that's the spirit
The University of Macau recently hired an exorcist to banish evil spirits apparently haunting the campus. Oriental Daily News reports that during World War II, thousands of Chinese were killed by the Japanese and buried on the site of the university. Recently, the ghostly laughter of a woman was heard in an empty room. To reassure staff and students, the university hired a Hong Kong exorcist and four Tibetan lamas to drive the spirits out. They built an altar and burned offerings of red and yellow beans, peanuts, melon seeds, white and rock sugar and pieces of coloured cloth. All university staff members walked around the altar once and received an amulet from the exorcist.
feminine wiles Next magazine, investigating why so many Hong Kong men were apparently attracted to Shenzhen women, sent reporters there to interview prostitutes and second wives. They found that a woman will usually claim to have just arrived in Shenzhen from the North, and will refuse the first approach. When she is sure a man is interested, she will demand that he find her a place and give her at least $10,000 a month. After a while, she is likely to begin talking tearfully about how her mother back home is ill and her family is struggling - hinting that the man should give her more money. If he fails to provide, the woman will declare she is 'going home' - and set out to snare another man willing to pay more.
cash-conscious Oriental Daily News gives tips on how employees, if they are discreet, can extract extra benefits from their jobs during the recession. Flight attendants, it claims, can earn commission on duty-free products they sell. By placing a few extra orders for samples, clothes retailers can keep some for themselves. Social reporters can make a fortune by attending Chinese New Year balls, because celebrities like to hand out generous lai see packets to journalists - and a lucky reporter can easily collect a few thousand dollars a time, the paper says.
rich pickings Hong Kong businessmen's mistresses are potential targets for Shenzhen criminals, says Apple Daily. Last month, it reports, a Hong Kong man's 'second wife' was found chopped to death, her money and jewellery having been stolen. It emerged that on discovering the young, pretty woman was the mistress of a Hong Kong businessman, two construction workers, believing she must have been wealthy, decided to kill her. They took a total of $30,000 in money and valuables, but were later caught by police - and confessed to the killing of another young woman and the theft of $10,000.
hot tip Guangdong residents are entitled to 'bonus money' for reporting gambling dens to the authorities, says the Oriental Daily News. But many are afraid to claim the money for fear of reprisals. The paper says that this year, in an effort to crack down on illegal gambling, the police offered informants a maximum reward of $300,000. Few have dared go to the police openly, although many have provided information. The local government recently ruled that rewards could be claimed secretly, and a special police team has been set up to distribute the money.
