Only the foolhardy visit Egypt and of course the Philippines
Civil unrest in various parts of the world frequented by Hong Kong tour groups has led to a flurry of activity on the government's online outbound travel alert page. There are now 11 countries on the amber list, countries where people should, 'monitor the situation and exercise caution'. They are Albania, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Nepal, Qatar, Russia, Syria and Thailand. Bahrain, Lebanon and Tunisia warrant a red warning meaning that people should 'adjust travel plans and avoid non-essential travel'. There is a black warning that advises 'avoid all travel' for Egypt and of course the Philippines following the death of Hong Kong tourists in Manila last year during a botched kidnap siege. Hard to know what the Philippines has to do to get downgraded since it cannot in truth be said to be more dangerous to visit than Pakistan and other countries on the red and the amber lists. How much more grovelling does it need to do, or perhaps it should give up its claims to those bothersome islands in the South China Sea.
At least one Li brother is happy
We don't really like to dwell on people's private affairs, but it was hard to avoid Richard Li Tzar-kai's break-up with his long-time girlfriend, actress Isabella Leong Lok-sze, since his statement aimed at clarifying some aspects of the break-up was plastered all over the front pages of most newspapers yesterday.
However, while Richard's gloomy features adorned most front pages, reporters couldn't help noticing Victor Li Tzar-kuoi's ebullient mood at Cheung Kong Infrastructure's results announcement. It was not as if Victor had that much to be happy about - results were down by almost 10 per cent.
Victor Li (pictured) is generally somewhat less than friendly in his dealings with the press. But one reporter who has followed the company for many years said that Victor Li had not been in such an obviously good mood during an encounter with the press since the birth of his last son some years ago. It could be pure coincidence but people say there is still some degree of sibling rivalry between the two brothers.
They just really love ships, I guess