| News
Stories: |  |
Click-on these
handy "jump links" to quickly access the news item
you're looking
for. 1.
Crackdown on housing cheats 2.
Bank picks up $330m from sale of building in Central
3.
Bombs removed from Disney site 4.
Property buyers back in the fray 5.
Lindows seeks to unite qualities of Linux and Windows
6.
Wheeler
1. Crackdown on housing cheats
Staff
reporter, The Standard 18 November 2002 The
public housing system has been abused because of a failures in the screening process
and the government will thoroughly review the policy, Secretary for Housing, Planning
and Lands Michael Suen says. All
public housing residents must undergo an assets test every 10 years, and those
holding assets worth more than HK$1.28 million must pay market rents and move
out in a year. Suen,
in an interview with Asia Television last night, said the policies were clear
but were never fully implemented. “The
policies are loosely enforced due to courtesy or other reasons,'' Suen said. “The
government must conduct a thorough review to see if the policies are up to date,
or if there are problems with enforcement.'' According
to Housing Authority figures, the number of wealthy public housing residents has
dropped 30 per cent from 25,000 in 1999 to 18,000 last year. Suen
believed this was related to the economic downturn and the income declaration
system. “Maybe
some have not fully disclosed their income,'' he said. ``We must investigate and
introduce mechanisms to handle the cheaters.'' The
authority found 67 households lying about their incomes last year. In these cases,
residents cheated the system either by not declaring assets such as properties,
businesses or taxi licences. About
10 cases have been prosecuted each year over the past few years. Housing
Authority member Wong Kwan criticised the government for its contradictory policies,
saying that the government was trying to tighten the asset review process while
cutting residents' options in the market. “The
children of many wealthier families have moved out of their units and the parents
are left to apply for rental subsidies,'' Wong said. Another
member and legislator Ng Leung-sing said the government should consider imposing
a time limit, such as 10 years, on public housing residents to stay in their unit. “Should
government provide permanent residences for public housing residents? Should there
be an evacuation date?'' Ng said
2. Bank picks up $330m from sale of building in Central
Staff reporter, The Standard 18 November 2002 The
Bank of China (Hong Kong) has sold Kincheng Bank Building in Central for HK$330
million. The
bank, to be listed as a member of the Hang Seng Index next month, has been heavily
selling its properties after going public, according to sources cited in a Chinese-language
newspaper. It
sold the Yien Yieh Bank Building in Central two weeks ago to Hon Kwok Land Investment
for HK$66 million, or about HK$1,770 per square foot. That
was followed by the sale of Kincheng Bank Building to a local corporation for
an average price of HK$4,603 psf. The
25-storey property, at 51-57 Des Voeux Road, has a construction area of 4,700
sq ft and a gross floor area of 71,687 sq ft. Bank
of China (HK) has disposed of all four of its commercial buildings in Central
this year. The
other commercial properties sold were China State Bank Building at 39-41 Des Voeux
Road, Central, for HK$198 million or HK$4,800 psf, and Hua Chiao Commercial Building
at 88-98 Des Voeux Road, Central, for HK$171.38 million or HK$3,233 psf. The sales
have generated more than HK$765 million. The
bank still has a handful of properties, including some areas at the Euro Trade
Centre and commercial outlets nearby.
3. Bombs removed from Disney site
SUSAN
SCHWARTZ, SCMP 18 November 2002 Almost
200 bombs and artillery shells dumped offshore by the British military after World
War II have been removed from the Disneyland site at Penny's Bay on Lantau Island.
Some of the 183
weapons had to be detonated on-site but none exploded without warning, senior
government civil engineer Anthony Li Yuen-wing said. Most
had rusted or were without fuses and did not pose any danger. Mr
Li said the unexploded ordnance had been found in sand that was dredged from the
East Lamma Channel and used in the Disneyland reclamation work. He
said that the Hong Kong government and Disney had hired a United States-based
specialist to search for undetected bombs using a metal detector. "When
we find one we inform the police, and the bomb disposal unit takes it away if
it is safe or if not they detonate it on-site," Mr Li said. Mr
Li said that even if some bombs went undetected they would be so small and buried
so deeply that the chance of an explosion was unlikely. "There
is no need to worry," Mr Li said. Authorities
frequently find bombs in areas of Hong Kong that were hit by allied air raids
during World War II, when the territory was occupied by the Japanese military.
However, police
have acknowledged that the number of bombs found during the Disneyland dredging
off Lamma Island seemed to be on the high side. Despite
the government's reassurance, many workers at the Disneyland site have voiced
fears about their safety, a newspaper reported yesterday. The
Oriental Daily News published pictures of notices posted at the construction site
instructing workers on how to handle suspicious-looking objects if they were detected.
But Mr Li said
the notices were just a precaution. Disney
spokeswoman Irene Chan said the company would follow advice from bomb specialists
to ensure the site was hazard-free. She
said removal of the bombs was not expected to delay construction of the park.
Disneyland is
scheduled to open by 2006.
4. Property buyers back in the fray
GEORGINA
LEE and MUKUL MUNISH, Sunday Morning Post 17 November 2002 Property
buyers yesterday snapped up flats in the first development to come on the market
since the government announced a revised housing policy last Wednesday. Buyers
singed up for six flats offered by developer Kerry Properties, which kicked off
public sales of its new luxury residential development, The Cliveden, in Tsuen
Wan. Flats in
The Cliveden, a joint venture between Kerry and Sino Land, were priced at an average
of $2850 per square foot and measured between 978sq ft and 1,488sq ft. they were
all sold by noon. Semy
Ng, the senior marketing manager of Kerry Properties subsidiary Kerry Real Estate
Agency, said 40 pre-sale subscriptions were received on the six flats, she said
the developers released five more flats, at an average price of $3,000 per square
foot, which buyers could submit offers for. Ms
Ng said the $150 price increase per square foot in the five newly released units
was mainly because they had a better view and because they were on higher floors. The
developers said the number of inquires, especially from investors, about he 210-unit
Cliveden had doubled since the property measures were announced by the government.
But they said they were not increasing prices for most of the development at present. “There
is certainly room for a price increase going forward, but not now,” Ms Ng
said. The developer
has already sold 50 Cliveden flats through internal sales, at an average price
of $3,200 per square foot. The development is expected to be completed by Marc. Analysts
were more cautious on the state of the broader property market, saying the current
glut of completed units would continue to hinder any significant rise in property
values. Gabriel
Raeburn Chan, assistant vice-president of AS Cresvale Securities international,
said: “The recent property package is only effective as far as preventing
further slides in property prices. “With
some 40,000 vacant residential units in the market, any significant rises in property
values are unlikely.” One
analyst at a brokerage predicted a minor increase in property values of between
one and two per cent, but ruled out a substantial increase because of Hong Kong’s
economy. He said
buyers who were previously sitting on the fence because of uncertainties related
to the government’s housing polices may now be encouraged to slowly get
back into the market over the next few weeks. A
few developers, spurred by the government’s announcement, have sped up their
release of projects on the market. Sun
Hung Kai said it would release eight flats in Tower One of Aegean Coast, Tuen
Mun, at $2,420 per square foot – about five percent more in price than units
in other blocks of the same project. Cheung
Kong said the first 12 units for public sales at its Banyan Garden project in
Cheung Sha Wan would be sold at an average of $2,673 per square foot, a rise of
5.3 per cent, compared with the first batch of units for internal sale.
5. Lindows seeks to unite qualities of Linux and Windows
DEUTSCHE
PRESSE-AGENTUR in San Diego, SCMP 18 November 2002 Combining
the advantages of Linux and Windows in one new operating system is no small undertaking.
But United States firm Lindows.com is trying. Its
LindowsOS 2.0 aims at uniting the stability and flexibility of Linux with the
ease of use that most users associate with Windows. LindowsOS
was developed by MP3.com founder Michael Robertson. His goal was to bring a user-friendly
version of Linux for desktop computers to the market as an affordable alternative
to Windows. While many of the complexities of the Linux interface were reduced
with the September releases of Suse Linux 8.1 and Mandrake Linux 9.0, Windows
users still had to deal with a period of unfamiliarity when switching to Linux,
he said. That
is why Lindows.com offers a desktop that more closely resembles the operating
systems from Microsoft. The
software must be downloaded from www.lindows.com or order a copy on CD. Doing
so only provides a stripped-down version of Linux. The remainder of the necessary
applications can be downloaded from a click-n-run database, at a cost of about
US$100 per year. Lindows.com
said the archive was constantly updated with more than 1,000 programs, including
Sun's popular StarOffice 6.0. The
idea of bringing Windows applications to the Linux platform in an easier way is
no longer being considered, though. Peter Siering, editor at computer magazine
c't, said: "Windows compatibility coupled with a reasonable price would have
had its advantages." To
achieve this goal the capabilities of Wine, a Windows emulator, would have to
be significantly improved. Wine has until now allowed Linux users to run a limited
number of Windows programs. According to Lindows.com, three Microsoft Office 2000
components will run safely on the system: Word, Excel and Powerpoint. But
Linux packages from Suse, Mandrake or Red Hat already offer a large number of
applications at no extra cost. This raises the question of why anyone would want
to sign themselves up as a "Lindows Insider".
6. Wheeler
SCMP,
18 November 2002 
| 
