Travel firm to pay $30,000

Hong Thai Citizens Travel Services was ordered to pay rival Hong Kong Wing On Travel Service $30,000 damages at the Court of First Instance. Madam Justice Carlye Chu Fun-ling held Hong Thai liable for publishing a false announcement in two newspapers on August 11, 1999, claiming that Wing On required but did not have permission to organise package tours for two concerts by Taiwanese pop star Sherry Chang Huei-mei in Guangzhou on August 20 and 22, 1999. Its claim that Wing On tour group members who held valid tickets could be refused entry was also false, she ruled.