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for. 1.
Public takes poor view of companies in wake of scandals 2.
Wheeler 3.
Naked in the city 4.
Monitor 5.
Property market ‘medicine’ will not cure
SAR’s economic ills 6.
As high as the corporate ladder goes 7.
MTRC wins initial approval for South Island monorail 8.
Life doctor – Dengue fever 9.
Dengue threat is here to stay 10.
Dengue fever edges nearer to heart of city 11.
Fetish Fashion trio wins $3m for trial costs 12.
Monitor 13.
SCMP Cartoon 14.
Wheeler 15.
Politicians spending way to subversion 16.
World health body fears dengue spread 17.
Fever facts 18.
Fever demands action 19.
Monitor 20.
Property market ‘medicine’ begins
1. Public takes poor view of companies in wake of scandals
ANNETTE
CHIU, SCMP 8 October 2002 
Perception Counts: Problems such as the piling scandals on some Hong Kong construction
sites may involve few firms but reflect badly on the sector as a whole in terms
of public trust, Golin/Harris says.
Corporate mistrust triggered by scandals in the United States is spreading to
Asia, a regional survey has shown, with 72 per cent of consumers polled saying
there is a crisis of trust in business. People
in Asia were also more cautious about the trustworthiness of companies in the
future, with 86 per cent saying they would be more careful about which companies
they would trust, the survey found. Public
relations firm Golin/Harris Asia's managing director Anne Forrest said the findings
of their survey showed a declining level of trust in Asia, and the business community
should stay alert. "Trust
is decreasing and people are worried about what they trust in the future. It's
not a disaster but the business community needs to look at the problem,"
Ms Forrest said yesterday. Golin/Harris
and market-research company NFO WorldGroup interviewed 800 consumers in Singapore,
Hong Kong, Tokyo and Taipei in late summer. They had also interviewed 775 US consumers
in the spring. Asians
and Americans had different views on various industries, according to the survey.
The five most trusted industries in Asia were electric power, computers, telecommunications,
pharmaceuticals and vehicles, the least trusted were construction, securities
and investment, media, health and beauty, and property developers. In contrast,
the health and beauty sector was found to be one of the most trusted industries
in the US. Ms
Forrest said the divergence in the findings could be attributed to the lack of
regulation in the sector in Asia and the bad news on the industry. "Trust
is very local. It is affected by crisis and bad behaviour of the industry,"
she said. In Hong Kong,
the most trusted businesses were banks, electric power, accounting, fast food
and supermarkets. The least trusted were securities, property developers, health
and beauty, entertainment and media. The
top three trust destroyers in Hong Kong were poor value for money, poorly managed
businesses and those prone to scandal or governance investigation. Golin/Harris
managing director in Hong Kong CT Hew said a scandal in one firm was likely to
destroy the whole industry's trust. The
piling scandals in the construction sector and news reports about problematic
beauty products and failing securities companies weakened the trust in the industries
as a whole, he said. "It's
easy to have one bad apple spoil the entire barrel," Mr Hew said. Businesses
that were most trusted tended to be sectors critical to the national economy and
social well-being, in many cases the trusted foundations of Asian industrial and
commercial infrastructure, the survey found.
2. Wheeler
Lai
See, SCMP 8 October [Cartoon] 
3. Naked in the city
Richard
Feldman, SCMP 8 October 2002 People
in the East and West love new things, but when it comes to old things, they don't
see eye-to-eye. Europe and, to a lesser extent, America preserve and promote just
about all things old (people not included) - especially their public transport
and plumbing. But in Hong Kong, when it comes to old things, particularly buildings,
we think: ''NEXT!'' Our
architectural past has always been celebrated with bulldozers and bathroom tiles,
just so we can have, you guessed it, something new. We have traded history, charm
and character for gross floor area, plot efficiency and saleable common area.
And I do mean common. The
developers have left us with high-rises instead of homes and addresses instead
of architecture. We live in tower blocks and concrete cubes yet celebrate the
fact that our unit is less than five years old, or regret that it isn't. Nothing
here says zero resale value like the words walk-up and charm. That is not to say
Hong Kong doesn't appreciate an old building once in a while, when we can find
one. But what we value most about it is its potential redevelopment value. When
it comes to not valuing our buildings of heritage, Government House takes first
prize. Our Chief Executive has chosen to treat this historic building with disdain,
and has elected to live in his original family flat, most likely because it is
newer, but possibly because he ordered too much personal stationery in 1996. When
prodded, the government will discuss the use of Government House. There was once
talk of turning it into a museum, possibly dedicated to our colonial past, but
that would require admitting to it. Some private individuals suggested turning
it into a boutique five-star hotel with restaurants, a museum and a cultural facility
where dignitaries and locals alike could celebrate the space, the building, the
rooms, the grounds and the ambience of possibly our most significant property.
But
something as potentially fabulous as that would make us reconsider how we treat
our heritage and our other old buildings, and we can't have that. So instead of
taking tourists to what could possibly be our No 1 tourist attraction, I take
them on one of our many heritage walks, stopping to admire beautifully designed
markers, erected by the Antiquities and Monuments Board, to see where some of
the most beautiful and significant buildings of our past used to be. We then go
inside the building that now stands in its place and order a frozen Slurpee. With
some imagination we can picture a time gone by and get lost in thoughts of Hong
Kong's yesteryear, until the chime of my Octopus payment reminds me it is time
to move on, and see the next great building on our tour of ''what once stood here''.
If
the Chief Executive values his flat more than Hong Kong's ''White House'', how
can we have any chance of celebrating the great buildings of our past? I propose
we simply - in true Hong Kong style - level it and end the insincere debate once
and for all. We could then take an axe to all the century-old trees and have a
keg party and bonfire while doing so. Don't forget the marshmallows. In
its place we could build an enormous bathroom-tiled commercial-residential centre
with Hong Kong's largest ParknShop, a drive-through McDonald's, a mall with an
indoor roller coaster, a 7-Eleven large enough to require shopping carts, a Wal-Mart
and many ground floor commercial spaces to house property agencies, a made-with-lard
cake shop, and, fingers crossed, a mega-huge hardware chain such as Home Depot,
Bunnings or B&Q. Government
House would be then used by the people it was built for and get its own ''once
stood here'' plaque - and, at long last, become a tourist attraction. If
the Architectural Services Department could take Tsim Sha Tsui's beautiful old
train station and turn it into a Cultural Centre that has no windows and looks
like a high-school gymnasium, think what it could do to Government House - make
it NEW! Mind
you, that drive-through McDonald's does sound nice.
4. Monitor
JAKE
VAN DER KAMP, SCMP 7 October 2002 How
nice it is some days to flip to the letters page while reaching for my morning
cup of coffee and find someone singing my tune. "The
property sector is weak because people have lost confidence in the government's
housing policy, which keeps changing," wrote a Ms Anna Naidu in one such
letter published in Friday's edition (Housing policy has not helped economy).
And
when she says that market forces should be left to determine prices in the property
market, and that reluctance to make long-term investment stems from lack of confidence
and fears of losing jobs, I ask only where I can find the application form to
join the chorus. But
it is another matter when she adds: "There is no intrinsic strength in our
economy which would make it possible for income levels and the confidence of people
in Hong Kong to be raised". I
am not sure I agree, and given that the Hang Seng index dipped under the 9,000
level last week, now is perhaps a good occasion to list some intrinsic strengths.
First,
however, let us put some of the gloom into perspective. Did you know that despite
dropping like a shot duck recently, our stock market has actually done better
than the average of other Asian stock markets, better than the United States market
too? And
did you know that in US dollar terms - the benchmark of international comparison
- our economy has done better in recent years than the average of other Asian
economies if you take China out of the sample, and I would. I have serious doubts
about China's reported growth figures. We
are in a worldwide slump here, not one that is hitting Hong Kong alone, and we
are holding up reasonably well against it. Now
let me count the ways - quietly, because this is something to which we really
do not want to bring too much attention, we are proving that the handover worked
in reverse. China may have gained sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997 but Hong
Kong entrepreneurs are gaining economic ownership of China. They increasingly
own the key infrastructure and the real productive enterprises and they are making
money as they never have before. One
reason they can do it so that behind them in the SAR they have the soundest financial
system in Asia, not a bust bank in sight anywhere and only a few worries about
credit-card debt. It is an enormous strength, intrinsic in every way and the requirement
above all others for recovery. We have it. Meanwhile
our service industries are prospering on the back of what our entrepreneurs are
doing in China with a trade balance in services running at HK$142 billion a year,
double what it was four years ago. Also
at home, people are taking advantage of a period of low property prices and low
interest rates to buy their homes at costs they can bear or to refinance them.
Did
you know that since June 1997 outstanding loans for the purchase of residential
property have risen by 33 per cent while loans for all other uses in Hong Kong
have dropped by 21 per cent? You may also wish to remember that, despite all the
worries about high unemployment, the SAR economy achieved a net gain in employment
of more than 36,000 jobs in July and August alone. Unemployment
is up because labour migrants are flooding into the SAR, which is not something
they do to a place of no intrinsic strengths. Boss,
could I please have the rest of this page to continue my list of how many intrinsic
strengths we have to help us raise income levels and confidence in Hong Kong when
things turn around. A limit of 700 words is just too tight to describe them all.
Ms Naidu is not alone and God knows we carry much more than 700 words of despairing
commentary in this newspaper almost every day. Email
Jake van der Kamp at jakeva@scmp.com.
5. Property market ‘medicine’ will not cure SAR’s economic ills
Philip Bowring,
SCMP 7 October 2002 THE
FEVER NEVER abates. Hong Kong's leadership still seems to think that
economic salvation lies in property prices. Now, Financial Secretary Antony Leung
Kam-chung is to make another market- rigging effort. For whose benefit, one must
ask? The
property obsession of our leaders should not come as a surprise. Not only do first-generation
tycoons, such as Li Ka-shing, owe their wealth to a quarter of a century of property
price inflation. Second-generation ones, including Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa,
moved much of their fortunes from the likes of shipping and textiles into what
looked an easier way to make money - and one where they did not have to face international
competition. Look at the list of assets of Hong Kong's legislators and one finds
the same pat- tern of multi-flat ownership. As for Mr Leung, he made a career
in retail banking, an activity now dominated by mort- gage lending rather than
trade finance. So
one can understand where these people are coming from. But what are they trying
to achieve? Maybe the coming measures will have some short-term effect. The previous
market props - suspending land sales, tax relief for home' mortgage payments,
cutbacks in Home Ownership Scheme sales, etc - probably did stem the fall. However,
they did so at the cost of further major deterioration in the fiscal situation
- tolerable only in the short term - and delay in the adjustment of the rest of
the economy. There are only two serious arguments to be made for trying to stabilise
prices at what are still very high levels by any standard. The first - and one
which applies in Japan - is that property price falls have been the main cause
of the bad loan situation which is at the heart of Tokyo's economic problems.
However,
there is no particular reason to believe that Hong Kong banks are facing a similar
situation. The home price spike was relatively short lived and occurred partly
because of a shortage of new supply. It is only since the bubble burst that loan-to-valuation
ratios have been raised to potentially risky levels. Given the sharp decline in
interest rates since 1998, negative equity has not led to a steep rise in distressed
loans. The only real threat to the banking industry would be if interest rates
rose sharply and homeowners were no longer able to pay their loans. Such a rise
looks unlikely in the medium term. However, it is a possibility as long as the
Hong Kong currency is pegged to that of the US dollar, rather than allowed to
respond to Hong Kong's domestic and trading circum- stances. It is ludicrous for
the government to try to push up property prices while sticking with a currency
policy that does not permit interest rate flexibility. It is likely that if the
Hong Kong dollar was floated, it would move down. A 15 to 20 per cent decline
would make Hong Kong assets cheaper for foreign investors and provide a lift to
values in local currency terms. Interest rates could be cut further, which would
pro- vide some stimulus to the economy generally and probably to asset prices.
Hong Kong banks are flush with cash, savings are high, loan demand is very weak.
There is every reason for cheaper money - except the peg. The
second argument for attempts to prop up real estate is that declining asset prices
have fuelled a deflationary spiral, which, in turn, has caused a negative wealth
effect. People feel poorer so they save more and spend less. There is some truth
in the negative wealth effect. But it is unquantifiable. Home owners deep in negative
equity are a noisy lot but are still a small group compared with the numbers who
bought before 1993 or after 2000 and are either still sitting on large unrealised
profits or are near enough to break- even not to worry too much. The majority
of home owners have been enjoying higher real incomes because of the fall in mortgage
rates. A
far greater reason for lack of consumer confidence is the level of unemployment
and sense of job insecurity. Instead of trying to push up land and property prices,
it would be better to set our goals for housing standards rather higher than they
are now. Hong Kong needs more construction not less. Lower prices should lead
to more demand. The
government's goal seems to be to get people back into the habit of believing that
property is the surest store of wealth, and prices always rise. This is foolish,
both in economic and social terms. Firstly, people deserve better housing - which
means a lower land-to-construction cost ratio. Secondly, the property fixation
means that savings are shifted to asset price increases rather than to new investment.
In
Hong Kong's case there are two further arguments against trying to ,boost asset
prices. First, it probably will
not work because demographics are against it. The rate of new household formation
is continuing to fall and the only source of population growth - m! grants from
the mainland - mostly lack the resources to be home buyers. Secondly, limiting
land sales to a tricks does more harm than good to its revenue. in the short run,
the government badly needs land revenue to reduce it deficit. In the longer run,
it needs to get away from its over-dependence on property related revenue generally
- something it has been talking about for years but done nothing about. The
problem is not so much confidence in assets as a weak economy generally. Rentals
have fallen only little more slowly than property price@ even though interest
rates have plum meted. So attempts to bolster asset prices when demand by end-users
i weak looks destined to fad. The
property market, like the stock market, is not an end in itself Its prosperity
should be the result of demand for goods and services throughout the economy.
Any rise in asset price ,should only come well after the economy, and rental demand,
have picked up. An attempt to put the cart before the horse will merely delay
recovery, inhibiting the adjustment of Hong Kong' service sector to the realities
of life in post-crisis Asia. Philip
Bowring is a Hong Kong-based journalist and commentator bowring@attglobalnet
6. As high as the corporate ladder goes
SCMP,
7 October 2002 
it’s not for the faint-hearted, but it does offer workspace with an unrivalled
view.
Although
Two International Finance Centre (IFC) still has a fair bit of work left for this
construction worker and others, the South China Morning Post was fortunate to
be given a preview last week of the panorama that will be enjoyed by some of the
SAR’s top officials once the 88-storey skyscraper is finished. Rising
420 meters from reclaimed land in central, the office tower will become the third
tallest building the world upon its completion in the second half of next year,
after the 452-meter Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur and the 443-metre Sears tower
in Chicago. Its occupants will include many of Hong Kong’s business elite.
But they will have to settle for less than best, as the Hong Kong Monetary authority
will move into the building’s top floors, which it bought for $3.7 billion
last year from the consortium of developers. Superstructure
work on the tower began in January and proceeded at the pace of “three days
a floor,” according to a spokesman from Sun Hung Kai Properties [SHKP],
a joint developer. Its partners include Henderson Land Development, Hong Kong
& China Gas and Bank of China. Two
IFC is part of the IFC complex above the airport railway’s Hong Kong Station,
comprising the completed 38-storey One IFC, a 640,000 square feet shopping mall
and the Four Season Hotel. Hong
Kong’s tallest building at present is the 374-meter, 78-storey Central Plaza
in Wan Chai, which is also partly owned by SHKP.
7. MTRC wins initial approval for South Island monorail
Denise
Tsang, SCMP 7 October 2002 
MTR Corp has received approval in principle from the government for its proposed
HK$10 billion South Island line and an announcement could be imminent, according
to sources.
The
7.5km monorail project will replace the controversial Route 7 highway, which has
been opposed by environmentalists. The
South Island line will form a loop from Sheung Wan through Pokfulam, the Cyberport,
Wah Fu, Ocean Park and Happy Valley, reconnecting with the existing MTR network
at Wan Chai. Confirmation
that the MTR will be extended to the Cyberport will be a fillip to the PCCW project,
which will start pre-selling its first flats in the first quarter of next year.
A
government spokesman said: "The government is still re- viewing the way forward
for Route 7 and the South Island line proposal of MTRC."
MTRC proposed
the South Island line in June, after losing the right to build and operate the
cross-harbour rail link between Sha Tin to Central to counterpart Kowloon-Canton
Railway Corp. The
corporation wants to increase passenger numbers by ex- tending its network to
the population centers of Wah Fu and Aberdeen and capturing visitor traffic to
Ocean Park. "We
aim at linking the South Island line with the to-be-built West Island line and
the existing heavy rail fine between Sheung Wan and Chal Wan." An
MTRC spokeswoman said: "If it comes true, the whole net- work on Hong Kong
Island will be another story." The
West Island line will ex tend the Island line from Sheung Wan to Kennedy Town
through Sai Ying Pun and Belcher's. UBS
Warburg estimated the South Island line would raise MTRC's value by HK$2.7 billion
or 41 HK cents per share. Key
factors in the South Island line proposal included the alignment of the monorail,
estimated construction costs and investment return, fare mechanism and environmental
impact, the spokeswoman said. "We
need to study further ways to achieve a commercial re- turn as we see a significant
difference between the construction cost and fare revenue," she said. "The
population in southern island does not warrant a heavy rail line." It
is understood MTRC was seeking a government subsidy of HK$4 billion to achieve
a return of 1 per cent to 3 per cent above its average cost of capital, a hurdle
rate the corporation promised to achieve in its flotation in 2000. The
granting of a government subsidy could revolutionise the financing structure for
railway projects, which up to now has relied on concession rights for property
projects along MTR lines. The
head of research at a Unit- ed States brokerage said: "The government's decision
on a direct subsidy for South Island line will have far-reaching implications
for any MTR rail projects in future." "The
corporation needs a sustainable financing model in the years ahead as the existing
subsidy, which is in the form of property development rights, has been called
into question as a result of brewing changes in government housing policy.",
Analysts
called for a direct equity capital subsidy for future MTRC rail projects and pointed
out that the South Island line could serve as a pilot. "A
cash subsidy is simple and transparent. Other than the government and the MTRC,
few know what the value of the property development is," an analyst said.
8. Life doctor – Dengue fever
Margaret Cheng, SCMP 7 October 2002 If
you're a regular reader of this column you won't be surprised dengue fever has
found a toehold in Hong Kong. Thanks to regular warnings from the Department of
Health, 1 have often held forth about the risks we face from this disease. Why?
Because we are a filthy tot. Despite
being some of the richest, best- educated, wet[-fed, wet[-housed and generally
spoiled people in Asia, we are also the laziest and dirtiest when it comes to
rubbish disposal. This
tendency to litter is at least partly why an infectious disease is hitting our
headlines. The lunch boxes, cans, old shoes, broken pets and plastic water bottles
strewn at[ over our beaches, gutters, country parks and footpaths are not just
testimony to the lazy and selfish bunch of people who Live here. They are also
a marvelous home for Aedes aegypti. the mosquito that transmits the dengue virus.
Aedes
aegypti is a fussy creature. It doesn't like to live in deep puddles of water
like most other mosquitoes. Instead, it prefers a cosy styrofoam box with just
a cupful of rainwater in which to [ay its eggs. It also Likes plastic water bottles,
broken beer bottles and old tyres - even a shoe will do. Given our generosity
in providing so many homes for these insects, 1 am surprised it has taken so
Long for dengue fever to take hold here. In
a report on dengue fever, the United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention
identified it as "the most important mosquito-borne viral disease affecting
humans" and said "uncontrolled urbanisation and concurrent population
growth" was a major reason for its rising prevalence around the world. These
demo- graphic changes have resulted in substandard housing and inadequate water
and sewerage systems, all of which increase Aedes aegypti population densities
and enable the transmission of disease. For
dengue fever to spread, the mosquitoes have to bite someone already with the disease.
The virus usually remains in the bloodstream of an infected person for only about
10 days. So until now, people who have caught the disease overseas either haven't
been around the right type of mosquito in Hong Kong or those mosquitoes haven't
found anyone else to bite. But increased plane travel has brought the virus here;
we usually have a handful of imported cases every year. It was just a matter of
time before it became established. The
good news is the simple form of dengue fever, which is actually caused by four
different viruses, rarely kills. It causes severe headaches, fever and joint pains
and is an ailment no one ever wants to suffer again. But most patients recover
completely. The
bad news is there's a strain called dengue haemorrhagic fever that does kill,
and many of its victims are children and young adults. In many Asian countries,
dengue haemorrhagic fever is a leading cause of hospitalisation and death in children.
Worse still, once you've had one form of dengue fever, you are more Likely to
develop dengue haemorrhagic fever if you become infected again. How
to stop the disease from spreading. 1.
Put all used cans and bottles into covered dustbins. 2.
Change your plant water at least once a week and do not leave water in the saucers
underneath pots. 3.
Cover tightly all water containers, wells and water storage tanks, and keep all
drains clear. 4.
Wear long-sleeved shirts and long trousers, and use insect repellent on exposed
parts of the body. 5.
Install mosquito screens or nets in rooms that are not air-conditioned. If
you want more information or have had an illness with dengue-tike symptoms, call
the Department of Health's hotline on 2961 8966.
9. Dengue threat is here to stay
Mary
Ann Benitez, SCMP 6 October 2002 
Dengue
fever is likely to become endemic to Hong Kong, meaning the potentially deadly
disease could be here to stay, according to the health chief. With
concern mounting as the mosquito-borne disease spreads into densely populated
Shamshuipo, Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food Yeoh Eng-kiong said a powerful
government committee had been set up to tackle the problem.
It will be chaired
by the Permanent Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Carrie Yau Tsang Ka-lai,
and include top officials from four bureaus and six departments. The first meeting
will be held this week. Dr
Yeoh said that as long as the disease was found on the mainland, Macau, Taiwan
and in neighbouring countries in South- east Asia, the threat of dengue fever
would not go away. "From
the cases reported so far, dengue fever is likely to become endemic," he
said. Dr
Philip Ho Yuk-yin, consultant in community medicine at the Food and Environmental
Hygiene Department, said Hong Kong should brace itself for more sporadic cases,
with the next two to three weeks being “most critical” in revealing
how the outbreak developed. “But
we do not expect a major outbreak based on the information that we have and the
effort we put in controlling the mosquito population,” he said. Dr
Yeoh’s announcement came days after two new cases of the fever were detected
in Shamshuipo and Tsuen Wan, showing the disease was continuing to spread. There
have been 17 locally contracted cases confirmed, while 14 cases have been imported
this year. Dengue
fever is a major health threat in 100 countries and afflicts 50 million people
a year, killing about 24,000, according to the World Health Organisation. Before
1970, only nine countries had been affected. The
Hong Kong outbreak comes a year after the first outbreak of dengue fever in Macau,
where nearly 1,200 people were afflicted, although no one died. The
viral infection is endemic in Africa, the Americas and the Eastern Mediterranean
but Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific are the worst affected regions. Experts
say dengue fever could spread rapidly now it has moved to a densely populated
area. "Mosquitoes
like to live in urban areas. If it goes to urban areas it can spread very quickly,"
said Dr Thomas Lai Sik-to, president of the Hong Kong Society for Infectious Diseases.
He
said there should be an SAR-wide mosquito fumigation programme, and it should
be intensified and sustained over a long period. University
of Hong Kong microbiology professor Malik Peiris said Hong Kong could be spared
a more severe outbreak by the onset of the cooler weather over the next month.
Dr
Yeoh said the committee would map out a comprehensive strategy on anti-mosquito
operations, preventive measures and publicity "to ensure that the government's
work is pro-active and-responsive". "it
also seeks to increase the involvement of the community and the private sector
in anti-mosquito work," he said. He
urged all members of the public to play an active role in getting rid of mosquitoes.
The
legislator for the medical sector, Dr Lo Wing-lok, welcomed the decision to set
up a steering committee, which he hoped could set a "co-ordinated and focused"
action plan. "Mosquito
control has to be a sustained and co-ordinated effort that will last through winter
and spring, so come the next rainy season the mosquito population will be reduced
in order to avoid a major outbreak next year," he said. Desmond
O'Toole, an associate professor of microbiology at City University, said the commit-
tee also should draw on people with environmental expertise, not just medical
experts. Professor
Malik also called for extra steps to be taken to prevent the introduction of another
dengue-causing mosquito that has affected neighbouring countries. He said the
Aedes aegypti mosquito caused much more severe disease than the Aedes
albopictus mosquito now found in Hong Kong.
10. Dengue fever edges nearer to heart of city
Mary
Ann Benitez, SCMP 5 October 2002 Dengue
fever moved closer to the centre of urban Hong Kong yesterday as the 17th case
was recorded - in Shamshuipo - but health officials said cooler weather might
help case the outbreak. The
61-year-old retired man in Shamshulpo developed fever on September 25 and was
admitted to Caritas Medical Centre last Sunday, where he was in stable condition
last night. News
of the case came as 60 government workers conducted mosquito spraying in Tsuen
Wan yesterday, a day after a dengue case was detected there. Last weekend, a man
was confirmed to be suffering from the mosquito-borne disease after fishing near
the Cheung Sha Wan Fish Market. A
spokesman for the Department of Health said 14 out of 17 local cases confirmed
so far were related to Ma Wan island. "There
is every possibility that sporadic cases will continue to occur in Hong Kong ...
but we do not expect an extensive out- break," the spokesman said. "As
autumn is drawing near and the climate is getting cooler and drier, the situation
will improve." But
the legislator for the medical sector, Dr Lo Wing-lok, said there was still a
possibility that dengue fever had already spread "beyond this high risk area
in the Western part of Hong Kong". He agreed with the government assessment
that the outbreak was still under control. "It
is not happening in a catastrophic manner like in many countries when tens or
hundreds are affected in a single day," said Dr Lo, a specialist in infectious
diseases. He
said the government should maintain its mosquito control measures over the next
few months if it wanted to pre- vent a more serious outbreak in the next rainy
season.
11. Fetish Fashion trio wins $3m for trial costs
Patrick
Poon, SCMP 5 October 2002 The
defendants in the Fetish Fashion trial yesterday won a second court battle - to
reclaim the $3 million cost of mounting their defence. Western
Court magistrate Allan Wyeth granted the application made by barrister Andrew
Macrae, SC, on behalf of the three defendants, who were cleared on Au- gust 19
of the centuries-old charge of keeping a disorderly house. The
prosecution was ordered to pay the costs to shop owner Brenda Scofield, 55, manager
Loretta Mui Shuk-han, 40, and Mrs Scofield's husband, Laurence Scofield, 48, who
were arrested over bondage and sado-masochism parties staged at the Fetish Fashion
shop in Central The
$3 billion award included expenses for calling two expert witnesses - a British
criminologist and a clinical psychologist - to testify, the costs incurred between
the time they were arrested and charged, and their legal representation.
Mr Macrae applied for $3 mil- lion on the grounds that preparing a defence had
been particularly involved owing to the 11 unusual and unique" nature of
the case, in which they had had to research legal precedents of cases in England,
the United States, New Zealand and Australia. On
August 19, Mrs Scofield and Ms Mui were acquitted of one joint charge of keeping
a disorderly house. Mr Scofield was cleared of one count of aiding and abetting
the same offence. Mrs
Scofield and Ms Mui were also cleared of six joint charges of managing an objectionable
performance, while Mr Scofield was acquitted of six counts of, aiding and abetting
an objectionable performance. The
charges stemmed from parties that took place at the Cochrane Street shop between
March and August last year. At
least six undercover police- men infiltrated two of the parties. One of them told
the court he had agreed to be tied up on a wooden saddle and have his backside
whipped and scratched. Police
raided the shop on Au- gust 12 last year and arrested 26 people, including a barrister,
an engineer, an accountant and a businesswoman. All were later re- leased without
charge' Outside
court, Mrs Scofield described the award of $3 billion in costs as "very fair".
She added that she had negotiated with her landlord and would keep running the
business at the same address at an increased rent. 12.
Monitor
Jake
van der Kamp, SCMP 4 October 2002 TIME
AGAIN FOR a day of facts and fun with figures, this time to see just how painful
the present state of the property market is to homeowners. Renters,
move aside. There is no pain to you in rents that have fallen and, in any case,
I am talking about people who have had enough commitment to Hong Kong to have
bought their homes here. Let
us think about the nature of that pain. You may say it lies in the fact that many
of these people bought homes at prices much higher than now quoted in the market
but, in fact, there is no pain for them at all if they continue to live in those
homes and do not sell them. The direct pain really comes down only to how much
they have to pay in monthly mortgage instalments. And
let us say that we shall look here only at interest costs of those mortgages.
The principal must also be repaid but it is usually the smaller part of the monthly
payment and homeowners get it back directly in equity in their homes. It
is the interest payment that intrigues me here because, as the first chart shows,
mortgage interest rates are at such extremely low levels by historical standards.
The figures from 1997 onwards represent the weighted average of all new mortgage
rates and before that I have assumed a 50 basis-point premium over HSBC's best
lending rate. Now
take this rate times the total amount of loans outstanding for purchases of residential
property and what you find is that total mortgage interest payments amount to
the equivalent of only 1.5 per cent of gross domestic product at the moment. This
is not very much compared with almost 5 per cent in mid-1998. That 1.5 per cent
figure was about the same as it was 20 years ago but, to put this in perspective,
total outstanding property loans at present amount to the equivalent of 51 per
cent of GDP. It was less than 10 per cent 20 years ago. Now
for the games. Let us also look at how total mortgage interest payments compare
with other things on which we spend money. The bar chart shows you some of these.
On
the left you can see that GDP figure, 1.5 per cent. Against personal consumption
expenditure, it works out to only 2.6 per cent and, when we break this down further,
it amounts to only 4.7 per cent of what we spend on consumer services and 8.6
per cent of what we spend on consumer goods. Then
come the interesting bits. We spend only a quarter as much on mortgage interest
payments as we do on trips abroad and only 35 per cent as much as we do in restaurants.
In fact, we even spend less on it than we do on clothing and footwear. Finally,
the comparison I like best, we spend more on jewellery, watches, clocks and gifts
than we spend on servicing mortgages. So
let us hear again about how difficult it is for homeowners to meet their financial
obligations. Yes, I know that some of them are indeed in straitened circumstances
but it cannot be many of them when overall we have more money to throw away on
trinkets than our banks ask us to pay to service our mortgages.
13. SCMP Cartoon
SCMP,
4 October 2002 [Cartoon]
14. Wheeler
SCMP,
4 October 2002 [Cartoon]
15. Politicians spending way to subversion
JAKE
VAN DER KAMP, SCMP 1 October 2002 SEEING
AS HOW I have only a short time before I could do life in jail for this, I had
better take the opportunity while I can. I
have something to say for subversion. Hong Kong was founded on it and much of
our subsequent success is attributable to clever traders building up their capital
by subverting the wishes of government both here and in Beijing. I
shall refine this sweeping generality. Hong Kong was not actually founded on subversion.
It was founded in the first Opium War on armed robbery for the purpose of drug-trafficking,
which is actually a greater crime. But
that crime certainly had the effect of subverting the government of China. It
was all downhill for the imperial system from that time on, right up to the revolution
of 1911, the key motivator of which, Sun Yat-sen, took a good element of his cue
from the economic success he had seen in Hong Kong. I
am not excusing the Opium Wars or European violations of China's sovereignty.
I am only saying that subversion was a catalyst for political change in China
and if the Communist Party of China wants to adopt a righteous tone about subversion,
it may want to examine its own roots more closely. But,
to take a different tack, there has also been a much longer history of subversion
on this coast than the past 170 years alone. An undercurrent in China's history
for at least 1,000 years has been one of entrepreneurs in the south devising scams
to hide their winnings from imperial tax collectors. They
are doing it still. When golfer Tiger Woods last year became Shenzhen's biggest
taxpayer from the fees of touring the links for a single day with local status
seekers, you know the game has not changed at all. You
may say, of course, that this is actually tax evasion, which is quite a different
thing from subversion. True, but it also constitutes much more effective subversion
than practised by any nutter trying to make sure he does not wire up a detonator
the wrong way. Find me any government anywhere that was overthrown by classically
defined subversion while its finances were in sound shape. Ironically,
this other form of subversion can also be the driving force in economic success.
There is often not much difference between free enterprise and criminal enterprise
in the formative stages of a market economy. Tell me it was not so in southern
China over the past 20 years or Russia over the past 10. I
am sure it was the same in Hong Kong 40 to 50 years ago, but the difference was
that colonial administration winked at all but the most egregious cases and kept
its finances sound by keeping costs low rather than trying to extract blood from
a hidden stone. My
point in all this is that I cannot really find it in me to object to the definition
of subversion our lawmakers wish to adopt: 'to intimidate the PRC government;
or to overthrow the PRC government; or to disestablish the basic system of state
as established by the PRC constitution, by levying war, force, threat of force
or by other serious unlawful means'. That
covers nutters with detonators. Go ahead, Regina. But
our government invites a more insidious form of subversion when it intervenes
in every corner of commercial life with unrestrained spending that has led to
a rapidly growing and unsustainable deficit. Fiscal trouble will 'disestablish
the basic system of state' more assuredly than any other means. And
if ours gets the sort of subversion it invites from this, I might just find myself
approving. If you cannot restrain the appetites of politicians in any other way,
then a whiff of what could come from this one may serve the purpose.
16. World health body fears dengue spread
Patsy
Moy, SCMP 1 October 2002 The
World Health Organisation is "very concerned" about Hong Kong's dengue
fever outbreak and predicts there will be more cases in the next few days. WHO
experts also fear the infection will spread from Hong Kong to other parts of the
world because the territory serves as a transport and tourism hub. The warning
came after Hong Kong on Sunday confirmed its first case of locally contracted
dengue fever outside Ma Wan Island, where the previous 12 cases were contracted.
The SAR's first-ever locally contracted case was reported on September 21. Kevin
Patmer, regional adviser in vector-bome and other parasitic diseases at the WHO's
Marffia office, said: "At this point, we are very concerned ... There may
be people infected who have not yet become sick because of the incubation period.
"Some
of those infected individuals may have moved out of the area, carrying the virus
with them." Ma
Wan had been identified as the only breeding place of dengue fever in Hong Kong
until the health department confirmed a 28-year-old man had caught the disease
outside the area. Dr
Palmer said the movement of people in and out of the SAR made wider spread of
the disease a concern. It
was not possible to eradicate the virus, or Aedes mosquitoes which transmit it,
from Hong Kong. "The
whole idea is to reduce the mosquito population below a certain threshold. If
Singapore cannot do it, 1 doubt if Hong Kong or anywhere else can do it either,"
Dr Palmer added. Dengue
fever lolled four people in Singapore last year and infected an average of 46
people a week there. Singapore, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Taiwan have
all seen a sharp increase in the incidence of dengue fever this year and at least
88 people have died from the disease in the five countries, with thousands more
infected. Infection
control expert Yuen Kwok-yung, from the University of Hong Kong, agreed-it-was
not practical to expect dengue fever could be eradicated. "We have to accept
that dengue virus infection will continue to be in Hong Kong in the future. What
we are looking at is to reduce the risk by controlling the breeding of mosquitoes,"
Professor Yuen said. President
of the Hong Kong Society for Infectious Diseases Dr Thomas Lai Sik-to said he
also expected to see more cases this week. Secretary
for Health, Welfare and Food Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong yesterday denied the government
had underestimated the outbreak. patsy.moy@scmp.com
17. Fever facts
Patsy
Moy, SCMP 1 October 2002 Dengue
fever is a viral infection transmitted to humans through the bites of infected
Aedes mosquitoes. The mosquitoes generally acquire the virus while feeding on
the blood of an infected person. Infected female mosquitoes may a transmit the
virus to their offspring. Symptoms:
High fever, severe headache, pain behind the eyes, muscle and joint pains and
rash. Dengue hemorrhagic fever is a severe, potentially fatal strain. There is
neither a specific treatment for dengue fever, nor any vaccine. Prevention:
World Health Organisation guidelines - The only method is to combat the infected
mosquitoes by using insecticide and eliminating potential breeding grounds, such
as covering open containers to prevent stagnant water collecting and prevent access
by egg-laying mosquitoes. Hong
Kong's guidelines - Put used cans and bottles into dustbins; change water for
plants at least once a week, leaving no water in the saucers underneath flower
pots; cover all water containers, wells and water storage tanks; keep all drains
clear. Wear long-sleeved clothes and tong trousers; use insect repellent, mosquito
screens and nets.
18. Fever demands action
SCMP,
1 October 2002 An
outbreak of dengue fever in this region is a bit like the old adage concerning
house fleas: there is no disgrace in getting them but there certainly is in keeping
them. Any
infestation of the dengue-spreading Aedes mosquito is a great deal more serious,
however. There is absolutely no room for complacency as Hong Kong reacts to its
first outbreak in recent history. A
28-year-old man in Tin Shui Wai was confirmed as the 13th Hong Kong victim at
the weekend and the first to have contracted the potentially fatal disease outside
the island of Ma Wan, sparking fears of an SAR-wide epidemic. Swift,
clear-sighted and resolute action is needed from health authorities to maximise
both eradication and education efforts and minimise any panic. ‘ The
latter is certainly a risk. The nature of dengue fever means that Hong Kong's
situation could get worse before it gets better. The incubation period for the
disease is between eight and 10 days. Its initial symptoms - fevers, aches, rashes
and eye pain - are similar to those of other, more benign conditions. This makes
education all the more important Unlike
malaria, dengue plagues urban areas. Abandoned construction sites, old bottles
and piles of car tyres are favourite breeding grounds. The Hong Kong landscape
is dotted with all three. Similarly,
experts warn it is a most under-rated disease. Traditional defences against mosquitoes
- taking precautions in the evenings and in rural areas - are of little benefit.
The Aedes mosquito bites in the daytime. As
such, it can pick some surprising victims. During an epidemic of dengue fever
in Thailand in 1998, one of the visitors infected was the personal doctor to Australian
Prime Minister John Howard. The doctor was taking anti-malaria pills. Hundreds
of thousands of people of all ages and classes were infected across Southeast
Asia. Some governments were slow to react to the crisis. Last
year it was Macau's turn, when more than 1,500 people came down with dengue. Swift
action to raise awareness among health workers and the general public quickly
brought matters under control. The
importance of similar action now cannot he under- estimated. Preventing initial
infection is important. Dengue rarely kill the first time, but repeat infections
can prove deadly. Fevers turn haemorrhagic and victims bleed both internally and
externally - sometimes dying through shock. Infections prevented now will save
considerable pain later.
19. Monitor
Jake
van der Kamp, SCMP 27 September 2002 LET
US GET the minor point out of the way first. Among his reasons for aping the boss
in calling for an upwards push on property prices, Financial Secretary Antony
Leung Kam-chung said Hong Kong home prices have now come into line with those
in Shenzhen. The
implied reasoning is that property prices have fallen in Hong Kong because the
alternatives across the border were so much cheaper and, now that they are no
longer so (I would not be sure about this), there is no longer a reason for Hong
Kong prices to fall. Hence it is time for a little nudge to the Hong Kong market.
This
reasoning is good evidence of something I have always suspected, to wit that Mr
Leung does not read his briefing papers. It
was only in May that a detailed study by the International Monetary Fund on deflation
in Hong Kong stated that 'the gap between prices in Hong Kong SAR and neighbouring
Shenzhen has only a small explanatory power'. The
study found that our deflation was 'mainly the result of a process of adjustment
to cyclical shocks' and attributed it mostly to unemployment, nominal credit creation
and the nominal effective exchange rate of our currency. It
was no hidden study. It was well heralded and I shall eat my hat if the IMF did
not make sure to drop a copy on Mr Leung's desk. But
he has had a bee in his own hat about property prices in Shenzhen ever since he
took on the job and he has kept it there despite other good evidence that Hong
Kong people buy property in Shenzhen only if their work bases them there, for
retirement and because they have effectively dead money in yuan that they can
find no other way to invest. Minor
point, you may say, but what renders it significant is its demonstration of how
this Tung Chee-hwa administration can make key policy decisions on the basis of
a seat of the pants comment from the boss at a convention chit-chat session without
doing any prior study and with scorn for, or ignorance of, the studies that have
already been done. The IMF? Who they? And
this leads us to the major point that behind any falling market lies a lack of
confidence. Often the pessimism is excessive, just as over-confidence can be,
which is one reason that we have economic cycles, but there are usually good reasons
for it and you can think of as many in Hong Kong as I can. The
one that I particularly want to highlight here is confidence in consistent government
policies that everyone understands. Government establishes the legal and policy
framework on which a market operates and this is crucial to how much anyone will
want to risk on that framework. It
is just like a construction worker clambering along a bamboo scaffold. If the
scaffolder has done his job and that framework of scaffolding is firm and taut
the construction worker will be happy to entrust his life to it. But let it sway
or slip and no one will climb up. When
favoured industries are given special concessions as they are now with the innovation
and technology or the logistics or the small and medium enterprise campaigns and
the definitions of what is all rather arbitrary, people tend to be a little cautious
about investing their capital in fear that competitors may be given a pricing
edge. Similarly
when government sways back and forth between yes, we will emphasise public housing
and no, we will not, or suddenly announces an intervention policy, the private
housing market becomes cautious and confidence is eroded. Aside
from setting yourself a resolution to read your briefing papers, Mr Leung, your
best way of restoring confidence in the property market is to stop tinkering around
with it. Tell the boss that too, please.
20. Property market ‘medicine’ begins
Patsy
Moy, Sophia Wong and Raymond Ma, SCMP 27 September 2002 The
government has announced its first step towards boosting the property market,
with landlords to be granted more legal protection to help encourage sales of
investment flats. Housing
Secretary Michael Suen Ming-yeung's announcement came after indications this week
from Chief Executive Tung Ghee-hwa and Financial Secretary Antony Leung Kam-chung
that the government would try to push up property prices. The
comments brought a clamour from developers for fast government action.
In
a television interview yesterday, Mr Suen said the government would seek to bring
in a law next year to give more protection to landlords. "The
current law does not really allow landlords to vacate tenants from their flats
and find new tenants. So we hope we can give the flat owners more ficidbw- ty
in this regard - that can help boost the property market," Mr Suen said.
Mr
Suen stressed that flat prices should be determined by market forces - but said
the govemment should apply the "right medicine". He
said the weak market was caused mainly by a lack of confidence among buyers, and
the government would seek to improve the situation by mapping out a clear housing
plan. "I
have been asked how to push up prices. But I believe the market cannot be artificially
maintained. Instead, we should let the market forces run at full strength,"
he said, adding "we should seek the right medicine for the market".
Property
stocks surged yester- day after the initial indications by Mr Tung and Mr Leung
that the government was planning a fresh round of intervention.
The top gainer
was Sino Land, which picked up 8.2 per cent, while other big developers, including
Sun Hung Kal (Proper- ties), Cheung Kong (Holdings), Henderson Land and New World
Development, all posted gains of more than four per cent. With
their raffles, the property sub-index increased 4.6 per cent yesterday and outperformed
the 1.6 per cent rise for the Hang Seng Index- Cheung Kong chairman 11 Ka- shing
welcomed the government comments and said many developers had already expressed
their views to officials. "To
reverse the recession, you can't do anything if you can't solve the problem of
falling property prices," he said. "The historic responsibility of the
Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) is over. There are now many who have benefited from
the scheme," Mr L! said, referring to the possibility that the government
might suspend public housing sales to re- duce the supply of flats. Cheung
Kong said yesterday it would suspend the special offers it had been using to lure
HOS owners and might raise the prices of 600 flats in four development projects
by three to five per cent next week. Justin Chiu, executive director of Cheung
Kong, said: “There is a lot the government can do - for example, it can
re- view the policy on HOS and the policy on land supply ... "We don't know
their [the governments] schedule ... we think probably they will announce some
measures very soon." Sun Hung Kai chairman Walter Kwok Ping-sheung said of
the government statements: "it is encouraging. it clearly shows the government's
hope to stabilise the housing market and support a slightly upward price movement."
Real
Estate Developers' Association secretary-general Louis Loong Hon-blu said the
association had suggested the government centralise land supply. Insignia
Brooke International consultant Nicholas Brooke disagreed with the proposal and
said: "The developers are capitalising on the government's weak- nesses."
He
predicted the housing market could put the worst behind it by early next year.
"Any government interference will confuse the market," he said. The
Hong Kong Homeowners' Club, which represents landlords, yesterday welcomed news
that the government might act on rental laws. About one in four private flats
in Hong Kong are let out, it said. "Existing laws favour tenants, not the
flat owners, and this imbalance clearly has a negative effect on flat prices,"
club chairman Shea Hing-wan said. | 
