https://www.scmp.com/rss/16143/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Hong Kong is implementing a sex conviction record check this year, but the Education Bureau won't say how, or when, it will begin using the scheme for hiring teachers. The bureau is perhaps the single largest organisation responsible for hiring people for child-related work. It issues teachers' registrations, which they require in order to teach in Hong Kong schools, including tutorial schools. The bureau also issues guidelines to schools on the hiring of teachers. The sex conviction record... https://www.scmp.com/article/966553/education-bureau-non-committal-sex-conviction-checks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/966553/education-bureau-non-committal-sex-conviction-checks?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 30 Apr 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Britain yesterday released guidelines for the world's strictest anti-bribery legislation, which affects UK companies operating in Hong Kong and on the mainland. The UK parliament passed the 2010 Bribery Act last April, which affects not only British firms but any company that conducts any part of its business in the country, as well as those that provide services to British companies. It goes into effect in July. Until the British law was passed, the United States had the strongest... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/2864/uk-bribery-law-will-affect-hk-businesses?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/2864/uk-bribery-law-will-affect-hk-businesses?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 31 Mar 2011 11:00:00 +0000 After nine months of delay Hong Kong has quietly enacted regulations that implement last year's United Nations sanctions against Iran. The city's action comes amid increasing scrutiny from the West over China's dealings with Iran. The new regulations went into effect late on Friday afternoon. They update Hong Kong's existing sanctions against Iran 'to implement decisions' of the Security Council's fourth round of sanctions, which were passed with the support of China on June 9 last year.... https://www.scmp.com/article/742429/hk-enacts-iran-sanctions-law-after-9-months?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/742429/hk-enacts-iran-sanctions-law-after-9-months?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Mar 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Hong Kong may have updated its sanctions against Iran, but it is not clear whether it will have the power to shut down the global sanctions-busting network that operates in the city. More than two dozen shell companies have been established in Hong Kong since 2008 as part of a network helping Iran's national shipping line avoid restrictions aimed at shutting it out of international trade. The Hong Kong government was non-committal yesterday on how or if the legislation to implement the latest ... https://www.scmp.com/article/742413/uncertain-future-hk-iranian-shipping-line?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/742413/uncertain-future-hk-iranian-shipping-line?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Mar 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Sanctions against Iran have created more opportunities for trade with China, which totalled US$29.3 billion last year. 'China's economic ties with Iran have to some extent been made easier by Western divestment,' said An Baojun , a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Co-operation, which is under the Ministry of Commerce. An spent several years in Iran studying Middle Eastern issues. The volume of bilateral trade has increased more than tenfold over the past... https://www.scmp.com/article/739481/sanctions-against-iran-drive-china-trade-tenfold-decade?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/739481/sanctions-against-iran-drive-china-trade-tenfold-decade?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Feb 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Just before Lunar New Year 2010, Kevin Chen Yi-Lan landed in Guam. But the 40-year-old Taiwanese businessman wasn't there for a new year holiday. He was there to pick up a few hard-to-get items for customers in the Middle East. They were small items, pocket-sized bits and pieces. One customer wanted specialised glass-to-metal pin seals, which are used in vacuum components, sensor and transducer housings, harsh environment feedthroughs and battery headers. The other customer was looking for... https://www.scmp.com/article/739267/hong-kong-connection?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/739267/hong-kong-connection?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Feb 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Just before Lunar New Year 2009, Kevin Chen Yi-Lan landed in Guam. But the 40-year-old Taiwanese businessman wasn't there for a new year holiday. He was there to pick up a few hard-to-get items for customers in the Middle East. They were small items, pocket-sized bits and pieces. One customer wanted specialised glass-to-metal pin seals, which are used in vacuum components, sensor and transducer housings, harsh environment feedthroughs and battery headers. The other customer was looking for... https://www.scmp.com/article/739287/hong-kong-connection?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/739287/hong-kong-connection?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Feb 2011 16:00:00 +0000 China wants to bid for the contract to build the next US presidential helicopter, and build a brand for its defence industry in the process. State-run aviation giant the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), is teaming up with a small, struggling American defence contractor to prepare bids for two US military contracts, including one to replace the ageing presidential helicopter fleet Marine One, a person familiar with the deal said. No final decision has been made yet, and AVIC and its... https://www.scmp.com/article/737516/china-bid-sell-us-copters-just-spin?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/737516/china-bid-sell-us-copters-just-spin?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Feb 2011 16:00:00 +0000 July 2009 Stanley Ho suffers a fall at home, leading to surgery to remove a blood clot from his brain and a long spell in hospital. Over the next 18 months, family members repeatedly say Ho is recovering, but he makes just two public appearances. November 9, 2009 Lanceford, the company that represents the bulk of Ho's personal wealth, adds Ho's daughters, Pansy and Daisy, to the board, joining their mother, Ho's second wife, Lucina Laam King-ying, Ho himself and his long-time lieutenant, banker... https://www.scmp.com/article/736845/how-saga-unfolded?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/736845/how-saga-unfolded?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Jan 2011 16:00:00 +0000 A new international housing survey confirms what every Hongkonger already knows - Hong Kong homes are 'severely unaffordable'. The city's housing was found to be the least affordable in the survey, beating London, New York, San Francisco, and other high-priced locales. The median home in Hong Kong costs 11.4 times gross annual median household income, according to a report by the US-based consulting company Demographia, which examined housing affordability in six countries and Hong Kong for... https://www.scmp.com/article/736635/hk-way-ahead-rivals-severely-overpriced-homes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/736635/hk-way-ahead-rivals-severely-overpriced-homes?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Jan 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Hong Kong officials have detained a ship linked to Iranian companies which the United States blacklisted in order to punish Iran for its nuclear and weapons activities. The Decretive, a Maltese-flagged container vessel, was detained on November 14, a spokesman for the judiciary said. Hong Kong authorities acted after moves by four European banks, led by the German-based HSH Nordbank, over alleged loan defaults totalling US$268 million. While the ship's detention was not directly caused by the... https://www.scmp.com/article/734066/hk-holds-ship-tied-iran-blacklist?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/734066/hk-holds-ship-tied-iran-blacklist?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Dec 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Oh, how far the humble hotpot has come. More than three centuries ago, the Qing dynasty poet Yuan Mei, a renowned foodie of his time, didn't have much good to say about ubiquitous dish. 'In the chafing dish, everything is at the same temperature. The flavour disappears,' he wrote. If only Yuan could see the hotpot of today, a culinary phenomenon endowed with as many variations and interpretations as any in the history of Chinese cuisine. But what would Yuan have said of Hong Kong's many... https://www.scmp.com/article/732790/steams-old-times?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/732790/steams-old-times?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Dec 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Standout restaurants in the main hotpot categories: Trendy Megan's Kitchen, 5/F Lucky Centre, 165-171 Wan Chai Rd, Wan Chai, tel: 1866 8305 A culture-crossing range of colour, texture and flavours. The 16 broths on offer range from the traditional to the quirky and extravagant, including English oxtail soup, Sichuan super hot chilli and escargot soup, and a tom yum kung cappuccino broth that looks and tastes like its Thai and Italian namesakes. East-meets-West Hotpot Instinct, G/F, 52 Tang... https://www.scmp.com/article/732791/home-style-souped-and-hot-pot?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/732791/home-style-souped-and-hot-pot?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Dec 2010 16:00:00 +0000 France's top diplomat in Hong Kong and Macau has been suspended and recalled to Paris. Consul General Marc Fonbaustier, 46, was recalled earlier this week for conduct 'that would likely not meet the requirements of professional conduct for a French diplomat', foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said in Paris on Thursday. 'The consul general of France for Hong Kong and Macau was recalled and immediately left his post,' Valero said. 'He is suspended from duty. An administrative... https://www.scmp.com/article/731745/french-consul-general-recalled-paris-placed-under-investigation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/731745/french-consul-general-recalled-paris-placed-under-investigation?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 26 Nov 2010 16:00:00 +0000 So we're not like North Korea after all. A year after a top barrister sparked controversy by comparing conviction rates in Hong Kong courts with those in North Korea, new figures from the Department of Justice show that over the past decade the rates are similar to those in other common law jurisdictions, and often lower. From 2000 to 2009, Hong Kong's average overall conviction rate was 77.5 per cent. Nearly half the convictions were of defendants who pleaded guilty without going to... https://www.scmp.com/article/729005/new-data-hk-convictions-sinks-n-korea-jibe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/729005/new-data-hk-convictions-sinks-n-korea-jibe?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 30 Oct 2010 16:00:00 +0000 America's top prosecutor is visiting China this week to discuss co-operation with officials in the fight against counterfeiting and piracy. Giving the keynote speech at the International Intellectual Property Summit in Hong Kong yesterday, US Attorney General Eric Holder said that certain countries were not doing enough to fight intellectual property infringement. 'The simple truth is that our chain of necessary and desired enforcement is only as strong as its weakest links. Let me be blunt:... https://www.scmp.com/article/728011/holder-urges-tougher-line-property-rights?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/728011/holder-urges-tougher-line-property-rights?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 Oct 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Hong Kong's top Catholic leader acknowledged for the first time yesterday that sex scandals have rocked the universal church, including the local diocese, over the past year. Bishop John Tong Hon told parishioners yesterday that 'during the past year, while the Universal Church was celebrating the Year of the Priest, and our diocese was celebrating the Year of the Priestly Vocations, we were shamed by sex scandals concerning a few members of clergy in the wider church, and even in our own... https://www.scmp.com/article/727817/bishop-tong-addresses-sex-scandals?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/727817/bishop-tong-addresses-sex-scandals?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 Oct 2010 16:00:00 +0000 August's deadly hostage attack in Manila drew international attention to the issue of safety for tourists in the Philippines. And while it has been acknowledged as a rare tragedy, a security expert says that there are universal precautions travellers should take. 'Travellers should educate themselves on the hazards of their favourite holiday destinations,' Simon Francis, senior director of security services at Kroll, a risk consultancy company, said. 'The Philippines has quite a... https://www.scmp.com/article/727765/tourists-told-be-prepared-when-travelling?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/727765/tourists-told-be-prepared-when-travelling?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 Oct 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Philippine President Benigno Aquino will not pursue criminal charges against most of the officials found responsible for the botched August 23 hostage rescue that left eight Hong Kong holidaymakers dead. Aquino rejected an independent panel's recommendation to investigate or file criminal charges against eight police and government officials for their roles in the crisis. Instead, he ordered the filing of administrative charges against six of these officials. Only one official, Deputy... https://www.scmp.com/article/727194/aquino-says-he-wont-pursue-criminal-charges?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/727194/aquino-says-he-wont-pursue-criminal-charges?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Oct 2010 16:00:00 +0000 The Philippine government yesterday released a harshly worded report that laid bare the chain of mistakes by the government, police and media during the August 23 hostage-taking. President Benigno Aquino said the report by the Incident Investigation and Review Committee recommended that 12 individuals and three broadcast networks be held liable for the botched rescue that left eight Hongkongers dead. 'This report is part of the justice to be given to the victims ... This is a manifestation of... https://www.scmp.com/article/725333/philippine-hostage-report-lists-tragic-chain-errors?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/725333/philippine-hostage-report-lists-tragic-chain-errors?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Sep 2010 16:00:00 +0000 The Hong Kong government, which is closely scrutinising the Philippine inquiries into last month's bungled hostage rescue, will soon face scrutiny at home for its own investigation of a police controversy. The High Court announced that it would conduct a judicial review of the investigation into the death of a homeless Nepali man, Dil Bahadur Limbu, who was shot dead by a police officer in March last year. The court agreed to the review after his widow, Sony Rai, alleged bias and missteps by... https://www.scmp.com/article/725146/inquest-nepalis-killing-be-reviewed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/725146/inquest-nepalis-killing-be-reviewed?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Sep 2010 16:00:00 +0000 August 23 was the day Rolando Mendoza stopped waiting. It had been more than two years since the decorated police captain was first accused of extortion, robbery and assault. It had also been 18 months since he was dismissed from the police force, nine months since he had filed a Motion for Reconsideration, and five months since he had written three letters to the Ombudsman pleading for an answer. Mendoza should have heard back about his motion in five days, but months later there was still... https://www.scmp.com/article/724562/twists-turns-led-mendoza-despair?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/724562/twists-turns-led-mendoza-despair?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Sep 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Philippine President Benigno Aquino yesterday used a televised interview to rebuke the Hong Kong government over a letter from Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, which he described as 'insulting'. Aquino did not name the sender. However, Tsang's office said the chief executive had written to Aquino on August 26. The president said he had declined to respond to the letter, and had instead conveyed his displeasure to Chinese government officials. Relations between Hong Kong and Manila are... https://www.scmp.com/article/724352/aquino-takes-aim-tsangs-letter?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/724352/aquino-takes-aim-tsangs-letter?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Sep 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Three mobile phones mistakenly handed to Hong Kong police after the hostage tragedy are back in the hands of Manila authorities as five Philippine law enforcers arrived in Hong Kong yesterday to investigate the tour bus hijacking. One of the three mobile phones contains the SIM card of hostage-taker Rolando Mendoza, a policeman told an inquiry into the shootings yesterday. Eight Hong Kong people were gunned down by Mendoza, who was then killed in the August 23 tragedy. Junior policeman Denison... https://www.scmp.com/article/724083/cellphones-given-hk-police-mistake-back-manila-officials?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/724083/cellphones-given-hk-police-mistake-back-manila-officials?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Two survivors of last week's hostage-taking are willing to be interviewed by Philippine investigators, who are now preparing to travel to Hong Kong to take their statements. Initially, all of the Hong Kong survivors refused to be interviewed because it was too traumatic, Philippine Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said yesterday. The Philippine National Police were not allowed to interview the survivors when they were still in Manila last week, Manila regional police director Leocadio Santiago ... https://www.scmp.com/article/723688/manila-team-may-interview-two-survivors-hk?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/723688/manila-team-may-interview-two-survivors-hk?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:00:00 +0000 The Philippine Department of Justice will launch public hearings tomorrow to question witnesses, victims and law enforcement officers involved in last week's tour bus hijacking in which eight Hong Kong people were killed. Those attending include tour bus driver Alberto Lubang, journalist Erwin Tulfo, who was the last to speak to Rolando Mendoza before he began shooting the hostages, and the woman who drove Mendoza to Fort Santiago, where he first boarded the bus. In a sworn affidavit, ... https://www.scmp.com/article/723629/manila-officials-hold-hearings-over-siege?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/723629/manila-officials-hold-hearings-over-siege?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Philippine authorities will send investigators to Hong Kong this week to collect statements from survivors of last week's tour bus hijacking. The move comes as the authorities in Manila continue to wait for witness testimonies collected by Hong Kong police last week and as Hong Kong authorities were given permission to separately conduct ballistics tests and examine the bus in which eight Hongkongers were killed. A senior Philippine police officer said on Friday and again yesterday that they... https://www.scmp.com/article/723426/philippine-investigators-question-hostage-survivors?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/723426/philippine-investigators-question-hostage-survivors?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Under the old stones of Fort Santiago, six families awaited their tour bus. It wasn't yet 10am but it was already 30 degrees Celsius and climbing, the bright sun casting an energy-sapping glare. The 20 tourists were given 45 minutes to explore the old Spanish fort, but most returned early. It was the final day of a whirlwind tour for which the group had arrived four days earlier from Hong Kong, couples and families enjoying a late-August hurrah before school and work kicked off anew. ... https://www.scmp.com/article/723344/relaxed-joker-pitiless-killerhow-hostage-taking-turned-deadly?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/723344/relaxed-joker-pitiless-killerhow-hostage-taking-turned-deadly?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Aug 2010 16:00:00 +0000 A letter containing a new offer to sacked Manila policeman Rolando Mendoza - one which might have saved the lives of eight Hong Kong hostages - was on its way to him when he began killing them. The letter authorised the Philippine National Police to 'suspend the implementation of the dismissal' of Mendoza for grave misconduct. The offer, signed by Metro Manila police chief Leocadio Santiago, was drafted after Mendoza rejected as 'garbage' a letter from Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez in which... https://www.scmp.com/article/723381/police-letter-never-reached-hostage-taker?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/723381/police-letter-never-reached-hostage-taker?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Aug 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Rolando Mendoza will be buried in his uniform. At a small roadside chapel two hours outside Manila, his wake appears disconnected from the violence and angst of the past four days. Instead, it celebrates his life before - before the bloodshed, before the ill-fated tour bus, before the dismissal that started him down this tortured path. The former police captain's memorial is frozen in time. In his coffin, Mendoza's blue uniform is crisp, his name badge polished. A Philippine flag is draped on... https://www.scmp.com/article/723179/hijacker-set-be-buried-his-uniform?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/723179/hijacker-set-be-buried-his-uniform?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Aug 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Hongkongers love iPhones, but iPhones may not love humid Hong Kong. Apple has worked hard to promote the phone in Hong Kong - it's by far the city's most popular smartphone. But the company has not addressed the possibility that it may be unsuited to places where relative humidity regularly tops 95 per cent. And customers may have a problem getting their phone serviced as a result. If Apple deems an iPhone or iPod to have been damaged by liquid, such as a spilled drink or from being dropped... https://www.scmp.com/article/722781/hong-kong-so-humid-it-could-wreck-your-iphone?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/722781/hong-kong-so-humid-it-could-wreck-your-iphone?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Aug 2010 16:00:00 +0000 The body of New Zealand pilot Stephen Morrissey, who went missing while hiking in the New Territories, was found yesterday after a week-long search. Police found the body of the 51-year-old Air New Zealand officer more than 100 metres away from the end of the Wilson Trail in Pat Sin Leng Country Park in Tai Po. Morrissey went hiking on Wednesday last week with another Air New Zealand pilot, Mark Apperley, who told police the two parted ways near the end of the trail with plans to meet up at... https://www.scmp.com/article/721940/body-new-zealand-pilot-found-country-park?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/721940/body-new-zealand-pilot-found-country-park?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Aug 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Responding to criticism that the government uses off-the-record media briefings to avoid public accountability, officials on Monday agreed to publicly announce major policy initiatives, but did not detail how it would change its policies. Director of Information Services Michael Wong Wai-lun agreed that press conferences should be held for 'significant' policy announcements, but did not specify which items would fall into that category. Wong said it was an oversimplification to say press... https://www.scmp.com/article/721875/hiding-record-popular-official-ploy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/721875/hiding-record-popular-official-ploy?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Aug 2010 16:00:00 +0000 In the Legislative Council session that ended last month, which saw tensions rise over the political reform package, parties still showed near-universal solidarity in voting, including the Democratic Party. Legislators in the four major parties either voted according to their party's position or did not vote at all, an analysis of voting records by the South China Morning Post found. Only one lawmaker voted against his party's consensus - Albert Chan Wai-yip of the League of Social Democrats,... https://www.scmp.com/article/721676/lawmakers-show-high-level-party-loyalty-when-casting-votes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/721676/lawmakers-show-high-level-party-loyalty-when-casting-votes?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Aug 2010 16:00:00 +0000 When the Democratic Party broke with its pan-democrat allies to negotiate a compromise on electoral reform, there was speculation the party had started to walk a more centrist path towards the government. In fact, it voted more often with the administration throughout the session than compared with the year before, according to the South China Morning Post's analysis of voting records. This year, the Democratic Party voted nearly half of the time (45 per cent) in support of 16... https://www.scmp.com/article/721726/are-democrats-centrist-path?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/721726/are-democrats-centrist-path?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Aug 2010 16:00:00 +0000 The search for a New Zealand pilot who went missing while hiking continued for a third day in the New Territories yesterday. At one stage, the leader of a group of colleagues of missing man Stephen Morrissey said: 'There isn't much to say, it's a personal tragedy.' Police would not say whether anyone has been questioned or whether they were investigating the possibility that a crime had been committed. More than 200 people set out at 7am to search for Morrissey (pictured below) in Pat Sin... https://www.scmp.com/article/721661/its-personal-tragedy-says-colleague-missing-nz-hiker?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/721661/its-personal-tragedy-says-colleague-missing-nz-hiker?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Aug 2010 16:00:00 +0000 As the city debated the role of functional constituencies in future elections, its least active lawmakers showed this session that the easier it was to get the job, the less likely they were to represent their electors' interests by voting. Four out of the six most reluctant voters in the Legislative Council in the past session were functional constituency members who were returned to Legco uncontested in the previous election, according to an analysis of voting records by the South China... https://www.scmp.com/article/720646/easy-come-and-easier-skip-vote?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/720646/easy-come-and-easier-skip-vote?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:00:00 +0000 The colour of money isn't changing for most Hongkongers, but for the city's visually impaired, newly redesigned banknotes will feel different. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority yesterday unveiled a new series of banknotes to be released over the next two years. The new HK$20, HK$50, HK$100, HK$500 and HK$1,000 bills will keep their current shape, size and colour, but will be updated with new graphics, security elements and, for the first time, a number of features to aid the visually-impaired... https://www.scmp.com/article/720212/new-notes-way-will-help-visually-impaired?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/720212/new-notes-way-will-help-visually-impaired?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Jul 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Over the past few months, locals and tourists have lamented the loss of a key tool in their struggle to navigate the concrete jungle: MTR exit markers on Google Maps. The mapping application is ubiquitous in the city's increasingly smartphone-reliant culture, as it is pre-installed on many of the world's most popular handheld devices. And for riders on the MTR, the display of station exits provided a time-saving method of navigation on their way from the trains to the streets. In April,... https://www.scmp.com/article/718900/users-online-map-want-their-mtr-exits-back?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/718900/users-online-map-want-their-mtr-exits-back?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Jul 2010 16:00:00 +0000 International watchdogs met last week to discuss Hong Kong's progress report on efforts to strengthen the city's anti-money-laundering and anti-terrorist financing laws. Over the past few months, the government has scrambled to show some measure of progress after nearly two years of inaction. The city's report to the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF), was due this month in advance of the group's June meeting in Amsterdam. The government refused to provide a copy of the... https://www.scmp.com/article/718370/citys-fight-against-money-laundering-under-scrutiny?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/718370/citys-fight-against-money-laundering-under-scrutiny?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 27 Jun 2010 16:00:00 +0000 The United States' anti-corruption squad is beefing up in the fight against foreign bribery, and has set its sights on China. 'It is not a matter of if, but a matter of when Asian companies will become the target of the investigation,' said Violet Ho, head of China operations for Kroll, a global risk consulting firm. 'Chinese companies are going to be the biggest target.' The US is ramping up enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in Asia. The act was enacted in 1977 to... https://www.scmp.com/article/718282/us-brings-law-bear-chinese-graft?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/718282/us-brings-law-bear-chinese-graft?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Jun 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Despite the reported loss of patient information at a hospital last week, electronic security breaches in public agencies are on the decline, according to government officials and the city's privacy watchdog. Next month, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer will report that there are fewer incidents of government data leaks compared with the year before, according to deputy chief information officer Stephen Mak, who oversees the government's information-technology consulting... https://www.scmp.com/article/718079/data-leaks-public-agencies-decline?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/718079/data-leaks-public-agencies-decline?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 24 Jun 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Within the tight-knit Portuguese community in Macau, the mystery surrounding the 2007 death of one of their own has become a cause for justice and government accountability in the post-handover era. On the morning of September 30, 2007, 17-year-old Luis Azevedo Pessoa Amorim was found dead on Dr Sun Yat-sen Avenue under the old Macau-Taipa Bridge. A few hours after his death, the Judiciary Police told Luis' mother he had committed suicide - before the hospital had concluded the autopsy.... https://www.scmp.com/article/717708/officials-face-pressure-revise-teen-death-ruling?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/717708/officials-face-pressure-revise-teen-death-ruling?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 20 Jun 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Britain is cracking down on corruption among British companies worldwide, and its efforts could have a far-reaching impact on Hong Kong and mainland firms. After years of legislative inaction against corporate corruption, Parliament in April passed the 2010 Bribery Act - the world's strictest on bribery. The legislation affects not only British firms but any company that conducts any part of its business in the country, as well as those that provide services to British companies. 'It is a... https://www.scmp.com/article/717029/britains-strict-bribery-law-may-hit-local-firms?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/717029/britains-strict-bribery-law-may-hit-local-firms?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 12 Jun 2010 16:00:00 +0000 As the world's largest gadget maker, Foxconn's revenue of US$60.8 billion last year nearly equalled the combined sales of its top nine competitors in the world. Its titanic force of 900,000 mainland workers helps forge Foxconn's dominance in the industry of contract electronics, but a spate of suicides has called into question the company's reliance on cheap labour. The massive workforce under military-style management at Foxconn reflects the country's struggle to evolve from 'early... https://www.scmp.com/article/715846/foxconn-success-and-tragedy-linked?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/715846/foxconn-success-and-tragedy-linked?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 31 May 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Hong Kong may be doing all it can to avoid accusations of being a tax haven but, judging by the United States' pursuit of clients of Swiss banking giant UBS, it is a popular site for offshore tax evasion schemes. Hong Kong shell companies or bank accounts were involved in more than half the tax evasion cases against American UBS clients made public so far. Of the 16 cases publicised by prosecutors since the US began investigating UBS, nine have involved Hong Kong entities. Panama, Singapore,... https://www.scmp.com/article/713311/ubs-case-puts-hk-us-tax-dodge-spotlight?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/713311/ubs-case-puts-hk-us-tax-dodge-spotlight?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 May 2010 16:00:00 +0000 After nearly two years of making little headway on strengthening the city's anti-terrorism and anti-money-laundering policies, Hong Kong officials are scrambling to show progress before a report to international watchdogs is due in June. In its 2008 report, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) found that while Hong Kong had a 'good legal structure to combat money laundering and terrorist financing', its policies were deficient in 19 of 49 areas. Of 16 priority areas, Hong Kong was deficient... https://www.scmp.com/article/713212/hk-lags-global-terrorist-cash-laws?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/713212/hk-lags-global-terrorist-cash-laws?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 May 2010 16:00:00 +0000 The case involving fugitive economist Steven Cheung Ng-sheong and his missing paintings may be closed, but the truth about the professor's business dealings remains unclear. Candy Tsang Cheuk-sze, a former employee of the Cheung-owned Dandelion Fine Arts, was sentenced yesterday to three years in prison for stealing three oil paintings worth HK$1.4 million from the Central art gallery and falsifying HK$7,287 in expenses charged to the company. Her husband, Thomas Yeung Wai-ming, was... https://www.scmp.com/article/713058/fugitive-economists-ex-employee-jailed-3-years-stealing-art?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/713058/fugitive-economists-ex-employee-jailed-3-years-stealing-art?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 Apr 2010 16:00:00 +0000 In 1981, amid the cold war, only a person of remarkable audacity, perhaps even hubris, would suggest that communist China would one day 'go capitalist'. Steven Cheung Ng-sheong (pictured), self-assured and daring, fitted the bill perfectly. At the time, few agreed with the Hong Kong-born, US-educated academic's theory. Some called it wildly improbable. Cheung was already a respected economist in the 1980s, but his stature grew with China's GDP as his outlandish theory became conventional... https://www.scmp.com/article/712502/he-saw-chinas-open-door-its-closed-him?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/712502/he-saw-chinas-open-door-its-closed-him?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Apr 2010 16:00:00 +0000 In a 1996 paper called the 'simplistic general equilibrium theory of corruption', economist Steven Cheung Ng-sheong argued that 'the only effective way of getting rid of corruption is to get rid of the controls and regulations that give rise to corruption opportunities' because those very rules were created by policymakers to facilitate corruption. 'It is no use to put a beautiful woman in my bedroom, naked, and ask me not to be aroused,' he explained. And in a subsequent paper, Cheung compared... https://www.scmp.com/article/712500/economist-exits-us-leaving-trail-unanswered-questions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/712500/economist-exits-us-leaving-trail-unanswered-questions?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Apr 2010 16:00:00 +0000