Lee keeps head over rival

(The Standard P.6  27 Feb 2013) In a true spirit of sportsmanship(發揮出真正的運動員精神), champion cyclist Sarah Lee Wai-sze defended (辯護) Guo Shuang (郭爽) against netizens’ accusations (綱民的指控) that the mainlander tried to interfere with (妨礙) Lee's race by butting (碰撞) her with her head as they were vying (爭奪) for third place in the Track Cycling World Championship.

Lee said Guo merely (只是) lost her balance as it would have been too dangerous for anybody to do that in a sprint.

Videos of the race showing Guo's head making contact with (觸碰) Lee sparked (發動) a heated debate on the net.

Lee beat Guo to the bronze (銅牌) in the women's sprint (女子個人爭先賽), securing (獲得) her second medal in the World Track Championships (世界錦標賽) in Belarus (白俄羅斯) last Sunday. She also won gold in the women's 500m time-trial (計時賽).

Lee returned to Hong Kong yesterday to a warm welcome (熱烈的歡迎). She is set to start training in Guangzhou today to prepare for the Asian Championships (亞洲錦標).

Lee is best known for winning bronze in the women's keirin (女子組凱林賽) at the 2012 London Olympics, Hong Kong's first-ever (破天荒第一次的)  Olympics medal(奧運獎牌) in cycling.

Dozens hurt in race chaos

(The Standard P.4  25 Feb 2013) Two runners were in serious condition in an intensive care unit (深切治療部) after a record Standard Chartered Marathon led to chaotic scenes (混亂的場面) that saw at least 37 people getting sent to hospital.

About a dozen participants fell over each other when one runner in the 10-kilometer race stopped to take a picture with his phone – prompting (敦促) organizers to consider banning (禁止) such devices (設備) at future events.

The two in serious condition are aged 47 and 51. Twenty-three were in stable condition, while 12 were discharged (離開) after treatment.

Last year, a 26-year-old man died after finishing the half-marathon - the first casualty (不幸事故) since 2006.

The Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association (香港業餘田徑總會) said about 570 runners were attended to by medics (醫學院學生), down from 2,000 last year. Those who needed help either suffered cramps (抽筋), had various wounds or needed ice packs.

Lobo Louie Hung-tak, associate professor in physical education at Baptist University, said those who collapsed (累倒) most likely did not have enough rest or pushed their limits too far since conditions made for "perfect" race weather.

Among those caught in the jumble (混亂) was eventual 10km women's champion Joyce Cheung Ting-yen, who bruised(擦傷) her knee. "It was painful and I had to bear (承受) the pain while continuing the run," she said.

Others described Eastern Corridor route conditions as chaotic when the 10km event started after 5am, with "runners falling over one another."

The annual mega event drew (吸引) 72,000 applicants - with 65,000 showing up. About 34,500 participated in the10km run, 18,000 in the half-marathon and 12,000 in the marathon.

African runners prevailed in the centerpiece event. Kenyan Julius Maisei, 32, won his third Standard Chartered title in 2:14:18 while Ethiopian Misiker Demissie became the first women's champion to repeat as she romped home in 2:30:49.

Candy Chan

Slumdog Millionaire

Time is money for some in a wired world

(The Standard P.10  22 Feb 2013) How much would you pay to add an extra hour to your day?

There are some people out there who would go as high as HK$5,000 to have a 25-hour day - but not many of them.

A Hong Kong University Public Opinion Programme survey posed (提出) the hypothetical (假設的) question to 517 people in January.

Two percent said they were willing to pay HK$5,000 or more and 2 percent said they would be willing (願意的) to pay from HK$1,000 to HK$4,999.

 

However, more than 60 percent of the respondents said they were quite happy managing their lives in the time already available - with the help of technology.

 

They said technology could help them save more than 1 hours a day on average.

 

Program director Robert Chung Ting-yiu said the result shows Hongkongers rely (依賴) heavily on technology to deal with their daily routines (日常工作), so their demands (需求) on time are unlimited.

On average (平均), people spend a total of five hours a day on internet-connected computers as well as on mobile devices.(流動的裝備), the poll shows.(調查指出).

  

The top two tasks for which the respondents find themselves needing a convenient IT tool is to send and receive e-mail.

But Chung is confident the reliance (信賴) on the internet for work does not intrude (強加) on home life.

"Few workers handle e-mails or calls related to (有關) work after office hours unless they are ordered to do so," he said.

 

Many employees in the marketing and sales fields are happy with the advancements of technology (提升技術) that help them keep in touch with their clients at all times. But it may not be the case for employees in other industries.

"The blame (指責) for an imbalanced work-life habit is not due to technology itself, but how bosses handle technology in their business and for their workers," he said.

Overall (從頭到尾), technology provides new options by making working hours more flexible(有彈性的).

"Technology brings us a new corporate  culture (公司文化) in which many companies can break the rules (打破常規) of restricted (受限制的) working hours and instead encourage their employees to work at home," Chung said.

  

Candy Chan

Peed off

(The Standard P.1  20 Feb 2013) A mother who told her two-year-old son to pee in a bottle at a crowded Tsim Sha Tsui restaurant has sparked a new row over mainland manners.

 

The incident on Lunar New Year eve has caused a splash on the internet since the mother told her story in an online forum.

 

Her son suddenly had the urge to pee while the family was enjoying a meal at the Tsui Wah Restaurant on Carnarvon Road.

 

She said she always carries a plastic bottle for such emergencies and took her son to a quiet corner to answer nature.

 

"But a female waitress saw us and spoke loudly, saying there is a toilet upstairs," she wrote. "She repeated it five times until everyone was staring at me."

 

A male waiter joined in the fuss (小題大作), saying the boy and the bottle would upset other customers.

 

"They could have whispered (私語) to me," the mother wrote.

 

"My family and I were so depressed thanks to Hongkongers' discriminating (以特殊對待) against mainlanders."

 

The comment sparked heated debate on Facebook and other forums.

 

"The government should set up more dog toilets - it's more suitable for them," netizen Jacky Flk commented.

 

Another said: "Those who pee with their legs up will still do so even if they are well-dressed."

 

A Tsui Wah Group spokesman confirmed the incident, adding the staff spoke loudly because of the noise in the restaurant and had apologized to the customer.

 

But he stressed that "any behavior that poses (提出) a threat to food hygiene is prohibited."

 

In another incident last Saturday, dishes were hurled (被猛力投擲) inside a Fairwood restaurant in Tseung Kwan O after a woman with a mainland accent (大陸口音) got into a row (吵架) with a local. Firemen and an ambulance were called.

 

Fairwood confirmed there was a dispute (爭執). Police said two families - Chan and Wong - were eating at the restaurant on Chung Wa Road when a member of the Wong family accidentally splashed (不小心地濺) milk tea on the floor.

 

No one was injured and the case was classified (按分類) as a dispute.

 

Chung Kim-wah, director of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University Center for Social Policy Studies, fears increasing tension (緊張) between Hongkongers and mainlanders is a potential timebomb (計時炸彈).

 

"The Tsui Wah case is a small incident and I believe that mainlanders will gradually adapt (漸漸地適應) to Hong Kong's culture," Chung said.

 

"But what I fear is that if such controversies escalate (爭論逐步擴大), it could develop into open warfare (開戰). It's just a matter of time (這只是時間問題)."

 

Chung stressed that the government should play an active role in easing the problem.

 

"For example, the government could consider restricting (限制) the number of multi-entry permits(一簽多行).

 

"Or it could slow down expansion (擴張) of the Individual Visit Scheme (個人遊), which might help reduce the tension between the two sides and make Hongkongers feel more comfortable.

 

"The scheme has been in force for 10 years and it's time for the government to review it."

 

Beatrice Siu

Lawmaker calls for limiting number of mainland visitors

議員呼籲限制 內地旅客訪港

(Metro Daily P.25  15 Feb 2013) Democratic party legislator James To has called for a cap (設置上限) on the number of mainland tourists coming to the territory.

He said the large numbers of visitors were affecting the daily lives of local residents.

His comments came after big crowds over the Lunar New Year holiday forced Ocean Park to suspend (暫停) the sale of tickets for two days in a row.

 

An estimated (估計) 380,000 visitors cross the border during the first three days of the Lunar New Year.

However, speaking on an RTHK radio programme, another lawmaker, Starry Lee, who is also a member of the Executive Council (行政會議), said it was not practical (實際的) to limit the number of visitors because they were already in possession (擁有) of travel documents.

She believed a mechanism (機制) should be set up instead to control any further relaxation (進一步地放寬) of policies allowing mainlanders to travel to Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, the China National Tourism Administration (中國旅遊局駐海外辦事處) is said to be very concerned about the more than 20 mainland tourists who were forced to sleep in their bus in Hong Kong because no hotel was provided for them.

Metro and agencies

Hopes high for handouts

(The Standard P.6  14 Feb 2013) Four in every five people hope that Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah will announce tax cuts (減稅), electricity subsidies and rent waivers (減免租金) for public housing tenants (公屋租戶) in his budget at the end of the month. More than three in five also hope for some tax relief (豁免稅) on money spent on children's education while nearly half want to see allowances for medical insurance. The telephone poll (民意測驗) of 850 residents was conducted from January 25 to January 30 by the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (民建聯) before the Lunar New Year holiday. Legislator Starry Lee Wai-king said the results show that people are not benefiting from Hong Kong's prosperity (興旺) and "surging inflation (通貨膨脹) has devalued (貶值) their income and worsened (惡化) their living standard." Thirty-four percent believe the economy will get worse this year, while only 10percent think otherwise. "Uncertainty in the economy has caused some concern while some are afraid a property bubble (樓市泡沫) is in place," Lee said. Red packets for the Lunar New Year reflected this. Most residents said they would spend about the same as last year but some planned to cut back because of inflation and heavier financial burdens (財政負擔). Nearly 30percent said their fattest red packet would be HK$20, while fewer than 10percent said their largest packet would be HK$500. More than 30percent would cut back on festive clothing and gifts. The DAB recommends the government help out the poor, the elderly and most especially the "N-nothing group," which has not benefited from past budgets because they do not receive welfare, pay taxes or live in public housing. "The government has done a lot with the Community Care Fund (關愛基金), but there are people who are still living outside the government's safety net," Lee said. According to audit firm KPMG, the government will have a surplus of HK$23.7 billion this financial year. KPMG tax partner Jennifer Wong Hau-yee said earlier this month the government has underestimated  the revenue (低估稅收) from land sales, stamp duty (印花稅) and tax collection. But she said Hong Kong will probably see a deficit (赤字) in the 2013-14 fiscal year, thanks to increased spending on housing and infrastructure projects (基建項目).

andy Chan