https://www.scmp.com/rss/9194/feed Sam Spiro (AKA Sam Zen) is a journalist and writer with more than 23 years’ experience living in Hong Kong and Asia. She arrived in the SAR in 1996, having deferred for a year her place on a Masters in International Journalism in London. She never went back, deciding to make journalism and editing her career in Hong Kong instead. Since the age of seven, when she had an “interesting” energy experience in her grandma’s toilet in the UK, Sam has had a strong calling towards all things spiritual. In... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Uptown girl, downtown man My father was a work­ing-class boy and my mother an upper-class girl. It was a real class collision when they met in Ontario, Canada. They were 24 or 25. My father was one of the real advertising Mad Men of the 1960s, drinking and smoking. My mum preferred the slopes and was a ski instructor in Aspen, Colorado, and Yosemite Valley, California. Actors like Rock Hudson and Shirley Temple hired her to teach them how to ski. My parents both loved the mountains and decided... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3049349/pure-yoga-teacher-patrick-creelman-opens-about?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3049349/pure-yoga-teacher-patrick-creelman-opens-about?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Feb 2020 09:00:14 +0000 China is stretching its yoga muscles, and catching up with the rest of the world in its demand for lessons in the stress-relieving practice that marries breath work and poses. By 2020, the yoga market in China is expected to stretch to nearly 47 billion yuan (US$6.7 billion), not far behind the US yoga market which is expected to be worth US$11.6 billion, according to projections from Statista. Five-star studios are opening up across mainland China, led by a growing number of devoted, respected,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3037313/putting-chi-yoga-hatha-and-vinyasa-poses-plus-massage?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3037313/putting-chi-yoga-hatha-and-vinyasa-poses-plus-massage?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Nov 2019 07:00:10 +0000 Making an entrance I was born on November 23, 1964, in Beirut, Lebanon. My father is half-Lebanese, and was involved in running the family business. My mother is English. Mummy thought she wasn’t going to pop for a few more weeks. So off she went to a house party with daddy and ate some spicy food. She started feeling a bit off and ran to the loo, thinking it was indigestion. To her surprise, her water broke and she thinks she saw my head pop out. Luckily, the hospital was round the corner. She... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3026922/plant-based-restaurant-pioneer-bobsy-gaias?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3026922/plant-based-restaurant-pioneer-bobsy-gaias?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Sep 2019 06:00:15 +0000 Sacha Stone is an interesting chap. Eloquent and passionate about his causes, it’s hard to believe he has ever been anything but a hard-core activist – in areas ranging from human rights to sustainability to how social constructs like taxes are spiritually bankrupt. He also looks like a rock star. Is dressed like a rock star. And, in fact, was a vocalist in the eponymous band Stone, years ago. This, he says, earned him just enough exposure to ignite his role as an activist, enabling him to... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3015322/rocker-turned-activist-who-founded-bali-festival-shaking?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3015322/rocker-turned-activist-who-founded-bali-festival-shaking?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Jun 2019 07:00:13 +0000 The annual Bali Spirit Festival (BSF) has come a long way. The brainchild of two friends who came up with the idea over tea in the artsy town of Ubud on the Indonesian island, the festival saw less than 200 people at its inaugural event in 2008. At this month’s festival, they expect over five times that. More than 1,000 happy people enjoy the much-loved intimate “party”, which is often referred to on social media as one of the best yoga festivals globally. But it’s not just about yoga. The... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3001620/bali-spirit-festival-connects-people-through-music-dance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3001620/bali-spirit-festival-connects-people-through-music-dance?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 Mar 2019 06:15:03 +0000 Hurdle to mainland trips for frequent travellers Beijing has stopped issuing multiple-entry visas, risking major inconvenience to foreigners who travel to the mainland regularly, especially on business. Hong Kong travel agents say the ban will stay in place until after the Olympic Games. Travellers are now restricted to single- or double-entry visas valid for 30 days. Multiple-entry visas that have not expired are still valid. Andrew Work, executive director of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce,... https://www.scmp.com/article/632715/multi-entry-visa-ban-until-after-games?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/632715/multi-entry-visa-ban-until-after-games?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Apr 2008 16:00:00 +0000 TODAY'S GRADUATES will fuel the growth in demand for Web services among small and medium-sized enterprises, says Wilson Wong Ka-wo of Apac Interactive. But he expected a marked upturn in the way SMEs viewed the internet over the next three to five years. 'The city's graduates live in the Web world. They are the managers of tomorrow. They know the internet and what they can get from it. They will set up their own companies or move into middle-management roles and they will insist on websites... https://www.scmp.com/article/565881/graduates-steer-smes-towards-internet?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/565881/graduates-steer-smes-towards-internet?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 Sep 2006 16:00:00 +0000 WEB DESIGN IS a lot more than copying and pasting information on a page on the internet. It is a balance between marketing, design, usability and technology, a balance many Hong Kong companies find hard to get right, according to veteran Web consultant Daniel Szuc. 'Many firms develop websites without a true understanding of customer needs,' he said. 'Often, designers are pushed to create a site based on what management and stakeholders want. But rarely do they create a positive user... https://www.scmp.com/article/565882/companies-awareness-web-design-lagging?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/565882/companies-awareness-web-design-lagging?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 Sep 2006 16:00:00 +0000 After dozens of wedding invitations and 10 years of faffing, Nunu Luan had had enough. She was so frustrated trying to find the perfect gift that she created Double Happiness, her own online, centralised gift registry. The venture is a first for Hong Kong and a breakthrough for those who prefer to shop for gifts by pointing and clicking. 'I found shopping for wedding gifts in Hong Kong so inconvenient,' she says. 'For one, there was no centralised channel, so if people wanted things from... https://www.scmp.com/article/480763/gift-idea-clicked-business?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/480763/gift-idea-clicked-business?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Dec 2004 16:00:00 +0000 The boys from Queer Eye For The Straight Guy would be proud of the man behind Hong Kong's first website devoted to male grooming. Conceived by John Rocha - nephew of the designer of the same name - his? is a veritable Aladdin's cave of useful information and products guaranteed to inspire even the most unkempt man. Designed to take the hassle out of shopping, the bilingual site includes an online store and offers an exclusive range of men's goods costing from $125 to $285. Brands include... https://www.scmp.com/article/455919/male-order?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/455919/male-order?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 May 2004 16:00:00 +0000 Standard Chartered's management trainee programme is not just about finding the best possible bankers - it is about picking the best people to fit in with the bank's culture, says Anna Sampson, head of the bank's resourcing and talent management in Hong Kong. 'Talent is important. But at the end of the day, if I can quote my director Peter Wong, 'we are not recruiting just good bankers, we are recruiting good people who are responsible citizens of the world',' Ms Sampson says. Standard... https://www.scmp.com/article/429963/good-citizen-qualities-make-sound-banker?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/429963/good-citizen-qualities-make-sound-banker?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Oct 2003 16:00:00 +0000 What the Broker Says... Hong Kong-based fashion retailer Esprit Holdings operates shops and franchises in more than 40 countries. Last week the company surprised analysts and the market by posting a 61.2 per cent year-on-year surge in net profit for the year to June 30. The main factor in the surprise result was a HK$121 million tax credit relating to a change in German withholding-tax legislation. Excluding this item, an ABN Amro report said, core earnings increased 40 per cent year on year... https://www.scmp.com/article/392136/stitch-time-boosts-esprit-profits?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/392136/stitch-time-boosts-esprit-profits?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Sep 2002 16:00:00 +0000 The principal activity of the China Mobile group is the provision of mobile communications and related services in the mainland. The company was incorporated in Hong Kong in September 1997 and was listed in New York and Hong Kong in October of that year. China Mobile was admitted as a constituent stock to the Hang Seng Index in January 1998. The firm is the world's second-largest mobile operator in terms of a subscriber base, boasting 58.9 million members at the end of the first half of last... https://www.scmp.com/article/392058/what-broker-said?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/392058/what-broker-said?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Sep 2002 16:00:00 +0000 Hong Kong-based fashion retailer Esprit Holdings operates shops and franchises in more than 40 countries. Last week the company surprised analysts and the market by posting a 61.2 per cent year-on-year surge in net profit for the year to June 30. The main factor in the surprise result was a HK$121 million tax credit relating to a change in German withholding-tax legislation. Excluding this item, an ABN Amro report said, core earnings increased 40 per cent year on year to HK$806 million. The... https://www.scmp.com/article/392059/what-broker-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/392059/what-broker-says?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Sep 2002 16:00:00 +0000 Sunday Communications, Hong Kong's smallest mobile operator, is engaged in selling mobile phones and providing telephone services. A recent KGI Asia report commenting on the operator's interim results gave a favourable outlook for the stock despite expectations the group would make a loss for this financial year. Sunday has succeeded in lowering its interim net loss by 42 per cent year on year to HK$66.47 million. The group also saw turnover decline 8.47 per cent year on year to HK$664.33... https://www.scmp.com/article/391410/what-broker-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/391410/what-broker-says?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Sep 2002 16:00:00 +0000 China Overseas Land & Investment is engaged in construction, project management, property development and letting. Inspired by overly optimistic market sentiment in the first three quarters of 1997, China Overseas purchased many parcels of land and shares at high prices. However, this left the company saddled with large net losses in 1998 and 1999 following the burst of the property market bubble. Between 1998 and 2000, the company embarked on a strategic restructuring and decided to increase... https://www.scmp.com/article/391412/what-brokers-said?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/391412/what-brokers-said?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Sep 2002 16:00:00 +0000