Martin pays tribute to Canadian soldiers killed in the battle of Hong Kong
Jan. 23, 2005

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Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin lays a wreath at the Chai Wan War Cemetery in Hong Kong, Sunday. (AP/Anat Givon)

BRUCE CHEADLE

HONG KONG (CP) - Aubrey Flegg still remembers the thump of the bodies under his truck's wheels as he raced blind along Hong Kong's tortuous roads in a bid to rescue two wounded British women.

"There's about 250 men lying dead in the road," Flegg, 87, said Sunday in a cemetery that harbours some 283 fallen Canadians from 1941's brief and bitter battle of Hong Kong.

"We had to drive thump-thump-thump over their bodies. I've had people say to me, well why didn't you get out and pull them out of the way? With a bunch of Japanese guns on you, at one o'clock in the morning, you're going to get out there and start pulling for 100 yards dead men off the road so you can get through?"

Flegg paused for effect.

"We were in a war," the veteran concluded.

Prime Minister Paul Martin had just wrapped up a moving remembrance ceremony at Sai Wan Military Cemetery, perched on a steep hillside above this former British protectorate.

Magpies squawked in the rising spring heat and school children and cadets fainted under the humidity. But a group of seven veterans of the December 1941 rout - including three Canadians - endured, as they had a half century earlier.

Two Canadian battalions, some 1,975 soldiers from the Royal Rifles from Quebec and the Winnipeg Grenadiers, were among 14,000 Allied troops sent to defend Hong Kong from the Japanese.

Winston Churchill knew the task was hopeless: "If Japan goes to war with us, there is not the slightest chance of holding Hong Kong or relieving it," he wrote at the time.

But the Canadian soldiers, barely trained and untested, had no idea. They arrived on Nov. 16, 1941, believing they would act as a deterrent to invasion. The Japanese hammer fell three weeks later on Dec. 8. The Canadians' heavy equipment hadn't even arrived yet.

The island fell on Christmas Day, Flegg told the gathering, his voice breaking. "To me, that's touching."

Martin was in Hong Kong at the end of a nine-day Asian trade and diplomatic mission, and he used the Sai Wan ceremony to mark the start of Canada's Year of the Veteran.

Martin paid tribute to what he described as an under-equipped, barely trained force facing a much larger, heavily armed and trained foe.

"The people, these men, engaged in acts of heroism that those of us who read of history by the fireplace couldn't even begin to understand," Martin told the gathering near the foot of the long, sloping cemetery.

"They fought and they fought and they fought."

Flegg and his buddy Frank Brown, who also survived the war and today lives in Kelowna, rescued the injured women after running two Japanese checkpoints that night in December 1941.

To this day Flegg thinks the Japanese simply couldn't believe two men in a locally commandeered truck would challenge their positions, and assumed the vehicle was one of their own.

"I had a name and reputation as being that crazy Canadian lorry driver," Flegg later confided to reporters.

It was the British Columbia native's first visit to the Hong Kong cemetery and he appeared deeply moved.

The white headstones speak to the chaos of the battle.

"A Soldier of the 1939-1945 War - A Canadian Regiment," say many inscriptions.

"Known unto God."

Montreal-born John Lowe, who fought with the Royal Rifles, broke down when he visited the grave of his brother for the first time this weekend. Lowe, like the other survivors of the initial battle, was interned in Japanese force labour camps until the war ended almost four years later.

Some 129 Canadians would die in the camps under brutal conditions.

Larry Stebbe, a large Manitoban with the build of a man who cut his teeth in the family blacksmith shop, described his arrival in Shamshuipo camp on the Kowloon side of the island: board huts, no windows, no bunks, no cooking utensils, broken toilets.

"It was the degradation that a person experienced immediately, just immediately," said Stebbe, who turns 82 next month.

"The first meal we had there - about a week later - was cooked out of an oil drum. When I first tasted it, I threw up," said Stebbe, laughing.

Flegg couldn't even muster grim humour when asked to compare the doomed battle with the desperation of internment.

"The battle of Hong Kong was hot and heavy and furious, and you didn't have any time really to think about it," he said.

"I was never frightened during that battle and I don't think any of the other Canadians were, either."

Once again, Flegg took a long pause in his tale.

"So the bad times came when we got in the PoW camps."

Toronto-based travel specialist sets up regional base in Hong Kong
Monday, January 31, 2005

Canadian travel company Tai Pan Tours, announced today that the company has chosen Hong Kong for its Asia Pacific headquarters. Located in Tsim Sha Tsui, the new office in Hong Kong is Tai Pan's first overseas operation outside of Canada.

According to the President & CEO of Tai Pan Tours, Mr Francis Wat, the new Asia Pacific headquarters is an important first step for the company's expansion outside of Canada. He said that it was part of their long-term business development plan to establish a strong network of global travel by strategically locating branches in key cities around the world.

"We see tremendous business opportunities in using Hong Kong as our regional base. Hong Kong is centrally located in Asia and at the doorstep of China. The city's world-class, sophisticated infrastructure also makes it easy and convenient for companies like us to conduct business activities. That was why Hong Kong naturally became Tai Pan Group's first choice for our Asia Pacific headquarters," said Mr Wat.

Mr Wat said that given Hong Kong's leading position as a tourism hub in Asia, the company would leverage the availability of experienced practitioners in the travel industry to grow its business rapidly. The office in Hong Kong will offer the company's travel-related products and services to local customers, and will also play an important role in exploring expansion opportunities in other markets in the region.

Invest Hong Kong has assisted the company in its investment process. At a courtesy visit to the new regional headquarters located in Tsim Sha Tsui, the Associate Director-General of Investment Promotion at Invest Hong Kong, Mr John Rutherford, officially welcomed the addition of the new member to our travel industry.

"I am delighted that Tai Pan Tours has picked Hong Kong as it's first overseas business location" he said. "The record 21.8 million tourist arrivals here in 2004 provides a clear indicator of the size and importance of the travel-related industry to Hong Kong and all indications are that this figure is going to grow. Tai Pan's investment in Hong Kong is a vote of confidence in our city as a regional centre which not only creates new jobs opportunities for our city, but also brings in new ideas and experiences, enriching the diversity of products and services the city has to offer." He wished the company every success for its future business in Asia.

Established in 1989, Tai Pan Tours is the flagship company of Tai Pan Group International Inc, specialising in arranging air tickets and hotel accommodations, and organising international and local tours. Apart from its head office in Toronto and the new Asian headquarters in Hong Kong, the company has branches in other major Canadian cities, including Vancouver and Montreal. The company employs more than 300 staff in Canada. For more information, please visit the website at www.taipan.ws.

I thought they were a HK company.

Unique Canadian Investment Opportunity For Hong Kong Investors
For Immediate Release, 2004-12-01
by Carol Wong

Colliers International, Hong Kong

A delegation lead by The Trump Organization’s Vice President of Acquisitions & Development, Donald J. Trump, Jr., Executive Vice President Russell Flicker, Talon International Development Inc.’s Chairman, Alex Shnaider, and Talon’s President & CEO, Val Levitan are in Hong Kong to introduce the CAD$500 million, Trump International Hotel & Tower, Toronto development.

The site of the 70-storey mixed-use five-star hotel and residential property is located in the heart of Toronto’s financial and entertainment districts. The building will be the tallest building in Canada when completed and has attracted purchasers in the USA, UK and Asia — including those who travel to Toronto frequently for business and pleasure, and those who recognize the investment opportunity the development represents.

“There is a natural historical connection between Hong Kong and Toronto and we felt it was extremely important to come to Hong Kong and formally present the development to those who are as excited about it as we are”, stated Talon President & CEO, Val Levitan.

Colliers International has coordinated a series of events to ensure that the ultra-luxurious Trump International Hotel & Tower, Toronto opportunity is introduced to media and investors in Hong Kong. Mr Ginn Lai, Regional Director of Colliers’ International Properties says, “This is an excellent opportunity to purchase such an exclusive property in Toronto. The development will officially be introduced in Hong Kong through an exclusive cocktail and dinner event tonight. Following, the delegation will address the American and British Chamber’s of Commerce at a lunch meeting and, in the evening, they will host a charity cocktail party at the China Club in support of the Hong Kong Cancer Fund on 2nd December.”

Adds Levitan, “Purchasers saw the success Trump Chicago had earlier this year and how quickly values have appreciated. And with Trump Chicago now nearly 75% sold, investing early in Trump Toronto was an easy decision for them. By coming to Hong Kong, we hope to give more Hong Kong investors that same opportunity by sharing in the investment potential that Trump Toronto provides.”

Hotel condominium suites start at CAD$662,000 and residential suites start at CAD$1.6 million.



About the Development

Trump International Hotel & Tower, Toronto, is a joint venture between Donald J. Trump and Talon International Development Inc. Located at the corner of Bay and Adelaide in the heart of Toronto’s financial district, the Tower will be the tallest and most luxurious residential building in Canada at 70-storeys and over 1,000 feet high. The property features 265 luxury hotel guestrooms and 109 residential condominiums available for purchase. The building was designed by the renowned Toronto-based firm of Zeidler Partnership Architects and will be built by EllisDon, one of the world’s most innovative construction services firms.

The Trump Organization specializes in five-star real estate development and will operate and manage the hotel. The project will be the Trump Organization’s fourth Trump International Hotel & Tower and the first outside the United States. Talon is a Canadian-based investment company whose shareholders have holdings in a variety of industries ranging from natural resources to high technology to real estate development throughout Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Detailed fact sheets and electronic images are available at www.trumptoronto.ca.

- end -

Hong Kongers certainly have an appetite for real estate developments around the world. In fact, Li Ka-shing's group of companies own significant real estate development projects in downtown Vancouver and Toronto (Cityplace).

Calgary companies urged to leverage on CEPA benefits to gain faster access to China market
Government Press Release - Saturday, February 19, 2005

The Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Canada) (HKETO) today (February 18, Calgary time) urged Canadian companies that planned to explore the lucrative China market, to leverage on Hong Kong's solid advantages, especially its business expertise, financial infrastructure, and business network with the Mainland, to gain faster and better access to the immense market.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Hong Kong-Calgary: Smart Link to Prosperity promotion jointly organised by the HKETO and Fairchild Media Group at Calgary's Chinook Centre, Mr So encouraged interested Calgary companies to take advantage of the benefits Hong Kong enjoys under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), a free-trade agreement between Hong Kong and the Mainland, by partnering with Hong Kong companies or going through Hong Kong to mainland China.

"Under CEPA, Canadian companies and other overseas companies will benefit by either setting up their businesses in Hong Kong, partnering with a Hong Kong company, or even acquiring a company in Hong Kong," he said.

"In terms of economic benefits, while CEPA provides good potential for Hong Kong to open up many new business opportunities in the Mainland, its zero import tariff preference might also attract overseas brand name products, and manufacturing processes with high-value-added contents and substantial intellectual input to Hong Kong.

"CEPA's benefits only apply to Hong Kong companies. Hence, I strongly encourage Canadian companies to leverage on this free-trade pact to gain greater access to the Mainland market," Mr So added.

The Hong Kong promotion includes the exhibit "Hong Kong ¡V Your Gateway to China", and a Chinese Spring Lantern Festival. While the exhibit is on display at the Chinook Centre from today to the 21st, the Lantern Festival, which served as one of the promotion's opening events, featured some beautifully decorated Chinese spring lanterns and traditional Chinese cultural performances.

The event was officially opened this evening by Mr Wayne Cao, Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, and other VIPs.

The opening also unveiled a series of celebration activities, including a Spring Lantern Festival riddle quiz at which handsome gifts were given out to those who demonstrated a good understanding of Hong Kong. A Calgary-Hong Kong return air ticket, with hotel accommodation and a local tour would be awarded to the grand-prize winner.

The Hong Kong-Calgary: Smart Link to Prosperity promotion is sponsored by Air Canada, Jade Tour and Treasure of China Seafood House, and are supported by the Hong Kong Tourism Board, and the Hong Kong-Canada Business Association (Calgary Chapter), with Chinook Center as the venue sponsor. Media sponsors are the Calgary Sun, Sing Tao Daily, Trend Weekly and the Calgary Chinese Journal.

Hong Kong-China economic integration creates new opportunities
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Government Press Release

Hong Kong's latest economic development, which focuses on the integration with South China, has created tremendous opportunities for Canadian companies wanting to enter the lucrative Mainland China market, the Director of the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office (Canada), Mr Bassanio So, said today (Wednesday, Ottawa time).

Speaking to a group of Canadian federal politicians and leading business people at a reception at the Parliament Hill, Mr So highlighted Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy under the "One country, two systems" principle, its steady progress in political development, along with China's rapid economic growth. "The closer economic integration between the two places, and the new initiative on Pan-Pearl River Delta regional co-operation and development have brought a new era to the region's economy," he said.

Mr So urged Canadian companies to take advantage of these favourable factors to tap into the China market, and in particular, use Hong Kong as the platform for doing business in the Pan-Pearl River Delta region, or anywhere in the Asia-Pacific region.

The reception was hosted by the Canada-Hong Kong Parliamentary Friendship Group in Ottawa. The Friendship Group, headed by Member of Parliament the Hon Derek Lee, was formed to promote links between Canadian and Hong Kong legislators. Those who attended the gathering included Senator Vivienne Poy, Senator Joseph Day, Senator Terry Mercer, and members of the Parliament, the Hon Bryon Wilfert, the Hon Jean Augustine and the Hon David Anderson.

Mr Lee also admitted that Hong Kong had always been a leading financial and business hub in Asia, and he encouraged Canadian business people to take advantage of Hong Kong's unique position and its close relationship with China.

Hong Kong companies were the first in the world to move their manufacturing operations across the border to the Pearl River Delta (PRD), when China opened its economy 25 years ago. Today, the PRD is a manufacturing and export powerhouse, the fastest-growing region of China, and the fastest-growing economy in the world.

According to Mr So, Hong Kong companies are the largest investors in the PRD and it is estimated that over 50,000 Hong Kong-invested factories in Guangdong Province employ about 10 million workers - representing approximately one-third of the population of Canada.

Hong Kong has been working closely with the South China province of Guangdong to smooth the flow of people, goods, services and capital between the two places. Mr So added that the implementation of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) - a free trade agreement between Hong Kong and China - had offered Hong Kong's manufacturing and service industries "first mover advantage" into the Mainland China market, ahead of and beyond China's World Trade Organization commitments.

"But we haven't stopped there," Mr So said. "A new concept was launched a year ago - the Pan-Pearl River Delta Regional Co-operation and Development Forum (Pan-PRD) or "9+2". It's an initiative that brings together the nine provinces of southern China and the two Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macao."

Described by the Economist magazine as "a string of pearls" within China, Mr So explained that with "9+2", Hong Kong's economic catchment area would expand five-fold, from the PRD to cities like Fuzhou in Fujian Province, Changsha in Hunan and Chengdu in Sichuan. These cities would become increasingly important manufacturing and consumer centres as the PRD moved up the value chain.

"Undoubtedly, Hong Kong would soon become a high-end services, administrative, managerial and financial centre for the region," he concluded.

Mr So also revealed that a large-scale national business conference was being organised by the Hong Kong-Canada Business Association in Ottawa on May 30. The conference, supported by the federal and provincial government agencies and business organisations, will allow small and medium Canadian enterprises to learn more about making use of Hong Kong as their "smart link" to China.

Canadian business people urged to use HK as their "Smart Link" to Mainland China
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Government Press Release

Canadian businesses interested in exploring the Mainland China market were briefed today (March 14, Canada time) on how Hong Kong could fast track their business into the Mainland by leveraging on the unique advantages Hong Kong enjoys under its economic integration with the Mainland.

Addressing a business forum entitled "Hong Kong: Your Smart Link to China" in Vancouver, the Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO), Mr Bassanio So, shared with the seminar's participants on making use of Hong Kong's advantages, which include: its proximity to the Mainland; it being a strategic two-way platform for trade with and investment in the Mainland; its economic co-operation with the Mainland; it being the world's freest economy, and its independent judicial system.

The business forum was jointly organised by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Canada); the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, the Hong Kong-Canada Business Association, Vancouver ; Canadian Manufacturer & Exporters, BC Division; S.U.C.C.E.S.S.; Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada ; Gateway Asia; British Columbia Ministry of Small Business and Economic Development, and International Trade Canada.

Canada's SMEs urged to use Hong Kong as their "Smart Link" to China
Friday, April 1, 2005
Government Press Release

Mayor Hazel McCallion of the City of Mississauga, Canada, today (March 31, Canada time) joined a team of trade experts to encourage Canada's small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to use Hong Kong as their "Smart Link" to China, while devising workable ways to sell their products, technology and know-how to the world's fastest growing economy.

Addressing the "Hong Kong: Your Smart Link to China" business forum organised by the Hong Kong-Canada Business Association in Toronto, Mayor McCallion strongly advised the SMEs to "go through Hong Kong to China as Hong Kong provides the expertise and the economic infrastructures that are crucial for Canadian companies to get into China's lucrative market". The Mayor visited Hong Kong late last year with "Team Mississauga" and witnessed the tremendous economic growth in the territory.

She cited examples such as Hong Kong's legal system, which offers a reassuring setting for litigation, arbitration, mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution. Mayor McCallion said by using Hong Kong as the link, Canadian companies would have a better chance of getting a settlement under Hong Kong's Common Law system should there be a business dispute.

Echoing the Mayor's views, the Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Canada) (HKETO), Mr Bassanio So, listed the distinctive advantages that Hong Kong offered in doing business through Hong Kong with Mainland China during his presentation. They include its proximity to the Mainland; it being a strategic two-way platform for trade with and investment in Mainland China; its economic co-operation with China; it being the world's freest economy; and its independent judicial system.

Speakers from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), Canadian Association of Importers & Exporters, Ontario Exports Inc, and Export Development Canada, as well as representative from Canadian companies which have scored successful results in doing business with China through Hong Kong - Jamieson Laboratories Ltd., Delcan Corporation, Patent and Trade Mark Agent Nelligan O'Brien Payne, and Goodmans LLP, all shared their experiences on using Hong Kong as their imperative trade platform, and their business relationship with Hong Kong and Mainland China.

The speakers also touched on various critical issues that are of concern among Canadian business people, such as protection of intellectual property rights in China, risk management in doing business in China, and export financing.

The "Hong Kong: Your Smart Link to China" business forum was supported by the HKTDC, the HKETO, Invest Hong Kong, and sponsored by the Cathay Pacific Airways.

SHWF meets Canadian Minister of Health
Friday, April 1, 2005
Government Press Release

The Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, today (April 1) met the visiting Canadian Minister of Health, the Honourable Ujjal Dosanjh, and his delegation to discuss areas of mutual concern, including the delivery of public health services, emergency preparedness systems and efforts in tobacco control.

During the meeting, Dr Chow outlined the measures adopted in Hong Kong in preventing avian influenza to the visitors. He also briefed them on Hong Kong's preparedness plan for influenza pandemic and the Government's plan to introduce legislation on tobacco control.

Mr Dosanjh and his delegation then joined a roundtable with senior officials from the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau and heads of departments under its ambit to explore areas for bilateral collaboration including avian influenza prevention and the control of infectious diseases. The meeting also shared experience on the launching of an anti-smoking campaign.

Later in the day, at a luncheon hosted by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Dr Chow thanked Mr Dosanjh for sharing with Hong Kong Canada's experiences in smoking control. Dr Chow pointed out that Canada and Hong Kong shared common goals in anti-smoking efforts.

Noting that Canada had done a tremendous job in this area and was able to implement tobacco control in all provinces, Dr Chow said this was a good experience for Hong Kong to learn from.

"We have learnt from experience that the best way is to go full ban in indoor working places. That is what we determine to do.

"We will be sending a Bill to the Legislative Council in May to tighten tobacco control. Key proposals include a ban on smoking in indoor workplaces and public places, including restaurants, bars and karaokes with no exemption. The Bill will also set more restrictions on the promotion of tobacco products.

"Second-hand smoking is basically a very polite way of saying that you are forcing people to inhale carcinogen. Once we start to put smoking ban into implementation, there will be objection from certain sectors. However, the experiences from Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and Italy, you know it worked and it should work for Hong Kong too," Dr Chow said.

Dr Chow felt strongly that the legislation would be passed as there was strong public support for banning smoking in all enclosed areas, particularly in public areas.

"It is not just passing the law itself. We have to ensure the public understand the reasons behind the law so that we can pass the law and implement it with the acceptance of the public," he added.

Dr Chow said close liaison between Canada and Hong Kong was also manifested in other areas. An example was the participation of Health Canada's expert team in the investigation works of the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak in Amoy Gardens in 2003 under the auspices of the World Health Organization.

Dr Chow added that Hong Kong also very much valued Mr Dosanjh's advice on various other areas including infection control as well as health care financing.

In the afternoon, Mr Dosanjh and his delegation visited the Centre for Health Protection to see for himself the new public health infrastructure tasked to enhance prevention and control of diseases in Hong Kong in collaboration with local and international stakeholders.

HKCBA national forum to help Canadian businesses forge strategy for China market
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Government Press Release

The first annual national Canada-Hong Kong Business Forum, which aims to provide a "smart link solution" to Canadian companies, in particular the small and medium enterprises, in charting their business strategy for China - one of the largest and fastest growing markets in the world, will take place in Ottawa on May 30 (Monday).

The "Your Smart Link to China: Hong Kong" forum, to be held at the Ottawa Congress Centre, will offer participants who are exploring business opportunities in Hong Kong and China a comprehensive and informative one-day program, which will discuss various ways to tap into the lucrative China market.

The full-day forum is organised by the eight sections of The Hong Kong-Canada Business Association (HKCBA), and supported by the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office, Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Invest Hong Kong, and Hong Kong Tourism Board. The forum has more than 10 partners, including: The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, City of Ottawa, British Columbia Department of Small Business & Economic Development, I.E. Canada Canadian Association of Importers & Exporters, Information Technology Association of Canada, Manitoba Trade & Investment, Nova Scotia Business Inc., Ottawa Centre for Research & Innovation, Ottawa Life Sciences Council, Saskatchewan Trade & Exporter Partnership, and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.

"Speakers from across Canada and Hong Kong will share their experiences and invaluable knowledge to help Canadian business people identify the right approaches and address the challenges of doing business with China," Co-chair of the national forum Mr Frank Ling said. "This group of speakers includes experienced China traders, economists, and experts from different fields - life sciences, importing/exporting, information, communications and technology, etc."

Topics to be discussed at the forum cover: "How to take advantage of the Hong Kong business platform to fast track your effort"; "How to allay your fears of China trade and manage the risks"; "How to deal with the IPR (Intellectual Property Rights Protection) and export financing issues", and "How other Canadian companies have done it correctly and successfully".

Participants will also benefit from panel presentations and round table discussions on various subjects that are of special interest and importance to Canadian companies who plan to explore the China market. Topics of such include "Business Opportunities in China - is Canadian Business Meeting the Challenge?", "Your Smart Link to China: Hong Kong", "Hong Kong - China - Canada's New Bio Growth Opportunity" and "Information, Communications & Technology".

One of the keynote speakers, Executive Chair, World Trade Centres Association, and Vice Chair of Beijing Air Catering Limited Miss Annie Wu, will share her success stories in China with the audience. Miss Wu, one of the most successful Hong Kong business persons in China, established the first joint venture between Hong Kong and Mainland China in 1980. Her China businesses cover not only the airport of the capital city, but reach out to the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in the remote northwest China.

"The emerging China market is reshaping the global economy - Canada and Canadian business should not fall behind others in pursuing the opportunities there," National Chair of the HKCBA, and the other Co-chair of the event Mr Barry Macdonald said. "We have to make use of one of our unique assets - our multi-cultural links with Hong Kong and China."

The forum promises to provide valuable advice and solid examples as to how Hong Kong can be used as the "smart" business platform to the China market. "We encourage Canadian business people from across Canada to take this special opportunity to come to beautiful Ottawa. Our Nation's Capital is celebrating its 150th Anniversary this year," Mr Ling said.

The Canada-Hong Kong Business Forum is sponsored by the Cathay Pacific Airways, HSBC Bank Canada, Sun Life Financial, Business Development Bank, Export Development Canada, Goodmans LLP, and VIA Rail. Media sponsors include the Canadian Business Magazine, and Ottawa Citizen. The Hotel Sponsor is Ottawa Sheraton Hotel.

For registration and further information on the business forum, please visit: www.hkcba.com/canhkforum

Hong Kong a trading and investment platform to Mainland China
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Government Press Release

45 Canadian companies consider Hong Kong an excellent trading and investment platform for Mainland China and East Asia, according to a recent survey by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (APF).

Director of APF's Asia Pacific Business Network Mr Paul Irwin announced the key findings of the survey at the "Your Smart Link to China: Hong Kong" business forum in Ottawa today (May 30, Canada time). "Canadian companies also recognised Hong Kong's value added role in accessing the lucrative China market," Mr Irwin said. "They view Hong Kong as an excellent regional base for their operations, as well as an important sourcing centre for goods from the Mainland China,"

APF is an independent, not-for-profit think-tank on Canada's relations with Asia. The foundation brings together people and knowledge to provide the most current and comprehensive research, and information on Canada's transpacific relations. It promotes dialogue on economic, political and social issues, helping to influence public policy and foster informed decision-making in the Canadian public, private and non-governmental sectors.

The survey also examined Canadian companies' perceptions on doing business in Hong Kong, and Hong Kong's role in their business with Mainland China. "The strengths of Hong Kong's business environment are valued by Canadian companies - particularly its good legal protection, solid infrastructure and experience and professionalism in conducting international trade," Mr Irwin told the 300 participants at the first annual national business forum organised by the Hong Kong-Canada Business Association.

"Certainly, one of the biggest challenges for companies entering a market like China is to source reliable partners," he said. "Working with a Hong Kong partner - who knows their way around suppliers, distributors and other key connections in the Mainland - may make it easier to get things done." He quoted examples of some of the Canadian organisations which recently set up offices in Hong Kong -- Stuart Energy and Luxell Technologies of Toronto, Quebec biotech company Millenia, Quebec manufacturer Canadian Buttons, and University of British Columbia

"Overall, Canadian companies are bullish on prospects in Hong Kong and in Mainland China. Hong Kong's role as an entrepot for Canadian trade with mainland China remains secure," Mr Irwin said. "They anticipate a greater increase in their sales in Mainland China market. More than half the companies surveyed expected their investments in China to expand in the next two years."

Held at the Ottawa Congress Centre, the forum aimed to provide a "smart link solution" to Canadian companies in charting their business strategy for China. "Many Canadian companies, especially those small and medium sized companies, are still in the process of crafting their China strategy. This is the reason why we have today's forum, telling people business opportunities in China, the economic powerhouse leading the development in Asia," Director of the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office (HKETO) in Canada Mr Bassanio So said.

Today's forum was opened by the federal Minister of Industry, Mr David Emerson; the HKETO director, Mr So, and the Regional Director, Americas of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Mr Stephen Wong.

Highlights of the forum's discussions included:

* "CEPA and Hong Kong's Economic Integration" by Director General of Invest Hong Kong of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (HKSARG) Mike Rowse.

* "ICT Trends in Hong Kong and China" by Government Chief Information Officer of the HKSARG Howard Dickson. (Mr Dickson was the Assistant Deputy Minister of Information Management of Canada's Department of National Defence before joining the HKSARG.).

* "Opportunities for Natural Products in Canada's Healthcare System" by President and CEO, University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research Dr Zul Merali, and Professor of the Department of Biology, University of Ottawa Dr John Arnason.

* "My Win-Win Road to China: A Hong Kong Entrepreneur's Story" by Chair of the World Trade Centre Association (Hong Kong), and Vice Chair of Beijing Air Catering Co. Ltd Annie Wu, and,

* "Our Launching Pad for Asian Expansion" by Vice-President, International, of Sun Life Financial Gary Comerford.

Other topics that were of great interest to Canadian companies included: "The Size & Potential of the China Market"; "Challenges & Opportunities for Importers & Exporters"; "IP Rights & Wrongs in the PRC"; "ICT Trends in Hong Kong & China"; and "Canada-Hong Kong-China Tripartite Business Opportunities for Technology Companies".

Organised by the eight sections of the Hong Kong-Canada Business Association (HKCBA), from Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax, the forum offered participants, who were exploring business opportunities in Hong Kong and China, a comprehensive and informative one-day program. Various ways to tap into the lucrative China market were discussed.

Partners of the forum included: the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada; City of Ottawa; British Columbia Department of Small Business & Economic Development; Information Technology Association of Canada; Manitoba Trade & Investment; Nova Scotia Business Inc.; Ontario Exports Inc.; Ottawa Centre for Research & Innovation; Ottawa Chamber of Commerce; Ottawa Life Sciences Council; Saskatchewan Trade & Exporter Partnership; and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.

The event is supported by the HKETO, Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Invest Hong Kong, and Hong Kong Tourism Board, and sponsored by the Cathay Pacific Airways, HSBC Bank Canada, Sun Life Financial, Quam Limited, Export Development Canada, Business Development Bank, I.E. Canada, Goodmans LLP, VIA Rail, and Nelligan O'Brien Payne. Media sponsors include the Canadian Business Magazine, Ottawa Citizen and Rogers OMNI. The Hotel Sponsor is Sheraton Ottawa Hotel, and the Design Sponsor is Era Integrated.

Hong Kong a gateway to China, firms told
It's an ideal launching pad for businesses, experts say
Joanne Lee-Young
Vancouver Sun
31 May 2005

Hong Kong's trade promoters are feverishly trying to reshape the city's image from an entrepot in its sunset years to an ideal partner with deep experience navigating China.

The Hong Kong Economic Trade Office (Canada) has splashed major magazines and newspapers with glossy, multi-page supplements, touting the territory as a launching pad for doing business in China. Its director, Bassanio So, says he has crisscrossed the country talking to Canadian companies.

"They say China is a very interesting market, but they don't know how to attack it. So, I tell them, try Hong Kong." In the past year, he has joined Invest HK, a Hong Kong-government arm, in taking that same message to the international press, as well as seminars and exhibitions.

On Monday, 300 business people gathered in Ottawa for the organization's first national conference. In October, So's Hong Kong team will tour Vancouver with 250 government and business delegates from the southern Chinese province of Guangdong.

Despite this push to link Hong Kong's fortunes with a rising China, "the message ... has not been very apparent," said So in a telephone interview. "People look at the growth in China. Then they look at Hong Kong. It is such a developed economy with only a few per cent in growth increase [compared to China's dramatic numbers]. And they overlook the importance of Hong Kong."

As a business hub in the 1970s, Hong Kong grew on the back of China's initial opening to the rest of the world. But since then, major Chinese cities like Beijing and Shanghai have come into their own, offering improved services and facilities, loosened regulations and better-educated, English-speaking executives who compete head-on with those in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong has not only been marginalized, but also crisis-ridden, slogging through the Asian economic downturn, a U.S.-led slump, and the SARS outbreak. To reinvent itself, officials there have been focusing on new industries like financial services, logistics, tourism and professional services. In January 2004, a trade agreement was implemented to give Hong Kong-based companies preferential access to these areas in China. The hope is that this will appeal to international companies and prompt them to set up in Hong Kong. The response, however, has been mixed and concern still reigns that more and more foreign companies are bypassing Hong Kong and going directly to China.

Industry Minister David Emerson addressed Monday's conference in Ottawa, comparing Hong Kong's relationship to China with Canada's to the U.S.

Calgary businesses told it's best time to invest in HK
Government Press Release
Saturday, August 27, 2005

Calgary businesses have been told that now is the best time to invest in Hong Kong as the city offers various distinctive advantages that help underline its role as the ideal launching platform for foreign business people, including those in Canada, to Mainland China.

Speaking at a business seminar aimed at informing Calgary companies about the business opportunities in Hong Kong and China, the Deputy Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Canada (HKETO), Mr Francis Ho, told the participants that with the implementation of the second phase of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), the booming Mainland economy, Hong Kong's participation in the Pan-Pearl River Delta (PRD) regional co-operation, and the conduct of Renminbi (RMB) business in Hong Kong, all helped strengthen Hong Kong's role as the launching platform to the Mainland for businesses around the world.

He explained to the participants during his presentation entitled "Hong Kong: Canada's Bridgehead in China" about the unlimited development potential of the Pan-PRD regional co-operation and the enormous prospects for foreign investors in the region.

"Last year, the Pan-PRD Regional Co-operation Framework was established among Hong Kong, Macau and nine Mainland provinces neighbouring Hong Kong," he said. In 2003, the Pan-PRD region accounted for about 40% of China's GDP, with total foreign trade of more than US$800 billion.

"The 11 Pan-PRD governments have agreed to strengthen co-operation in 10 areas, including infrastructure, business and trade, investment, and tourism. The development potential of Pan-PRD regional cooperation, and hence the prospects for foreign investors are enormous," he explained.

In addition, he said, as a leading international financial centre, Hong Kong's scope of financial services had expanded to RMB business since last year.

"Hong Kong is the first place outside Mainland China which is able to conduct personal RMB business. As at the end of January this year, total RMB deposits in Hong Kong exceeded RMB13 billion.

"In fact, now is the best time to invest in Hong Kong as the economy of the Asia's world city has recovered after years of contraction and with strong growth momentum," he said.

The seminar attracted over 80 participants from local corporations, financial institutions and small and medium businesses. Other speakers included the Director of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Mr Andrew Yui, and Vice-president of the Calgary Economic Development, Mr Clark Gruce.

The seminar was presented by the HKETO and the Hong Kong-Canada Business Association (Calgary chapter), in association with Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Alberta Economic Development and Calgary Economic Development.

Calgary presents Street Festival to celebrate Hong Kong Day
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Government Press Release

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The western Canadian city of Calgary has proclaimed August 28 as Hong Kong Day to recognize the contribution of the Hong Kong community to the Canadian multi-cultural mosaic. A series of activities featuring Hong Kong as a land of opportunities for Canadian businesses and a city of vibrant culture are held this weekend.

The three-day event was today (August 28, Canada time) highlighted by a full-day Chinatown street festival organized by the Calgary Chinatown Merchants Association.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Director of the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office (HKETO) in Canada, Mr Bassanio So, described it as a step forward in the relations between "the heart of Canada's new west" and Asia's world city – Hong Kong.

"The Calgary Sun said in a recent article that Hong Kong is the land of opportunity for Canadian businesses who want to capture a dynamic international market," he said. "The street festival now tells Calgarians that Hong Kong has a vibrant culture, thriving spirit and great people. It is known for its food, entertainment, and is a prefect tourist destination."

The Hong Kong celebrations, which began Friday, will come to a conclusion tomorrow (August 29) night with a pyro-musical fireworks display at Elliston Park. A team from Hong Kong will unveil their brand new extravagant 23-minute fireworks production to compete with fireworks presentations from United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain.

Hong Kong Day is a partnership among the HKETO, the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), GlobalFest, the Glenbow Festival, Totem Building Supplies, and Trico Homes. To mark the event, the HKTB, together with the United Airlines and Jade Tours, also organize a contest for a dream vacation to Hong Kong.

Billionaire Li meets with McGuinty
Richard Brennan
Toronto Star
15 November 2005

HONG KONG -- Premier Dalton McGuinty got a chance to sell Ontario yesterday to one of Asia's richest and most influential businessman.

Li Ka-shing, 77, a reclusive billionaire, met for an hour with the Ontario premier.

"Mr. Li Ka-shing has a real interest in Canada. His sons are Canadian citizens and he has financial interests in Canada, and the only other country in which he has established a charitable foundation, outside of Hong Kong, is Canada," McGuinty said yesterday after they met.

"I explained to him that we were open to business in China and we look forward to having him assist through investment, whether we are talking about new power generation, new infrastructure, participating in hospital projects, those kind of things," he said.

McGuinty, who led a trade mission to China to drum up two-way trade, heads home today after 11 days in five major cities, including the capital Beijing and rapidly growing Shanghai.

Li is also a philanthropist who has donated more than $450 million to educational causes and medical care, including nursing homes and day-care centres for the elderly.

At last count, Li was worth $12.8 billion (U.S.), making him the world's 28th richest man. His empire is said to span 40 countries and to account for 11.5 per cent of Hong Kong's stock market value. He is a leading real estate developer, cell phone provider, retailer and supplier of electricity in the city.

He's the world's largest operator of container terminals, one of the first to offer Europe and Asia high-speed multimedia via cell phones, and owner of 1,900 retail stores in Europe.

His eldest son Victor Li made headlines in Canada when he unsuccessfully offered $488 million for a 28 per cent stake in Air Canada before it became ACE Aviation. Youngest son Richard, 38, is into real estate.

McGuinty said Li expressed interest in everything from ethanol production to transportation and assigned an executive to follow up.

Later, he told the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong China's economic growth is "unprecedented in the annals of human history. The possibilities are virtually limitless."

Veterans, students remember Canadians who fought in the Battle of Hong Kong
Sunday, December 4, 2005

HONG KONG (CP) - It is the Canadian battle that has almost been forgotten.

As Canadians have marked the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War this year, the Battle of Hong Kong, despite its significance, still remains clouded in mystery in the mind of too many Canadians.

In an effort to put the spotlight on this important battle, over 500 people participated in a ceremony in Hong Kong on Sunday, a warm, breezy day, to remember Canadians who fought in the Battle of Hong Kong in December 1941.

Almost 150 Canadian high school students from the Durham Region east of Toronto were there to place crosses and poppies at the graves and to bury a memorial capsule containing tributes to the many veterans of the battle.

"We'll never forget this as long as we live," said Robert "Flash" Clayton, a sergeant from the Royal Rifles, speaking to the crowd.

"To see everybody here from the schools - that's what got us here this year. When we heard the students were all coming, it was just unbelievable."

To the students, who each stood at the grave of a Canadian soldier, the Brechin, Ont. resident added, "I'd like you to know, they know you are here."

It was in the autumn of 1941 that two Canadian battalions, the Winnipeg Grenadiers and the Royal Rifles of Canada, plus a brigade headquarters and specialist details, added 1,975 troops at the request of the British to the defence of their former colony, which was under threat of Japanese invasion. The garrison was already about 12,000 strong, including British, Indian, and Hong Kong troops, when the Canadians arrived.

The invasion came on Dec. 8, a day after the Japanese attack on the United States at Pearl Harbor. The Allied forces, vastly outnumbered, outgunned, and under-experienced, put up a courageous fight before surrendering on Christmas Day, Dec. 25. By that time, 290 Canadians had died in combat, and another 267 would die as PoWs between that day and the end of the war in 1945.

It was at the Battle of Hong Kong that Canada experienced many firsts for the Second World War: The first Victoria's Cross awarded, the first combat casualty, the first combat death, the first death of a senior officer, and the first Canadian soldier taken prisoner, yet it has received little attention compared to other famous battles.

The battle would also serve as an important moment in the shifting away amongst many Canadians from the old mindset that took conformity with the British in international affairs for granted.

"When we first came back, nobody seemed to be very interested," said Gerry Gerrard after the ceremony, a signalman for the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals. "We didn't tell our story for quite some time; we could see people didn't believe it, and so we just stopped talking about it."

The ceremony was held on Hong Kong Island at the Sai Wan Memorial and War Cemetery, where gravestones cascade down Sai Wan Hill overlooking the water between the island and the mainland. It was on this same hill that the "C" Company of the Royal Rifles of Canada was stationed when one of the first waves of Japanese forces pushed across the Lye Mun Passage below from the mainland.

Soon after the surrender, a political firestorm erupted back home in early 1942 when George Drew, an Ontario Progressive Conservative, demanded that Prime Minister Mackenzie King's Liberal government be held accountable for what was viewed as a waste of Canadian troops and lives. After Drew and opposition members refused to back down, King set up a Royal Commission headed by Sir Lyman Duff, Chief Justice of Canada at the time. The commission found no fault with the Liberal government, though many still question the decision to send the troops.

Some, however, don't linger on past decisions, whether viewed as good or bad.

"When you volunteer to fight for your country, you have to be prepared to lose your life in the best judgment of those in command," said George MacDonell, a sergeant with the Royal Rifles.

"If you could speak to the young men who are buried here, they would tell you they have no regrets."

Hong Kong advantages put Montreal businesses on fast track to China market
Wednesday, December 7, 2005
Government Press Release

Businesses in Quebec Province, particularly Montreal companies, interested to tap the fast-growing China market, were briefed today (December 6, Montreal time) on how Hong Kong could fast track their business into China by leveraging on the unique advantages Hong Kong enjoys under its economic integration with the Mainland China.

Addressing a business forum entitled "Hong Kong Advantages: Fast Tracking Your China Business" at the World Trade Centre in Montreal, the Acting Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO), Mr Francis Ho, and the Director of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council in Canada, Andrew Yiu, briefed the seminar's participants on the pros and cons of directing business operations from Hong Kong, and the business culture in Hong Kong and Mainland China. They also spoke on how foreign businesses could leverage on Hong Kong's unique advantages to expedite their entry into the China market.

At the seminar, Mr Ho told the Montreal business community that Hong Kong's proximity to the Mainland, its unique "one country, two systems" principle, and its deep links with the Pearl River Delta (PRD) were some of the favourable factors for Canadian companies to make use of Hong Kong to enter the China market, apart from its rule of law, robust intellectual property rights protection regime, its low and simple tax system, its free flow of information and its huge pool of entrepreneurs with solid China experience.

He also took the opportunity to explain to participants the unlimited development potential of the China market, in particular the PRD, and the enormous prospects for foreign investors in the region. He told them that now was the best time to make use of Hong Kong as the city offered various distinctive advantages that helped underline its role as the ideal launching platform for foreign business people, including those in Canada, to Mainland China.

Hong Kong positioned as a launching pad for Atlantic Canada companies
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Government Press Release

In a seminar held today (December 12, Canada time) in St. John's, Newfoundland, the Acting Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Canada, Mr Francis Ho, told companies in Atlantic Canada that Hong Kong could be an ideal base to launch their products and services for Mainland China, and to find business partners who could help them access the China market.

Addressing the business seminar entitled "Courting the Asian Giant" co-organized by Industry Canada, International Trade Canada, and Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Mr Ho advised the participants on using Hong Kong as a gateway to enter the fast-growing markets in major Chinese cities.

For the past twenty years, China has gone from an economic backwater to become the world's most dynamic economy, in particular, its Pearl River Delta (PRD), which has emerged as the most important economic region in China, said Mr Ho. To effectively get into the unknown market, overseas companies need to have to a "China Strategy" - one that Hong Kong plays a vital role to assist Canadian companies to enter the China market.

Encompassing 14 Mainland China cities and counties in Guangdong province, Mr Ho described the PRD region as "one of China's best kept secrets", which continues to exhibit growth rates that have outstripped every other part of China.

"Among visible large-scale investments that have been made to serve the region itself, much of the development in the PRD region has been in the private sector. For all these years, PRD - the most affluent region in China - has developed into a consumer market and its residents avid purchasers of computers, mobile phones and professional services", he said.

As far as Hong Kong's role is concerned, he said Hong Kong is indeed ideally positioned to customize world products and services to local Chinese and other Asian market conditions and requirements.

He cited examples of Canadian companies that had used Hong Kong as the customization base to look for business partners to help distribute their products and services, as well as look for sourcing opportunities in the China market. Companies who use Hong Kong as the gateway to enter the China market include: Research in Motion, Lord & Partners and Delcan.

In addition to the distinctive Hong Kong advantages such as the rule of law, a robust intellectual property protection regime, free flow of information and level-playing field for all businesses, the implementation of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) between Hong Kong and China allows the removal of tariffs from all Hong Kong products and gives preferential access to a number of Hong Kong service industries and professions to enter that Mainland China market. This arrangement has created vast business opportunities for foreign companies which could also benefit from the "nationality-blind" free-trade pact.

Today's seminar also covered topics on "Intellectual Property Protection", experience sharing on "Atlantic Company Asia Pacific Success Stories", and "ITU Telecom World 2006 Presentation". The seminar was broadcast simultaneously to other eastern Canada cities including Fredericton, Charlottetown and Halifax.

Hong Kong day in Calgary?! Wow. I'm very jealous. It would be amazing for one here in Toronto. The Hong Kong logo just brings me right back. I remember taking a pic of the logo on the side of the Peak Tower not too long ago.

Re: Veterans. I would love to see the face of a vet going back to HK after all of these years.. what changes he/she must have seen!

Canada's role in Hong Kong during Second World War
4 December 2005
The Canadian Press

It was in Hong Kong that Canadian troops first fought as a unit in the Second World War. Here are some facts about them:

Troops sent: 1,975.

When: Sailed from Vancouver Oct. 27, 1941; arrived in Hong Kong Nov. 16.

Main units: Two battalions, the Winnipeg Grenadiers and the Royal Rifles of Canada from Quebec City.

Why: To help defend the British colony and deter an invasion by Japanese forces already in China. With the Canadians, Hong Kong had some 14,000 Allied troops including units from Britain, Hong Kong, China and India.

Combat: Japanese forces launched their invasion on the morning of Dec. 8, 1941 (it was still Dec. 7 in North America), on the same day as the attack on Pearl Harbor and other Allied-held areas in the Pacific. The battle of Hong Kong raged for 17{ days before the defenders, with no hope of reinforcement or resupply, were ordered to surrender on Christmas Day 1941.

Canadian casualties: 290 killed in action, including commander Brig. John Lawson; 493 wounded. Surviving PoWs endured harsh treatment, malnutrition at camps in Hong Kong and Japan _ 267 Canadians died in captivity.

War dead: The more than 550 Canadians who died _ including 228 with no known graves _ are commemorated in Hong Kong at the Sai Wan Memorial. The memorial, in the form of a semi-circular shelter building at the entrance to the cemetery, bears the names of the war dead. Some 1,500 soldiers are buried at the Sai Wan War Cemetery, including 283 Canadians. A smaller number are buried or commemorated at the Stanley Military Cemetery, also in Hong Kong.

Vancouver Mayor proclaims February 4 "Hong Kong Cultural & Heritage Day"
Saturday, February 4, 2006
HK Government Press Release

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Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan has proclaimed February 4, 2006, as the city's "Hong Kong Cultural and Heritage Day" in recognition of the contribution of Hong Kong in promoting its cultural ties with Vancouver and in enriching the Canadian multi-cultural mosaic.

The proclamation was made during a Hong Kong cultural delegation's visit to the Mayor's Office this afternoon (February 3, Vancouver time). It was declared in the presence of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government representatives - Deputy Secretary (Culture) of the Home Affairs Bureau Ms Lolly Chiu and Director of the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office (HKETO) in Canada Mr Bassanio So – and representatives of a 70-member Hong Kong Cantonese Opera and Wushu Delegation led by Ms Shelley Lee.

Mayor Sullivan praised Hong Kong's uniqueness as the melting pot between Eastern and Western cultures. "As a former British colony, the city adopted Western ways and values yet on the other hand, as a Chinese settlement, Chinese traditions and customs remained well preserved," he said.

Speaking in fluent Cantonese, the Vancouver Mayor said Hong Kong and Vancouver had long established close economic and cultural relationships, and Vancouver was home to more than 200,000 Hong Kong immigrants. "The impact of Hong Kong on Vancouver's culture is far reaching."

He described the "Hong Kong Cultural and Heritage Celebrations" being organised by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government in Vancouver as an event to "showcase the width and depth of Hong Kong culture".

Mr Bassanio So said the proclamation marked a step forward in the relationship between Canada's Pacific gateway and Asia's world city – Hong Kong - following the visit of Hong Kong's Chief Executive Mr Donald Tsang to Vancouver late last year.

"We are thrilled to have February 4 proclaimed as the Hong Kong Cultural & Heritage Day," he said. "Hong Kong has 250,000 Canadian passport holders. Based on that close relationship, we'll see more cultural and business exchanges to come." He said Hong Kong would continue to strengthen its business relationship with Canada especially through its Pacific gateway, and at the same time develop its infrastructures and software to retain the city's attraction to overseas investments and visitors.

The five-day "Hong Kong Cultural and Heritage Celebrations" being held this week present a series of diversified and colourful programs to people in Vancouver, showcasing Hong Kong as a land of diversity and rich heritage, and a business city of vibrant culture.

The main components of the Hong Kong celebrations are the enchanting Cantonese opera and captivating Wushu performances to be staged at the Centre in Vancouver for the Performing Arts over the weekend. The event is presented by the HKETO in association with the Home Affairs Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, and organised by the Canadian Cancer Society of British Columbia and Yukon (CCS).

At the same time, a photo exhibition entitled "The Heritage of Hong Kong" was opened at the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Vancouver on Thursday (February 2, Vancouver time). It will last until February 17. The exhibition presents a glimpse of Hong Kong's heritage from the Neolithic Period, the Bronze Age, to the Qing Dynasty and the Hong Kong under British rule.

The HKETO and the Hong Kong Tourism Board will jointly host a dinner for the Vancouver media this evening at the Renaissance Hotel Harbourside. The dinner will highlight the video "The Hong Kong Connection – Canada and the New China" produced by OMNI Television, and the participation of the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) in Hong Kong's Chinese New Year parade.

Why Feb 4... it sounds like "Easy to die" in Cantonese...

"The Heritage of Hong Kong" exhibition opens in Vancouver
Friday, February 3, 2006
Government Press Release

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“The Heritage of Hong Kong”, an exhibition presenting a glimpse of Hong Kong’s heritage from the Neolithic Period, the Bronze Age, to the Qing Dynasty and the Hong Kong under British rule, today (February 2, Vancouver time) opens at the Chinese Cultural Center of Greater Vancouver (CCC).

Speaking at the opening of the exhibition at CCC, the Deputy Secretary (Culture) of the Home Affairs Bureau of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Ms Lolly Chiu, told the audience that Hong Kong was devoted to strengthening cultural links and exchanges with other world-class cities, such as Vancouver. "Vancouver and Hong Kong have many similarities," she said. "Both have invigorating, open and inclusive societies, having a respect for different and diversified creeds and cultures."

The opening ceremony was officiated by many dignitaries, including the Hon Ujjal Dosanjh, federal Minister of Health; the Hon Wally Oppal, Attorney General and Minister responsible for Multiculturalism of British Columbia; Chinese Consul General Chunyan Tian; Director of Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office Mr Bassanio So, and the Chair of the Chinese Cultural Centre, Ms Kitty Mar.

nice.

Canadian Film Festival a feast for cinephiles
Thursday, February 9, 2006
Government Press Release

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The Canadian Film Festival, which returns to Hong Kong next month (March) will be a feast for cinephiles. An impressive selection of contemporary films will be shown together with a retrospective on the acclaimed Toronto-based film director Atom Egoyan.

A Cannes favourite and an icon of Canadian independent cinema, Egoyan is coming to Hong Kong for the Festival and will attend the Hong Kong premiere of his latest highly acclaimed film “Where the Truth Lies”, which was nominated for The Palme d’Or, Cannes Film Festival 2005. He will meet the audience after the opening screening on March 6.

Jointly presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and the Consulate General of Canada, “Canadian Film Festival 2006” will be shown at the Theatre of the Hong Kong City Hall, the Cinema of the Hong Kong Film Archive, and the Lecture Hall of the Hong Kong Space Museum from March 6 to 19.

The 13 films include “3 Needles” which had its world premiere at last year’s Toronto Film Festival, the highly creative “The Saddest Music in the World”, Guy Maddin’s poetic imagery “The Blue Butterfly”, romantic comedy “Love and Magnets” and three shorts including the Oscar-winning animated short “Ryan” .

Fans of Egoyan can enjoy works from different phases of his career in the retrospective- “The Anonymity of Connection: Atom Egoyan”. The six films featured are: the opening film “Where the Truth Lies”, the probing dramas “The Sweet Hereafter”, “Exotica” and “The Adjuster”, and Armenian stories “Ararat” and “Calendar”.

Born in Cairo in 1960 to Armenian parents, Egoyan was raised in Victoria, British Columbia, and studied International Relations at the University of Toronto where he began to seriously explore the art and language of cinema. With very personal thematic obsessions, his films delve into issues of intimacy, displacement and the impact of technology and media in modern life.

As one of Canada’s most distinguished filmmakers, he is a frequent name at the top-tier international film festivals. His films are life-refreshing, sensual and touching. Often interweaving past and present with different incidents, different locations and characters, he skilfully develops his thematic plots with an enigmatic touch.

His latest film “Where the Truth Lies” takes a popular turn from his earlier serious works. Based on the best-selling novel from Rupert Holmes, and starring Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth as the legendary showbiz duo, Vince Collins and Lanny Morris, the film is a surprising, suspenseful, seductive whodunit that explores and explodes Hollywood’s mythmaking machine.

Adapted from Russell Banks’ novel, the haunting film “The Sweet Hereafter” (1997) is Egoyan’s masterpiece. A bus-load of school children die in an accident, but it is the parents who need to keep on living. Poetic images, slowly paced, all to capture the total eclipse of the heart. Winner of the Grand Prize of the Jury and FIPRESCI Prize of Cannes Film Festival 1997 and the film was nominated for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay in Academy Awards 1998.

“Calendar” (1993) and “Ararat” (2002) are films of Egoyan’s personal statement of the Armenian homeland. In “Calendar”, Egoyan and his wife plays a married couple. The wife runs off with the tour guide in Armenia and just leaves messages on the husband’s phone. With advanced technology, face-to-face communication becomes more difficult.

“Ararat” (2002) brings personal sufferings in epic scope, combining war history and today’s family problems. The film won five Genie Awards in 2003 including the Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor.

“The Adjuster” (1991) which focuses on voyeurism and twisted morality; and the darkly mysterious “Exotica” (1994) landed Egoyan stronger reputation in the international film community and a wider audience. The two films won the Best Canadian Feature Film of Toronto International Film Festival respectively in 1991 and 1994. “The Adjuster” was awarded Special Jury Prize of Moscow International Film Festival 1991 while “Exotica” won the FIPRESCI Prize of Cannes Film Festival 1994.

Not to be missed in the festival is “The Saddest Music in The World” (2003) directed by Guy Maddin, who was described as Canada’s answer to David Lynch. Isabella Rossellini plays the double amputee baroness who organises a competition looking for the saddest music in the world. With jump cuts, high contrast and snowy screens, the film is a nostalgic visual experience as if it were the 1930s. It was awarded the Best Director of US Comedy Arts Festival 2004, and the Best Screenplay-Adapted of Chlotrudis Awards 2005.

All you need is love! “Les Aimants” (Love and Magnets) (2004) is a romantic piece with a pretty heart-broken young lady trying to help her sister‘s failing relationship by forging love notes from her sister to her fiance on their fridge. The messages, however, fall into the wrong hands leading to crossed signals that results in a new love…

“The Blue Butterfly” (2004) is based on a true story. Ten-year-old Pete is terminally ill with cancer and his last wish is to search for the most beautiful blue butterfly in the rainforest. Young actor Marc Donato offers a moving performance. Contrast to the shining story, the three intertwined stories in “3 Needles”(2005) show our inability to deal with the epidemic.

Other highlights are selected short films from the National Film Board of Canada, “Ryan” (2004) won the Best Animated Short Film in Academy Awards 2005, “Hardwood” (2004) was nominated for Best Documentary (Short Subject) in Academy Awards 2004. With “In the Shadow of Gold Mountain” (2004), Karen Cho uncovers a dark chapter in Canadian history of how Chinese Canadians struggled to survive.

All films in the “Canadian Film Festival 2006” are in English or provided with English subtitles. “Where the Truth Lies”, “The Saddest Music in the World”, “The Blue Butterfly” and “3 Needles” will have Chinese subtitles.

Tickets priced at $40 are available at all URBTIX outlets. Half-price concessionary tickets are available for senior citizens, people with disabilities, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients. A 10% discount will be offered for each purchase of 6-10 tickets and 20% discount for 11 tickets or more.

For programme information, please call 2734 2900 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/fp. Reservations can be made by phone on 2734 9009 or on the Internet at www.urbtix.hk.

HSBC Bank to promote its brand across Canada as assets grow
Earnings are up more than 32 per cent for the year, the Vancouver-based lender says
Bruce Constantineau
Vancouver Sun
15 February 2006

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HSBC Bank Canada will spend "several million dollars" this year promoting the HSBC brand across Canada as it builds on record earnings of $457 million for the year ended Dec. 31, 2005 -- a 32.5-per-cent increase over 2004, the Vancouver-based bank announced Tuesday.

"We're stepping up our game in building the brand," bank president Lindsay Gordon said in an interview. "HSBC is reasonably well known in B.C. but it's not as well known outside the province."

He said media advertising this year will focus largely on the Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto markets, where it has its biggest presence in Canada.

"We want to position HSBC as a company that appreciates people have different points of view and different needs," Gordon said. "We're flexible, adaptive and creative to meeting those needs. Historically, in people's minds, banks have not been very good at that."

Gordon said the bank is relatively happy with its network of 36 Greater Vancouver branches but plans to add about 20 new Toronto-area HSBC branches over the next two and a half years to the 33 that currently exist in Canada's largest urban market. The bank plans to relocate a few B.C. branches this year and open one new branch in the province -- in Langford in April.

He said the bank's strong financial performance in 2005 reflects healthy economic growth across Canada, particularly in B.C. and Alberta, where the bank does about 60 per cent of its business.

He noted that 2005 earnings included two extraordinary items that added about $25 million to income -- a reversal from the allowance for credit losses and an adjustment to other expenses -- but even without those items, earnings would still be more than 25 per cent higher than 2004.

Total bank assets grew by 13.6 per cent last year to $49.2 billion while total funds under management increased by 15.8 per cent to $20.5 billion. The bank said return on average common equity grew to 21.3 per cent last year from 18.3 per cent in 2004.

HSBC Bank Canada, which celebrates its 25th year in Canada this July, discontinued its policy last year of providing an unlimited guarantee on customer deposits. Like all other major Canadian banks, it now offers the $100,000 deposit insurance provided by the Canada Deposit Insurance Corp.

The unlimited deposit guarantee came into play after the bank acquired the assets of the Bank of B.C. in 1986. Gordon said no other foreign bank provides such a guarantee and HSBC Group did not provide an unlimited guarantee in any other market besides Canada.

"If you go back 10 or 15 years when we were a much smaller company, (the unlimited guarantee) provided an additional level of assurance," Gordon said. "But that's not really necessary today, given our financial strength."

The bank's customers were told of the deposit insurance changes last year and Gordon said it has been a "non-event" with clients.

He said the election of a new Conservative minority government this year likely means there will be no significant changes on the Canadian financial landscape in 2006. Major Canadian banks want the right to merge and to refer insurance sales through their branch systems.

"I honestly don't see the political landscape or the public policy landscape changing materially on those two issues with a minority Conservative government," Gordon said. "So it's basically business as usual."

GROWING PROFITS:

HSBC Bank Canada net earnings for full fiscal year:
2000 $169 million
2001 $206 million
2002 $252 million
2003 $292 million
2004 $345 million
2005 $457 million

Canadian university students aspire to careers in Hong Kong
Friday, March 10, 2006
Government Press Release

More than 500 university students in Ontario and British Columbia will participate in an informative and interactive career video conference tomorrow (March 10, Canada time) simultaneously in Toronto, London and Vancouver to explore career opportunities in Hong Kong, the launch-pad for mainland Chinese enterprises to develop a global presence.

The annual video conference, now in its fourth year, has grown in popularity among Canadian university students. In view of the increased participants from various universities, this year's video conference is to be held at three different venues, instead of just two as in previous years. The University of Western Ontario is the additional venue in 2006.

Zeal for taking up a career path to China has prompted students from other ethnic groups to join the conference. The language for conducting the conference is therefore shifted to English, instead of Cantonese, to accommodate more English-speaking students.

The cross-Pacific video conference will connect the Canadian students to human resources and career development experts in Hong Kong, Asia's world city, by providing them with latest career information and useful advice on career opportunities in various sectors in Hong Kong.

Organised by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in Canada, jointly with the Commerce, Industry and Technology Bureau (CITB) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government, and the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, the video conference will be hosted in two separate places by the HKETO Director, Mr Bassanio So in Toronto; Permanent Secretary for Commerce and Industry (Acting), Mr Philip Yung, and Mr HS Chan of CLP Power (Hong Kong) Limited in Hong Kong.

"Many university students believe that working in Hong Kong for a few years will definitely help their career development and allow them to learn more about China, the global economic powerhouse of the future," said HKETO Director Mr Bassanio So.

"On the other hand, the HKSAR Government wants to encourage more foreign-trained talents to ride the wave of economic success in Hong Kong, and to play a role in the economic integration between Hong Kong and China," he said.

"We hope to attract Canada-trained Hong Kong students to return to pursue their career in Hong Kong and bring their international perspectives to the Hong Kong's business community", Mr So added.

According to the HKETO Director, the conference attracted 350 participants last year, and so far over 500 Canadian university students have registered.

Business leaders from Hong Kong will share with the participants career opportunities in their respective professions. Graduates from Canadian universities now working in Hong Kong will also talk about their experience in finding a job in Hong Kong and in adjusting to the Hong Kong working style.

Five guest speakers from Hong Kong's business and professional services sectors will be participating as panelists. They are Mr Barry Macdonald, a partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers; Mr Alan Yip of Yip Design Ltd; Ms Sonya Wu, Managing Director, Aspirations Ltd; Mr HS Chan, HR Manager-Power System, CLP Power (Hong Kong) Limited., as well as a recent Canadian university graduate, Ms Xenos Hung, who is currently completing a Graduate Engineering Trainee program in Hong Kong.

The career video conference will be held simultaneously tomorrow (March 10, Canada time) at 7.30pm (Ontario time) at the HKETO in Toronto, as well as the Richard Ivey School in London; at 4.30pm (Vancouver time) at the Asia Pacific Hall of the Simon Fraser University in Vancouver; and tomorrow (March 11, Hong Kong time) at 8.30am, at the CITB in Hong Kong.

Participating students, mostly representing Hong Kong student associations, are from the following universities: the University of Toronto, York University, Queen's University, Wilfrid Laurier University, University of Waterloo, University of Western Ontario, McMaster University, University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, and University of Victoria.

The video conference will also be webcast live by Radio Television Hong Kong at http://www.rthk.org.hk/special/careervideoconference2006 on Saturday (March 11) at 8.30am (Hong Kong time).

Right now, there's a bursury offered at the University of Waterloo, where the student must sign a contract promising that they'll work in Hong Kong immediately after graduation.

Video conference connects Canadian students to career opportunities in Hong Kong
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Government Press Release
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More than 500 university students in Ontario and British Columbia learnt more about career opportunities available in Hong Kong today (March 10, Canada time) when participating a cross-Pacific career video conference held simultaneously in Toronto, London (Ontario) and Vancouver.

The conference connected the Canadian students to human resources and career experts in Hong Kong and Vancouver. They provided the students with latest information on the job market and useful advices on career development in various sectors in Hong Kong.

Organised by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in Canada, jointly with the Commerce, Industry and Technology Bureau (CITB) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government, and the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, the career video conference served an interactive and useful platform for students who were interested to pursue their career in Hong Kong after graduation.

Guest speakers from the business and professional services sectors in Hong Kong and Vancouver included: a partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers Mr Barry Macdonald; Mr Alan Yip of Yip Design Ltd.; Managing Director, Aspirations Ltd Ms Sonya Wu; HR Manager-Power System, CLP Power (Hong Kong) Limited Mr H S Chan, as well as a recent Canadian university graduate, Ms Xenos Hung, who is currently completing a Graduate Engineering Trainee program in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong calling Canadian firms
Shift in economy offers opportunities
David Crane
17 March 2006
The Toronto Star

HONG KONG -- It has been a great ride for both Hong Kong and neighbouring Guangdong province. Since former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping set China on the path to modernization in 1979 by opening up southern China for economic development, the province of Guangdong has been transformed from one of the poorest regions of China to one of the wealthiest as the "factory for the world."

Hong Kong benefited enormously. Indeed, the surge of growth in the Pearl River Delta was fuelled by a massive shift of Hong Kong factories across the border into Guangdong province, turning rice paddies and small market towns into wall-to-wall industry.

Today, the region has more than 60,000 factories of Hong Kong businesses, and the potential of Hong Kong bankers, lawyers, trade specialists and business professionals is closely linked to developments in the Pearl River Delta. A number of leading Canadian companies also have operations in Guangdong including Alcan Inc., Nortel Networks Corp., CAE Inc., the Bank of Montreal and Manulife Financial Corp.

But now there are problems. The region's growth is not about to come to a screeching halt - far from it. Guangdong hopes to have a bigger GDP than Taiwan by 2010. But despite China's huge population, Guangdong has a shortage of skilled and unskilled workers - estimated at about 2.5 million. Moreover, the region suffers from electricity shortages, serious air pollution and congestion.

There's also a competitiveness issue. Despite the awesome growth of industry in the area, there is little local capacity in value-added activity and the region is heavily dependent on high-value components and machinery from abroad. With costs rising, local firms are in urgent need of technological upgrading.

So now the transition is being made from the Greater Pearl River Delta Region, with its population of about 50 million people, including 7 million in Hong Kong and 500,000 in Macau, to the much vaster Pan-Pearl River Delta Region, with about 460 million people.

At the same time, a concerted effort is now underway to boost the capacity for innovation in the region, including significant investment in research and development, especially by industry, and upgrading of universities.

At last month's provincial People's Congress, Guangdong Governor Huang Huahua announced the province would "improve policies to encourage and support self-innovation initiatives and help the cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen turn into innovation pilot cites of the nation this year."

And Hong Kong has launched a major initiative to help businesses in the region upgrade their technological capabilities. Its Commission for Innovation and Technology is allocating about $450 million (Canadian) to support five university-based applied technology centres to help local factories develop more advanced products or processes in areas such as textiles machinery and materials, electronics and integrated circuits, automotive technologies, logistics and containerization. There's also a centre in Chinese medicine and a major design centre for fashion, product design, interior design and graphics.

The Pan-Pearl River Delta is an amalgam of nine provinces in southern China (Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan) along with Hong Kong and Macau. This opens up a vast new region of low-cost land and eager workers for development.

A Pan-Pearl River Delta regional co-operation framework agreement was signed in June 2004 and now, says Stephen Lam, Hong Kong's secretary for constitutional affairs, efforts at integration are proceeding.

There are 10 areas of co-operation: Infrastructure, investment, trade, tourism, agriculture, labour, education, information technology, the environment and health and the prevention of infectious diseases such as SARS and avian flu.

A major infrastructure project that is advancing is a $6.5 billion (U.S.) Hong Kong-Macau-Zhuhai bridge, which would be the second longest in the world, and open up the western region of the Pan-Pearl River Delta to development.

In all of this, Hong Kong is expected to continue its role as a high-value services centre and regional headquarters location.

Waterloo's Research In Motion Inc. is here, as use of the BlackBerry email device spreads in Asia, and Methanex Corp., the Vancouver-based world leader in methanol production, has just relocated its Asian regional headquarters here. But Hong Kong would like to see more Canadian companies, to join the more than 200,000 Canadian passport holders (and 100,000 Canadian university alumni) working here.

There will be many challenges as the Pan-Pearl River Delta moves from an assembly and low value-added economy to a knowledge-based economy. But there will also be great opportunities.

That is the message Hong Kong wants to send to Canada.

David Crane's column appears on Friday.

A salute to all Canadian soldiers, to those that die in battle, may their souls rest in peace.

From news.gov.hk:
HK-Canada expand aircraft maintenance pact (http://news.gov.hk/en/category/businessandfinance/060320/html/17161836-97fa-453d-a4e3-315a43dc8c45.htm)

Customised courses mark new direction
Campus moves its resources away from open enrolment towards tailor-made programmes, writes Michael Taylor Richard Ivey School of Business
22 April 2006
South China Morning Post

Customisation is the way of the future in executive education, judging by changes taking place at the Richard Ivey School of Business, which established a campus in Hong Kong in 1998.

Owing to the increasing number of Asian clients seeking customised programmes, it has been switching its executive education resources away from open enrolment programmes to customised and consortium programmes.

"Focusing on customised programmes allows us to develop deep and long-term relationships with our clients," said Jorge Choy, director, executive programmes - Asia, the Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario, Canada.

"This is because in the process of designing custom programmes we work very closely with clients and get to know their organisation very well. The better we know our clients the more they come back to us for their management development needs."

Targeted at organisations with 20 or more executives sharing similar management development needs, custom programmes are tailored to the specific needs of a corporation or body.

"We design these programmes in close partnership with our clients," Mr Choy said. "Programme content is the result of intensive development to set clear and measurable objectives and match course content and learning techniques to a company's needs. Topics typically include such issues as leadership, strategy, change management, marketing and finance."

A consortium programme is an intensive one attended by executives from six to eight companies sharing similar development needs. Each one sends five to eight participants. "Participating organisations influence the content of the programmes," Mr Choy said. "Thus, consortium programmes combine the features of both custom programmes and open enrolment programmes, but the real value comes from the consortium members learning from each other through team and class sessions, sharing best practices and gaining insights into how the consortium partners tackle issues in different ways."

Consortium programmes have proven very popular in Hong Kong. They strengthen the leadership and strategic management skills of executives and provide networking opportunities within different types of organisations.

"A lot of companies would like their executives to be exposed to how executives in other industries deal with the same issues," Mr Choy said. "Many of our clients send certain groups of executives to custom programmes and other groups to consortium programmes."

Executives need to return to the classroom for many reasons.

"A lot of people start in a functional role," Mr Choy said. "At some point they need to look at things from a more company-wide - or cross-enterprise - perspective instead of from the perspective of someone in sales, marketing or accounting."

Ivey has been ranked as Greater China's No1 provider of executive education for three years running. One of its selling points is its commitment to the case study method, developed and popularised at Harvard.

Under this system students begin by working through what business schools call a case - a real-world problem that happened within a genuine corporate setting - on an individual basis. They develop recommendations based on their understanding of the case and discuss the case in more detail within their group. They finally meet with the rest of the class and - under the guidance of the professor - take part in an in-depth discussion of the case and all of its implications.

Kathleen Slaughter, executive director and associate dean, Ivey Asia, said it was important that students had all of the information - including misinformation - that real-world decision-makers would have.

It is this practical focus that adds value to an executive education programme.

Hong Kong Culture & Heritage Day proclaimed in Toronto
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Government Press Release

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Toronto Mayor David Miller (middle) proclaims April 26, 2006 as "Hong Kong Culture and Heritage Day" today (April 26, Toronto time) at the Toronto City Hall to pay tribute to Hong Kong's spirit and its evolution. Also present at the proclamation were (from left) Rita Tsang, Ross Cronin, HKETO Director Bassanio So, Toronto City Councillor Raymond Cho, Dr Joseph Wong, HKRep's Tony Leung, Fredric Mao, Louisa So and Alice Lau.

It was a moment of great honour for Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre today (April 26, Toronto time) when Toronto Mayor David Miller proclaimed April 26, 2006 as "Hong Kong Culture & Heritage Day" in the City of Toronto to pay tribute to Hong Kong's spirit and its evolution as a key global economic and cultural player, and to recognise the close economic and cultural ties between Hong Kong and Toronto.

The proclamation was made by Mayor Miller when he joined the Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Mr Bassanio So, the two co-chairs of the "Tribute to Hong Kong" Gala, Ms Rita Tsang of Tour East Holidays and Mr Ross Cronin of Cathay Pacific Airways; Dr Joseph Wong, chair of the Yee Hong Community Wellness Foundation; Flora Chong, event chair of the "Love in a Fallen City" performances in Toronto, in welcoming the HKRep's three leading performers Tony Leung (known for his role in Jean-Jacques Annaud's "The Lover"), Louisa So, Alice Lau, and director Fredric Mao at the Toronto City Hall.

Following his announcement, Mayor Miller presented a proclamation plaque to the group as a memento of the occasion.

Today's proclamation is the third in less than a year, following the proclamation in Vancouver in January and the "Hong Kong Day" in Calgary last August.

The "Hong Kong Culture & Heritage Day" was also endorsed by the Prime Minister of Canada, Mr Stephen Harper. In a greeting sent by the Prime Minister, he recognised the "immense contributions of the Hong Kong community in the Greater Toronto Area", and "Hong Kong's dynamic culture and heritage".

The occasion is being celebrated with a series of cultural events to be held from today until April 30. They include: the "Tribute to Hong Kong" gala, a heritage exhibit on Hong Kong at the Hilton Suites in Markham; presentation of a pair of shoes by Tony Leung to the Bata Shoe Museum's "Walk of Fame" collection, a panel discussion on "Eileen Chang - From Novel to Stage" at the University of Toronto at the opening of Asian Heritage Month in Toronto; and the four stage performances of "Love in a Fallen City" at Ryerson University Theatre.

Hong Kong community in Canada a solid bridge between the two places
Government Press Release
Thursday, April 27, 2006

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About 500 guests attending a gala reception this evening (April 26, Toronto time) were told that Hong Kong immigrants in Canada, in particular, the Greater Toronto Area, represent a solid bridge between Canada and Hong Kong.

At the "Tribute to Hong Kong" gala, the Director of the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office (Canada) (HKETO) thanked the Hong Kong community for their contributions to Canada, describing them as Hong Kong's "assets in Canada" - their seamless integration into the Canadian society has helped weave a close and tight social knot between Canada and Hong Kong. He praised them for making "Hong Kong Canada's bridgehead in China" and at the same time, they are also "Hong Kong's bridge to Canada".

The Hong Kong Gala is the highlight of a series of cultural celebrations to be held from today until April 30 to recognise Hong Kong's arts and culture in the City of Toronto, and bringing Hong Kong's performing art to the Toronto community. These events also serve as a tribute to the strong Hong Kong community in the Greater Toronto area which has contributed tremendously to the well-being of Canada and the country's multi-cultural mosaic.

Hong Kong: Canada's Partner in Prosperity
Friday, May 19, 2006
Government Press Release

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Picture shows the Hon Perrin Beatty, President and CEO of the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, Canada's largest trade and industry organization, delivering a keynote speech entitled "Hong Kong: Canada's Partner in Prosperity" to 170 political and business leaders at a Parliament Hill breakfast meeting in Ottawa today (May 18, Toronto time). He told the audience that China is a land of opportunity for Canadian companies, and Hong Kong is the gateway to this emerging economic and industrial powerhouse. "If Canadians could combine the advantages that come from our natural bounty and diverse population with the creativity and work ethic that typify Hong Kong, the result would be a world-beater," he said.

China was a land of opportunity for Canadian companies, and Hong Kong was the gateway to this emerging economic and industrial powerhouse, the head of Canada's largest trade and industry organisation said today (May 18, Toronto time).

In a keynote speech entitled "Hong Kong: Canada's Partner in Prosperity", President and CEO of the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters Mr Perrin Beatty told the 170 political and business leaders at a Parliament Hill breakfast meeting in Ottawa that China and India were fuelling the "next-generation industrial revolution" and rewriting the rules of the game. "Simply put, business as usual is not an option," Mr Beatty said.

The power breakfast is an annual event in the Canadian capital presented by the Ottawa Section of the Hong Kong-Canada Business Association, with the support of the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office (HKETO) in Canada.

Mr Beatty encouraged Canadian business people to make use of gateway position of Hong Kong, which advocated and practised free trade — a free and liberal investment regime, the absence of trade barriers, no discrimination against overseas investors, freedom of capital movement, well-established rule of law, transparent regulations, and low and predictable taxation.

The former federal minister recalled his impressions after his first visit to Hong Kong – "millions of people living in an area not much larger than my constituency whose only resources were geography and ingenuity, but who had become world leaders in a wide range of areas."

"It left me feeling that if Canadians could combine the advantages that come from our natural bounty and diverse population with the creativity and work ethic that typify Hong Kong the result would be a world-beater," he said.

Mr Beatty pointed out that there were 250,000 Canadians living and working in Hong Kong, and more than 150 Canadian companies operating there, ranging from Canada's big banks and insurance companies to locally incorporated service companies. Direct investment from Canada reached C$2.9 billion last year.

Hong Kong offers excellent commercial opportunities to Canadian firms. Last year, Canada exported almost C$2 billion in goods to Hong Kong, making it Canada's 14th largest export destination for goods. Hong Kong companies have cumulative investments in Canada of C$5 billion.

Mr Beatty said China's nine per cent per annum compounding growth over the last two decades already had a profound effect on Hong Kong, "where people now talk, not about goods being 'Made in Hong Kong', but being 'Made for Hong Kong'. While the actual production of goods may be taking place across the border in the Pearl River Delta or beyond, Hong Kong manufacturers have focused on high value-added elements of their business, such as design, distribution, promotion, sales, financing, service and brand management."

The new opportunity in China has also spawned a host of new challenges, according to Mr Beatty. "But with a population of more than 1.3 billion, the Asian giant represents a potentially colossal market for Canadian companies."

China is fast becoming the world's manufacturing and exporting giant. China's Gross Domestic Product now exceeds US$1.3 trillion – about 40% more than Canada’s. China's exports are now eight times larger than they were only 10 years ago. The country is now Canada's third largest trading partner and Canada is China's 10th. Total two-way trade totalled over $8 billion last year - 50 times higher than it was in 1970.

"China is a land of opportunity for Canadian companies and Hong Kong is positioned as the gateway to emerging economic powerhouse. We speak the same language, have a better appreciation for the Western-influenced culture and share similar values," he said, adding that those who once saw China's growth as a threat, now saw it as the key to their prosperity. "We must look at globalisation and international competition as an opportunity to make ourselves stronger."

Mr Beatty said the World Trade Organisation provided the cornerstone of Canada's trade policy and the foundation for Canada's relations with its trading partners, including emerging markets and developing countries. "And, in this uncertain and tumultuous economic era, we must enhance our relationship with Hong Kong. For well over a century, Hong Kong has served as the gateway to Mainland China. Obviously, there is nowhere better to obtain the expertise, information and facilities needed to tap in to the Chinese market, especially as economic expansion is fuelled through trade due to its entry in the WTO."

The Director of the HKETO, Mr Bassanio So, also added that Hong Kong was now playing a role as Canada's beachhead in China. He said Hong Kong benefited from riding on the intense China wave –that Hong Kong was not only the biggest investor in China but also the largest recipient of China's foreign direct investment. "We are the window through which Chinese companies invest in or do business with foreign countries," he said.

Last year's parliamentary breakfast was attended by some 100 people. The increase of participants for this year indicated a growing interest among Canadian companies in doing business with Asia, particularly, Hong Kong and China, according to Mr So.

Manitoba proclaims "Hong Kong Week" at Canada-Hong Kong Forum
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Government Press Release

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The Canadian Province of Manitoba today (May 29, Canada time) proclaimed this week as "Hong Kong Week in Manitoba" to mark the long-established and active relationship with Hong Kong, and the "Hong Kong Family" members including the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office (HKETO) in Canada, Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), and Hong Kong-Canada Business Association (HKCBA).

The proclamation, which was jointly signed by Manitoba's Minister of Culture, Heritage and Tourism, the Hon Eric Robinson; and the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and Trade, the Hon Scott Smith, was officially announced by Minister Smith to the 300 delegates from across Canada attending the 2006 HKCBA Canada-Hong Kong Business Forum at the Winnipeg Convention Centre.

"As a result of the Province of Manitoba and Hong Kong's business and cultural ties, it is deemed appropriate that a special week be proclaimed," Mr Smith said. The highlights of the Hong Kong activities in Manitoba during the week also include "The Heritage of Hong Kong" display at the Winnipeg Millennium Library, and the national board meeting of the eight sections of the HKCBA.

Speaking at the opening of the two-day business forum, Manitoba Deputy Premier, the Hon Rosann Wowchuk, recalled the experience of her 2004 visit to Hong Kong and Mainland China as the leader of a provincial trade mission. "I saw firsthand the potential that exists there," she said.

"As Agriculture Minister, I saw opportunities in food industry, animal and plant genetics, agriculture equipment and systems, and technology transfer arrangements. As Deputy Premier, I also saw the bigger picture - and the opportunities in power and energy, environmental protect, commodities, education, machinery, professional and financial services, and immigration."

"China, including Hong Kong, is currently one of our largest trading partners - and with its rapidly growing industrial base, there is much opportunity to expand this relationship," she said. "There is, in fact, room for many relationships and linkages that will benefit both Western Canadian and Chinese businesses."

"Just as Hong Kong is the gateway to China, so is Western Canada the gateway to the rest of Canada," the Deputy Premier said.

Also speaking at the forum, Director of the HKETO Mr Bassanio So said the Winnipeg forum, which was the second annual forum presented by the HKCBA after last one in Ottawa, had attracted many Canadian businesspeople who would like to know more about the latest developments in China and how Canadian companies could participate in it "through a very user-friendly platform - Hong Kong".

"Being the international financial centre of China and Asia's world city, Hong Kong benefits from riding on the China wave," he said. "We are not only the gateway for foreign companies to invest or do business in China; we are also the window through which Chinese companies invest in or do business with foreign countries."

"For Canada, Hong Kong assumes a stronger role. We are not just a gateway for Canadian companies to do business in China; we are indeed Canada's beachhead in China," Mr So said, citing that fact that Hong Kong was the largest recipient of Canadian foreign direct investment in China, and the second largest investor in Canada from the Asia-Oceanic region.

This year's national business forum in the leading city of Canada's Prairie Provinces is the result of the joint effort of the eight HKCBA sections in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax.

It presents the key elements that Canadian businesses need to know in exploring the rapidly growing markets in China, including using Hong Kong as a platform to other parts of China and South East Asia. In addition, the forum also showcases Western Canada's best capabilities to serve that market and tell the participants how to work co-operatively with Hong Kong and Chinese companies.

With the theme "Your Smart Link to China: Hong Kong", the business forum discusses various subjects that are of special interest and importance to Canadian companies. They include: "The Mutual Gateways of Hong Kong and Manitoba", "Matching the China Need and the Prairie Capability", and "Challenges and Opportunities in Logistics, Transportation and Business Style".

Senior representatives and trade experts from the public and business sectors share their winning strategies and success stories in fast-tracking into the China market. They discuss ways to remove some of the potential risks and anxieties that some Canadian business people have.

The forum's speakers include Deputy Executive Director of the HKTDC Steve Alexander, Senior Trade Commissioner of Canadian Consulate in Hong Kong David McNamara, Ian McNabb of Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, Associate Director-General of Invest Hong Kong Simon Gaplin, President of Saskatchewan Trade & Export Partnership Dale Botting, Ms Elizabeth Thomson of ICS Trust (Hong Kong); Paul Deprez of Manitoba Environmental Industries Association/ Nordevco; Randy Stoyko of Manitoba Agriculture, Food & Rural Initiatives; Vice-President of Cathay Pacific in Canada Philippe Lacamp, Senior Vice-President of Winnipeg Airports Authority Michael Rodyniuk, Senior Trade Commissioner of Canadian Consulate in Guangzhou, China Ms Mona Ip, and Partner of Long Term Asset Management Craig Chapman.

Toronto Dragon Boat Festival features "Brand Hong Kong" Sedan Chairs
Government Press Release
Sunday, June 25, 2006

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Three traditional sedan chairs vividly decorated with the stylish "Brand Hong Kong" flying dragon today (June 24, Toronto time) led the opening procession of the 18th Toronto International Dragon Boat Race Festival on the Centre Island, capturing the attention of thousands of visitors to the two-day annual event.

Organised by the Toronto Chinese Business Association (TCBA), this year's Dragon Boat Race Festival, is the largest ever held in Toronto. The Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office (HKETO) in Canada, and the Hong Kong Tourism Board, as sponsors of the event, added a new component to the Festival by introducing a new and entertaining competition -- "The Historic Family Adventure Race" -- in which families will be competing in a series of intellectual and physical challenges.

The highlight of "The Historic Family Adventure Race", to be held tomorrow (June 25, Toronto time) will be the Hong Kong Sedan Chair Race. The finalists (eight families of four), will be participating in the race to complete the required tasks and to compete for first prize of a family trip to Hong Kong with four roundtrip air tickets, accommodation and a free guided tour to some of Hong Kong's most popular tourist spots.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Dragon Boat Race Festival, the Assistant Director of the HKETO, Stephen Siu, said: "Hong Kong introduced dragon boat races to Canada about two decades ago, and helped nurture the races into a full-scale cultural festival together with the TCBA. We are delighted this time to add a new element to the Festival to generate more excitement. We hope to see the Sedan Chair Race becoming another popular event in Toronto after the annual Dragon Boat Festival."

This year's races are participated by 180 teams, including those from Canada and the United States. The Festival each year attracts over 25,000 visitors and is described as one of the largest international dragon boat races organised outside Hong Kong.

June 27, 2006
Government Press Release
Frederick Ma woos Canadian investors

Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury Frederick Ma has encouraged Canadian investment dealers to use Hong Kong to access business opportunities on the Mainland.

Delivering a keynote speech at a conference in Whistler, Canada, today, Mr Ma highlighted areas where Hong Kong can facilitate Canadian companies in their Mainland investments, and Hong Kong's role as the premier capital formation centre for Mainland enterprises and as a major asset management centre.

"With 13 years of experience in raising capital for Mainland companies, Hong Kong has firmly established its position as the preferred listing venue for Mainland enterprises," he said.

"The IPO by the Bank of China last month, which was reported to be the biggest IPO worldwide in six years, has demonstrated again to the world the growing participation of Mainland enterprises in the global capital markets as well as the substantial fund-raising capability of Hong Kong's stock market."

Huge potential

Hong Kong's markets offer an abundant supply of investment opportunities with huge growth potential to investors from all over the world, he said.

Noting there are only a few Canadian brokerage firms in Hong Kong, Mr Ma encouraged investment dealers to take advantage of the excellent prospects of Hong Kong's asset management industry and use the city as their regional base.

"With our unique strengths and close ties with the Mainland, we provide an excellent financial intermediation channel for funds flowing into and out of the Mainland.

"There is no shortage of lucrative investment and business opportunities, and more and more prestigious fund houses and other financial institutions are coming to Hong Kong. You surely would not want to lag behind."

Officials to share Canadian experience on PPPs
Sunday, July 9, 2006
Government Press Release

Officials on a recent study tour to Canada on Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) will share their experience with their counterparts in bureaux/departments at a seminar on July 31.

The purpose is to allow a wider cross section of civil servants and interested private sector practitioners to benefit from the lessons learned during the visit.

An Efficiency Unit spokesman today (July 9) said that the visit was organised by the unit, jointly with the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Canada, and with assistance from the Canadian Consulate in Hong Kong and various Canadian ministries.

Comprising 19 directorate grade and senior professional officers from 14 policy bureaux and departments, the delegation visited Canada from June 19 to June 28 to experience Canadian approaches and practices in delivering public facilities and services by PPPs.

The Hong Kong delegation took the opportunity to learn from the experience of their Canadian counterparts, to learn what has worked and what has not, to facilitate consideration and development of its own programmes and projects, the spokesman added.

"Canada has developed considerable expertise in the PPP field. The PPP approach has been used extensively to deliver public services in sectors including health care, IT, sports and recreation, arts and culture, transportation and urban renewal at federal, provincial and local levels of government in Canada," he said.

Led by the Assistant Director of the Efficiency Unit, Mr Steve Barclay, the group took part in an eight-day long programme that included more than 40 site visits/briefings/meetings/workshops in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver and Victoria.

HK-Canada joint operation against counterfeit credit card crimes
Monday, August 14, 2006
Government Press Release

The Hong Kong Police (HKP) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) jointly mounted an intelligence-based operation, resulting in the arrest of a 21-year-old man for trafficking in credit cards in Toronto on July 29 (July 28 Toronto time).

On July 21, HKP received a report from a delivery company that a parcel, containing nine cans of Chinese tea, destined for Toronto from the mainland via Hong Kong was intercepted after suspicious elements were found. Police investigations revealed that a total of 132 partially completed counterfeit credit cards were concealed inside the nine cans of Chinese tea.

The Commercial Crime Bureau of the HKP took up investigation and contacted the RCMP. A controlled delivery of counterfeit credit cards operation was jointly conducted. The 21-year-old man who accepted the parcel was arrested for trafficking in credit cards in Toronto on July 29.

The man was subsequently charged and will appear in Scarborough Court on September 11.

The success of this operation has demonstrated the determination of the HKP to work in partnership with other law enforcement agencies to combat counterfeit credit card crimes.

Calgary Street Festival features Hong Kong displays
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Government Press Release

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As a highlight of the Hong Kong Week in Calgary, the Chinatown Street Festival was opened today (August 26, Calgary Time) by the Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in Canada, Mr Bassanio So, and other dignitaries.

Addressing at the opening ceremony, Mr So thanked the city of Calgary proclaiming this week as the Hong Kong Week to recognise the vibrant culture and thriving spirit of Hong Kong, Asia's world city. He also took the opportunity to briefly update the dignitaries and guests the latest economic development in Hong Kong.

Mr So said despite a series of challenges including the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s and the SARS outbreak in 2003, Hong Kong has survived well and the recent economic indicators are impressive.

"Our real GDP grew by 8.6% in 2004 and 7.3% in 2005. Hong Kong economy, after an exceptionally strong growth of 8.0% in the first quarter, grew by 5.2% in the second quarter of 2006. This marked the eleventh consecutive quarter that GDP growth exceeded the average trend growth of 3.9% in the past ten years," he said.

As in other areas, Mr So told the guests that Hong Kong's stock market now ranks second in Asia and eighth in the world in terms of market capitalisation. Hong Kong, as one of the most popular tourist destinations in the region, growth on the total visitor arrivals in the first seven month of this year has reached 14.38 million, representing 10.3% on last year.

Also officiating at today's opening were Chinese Consul General in Calgary, Mr Song Xizhu; Solicitor General of Alberta, the Hon Harvey Cenaiko; and Calgary's Deputy Police Chief, Mr Peter Davison.

Held annually, the Calgary Chinatown Street Festival offers an array of live entertainment, cultural activities, and culinary delights. The stage performances, night market and "Chopstick Challenge" were among the well-received activities in the day-long festival in the heart of Calgary's Chinatown.

In just six years, the festival has become a tradition in Calgary. Supported by the HKETO, the festival this year featured a "Hong Kong – Asia's world city" photo exhibition, and a Hong Kong heritage display. A five-part TV documentary "The Hong Kong Connection – Canada and the New China", co-produced by Rogers OMNI Television and the HKETO, was also screened at the Chinatown festival. The well-received documentary focuses on Canada's contributions to the economic development of both Hong Kong and China; Hong Kong's position as one of the world's leading economic and business centres, and its booming tourism and entertainment business.

Closer business links between HK and Canada's maritime provinces
Friday, September 22, 2006
Government Press Release

http://gia.info.gov.hk/general/200609/22/P200609220091_photo_380471.JPG

From left, Immediate Past President of the Hong Kong-Canada Business Association (Halifax Section), Ms Bonnie Kirby; the Director of the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office in Canada, Mr Bassanio So; Halifax Mayor Peter Kelly; and Regional Director, Americas, of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Mr Stephen Wong.

The Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in Canada, Mr Bassanio So, today (September 21, Halifax time) met with Halifax Mayor Peter Kelly to discuss different means to forge business links between Hong Kong, Halifax and other key cities in Canada's maritime provinces.

Mr So told Mayor Kelly that he had detected growing interest among companies in Atlantic Canada to expand their market to China since his last meeting with the Mayor about a year ago. He cited the example of the China-based China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) signing an agreement with the Port of Halifax to further develop sea trade between China and the eastern part of Canada.

On the business relationship between Hong Kong and Canada, the HKETO Director mentioned that business people in Nova Scotia had conducted a very successful trade mission to Hong Kong and China last fall, noting that another Halifax trade delegation would be going to Guangzhou later this year. "Such a trend indicates that companies in Atlantic Canada have a very strong interest in expanding to the Hong Kong and China market," he said.

Mr So also extended an invitation to the Mayor, inviting him to visit Hong Kong to witness its development since the changeover and its economic integration with south China.

Prior to the meeting with Mayor Kelly, the HKETO Director spoke at a business seminar on the topic, "Latest Opportunities in Hong Kong and China", talking about the advantages of using Hong Kong as a platform to enter the China market. The seminar attracted representatives from more than 70 companies in Halifax.

Yesterday, Mr So met with Nova Scotia's Minister of Economic Development, Mr Richard Hurlburt, to update him on Hong Kong's latest initiatives in developing its information technology and biotechnology.

Hong Kong - an ideal sourcing platform for Canadian companies
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Government Press Release

The Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Canada, Mr Bassanio So, today (October 24, Canada time) encouraged Canadian companies to use Hong Kong as their sourcing platform and to make use of its unique advantages.

Addressing a business workshop entitled "Hong Kong: Your Gateway to China" organised by the Canadian Association of Importers and Exporters (IE Canada), Mr So said: "Hong Kong has some of the best merchandising specialists in the world. They have solid knowledge of China's manufacturing environment as well as Western business practices and standards.

"Our sourcing expertise and professionals have made Hong Kong, Asia's world city, the world's 11th largest trading entity with total merchandise trade amounting to US$586 billion in 2005," he said, adding that Hong Kong is also home to many leading traders in the world – 16 of 17 Fortune 500 trading companies are present there.

Mr So pointed out that as the window to sourcing in Mainland China, Hong Kong handles about 19% of China's imports and 22% of its exports, and more than 75% of international buyers of consumer products source Chinese goods via Hong Kong. The city is also the largest investor in each and every province in Mainland China, accounting for 46% of China's total foreign direct investment.

In addition to being a regional business hub, Mr So said Hong Kong is also the eyes and ears for regional sourcing opportunities in the Greater China area and the Asia Pacific region "because it provides capital, management, world-class infrastructure, transport and communications, connections to the international business community and technology to foreign companies."

"Canadian companies should make use of our competitive edge as their sourcing platform. The trading community in Hong Kong offers unparalleled knowledge of and access to factories in the Mainland, which gives overseas firms direct access to some of the most experienced and reliable production facilities in the Pearl River Delta and across Mainland China," he said.

"As some of the foreign companies who sourced from Hong Kong rightly pointed out, Hong Kong offers high working efficiency, latest market information and extensive links to all major business destinations. Our proximity to the Mainland China, and an ever increasing, and sophisticated supply base, give the Asia's world city another distinctive edge," Mr So added.

Hong Kong's gateway role as the preferred sourcing platform for foreign companies is further enhanced by its supporting infrastructure, which includes logistics and transportation, financial services, insurance services, communication infrastructure and its common law legal system.

Also speaking at today's session was the Director of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) in Canada, Mr Andrew Yui. The topic of his presentation was "TDC's Services – Your Sourcing and Marketing Platform".

港人投資移民加國或等8年 積壓逾千申請 全球最多 (明報) 10月 27日 星期五 05:05AM

【明報專訊】據《明報》加拿大版報道，今年截至9月1日加拿大駐港簽證辦事處積壓的投資移民個案多達1370宗，積壓個案全球最多，佔總數42%。由於本港每年審理投資移民的工作目標配額僅得165宗，
廣 告
以此推算，最近在本港遞表投資移民申請人可能要等8年才獲審理。

配額將倍增 料2年清積壓

本港移民顧問關景鴻認為申請者毋須太擔心，他收到最新消息，加拿大政府最快下月宣布把全球每年投資移民配額由約1000個倍增至2000個，他相信可有效解決全球性的申請個案積壓問題，料在香港遞表的投資移民申請人個案應可在2年內獲解決。

對於香港申請個案的積壓問題今年何以趨於嚴重，關景鴻解釋，以往加拿大駐港辦事處處理投資移民的效率較亞洲其他辦事處為高。但加拿大政府疑為了公平，年前改為要求全球同步處理投資移民申請，香港個案的審理速度相對變慢了。

關氏補充，現時每年在本港遞表的逾千名申請人，相信僅約一成是港人，其餘均為內地人。

據加拿大移民部數字，亞洲3個「投資移民積壓個案」較多的地方，包括香港（1370宗）、韓國首爾(相關新聞 - 網站)(相關新聞 - 網站)（681宗）及台北（560宗），由於香港及台北每年「審核申請的工作目標配額」分別僅為165及115宗，以此推算香港及台北的積壓個案分別要8年及5年才能完成審查。

Tycoon forged ties between China, Canada
Nicholas Keung
Toronto Star
31 October 2006

Unlike other Hong Kong tycoons who look to Toronto and Vancouver to make their mark on the Canadian scene, Henry Fok Ying-Tung was drawn to Calgary.

Not only was the city his favourite retreat from a hectic political and business life between Hong Kong and China, it was also where Fok saw the growing needs of a budding Chinese community and believed he could make a contribution away from the spotlight.

"He was a very low-key individual. There's no pricey watch and clothes. He just carried a cheap ballpoint pen and small pocketbook with him, nothing fancy," recalled Vincent Leung, a senator of the University of Calgary, one of the most recent beneficiaries of Fok's philanthropy.

"He was not lavish at all. He always said, 'Don't eat extravagantly. It'll hurt your health.' He was just a down-to-earth businessman with a global vision," added Leung, a family friend for more than a decade.

Fok, who was nicknamed "the godfather" for his economic and political influence as well as his close ties to China, died of cancer at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital in the Chinese capital Saturday. He was 83.

Born in 1923 in Guangdong province, Fok rose from humble roots to become one of the city's wealthiest and most powerful men through real estate investment, port trades and enterprises in Macau's casino industry. With a net worth of $3.7 billion, he ranked 181st among Forbes magazine's richest in the world in 2006.

Always a champion for China and its culture, Fok came to Calgary in 1986 at the invitation of his close friend, Ho Ming-Sze, to promote Chinese chess, and fell in love with Banff National Park, where he would return regularly to enjoy the Rockies.

While Fok may be an unfamiliar name to most Canadians, he was no stranger to the Chinese community in Calgary, where he was a major donor to the Chinese Cultural Centre, the 115-bed Christian Wing Kei Nursing Home and the Calgary Chinese Elderly Citizens' Association.

"The Chinese have an expression: 'Like the sea being a gathering place of hundreds of rivers regardless of their sources,' broadmindedness commands immense tolerance to different ideas and thoughts regardless of their origin," Fok said in a speech at the cultural centre's grand opening ceremony in 1992.

"The primary reason for an outstanding culture to be able to endure thousands of years without losing its vitality is due to its ability to incorporate different ideas and philosophies from other cultures into its own."

Leung, who also heads the Calgary Canadian and Chinese Education Foundation, established by Fok in 1996 to promote cultural and academic exchanges between China and Canada, said: "Mr. Fok wasn't a Canadian (citizen or resident) and he had no reason to help all these community organizations. That just tells you what a giving person he was."

Fok's latest donation in Canada was a $2 million gift last month to help build the University of Calgary's Dr. Fok Ying Tung International House. It was delivered by one of his two sons, Ian, a University of British Columbia graduate.

Gary Durbeniuk, U of C's chief development officer, praised Fok as a "tremendous visionary" who understood the global marketplace and the need to create opportunities for people to meet through cultural exchange.

"Mr. Fok encouraged the international exchange program and (as a result) our largest international alumni body is from China," Durbeniuk explained. "Any time we lose a passionate visionary, it's a loss to our world community. But we hope to continue with his vision here."

News of Fok's death was splashed across the front pages of newspapers in Hong Kong and China, as well as Chinese-language dailies in Canada. Some called him "a renowned patriot" and "a close friend of the Communist Party of China." .

Fok, a close friend of former state leader Deng Xiao Ping, was named a vice-chair of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the Chinese parliament's main consultative body.

His journey into Beijing's political inner sanctum began half a century ago during the Korean War, when he defied a United Nations embargo to smuggle vital medical supplies, including penicillin, into China. It was also alleged he smuggled guns over the border to further the Communist cause.

The Communist party rewarded his devotion with business monopolies, including the export of sand for construction. He became known in Beijing as the "Patriotic Capitalist."

Fok's other son, Timothy, said a service for his father would be held at the Hong Kong Funeral Home.

Hong Kong, Canada renew MOU
Thursday, December 7, 2006
Government Press Release

http://gia.info.gov.hk/general/200612/07/P200612070135_photo_388221.JPG

Hong Kong and Canada today (December 7) renewed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to further enhance co-operation in information and communications technology (ICT).

The renewed MOU was signed by the Permanent Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology (Communications and Technology), Mr Francis Ho, and the President of Communications Research Centre of the Department of Industry of Canada, Dr Veena Rawat.

The signing ceremony was held at the Hong Kong pavilion at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) TELECOM WORLD 2006. Mr Ho said at the ceremony that the renewal of the MOU signified the strong connections in the ICT sector between Canada and Hong Kong.

He pointed out that Hong Kong had been fostering ties in ICT co-operation with other countries in the form of MOU in recent years.

“Canada is our first ICT MOU partner since 1998, and this is the second time we have extended the term.

"Under the MOUs, we are aiming to create synergy and establish mutually beneficial relationship among relevant government agencies and industry organisations to enhance the ICT development in the respective economies.

"I am glad to note that many collaborative activities have been organised under the auspices of the MOU," Mr Ho said.

Many exchange and co-operative activities were conducted under the auspices of the Hong Kong/Canada ICT MOU. The major forms of co-operation include mutual visit, exchange forum, trade facilitation, business partnership and student exchange programme.

For example: the co-operation between the Communications Research Centre of Canada and the Wireless Technology Industry Association of Hong Kong in the fields of mobile and wireless technologies and application development, testing and technology transfer; and the co-operation between Alberta's Banff Centre and the Hong Kong Cyberport Management Co Ltd in the digital media sector.

"I am confident that the synergy generated from such exchanges and cooperation will enable us to compete more successfully in today's global arena," Mr Ho said.

Hong Kong and Canada first signed the MOU on ICT in 1998, which was renewed in 2002 for five years. The MOU was renewed today for a further five years until 2012. Under the renewed MOU, the two places will seek co-operation in the following areas of common interest:

(a) software applications, products and policy, including:
- multimedia and digital entertainment;
- Internet;
- e-Government;
- Information Technology (IT) Security; and
- e-Health

(b) information and communications infrastructure and related policy, including:
- electronic commerce;
- current and future issues in telecommunications policy;
- broadband networks and applications; and
- wireless technologies and services

First-ever "Hong Kong Week" in Edmonton to kick off
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Government Press Release

The Hong Kong community in Edmonton, with the support of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in Canada, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and the Hong Kong Tourism Board, will stage a series of business, outreach and community events in Edmonton to further enhance the understanding of Edmontonions about the vibrancy of Hong Kong, Asia’s world city.

The week-long promotion will kick off tomorrow (March 17, Edmonton time) at the “A Touch of Hong Kong Gala” during which Mayor Stephen Mandel of Edmonton will make an official announcement proclaiming the week of March 16 to March 23, 2007 the “Hong Kong Week in Edmonton” to recognize the close relationship between Edmonton and Hong Kong, and the efforts of the organizers in organizing the various Hong Kong projects.

Joining Mayor Mandel at the Gala is Mr. Bassanio So, Director of the HKETO in Canada. Mr. So said that the proclamation of Hong Kong Week by Edmonton reflects the importance placed by Edmonton to Hong Kong.

"Edmonton is Alberta's capital city and gateway to the Canadian North. Hong Kong, on the other hand, is the gateway to China Mainland. There are tremendous opportunities for collaboration between the two gateways.

"The proclamation also reflects the contributions made by the Hong Kong community in Edmonton to the city’s developments, and to foster closer economic and social relationships between Edmonton and Hong Kong," said Mr So.

The Hong Kong Week activities are organized by the Hong Kong-Canada Business Association (Edmonton Section), the 97 Street and Area Business Association, the Photographic Arts Society of Alberta and the Metro Cinema Society.

In addition to the Gala, other activities will also be staging during the Hong Kong Week. Starting from today (March 16, Edmonton time) until March 23, the 97 Street and Area Business Association is hosting a "Passport to Hong Kong" event to allow Edmontonians to experience some of Hong Kong's shopping culture. People who attend a Hong Kong Week event or visit a business establishment in Chinatown will receive a Hong Kong Passport stamp which allows them to enter a lucky draw for two return ticket to Hong Kong.

A Hong Kong Film Festival showcasing a series of award-winning movies produced in Hong Kong will be shown at the Metrocinema (http://www.metrocinema.org/events/hkFilmFest) from March 18 to March 23. They are: "One Night in Mongkok", "Lost in Time", "Love Battlefield", "The Mission", "Wait 'til You're Older", "Throw Down", "Running on Karma" and "Home Sweet Home".

A photo exhibition entitled "Five Decades under the Lion Rock – Courage, Aspiration & a Prosperous Future" will display a collection of old and modern Hong Kong photos taken by Hong Kong photographers who are now residing in Canada. The compilation, which will be staged at the Edmonton City Hall from March 18 to March 23, reflects the development of Hong Kong over the past five decades.

Meanwhile, a Canada-Hong Kong business forum entitled "Hong Kong - Your Smart Link to China" to be held on Monday (March 19, Edmonton time) at the Sutton Place Hotel will offer Edmonton businesses an opportunity to gain new insights, share ideas and network with experienced professionals about using Hong Kong as the gateway to China on the fields of international trade, finance, transportation and logistics.

Cathay Pacific adds flights
Vancouver Sun
17 March 2007
Vancouver Sun

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20060827/IMG_2282.jpg
Cathay 747 in Vancouver

Due to growing customer demand, Cathay Pacific has announced it will add three Vancouver-to-Hong Kong flights per week to its schedule from June 14 to Oct.28, 2007, inclusive, increasing the frequency from 14 to 17 flights weekly non-stop from Vancouver to Hong Kong -- more than any other airline.

The additional flights will offer greater flexibility for Cathay Pacific passengers travelling to Hong Kong, while enabling seamless connections to the airline's extensive network in Asia. Also, the recent integration of Dragonair into the Cathay Pacific Group adds a choice of more than 20 destinations in Mainland China.

wha......? they are having a Hong Kong week here in Edmonton?? how come I didn't know that. :dunno:

Hong Kong Week is being held in Edmonton March 16th to 23rd to showcase the growing relationship and strengthened business links between Edmonton and Asia’s world city, Hong Kong.
http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/contests/hongkong/index.html

“Hong Kong remains one of the most important business centres in Asia, and the City of Edmonton values our strong working relationship and ongoing partnerships with this community” said Mayor Stephen Mandel.

Mr Bassanio So, Director of the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office (HKETO) and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government’s representative in Canada, added that the announcement of “Hong Kong Week” by Edmonton signified the already strong and close ties between the two places, and reinforced Edmonton’s business and cultural relations with Hong Kong.

“As the capital city of Alberta, Edmonton and Hong Kong share a lot of similarities,” he said. “We will continue to work closely with the city of Edmonton to foster stronger business ties.”

Mr. So said the “Hong Kong Week” would also be used to mark the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. It will feature “A Touch of Hong Kong” Gala, a Canada-Hong Kong business forum, a week-long Hong Kong film festival, and a “Five Decades Under the Lion Rock – Courage, Aspiration and a Prosperous Future” photo exhibition.

The weeklong event is organized by the Edmonton section of the Hong Kong-Canada Business Association, and the 97th Street and area Business Association. It is supported by the HKETO, Hong Kong Trade Development Council, and the Hong Kong Tourism Board.


City of Edmonton News Release
http://www.edmonton.ca/citygov/newsrls/rls0040.pdf

Former Hong Kong deputy commended by Canadian think-tank

HONG KONG, April 22, 2007 (AFP) - A leading Canadian think-tank said Sunday it had handed its annual award to Anson Chan, Hong Kong's former deputy leader who has become a champion of democracy in the Chinese territory.

Chan received the Fraser Institute's T Patrick Boyle Founder's Award, which is given to individuals who exemplify the institute's libertarian values.

Chan's tenure as deputy leader of Hong Kong spanned the 1997 handover of sovereignty when the city reverted to Chinese rule.

She resigned soon after amid disagreements with former leader Tung Chee-hwa and made a surprise return to the public eye in 2005 when she emerged as proponent of democracy here.

She has since joined anti-government marches and formed a group of intellectuals to propose reform of Hong Kong's political system from one where China effectively chooses city leaders to one where they are elected by popular vote.

The Fraser Institute champions free market economics and personal freedom, and famously rates the openness of each country's economy in an annual list, which Hong Kong regularly tops.

Toronto community celebrates Hong Kong's 10th anniversary at Bauhinia Gala
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Government Press Release

Over 1,000 community, business and political leaders today (June 15, Toronto time) shared the message of “One Country, Two Systems” and the economic concept of “9 + 2”, at the Bauhinia Gala at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The Gala is a major celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region organised by the Toronto community.

Spearheaded by the Centre for Information and Community Services of Ontario (CICS), a leading community organisation providing settlement services for new immigrants, the Bauhinia Gala was supported by almost 30 community and business associations in the Greater Toronto Area, as well as the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office (HKETO) and the Hong Kong Tourism Board in Canada. The event was also as a fundraiser for the CICS Immigrant Resource Centre project, which will be serving immigrants from all parts of the world.

The dignitaries at the event included Chinese Ambassador Lu Shumin, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, Senator Vivienne Poy, Chinese Consul-General Madam Zhu Taoying. The Hon Michael Chong, Member of Parliament, was speaking on behalf of the federal government. Miss Hong Kong (2006) Aimee Chan also brought a goodwill message from Hong Kong to all the guests there.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Honorary Chair of the Bauhinia Gala and the Director of the HKETO in Canada, Mr Bassanio So, said the much anticipated event not only marked the 10th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Hong Kong SAR, it also celebrated Hong Kong’s “Can-do” spirit, and the successful implementation of the “One country, two systems” principle.

Mr So told the guests that the FORTUNE magazine had made a prediction before the handover that “it’s over” for Hong Kong, and the TIME magazine had also said at that time that Hong Kong “is bleeding”. “Today, we have bowled over the world with our stellar economic dynamism and resilience, thanks to the entrepreneurship of the Hong Kong people”.

He said, “Riding on the booming economy on China’s mainland and the series of collaborative measures between China’s mainland and Hong Kong, Hong Kong’s economy is now on its best-ever shape since the handover.”

While explaining the theme of the Gala -“9+2” - Mr So said that “since our reunifications with the motherland, Hong Kong has been actively seeking economic collaboration with China’s mainland”, and “with the nine provinces (Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Jiangxi, Fujian and Hainan) in Southern China and the two special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao, together it forms an economic zone of 450 million people, roughly the entire NAFTA population.”

He said the Bauhinia Gala not only aimed to feature the cuisines and cultures of the Pan Pearl River Delta, it also showcased the gateway role of Hong Kong in helping Canadians understand China.

Meanwhile, Mr So also commended the participating organisations in the Greater Toronto Area for not only excelled in their businesses or professions, but also contributed selflessly and immeasurably to the Canadian society.

“I hope you would continue your effort in helping Canada to build a better relationship with China and its Special Administrative Region – Hong Kong,” he added.

With the theme of “9+2”, the Bauhinia Gala featured a unique menu showcasing the exceptional recipes and cuisines from nine South China provinces and the two Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau. Each course captures the essence of individual province’s signature cookery and offered the guests an unforgettable culinary experience.

The menu was devised and supervised by internationally known Toronto Chef Susur Lee, Hong Kong’s award-wining Chef Hip-fu Mak of the Langham Hotel, Chef Edwin Leung of Dragon Dynasty in Toronto, and Chef Angelo Fernandes of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

Highlights of this evening’s activities included the amazing “face-change” performance by Master Wai Shui-kwan that caught all the guests’ eyes, and the applauding performance by renowned Hong Kong singer Elisa Chan, who sang the 10th Anniversary theme song “Just Because of You Are Here” at the finale of the Bauhinia Gala.

"Hong Kong Spirit" highlighted at this year's Toronto International Dragon Boat Race Festival
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Government Press Release

To celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, this year's Toronto International Dragon Boat Race Festival has introduced a special "Hong Kong 10th Anniversary Cup" Race, which is being held over this weekend (June 16 and 17, Toronto time).

According to the organisers, the two-day event is expected to draw over 125,000 people to Toronto's Centre Island. About 180 teams with over 5,000 paddlers are competing for the "Hong Kong 10th Anniversary Cup" and the Grand Championship at the Festival.

At today's (June 16, Toronto time) opening ceremony, the Director of the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office (Canada), Mr Bassanio So, said he was very pleased to support this special race, which reflected the well-respected "Hong Kong Can-do Spirit" and the resilience of the Hong Kong people.

He said: "Over the past 10 years, Hong Kong has enjoyed a high degree of autonomy, as stipulated in the Basic Law. We have encountered many challenges, but we have successfully dealt with them with our 'Can-do' spirit. We have also strengthened our status as Asia's world city and world's major financial centre."
Apart from the "Hong Kong 10th Anniversary Cup" Race, a preview of an exhibition entitled "Five Decades under the Lion Rock - Courage, Aspiration & a Prosperous Future" featuring a collection of photographs taken by Hong Kong and Canadian photographers in Hong Kong during the last 50 years is also held at the Festival.

Quebec businesses encouraged to use Hong Kong as platform to China
Friday, June 22, 2007
Government Press Release

http://gia.info.gov.hk/general/200706/22/P200706220089_photo_396908.JPG

More than 30 business people from Quebec province gathered in Saint-Sauveur today (June 21, Toronto time) to hear a presentation entitled "Canada's Bridgehead in China: How Hong Kong can help Canadian companies doing business in China", given by the Director of the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office (HKETO) in Canada, Mr Bassanio So.

The half-day seminar was organised by the Quebec Chinese Economic, Educational and Cultural Exchange Centre. Among the participants were the Regional Director of Immigration Quebec, Ms Louise Trudeau, and Vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce of La Vallee de Saint-Sauveur, Mr Pierre Urquhart.

Mr So said Hong Kong was not only the third largest trade entity in Asia, it was also a gateway to China and other Asian markets. He cited the strong links between Hong Kong and Canada - more than 500 Canadian firms and 50 regional headquarters of Canadian companies were being operated in Hong Kong; and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong was one of the largest Canadian business associations in Asia.

How many cities in the world outside of China have a dragon boat race? I think it's great that Toronto has one!!

Hong Kong SAR 10th anniversary celebrated in Montreal
Government Press Release
Saturday, June 23, 2007

http://gia.info.gov.hk/general/200706/23/P200706230132_photo_397087.JPG

Over 400 guests, including leading politicians, business and community leaders attended a banquet Friday (June 22) evening in Montreal's Chinatown to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), and the successful implementation of the "One Country, Two Systems" principle.

Organized by the Hong Kong-Canada Commercial & Exchange Development Association together with about 40 organizations in Montreal's Chinese community, the event was the biggest HKSAR 10th anniversary celebration in the province of Quebec. Among the VIPs were federal Member of Parliament Marcel Lussier, Member of Quebec's provincial assembly Ms Catherine Morissette, Mayor the City of Brossard Jean-Marc Pelletier, Montreal City Councillor Marcel Tremblay, and Mr Zhang Weidong Minister Counsellor of the Embassy of the People's Republic China.

In his remarks at the banquet, the Director of the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office (HKETO) in Canada, Mr Bassanio So said, "In the past 10 years, the successful implementation of the 'One Country, Two Systems' principle in Hong Kong showcases the commitment of the Central People's Government to Hong Kong."

"Our administration, legislature, and judiciary are all independently run by the people of Hong Kong. 'Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong with high degree of autonomy' is not a catchphrase. It is a reality," he said.

The other speakers at the dinner all focused on Hong Kong's success story in the last 10 years in transforming itself into the world's leading financial centre. They also praised Hong Kong people's resilience to challenges.

Earlier in the day, the HKETO director visited the Mayor of Brossard and introduced to him four "youth ambassadors" from Hong Kong -- Ada Wong, Dennis Ngan, Mimi Tse, and Gladys Moon -- who came from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and University of Hong Kong.

He also attended a HKSAR 10th Anniversary reception at the City Hall of Montreal hosted by Councillor Tremblay on behalf of Mayor of Montreal.

Apart from the celebrations in Montreal, the HKETO is going to host to receptions in Vancouver and Toronto on June 26 and June 28 respectively to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the return of Hong Kong to China.

Vancouver presents "Hong Kong Stories" to mark HKSAR 10th anniversary
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Government Press Release

A selection of classic films from past and present set and filmed in Hong Kong, many of which confront issues raised by the 1997 handover, opened today (June 25, local time) at the "Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) Year-round at the VanCity Theatre" as a celebration of the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

To be screened until July 7 at the VanCity theatre, the 10 specially picked movies include this evening's opening film – "Rouge" directed by Stanley Kwan and starring the late Anita Mui and Leslie Cheung.

Presented by the VIFF, the "Hong Kong Stories" series features some of the best works of Hong Kong's most acclaimed directors including Johnnie To, Stanley Kwan, John Woo, Wong Kar-wai and Ann Hui. The film series is sponsored by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in Canada, and supported by the Hong Kong Film Archive.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, HKETO Director Mr Bassanio So said Hong Kong films were the ambassadors of Hong Kong. "They have been recognised by the international film industry and have garnered many international awards. Hong Kong movies reflect our people's vibrancy and creativity," Mr So said.

"By introducing the 'Hong Kong Stories' film series, I hope our Canadian friends will have a better understanding of Hong Kong films and our creative industry. I also hope that this presentation will further foster the already strong cultural ties between Hong Kong and Canada."

The 10 films to be shown are:

* Vancouver premiere of landmark triad epics "Election I" (June 29 and July 5) and "Election II" (June 29 and July 5) by Johnnie To;
* Acclaimed melodrama "Rouge" (June 30) by Stanley Kwan;
* Two personal documentaries - "Personal Memoirs of Hong Kong: As time goes by & still love you after all these years" (June 30) by Ann Hui and Stanley Kwan;
* Young Bruce Lee's "The Orphan" (July 1 and July 4) by Li Changfeng;
* Action-packed epic "The Killer" (July 1 and July 7) by John Woo;
* Visually stunning and romantic drama "As Tears Go By" (July 2 and July 7) by world-acclaimed director Wong Ka-wai;
* Hong Kong Action New Wave movie "The Long Arm of the Law" (July 2) by Johnnie Mak;
* An important landmark of the Hong Kong New Wave film "Boat People" (July 4 and July 6) by Ann Hui; and
* World Premiere / Filmmaker at attendance "0506HK" (July 6) by Quentin Lee – part autobiography, part travelogue, and part cultural criticism film.

Li Ka-shing jumps on bruised trust sector
Asia's wealthiest investor unveils $629-million deal for electricity generator TransAlta Power

NORVAL SCOTT

October 16, 2007

CALGARY -- Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, Asia's richest man, is targeting further growth in Canada's energy sector as a company he controls has snapped up Calgary-based TransAlta Power LP for $629-million and could buy more of the country's beleaguered income trusts.

Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Ltd. (CKI), a Hong Kong-based utility, said yesterday that it will pay $8.38 in cash per unit of Calgary-based TransAlta Power. The deal is part of a concerted effort by CKI to establish itself in North America, potentially the first of other similar deals, the company said in a press release.

"The proposed acquisition of TransAlta Power is a springboard for CKI into the Canadian energy market. ... We look forward to further expanding into North America," CKI Group managing director H.L. Kam said. "In view of the liquidity situation in the global markets and the affordability to compete for mega-infrastructure projects, CKI remains in an excellent position to pursue good acquisition opportunities," he added.

TransAlta Power, one of Canada's larger power trusts, had put itself up for sale in May, claiming that the federal government's decision to tax income trusts like regular companies meant its business model was no longer the best way to serve unitholders. It is majority owned by Calgary-based private power producer TransAlta Corp.


The company's sole business is a 49.99-per-cent interest in TransAlta Cogeneration LP, which owns interests in a total of five gas-fired co-generation plants in Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan.

It also has a coal-fired Alberta facility. The combined generating capacity is 1,352 megawatts. TransAlta Corp. owns the rest of TransAlta Cogeneration and will remain the operator of the power plants.

People familiar with the deal said Mr. Li, who already controls approximately 71 per cent of Calgary-based Husky Energy Inc., is using his cash-rich position to take advantage of current uncertainty in the trust sector, with the TransAlta acquisition allowing CKI to become a meaningful Canadian electricity player without yet having to become an operator.

While details of the bidding for TransAlta are scarce, CKI appears to have beaten off interest from several other firms, including unnamed North American private equity groups, to make the acquisition.

"The grounds for making this acquisition are clearly to establish a foothold in North America, and tally with CKI's increasing exposure in other established markets," said Steven Knell, a London-based analyst with Global Insight, who noted CKI's growth in Britain and Australia. "It's a sound strategy that will make some waves, establishing the firm globally."

CKI has some $1.1-billion of cash still to spend. Potential acquisition targets in Canada could include power generation trust subsidies owned by other infrastructure companies, such as Enbridge Inc., which will likely be sold or restructured as traditional common stock companies by 2011.

Mr. Li's increasing interest follows recent acquisitions in Canada's energy sector by another unlikely overseas player, Abu Dhabi National Energy Co., known as Taqa, which has targeted $7.5-billion on acquisitions in Alberta in just six months.

While Taqa's purchases have created some chatter that Canada could toughen its foreign investment rules, throwing a potential obstacle in the way of future acquisitions, sources close to the CKI-TransAlta deal said they were confident that the government wouldn't interfere, given that CKI is not state-owned and that the firm isn't buying a majority stake in any power plant.

TRANSALTA POWER (TPW.UN)

Close: $8.33, up $1.09

The Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20071016.RTRANSALTA16/TPStory/Business

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/9509/28344693kb0.jpg

From June 2007
Last month, two projects launched in Toronto -- the Four Seasons and the Shangri-la -- both of them connected to five-star hotels. Within four weeks, both of them were more or less half sold. "I thought it would take nine months to a year to get where we are now," says Hunter Milborne of Sotheby's International Realty, which is marketing the Four Seasons. At $1,200 to $1,400 per square foot for the non-penthouse units, the Four Seasons is setting a new gold standard. "What's amazing," adds Mr. Milborne, "it's the biggest, most expensive units that are selling fastest." [...]

A few years ago, million-dollar apartments were rare in Toronto and other big cities in Canada. No more. A few months ago, former BMO CEO Tony Comper spent $16-million for a Yorkville penthouse, and the penthouse at the new Ritz-Carlton, under construction in downtown Toronto, just went for $13-million to someone in Hong Kong. "Everyone wants a piece of Canada right now," says Tina Amato of Baker Real Estate.

Source: http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=75d6cbec-6d67-4ed0-809e-57b3b44cb021

Home from home
Close ties with Asia have made the area an attractive investment opportunity
24 October 2007
South China Morning Post

Forget Canada's reputation for being the chilly end of North America. Right now, the homes market there is as hot as a July afternoon in Florida. While United States home prices falter and interest rates are cut, Vancouver and Toronto are booming - and Hong Kong buyers, with their strong ties to Canada, are sharing in the bonanza.

"Whatever is going on down there, it hasn't had any effect on us at all. Everything is positive economically for us right now," says Tracie McTavish, president of Rennie Marketing Systems in Vancouver which specialises in condominium sales. "Real estate in Vancouver has almost become a sport. It's become the focal point of cocktail parties. What we've really noticed in the past three to four years in Vancouver is that there is a lot of money in our city. It's all walks of life. It's a very deep well of wealth."

One of the most successful recent projects for Mr McTavish's company was the Shangri-La project in Toronto which attracted heavy interest from Hong Kong and Asian buyers, partly because of brand recognition.

"Buyers from Hong Kong see Canada as a great place to have safe money, a great place to retire and a great place for their children to live while they go to school, as well as a potential investment along the way."

Even before their property purchase, Vancouver is already a second home for many Hong Kong people, he points out. One of the encouraging factors about Canada's boom, according to Mr McTavish, is that it is being fuelled by the success of real estate as an investment.

A house price survey released by the Royal LePage Real Estate Services reported that Canada's resale housing market remained on solid ground during the third quarter as high consumer confidence, strong employment rates and stable interest rates led to robust buyer demand prompting average house prices to rise in all major markets.

Of the housing types surveyed, the highest average price appreciation occurred in standard condominiums, which rose to C$241,818 (HK$1.92 million), up 15.7 per cent, followed by standard two-storey properties, which rose to C$407,613 (up 13.4 per cent), and detached bungalows, which increased to C$340,941 (up 14.3 per cent), year-on-year.

Phil Soper, president and chief executive, Royal LePage Real Estate Services, says: "Much like the Canadian dollar, the Canadian housing market is charting its own course, quite independent from the US and its currency and housing climate. The strength of the Canadian dollar, and the fact that the country is adjusting well to its value, will continue to keep interest rates at their existing low-to-moderate levels, boding well for buyers looking to enter the market."

The company predicts the average Canadian house price is expected to rise by 9.5 per cent to C$303,000 by the end of the year. The number of transactions is seen rising by 8 per cent to 522,306 units. Vancouver remained the most expensive place to buy a home, with a standard two-storey house averaging C$879,000, followed by Toronto at C$523,320.

South of the border, meanwhile, one man's crisis can be another man's opportunity as the combination of an ailing property market and the weak dollar open a wealth of buying opportunities for Hong Kong and Chinese investors looking to invest in US real estate.

Speculators and buyers of second homes are taking a gamble on US property - with Las Vegas and San Francisco proving popular locations - in the belief that both the greenback and American real estate are sure to rebound.

The surge in the number of Chinese investors in US property is more than a piece of short-term opportunism, however, according to Anne-Marie Sage, Hong Kong-based regional director (residential) of Jones Lang LaSalle. She believes it is part of a long-term trend reflecting the rise of China.

"Chinese people are becoming the biggest high-end buyers in the world, behind only Japan and the US, and it is predicted that they will surpass them within this decade," says Ms Sage.

"They are not the nouveau riche. These buyers have made their money over time, and they are big rollers - CEOs and leaders of corporations, both nationally and internationally. More Chinese people today have a net worth of over US$1 million {hellip} and lots of professionals are entering the ranks of the wealthy."

North American property has always been appealing for Hong Kong and Chinese buyers because of their high standard of architecture, design and workmanship, the sound US financial background and the historically high levels of investment yield.

The turbulence in the US market has, as far as investors are concerned, added to its appeal. "With the downturn in the US property market, bargains can be picked up and, in the long term, a well-researched investment has good potential," she says.

Most Hong Kong and Chinese buyers seek niche luxury residential property such as condos or serviced apartments in prime locations where they have the opportunity to get a high profit return on investment as well as strong appreciation without the headaches of management, she points out.

Las Vegas is a popular destination for second home property buyers, she says. "It offers incentives for investors who move there, such as no state taxes. Las Vegas continues to attract a mix of the super-rich and others looking to relocate because of the lifestyle."

San Francisco, where limited property supply and rising rents and construction costs have pushed real estate prices to a record high, is also a popular choice, she explains. It is a popularity that Robert Van Dijk, director of sales and marketing at the Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences in San Francisco, expects to bring about a major shift in the makeup of the buyers he deals with - once Hong Kong and Chinese buyers get accustomed to the concept of fractional ownership.

"Only approximately 10 per cent of our buyers right now are coming from the Asian market, but as we spend the next 2 1/2 years finishing selling the project, I honestly believe as much as 25 per cent to 30 per cent of the project could be Asia-based business."

Under fractional ownership, buyers can purchase a one-twelfth share of a home with prices starting at US$232,000 for a one-bedroom property and US$297,000 for a two-bedroom property, giving them 21 allocated days a year plus unlimited short-notice paid-for bookings.

"Because of the strong connection between Hong Kong and San Francisco, it's a natural product because of the amount of families going back and forth coming over for three weeks or a month," he says. "It doesn't have to be a one-twelfth share. People can buy a tenth share or an eighth or a sixth. They can really purchase as much as they need from the project to suit their lifestyle."

Mr Van Dijk concedes that the concept of fractional ownership needs time to take root in Asia, but he says that already the Ritz-Carlton brand Ultimate Homes has given the development an edge because it is such a trusted brand.

"I think the potential for Asia is huge," he says. "I'm very passionate about the Asia market. I really do believe once the Asian community understands the product form more and feels comfortable with it, it will only take a few families to purchase and all of a sudden it will be a very accepted product format."

Thank you HKers for driving Toronto's Condo Boom!

$25 MILLION for "One Bloor" Penthouse SOLD
Nov, 17 2007 - 7:20 AM

TORONTO/AM640 TORONTO - An unidentified Hong Kong businessman has set a new mark for the priciest condo in Canada, paying 25 million dollars for a penthouse suite in Toronto.

The 7500 square foot penthouse takes up the entire 80th floor of the 450 million-dollar skyscraper at One Bloor St. East.

That gives its owner a spectacular 360 degree view of the city.

The penthouse includes a 6 metre-long indoor pool, an outdoor garden and a private elevator.

KM


Holy Shit :eek2:

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For $25M penthouse, buyer didn't have to stand in line

Hong Kong man bids on top floor of Bloor condo
Nov 17, 2007 04:30 AM
Gail Swainson
Real Estate Reporter

A Hong Kong businessman is Canada's newest King of the Castle – and he didn't even have to stand in line to buy his $25 million penthouse suite.

The unidentified buyer set a new benchmark for the country's priciest slice of downtown residential real estate this week when he bought the 7,500- square-foot suite at One Bloor East.

Toronto's newest fashionable address was the site of real estate mayhem when more than 100 brokers lined up, or hired others to stand in line for them, in the cold for more than a week for a chance to buy suites scheduled to open in 2011.

The building's 592 units were such a hot commodity that shoving matches broke out between irate brokers wanting to be first through the sales room door.

Architect Roy Varacalli says the penthouse takes up the entire 80th floor of the $450 million skyscraper, giving its owner an "absolutely spectacular" 360-degree view of the city.

If the buyer closes the deal within the prescribed 10 days, he'll trump Toronto billionaire Alex Shnaider, who revealed in August he plans to keep what he thought was Canada's priciest condo – valued at $20 million – in the Trump International Hotel & Tower he's helping finance.

But Shnaider said at the time his mansion-in-the-sky could be as big as 14,000 square feet, dwarfing the One Bloor East penthouse.

Varacalli said the One Bloor East buyer was sold when he heard the unit will have a 12-foot-by-20-foot indoor infinity or "vanishing edge" pool. The pool's infinity edge runs right up to a floor-to-ceiling plate glass wall at one side of the building.



"If you open your eyes underwater, you get a view of the city," Varacalli added.

"The buyer got wind of it and he wanted it."

When the building opens, slated for 2011, the sky-high suite will be loaded with high-end features including an elevator that opens right into the penthouse foyer and a private outdoor garden.

It is also to have five outdoor terraces, with in-floor radiant heat to melt snow.

The kitchen is the last word in ultra luxury, with a Cambrian stone top island, six-burner in-line gas stove, champagne pantry, steam ovens, under-counter crispers and a walk-in wine cellar. For party time, there is a separate caterer's kitchen.

The suite has three bedrooms, a library, music room, family room, nanny's quarters, floors made of wood, marble and limestone and 12-foot ceilings. It even has a cold room for fur storage.

And no close quarters at the bathroom sink here: the suite sports his-and-hers ensuite master baths.

Hers has a steam shower with heated floors and walls, a fireplace, wine fridge, lounge area and Agape soaker tub from Italy, made of stone and Corian, that fronts a solid glass wall.

"It's placed in front of a window so you can sit in it and look down on the rest of us plebs," Varacalli laughed. "It's pure opulence."

It will be One Bloor East's biggest, but not its only, penthouse.

The top three floors are set aside for top-of-the-heap suites. The two penthouses on the 79th floor have been the subject of $9.5 million offers.

Down on the 78th floor, three penthouses are still on offer for a mere $5.5 million to $6.5 million.

Interiors will be by Andrea Kantelberg, Toronto's top eco-designer, and feature sustainable green materials throughout.

The exterior, which has distinctive "wings" at the top, is designed with a unique sliding balcony-door system that reflects light and changes the appearance of the building depending on how the owners position them.

"What is interesting is that this puts the residents in charge of the design," Varacalli said.

Trump Tower currently claims to have the tallest condo spire on the drawing board, at 281.88 metres spread over 57 storeys. One Bloor East is to have the same number of stories in a slightly smaller package at 276 metres.

Aura, another condo project that was launched yesterday, is forecast to reach 243 metresVaracalli does nothing to tone down the edifice complex when he notes the Trump Tower gets some height from "that silly antenna on top."

He then jokes he'll extend the wings at his tower so it hits 282 metres.

One Bloor East's developer, Bazis International of Kazakhstan, has held back about 100 of the building's apartment suites for sale next weekend.

Apartments start at 585 square feet. The first three storeys are to feature retail space, with floors above that to include common areas and hotel rooms.

When the lineups started two weeks ago, suites were listed on a billboard at prices from $300,000 to $2 million.

By the time the sales office officially opened Wednesday, a new sign showed prices had inflated to $500,000 to $8 million.

The $25 million super suite was not among those put on offer to the queuing public.

While the price may seem crazy to many, Toronto isn't world class when it comes to superluxury condos.

Four 20,000-square-foot units at One Hyde Park in London, England, are rumoured to be up for grabs at $160 million each. There is talk that one has already sold.

Forbes.com reports that financier Martin Zweig owns the most expensive condo in the U.S., a $70 million penthouse perched atop New York City's landmark Pierre Hotel, overlooking Central Park.

-----------------------------------------

So HKskyline... when are you going to let me tour the suite? :D

I remember CTV was saying someone is willing to pay $25 million for the top floor suite a few days ago. :)

Quebec businesses encouraged to use Hong Kong gateway
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Government Press Release

The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO), Hong Kong SAR Government's representative Office in Canada, is planning to intensify its promotional activities in the Quebec business community.
The HKETO will tell Quebec businesses about Hong Kong's unique advantages and how they can make use of Hong Kong's free trade agreement with Mainland China to establish their presence in the area.

The HKETO Director, Mr Bassanio So, said that while business people along Canada's west coast were making full use of Canada's Pacific Gateway strategy and Hong Kong's stepping-stone role in doing business with Mainland China, companies in Quebec should follow suit and not miss the boat.

"Hong Kong, as an international financial and trade centre, is an ultimate choice for setting up offices for investing on the Mainland, a channel for international investors to invest in the Chinese enterprises that are listed in Hong Kong, and a base for Canadian financial institutions to offer investment products and services to Chinese investors.

"The opportunities ahead for Canadian businessmen and investors, including those in Quebec, are abundant and wide-ranging if you make use of Hong Kong as your base for expanding into the Mainland Chinese market. The outcome will certainly be a win-win situation for Quebec, China and Hong Kong," Mr So said.

Mr So said that despite some companies in Quebec having considerable presence in Hong Kong, further measures had to be taken to encourage the business community in this Francophone province to do business in Hong Kong or with Hong Kong in China. The HKETO has recently engaged National Public Relations in Montreal to provide support in tapping further into the unique Francophone market. A strategy is being mapped out by National.

Quebec companies currently operating in Hong Kong cover different sectors including transportation, financial, retail, telecom infrastructure and equipment, lighting, apparel accessories, and precious metals.

Instant returns for visiting premier
Hong Kong Standard
Saturday, December 01, 2007

British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell arrived in Hong Kong on Friday on his latest mission to promote bilateral trade and investment with Asia, and was able to report immediate results.

At a meeting with Campbell, Cathay Pacific Airways (0293) said it will be boosting its number of direct flights to Vancouver to three times daily, or 21 flights a week - starting on March 30 - up from the 17 flights announced only in July. The four new flights will add about 1,000 passenger seats a week.

On Thursday, Vancouver International Airport officials signed an agreement with China Southern Airlines (1055) that would see the first direct flights linking Guangzhou and Vancouver starting in July 2009.

"This agreement strengthens BC's position as Canada's Asia-Pacific gateway and supports increased cultural and business connections between BC and our sister province [Guangdong] in China," Campbell said.

Guangzhou is the sister city of Vancouver - home to an estimated 350,000 Chinese immigrants, largely from Hong Kong, the mainland and Taiwan. China is BC's second-largest trading partner after the United States, with bilateral trade exceeding C$10 billion (HK$79 billion) last year.

In recent years China has become the top source of immigrants to BC, as some 11,000, mostly in the independent category, settled there last year.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong is home to the largest Canadian business community in Asia, with more than 250,000 Canadian passport holders living in the SAR. About 150 Canadian firms maintain branch offices or subsidiaries here.

"BC is open for business. We're looking for your investment," Campbell said.

The premier said BC is pursuing partnerships on C$13 billion worth of rail, port and airport infrastructure projects to support increased trade.

He opened a new Hong Kong office - in North Point - of BC's prestigious Royal Roads University.

Flood of HK migrants to Canada slows to a trickle
6 December 2007
South China Morning Post

The wave of Hong Kong migrants who literally changed the face of Vancouver and Toronto in the run-up to the handover is officially over, according to the newly released Canadian census.

Tens of thousands of Hongkongers settled in Canada ahead of 1997 amid fears of big changes under Chinese rule, with the vast majority moving to the two big cities on either side of the country.

From 1991 to 2000, 100,075 people born in Hong Kong moved to Canada. But the new data shows that from 2001 to last year, a mere 7,430 relocated to the North American nation.

And the number of Hong Kong migrants living in British Columbia fell by 12 per cent to 78,060, with thousands of Hongkongers thought to have moved back.

There are now about 220,000 Canadians living in Hong Kong, according to the Canadian consulate, with the vast majority believed to be either returnees or part of the floating population that moves back and forward between the two.

Mary Chan Siu-yee, manager of immigration consultancy Rothe International Canada, said less demand and tougher requirements imposed by Canadian authorities had led to the drop in Hongkongers relocating to Canada.

"There have been ups at times of political uncertainty, and after the Sars outbreak, but downs when the local property and the stock market performed well."

Ms Chan said the reasons behind a decision to emigrate varied, with some multimillionaires seeking a higher quality of life and better education for their children, and teachers finding themselves fed up with local education reforms.

While the strong Canadian dollar might have deterred some locals from relocating to Canada temporarily, Ms Chan said the booming stock and property markets could offset some of these disincentives.

Immigration consultant Eddie Kwan King-hung said most of those who wanted to go had left already, and he expected the number of migrants from Hong Kong would fall further in coming years.

He said only 5 per cent of his firm's business was from Hong Kong, while about 40 per cent involved Chinese Canadians from the mainland resettling in Hong Kong through the investment migrant scheme.

A spokesman for the Canadian consulate said Canada remained an attractive immigration option given its strong economic growth, safe neighbourhoods, pristine environment, falling taxes and the lowest unemployment rate in 33 years.

Hong Kong Security Bureau figures show that 10,300 people migrated overseas last year, compared with 30,900 in 1997. Ten years ago, 15,000 people left for Canada, but only 1,600 went last year.

With HK's stable and steadily growing economy there are good opportunities, so it's not too surprising that HKers decide to leave. If work can be found, you can live a great life in HK. Lately immigration has been mostly of mainland Chinese and it's been noticeable. The predominant language I hear in Chinese areas of the city has transitioned from Cantonese to Mandarin in the past five years or so. It's amazing how much the demographic of the Chinese population has changed in such a short amount of time.

With HK's stable and steadily growing economy there are good opportunities, so it's not too surprising that HKers decide to leave. If work can be found, you can live a great life in HK. Lately immigration has been mostly of mainland Chinese and it's been noticeable. The predominant language I hear in Chinese areas of the city has transitioned from Cantonese to Mandarin in the past five years or so. It's amazing how much the demographic of the Chinese population has changed in such a short amount of time.

The predominant language is definantely not Mandarin. One might say that Mandarin still sounds just as foreign as English in HK, but definitely people are hearing more of Mandarin these days...(on TV and on the streets because of the flocks of Chinese tourists).

Hong Kong and Canada sign Memorandum of Understanding on investment promotion co-operation
Friday, January 11, 2008
Government Press Release

http://gia.info.gov.hk/general/200801/11/P200801110299_photo_406095.JPG

Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Mr Frederick Ma and Canadian Minister of International Trade Mr David Emerson, today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on investment promotion co-operation.

"Canada places great importance on enhancing its commercial relations with Hong Kong and recognises the benefit of increasing two-way investment between our economies," Mr Emerson said. "Hong Kong, an international financial centre, ranks third among Canadian investment destinations in Asia."

The latest investment figures show that direct investment from Hong Kong into Canada stood at C$6 billion (HK$39.9 billion) (note) and ranked eighth globally in terms of investment holdings in Canada. At the end of 2006, Canadian direct investment in Hong Kong stood at HK$31.1 billion (C$4.6 billion).

"By working collaboratively through targeted activities specified in the MOU, Canada and Hong Kong expect to significantly increase private sector investment activity in both markets," Mr Emerson said.

Mr Ma welcomed the MOU signing and highlighted Canada's longstanding recognition of Hong Kong as a strategic investment destination.

"This is an important step which reinforces the well-established ties between Canada and Hong Kong," Mr Ma said. "We look forward to this MOU benefiting investors in both our economies, and promoting overall economic growth."

He encouraged Canadian companies to fully utilise the opportunities arising from the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) between Mainland China and Hong Kong. The Arrangement provides Hong Kong goods and services with preferential market access opportunities in Mainland China. This will benefit foreign-owned or controlled companies incorporated in Hong Kong.

The MOU will also help identify strategic investments from Hong Kong into smaller Canadian companies who are seeking capital and local market expertise to launch business opportunities into Mainland China. Investment promotion is an important part of the new Global Commerce Strategy of the Canadian government.

A series of seminars will be jointly organised by the Hong Kong Commerce and Economic Development Bureau and Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. These seminars will take place later this year in cities across Canada to explain the benefits of the CEPA to Canadian business leaders.

Note: 2005 figures

Montreal companies learn about Hong Kong's business potential
Government Press Release
Tuesday, January 29, 2008

http://gia.info.gov.hk/general/200801/29/P200801290091_photo_406699.JPG
At today's (January 28 Montreal time) luncheon are (from left) President of Hong Kong-Canada Business Association (Montreal chapter), Mr Mati Pouliot; Acting Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Mr Y C Chan; Vice-President of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, Mrs Louise Belangee; Director- General of Investment Promotion of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mr Mike Rowse; and Managing Partner of National Public Relations in Montreal, Mr Marc Sevigny.


Potential business opportunities in Hong Kong for Canadian business people in Montreal were outlined today (January 28 Montreal time) by Hong Kong's Director-General of Investment Promotion, Mr Mike Rowse.

Mr Rowse also shared his insights on how companies could expand their presence in Asia by using Hong Kong as a platform.

At a luncheon speech entitled "Discover Hong Kong", organised by the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, Mr Rowse discussed with more than 100 senior executives from various business sectors on riding on Canada's Pacific Gateway Strategy to set up or expand their operations in Mainland China via Hong Kong.

The business people were told that with China becoming a new economic powerhouse, there were ample business opportunities for Canadian companies. Hong Kong, with its expertise and experiences in dealing with Mainland China, and its distinctive advantages, offered Canadian businesses an ideal gateway to help their companies access the lucrative China market.

Mr Rowse focused on how Chinese companies were globalising with the Government's encouragement to go out and their strategies of using Hong Kong as a springboard.

Speaking about factors contributing to Hong Kong as a gateway to do business in China, Mr Rowse listed Hong Kong's distinctive advantages that attracted foreign investors most, which included: low tax system, unrivalled location, world class infrastructure, rule of law, world's freest economy, free flow of information and a skilled workforce.

"To be a real international financial centre and a free market, Hong Kong has an independent judiciary which upholds the rule of law. You are free to fight for your corporate rights in the courts, or you can even take on the Government, as many do," he said.

"Hong Kong provides a level playing field for all who do business, a stable and freely convertible currency," Mr Rowse said. "The Special Administrative Region of China enjoys a constitutionally-guaranteed free press and freedom of speech. There is a fast, free and unfettered flow of information in Hong Kong ... no government censorship."

He also shared with the participants the encouraging results on the number of companies setting up businesses in Hong Kong and jobs created by these companies in the past year.

With the assistance of Invest Hong Kong, 253 overseas, Mainland and Taiwan companies had set up or expanded operations in Hong Kong, and had created more than 8,100 jobs, representing more than HK$8.39 billion (C$1.09 billion) investment by these companies.

"These results once again highlight Hong Kong's position as the leading international city in the region. As these figures reflect, Hong Kong continues to attract the very best overseas and Mainland China companies to our shores," he said.

The "Discover Hong Kong" luncheon seminar was co-organised by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Canada), and supported by the Hong Kong-Canada Business Association (Montreal Section). Export Development Canada was the event partner.

More immigrants keeping mother tongue


Mar 04, 2008 09:08 AM
Camille Bains
THE CANADIAN PRESS

VANCOUVER – Bimal Kular is busy ironing crisp, white napkins while eight other women scurry around preparing tantalizing sauces, homemade cheese and a sizzling oil, onion and cumin mixture before hungry diners arrive at one of Vancouver's most renowned restaurants.

Kular, 57, has felt right at home since she landed her laundry job six years ago through her sister-in-law, who's the kitchen supervisor.

Everyone around Kular speaks Punjabi, and that was the essential part of her short job hunt in Canada, where she became a citizen last year.

Even now, seven years after arriving at her adopted homeland from India, Kular doesn't speak English.

"I really wanted to learn English but once I got here I just became so busy," Kular says in Punjabi.

Punjabi is also the language Kular is surrounded by in her social circle and at home, where she lives with her husband, two sons, their wives and a total of four grandchildren.

The latest census figures released Tuesday by Statistics Canada show a large number of Canada's new immigrants are working in a native tongue which is neither of the country's official languages.

The large rise in immigration over the past five years of people whose mother tongue is neither French nor English did not necessarily mean that more of them were using non-official languages in the workplace.

But in B.C. and Ontario, the provinces where most immigrants land, a large number reported using a language other than English or French at work. The proportion held steady at 30 per cent in B.C. over a five-year period and dipped only slightly to 20 per cent from 21 per cent in Ontario.

Kular says a major benefit of her three-days-a-week job is that it gives her time to look after her grandkids – ages eight, six, five and 18 months – and speak Punjabi with them so they learn the language.

On a Sunday afternoon, the three boys have cranked up the volume on the 24-hour cartoon channel to an ear-splitting level.

They speak some English, but it's clear that Punjabi rules in this home.

Kular's daughter-in-law, Sarbjit Kular, 27, says it's important that the kids know Punjabi because the language is integral to their culture.

Eight-year-old Simran Kular, who was born in Canada, takes English-As-A-Second Language classes in Grade 2.

His grandmother says she's glad the classes are offered to children who are being raised to speak their mother tongue at home.

But Kular, who's dependent on her family's English skills when Punjabi won't suffice, realizes the limitations of her Punjabi-only world.

"When I take the kids to school or pick them up it's hard," she says. "If I have to talk to the teachers I just stay silent. And when someone from my son's work calls I just say, `Not home."'

Hi, bye, good morning, good night, OK and thanks are some of the other words Kular knows, but it's clear that despite her insistence she understands English, she really doesn't.

"I'd like to learn English so I can talk to my neighbours," she says in a city where even Mayor Sam Sullivan, who is of European ancestry, is taking Punjabi lessons and gives speeches in the language at local Sikh temples. The Canadian-born Sullivan also speaks Cantonese.

Balwant Sanghera, who heads the Punjabi Language Education Association, says that while his group promotes Punjabi instruction in schools, colleges and universities, he doesn't think people should get stuck in their "ethnic enclaves."

"We need to get out of those enclaves and reach out to the broader community," he says.

"We should all try to learn at least one of the two official languages of Canada, either English and French. Then, I think we should learn our own language. The more languages we know the better."

Sanghera says the onus to learn English falls first on the individual, then the family, followed by the government, which needs to provide more community-based language centres.

Liza Yuen of Toronto says her lack of English skills 30 years after she arrived from Hong Kong is hardly a hindrance because she mostly deals only with people who speak Cantonese.

Whether she's grocery shopping, visiting the doctor or doing her banking, the Chinese community in Toronto is more than large enough to accommodate Yuen in her mother tongue.

"I don't have any problems using Cantonese as a daily language," she said through an interpreter.

Yuen says she has adapted to the Canadian way of life and that her deficiency in one of the country's two official languages is of little consequence.

"I am not less of a Canadian, because I am a Canadian citizen, but I will always remember my Chinese roots."

Yuen's children would prefer she speaks English to avoid communication problems but she uses Cantonese so they will learn the language.

When she can't speak Cantonese and the little English she does speak fails her, gestures usually help get the point across, says Yuen, a retired insurance saleswoman.

Don DeVoretz, an economist who specializes in citizenship issues at Burnaby, B.C.-based Simon Fraser University, says people like Kular and Yuen don't need to know any English to become Canadian citizens.

He says that instead of a written exam, judges allow would-be citizens to answer questions about Canada orally with the help of an interpreter if they feel language is a barrier.

"Nobody wants to go back to the situation in the United States in the 1950s and 60s, where in order to vote you had to prove that you were literate."

DeVoretz says 75 per cent of immigrants become citizens after five years and that 95 per cent apply for citizenship within 15 years of coming to Canada.

But he says people who don't speak English or French pay a hefty economic price.

"On average, people who don't speak English and are in the labour force earn considerably less money so it's a built-in penalty they're paying."

DeVoretz says requiring immigrants to know one of Canada's official languages was tried in 1999 when a legislative committee that travelled the country made 141 recommendations to revise the Immigration Act.

Only one of those recommendations failed to be widely accepted: that immigrants speak either English or French.

Chinese speakers were most incensed, saying they have a tough time learning English and that the requirement would make it difficult for them to enter Canada, DeVoretz says.

"There's nothing more volatile in this country than language. I'm not talking about English and French, I mean other people's language."

Once people enter Canada without English or French, DeVoretz says, most don't have time to learn either language in any formal setting despite the social and economic price they pay.

"Over the last few years I've interviewed about 900 people in Vancouver who are Chinese, because that's where all the studies are. I've said `What's your biggest problem in Canada, in Vancouver, (for) integrating?' And they say, `Language, language, language.' "

He says that while people without English or French don't have a problem getting a job, they don't advance to better employment.

source: http://www.thestar.com/article/309185

"Very Hong Kong" book design features city's creativity
Friday, March 7, 2008
Government Press Release

Hong Kong's creativity was featured at "Open Book: A Very Hong Kong Book Design Display 97-07" display today (March 6, Toronto time) at the Opening of the Richard Charles Lee Canada - Hong Kong Library in Toronto.

The display, jointly presented by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in Canada and the Richard Charles Lee Canada-Hong Kong Library at the University of Toronto (U of T), is one of the events being organised by HKETO to promote Hong Kong's creative industry. The HKETO, together with the Hong Kong Design Centre, last month helped launch the "Chinese Design Everyday" exhibition at Toronto's Design Exchange, a leading design museum in Canada.

Combining its intriguing mixture of traditional Chinese and Western components, Hong Kong design plays a leading role in the visual arts of the Chinese-speaking region. The "Open Book" display, which presents a glimpse of this intriguing East-meets-West mixture, will last until May 20.

Officiating at today's opening ceremony were Chancellor of U of T Mr David Peterson, President of U of T Mr David Naylor, Senator Vivienne Poy; Chief Library of U of T Ms Carole Moore, and HKETO Director Ms Maureen Siu.

The Hong Kong design books on display will be given to the Canada-Hong Kong Library to enrich its collection. Speaking at the book presentation ceremony, Ms Siu said: "Hong Kong attaches great importance to accelerate the development of our creative economy. We aim to provide an enabling an environment to facilitate the development of creative culture, attract a pool of talent to help flourish diversified and innovative ideas, and assist the industries to explore business opportunities.

"The potential of the creative economy is immense. To accelerate and expand its growth, Hong Kong must expand the market abroad. It is therefore of paramount importance for us to promote the achievements and brand names of our creative industries overseas."

She added that the selections at book design display exemplify the unique design identity and culture of Hong Kong, and give people a glimpse of the cutting-edge "Very Hong Kong" designs that received international acclaim.

Hong Kong enjoys a leading edge in many areas of the creative economy in the region. There are now more than 170,000 people working in creative industries, with total value-added exceeding HK$53 billion (CAN$6.8 billion) a year.

The display was launched with a book entitled Very Hong Kong. The book describes 87 design cases from in-house designers, design consultants, design entrepreneurs, brands and systems, and overseas designers. These 87 design cases provide an overview of the development of design in Hong Kong from 1997 to 2007, making it a must-own "handbook" of Hong Kong design.

Chosen for their works that embody the unique culture of Hong Kong, the book display presents the Red-White-Blue here/there/everywhere art catalogue, Yellow Bus's Q&A on General Education, and Miss 13-Dot in Paris, a graphic novel by renowned Hong Kong comics master known as "Fashion Designer on Paper", Lee Wai Chun.

Video conference offers Canadian university students latest career information on Hong Kong
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Government Press Release

Close to 600 university students from Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec were briefed today (March 14, Canada time) on Hong Kong's latest career opportunities, its current employment information, and avenues available to those who are interested in working in Hong Kong at a career video conference held simultaneously in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.

The annual video conference, now in its sixth year, has grown in popularity among Canadian university students, with university students from Quebec Province participating in this informative and interactive event for the first time this year. The video conference was jointly organized by the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau (CEDB) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in Canada.

With the Hong Kong economy continued to move with robust momentum in 2007, the employment market in Hong Kong reaches its historical height with total employment expanded to over 3.5 million, while unemployment rate falls to 3.4%, a record low in almost ten years. In his 2007-08 Policy Address, Hong Kong's Chief Executive, Mr. Donald Tsang, unveiled Government's commitment to undertake 10 major infrastructure projects in the next couple of years, creating a huge demand for talented people from everywhere.

This cross-Pacific event was hosted by the Deputy Secretary of CEDB, Ms Linda Lai, in Hong Kong, and the Director of the HKETO, Ms Maureen Siu, in Canada.

At today's conference, students were informed that Hong Kong has adopted a liberal policy to attract new talents who have received highly skilled, professional and managerial training to join its workforce. With the on-going well-established social and economic linkages between Hong Kong and Canada, Canadian students and graduates are in an advantageous position to seek good job opportunities in Hong Kong. Students were also briefed on various avenues, including the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme, which are available to Canadian students who are interested in living, studying and working in Hong Kong.

Speaking at the event, the Director of the HKETO, Ms Maureen Siu, said: "The video conference provides a useful tool to connect students in Canada with potential career prospects in Hong Kong. The insights and information students get from speakers representing various business sectors in Hong Kong would help them make an informed decision on the path they choose to develop their career."

The five panelists from Hong Kong's business and professional services sectors who spoke at the event were Mr K T Lai (Guest Moderator cum speaker), President, Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management; Mr KC Kwok, Government Economist, Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Mr Barry Macdonald, Tax Partner, B C Transfer Pricing Leader, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Vancouver BC; Mr Romain Chan, General Manager, Harbour Plaza Hotel, Hong Kong; and Mr Roger Ball, Assistant Professor, Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Design.

The career video conference was held simultaneously this evening at 8:30 pm (Eastern Standard Time) at the University of Toronto's Bahan Centre for Information in Toronto, and Sofitel Montreal Hotel In Montreal; and at 5:30 pm (Pacific Standard Time) at the Simon Fraser University's Morris J Wosk Centre in Vancouver.

Participating students from major universities in the three provinces included University of Toronto, York University, George Brown College, University of Waterloo, Queen's University, Wilfred Laurier University, University of Western Ontario, McMaster University in Ontario; University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, University of Victoria, British Columbia Institute of Technology, and Langara College in British Columbia; and McGill University, Concordia University, HEC Montreal, University of Montreal and University of Sherbrooke and L'Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal in Quebec province.

A live webcast is available at the Radio Television Hong Kong website (http://www.rthk.org.hk/special/careervideoconference2008/). Interested students may visit the link to watch the event.

Canada's top CEO stresses importance of Canada-Hong Kong Partnership
Government Press Release
Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Canada and Hong Kong are natural partners and the synergies between the two need to be more vigorously developed, according to Thomas d’Aquino, Chief Executive and President of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE).

In a keynote address on “Hong Kong: The Gateway to Asia” at a Parliamentary Breakfast Seminar organised by the Ottawa Section of the Hong Kong-Canada Business Association (HKCBA), Mr d’Aquino today (May 13, Canada time) reminded his audience, a capacity crowd of 160 political and business leaders in the Canadian capital, that “few bilateral relationships in the world compare as favourably as those between Canadians and the people of Hong Kong.”

“Shared citizenship, close family ties, business investment, educational cooperation and a strong commitment to good governance and the rule of law are the cornerstones of what unites us,” he said.

The breakfast seminar was hosted by Senator Vivienne Poy, honorary patron of the HKCBA, and the Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Canada, Ms Maureen Siu.

Mr d’Aquino praised the economic performance of Hong Kong, which in 2007 saw its economy grow by 6.3 per cent, its exports rise by 7.9 percent, and its domestic private consumption by 7.8 percent. “Hong Kong clearly continues to move up the value chain in services provision – consolidating its position as a financial, business, trading, services and tourism hub of the region.”

The head of the CCCE emphasised that a partnership must work both ways. “While enterprising Canadians readily recognise the strategic geographic advantage of Hong Kong in relation to Mainland China and the dynamic Pearl River Delta, so too should our Hong Kong counterparts see the advantage that Canada holds as a key player in the C$15 trillion North American market.”

“Canada’s powerful resource base, its sophisticated services sector and its growing number of globally competitive companies, offer our Asian friends excellent opportunities,” said Mr d’Aquino.

In outlining a number of priorities for Canada-Hong Kong cooperation, Mr d’Aquino stressed the need for more vigorous engagement in two-way investment; closer collaboration in developing opportunities in Mainland China, in Asia more broadly, and in North America; and better leveraged initiatives in educational partnerships.

Mr d’Aquino concluded by emphasising the importance of the Canada-China relationship and Hong Kong’s role as a catalyst in deepening Sino-Canadian ties.

“As one of the western world’s first nations to extend a hand of friendship and recognition to China, Canada knows the meaning of constructive engagement with Asia’s emerging superpower. These ties deserve to be nurtured as Canada continues to build its presence and influence in Asia.”

The CCCE is a non-partisan organisation composed of 150 chief executives and leading entrepreneurs from all major sectors and regions of Canada. Member chief executives lead companies that collectively administer $3.5 trillion in assets, have annual revenues of more than $800 billion, and are responsible for the vast majority of Canada’s exports, investment, research and development, and training.

Torontonians share the "Olympic Spirit" at the 20th Toronto International Dragon Boat Race Festival
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Government Press Release

Over 120,000 spectators and 5000 dragon boat race paddlers from North America and overseas will share the joy of Olympic Spirit at this year's Toronto International Dragon Boat Race Festival at Centre Island when members from the Royal Canadian Riding Academy autograph at a special session to be held tomorrow (June 22, Toronto time) to celebrate the forthcoming Olympic events.

More than 50 government dignitaries, sponsors, community leaders today (June 21, Toronto time) attended the opening ceremony of this two-day annual event. The event has close to 180 race teams from Canada and the U.S. competing for a number of championships, including a Hong Kong Cup sponsored by the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office (HKETO) in Canada. Participating in this year's races include eight teams of challenged youths, and first time international teams from Germany and Trinidad, as well as USA teams from Boston, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia.

To celebrate Hong Kong as the co-host city of the 2008 Equestrian Events, the HKETO sponsors a special autograph session for the members from the Royal Canadian Riding Academy representing by Jacqueline Brooks, Diana Burke and Penny Rowland to promote the event to Canadians.

Toronto International Dragon Boat Race Festival is a two-day annual event that has brought sports, multicultural entertainment and international spirit to Toronto since 1989. The festival is organised by the Toronto Chinese Business Association to promote the tradition and sport of dragon boat racing and to foster awareness of Asian and Chinese-Canadian culture and cross-cultural understanding.

^^WoW Never thought that's huge of a event. My NY's friend actually had a race there this past weekend.

^^WoW Never thought that's huge of a event.

Me neither :) But to be honest, I haven't been to this event in something like 10 years.

Here's the island where the races take place
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/82/235940052_c2c4180ce3.jpg

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http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3216/2601003854_01c258d583.jpg

Ferry dock to the mainland
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3124/2600964548_7495d06cdf.jpg


source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/xbeta/sets/72157605754443765/

香港人

Total population
circa 8,000,000

Regions with significant populations

Hong Kong 7,018,636
Canada 615,152 (http://www.ocac.gov.tw/stat/chinese/global/canada/ca_pop_hk-sex&age&gen-01.pdf)
United States 329,888 (http://www.ocac.gov.tw/download.asp?tag=P&file=DownFile/File_1619.pdf&no=1619)
United Kingdom 145,000
Australia 67,122 (http://www.ocac.gov.tw/stat/chinese/global/australia/TABLE01.pdf)
Taiwan 19,951 (http://www.immigration.gov.tw/aspcode/9710/%E5%A4%A7%E9%99%B8%E5%9C%B0%E5%8D%80%E3%80%81%E6%B8%AF%E6%BE%B3%E5%B1%85%E6%B0%91%E3%80%81%E7%84%A1%E6%88%B6%E7%B1%8D%E5%9C%8B%E6%B0%91%E4%BE%86%E8%87%BA%E4%BA%BA%E6%95%B8%E7%B5%B1%E8%A8%88%E8%A1%A8.doc)


From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hongkonger

加航出招 國泰以靜制動
25 July 2009
星島日報

據加拿大《星島日報》報道，加航在暑期旺季會推出優惠機會，由八月中至九月初期間，加拿大往香港來回機票只需六百七十加元，另外往上海、北京、東京等航班亦有優惠價。

對於加航進取的促銷策略，國泰和中航都反應平靜，強調暫時不會推出類似計畫，國泰航空加西地區銷售部經理范登胡文話，國泰今年都有優惠機票，雖然折扣稍細，但不擔心會流失熟客。中航營業部總經理何志剛亦回應，要看市場需求如何才作決定。

HK and Canada smash car syndicate

19-08-2009
Hong Kong and Canada have jointly smashed a cross boundary syndicate which specialises in stealing "super luxury cars" and shipping them to Southeast Asia and China. Four luxury vehicles valued at more than ten million were recovered from a container yard in Yuen Long and at a Kwaichung container terminal. At least two were confirmed to have been stolen from Canada recently.

Source: http://www.rthk.org.hk/rthk/news/englishnews/20090819/news_20090819_56_605630.htm

HotCha in Vancouver for Sunshine Nation 2009 (http://ssn09.am1470.com/)

kaJCe8tKTyI

The winners of the idol contest...
http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/7273/img00421024x768.jpg
左起: 2009 《Sunshine Girlz 冠軍》暨《Brian Jessel BMW 我最喜愛Sunshine大獎》得主Angel 莫安琪，2009 《Sunshine Boyz 冠軍》 Jeffrey 劉加, 《音樂才藝大獎》得主 Reika 吉野令佳。

A testament spoken in stone
Hundreds attend opening of Hong Kong veterans' memorial -- to see, touch and remember
The Ottawa Citizen
16 August 2009

Nothing -- not the searing heat, not the quiet crush of the appreciative crowd and not the sweaty photo-ops of a trio of cabinet ministers -- got in the way of what really mattered on Saturday: giving Canadian veterans of the Battle of Hong Kong a heartfelt and unequivocal thank you for their bravery more than six decades ago.

More than 400 people gathered at the corner of Sussex Drive and King Edward Avenue, on the bank of the Rideau River, for the dedication of the elegant granite Hong Kong Veterans Memorial Wall. The wall is etched with the names of all 1,975 men and two women who served in defence of Hong Kong when Japanese troops invaded the British colony in December 1941.

They were the first Canadian troops to see battle in the Second World War. Inexperienced, under-equipped and heavily outnumbered, the Canadians fought hard for 17 days until they were overrun and forced to surrender. Approximately 291 Canadians were killed in battle, 500 more were wounded. Survivors were sent to prisoner-of-war camps, where they faced torture, starvation and disease. Another 267 died there. When they returned home, their efforts were overshadowed by the events in Europe, and for many years their contribution was largely ignored.

Saturday's event -- timed to coincide with the 64th anniversary of VJ Day -- aimed to change that picture.

About 80 Canadian veterans of the Battle of Hong Kong are still alive, and 22 of them were at the ceremony. They walked or were wheeled along a red-carpet receiving line that included three cabinet ministers -- Greg Thompson, minister of veterans affairs; John Baird, minister of transport; and Stockwell Day, minister of international trade and the grandson of a Hong Kong veteran -- Liberal Senator Vivienne Poy, a native of Hong Kong; and Gen. Walter Natyncyzk, chief of defence staff. Still, the veterans -- calm, patient, quiet -- were always the stars.

As they arrived, family, friends and photographers surged forward, jostling to snap photos.

When a government official tried to usher one woman off the dais reserved for media cameras, the woman replied sharply, "That's my dad down there. You're not pushing me off until I'm ready to go."

The memorial unveiling is one event in a three-day convention for Hong Kong veterans and their families. There is to be a service of remembrance at Christ Church Cathedral today at 10:30 a.m., followed by a lunch for veterans. Volunteers with the Hong Kong Veterans Commemorative Association are operating a memorabilia room open to the public at the Lord Elgin Hotel, where many of the troops stayed en route to Hong Kong in 1941.

The first speaker was veteran Phil Doddridge, president of the Hong Kong veterans' association and one of the main champions in the effort to create the memorial.

"This ceremony marks the fulfilment of a dream," Doddridge told the crowd, which gave him the loudest cheer. "This is a permanent marker of our place in history."

Several relatives in the audience made sure to point out that "not a penny" of government money had gone into the memorial beyond donation of the land. A committee of veterans and their families raised more than $150,000, but still needs an additional $150,000 to complete the project.

"It's important to have us recognized as a force," said veteran Dempsey Syvret, 87, from Côte Saint-Luc, Que. Syvret's cousin, David, died in a prisoner-of-war camp after being hit in the head with a rifle butt.

There were more speeches, a prayer from a military padre, the playing of the Last Post. Finally, veterans were invited to lay poppies at the base of the memorial wall. Organizers held the crowd back, but soon family and friends surged forward, taking photos, hugging and finding names on the wall.

There was a sense of mission accomplished -- however long it had taken.

"Even in the difficult times you faced when you returned home, you promised never to forget those who were left behind," Thompson told veterans earlier.

"I truly believe that when this day is over, when you have the chance tonight to explore the silence and solitude of your own thoughts ... you will hear the distant voices of your fallen comrades -- and they will be saying: 'Thank you. Thank you for today. Thank you for your gift of remembrance.' "

PM's got 'lost ground to makeup' with Chinese
Human rights to be brought up 'respectfully'
1 December 2009
National Post

Prime Minister Stephen Harper will meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao, visit the Great Wall of China and honour Canadian soldiers killed in Hong Kong during the Second World War as part his first trip to China.

Mr. Harper, who in the past month has visited India, Singapore, and Trinidad and Tobago, leaves for China today. There he'll touch down in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. He will also visit South Korea while he's in the region Dec. 2-7 and become the first Canadian prime minister to address the South Korean national assembly.

"The most important deliverable about this visit is the visit itself," said Peter Harder, president of the Canada China Business Council and a former deputy minister in the department of Foreign Affairs. "The bottom line from a business perspective is that the Chinese business culture works best when there is a strong political relationship at the top and I hope that this visit isn't just a one-off but actually the beginning of a more sustained engagement by the Prime Minister and his government."

China is Canada's second largest trading partner after the United States. Two-way trade between the two countries totalled $53.1-billion in 2008. Through the first half of this year, it stood at $24.7-billion, a 2.9% increase over the same period last year.

Some business leaders and some of his political opponents have accused Mr. Harper of letting the China-Canada relationship languish by failing to visit the country.

"The Prime Minister's got some lost ground to make up with the Chinese because we have a huge and very dynamic Chinese community here in Canada and yet it took him four years to make this visit," said New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton. "That was too long and he started out with a lot of criticisms and without really opening any doors."

Dimitri Soudas, the Prime Minister's chief spokesman, said yesterday Mr. Harper plans to discuss a wide range of files, from climate change and energy to trade and investment to tourism and educational ties.

"The Prime Minister's visit to China will be a key opportunity to extend our presence in China and our ability to promote Canadian interests," said Mr. Soudas. "The strength of our ties allows us to continue to engage with China even though we may disagree on some important issues."

One of those "important issues" continues to be human rights. One key case involves Huseyincan Celil, a Uyghur imam of Canadian and Chinese citizenship who remains in prison in China on terrorism charges. Canadian diplomats who believe Imam Celil has been wrongfully imprisoned have been working for his release since 2006.

Mr. Harper himself, in 2007, said of Imam Celil's case that, "the government of Canada, when a Canadian citizen is ill-treated and when the rights of a Canadian citizen need to be defended, I think it's always the obligation of the government of Canada to vocally and publicly stand up for that Canadian citizen."

But now, on the eve of his first visit to China, Mr. Harper's aides and government officials say they will bring up human rights issues "respectfully" and say human rights are one of several issues Mr. Harper will raise with Chinese leaders.

Canwest News Servce

---------

HARPER IN ASIA

Selected highlights of Stephen Harper's trip to China and South Korea

WEDNESDAY

- Photo opportunity at the Great Wall of China

- Mr. Harper is greeted by President Hu Jintao at Great Hall of the People, below, in Beijing (Another photo opportunity)

- Official dinner with Chinese premier

THURSDAY

- Prime Minister visits at Forbidden City, meets with Canadian International School there. Photo opportunity at event related to 2010 Winter Olympics.

- Evening speech to a business audience in Shanghai

FRIDAY

- Mr. Harper tours Canadian Pavilion for Expo 2010, meets mayor of Shanghai

- Later, delivers brief remarks to Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong

SATURDAY

- The Prime Minister tours Hong Kong Canadian war cemetery

- Departs for Seoul. Details in South Korea still being finalized

Harper pays tribute to fallen soldiers in Hong Kong
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/2938/950bd43343e4a170bd134ac.jpg
By Bill Schiller Asia Bureau
Published On Sun Dec 06 2009

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, front left, attends the commemoration ceremony at Hong Kong's Sai Wan War Cemetery, which honours Canadian soldiers who fought to defend Hong Kong during World War II. (Dec. 6, 2009)
Kin Cheung/The Associated Press

HONG KONG – Prime Minister Stephen Harper might have been standing on Chinese soil – but clearly Afghanistan was on his mind.

Harper used a commemorative speech Sunday honouring Canadian soldiers who lost their lives here in World War II, to again salute Canada's war effort in Afghanistan.

It's the second time in a week Harper has used a public podium to salute Canada's military – at a time when opposition parties are calling for an inquiry into whether senior bureaucrats in Ottawa, knowingly directed Canadian troops to transfer prisoners into almost certain torture at the hands of Afghan authorities.

Those allegations made by Canadian diplomat Richard Colvin continue to resonate in Ottawa, even as the Prime Minister continues to mend fences with China.

Only a week ago Harper went out of his way to assure Canada's military that he and Canadians stand behind them, even if the political opposition did not, the Prime Minister claimed.

Those comments – made at a Commonwealth meeting in Trinidad and Tobago – enraged opposition parties back home.

Sunday's linkage of a memorial in Hong Kong to Canada's troops in Afghanistan didn't dominate during an address at a cemetery here where 290 Canadians are buried.

But it was a political opportunity the Prime Minister didn't resist.

"Today, we acknowledge our eternal debt to those who have served our country," the Prime Minister said. "We are also reminded of the gratitude we owe to those who continue to defend our values in Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world."

"It is the men and women of the Canadian Forces who defend our way of life and keep Canada, the true north strong and free," the Prime Minister said.

Harper's government has vigorously resisted accusations that his government might have sold out Canadian values in the handover of prisoners to Afghan authorities under worrying circumstances.

But at the Sai Wan Cemetery Sunday, it was really about the past, not the present.

Here in Hong Kong in 1941, against overwhelming odds, Canadians helped hold off a Japanese invasion for 17 days before surrendering, finally, on Christmas Day.

Their heroism is honoured annually here.

The cost to Canada was high: 290 killed and 493 wounded defending Hong Kong, then a British colony.

In all more than 550 Canadians who fought in Hong Kong died, either in the campaign or later in captivity.

Canadians who survived suffered torture and sometimes starvation over three and a half years in camps in Hong Kong and Japan. Many perished.

For Canada's trade minister, Stockwell Day, the ceremony had special significance: his grandfather fought here and while freed when allied forces liberated the camps, he died in hospital after returning home.

A cousin of Day's, Murray Goodenough, is buried here. He was not quite 18.

"He was one of those who signed up underage," Day said.

"That my grandfather actually fought here, defended the hospital and was kept in a POW camp for nearly four years...it's very emotional to be here and re-think it. But it makes me value the liberties we have today."

It was an emotional ceremony on a windswept hill overlooking the South China Sea, on a sunny day with a single trumpeter playing the piercing, haunting notes of The Last Post.

For Wendy Greth-Sapieha, the grand-daughter of Canadian hero Sergeant Major John Osborn – who won the Victoria Cross here after laying down his life by smothering a grenade to save fellow soldiers – it was especially emotional.

Her mother, Patricia – Osborn's daughter – had travelled from Canada to attend the ceremony, but fell seriously ill and had to be hospitalized.

But she insisted Wendy attend.

"This is a lifetime trip I've always wanted to make," Greth-Sapieha said. "As a child you grow up and you hear the stories."

"It's overwhelming," she said.

The Prime Minister's mention of Afghanistan resonated with her.

"I can certainly sympathize with the families of Canadians who are over there (in Afghanistan). They're once again on foreign soil. They're fighting for the people there in order to bring a better life to the people of Afghanistan.

"And my grandfather being here – mind you it was World War II – was here fighting for the people of Hong Kong and the British Commonwealth."

Meanwhile, Harper won another concession to add to a basket of small, significant takeaways: Hong Kong announced it would lift all remaining restrictions on Canadian beef products.

The Canada Beef Export Federation estimates full access could mean an increase in exports to Hong Kong of about $26 million.

Harper left Hong Kong for Seoul Korea today. He will visit the Demilitarized Zone between the two Koreas Monday, address South Korea's national assembly and meet with President Lee Myung-bak.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/stephenharper/article/735034--harper-pays-tribute-to-fallen-soldiers-in-hong-kong?bn=1


Canadian beef exporters regain access to Hong Kong

HONG KONG — The Canadian Press Published on Saturday, Dec. 05, 2009 9:17PM EST Last updated on Sunday, Dec. 06, 2009 9:08AM EST

Canadian beef exporters have regained access to the Hong Kong market following a meeting between Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the former British colony's chief executive.

In a news release, Mr. Harper said that regaining access to Hong Kong sends a strong signal to all Asian markets that Canadian beef is safe.

Hong Kong is a key market for the Canadian agriculture sector and is worth more than half a billion dollars for Canada's farmers and processors.

In 2008, Hong Kong was Canada's fourth largest export market for beef.



http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/canadian-beef-exporters-regain-access-to-hong-kong/article1390312/

I've been buying Canadian rib eye steaks for a few years already!

Where to mark Chinese New Year

Feeling lucky? Here's how to celebrate the Year of the Tiger

Jaclyn Law

From Saturday's Globe and Mail Published on Friday, Feb. 05, 2010 1:05PM EST Last updated on Friday, Feb. 05, 2010 5:13PM EST

Step aside, lovebirds – Valentine's Day isn't the only reason to celebrate on Feb. 14. This most auspicious date marks the beginning of the Year of the Tiger on the lunar calendar, and it kicks off two weeks of festivities. To get ready, 1.3 million Chinese Canadians will clean house, settle their debts and fill small red envelopes with “lucky money” to give to children and unmarried relatives and friends. (Not a bad time to be a singleton.) Many will also hurry to celebrations like these. Gung hay fat choy

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In Vancouver, a lantern forest glitters with over 2,000 lanterns.

VANCOUVER
The city's Chinese New Year Parade has been running since 1974, drawing as many as 50,000 spectators, and organizers aren't going to let a little thing like the Olympics deter them (although they did agree to an earlier start time and a revised route). The highlight? Dozens of lion-dance teams will strut their stuff and collect lucky money from local merchants, a tradition that is said to ward off evil spirits. Feb. 14, 9:30 a.m.; parade starts at Millennium Gate; route at cbavancouver.ca.

After the parade, find your way to LunarFest, where a lantern forest glitters with 2,010 lanterns created by kids, totem lanterns inspired by Canadian and Taiwanese indigenous designs, and the animals of the Chinese zodiac. Make your own lantern at DIY workshops on Feb. 13 and 14 (from noon to 6 p.m.) and join a procession through the forest at 7:15 p.m. on both nights (until Feb. 28; Granville Street between Robson and Georgia; lunarfest.org).

Get your culture fix at Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, which will sparkle with 500 red and gold lanterns. Enjoy live music (including the Vancouver Cantonese Opera), fortune telling, games and crafts. Kids can have their faces painted and take home a balloon tiger. Feb. 14, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; 578 Carrall St.; vancouverchinesegarden.com.

RICHMOND, B.C.
Locals flock to Aberdeen Centre for its free New Year's festivities. Don't miss the kick-off performance, which features a golden dragon and eight lucky lions carousing to fierce Chinese drums. An orchestra of the B.C. Chinese Music Association takes the stage at 1:30 p.m., followed by a dance troupe at 3 p.m. The centre wraps up the 15-day New Year's celebrations with more performances on Feb. 27 and 28. Kickoff: Feb. 14, 11 a.m., 4151 Hazelbridge Way; aberdeencentre.com.

VICTORIA
The beautiful Gates of Harmonious Interest, which flank the entranceway to Canada's oldest Chinatown, mark the starting point of a dazzling lion dance. Feb. 21, noon; Fisgard St. at Government.

The lunar new year coincides with the 4th annual Victoria Tea Festival.Learn about the history of this beloved beverage and watch a Chinese tea ceremony (Feb. 13, 2 p.m.), then pick up all the accoutrements to try it at home. Feb. 13, noon to 5 p.m.; Feb. 14, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Crystal Garden, 713 Douglas St.; victoriateafestival.com. $20 advance, $25 at the door.

To find out the names of all that spiky fruit, sign up for Chef Heidi Fink's culinary tour of Chinatown. She also appears at the tea festival, demonstrating how to cook with – what else? – tea. Tours: Sundays, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.; chefheidifink.com. $50.

TORONTO
Toronto is home to Canada's largest Chinese population, and you can bet they'll paint the town red – the colour symbolizes good luck. Downtown's Chinatown celebrates on Feb. 14 with a brief ceremony at 12:30 p.m. in the lobby of the Dragon City Mall at Dundas Street and Spadina Avenue, followed by a lion dance outside – for which they're closing the intersection.

The Royal Ontario Museum's Chinese New Year extravaganza offers an eye-popping roster of music, dance and martial arts performances. Get crafty with hands-on activities, such as paper cutting, calligraphy, brush painting and even firecracker making. While you're there, check out the ROM's renowned Chinese art collection. Feb. 7, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; 100 Queen's Park; rom.on.ca. Free with admission.)

The Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto is hosting a free festival on Ontario's Family Day featuring a lion dance, Chinese dance and martial arts. Feb. 15, 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; 5183 Sheppard Ave. E.; cccgt.org. You can also nosh on exquisite dishes at the centre's Chinese New Year dinner Feb. 19; $50; order tickets in advance.

Don't forget Chinese shopping centres such as Pacific Mall and Market Village, which offer New Year's countdowns, lion dances, variety shows and sidewalk sales that rival the length of the Great Wall. Pacific Mall, 4300 Steeles Ave. E.; pacificmalltoronto.com. Market Village, 4390 Steeles Ave. E.; marketvillage.net.

MONTREAL
The Montreal Chinese Cultural Community Centre is putting on a show, Soaring Dragon and Leaping Tiger, featuring performing artists from mainland China and the United States. Feb. 13 and 14, 7 p.m. Pierre Péladeau Centre, 300 Maisonneuve Blvd. E.; ccccmontreal.com. $20 to $50.

CALGARY
The Calgary Chinese Cultural Centre, housed in a building modelled after Beijing's Temple of Heaven, is holding a New Year's carnival. Catch the Golden Dragon and Lion Dance on Feb. 14 at noon, watch a calligraphy demonstration, taste special New Year's treats and try your luck at games of chance. Feb. 12 to 15; 197 First St. SW; culturalcentre.ca.

EDMONTON
Head to the West Edmonton Mall this weekend to catch the Chinese performers and marketplace, presented by the Edmonton Chinatown Multi-Cultural Centre. Today and tomorrow, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. 1755, 8882 170th St. wem.ca.

Next weekend, enjoy the Year of the Tiger opening ceremony, complete with lion dance, dragon dance and firecrackers, outside the Pacific Rim Mall. Feb. 14, noon 118-9700 105th Ave. N.W.

On Alberta's Family Day, the University of Alberta's China Institute will throw a free party at Enterprise Square, with lion dances, firecrackers, lucky draws and fun stuff for the kids. Feb. 15, Noon to 4 p.m. 10230 Jasper Ave. china.ualberta.ca

You can also bring in the new year at Century Casino. Singer Lala Gao, winner of Asian Idol 2008, appears at the casino's New Year's concert. Feb. 19; $48.88; tickets available at customer service desk. Runs until Feb. 20. 13103 Fort Rd.; cnty.com/casinos/edmonton.

Special to The Globe and Mail


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/travel/where-to-mark-chinese-new-year/article1457666/

Laughing Gor 謝天華﹑楊怡﹑楊思琦及曹永廉 @ Toronto, Canada 記者及簽名會
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Darn! I missed Shirley.

Hong Kong celebrity Kevin Cheng visits Toronto for CNY countdown

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^^ The fangirls go crazy

More

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FS to attend G20 Toronto Summit
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Government Press Release

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The Financial Secretary, Mr John C Tsang, will leave for Canada tomorrow (June 25) to attend the Group of Twenty (G20) Toronto Summit on June 26 and 27 as part of the delegation of the People's Republic of China.

The G20 Toronto Summit will provide leaders with an important opportunity to follow through on commitments made at previous summits and to continue the work of building a healthier, stronger and more sustainable global economy.

Mr Tsang said participation in the international economic co-operation forum would enable Hong Kong to obtain firsthand information on the latest developments in the world economy, especially as the world economic recovery is yet to be firmly established.

Mr Tsang will return to Hong Kong on the morning of June 29. The Secretary for Development, Mrs Carrie Lam, will act as Financial Secretary from the afternoon of June 25 to the morning of June 27, and the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Professor K C Chan, from the afternoon of June 27 to June 28 while Mr Tsang is on the duty visit.

NDP MP Olivia Chow slams ‘baseless spy stories’

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Olivia Chow speaks at a G20 briefing in April in Toronto.

Hong Kong-born politician urges Harper to censure CSIS chief over foreign-influence claims

Anthony Reinhart and Colin Freeze

From Friday's Globe and Mail Published on Thursday, Jun. 24, 2010 9:06PM EDT Last updated on Thursday, Jun. 24, 2010 9:07PM EDT

MP Olivia Chow has lashed out at the country’s spy agency for claiming foreign agents are influencing Canadian politicians, and has urged Prime Minister Stephen Harper to denounce the “baseless” charges of CSIS chief Richard Fadden before they damage international relations.

“As the leaders of the G20 start arriving in Canada, let us not give in to the politics of fear being peddled by former or current CSIS officials,” the Hong Kong-born Ms. Chow told a hastily arranged news conference Thursday in Toronto, host of this weekend’s summit.

“Baseless spy stories belong in novels and movie theatres,” she said, adding Mr. Fadden’s comments, aired Tuesday by the CBC, “need to be condemned by the Prime Minister of Canada.”

Mr. Fadden, head of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, caused a furor when he suggested foreign agents, possibly Chinese, have been pulling strings in Canadian politics. He named no one, but said two provincial cabinet ministers were among officials under influence.

Facing an uproar, Mr. Fadden backtracked and said CSIS was not concerned enough to report the cases to provincial authorities or the federal government’s nerve centre, the Privy Council Office.

Ms. Chow, a New Democrat MP from downtown Toronto and wife of NDP Leader Jack Layton, said Canadians deserve a far fuller explanation.

“Make public the files on all elected officials, name names and give evidence,” she said. “Hiding in the shadows and making blanket statements is harmful and destructive.”

Asked if she thought CSIS had a file on her, Ms. Chow said, “I have no idea. If there is, let’s see the file.”

The Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment on Mr. Fadden’s claims or Ms. Chow’s statements. “The director of CSIS has clarified his comments,” spokesman Andrew MacDougall said.

Meanwhile, the PMO released a statement Thursday trumpeting bilateral discussions between Mr. Harper and Chinese President Hu Jintao in Ottawa, where agreements on tourism, the environment, crime and beef exports to China were signed.

For years, CSIS has raised concerns about China planting foreign operatives in Canada to clandestinely steal secrets, quell dissent in diaspora communities or influence politics.

A 2009 book co-authored by an ex-CSIS agent claimed a “Chinese lobbying organization” in Canada, backed by spies, had convinced MPs to pass a motion in 2007 urging Japan to apologize for atrocities during the Second World War. The motion, unanimously approved in the Commons, was brought forward by Ms. Chow, though she wasn’t named in the book.

The organization, ALPHA (Association for Learning and Preserving the History of WWII in Asia), was also not named, but it sued for libel and won a settlement. The book was reissued with the relevant passages removed.

Ms. Chow was flanked at the news conference by ALPHA founder Joseph Wong, at the agency’s Toronto offices. Mr. Wong, a Hong Kong-born physician who has lived in Canada since 1968, said he was “particularly incensed” when Mr. Fadden backed away from his initial comments.

“There’s a natural question: If there is no solid evidence, why the accusation in the very beginning? On what basis did he make the accusation? Is it on the basis of our skin colour?”

Mr. Wong said ALPHA, which promotes instruction in Canadian schools about the Second World War’s impacts in Asia, has scrupulously avoided dealings with the Chinese government other than to arrange educational trips to China for Canadian teachers. He called on other MPs and the Prime Minister to speak out on the CSIS chief’s remarks.

“There’s no question that we will not allow anyone to cast a doubt on our loyalties in this country,” Mr. Wong said.

Few have felt the brunt of the spy service’s fears like Haiyan Zhang, a Chinese-born Canadian and rising star in Ottawa’s civil service until she reached its core, the Privy Council Office, in 2003.

Ms. Zhang was fired after a CSIS security-screening investigation cited her previous work in Cairo as a journalist for Xinhua, the Beijing-controlled news service, and her attendance at receptions in Ottawa co-hosted by the Foreign Affairs department and the Chinese embassy.

“What is most disturbing about this CSIS allegation [by Mr. Fadden] is that such sweeping statements are accepted as facts without any evidence being presented,” Ms. Zhang said. “If there are proven spies, they should be ousted and charged as they do in the United States. If not, then stop such propaganda which only helps to alienate us and create distrust among all Canadian citizens.”


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ndp-mp-olivia-chow-slams-baseless-spy-stories/article1617168/

PM names Lee as Manitoba's new Lieutenant Governor

By: Mia Rabson

19/06/2009 11:43 AM
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Stephen Harper announces Philip Lee, left, as the next Lieutenant Governor. (SEAN KILPATRICK / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

OTTAWA -- Manitoba’s new Lieutenant Governor will be a Chinese immigrant to Canada and long-time City of Winnipeg employee.

Philip Lee was named by the Prime Minister’s Office Friday.

Lee was born in Hong Kong but came to Canada in 1962 to study at the University of Manitoba.

He graduated with bachelor of science in 1966 and a public administration diploma in 1977.

He worked for the City of Winnipeg from 1967 to 2005, first as a research chemist in the area of water research. When he retired, he was the Branch Head Chemist in charge of Winnipeg’s Industrial Waste Control Program.

Lee has also been active in the Chinese community in Winnipeg and was a key player in the construction of the Winnipeg Chinese Cultural and Community Centre in Winnipeg’s Dynasty Building, the Chinese Gate and Garden and the Mandarin Building.

He is a former vice-president of the Folk Arts Council, served on the City of Winnipeg’s Refugee Assistance Committee, was on the Multiculturalism Council of Canada.

He was named to the Order of Canada in 1999.

He is married and has three daughters.

The announcement ends a lot of speculation over the new appointment to replace John Harvard, whose term is set to expire next month.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/PM-names-Lee-as-Manitobas-new-Lieutenant-Governor-48615622.html

Queen Elizabeth is on tour in Canada right now.



.....One person who certainly has the right pants is Lt.-Gov. Philip Lee, who must be the first to greet the Queen when she arrives and the last to bid her adieu. Lee is not even a year into his duties, but he's already met the Queen at Buckingham Palace and said he's not nervous about the intricately planned visit. Lee said he has learned to avoid gaffes by shutting up, listening to his advisers, and keeping calm.

"That's the way to train yourself to behave well," he said.

Lee will be hosting a private luncheon for the Queen at Government House and he'll have to give a short speech in the garden afterwards.

"You'll hear for the first time a Chinese-Canadian man trying to give a speech in French," joked Lee.

He is a British subject, having been born in Hong Kong when it was a British colony.

Lee went to Catholic school in Hong Kong and was baptized when he was about six. When the priest asked him what English name he would like, Lee looked up and saw a portrait of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.

"I said, 'I want his name,' " said Lee.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/royal-cornerstone-job-a-thrill-97723094.html

Another slew of TVB celebrities visit Toronto

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Hong Kong-style milk tea is cause for competition
Published On Fri Jul 30 2010

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At the Leslie Cafe in North York, Kwok Ying Chee makes kam cha (Hong Kong-style milk tea) using a secret blend of ground black tea leaves, steeped in a cloth bag and mixed with evaporated milk. Customers add their own sugar. The cafe is too busy to compete on Aug. 1 in Canada's first International KamCha Competition (North American Region) but sells hundreds of cups every day.


By Jennifer Bain Food Editor

The orders for Hong Kong-style milk tea come into the kitchen at the Leslie Café in North York at a constant clip.

This could be because people love the quirky brew or because a cup of it (or coffee) comes with the $4.99 lunch/$6.99 dinner deals.

Whatever the reason, Kwok Ying Chee’s tea station is at the front of the busy kitchen, right by the order counter, and he juggles three pots at a time.

He puts a secret blend of finely ground black tea leaves into a cloth bag, attaches the bag to a metal ring with a handle, and pours boiling water through it while setting it in a teapot on a portable burner. Every few minutes he pours the darkening liquid into a jug and filters everything through the tea leaves three more times until the tea is brewed just so.

When an order comes in, Chee pours some Dutch Lady evaporated milk into a white mug, tops it up with tea and adds a spoon so customers can stir in their own sugar.

This is milk tea, a.k.a. Hong Kong-style milk tea, kam cha (golden tea), pantyhose tea or silk stocking milk tea. (The long cloth bag looks like pantyhose once it’s deeply, delightfully stained.)

It’s a simple drink that becomes magical when the right blend of tea leaves is filtered the right number of times and mixed with the right amount of milk and sugar.

That magic is something nine Torontonians will try to conjure from 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday at First Markham Place during Canada’s first International Kam Cha Competition.

The event is a fundraiser for the Yee Hong Community Wellness Foundation, which provides culturally appropriate care to seniors (mainly Chinese, with some Japanese and Filipino).

“What we eat and what we drink is ingrained in us and we want to preserve those traditions,” says Yee Hong president Pauline Tong. “We also think that milk tea is a tradition that can be spread and should be shared.”

Yee Hong has teamed up with Simon Wong, chairman of the Association of Coffee and Tea of Hong Kong, for the competition. He launched the event in Hong Kong last year, and expanded this year to Macau, Shenzen, Beijing, Shanghai, Sydney and Toronto.

Nine people have entered here. Three run cafés, one volunteers at a Yee Hong staff canteen, and five are simply milk tea-loving citizens.

It’s free to watch but special tea mugs sell for $20 and can be used at future events to taste the winner’s tea.

In Markham, Wong, Tong and four other judges will consider the colour, flavour, richness, body, aftertaste and smoothness of each contestant’s brew. The winner will be crowned the “King of Kam Cha” (for North America) and sent to Hong Kong in August for the finals.

This unique style of brewing originated in the dai pai dongs (open air food stalls) of Hong Kong in the 1950s. Though Dai pai dongs are fading away, cafes called cha chan tangs have embraced the tradition. Hong Kongers drink 2.5 million cups of milk tea every day, says Wong.

“Normally, Hong Kong people would have milk tea in the morning for breakfast, and then they would have it for lunch, and then at a quarter after 3,” he explains. “Milk tea goes with Chinese buns, like pineapple buns, and toast. It can also go along with egg tarts.”

With no vivid milk tea memories from living in Hong Kong in the 1990s, I enlist Tong to meet me at her favourite spot. The Leslie Café (149B Ravel Rd., near Leslie St. and Finch Ave.) is too busy to compete this weekend, which is just as well since Tong’s a judge.

We each drink two cups of milk tea (it’s wonderful) while sharing noodle soups with beef tendon and brisket, and preserved vegetables and ham.

We sample more milk tea at Sara’s Café in the Yee Hong Centre in Scarborough, before I duck into the three cafés competing on Sunday.

At Marathon Donuts & Coffee Shop (Unit 32, 3300 Midland Ave.), I have milk tea with a pineapple bun.

At Café de Nice (Unit R202, 668 Silver Star Blvd.), I order milk tea with a side of thick toast smeared with condensed milk and butter.

And at Fuji Mountain Bakery (Unit 110, 350 Hwy 7. East), I get my final milk tea to go with a Chinese egg tart.

That’s way too much caffeine and sugar for anyone in just four hours, but it made a milk tea lover out of me.

http://www.thestar.com/living/food/article/841857--hong-kong-style-milk-tea-is-cause-for-competition

Leslie Cafe is horrible... :ohno:

I thought CTV should at least have some sense of who Donald Tsang is given the high population of HKer in Canada, and the relationship between two places.
That would have been okay if the editor just quoted "Chief Executive," if you aren't sure. Why generalize someone title? Calling the leader of a city-state, like a governor or mayor, something completely different is just ridiculously unacceptable for a media.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs427.snc4/47034_436255761120_700986120_5302455_7565953_n.jpg

^ A taste of American professionalism in journalism. :)

LOL!

^ A taste of American professionalism in journalism. :)

Do you mean "professionalism" in quote? lol

Computer graphics industry says good-bye to ATI
Four years after merger with AMD, chip maker combines brands
Published On Mon Aug 30 2010

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ATI Technologies head office in Markham.

Canadian Press
Madhavi Acharya-Tom Yew Business Reporter

The name ATI Technologies Inc., a former jewel of the Canadian technology industry, is poised to disappear from laptops and graphics computer chips as its owner looks to consolidate its own brand name.

Processor giant Advanced Micro Devices Inc. of California said Monday it will begin to phase out the ATI brand before the end of this year, as it rolls out a slate of new products that will incorporate both microprocessor and graphics technology on the same chip.

“There was a great deal of deliberation done on this,” said AMD spokesperson David Erskine.

“As a company we’ve been wanting to move to fewer brands because that allows us to focus better.”

Erskine agreed that the ATI name still holds significance for those who care about computer graphics. “It’s synonymous with a great graphics experience.”

The change, which comes four years after AMD bought ATI, brought chatter to the many blogs and Internet sites devoted to computer graphics and chip technology.

“It makes sense from a marketing point of view and AMD’s reasons seem valid enough,” read one comment from a professed gamer on anandtech.com. “However…it’s a bit sad to see such an established brand removed from the market for good.”

ATI Technologies was founded as a one-man operation in 1985 by K.Y. Ho, an immigrant from Hong Kong.

By 1995, ATI had grown to become the world’s biggest maker of 3D graphics cards for personal computers, with sales exceeding $1 billion annually.

Along the way, the company battled rival chip maker Nvidia and was prone to the many ups and downs of the consumer technology market.

The Markham-based firm also drew scrutiny from stock market regulators over allegations of insider trading. Ho and his wife successfully fought the charges, while other company executives settled with the Ontario Securities Commission through the mid-2000s.

In October, 2006, ATI shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favour of the $5.6 billion (U.S.) takeover by Sunnyvale, Calif.-based AMD. The deal came about one year after Ho stepped away from the company.

AMD said that all existing products will retain the current ATI brand. But with the launch of its next generation of video cards, due by the end of 2010, all the company’s video properties will be rebranded AMD. The names of popular individual lines Radeon and FirePro will not change.

“I think the company was just waiting for the right time,” said Matthew Murray, managing editor of ExtremeTech.com.

That time seems to have come, with ADM surpassing Nvidia in graphic chip shipments last quarter.

“The technology speaks for itself. The company’s latest graphics card has been very good, very fast, very powerful and cost efficient,” Murray said.

The change will be visible to consumers, said Shane Schick, editor in chief of IT World Canada, which publishes Computer World Canada and CIO Canada magazines.

“A lot of laptops sold today will have the ATI logo. When AMD is on there instead it will create more brand recognition. It’s also easier to manage one brand than two,” Schick said.

“I think in Canada because of ATI’s success we still have a bit more pride and concern over what the name stood for. But given the industry consolidation it’s not realistic to think that would continue indefinitely.”

http://www.thestar.com/business/article/854541--computer-graphics-industry-says-good-bye-to-ati

Leo Ku in Toronto

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CPPIB's Wiseman focuses on Asia
TARA PERKINS — FINANCIAL SERVICES REPORTER
TORONTO— From Friday's Globe and Mail
Published Thursday, Dec. 02, 2010 6:47PM EST
Last updated Friday, Dec. 03, 2010 11:17AM EST

Mark Wiseman, the man in charge of investments at the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, has a habit of checking his wrists.

It’s something he started a couple of years ago, but these days he’s doing it all the time.

That’s because on his frequent travels to Asia, Mr. Wiseman collects cufflinks with Asian pictures and patterns.

“I have them on almost every day,” he says. “I like them, but I also think it’s good to wear them to remind myself that I’ve got to be thinking about Asia.”

His taste in accoutrements isn’t the only thing that’s changed in the past few years. Asia has eclipsed Europe in his travel schedule. “It’s not that Europe is unimportant, it’s just relatively less important,” he says.

Mr. Wiseman and his fellow executives are increasingly turning their sights to Asia in an effort to ensure the fund’s required future growth trajectory. It’s estimated that CPP contributions will exceed the amount the plan pays out each year until the end of 2021, after which some of the fund’s investment profits will be needed to help pay CPP benefits.

The CPPIB opened its first office outside Canada in Hong Kong in early 2008, and its only other foreign office is in London. In September, Mr. Wiseman made the trek to Hong Kong for the opening of a new, larger, CPPIB office.

“We were already out of space,” he said. “Our growth [in Asia] has exceeded our expectations.”

The office has roughly 15 investment professionals and five support staff, but that’s expected to double.

The CPPIB has already committed more than $1.6-billion to eight private equity funds that focus on greater China and smaller emerging countries in Southeast Asia (excluding India). It has almost $350-million invested in China’s real estate market and more than $1-billion in a passive index portfolio that trades in Hong Kong, out of a total portfolio of $138.6-billion.

But what’s causing Mr. Wiseman some anxiety is the fact that less than 1 per cent of the fund’s assets are directly invested in China. Although the CPPIB is already ahead of many peers in China, Mr. Wiseman is working to ensure that it substantially ramps up its investments in the country, and that the fund has access to the phenomenal economic growth expected to continue there.

“The reality is that China will be the largest economy in the world,” he said during an interview in his office, as he pointed to a presentation that was recently given to the fund’s board of directors. “To go to the United States or Europe [to invest] is an easy thing to do, but it’s not reflective of what the world looks like today and it’s certainly not going to be reflective of where the world’s going to be long term.”

Over time, CPPIB wants to become a player in India and other areas of Southeast Asia. “We’re focused on building a presence in emerging markets, but China’s the logical place to start,” Mr. Wiseman said.

The fund’s strategy has been to find partners with local knowledge, including big North American names such as KKR Asia and TPG Asia, but mostly Chinese-based private equity firms such as CITIC Capital and Hony Capital.

“We know we’re going to get taught some lessons along the way, and so we’re not jumping in with both feet,” Mr. Wiseman said.

But as it learns from the locals and assembles its team on the ground, CPPIB is setting the stage for its first large direct investment in China. It has hired Peter Chen, a direct investor who was a founding member of Bain Capital Asia and prior to that was a manager at General Electric Corporate Financial Services, with responsibilities for greater China.

Asked whether CPPIB has created a position as head of its Asian business yet, Mr. Wiseman said “stay tuned.”


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/cppibs-wiseman-focuses-on-asia/article1822992/

The Toronto man behind Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index
Published On Wed Dec 29 2010

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Stanley Kwan, creator of the Hang Seng index, rests in his condo in Scarborough. (Dec. 23, 2010)
Tony Wong/Toronto Star
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By Tony Wong Business Reporter

Stanley Kwan doesn’t check up on the Hong Kong stock market on a daily basis any more.

“I still take a peek once in a while, but not all the time,” says the soft-spoken 85-year-old, nursing a Tim Horton’s coffee in his tiny but neat Scarborough condominium.

But thanks to Kwan, global investors can quickly get a snapshot of how the key Hong Kong and China market is doing. He is the creator of the benchmark Hang Seng Index, a basket of blue chip stocks that acts as the barometer of economic health in the former British colony, now the world’s third biggest financial centre.

Most Canadians don’t know who Kwan is. Nor do most Chinese. “If I walked into the Hang Seng Bank head office today, no one would know me,” says Kwan.

But the story of the creation of the 41-year-old Hang Seng Index has become a uniquely Canadian one.

Born in Hong Kong to a traditional banking family, Kwan came to banking late in life.

His first taste of banking was in 1940. At the age of 15 he apprenticed at a traditional Chinese lender – a yinhao – where his duties included sweeping the floors, dusting the furniture and cleaning the spittoons.

For that he received two meals a day.

The following year the Japanese advanced on China and Hong Kong and “banking was the farthest thing from my mind,” he says.

Through the turmoil of the war years, he joined the nationalist Chinese army, serving as an interpreter for American troops. Later he became an analyst at the American Consulate General.

In 1961 he was hired by Hang Seng Bank, then a local Chinese bank, because they needed someone with good English and Chinese skills.

He was made the head of research. In fact, he was the only person in the research department.

His “office” consisted of a small desk, a wooden chair, a Smith Corona typewriter and some stationery.

His first assignments were to basically translate other research into Chinese so bank chairman Ho Sin Hang and other top managers could see what the foreign banks were up to.

“It’s really incredible when you think of it, that it has become such a part of the daily life not just in Hong Kong, but something that is familiar to people around the world,” says Kwan.

Hang Seng was started by three gold traders in a cramped 800-square-foot office. They chose the name Hang Seng (“ever growing”) because they thought it sounded prosperous.

The bank catered to the local Chinese population who were uncomfortable banking at the powerful HSBC, the British-based bank that then ruled the economic landscape. Years later, HSBC would become majority owner of the bank.

But in the early years, it was Hang Seng that would give many local property developer tycoons their start, launching the bank over the decades into a financial powerhouse, driven on by the loyalty of their first clients.

In 1969, Kwan was asked by the bank’s chairman to create an index that would contain a basket of stocks that would be the “Dow Jones Industrial Average of Hong Kong.”

“I thought he was crazy at the time,” says Kwan. “We were asking why would he even want to do such a thing. We couldn’t figure out how you could possibly make money on this. But you don’t say no to the chairman.”

Kwan was challenged with the task of creating the index. At the time Hong Kong was an economic backwater, not the financial services hub it is today. According to the 2010 Global Financial Centres Index, Hong Kong joined only New York and London this year as one of the top three world financial centres.

“We had no idea where to start. We really had to create something out of nothing, because nothing like this had existed in Hong Kong before,” said Kwan. Some staff wondered if this was something best left to the larger international banks.

“But they figured this would be good publicity for the bank, everyone would be remembering the bank if they quoted the index, and they were right,” says Kwan.

The bank assigned him two staff to help with formulating the index.

At the time Hong Kong had fewer than 100 listed companies. One big problem was trying to figure out how many of these companies would make the cut for the index.

“There was tremendous lobbying at the time. Everyone wanted to be on the index because that meant you would automatically be considered a blue chip company,” said Kwan.

Publicly, newspapers criticized the creation of the index, and called it the “Old Pal” index because of the bank’s seemingly cozy relationships with its clients. But Kwan says the chairman insisted that the research department be protected.

“He realized for the index to have credibility we must stick to our guns,” said Kwan.

The number of companies on the index was held at 33 (Hang Seng bank was started in March 1933).

Kwan also had to decide how to calculate the index. He researched in libraries and consulted economists and statisticians before deciding on a weighted aggregate price index.

Essentially, the market value of the stocks on any given day could be calculated by multiplying the market price of each stock at the close of the day by the number of shares issued, and then aggregating the amount.

But first a base “day” had to be found so there could be some comparative basis. They decided on July 31, 1964, a day when the market was stable.

The index debuted on Nov. 24, 1969, at 158. A year later it had gone up 33 per cent to 211.

However, in the days before online trading, calculating the index was a primitive affair. Stock prices were written on a blackboard.

The index computing team consisted of two runners who would copy prices, two calculator operators, and a team leader who would jot down closing prices at the end of the day and run off to tally them up. Sometimes mistakes were made and Kwan would be summoned up to the manager’s office where he would be criticized for damaging the bank’s image.

The meeting would resolve with a memo: “Mr. Kwan to meet with editors of the press with a view to offering them an explanation as well as an apology.”

In 1981, computerization allowed the index to run online and Kwan needed no apologies for his baby, which had become the benchmark index for the region.

The Hang Seng’s all-time high was in October of 2007 at an astounding 31,958.41 points as Hong Kong enjoyed the fruition of the 1997 reunification with mainland China, following more than 150 years of British rule

It also symbolized the movement of power. If the 20th century belonged to the west, the 21st century seemed squarely in China’s sights.

Today the index rests in the 23,000 range. Many of the companies on the index are still there. But the Hong Kong stock exchange now has many “red chip” or mainland Chinese companies listed there that did not exist before.

Kwan’s creation eventually spawned a host of related indexes, including the Hang Seng 100, The Hang Seng London Reference Index, The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, and the Hang Seng Composite Index Series.

Kwan emigrated to Toronto from Hong Kong in 1984 with his wife Wing Kin, where he wrote his memoirs about living in Hong Kong, The Dragon and the Crown, co-authored by his Yale-educated banker niece Nicole Kwan.

Kwan has an unsparing eye for detail, and the book centres more on growing up in the colony and the life of the Chinese at the time. In typically modest style, he devotes only one chapter devoted to the creation of the Hang Seng.

After retiring in Canada, Kwan became active in the community. He also demonstrated in front of the Toronto Chinese consulate during the turmoil following the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. The establishment Chinese banker had become a critic of the mainland.

“I love China, and I consider myself a patriot. But I also love freedom and human rights. That is what Canada gave me, and I wanted it for China,” said Kwan.

After a year in Canada, Kwan returned to Hong Kong the next year to receive a Member of the British Empire medal from Hong Kong governor Edward Youde for his work in creating the index.

With wife Wing, he had two daughters who live in Canada. Wing suffers from Alzheimer’s disease and lives at the Yee Hong nursing home next door to his condo, where he visits daily.

“She would always be upset with me because I would come home late in Hong Kong when I was working on the index,” says Kwan. “But later on she understood why. That we were trying to create something meaningful that would be here when we weren’t.”

http://www.thestar.com/business/markets/article/913451--the-toronto-man-behind-hong-kong-s-hang-seng-index

So all this happened before the guy moved to Canada and suddenly it's a Canadian connection? The papers are really trying hard and desperate to look for a feel-good story. Perhaps there's nobody else left with more relevant achievements to report on?

Lang Mos - A. Lin, Annie G. and Hailey C. visit Toronto.

They have never seen snow in their lives until now!

"What do you think of Toronto"?

"It's cold."

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Ok. A. Lin is honest. Freely admitting she likes modelling because of the money.

BMO’s buying path moves to Asia
GRANT ROBERTSON — BANKING REPORTER
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
Published Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2011 7:48AM EST
Last updated Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2011 7:08PM EST

Bank of Montreal (BMO-T58.330.250.43%) has made its second acquisition in a month with the purchase of Lloyd George Management of Hong Kong for an undisclosed sum.

The acquisition, which bolsters BMO’s wealth management capabilities in Asia, comes after it recently bought U.S. retail bank Marshall & Ilsley Corp. for $4.1-billion in December.

The LGM deal is smaller, though BMO does not plan to disclose the terms of the deal. The investment manager comes with about $6-billion of assets under management.

Speaking at a conference of bank CEOs hosted by Royal Bank of Canada Tuesday, BMO chief executive officer Bill Downe said the company is “highly complementary to [BMO’s] global asset management business.”

High-net-worth Chinese investors are increasingly moving money from China to Hong Kong and then to North America and Europe, Mr. Downe told the conference. Lloyd George Management is a specialist in emerging markets. Founded in 1991, it has about 80 employees.

“What’s striking about the opportunities in China is that they really reflect an opening up of that economy,” Mr. Downe said.

The deal is expected to close by the end of July, pending regulatory approvals. Canada’s fourth-largest bank by assets said Robert Lloyd George will stay on as chairman of the wealth management business, and BMO will keep the company’s name the same.

BMO received approval this summer to become the first Canadian bank, and one of only about 30 foreign banks, to incorporate in China. It has numerous businesses in China and Hong Kong, including foreign exchange and investment banking, which have become profitable in the past five years.

Lloyd George Management has offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, Mumbai, London and Florida. BMO is also opening an office in Abu Dhabi this month, Mr. Downe said.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/bmos-buying-path-moves-to-asia/article1865235/

Jaime Fong in Toronto

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She is currently single. She's looking for someone who is smarter than her, but he doesn't have to be handsome. She likes guys with small eyes.

Jason Chan + Jaime Fong in Toronto

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Some other tv personalities

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Ho Drama Illuminates Hong Kong-Canada Ties
31 January 2011
The Wall Street Journal

As Hong Kong's media scrambled over the family feud that has beset the Ho gambling empire this week, the drama took on a different slant 8,000 miles away in Toronto.

For Canada's leading national newspaper, The Globe and Mail, the story angle was clear: "Ho's Canadian kids set to take over casinos" read a headline on the front page of the paper's business section.

Parochial? Maybe. But the tangled transfer of wealth from one generation to another highlights a Canadian quirk among the city's demographic. Thanks in part to a favorable immigration policy, a significant portion of Hong Kong's wealthy elite are Canadian passport holders or have strong ties to Canada, including two key players in the battle over Stanley Ho's inheritance.

Pansy and Lawrence Ho, children of Mr. Ho's second wife, emigrated to Canada with their mother, Luucina Nam King-ying, in the 1980s. Lawrence Ho, who attended an elite Toronto private school, has a particular affection for the country's largest city -- he's a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and in Hong Kong he's a regular participant in a local ice hockey league. Both he and another sister, Daisy Ho, are also among a number of high-profile Hong Kongers sitting on the board of governors of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.

In fact, among the estimated 220,000-strong Canadian community in Hong Kong are several of the former British colony's most prominent business people. Most notable is the family ports to telecoms tycoon Li Ka-shing. Mr. Li, a Canadian citizen and reputedly the richest man in Asia, has significant business ties to Canada through investments in real estate and oil and gas in particular, though he has also been a major investor in the country's financial services sector.

His sons Victor and Richard Li are also Canadian citizens. Richard, chairman of Hong Kong telecom giant PCCW, is a regular visitor to Canada, a significant donor to Canadian charities (in 2006, he gave 1 million Canadian dollars [about USD$998,951] to Canada's National Arts Centre, for instance), and his son Ethan was born there in 2009.

Other prominent Hong Kong business people with connections to Canada include Michael Chan, chairman of ubiquitous fast-food retailer Café de Coral, who holds a degree from the University of Manitoba and spent much of his early career in Canada; and Allan Zeman, the "father" of the city's Lan Kwai Fong entertainment district, who was raised in Montreal, though he gave up his Canadian citizenship in 2008 when he became one of the few foreigners to take Chinese citizenship.

In total, the size of the Canadian population here ranks Hong Kong as Canada's 17th largest city, just ahead of Saskatoon and Regina, the two largest cities in the province of Saskatchewan. The number of Canadian citizens in the city was boosted in the early and mid-1990s in the run-up to the handover of Hong Kong to China. At that time, Canada's immigration laws were favorable to people who invested significant funds in Canada.

While holding two passports is tolerated by authorities in Hong Kong -- unlike in mainland China -- the practice led to political uproar in 2008 when Hong Kong-Canadian lawyer Gregory So was appointed to a key economic position in the city's government. Under intense media pressure, Mr. So was forced to forego his Canadian citizenship.

Caught between two worlds, a Chinese Canadian discovers home
Published On Wed Jan 26 2011

Florence Li Special to the Star

Ask me where I’m from, and I’ll tell you, “Hong Kong,” but when I’m back home with my family ask me the same question and I'll tell you, “Toronto.”

Going home for the holidays means two completely different things to me when it comes to my Chinese and Western sensibilities.

Especially on an occasion like the Lunar New Year, a time for family reunions and celebrations of epic proportions, I feel as if I am caught between both worlds.

For more recent immigrants to Canada, the Lunar New Year is undoubtedly the busiest time of year for families, not to mention commercial airlines.

At my previous job at an immigrant resource centre, serving mostly newcomers to the Greater Toronto Area from Mainland China, the English-language classes we ran would dwindle around late January, as students prepared weeks in advance for their homecomings.

I, too, would reflect on my own feelings during the mass exodus of students back to Asia and wonder if it were my “Canadian” sensibilities coming out, because my thoughts would swing to memories of Christmas in Hong Kong.

Truth be told, I am more comfortable in my downtown apartment at Yonge and College than anywhere else in the world.

Last year, I had the privilege to go home on both occasions. The trips were jam-packed with family gatherings as I dealt with the dizzying combination of jet lag and culture shock.

This past Christmas in Hong Kong, I traveled overland through the New Territories, where my family lives, then underground through Kowloon, Victoria Harbour and all over Hong Kong Island by MTR, Hong Kong's ultra-efficient Mass Transit Railway system. I felt thoroughly uncomfortable in the crush of bodies that Toronto's TTC wouldn't see even on it's busiest day.

Protecting myself against pushy commuters was once second nature, but then I felt like a stranger in the land where I was born. I looked the same as the anonymous faces around me, and yet I felt completely out of place.

Asian American scholar and writer Elaine Kim has written on this concept of being in-between and occupying a “third space.” In race and gender identity, Asian Americans exist in another space, she writes, as they are “neither/nor” and “both/and.”

As Asian Canadians — no hyphen, please — we are neither Asian, nor Canadian, and yet sometimes we are both Asian and Canadian.

Therein lies the issue of going home: If I am neither/nor, then where do I belong?

I have moved back and forth between Hong Kong and Toronto five times since the age of five. The Toronto I know now is certainly not the one I grew up with in Thornhill. Back then, I wanted to go to shul with the rest of my friends, but, instead, had to go to Chinese school on Friday nights. In the naive way that children are often oblivious to difference, I thought I was as white and Jewish as the next kid; I belonged.

Then, at age 12, my parents tore me away from the only world I knew. Our extended family rejoiced at our return to Hong Kong. Gone were the days of sliding down the stairs of our three-story house in sleeping bags with my brother. Canada to me meant vast, expansive space; Hong Kong felt like a shoebox.

But I learned to call it home.

Hong Kong during my teenage years wasn't defined by the magnificent backdrop of skyscrapers and glittering lights you see in the movies. Instead, it was Shatin, a mix of residential and commercial space out in the middle of the New Territories, known to my friends on more glamorous Hong Kong Island as the “boonies,” or “rice paddies.”

My Shatin really means New Town Plaza: a giant amalgamation of three malls in one, constantly packed, even at 7 o’clock in the morning, and my main hangout during my high school years. Picture Eaton Centre on Boxing Day, plus another thousand people and that's a regular Sunday at NTP.

The mall is Hong Kong's busiest, as it is the first major shopping mall on the MTR subway line that connects to Mainland China. Among the countless glitzy shopping malls in Hong Kong, boasting more luxury brands than you can name, NTP always felt like the poor cousin trying to seem classier than it was.

We were “international school” students. English-speaking kids in Hong Kong who had spent some years abroad, my friends and I would hang out at the open-aired Starbucks for hours, slurping our sugary drinks and avoiding our homework. Recognizable by our blue trousers and white wait-staff-like dress shirts, we rebelliously ate our McDonald's meals up on the mall's roof and yammered on in English, as Cantonese-speaking locals stared at us.

We relished our detachment from them — our “otherness” — finding courage among our gang.

In 2007, after spending a lonely four years at Queen’s University in Kingston, I hastily moved back in with my family in Hong Kong when the post-undergraduate job search got rough. I was “anywhere-but-here” personified. Those two years back in Asia became my “lost years.” I was disillusioned and unemployed in the real world.

I returned to Toronto on vacation in June 2009 and never left. I call it my extremely extended holiday. Now, when my friends in Hong Kong ask me why Toronto is better, I tell them it's not that Toronto is better; it's that I like myself better when I am here.

In Toronto, I measure distance in time. I’m a five-minute walk away from my friends, a 10-minute bike ride from work and mere seconds away from the screechy motion of the College Street streetcar. My freedom is both lonely and exciting; it has also become comfortable.

I belong here. Toronto is that place where I can occupy the in-between spaces of being whatever and whoever I want to be. I’ll always look forward to seeing my family in Hong Kong, but the moment the plane’s wheels hit the tarmac at Pearson International Airport, I’ll feel like I'm coming home.

http://www.thestar.com/specialsections/chinesenewyear/article/928557--caught-between-two-worlds-a-chinese-canadian-discovers-home

I LOVE HONGKONG

JUSTIN SKINNER|Apr 06, 2011 - 8:18 AM|

Remembering the sacrifices of Canadians in the Battle of Hong Kong

While the exploits of Canadian soldiers in many Second World War battles have been well-documented, the sacrifices made by nearly 2,000 men and women on the other side of the world have long gone ignored.

Canada was one of the leading Allied forces in the Battle of Hong Kong, a doomed front in which the Japanese surrounded and eventually took the strategic piece of land 70 years ago.

Canadians know of their country's heroism in battles such as Dieppe and the storming of Normandy on D-Day, but relatively few are aware that the Battle of Hong Kong represents the first land battle Canadian forces were involved in during the second World War.

George MacDonell, Sergeant of the Royal Rifles in 1941 and a veteran of the Hong Kong war spoke of the years leading up to the war at the University of Toronto's Richard Charles Lee Canada-Hong Kong Library recently.

He noted the Allied forces' defeat during the battle marked "the beginning of the end of the British empire in Asia as well as the beginning of the end of all European colonialism in the Far East."

Hong Kong was under British rule through the 1930s, but the Japanese were making moves to encircle the colony, invading and staking a claim to surrounding nations and islands.

When their intentions became more clear, the British tried to find a way to reinforce their colony but were hamstrung by battles on the European front. Rather than deploy their own soldiers, who were needed at home, they asked Canada to ship two battalions to defend Hong Kong.

"The British knew they couldn't defend Hong Kong militarily, but they didn't want to walk out on their colony," MacDonell said.

On Dec. 8, 1941, the same day as the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese attacked Hong Kong. The Allied forces, backed by militia from Hong Kong, were unable to hold the island.

"It ushered in a terrible period of suffering for all residents in the area and particularly the citizens of Hong Kong," MacDonell said at the Thursday, March 31 event.

The Allied forces surrendered on Dec. 25, 1941 and, while the Japanese had agreed to abide by rules set out in the Geneva Convention, their treatment of prisoners of war (POW) was nothing short of abhorrent, said Nathan Greenfield, author of The Damned: The Canadians at the Battle of Hong Kong and the POW Experience, 1941-45.

Greenfield noted that thousands were forced into hard labour and many died of thirst, starvation and disease.

"In POW camps, war crimes became an everyday occurrence," he said.

Greenfield noted prisoners were forced to march and those who were unable to keep up were beaten and bayoneted.

"Chinese stragglers were used for judo and sword practice in front of...civilians," he said.

He added that MacDonell himself was beaten so badly as a prisoner of war, he experienced kidney failure and was lucky to survive.

Neville Poy was six years old when the Japanese invaded his native Hong Kong. Unlike many of his countrymen and women, he managed to escape the occupied country with his family.

"A couple of Japanese officers used to come regularly (to where his family was) and both of them used to ask me to play the piano," he said. "My father told me I was not to play two tunes I loved; one was the Chinese national anthem and the other was the Colonel Bogey March," he said.

Despite the defeat of the Allied forces and the subsequent horrors endured by both himself and other prisoners of the Japanese, MacDonell does not regret his part in the Battle of Hong Kong.

"I'm proud that in 1941, I was one of the Canadian soldiers who fought and I'm proud that Canada was an ally of Hong Kong in the brave struggle of 70 years ago," he said. "Hong Kong has no better friend (than Canada.)"

http://www.insidetoronto.com/news/local/article/976652--remembering-the-sacrifices-of-canadians-in-the-battle-of-hong-kong

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Food: Chef Susur Lee partners with Kraft Canada
Published On Wed May 25 2011
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Chef Susur Lee in Chinatown market talking about how he's developing recipes for Kraft to reach out to the Chinese community.
RICK EGLINTON/TORONTO STAR

By Jennifer Bain Food Editor

Don’t tell Toronto chef Susur Lee he has sold out by working with Kraft Canada.

He’ll remind you that he’s an immigrant from Hong Kong reaching out to fellow Chinese immigrants.

He’ll point out that he’s a working father who knows the futility of cooking something “interesting” for kids who demand the opposite.

And he’ll speak about his range as a fusion chef.

“Look, I’ve done French food and Chinese food. I used to flip burgers at Peter Pan. I’m totally curious. People say, ‘Oh, chef Susur Lee is selling out.’ No, he’s not. I’m just doing a variety of things.”

Foodies were aghast when Kraft launched kraftchinesecooking.com on March 14 starring Lee as its culinary expert.

It was almost as shocking as Michelin-starred British chef Marco Pierre White becoming spokeschef for Knorr and singing the praises of its chicken-stock cubes.

“I’m still a gourmet chef and I can add fresh things and improve some of the sauces Kraft has,” insists Lee. “It doesn’t have to be open a jar and it’s done.”

His first two recipes were to go online this week and they’re full-on Lee, with hints of Kraft.

Beijing-Style Smashed Cucumber Salad has 15 ingredients, including Chinese black vinegar, chopped cane sugar and Chinese doughnuts. Kraft products in the recipe include Asian Sesame Dressing and Extra Virgin Olive Oil Aged Balsamic Vinaigrette.

Pan-Roasted Chicken with Ginger-Catalina Sauce again features two Kraft products — Catalina Dressing and Bull’s-Eye Bold Original barbecue sauce — on its 20-item ingredient list. It’s also based on a dish from Northern China.

“I know the Asian market and I’m bringing the freshness of Asian cooking,” reasons Lee. “It doesn’t mean that I use every single thing Kraft has. I have to pick and choose what I like.”

He remembers Kraft products from his childhood and he admits to having Cheez Whiz in his fridge at home, thanks to his kids, who are 13, 19 and 21. But he’s not working the products into his menus at Lee or Lee Lounge.

Lee’s recipes are for busy Canadian home cooks. More of them — like Spicy Hunan Pork made with Kraft peanut butter — are in development and will go online all year long as they become ready.

The chef shows a Kraft Canada team his ideas, and they wrestle them into recipes the public can follow.

It’s all part of a broader strategy to reach out to Chinese-Canadian consumers and those who want to work Chinese flavours into their cooking.

“We’re evolving our food to reflect the evolving Canadian landscape,” says Irene Daley, who is leading Kraft Canada’s ethnic strategy.

The company started working with Indian food expert Smita Chandra in 2009 to appeal to the South Asian market. The Mississauga cookbook author has created more than 80 recipes for kraftkakhana.com (ka khana is Hindi for good food).

Lee was the obvious pitchman for the Chinese market.

‘He’s a successful Chinese immigrant who has really made a name for himself in Canada for his restaurants and his style of cooking, which combines East and West,” says Daley.

The company launched kraftchinesecooking.com with a Chinese ad campaign targeting Chinese media and Asian supermarkets. It’s just now rolling it out for the rest of Canada. The website’s default is in Chinese but you can click for an English version.

Kraft has also been building its presence in Asian supermarkets like T&T and Oceans Fresh Food Market.

It expects Lee “will serve as a two-way cross-cultural bridge,” according to an overview of its strategy for the Chinese market.

The chef, meanwhile, says he is proud of his partnership with Kraft: “Otherwise I wouldn’t do it. I’m helping people to move forward. I’m helping people to taste new things.”

He stresses that he’s not simply taking a pay cheque to endorse Kraft (and of course he won’t reveal the financial terms of the arrangement).

“I’m a chef and I love to create. I’m not just selling my face. I’m selling my techniques and my recipes.”

He muses about one day developing his own line of sauces and products for Kraft.

In the meantime, he considers varied projects to be his education. He was recently approached by the Toronto District School Board about helping to promote healthy eating in Ontario schools.

“I’m totally feeling a great interest in that.”

http://www.thestar.com/living/food/article/996392--food-chef-susur-lee-partners-with-kraft-canada?bn=1

Following this drama unfold. Wanted to invest in this company earlier this year. Quite glad that I did not. However, I hope these allegations are proven to be false and the short-selling "research firm" will go belly up.

Muddy Waters ‘Pre-Marketed’ Sino-Forest Report to Hedge Funds, Dundee Says
By Matt Walcoff - Jun 7, 2011 5:55 PM ET

Muddy Waters Research, the firm founded by short seller Carson Block, “pre-marketed” its June 2 report on Sino-Forest Corp. (TRE) to hedge funds for the past five weeks, said an analyst at Dundee Securities Ltd.

Sino-Forest has tumbled 78 percent in Canadian trading since June 1, the day before Muddy Waters publicly released the report that said Hong Kong- and Mississauga, Ontario-based Sino- Forest’s disclosures of land holdings don’t match Chinese city records and that its stated production figures may not be accurate. Block stands to make money from declines in Sino- Forest’s shares.

“Muddy Waters pre-marketed this smoking-gun report on Sino-Forest to hedge funds over the last five weeks,” said Richard Kelertas, a Montreal-based analyst at Dundee, which helped sell shares in Sino-Forest as recently as December 2009.

“These hedge funds got involved with Sino-Forest in a big way,” Kelertas said yesterday on a conference call with investors and reporters, declining to name the funds or say how he obtained the information. “The short position almost doubled in two to three weeks.”

Kelertas said that the Muddy Waters report was inaccurate and there’s nothing fraudulent about Sino-Forest “to the best of our knowledge.” He recommended buying Sino-Forest shares from September 2007 until June 3, when he put his rating on the company under review.

Dundee was among institutions that helped Sino-Forest sell shares in December 2009 and also in May 2009.
Shorted Stock

Short selling, or selling borrowed shares with the hope of profiting when they fall, more than doubled to a record 35 percent of Sino-Forest’s outstanding stock as of June 3, up from 17 percent at the beginning of May and 13 percent at the end of 2010, according to Data Explorers, a New York-based research firm. Sino-Forest was the most-shorted stock in the Standard & Poor’s TSX Composite Index, which has an average short interest of 4.8 percent.

Sino-Forest dropped C$2.11, or 34 percent, to C$4.05 at 4:27 p.m. yesterday in Toronto Stock Exchange trading. The shares have declined 83 percent this year.

Offering a report to hedge funds before making it public is not illegal, said James Fanto, who teaches classes on international financial regulation and securities laws at Brooklyn Law School in New York.

“Muddy Waters can profit from this information itself, or allow others to profit from their insights as well,” Fanto said in an e-mail message. “The only problems emerge when research is in fact based on insider tips. But that doesn’t seem to be the case here.”

‘Much Faster’

The shares will recover “much faster than people suspect,” as the company releases documents that prove Block’s statements false over the next seven to 10 days, Kelertas said.

No one immediately responded to telephone and e-mail messages for Block seeking comment.

Sino-Forest’s use of so-called authorized intermediaries, which Block says were a means to avoid taxes, is actually a common and legal practice in China, Kelertas said.

The State Administration for Industry & Commerce documents Block cites in his report are actually private and not legally obtainable by third parties, the analyst said.

Sino-Forest isn’t similar to China Forestry Holding Co., which has had its shares halted since January after KPMG International identified what China Forestry called “possible irregularities.” China Forestry had its initial public offering in 2009 and is based only in Hong Kong. Sino-Forest went public in 1994.

“The stories are not comparable in any manner,” Kelertas said on the call, referring to Sino-Forest and China Forestry.

Kelertas said Dundee has spoken to Sino-Forest management 20 times since Block released his report. He said he has visited the company’s holdings in China annually for seven years

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-07/muddy-waters-pre-marketed-sino-forest-report-to-hedge-funds-dundee-says.html

Sino-Forest ‘angry, stunned and frustrated’ at allegations
ANDY HOFFMAN — ASIA-PACIFIC REPORTER,
VANCOUVER— From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
Published Tuesday, Jun. 07, 2011 11:23AM EDT
Last updated Tuesday, Jun. 07, 2011 7:58PM EDT

Top executives of Sino-Forest Corp. (TRE-T4.01 -2.09 -34.26%), the besieged TSX-listed Chinese forestry firm that has lost more than $2-billion in market value in recent days, say they are “angry, stunned and frustrated” by the allegations against the company.

In an exclusive interview with The Globe and Mail marking their first public comments on the intensifying controversy, chief executive officer Allen Chan and chief financial officer David Horsley called accusations leveled by a U.S. short-seller and his research firm “false, unjustified and unfair.”

Mr. Chan and Mr. Horsley however, refused to identify customers who purchase the company’s trees in China citing “competitive” reasons. The murky identity of customers has been at the heart of allegations against the company as sales to such entities are currently responsible for more than 90 per cent of the company’s revenue and profit.

“We have to be very careful [to not disclose our customers], otherwise our advantage would be taken away from us,” Mr. Chan, Sino-Forest’s co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer, said in a telephone interview from Hong Kong.

Muddy Waters Research, a firm headed by U.S.-born Carson Block, has led a devastating attack on Sino-Forest during the past week that has caused the stock to plunge more than 60 per cent and wiped out billions of dollars in shareholder value. Mr. Block has levelled fraud allegations against several Chinese companies listed on North American stock markets during the past year, casting suspicion around the growing list of companies from China tapping overseas markets for capital.

Sino-Forest, however, is a much larger and well-established player compared to Mr. Block’s previous targets. It was established in 1994 and recently reached a market value of about $6-billion as investors bought in to the company as a way to play the Chinese economy’s surging demand for wood.

It also boasts prominent executives and shareholders including John Paulson – perhaps the world’s most famous hedge fund manager for his prescient calls on the U.S. market meltdown in 2008 and the soaring price of gold. Mr. Paulson is Sino-Forest’s largest shareholder, owning 14 per cent of the company. The Sino-Forest stake accounts for about 2 per cent of Mr. Paulson’s flagship investment fund.

Mr. Horsley, Sino-Forest’s CFO, said management has been in frequent communication with Mr. Paulson, who continues to hold his share position.

“We are certainly in conversation with him and others to talk about what is going on and things that we need to be doing and the alternatives that the company could undertake to respond to some of these allegations. It has been friendly, supportive and suggestive discussions,” Mr. Horsley said.

Sino-Forest does not believe it is the subject of any regulatory investigations, Mr. Horsley added. The company has set up a special committee of independent directors to investigate the allegations. It is also preparing to file legal action against Mr. Block and Muddy Waters and may officially request stock market regulators investigate trading by Mr. Block and any associates who knew of his coming report.

The Muddy Waters research report alleges that Sino-Forest has inflated the value of its timber holdings, has provided “fraudulent data” to an outside company that evaluates Sino-Forest’s assets and has used false or related intermediary companies to buy its plantation holdings.

Mr. Chan and Mr. Horsley denied all of these allegations. They said Mr. Block has “misunderstood” Sino-Forest’s current business, which involves buying plantations of trees in China, holding them for two or three years while they increase in value, and then selling them for a profit. Sino-Forest’s margin on such transactions has been between 40 per cent and 50 per cent.

Mr. Block, for example, alleged that Sino-Forest would have needed thousands of trucks to harvest and transport all the logs from a recent sale of holdings in the province of Yunnan.

“If he’d only read in our [regulatory filings], we clearly stated that we never said we sold logs … it was standing timber and the trees are still standing and are not part of a [government-imposed limit on harvesting] quota,” Mr. Horsley said.

“As time unfolds and the special committee does its work they’ll knock off allegation by allegation,” he added.

Citing Sino-Forest’s “convoluted” corporate structure, which includes more than 40 subsidiaries in China and 16 in the British Virgin Islands, Mr. Block has implied that the company uses these entities to redistribute cash raised by the company. Muddy Waters and Mr. Block also allege that many of Sino-Forest’s forestry sales are made to related parties.

Mr. Chan said is “common” for a company in China to set up separate subsidiaries wherever it operates in order to pay local taxes and to gain access to local subsidies and funding for research and development.

As for its undisclosed list of customers, Mr. Horsley said Sino-Forest has not sold timber holdings to related parties. He said the company’s auditors Ernst & Young have been given full access to the names and locations of its customers.

“We don’t like to publish those customer’s names because it is like putting a flag up. Just like we don’t disclose every area where we plant trees. It’s like putting up a little flag and saying ‘everybody come here.’ If we disclose our customers we are saying ‘everybody come here and sell to our customers.’ That is important information for someone to replicate what we are doing,” Mr. Horsley said.

______

MOODY’S PUTS SINO-FOREST UNDER REVIEW

Moody's Investors Service put Sino-Forest Corp. under review Tuesday for a possible downgrade as the Chinese timberland firm continued to fight allegations it exaggerated sales and assets.

Sino-Forest has refuted the allegations, but Moody's raised concerns the company's business may be affected even if the accusations are proven false.

“Moody's notes that Sino-Forest has been growing aggressively, and needs ongoing access to the equity and debt markets to continue such growth,” the debt rating agency said in a statement.

“There is a risk that the current allegations will damage its ability to do so, or increase the cost of doing so.”

Moody's, which currently had a rating of Ba2 on the company, said $1.9-billion in Sino-Forest debt is affected by the review.

The Canadian Press

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/sino-forest-angry-stunned-and-frustrated-at-allegations/article2050175/singlepage/#articlecontent

Councillors back proposal to ban shark-fin soup in Toronto
PATRICK WHITE AND KIM MACKRAEL
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
Published Monday, Jun. 13, 2011 2:56PM EDT
Last updated Monday, Jun. 13, 2011 9:30PM EDT

A broad coalition of politicians and activists has launched a campaign to ban the sale and consumption of shark fins within Toronto, a feat they hope will trigger a legislative domino effect across North America.

The fins are used in several Chinese delicacies available at restaurants throughout Greater Toronto, but the often cruel methods used to harvest sharks have prompted conservation groups and politicians around the world to call for an end to their consumption.

“This is not a cultural practice I want to continue to take part in,” said Kristyn Wong-Tam, one of three city councillors to put their names on a petition calling for a “fin-free Toronto.”

Ms. Wong-Tam said she has sampled her share of shark-fin soup at weddings and other Chinese cultural celebrations, but she and the rest of her family stopped indulging about a decade ago when they found out about finning, a method of catching sharks and cutting off their fins before tossing them back in the ocean to die.

“My family and I have had shark fin pretty much all our lives,” said Ms. Wong-Tam, who is past president of the Chinese Canadian National Council’s Toronto chapter. “But times are changing.”

She compared the consumption of shark fins to the cultural practices of foot-binding and hunting elephants for ivory.

Councillors Glenn De Baeremaeker and John Parker joined Ms. Wong-Tam for the campaign launch. They are working with Rob Stewart, director of the award-winning documentary Sharkwater, and representatives from the conservation group WildAid to get 10,000 signatures on a petition and prod City Hall into imposing a ban by October.

Brantford, Ont., passed a similar ban days ago, the first city in Canada to do so.

The group is lobbying at provincial and federal levels as well, but says that municipal bans hold the most immediate promise of outlawing the delicacy.

“Once the City of Toronto adopts this measure, just like our smoking bylaws, you’ll see this spread like wildfire across the GTA, across the province and, hopefully, across the nation.”

At least five restaurants on the downtown stretch of Spadina Avenue, from Dundas Street West to College Street, sell the delicacy, but few were willing to discuss the dish when approached by The Globe and Mail.

“Yes, we serve it, but I can’t talk about it,” a server at New Sky restaurant said.

Ken Fong, manager at Xam Yu Seafood Restaurant, said he doesn’t serve the soup because it’s too expensive, and his customers aren’t interested in paying for it.

At restaurants in the GTA, shark-fin soup can range from $25 for a bowl the size of a tennis ball to $120 for an extra-large bowl.

Mr. Fong said he also thinks the soup is losing popularity as a cultural dish. “Now, young people don’t think it’s that important.”

Pearl Harbourfront Chinese Restaurant on Queens Quay West used to offer shark-fin soup, but took it off the menu several months ago when the restaurant started getting phone calls from people who said the dish was unethical. An employee said the restaurant is still selling the soup when customers ask for it, but using only the fins that are left in stock.

“For some Chinese people who have weddings and things like that, we’ll sell it to them,” Kim Mak said. “We’re not going to throw it in the garbage, right?”

At Pacific Mall, a store called Shark’s Fin City is dedicated almost entirely to the delicacy in its dried form. Pale, brittle fins line the shelves on one side of the store, and cost as much as $520 a pound.

While more than 90 countries have banned finning, including Canada, the fins are still traded freely across national borders.

“Over the next to or three years you will see a fundamental change in the international regard for shark fins, or else there will be no future for sharks,” said Robert Sinclair, executive director of WildAid Canada and a former Ontario PC Party organizer.

The councillors will press their case for a ban on Wednesday, when they introduce motion to have staff prepare a report on the matter.


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/councillors-back-proposal-to-ban-shark-fin-soup-in-toronto/article2058786/

With shark fin, I think we need to get things clear. is it

1) Is it the method of finning that we are worry about?
2) Is it because it is endanger species?

Just tax it, like Cigarettes, put a tax so high and let the market decide the demand.

Sino-Forest Says Paulson Still ‘Supportive’
By Christopher Donville and Sonja Elmquist - Jun 14, 2011 7:14 PM ET

June 7 (Bloomberg) --

Sino-Forest Corp. (TRE), the Chinese tree- plantation owner that has plunged 82 percent since being targeted by short seller Carson Block, said it has talked to Paulson & Co., its largest shareholder, and the firm is “very supportive.”

Paulson is among Sino-Forest investors that have offered advice on how to refute assertions by Block’s Muddy Waters LLC that the company overstated its timber holdings in China, Chief Financial Officer David Horsley said yesterday.

“I’ve spoken to them and they are very supportive, giving us suggestions and issues that we need to address,” Horsley said in an interview.

Paulson may have lost about C$515.5 million ($532.4 million) since June 1, the day before the Muddy Waters report was released. Sino-Forest’s decline comes amid increased scrutiny of Chinese companies trading in North America. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission began a probe in 2010 into the use of reverse takeovers, in which a closely held firm goes public by purchasing a shell company that already trades.

Armel Leslie, a spokesman for Paulson in New York, declined to comment in a telephone interview. Paulson owned 34.7 million Sino-Forest shares, or about 14 percent of Sino-Forest, as of April 29, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Sino-Forest dropped C$1.62, or 33 percent, to C$3.36 as of 4:26 p.m. in Toronto Stock Exchange trading after the company posted first-quarter earnings that missed analysts’ estimates. Sino-Forest was advised against buying back its stock until an investigation by the company into Muddy Water’s allegations is complete, William Ardell, a director, said on a conference call with analysts yesterday.

Investor Meetings

Horsley said top company executives haven’t had face-to- face meetings with investors since the week the Muddy Waters’ report was released.

“I haven’t been down to the U.S,” said Horsley, who was interviewed along with Chief Executive Officer Allen Chan by telephone from Hong Kong. “We were meeting with investors that week, but since then we’ve just been dealing with the situation.”

Sino-Forest, based in Hong Kong and Mississauga, Ontario, wasn’t contacted by Muddy Waters before the research firm’s report was made public, Chan said in the interview. Muddy Waters said the amount of land Sino-Forest said it bought from Lincang City in China’s Yunnan province doesn’t match city records. Sino-Forest says the report in inaccurate.

‘Total Surprise’

“Because Muddy Waters never approached the company before it issued the report, it came as a total surprise to us,” Chan said. “Had Muddy Waters approached us before the release of the report, definitely we would have had lots of opportunity to explain to them, to show them all the errors that they have made in the report.”

The company has established an independent committee to investigate Muddy Waters’ allegations and appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP to assist. The probe won’t be finished for two to three months, slowing the pace of timberland acquisitions, Sino-Forest said yesterday in its earnings statement.

“This investigation is going to take a tremendous amount of time,” Horsley said on the call. “That’s going to impact in the short term our ability to continue the acquisition pace we were on for the year.”

The timeline for the investigation is “aggressive,” Muddy Waters said in a statement that it posted on its website following the call.

Management’s Comments

Sino-Forest “could have been more forceful and clear in some of their responses” on the call “but it could be that they are working under certain limitations placed on them by the independent committee,” Richard Kelertas, an analyst at Dundee Securities in Montreal who has his rating on the shares under review, said in a report.

The call’s question-and-answer session “was a bit short and it is our opinion that some questions were likely not answered to the satisfaction of equity analysts and investors,” Kelertas said. Dundee was among investors that helped Sino- Forest sell shares in December 2009 and also in May 2009.

Sino-Forest reported a first-quarter loss of $20.7 million, or 8 cents a share, compared with net income of $15.9 million, or 7 cents, a year earlier. Excluding a charge of about 22 cents related to conversion to International Financial Reporting Standards, profit was 13 cents a share. That trailed the 21-cent average of six analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Sales gained 35 percent to $338.9 million from $251 million a year earlier. The plantation area under management in China at the end of the quarter was 866,600 hectares (2.14 million acres), up 9.9 percent from the end of the preceding quarter.

Short Selling

Sino-Forest said on June 8 it asked the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada to probe trading in its stock. The Ontario Securities Commission said the same day it was studying “matters related” to the company.

Block, 35, who stands to make money from declines in Sino- Forest’s stock, said in a June 6 Bloomberg Television interview he will keep betting against the company until its shares reach “zero.”

Short selling, the sale of borrowed shares with the hope of profiting when they fall, more than doubled to a record 35 percent of Sino-Forest’s outstanding stock as of June 2 from 17 percent on May 2, according to Data Explorers, a New York-based research firm. While bearish bets against the stock have retreated to 28 percent as of June 10, Sino-Forest remains the most-shorted stock in the Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-14/sino-forest-says-top-shareholder-paulson-supportive-after-stock-s-plunge.html

Hong Konger wins $23 million jackpot!

Richmond Hill woman claims $22.6 million lottery prize
Published 1 hour ago

Amanda Kwan Staff Reporter

A Richmond Hill woman has stepped forward as the winner of a $22.6 million lottery prize.

Vivian Leung, a retail manager in Markham, accepted a cheque Thursday afternoon at the Ontario Lottery and Gaming headquarters in Toronto.

It took three weeks for Leung to cash-in a free play ticket, which turned out to be the winning ticket for the LOTTO MAX jackpot in the Friday, June 17 draw.

Leung says she plans on using some of her winnings on a family vacation, as well as moving her 84-year-old father from Edmonton to the GTA to be closer to her.

The winning ticket was bought at Lucky 8 Lottery at Pacific Mall on Steeles Ave. in Markham.

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1014214--richmond-hill-woman-claims-22-6-million-lottery-prize?bn=1

With shark fin, I think we need to get things clear. is it

1) Is it the method of finning that we are worry about?
2) Is it because it is endanger species?

Just tax it, like Cigarettes, put a tax so high and let the market decide the demand.

More because they're endangered I believe.

As nation of immigrants, Canada must now confront its emigrants
JOE FRIESEN
DEMOGRAPHICS REPORTER
Published Sunday, Jun. 26, 2011 8:39PM EDT
Last updated Monday, Jun. 27, 2011 4:06PM EDT

Canada has always thought of itself as a nation of immigrants. But new research suggests that among wealthy immigrant-receiving nations, Canada is one of the likeliest to see its own citizens move abroad.

Nearly 2.8 million Canadians (9 per cent of the population) live in other countries, according to a study by the Asia Pacific Foundation, proportionally about five times higher than the United States and roughly the same as Britain.

That demographic shift toward significant emigration will eventually force Canada to confront a long-established ambivalence to citizens living beyond its borders, the report’s authors say.

“There’s a very deep-seated self-image in this country that we are an immigrant country and a kind of instinct that treats Canadians abroad as either failed immigrants or disloyal Canadians,” said Yuen Pau Woo, CEO of the Asia Pacific Foundation.

“We’ve got to think bigger than that. … We stand to fall behind other countries that are actively courting their diaspora communities.”

Mr. Woo said Canadian government policy discourages attachment to Canada among its diaspora. Canadians who have lived abroad for more than five years lose their right to vote in Canadian elections, for example. And citizenship can only be passed on to the first generation born abroad.

Mr. Woo said he doubts Canada is actually ready to change its attitude toward emigrants, but he wants to start the discussion.

“Canadians abroad can be seen as a balance sheet. They often have been seen more on the liability side of the ledger than the asset side of the ledger,” he said. “The trick to determining whether they’re assets or liabilities in the end has to do with government policies. There’s a choice. We’re trying to encourage the right choice.”

Scotland, Australia, India, China and Singapore have all adopted policies designed to develop stronger links with their diasporas, from business networking groups to return tourism campaigns. Ireland has received hundreds of millions of dollars in philanthropic gifts from its diaspora.

Jonathan Gray, a Canadian citizen who lived in five countries during his childhood, did graduate studies in Britain and now teaches at the University of Wisconsin. He last lived in Canada in 1999 and hasn’t voted in a Canadian election in several years. Prof. Gray, 35, is also a British citizen and will soon be eligible to become a U.S. citizen.

He says his connection to Canada often feels like no more than a love of hockey and an affinity for fellow Canadians, but he visits Canada once or twice a year and follows Canadian politics. He said he still considers himself Canadian and would be interested in returning to Canada if the right job opportunity arose.

The Canadian government should build bridges with people like Prof. Gray, but it doesn’t, according to the study. Don DeVoretz, a Simon Fraser University economist who directed research on the study, said Canada doesn’t do much to engage its citizenry abroad and, as a result, is ignoring potential benefits.

“We don’t get any benefits as it stands now. You look around, you see countries like India, Australia, New Zealand or Ireland or Scotland, they have very aggressive programs to initiate contact and interchange with their overseas population,” Prof. DeVoretz said.

There is a widespread impression in Canada, though, driven in part by the costly evacuation of Canadian citizens from Lebanon in 2006, that Canada’s diaspora is more of a burden than an asset. There’s also a fear that our free public-health-care system will be used by people who haven’t contributed to Canadian tax rolls during their working years.

Prof. DeVoretz said those costs can be managed. One possibility is to create a fund for Canadians abroad to pay their share of future health-care costs, a kind of insurance fund.

The study calls for the government to support networks of Canadians abroad, citing the example of the C100 group in the Silicon Valley that brings together Canadian entrepreneurs and builds partnerships with universities and alumni groups.

The study suggests the trend toward a more mobile citizenship is accelerating as growing numbers of immigrants, particularly from Asia, stay in Canada long enough to obtain citizenship and subsequently move back to their native country or to a third country. Although a majority of Canadians abroad were born in Canada, immigrants who became citizens through naturalization were more than three times as likely to leave from 1996 to 2006.

Canada, unlike Australia, does not track who leaves its borders, so getting figures for Canadians abroad is difficult. Using census data from Canada and other countries, the study found that the largest number of Canadians abroad – more than one million – are in the United States. The next largest group, roughly 300,000, is in Hong Kong.

Who leaves?

The majority of Canadians abroad – 58 per cent – are Canadian born. But from 1996 to 2006, rates of exit were more than three times higher for naturalized Canadians. Immigrants from China and India, interestingly, had low exit rates, but the data go back only to 2005, when the economic boom in those countries was still accelerating and most mainland Chinese had only been in Canada a short time. Younger Canadians, aged 21 to 25, are most likely to leave. Second-generation Canadians from Eastern Europe, South Asia or the Middle East have high exit rates. Those who identify as French have high return rates, at 29 per cent. Immigrants from Taiwan and Hong Kong are most likely to leave, while those from the Caribbean, Britain and Portugal are among the least likely.

What do they think about Canada?

In a survey of Canadians in Hong Kong, two-thirds of them said they would like to have the same voting rights as those living in Canada and slightly more than half would like to see a central government agency co-ordinate services for Canadians abroad. Two-thirds said they had family connections to Canada, and more than 20 per cent said they think “all the time” about returning to live in Canada. Twenty-nine per cent said they intend to send their children to school in Canada, while another 14 per cent said they will send their children to schools with Canadian curricula. Nearly 20 per cent still pay taxes in Canada

What questions does it raise?

There is a view that Canadians abroad do not pay taxes and therefore shouldn’t reap the benefits of citizenship, such as free health care, should they return. The biggest loss to the Canadian treasury is when a Canadian male in his peak earning years, aged 36 to 61, leaves the country. This loss is compounded if the same Canadian returns after retirement, because people over 61 are unlikely to pay enough in taxes to make up for what they will eventually cost the health-care system. One possible solution would be to establish a fund which those who intended to return to Canada could pay into; another suggestion, similar to what is in place in the U.S., is that Canadian citizens abroad could be required to file annual tax returns.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/time-to-lead/canadians-moving-abroad-where-are-they-going/article2076362/?from=2076408

http://i.imgur.com/5PqMY.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/pgqgP.jpg

"There’s also a fear that our free public-health-care system will be used by people who haven’t contributed to Canadian tax rolls during their working years."

Then they should kick all those low-income-earning residents off medicare until they earn and pay more taxes.

i know Canadian living in Phnom Penh that only return to Canada to do check up, or any operations. they don't work while stay in Canada as all their business is in Cambodia, so they probably don't pay any tax.

I think government contribution to citizen health care can be a function of their length of stay in Canada, so if they are in Canada for only 70 days in 2010, then any public health service they use, the government only contribute 20%.

i know Canadian living in Phnom Penh that only return to Canada to do check up, or any operations. they don't work while stay in Canada as all their business is in Cambodia, so they probably don't pay any tax.

I think government contribution to citizen health care can be a function of their length of stay in Canada, so if they are in Canada for only 70 days in 2010, then any public health service they use, the government only contribute 20%.

That will likely cause a revolt among the senior citizen population. A sizeable portion winter in the US where the climate is better, spending months at a time out of the country.

Bullied no more, thanks to Grade 6 teacher
June 23, 2011

http://i.imgur.com/bFa95.jpg
Nancy J. White
LIVING REPORTER

Leo Chau was so quiet in grade school that he didn’t talk to other kids. The boy, who emigrated from Hong Kong when he was seven, wouldn’t even ask the teacher for permission to go to the washroom. Teachers told the boy’s mother that he was so introverted something must be wrong with him, that he should see a doctor.

Something was wrong. The boy was so quiet he never told the teachers about the bullying, about the kid who stole his backpack or the kids who kicked his feet under the desks. And no teacher ever seemed to notice.

Until Rocky Signorile, his Grade 6 teacher.

“He took the time to talk to me, to see if everything was okay,” says Chau, 22. “He looked after me and made sure I wasn’t picked on. I felt like he was my father figure at school.”

Chau remembers the time another student called him an insulting name. Signorile overheard it and confronted the student, explaining it wasn’t acceptable. It never happened again.

After class or during breaks, the teacher at Cummer Valley Middle School would often pull Chau aside for a quick reassuring word, always encouraging him to speak up more.

“It made me feel better about going to school,” says Chau, a University of Waterloo graduate who begins physiotherapy studies at the University of Toronto in September. “Mr. Signorile jump started my confidence.”

Chau is also a professional tennis coach, interacting with people all the time. “Although still quiet, I’m no longer the shy person that I was before and I’d like to thank him for that,” the young man wrote in his email to the Star looking for his teacher.

And Signorile?

Still teaching with the Toronto Board of Education, he’s worked for the last four years at the Muki Baum Children’s Treatment Centre, a program for kids with complex developmental disabilities and emotional or psychiatric disorders.

Mention Chau to him, and Signorile, 39, doesn’t miss a beat. “A nice kid. Quiet. He kept himself off to the side. I used to talk to him about breaking out of his shell.”

When Chau visited him recently at Muki Baum, Signorile greeted the young man with a big hug. They reminisced about old times. “There was a free flow of conversation,” says Signorile. “I used to have to pry things out of that boy. He’s definitely matured and changed.”

The two exchanged emails to arrange a time to play tennis. “I think I’m good,” laughs Signorile, “then I realized who I was talking to. Now he can teach me a few things.”

Chau apparently gained more than confidence from his school year with Signorile. He picked up some teaching tips.

When instructing tennis, Chau keeps a close eye on his quiet students. “I talk to them every day,” he says. “Just starting a conversation shows you care about them. Just like Mr. Signorile did.”

http://www.parentcentral.ca/parent/education/schoolsandresources/article/1014103--bullied-no-more-thanks-to-grade-6-teacher

CPPIB gains half ownership of Hong Kong property
TORONTO— The Canadian Press
Published Thursday, Jun. 30, 2011 8:19AM EDT
Last updated Thursday, Jun. 30, 2011 11:01AM EDT

The Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board has acquired 50 per cent of the shares in Hong Kong Interlink, an industrial facility under development, for $285-million.

The CPPIB, which invests surplus funds from the federal government’s Canada Pension Plan, will pay about $205-million in cash and assume $80-million of debt for its half ownership of Hong Kong Interlink.

The Goodman Hong Kong Logistics Fund will own the other 50 per cent of the Interlink project, which is scheduled for completion in January 2012.

The fund is part of Goodman Group, an Australian-based real estate company.

It’s CPPIB’s first direct investment in Hong Kong real estate and part of the pension fund manager’s strategy of acquiring assets that can deliver stable returns over the long term.

“Interlink is well positioned to attract leading, global tenants seeking a large-scale, modern facility in the Hong Kong area, where the supply of industrial space is severely constrained and rental demand is consistently strong,” said Graeme Eadie, CPPIB’s senior vice-president for real-estate investment.

In a separate release Goodman said the deal expands the company’s partnership with the Canadian pension fund and frees up capital for other investments in China’s fast-growing economy.

“Significantly, the transaction will help to drive the group’s growth strategy in the region, providing capital for reinvestment in new opportunities across Greater China, specifically in our targeted cities of Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu and Chongqing,” Goodman Group CEO Greg Goodman said in a release from Sydney, Australia.

Philip Pearce, Goodman’s managing director for Greater China, said growth potential in China is great because of the booming economy linked to international trade.

“Customer demand for prime logistics space in Greater China continues to exceed supply and our people are very focused on procuring land and securing development opportunities in response to the strong demand,” Mr. Pearce said.

Under Thursday’s announced transaction, Goodman will provide asset management, development and property services.


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/cppib-gains-half-ownership-of-hong-kong-property/article2081423/

Sino-Forest Must Better Explain Itself, Hong Kong Secretary Tsang Says
By Colin McClelland - Jul 12, 2011 4:47 PM ET

Hong Kong Financial Secretary John Tsang said authorities should investigate allegations of wrongdoing at Sino-Forest Corp. (TRE), and the company should try to set the record straight.

Short-seller Muddy Waters LLC said last month that Sino- Forest had overstated its timber holdings. The report caused the China-based tree plantation owner’s shares to drop 82 percent in Toronto this year.

“The authorities need to look into whether there are some things more hidden in the analysis of this particular company, or the timing, which is sort of peculiar,” Tsang told reporters in Toronto. “For the company itself, they need to come out and explain themselves to their investors to make them feel comfortable they are investing in a proper business.”

Tsang, speaking after a luncheon address to the Economic Club of Canada today, said he hadn’t been asked to participate in probes by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission or the Ontario Securities Commission.

Earlier, Tsang told the editorial board of the Globe and Mail newspaper that the city’s stock-listing standards are “stringent,” downplaying a report from Moody’s Investors Service that raised “red flags” about corporate governance at 61 Chinese companies, including some traded in Hong Kong.

“Many of these companies who got into trouble would not have been able to list in Hong Kong,” Tsang told the Toronto- based newspaper today. The companies mentioned by Moody’s included Sino-Forest and West China Cement Ltd.

Shares Decline

Sino Forest dropped 3 cents, or 0.7 percent, to C$4.28 at 4 p.m. on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Tsang told the luncheon the Hong Kong dollar will likely remain pegged to the U.S. dollar, not China’s yuan. Per-capita gross domestic product is less than $5,000 in China and is $32,000 in Hong Kong, and the city’s economic cycle is more akin to U.S.’s than China’s, Tsang said.

“There’s been talk of linking to a basket of currencies, but at this time there are really not a whole lot of alternatives,” Tsang said. “There has been a lot of worry that the Hong Kong dollar could be replaced, or marginalized by the renminbi, but I don’t think that will happen.”

The increase in yuan deposits in Hong Kong banks over the last few years is because more trade settlement is being being done in the city, he said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-12/sino-forest-must-better-explain-itself-hong-kong-secretary-tsang-says.html

Ravenous MTY Food Group gobbles up Mr. Sub
RICHARD BLACKWELL
The Canadian Press
Published Thursday, Aug. 18, 2011 9:11AM EDT
Last updated Thursday, Aug. 18, 2011 7:10PM EDT


Montreal fast-food mogul Stanley Ma has made his biggest purchase ever, a $23-million cash takeover of the Mr. Sub sandwich chain.

Mr. Ma’s MTY Food Group Inc. (MTY-T14.050.110.79%), a TSX-listed company that has seen its revenue triple in the past four years, has added the 335-outlet Mr. Submarine Ltd. chain to its vast array of fast-food restaurants. The deal gives the company its first foothold in the submarine sandwich market, and a bigger footprint in Ontario where most of the Mr. Sub outlets are located.

MTY has been on an acquisition streak for the past several years, and announced two deals this week alone. In addition to the Mr. Sub takeover, on Monday MTY said it will pay $1.8-million for Koryo Korean BBQ Franchise Corp., a food chain with 20 outlets in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Quebec.

MTY is also in the process of closing a deal to buy the 133-outlet Jugo Juice Canada Inc. chain for $15.5-million.

Mr. Ma, who immigrated to Canada from Hong Kong in the 1960s, started with a single restaurant serving Chinese and Polynesian food that he opened in 1979. His company now owns a vast network of more than two dozen chains, including Cultures, Thai Express, TacoTime, Yogen Früz Canada and the large coffee and doughnut chain Country Style, which it bought for $16.5-million in 2009. Together, they add up to more than 1,700 restaurants, almost all of which are franchised.

After trading for years on the TSX Venture exchange, MTY migrated to the main exchange in May, 2010. Mr. Ma still owns about 26 per cent of the firm.

The purchase of the privately held Mr. Sub gives the company a strong presence in the sandwich market, where the company was absent, said MTY vice-president of finance Eric Lefebvre. “Strategically it fits our portfolio ... and it does not cannibalize any of our other chains,” he said.

He said the company has not yet decided if it will make any substantial changes to the Mr. Sub chain, a 43-year-old business that has faced stiff competition in recent years from other sub sandwich restaurants such as Subway and Quiznos.

Mr. Lefebvre said MTY will continue to make acquisitions of various sizes, and is in a financial position to gobble up bigger targets as it expands. “The fact that we are still debt free certainly helps,” he said. “If we are going for a larger target there are many opportunities for financing [through] issuing equity or debt.”

The company has already opened some restaurants outside Canada, but only in the Middle East. It will make more international purchases “if the strategic fit is there and the price is right,” Mr. Lefebvre said. The company has no properties in the United States but it is considering a “careful” move there, he said. Still, “Canada is a very big country and we still have a lot of room to grow here.”

The company considered buying some of the restaurants put up for sale by Priszm Income Fund, but they “weren’t the right fit for us,” Mr. Lefebvre said. Priszm, which owned dozens of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut restaurants, is now in court protection from creditors.

Analyst Vincent Perri of Laurentian Bank Securities, said MTY has done an excellent job of absorbing its acquisitions over the past few years. “They are a proven and solid consolidator,” he said.

MTY generated about $66.9-million in revenue in 2010, and profit of $15.4-million.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/ravenous-mty-food-group-gobbles-up-mr-sub/article2133436/

Analysis: Will Olivia run for the top NDP job?
Published 16 minutes ago

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/5699/e7bc56c64f15b3f6dd8914b.jpg

Olivia Chow acknowledges the crowd after Saturday's funeral for her husband Jack Layton at Roy Thomson Hall.


Someone added a chalk message Friday to the Jack Layton tributes at city hall:

“Olivia for Prime Minister. OK, Jack?”

Perhaps the line should have read: “OK, Olivia?”

After all, Layton’s widow Olivia Chow is the one to decide if she will run for the NDP leadership.

At the moment, Chow isn’t talking about her political future. In response to a Star email Sunday asking if she would comment on leadership plans, the Trinity-Spadina MP wrote only:

“I am looking to take a few days off to swim in a river — walk in the woods and sleep.”

Chow looked after her husband until he died at home just before dawn on Aug. 22. She worked on his final letter to Canadians and cooperated with federal protocol officials on the state funeral Saturday at Roy Thomson Hall.

Nor surprisingly, she added in understatement: “I’m a bit exhausted from organizing the invitation list and the program of yesterday’s celebration.”

But her silence — and lack of denial on a leadership bid — is interesting.

It’s clear she has some thinking to do.

The chalk message underscores the possibility that Chow, who’s been the public face of a nation’s grief, might be pressured to pick up the torch from her fallen husband.

Her name hasn’t exactly been top of mind in early media scuttlebutt about potential successors. However, a very casual Star survey of mourners in the lines at city hall about the notion of Chow as leader got mainly a lot of eye-rolling. As in, “Well, yeah, who else?”

These weren’t strategists or party insiders, and some probably weren’t even party members. But for them, she’s the obvious gut choice to tap into the “something’s happening here” movement.

Her sorrowful image has become iconic. She is, like Jack, just Olivia, That’s a powerful political gift, even if not sought.

As the party begins to move out of its immediate mourning stage and into active politicking for the leadership — not that it hasn’t already begun and on occasion, clumsily — there are unanswered questions about Chow:

• Is she a credible candidate?

• Was she merely “Mrs. Layton,” hanging from his coattails?

• Does she even want to run?

“If Olivia wants to be a candidate, she’s the instant front-runner,” says political analyst Robin Sears, senior partner at Navigator Ltd. and a former NDP heavyweight.

“She is fortified by the strength of her own record as a politician, both municipally and federally. Plus, and this in no way detracts from her abilities, she has the benefit of the sympathy that’s coalesced around Jack among party activists.”

He’s known Layton and Chow for years and admires her political acumen.

Nevertheless, some see her as an adjunct to her husband. A family friend in line at the funeral Saturday said a reporter had just asked whether Chow is a lightweight. Nothing could be further from the truth, he believes.

A Chow leadership challenge would be unprecedented. “If she were to become a candidate, it would probably be unique in Canadian political history, at least at the level of Opposition leader,” says Sears.

She belongs to a political dynasty. Layton’s father Robert was a minister in Progressive Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney’s cabinet, and he was related to William Steeves, a Father of Confederation. Layton’s son, Michael, is a rookie Toronto city councillor.

Chow, 54, was a firebrand as a Toronto councillor. Arguably, she had the best files of anyone in Toronto city politics and she lives and breathes the business. In 2005, when she talked to the Star about her thyroid cancer (in remission), the only point she stressed was the “injustice” that a subsidiary of a U.S. pharmaceutical based in Montreal withheld a cancer-fighting drug from Canadians, claiming shortages. It was available in the States.

How’s her French? Not good. She speaks Cantonese and Mandarin but could she master French in record time?

“My feeling is that it’s not preposterous that she might be a candidate. But could she win? Frankly, she’s not well known in Quebec,” said Don Macpherson, veteran Quebec columnist at The Gazette.

“Don’t forget, she would have to speak French well enough to hold her own in the NDP leadership debates, including one in Quebec,” he added. “I believe she faces a lot of obstacles here. Watching her over the last week as Jack’s widow was the first we were getting to know her.”

Anne Legacé Dowson, a Radio-Canada journalist who ran for the NDP in Montreal in 2008, agrees French is essential.

“She has the royal jelly and Quebecers love elegant, sophisticated politicians. I think she could win a high level of acceptance. But she has to be bilingual — and I mean, perfectly bilingual.”

It may well be that Layton chose Quebec MP Nycole Turmel as interim leader with a future leadership contest in mind and that Chow was part of that decision.

Sears says that Layton’s greatest accomplishment in vaulting the party to official Opposition status was the breakthrough in Quebec, where 59 MPs became part of the overall 103-member caucus. Now, sadly, it’s 102.

“Any candidate has to assure me that they have that equal level of commitment to Quebec,” he said.

As for Chow, her video comments at the funeral do not suggest passivity.

“Yeah, I’m sad. We’re sad,” she said. “But let us not look behind us, let’s look forward. Look at what we can accomplish together to make sure that Jack’s voice is not silenced. I think that’s a good way to celebrate his life.”

Whatever she does, it doesn’t sound as if it will be from the sidelines.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1046169--analysis-will-olivia-run-for-the-top-ndp-job?bn=1

It doesn't look good.

Chan Loses Sino-Forest Grip 22 Years After Tiananmen Square ‘Nightmare’

By Christopher Donville - Aug 29, 2011 7:00 PM ET

Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Allen Chan’s resignation as chief executive officer of Sino-Forest Corp. (TRE), which is accused of exaggerating timber holdings, marks the second time in 22 years the Chinese entrepreneur has lost control of a company he founded.

Chan stepped down Aug. 28 as chief executive officer, two days after Canada’s main securities regulator suspended trading in the shares. His previous business raising funds for infrastructure projects in China collapsed after the government’s crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square spurred foreign investors to flee.

That failure 22 years ago when he was 37, making him about 59 today, led to a breakdown that left Chan physically incapacitated, before he recovered and transformed himself as a forestry mogul capitalizing on land reforms in the world’s most populous country. Another comeback may be unrealistic.

“It’s not as deep as Bernie Madoff, but probably pretty close,” said Eric M. Jackson, president and founder of Ironfire Capital, a Naples, Florida-based hedge fund that specializes in Chinese stocks. “For the rest of his career he’s going to be tainted.”

The Ontario Securities Commission said Aug. 26 that Sino- Forest officers and directors may have engaged in acts “related to its securities” that they “knew or should have known” perpetuated a fraud. Sino-Forest has fallen 67 percent in Toronto since short seller Carson Block’s Muddy Waters LLC research firm said in a June 2 report that the company was overstating its assets. Investors including hedge fund firm Paulson & Co. have lost C$3.3 billion ($3.4 billion).

‘Convoluted Story’

Sino-Forest has rejected Muddy Waters’ allegations and has assigned an independent committee to investigate the claims, hiring PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP to assist. Chan was named chairman emeritus of Sino-Forest and will remain available to assist the probe, the company said.

Stan Neve, a New York-based Sino-Forest spokesman, declined to comment or make Chan and other executives available.

“It’s pretty clear that this is at best a convoluted story that defies easy explanation, and at its worst it’s a massive fraud,” said John Stephenson, a Toronto-based money manager who helps oversee C$2.7 billion at First Asset Management Inc.

Chan studied sociology at Hong Kong Baptist University and graduated in 1979. He joined a Hong Kong restaurant operator owned by billionaire casino owner Stanley Ho, as corporate secretary, according to a 2004 interview with World Executive Group’s CEO magazine.

‘Totally Paralyzed’

Chan started his project-finance business in 1984. His first project raised funds for a hotel in Shenzhen, he said in the interview. Success evaporated after the Chinese crackdown.

“It was like a nightmare that you plunged into darkness with little to hold on to, with no voice to scream and totally paralyzed,” he told CEO magazine in an article published in Chinese. “I regretted and doubted myself. I couldn’t communicate with others. I couldn’t read in the first year. I could only sunbathe and listen to music.”

The failure cost Chan HK$10 million ($1.3 million), which took him six years to repay, he told the South China Morning Post in August 2003. Chan considered leaving Hong Kong to study sociology in the U.S., he told Canada’s Financial Post magazine in 2007. Instead he stayed and began writing a column for the Hong Kong Economic Journal.

“My rationale was that you should stand up where you fall down,” Chan told the Financial Post.

Canadian Listing

Chan founded Sino-Forest in 1992 to exploit an increasing domestic shortage of wood by tapping foreign capital to acquire timberland. His business partner Kai Kit Poon, a former employee of the Guangdong Forest Bureau, brought industry experience, said Yajie Song, a research scholar at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.

“Allen is a very picky person,’” Song, who worked with Sino-Forest to train some of its workers, said in an interview. “He gets what he wants when he jumps to another area to do something.”

Sino-Forest stepped up the acquisition of forest rights, benefiting from rule changes allowing the buying and selling of leases controlled by rural communes and municipalities. The Hong Kong- and Mississauga, Ontario-based company listed in Canada in 1994 through the reverse takeover of a dormant company on the Alberta Stock Exchange. It has raised C$2.99 billion from investors since 2003, according to the OSC.

‘No Hucksterism’

The shares, which traded as high as C$26.15 in October 2007 in Toronto, closed at C$4.81 on Aug. 25. Stock traded over the counter in the U.S. fell 72 percent to $1.38 on Aug. 26 before being suspended.

Chan comes across in person as “very mild-mannered, no hucksterism at all,” said First Asset’s Stephenson, who said he sold his Sino-Forest shares before the Muddy Waters report because he heard hedge funds were short-selling the stock.

“You weren’t buying the story for management,” Stephenson said. “You bought it because you believed it was a growth story. It was a way to play China in North America.”

In May, the month before the Muddy Waters report was released, Sino-Forest slid 18 percent. Robert McWhirter, a Toronto-based money manager at Selective Asset Management Inc., questioned Chan at a May 30 dinner for investors at Canoe restaurant of the 54th floor of the TD Bank Tower in Toronto’s financial district.

Reforestation Concerns

While Chan wasn’t evasive, McWhirter said he came away from the dinner feeling uneasy about the apparent slow pace of the company’s reforestation efforts.

“Based on the sheer number of acres they are alleged to have owned, the amount that they were replanting wasn’t” sufficient, McWhirter said. Understanding the company “is kind of trying to nail jello or grab a greased pig.”

Muddy Waters raised concerns about Sino-Forest’s complex structure, including its sales via so-called “authorized intermediaries,” which Block says were a means to avoid taxes. Sino-Forest has declined to name the intermediaries.

“I personally stand by and guarantee that the audited financial statements and the reports filed are accurate,” Chan said in a June 14 conference call.

Sino-Forest said Aug. 16 it will take until the end of the year to complete an independent probe. Chan may have to wait till then to find out what comes next.

“It will be difficult for public stockholders to ever buy into one of his future vehicles,” Ironfire’s Jackson said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-29/chan-loses-sino-forest-grip-22-years-after-tiananmen-square-nightmare-.html

Perhaps it's time to retire and enjoy life.

3TgufVa7ZIU

+ another G.E.M concert in December :)

Stanley Kwan, Creator of Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Stock Index, Dies at 86

By Laurence Arnold - Jan 6, 2012 3:04 AM ET


Stanley Kwan, the banker whose 1969 creation, the Hang Seng Index, became a widely used gauge for the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, has died. He was 86.

He died Dec. 31 at Scarborough Grace Hospital in Toronto, according to the website of Toronto’s R.S. Kane Funeral Home. The cause was heart failure, the Toronto Star reported.

The Hang Seng Index is “the ultimate capitalist measure of Hong Kong,” Robert Nield, president of the Royal Asiatic Society’s Hong Kong branch, wrote in a foreword to Kwan’s 2008 book, “The Dragon and the Crown: Hong Kong Memoirs.”

As a banker at Hang Seng Bank Ltd. (11) from 1962, Kwan saw his creation mirroring the growth pains of Hong Kong, with the index crashing during the 1974 world oil crisis and the 1983 impasse between China and Britain during handover talks, as well as benefiting from the opening up of the mainland. The index’s 48 members now include Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the world’s largest lender by market value, and PetroChina Co., Asia’s biggest company by market value.

As Kwan told it in his book, the bank’s chairman, Ho Sin Hang, and general manager, Q. W. Lee, decided late in 1969 “that they needed a measure of the performance of the stock market for their own as well as their customers’ reference.” Kwan said Ho spoke of creating the “Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) of Hong Kong.”
Setting Base Day

According to the draft notes for a speech Kwan gave in 2009 in Vancouver, the Hong Kong economy had hit “rock bottom” after riots related to the Cultural Revolution swept the city in 1967. He said some within Hang Seng Bank had questioned the plan for the index as it was “only a small Chinese bank.”

Kwan, who headed the bank’s research department, said he led a staff of seven in consulting government and university statisticians and economists.

“Stanley was willing to accept opinions and he was good at incorporating different ideas,” said Roger Luk, a former deputy chief executive officer at Hang Seng Bank who worked with Kwan for seven years. “He never gave himself all the credit for founding the Hang Seng Index. (HSI) He seldom boasted about this achievement.”

For the index’s “base day” -- the normal period of trading that other days would be compared with -- Kwan and his group settled on July 31, 1964. The group chose the initial 33 companies that would be the index’s constituent stocks, as well as guidelines for replacing or adding other companies in the future. The Hang Seng Index debuted on Nov. 24, 1969.
No Lasting Fame

“In the end, the system worked well,” Kwan wrote. “By the time I retired in 1984, the number of companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange had increased to over 250, but the number of constituent stocks remained 33, and these companies still accounted for about 75 percent of total market value (based on the average for the last 12 months) and over 70 percent of total market turnover (based on the aggregate for the last 24 months).”

Kwan, who retired to Canada, said in a December 2010 interview with the Toronto Star that his role in history earned him no lasting fame.

“If I walked into the Hang Seng Bank head office today, no one would know me,” he said.

Stanley Shih Kuang Kwan was born on Jan. 10, 1925, in Hong Kong to a banking family, according to the funeral home. A survivor of the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong during World War II, he served as a wartime interpreter for U.S. troops on mainland China before starting his banking career.

Hired by Hang Seng Bank in part because he spoke both English and Chinese, Kwan was made head of research, according to the 2010 Toronto Star profile.
‘Test of Time’

“The index he created has stood the test of time,” said Andrew Sullivan, principal sales trader at Piper Jaffray Asia Securities Ltd. in Hong Kong. “It has given a good indication of the performance of the Hong Kong market in general and with a number of changes implemented over the years still does.”

After Kwan’s retirement, the index climbed to a high of 16,673.27 on Aug. 7, 1997, before the Asian financial crisis sent it tumbling. The government spent HK$118 billion ($15.2 billion) buying shares in the last two weeks of August 1998, supporting the gauge.

The Hang Seng Index also fell to a 4 1/2-year low in April 2003, when the city was swept by an outbreak of the severe acute respiratory disease, an illness brought over by a Chinese visitor, underscoring the city’s increasing ties with the mainland.

The index rose to a record 31,638.22 points on Oct. 30, 2007, a year before Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s collapse and the global banking crisis drove equities down. As of yesterday, the gauge was 41 percent below its peak.
....


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-05/stanley-kwan-banker-who-created-hang-seng-stock-index-in-1969-dies-at-86.html