Tang's nomination is a travesty and he should have withdrawn
A brief press release on the government website announced that the returning officer for the 2012 chief executive election has determined that the nomination of Henry Tang Ying-yen as a candidate was valid. So relief all round at the Tang camp as 'the candidate' has managed to get something right. However, his nomination is a travesty and he should have withdrawn despite what his puppet-masters instructed. In the unlikely event he is elected, one of his first tasks perhaps will be to figure out how to prosecute his wife for apparently masterminding the illegal basement construction. Though before jumping to conclusions on that, it would be good to know who the architect was, whose signature was actually on the cheque and why the houses are owned by a British Virgin Islands company. How long Tang will be forced to endure the walk of shame is anyone's guess. His opponent C.Y. Leung was supposed make him look good. Now it's Tang making Leung look good. Funny old game.
Police presence for free at show
The Hong Kong police force is once again being deployed in strength at the Hong Kong International Jewellery Show at the Convention and Exhibition Centre, which is being organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. The police public information bureau won't say how many uniform and plain-clothes officers are deployed since it says operational details are confidential. But it did say it wasn't being paid for its services. This seems rather odd since it's a private event and is run for profit. Assuming there are about 100 police officers, which may be conservative, that would amount to about HK$350,000 at cost for the four-day event, let alone a premium to the police for providing the service. The reason given by the police in the past for providing their muscle gratis at such events is that the prevalence of theft and other crimes would adversely affect Hong Kong's image as an international city and business centre. On that basis, the police could be wheeled out for any number of events free of charge. But other privately organised events like the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens are required to pay at least a proportion of the costs of a police presence. But then, not everyone has the 'pull' that the HKTDC can muster.
Faith at the heart of HTC success
There was some surprise at the Apec SME summit organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council when Cher Wang, one half of Taiwan's richest couple, took the stage. She is the chairwoman and co-founder of HTC, the firm that that in just a couple of years has grown from a little-known contract manufacturer to one of the world's biggest players in the global handset business with a market cap of US$17 billion. So it's not exactly an SME though it was not so long ago. When Wang mounted the stage to explain how she achieved her sensational success, she told how her first act was to mortgage the house that her wealthy parents gave her as a wedding present to generate her start-up capital. Then she went through her PowerPoint presentation. The first three headings were happiness, vision, and technology, and the last was faith. She went on to explain that her Christian faith played a large part in her success. When she encounters a setback, the first thing she does is not to call a meeting - she prays.