0855 HKSAR Name of the Day

Alvan Wok Fai, solicitor, Hong Kong

About Novel HKSAR Names
Name Category: Rare

One Hong Kong Newspaper Does Fancy Edthancy

The Standard newspaper is consistent and continues to name Edthancy Tseng Pei-kun by her full name, unlike the SCMP (see Newspaper Does Not Fancy Edthancy).

Co-accused Miss Edthancy Tseng, 28, is the former personal assistant of Stephen Chan Chi-wan, 51, who is general manager of TVB. Both are accused of fraud and corruption by the Independent Commission Against Corruption.


Reference: Court quiz on Stephen Chan and TVB duties

Diana Lee
Thursday, June 23, 2011

TVB knew that its general manager Stephen Chan Chi-wan was acting beyond his usual duties when the station gave him the green light to appear at a commercial event, the District Court was told.

Chan, 51, looked calm on the second day of the trial in which the Independent Commission Against Corruption has alleged he and two co-defendants deceived TVB out of HK$960,000, with Chan's alleged involvement totaling HK$412,000.

Television actor and stalwart Chan supporter Wong Hei was in court to hear the evidence.

Au Kwok-hang, a manager at Sino Estates Management, which oversees Olympian City, accepted a suggestion by the defense that TVB arranged a program producer and scriptwriter for meetings with Sino for Chan's performance during a sideshow in the runup to a New Year's Eve countdown event at the end of 2009.

The mall did not contact TVB as it knew that neither Chan nor Wayne Lai Yiu-cheung - a freelance artist - were under management contract as were the other TVB artists.

A contract to ensure Chan and Lai's performance in a live Be my Guest sideshow was signed between Sino and Idea Empire Advertising and Production - run by co-defendant Edthancy Tseng Pei- kun, 28, who the industry knew represented Chan.

Another co-defendant, Wilson Chan Wing-shuen, is facing one charge.

Irene So Kit-lin, Au's superior as manager of retail marketing and promotions, agreed with a suggestion made by senior counsel Joseph Tse, acting for Chan, that TVB knew Chan and Lai were not part of the original deal valued at HK$1.3 million.

"Did the mall have to notify TVB what guests it found, as TVB had the final say in the countdown?" asked Wong Ching-yue, senior counsel for Tseng. "Yes," So answered.

On another alleged offense, which involved a book signing event on February 7, 2010, Au said the idea was initiated by IEAP, which guaranteed five leading artists would appear.

In return, the mall exempted venue fees, administration costs and relevant facilities, which could amount to HK$64,300, and agreed to pay TVB HK$30,000 for airtime and other expenditure.

Shida Yeung Mei-po, communications director of Ma Belle Jewellery, the February event sponsor, said it paid IEAP HK$300,000 for the appearance of five artists and for a promotional Chan video that would mention several name brands.

Staff from IEAP are expected to testify today.

0854 HKSAR Name of the Day

Fionca Y.K. Tse (Ms), investigator, School of Nursing, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong

About Novel HKSAR Names
Name Category: Creation; Insertion

Verbal Diarrhoea #4

"Everyday, I start off my day earlier than my staff, and [go home] after them. Doing more work than everyone else earns their respect."

Resina Wong, 47-year-old executive, Cheung Kong Holdings (May 2011), Hong Kong

a) Doing more work does not necessarily equate to working longer hours.
b) Working longer hours does not necessarily earn respect from one's employees.
c) Earning respect does not necessarily mean doing more work than others.

Respect, longer hours and more work are in fact mutually exclusive; however, it is the local, traditional supervisors and bosses in Hong Kong who mistakenly apply this faulty circular reasoning to their workers and employees.

One wonders whether Ms(?) Resina Wong has spent important time outside of work (perhaps to marry and raise a family?) whilst simultaneously earning the respect of her staff by apparently always being the first in and last one to leave the office ... with no 'siestas' in between?

Based on her reported comments, does Resina Wong, and those like her, deserve the respect of her staff? Or does she, and those like her, simply demand it?

About Verbal Diarrhoea


Reference: Resina Wong (The Standard)

Karen Ha
Monday, May 30, 2011

Resina Wong is a 20-year veteran of the Hong Kong property industry, having started off as a trainee at a local developer before joining Cheung Kong Holdings (0001) in 1990.

The local property market, especially the retail sector, is in a constant state of flux. It is vital for developers to keep abreast of changes and always have a bevy of potential clients who can rent out soon-to-be vacated premises.

"This is why I need to get out and meet many people," says Wong. "I never feel bored in my job."

Like most other women, Wong loves to shop. "I need to keep myself updated. I go shopping to malls seven days a week and I enjoy it."

As 1881 Heritage, a Cheung Kong project, often hosts large art exhibitions, Wong has used the opportunity to get to know many local and foreign artists.

Starting off as a trainee, the now 47-year-old executive worked her way to the top. "The key is to keep learning while enjoying the work," she said.

"Everyday, I start off my day earlier than my staff, and [go home] after them. Doing more work than everyone else earns their respect."

Wong is big on communication with her colleagues and with other departments of Cheung Kong.

"A company is like an orchestra. The leader is like the conductor. The members have to coordinate among themselves before they can play a beautiful piece.

"It's useless to rely on just one or two outstanding individuals," says Wong.

0853 HKSAR Name of the Day

Resina Wong, 47-year-old executive, Cheung Kong Holdings (May 2011), Hong Kong

About Novel HKSAR Names
Name Category: Creation; Substitution

Wimbledon Wow Factor: Kimiko Date

Stick-thin Venus Williams appeared to be wearing one of Serena's tennis outfits. Pic Reuters

Despite Venus' oversized attire, she managed to beat 40-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm (I really only remember Kimiko without her double-barreled surname), but only just, by 6-7, 6-3, 8-6.

Kimiko looks anything but 40 years old. In fact (and please correct me if I am wrong), I seem to recall that a younger Date in her 20s was relatively more chubby compared to her older self.

Japanese player Kimiko Date-Krumm still enjoying tennis at the highest level in the 'winter' of her career

Here is the final paragraph of the Daily Mail sports report:

Finally, the fashion news: Venus Williams is wearing a lace jumpsuit with visible zips and a skinny gold belt. Kimiko Date-Krumm is wearing... really well.

FURTHER fashion news (from another Daily Mail news report) with some comments and observations. Pics from PA and Getty Images.

It must be said that Serena pulled off looking rather balanced and feminine in this emerald dress, in spite of her bulging muscles

Maria Sharapova looked dog-tired and her black boots (wellies?) are not in tune with her fabulous red dress and beautiful body

The shoes are the only tasteful part of this bizarre outfit from world no 31 Bethanie Mattek-Sands

Caroline Wozniacki is still young and has time to develop her fashion sense (I hope)

Jelana Jankovic is wearing a beautiful outfit but her long face and apparent ungainliness draws attention away from her dress and figure

0852 HKSAR Name of the Day

Mimi Chui Moon-fan, 44, a ballet school principal killed in 2010 in Sau Mau Ping, Hong Kong

About Novel HKSAR Names
Name Category: Rare

To Teach Torture Or Not To Teach Torture

Should we be surprised by the survey (see 2 news stories below) that found local teachers agree with the use of torture in police investigations and believe social stability should come before individual liberties?

Local teachers are generally a conservative bunch and Chinese teachings do lend themselves to being relatively more disciplinarian (e.g. look at the Tiger Mom fallout).

It is also interesting that a researcher has described this value as "believing in a mainland way".

Who teaches the teachers? Who judges the teachers (foreigners or locals)? Who investigates the researchers?


Reference: Rights beliefs of teachers far from liberal (The Standard)

Friday, June 10, 2011

Students are set to develop a rather skewed view of both civil and human rights, if the opinions of several teachers are anything to go by.

A survey of 791 liberal studies teachers from 255 schools last year saw more than a third backing police use of torture to get confessions, while nearly half felt courts should pay more heed to public opinion than the rule of law.

Leung Yan-wing, who led the survey conducted by the Hong Kong Institute of Education, blamed the results on conservatism among some teachers and the apparent apathy to human rights over the past 10 years.

The survey laid special stress on liberal studies - introduced as a compulsory subject in all secondary schools under the new 3-3-4 system but one without a fixed syllabus.

Leung said the results are shocking and reflect how the rights awareness of generations to come may be eroded.

"I am very worried about the mind- sets of teachers and how this will affect the next generation," he said.

Leung suggested that after the promised universal suffrage comes into effect in 2017, the government pay more attention to how teachers think and what is being taught in schools.

Sun Kei Secondary School liberal studies teacher Hui Shing-yau urged firmer guidelines on the subject.

PEARLIE YIU

Reference: Torture 'acceptable' to many teachers (SCMP; paywall)

Survey finds many liberal studies instructors value social stability over personal freedoms
Dennis Chong
Jun 09, 2011

Many of Hong Kong's liberal studies teachers find the use of torture acceptable in police investigations and believe social stability should come before individual liberties, according to a survey result described as shocking by a teachers' union.

The survey, conducted by the Hong Kong Institute of Education and sponsored by the Quality Education Fund, interviewed more than 700 liberal studies teachers from 255 secondary schools last year.

It found that 35 per cent of the teachers agreed that the use of torture by police in obtaining evidence was acceptable, while half said they were willing to give up personal liberties for social stability.

Fung Wai-wah, chairman of the Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union, described the findings as shocking. "It is indisputable that torture should not be used during interrogation. We ought to find out why there is such a belief among teachers," he said.

Education sector legislator Cheung Man-kwong said the result pointed to a gap in the education system. "Civic education should focus on universal values. We should not give up on these values," he said. "Teachers should know of and insist on these values so they can teach students to insist on them themselves."

Liberal studies entered the senior secondary academic structure during a review of the education system and became a compulsory subject for those studying for the Diploma of Secondary Education. The first batch of pupils started the subject in 2009.

Unlike languages, science and other mainstream subjects, the teachers do not have a fixed syllabus and critics have complained about the ambiguity of subject guidelines.

Researcher Leung Yan-wing, from the institute's centre for governance and citizenship, said the findings reflected the fact that some teachers were conservative.

"There are more open-minded teachers but as a matter of fact there are also a group of people who believe in the mainland way," Fung said, adding that society should guard against erosion of the fundamental values of democracy and human rights.

dennis.chong@scmp.com