What the local media says
Police have had six reports in the past two months of gadgets used to steal bank card data being found in local ATMs. They expect thieves with the card data-reading devices to be particularly active before new technology that will prevent data theft is installed in ATMs in Hong Kong from February.
Every Sunday, crowds of people can be seen streaming into and out of two factory buildings in Tai Wai, Sha Tin. More than 10 churches have rented the factories to use as offices and spaces to gather, to avoid soaring rents in commercial buildings. But the Lands Department says they are breaching the land deeds.
The Town Planning Board has so far approved a change in land use to housing for only 11 of 21 land lots put forward, four of which are for private housing. The four lots are in Tsuen Wan, Sham Tseng, Shek Kip Mei and Beacon Hill. The board has been slower to approve changes this year - it approved 16 last year and 17 in 2010.
The Customs and Excise Department has set up a 100-member task force and raided many parallel car importers recently, suspecting them of breaching the first registration tax ordinance. Car buyers were interviewed to investigate the importers' operations. Lawmakers said the department was too strict on the industry and was stifling its development.
University of Hong Kong community college SPACE enrolled 5,300 students this year - 30 per cent more than expected. Professor Wong Tak-ming, its principal, said the college would try to take as many students as possible in the coming years, renting extra premises and hiring more teachers - provided education quality was guaranteed. Smaller newcomer Yew Chung Community College enrolled just 70 students this year - half the expected number.
A diamond necklace worth HK$104,600 was stolen on Wednesday night from Chow Sang Sang jewellery store in the Grand Tower shopping mall, Mong Kok. Three men and one woman were captured on surveillance camera footage by the cabinet where the necklace was displayed. One of them passed a 61-centimetre piece of wire through a slit in the cabinet, using it to hook their catch in just 20 seconds.
