSBC is planning to cut another 1000 jobs in Hong Kong this week according to a local newspaper.  This is an additional to the 450 jobs cut late last year and just after the Chinese New Year holiday.

HSBC spoke person declines to comment on the report and according to the past redundancy, there may be some truth to this again.

Furthermore, the annual bonus is paid in Apr and there are rumours that no bonus will be paid this year because of the result.

Fire Fox is coming to Hong Kong Ocean Park

Fire Fox is coming to Ocean Park this April with the opening of a new attraction.  Fire Fox (or Red Penda) is yet another national treasure from China.  From the news, at least 2 to 4 Fire Fox will be coming soon.

Ani Ashekian: A Young Woman Missing in Hong Kong

I read the news recently that Ani is missing in Hong Kong and I would like to give a hand to spread the words around to find her.  Here is the information I extracted from Facebook.  If you happens to have any information, please do contact her family.

Ani Ashekian: A Young Woman Missing in Hong Kong

I am writing to you seeking help to find our Daughter, our Sister, our Best Friend.

Ani is a bright, adventurous and vibrant young woman who has a passion for travel. She has traveled the world and is very experienced. 

Her most recent trip was to Asia - specifically to China, Vietnam, Cambodia, and finally India. Before her departure Ani only had enough time to secure a visa to China and decided she would get the other necessary travel visa's while abroad.

She left the Toronto International airport on Friday, October 24th. She arrived in Beijing on October 25th. 

She then flew to Hong Kong on November 9th. On November 10th, she made several withdrawals and sent a text message home. She has not used her Visa card or her bank card since that day.

Ani's plan was to fly home from New Delhi, India on the 15th of December. 

Ani was not on that flight. 

The fact that Ani did not board her flight home on that day was not a surprise to her friends and family for they already knew something was amiss. Initially, Ani had kept in regular contact with her family and friends during the trip. When the calls and emails abruptly stopped people began to worry.

Her passport indicates that she entered Hong Kong on November 9th but that she has not left Hong Kong.

Foreign Affairs, a private investigator, and the media have been contacted.

A trust fund has been set up to help the Ashekian Family pay for the cost of a private investigator in Hong Kong.
To donate simply visit any TD Canada Trust location and ask to make a deposit to the fund.

It is under SOSSY ASHEKIAN - IN TRUST.

Wenddell@hotmail.com
rashekia@sympatico.ca

Beijing 2008 Olympic Equestrian Events in Hong Kong

We are only 6 days away from the Beijing 2008 Olympics and we can always see the excitment overall Hong Kong.

Not only it is the first time that the Olympics is held in China, it is also because Olympics Equestrain events are also held in Hong Kong.

The Olympic Equestrian Events comprise 3 disciplines - Dressage, Jumping and Eventing - with individual and team competition in each.

For the official websit to the Equestrian events, you can visit the following:

http://www.equestrian2008.org/eng/front.aspx

iPhone 3G arrived Hong Kong

iPhone 3G arrived Hong Kong yesterday and 1,500 lucky winners got their new phone yesterday.

From 3 Hong Kong, there are more than 60,000 customers reserved the iPhone 3G and Apple will be shipping more than 60,000 units to Hong Kong within a month.

There are rumors that those received their units yesterday can resell them with a price tag at HKD18,000 and that is a big return consider that the unit together with the plan is only costing around HKD8,000.

How luck those winners are.

Apple iPhone 3G in Hong Kong

Apple has announced the worldwide release of iPhone 3G on 11Jul and 3 Hong Kong has also announced their service plan recently in Hong Kong. See below:



In all plans, they will provide you with 500MB of data and I am not sure whether that will be sufficient for a 3G iPhone. Nonetheless, when you compare the 4 plans, I do believe the best available plan is $328. What's your view on this?

HSBC Commits To Match Public Donations For Earthquake Victims

Please help those earthquake victims to rebuild their lives..... HSBC will match dollar to dollar donation from the public upto RMB4 million. So if you plan to donate to those victims, they will benefit more through HSBC.

Please find part of their announcement below or you can visit their official website:

The Hongkong Bank Foundation, HSBC's charitable arm is committing an additional RMB4 million to match donations from the public wishing to support recovery work in mainland China following the recent earthquake. The RMB4 million commitment from HSBC is in addition to the RMB10 million in funds donated by the Bank already.

The Bank has established a dedicated account to take donations from its employees, customers and the general public. Donations can be made at any HSBC or Hang Seng Bank ATM, at www.hsbc.com.hk or through any of the Bank's branches using the HSBC China Earthquake Relief account number 808-459085-001. The account will be open for donation collections until 31 May 2008.

HSBC Admitted the Lost of a Server in Hong Kong

You always wonder how a bank keep track of customer data and how secure those information are. Now you see that one of the biggest bank in the world just lost a server from a branch and almost 160,000 customer personal details may be exposed.

The following is from Hong Kong Standard Post:

On Wednesday, HSBC admitted it lost track of the server during renovations at its Kwun Tong branch on April 26.

Police said they are investigating the loss as a case of theft.

Data on the server includes account numbers, customer names, transaction amounts and transaction types, but no passwords or personal identification numbers.

"The server is protected by multiple layers of security. The risk of data leakage and fraudulent transactions resulting from the loss of the server is deemed very low," Cheng said. "HSBC will cover losses for customers but no compensation claims have been requested so far."

Olympic torch is coming to Hong Kong on 2May

When I was watching the late night news, I watch that the government is preparing for the Beijing Olympic flame in the coming week.

The Beijing Olympic flame is scheduled to arrive in Hong Kong on April 30 and the torch relay will be conducted on May 2.

The torch will be relayed in different forms and modes, including running and via vehicle, dragon boat and ferry. There will be 120 torchbearers selected from the sport, community and other sectors, plus students and volunteers.

The Hong Kong Torch Relay will last 8 hours. The Olympic flame will be carried by 120 torchbearers to places throughout the territory on Hong Kong Island, in Kowloon and the New Territories to spread the Olympic spirit by running or by using various modes of transportation such as cars, dragon boat and launch. The route will pass through major landmarks and scenic spots of Hong Kong to showcase Hong Kong’s unique charisma and beautiful scenery to the world.

Since it will be a public holiday in Hong Kong on May 1st, I believe many people will also be taking May 2 off to take part in this event.

Earliest Tropical Storm Since World War II

Tropical Storm Neoguri just visited Hong Kong. Neoguri is the earliest tropical storm visited Hong Kong since World War II. Neoguri also caused the first Black Rain Warning in 2008.

At 10 p.m. Hong Kong time, Tropical Storm Neoguri was estimated to be
about 150 kilometres west-northwest of Hong Kong (near 23.1
degrees north 113.0 degrees east) and is forecast to move
northeast at about 18 kilometres per hour moving into
inland Guangdong.

GovWiFi - Free WiFi from Hong Kong Government

Back in end 2007, Hong Kong Government has been offering free Wifi service to people through the GovWiFi programme. On 27Mar2008, the service was started officially and Hong Kong Government plans to provide free WiFi service to over 100 locations by mid 2008 and up to 350 locations by mid 2009.

Most of the locations are located in Government buildings, Libraries, Community Centres, Parks, etc. People can connect to this service 1 hour each time and after that limit, you will need to reconnect.

For more information on the programme and the service locations, you may want to visit:
http://www.gov.hk/en/theme/wifi/program/index.htm

School Suspected because of Flu

Everyone has to be careful now due to the wide spread of influenza.

Health chief York Chow Yat-ngok announced late last night after meeting health and education officials that all primary schools, special schools, nurseries and kindergartens will be closed for two weeks until after the Easter Holidays.

There were 20 suspected outbreaks of flue as of yesterday. The three confirmed outbreaks involved primary schools. On a list of suspected outbreaks are two secondary schools, 11 primary schools and seven kindergarten/child-care centers.