News Digest City Second baby blunder at hospital A nurse injected five newborns with a vaccine that had been diluted two days earlier and should have been used within four hours – the second mistake within two weeks involving babies at Queen Elizabeth Hospital. She injected them without checking data on the bottle. Full report C1 International Criminal inquiry into CIA ‘terror’ tactics The Obama administration launches a criminal investigation into the harsh questioning of detainees during George W. Bush’s “war on terror”. In one instance of CIA interrogation, cited in an investigator’s report, a suspect was hooded and threatened with a power drill. Full report A8 HK & Delta Interpreters set for Nepali’s inquest In what is believed to be a first, headsets and interpreters will be provided to the public gallery at the inquest of a Nepali man shot dead by a policeman. His widow and ethnic minority communities had complained about the decision to hear the case in Cantonese. Full report A3 Weather A2 ....................................... Hong Kong & Delta A2-3 ....................................... National A4-7 ....................................... Around The Nation A6 ....................................... International A8-11 ....................................... Editorial & Letters A12 ....................................... Insight A13 ....................................... Behind the News A14 Companies & Finance B2-3 ....................................... The Informer B2 ....................................... World B4-5 ....................................... Markets B6 ....................................... Stocks B7 ....................................... Mutual Funds B8 ....................................... Currencies B9 ....................................... Monitor & Lai See B10 City News C1-3 ....................................... CitySeen, Talkback C2 ....................................... Life C5 ....................................... Fashion, Travel C6, C7 ....................................... Diversions, TV & Radio C8, C9 ....................................... Soccer, Tennis C10 ....................................... Cricket, Baseball C11 ....................................... Badminton, Athletics C12 NEWS SECTION A BUSINESS SECTION B CITY . LIFE . SPORT SECTION C scmp.com today Inside Contact us Wednesday, August 26, 2009 HK $7.00 see live updates at www.scmp.com PUBLISHED SINCE 1903 VOLUME LXV NO. 236 News Hotline 2565 2252 Classified Ads 2565 8822 Subscriptions & Deliveries 2680 8822 For more contacts, see C2 For the latest in news, special reports, podcasts, videos, lifestyle, listings plus more than a decade of archived articles. www.scmp.com It was meant to be a cheap toy cam- era for the mainland market. Yet, more than two decades after it was conceived in a Hung Hom factory, the Holga has gained a cult following worldwide rather like that for the Russian-made Lomo cameras. In today’s digital age, where por- tability and convenience are primary considerations, the Holga is selling better than ever despite its clunky size and primitive design. Even its creator admits he was just trying to make a quick buck when he came up with the idea for the plastic camera. “I was looking to make something simple and cheap,” says 79-year-old Lee Ting-mo, founder of Universal Electronics Industries. “I wasn’t too ambitious then.” In the 1970s, Universal Electronics made stand-alone flash guns for cameras. But when Japanese camera company Konica released the world’s first camera with a built-in flash in 1979, sales plummeted. “I had to come up with some- thing, it was a matter of survival,” he says. Mr Lee had neither the techno- logy nor the ambition to compete against powerhouse Japanese manu- facturers, so he designed a simple camera using the cheapest materials. He insisted on adding a built-in flash unit, however. “I wanted to show off what we did best – making flash units,” he recalls. When the product was first tested, Mr Lee bragged to observers that the camera was ho gwong, meaning “very bright” in Cantonese. He says some non-Chinese buyers later dubbed it “Holga”, and the name stuck. Made entirely of plastic, the Holga uses medium-format 120 film and the resulting photos are often blurry because the lens leaks light. With a clunky shutter that makes a loud clicking sound after each snap, the Holga looks and feels like a toy. Because of a design flaw that leaves images underlit, pictures tak- en with the Holga usually display what is known as “vignetting”, where the brightness of the image fades From flawed shot at survival to cult camera ...................................................... Ben Sin The Holga camera, a modern icon. • CONTINUED ON A2 Leading business executives have left the political party that aspired to be their voice in the Legislative Council, leaving the sector without a united force to represent its interests. De- bate is likely to become more polarised as a result, say observers of the political scene. The executives are among the 60 per cent of Liberal Party members who have jumped ship or been struck off its membership roll for not paying their dues since its electoral rout last year and subsequent split. The loss of 624 members has left the Liberals with just 412, making them the sec- ond-smallest of Hong Kong’s five major political parties. Some business executives have joined Economic Synergy, a group set up in June by legislators who quit the Liberals, but one observer of the political scene believes some people in business have grown disenchant- ed with politics. The decline of the Liberals is a big turnaround for a party that, little more than a decade ago, aspired to become the city’s ruling party. Founding chairman Allen Lee Peng-fei said the party had only itself to blame for the exodus. It had flip- flopped too often under pressure from Beijing or the Hong Kong government. Among the big names to have left the party since September are Airport Authority chief executive Stanley Hui Hon-chung; Herbert Hui Ho-ming, a former deputy chief executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing; designer Kan Tai-keung; Henderson Land Development executive direc- tor Suen Kwok-lam; and Michael Li Hon-sing, executive director of the Federation of Hong Kong Hotel Owners. Steven Poon Kwok-lim and Lau Wah-sum, former legislators who co-founded the party in 1993, quit in November. Most lost their membership be- cause they did not pay their annual dues of HK$150 on time. Party chairwoman Miriam Lau Kin-yee said memberships would be terminated once fees were three months overdue. “Prior to Septem- ber last year, this requirement was not so strictly enforced,” she said. Ms Lau, one of three surviving Liberal Party lawmakers, said the party believed that a smaller, but more committed and united mem- bership was “perhaps better than having a larger membership that is mostly inactive”. Membership plunged from 1,473 in 1997 to 253 in 1998, mostly because members had not paid their dues. The party had 881 members by May 2006, when it disclosed its member- ship list for the first time. The party plans a membership drive at the end of this year. James Sung Lap-kung, a political analyst at City University, said the business sector lacked an organised and strong force to represent its inter- ests in the wake of the party’s demise. “Compared with the pan-demo- crats and the pro-Beijing camp, the Liberal Party has been seen as a cen- tre-right force in Hong Kong’s politi- cal spectrum,” Dr Sung said. “Politi- cal debate will become more polarised after its influence wanes.” Dr Sung said it was important the business sector had a political voice. The Liberals won seven func- tional constituency seats in last Polarised politics seen as 60pc quit city’s main pro-business party Liberal exodus robs business of its voice • CONTINUED ON A3 ...................................................... Gary Cheung Stanley Hui Steven Poon It’s the Formula One of yachting, and Hong Kong wants a piece of it. The Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club hopes to bring America’s Cup-class racing to Victoria Harbour. And the government, having lost to Singa- pore and Qingdao the chance to host a leg of the world’s other top- notch yachting event, the 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race, is behind the bid. With the America’s Cup having descended into farce with holder Al- inghi and challenger Oracle em- broiled in a messy legal dispute ahead of their showdown in February in Dubai, the Louis Vuitton World Se- ries has been conceived to give the rest of the world a chance to compete in America’s Cup-class yachts. The Yacht Club has not said how much it would cost to stage the event but has applied for help from the gov- ernment’s Mega Events Fund to- wards the cost of hosting a seven-day World Series regatta in November next year. A person with knowledge of the club’s application said it was for HK$10 million. Sailing superpowers New Zea- land and the United States have agreed to compete in the World Se- ries, and the club is planning to enter a joint Hong Kong-mainland team. The regatta, which would be the biggest sailing race held in Hong Kong, meets the requirements of the HK$100 million fund, which include attracting visitors to the city and bringing economic benefits. Chan Pak-ling, the Yacht Club’s public relations and communica- tions manager, said one of the pre- requisites for applying the fund was to have attendance of at least 10,000 for the regatta. The club is confident thousands of Hongkongers would turn out. It has proposed the regatta village be set up at Central’s Pier 10, now under construction on re- claimed land in front of City Hall. “This is like the Formula One of yachting and it is an honour for Hong Kong to host such a race,” Ms Chan said. “New Zealand and the United States have already agreed to come with their top sailors, who have America’s Cup experience.” The club was hoping teams from Australia, South Africa, Italy, France and Britain would also take part, she said. A senior Home Affairs Bureau offi- cial with responsibility for sport said the government welcomed the pro- posal as an opportunity to host world-class competition. “We are still studying the propos- al, but a race like the America’s Cup in Hong Kong has plenty of merit,” he said. The club’s funding application will be assessed next month. Yacht Club bids to host top race 50m Star Ferry piers Pier 10 Central Victoria Harbour City Hall Connaught Rd Central SCMP GRAPHIC Proposed site of boat village Central post office ...................................................... Chan Kin-wa Space race. South Korea’s first space rocket takes off from the launch pad at the Naro Space Centre, at a beach in Goheung, south of Seoul. The rocket blasted off after an aborted attempt last week and just months after rival North Korea drew international ire for its own launch. Photo: AP Full report A9
Transcript
Got any stories, tips or photos?Call our News Hotline2565 2252Classified Advertising enquiries2565 8822Subscriptions & Deliveries 2680 8822For more contacts, see City page 2
News Digest
City
Second baby blunder at hospitalA nurse injected five newborns with a vaccinethat had been diluted two days earlier and shouldhave been used within four hours – the secondmistake within two weeks involving babies atQueen Elizabeth Hospital. She injected themwithout checking data on the bottle. Full report C1
International
Criminal inquiry into CIA ‘terror’ tacticsThe Obama administration launches a criminalinvestigation into the harsh questioning ofdetainees during George W. Bush’s “war onterror”. In one instance of CIA interrogation, citedin an investigator’s report, a suspect was hoodedand threatened with a power drill. Full report A8
HK & Delta
Interpreters set for Nepali’s inquest In what is believed to be a first, headsets andinterpreters will be provided to the public galleryat the inquest of a Nepali man shot dead by apoliceman. His widow and ethnic minoritycommunities had complained about the decisionto hear the case in Cantonese. Full report A3
NEWS SECTION A BUSINESS SECTION B CITY.LIFE.SPORT SECTION C
scmp.com todayInsideContact us
Wednesday, August 26, 2009 HK $7.00see live updates at www.scmp.com
PUBLISHED SINCE 1903 VOLUME LXV NO. 236
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It was meant to be a cheap toy cam-era for the mainland market. Yet,more than two decades after it wasconceived in a Hung Hom factory,the Holga has gained a cult followingworldwide rather like that for theRussian-made Lomo cameras.
In today’s digital age, where por-tability and convenience are primaryconsiderations, the Holga is sellingbetter than ever despite its clunkysize and primitive design.
Even its creator admits he was justtrying to make a quick buck when hecame up with the idea for the plasticcamera. “I was looking to make
something simple and cheap,” says79-year-old Lee Ting-mo, founder ofUniversal Electronics Industries. “Iwasn’t too ambitious then.”
In the 1970s, Universal Electronicsmade stand-alone flash guns forcameras. But when Japanese cameracompany Konica released theworld’s first camera with a built-inflash in 1979, sales plummeted.
“I had to come up with some-thing, it was a matter of survival,” hesays. Mr Lee had neither the techno-logy nor the ambition to competeagainst powerhouse Japanese manu-facturers, so he designed a simplecamera using the cheapest materials.He insisted on adding a built-in flash
unit, however. “I wanted to show offwhat we did best – making flashunits,” he recalls.
When the product was first tested,Mr Lee bragged to observers that the
camera was ho gwong, meaning“very bright” in Cantonese. He sayssome non-Chinese buyers laterdubbed it “Holga”, and the namestuck.
Made entirely of plastic, the Holgauses medium-format 120 film andthe resulting photos are often blurrybecause the lens leaks light. With aclunky shutter that makes a loudclicking sound after each snap, theHolga looks and feels like a toy.
Because of a design flaw thatleaves images underlit, pictures tak-en with the Holga usually displaywhat is known as “vignetting”, wherethe brightness of the image fades
Leading business executives have leftthe political party that aspired to betheir voice in the Legislative Council,leaving the sector without a unitedforce to represent its interests. De-bate is likely to become morepolarised as a result, say observers ofthe political scene.
The executives are among the 60per cent of Liberal Party memberswho have jumped ship or been struckoff its membership roll for not payingtheir dues since its electoral rout lastyear and subsequent split. The loss of624 members has left the Liberalswith just 412, making them the sec-ond-smallest of Hong Kong’s fivemajor political parties.
Some business executives havejoined Economic Synergy, a groupset up in June by legislators who quitthe Liberals, but one observer of thepolitical scene believes some peoplein business have grown disenchant-ed with politics.
The decline of the Liberals is a bigturnaround for a party that, littlemore than a decade ago, aspired tobecome the city’s ruling party.
Founding chairman Allen LeePeng-fei said the party had only itselfto blame for the exodus. It had flip-flopped too often under pressure
from Beijing or the Hong Konggovernment.
Among the big names to have leftthe party since September are AirportAuthority chief executive Stanley HuiHon-chung; Herbert Hui Ho-ming, aformer deputy chief executive ofHong Kong Exchanges and Clearing;designer Kan Tai-keung; HendersonLand Development executive direc-tor Suen Kwok-lam; and Michael LiHon-sing, executive director of theFederation of Hong Kong HotelOwners. Steven Poon Kwok-lim andLau Wah-sum, former legislatorswho co-founded the party in 1993,quit in November.
Most lost their membership be-cause they did not pay their annualdues of HK$150 on time.
Party chairwoman Miriam LauKin-yee said memberships would beterminated once fees were three
months overdue. “Prior to Septem-ber last year, this requirement wasnot so strictly enforced,” she said.
Ms Lau, one of three survivingLiberal Party lawmakers, said theparty believed that a smaller, butmore committed and united mem-bership was “perhaps better thanhaving a larger membership that ismostly inactive”.
Membership plunged from 1,473in 1997 to 253 in 1998, mostly becausemembers had not paid their dues.The party had 881 members by May2006, when it disclosed its member-ship list for the first time.
The party plans a membershipdrive at the end of this year.
James Sung Lap-kung, a politicalanalyst at City University, said thebusiness sector lacked an organisedand strong force to represent its inter-ests in the wake of the party’s demise.
“Compared with the pan-demo-crats and the pro-Beijing camp, theLiberal Party has been seen as a cen-tre-right force in Hong Kong’s politi-cal spectrum,” Dr Sung said. “Politi-cal debate will become morepolarised after its influence wanes.”
Dr Sung said it was important thebusiness sector had a political voice.
The Liberals won seven func-tional constituency seats in last
Polarised politics seen as 60pcquit city’s main pro-business party
It’s the Formula One of yachting, andHong Kong wants a piece of it.
The Royal Hong Kong Yacht Clubhopes to bring America’s Cup-classracing to Victoria Harbour. And thegovernment, having lost to Singa-pore and Qingdao the chanceto host a leg of the world’s other top-notch yachting event, the 2008-09Volvo Ocean Race, is behind the bid.
With the America’s Cup havingdescended into farce with holder Al-inghi and challenger Oracle em-broiled in a messy legal disputeahead of their showdown in Februaryin Dubai, the Louis Vuitton World Se-ries has been conceived to give therest of the world a chance to competein America’s Cup-class yachts.
The Yacht Club has not said how
much it would cost to stage the eventbut has applied for help from the gov-ernment’s Mega Events Fund to-wards the cost of hosting a seven-dayWorld Series regatta in Novembernext year. A person with knowledgeof the club’s application said it wasfor HK$10 million.
Sailing superpowers New Zea-land and the United States haveagreed to compete in the World Se-ries, and the club is planning to entera joint Hong Kong-mainland team.
The regatta, which would be thebiggest sailing race held in HongKong, meets the requirements of theHK$100 million fund, which includeattracting visitors to the city andbringing economic benefits.
Chan Pak-ling, the Yacht Club’spublic relations and communica-tions manager, said one of the pre-
requisites for applying the fund wasto have attendance of at least 10,000for the regatta. The club is confidentthousands of Hongkongers wouldturn out. It has proposed the regattavillage be set up at Central’s Pier 10,
now under construction on re-claimed land in front of City Hall.
“This is like the Formula One ofyachting and it is an honour for HongKong to host such a race,” Ms Chansaid. “New Zealand and the UnitedStates have already agreed to comewith their top sailors, who haveAmerica’s Cup experience.” The clubwas hoping teams from Australia,South Africa, Italy, France and Britainwould also take part, she said.
Asenior Home Affairs Bureau offi-cial with responsibility for sport saidthe government welcomed the pro-posal as an opportunity to hostworld-class competition.
“We are still studying the propos-al, but a race like the America’s Cup inHong Kong has plenty of merit,” hesaid. The club’s funding applicationwill be assessed next month.
Space race. South Korea’s first space rocket takes offfrom the launch pad at the Naro Space Centre, at abeach in Goheung, south of Seoul. The rocket blasted
off after an aborted attempt last week and justmonths after rival North Korea drew internationalire for its own launch. Photo: AP Full report A9
RAINPARTLY CLOUDY
FOG DUST
TYPHOONDRIZZLE THUNDER SNOW
SNOW FLURRIES
ISOLATED THUNDER
ISOLATED SHOWERS HAIL
WINDYCLOUDY / OVERCAST
SUNNY SHOWER
HONG KONGFORECAST
SMGM Hong Kong ObservatoryEPD www.epd.gov.hk
DATA SOURCEOther cities visit: www.scmp.com
Information visit: www.metra.info
TIDES MOON & SUN
ASIA TODAY
I Pollutant concentrations are well within the air quality standards.II Pollutant concentrations are generally within the air quality standards.III Concentrations of individual pollutants may approach or exceed the air quality standards.IV Air quality standards are generally exceeded.V Air quality standards are significantly exceeded.
Force 3 65-85% 12 Low to Medium WIND HUMIDITY UV INDEX POLLUTION
N
Todayfine and very hot apart from isolated showers.28 33
Chongqing 27 34
Manila 26 30
Kunming 16 26 Naha 27 33
Shanghai 26 35
Osaka 21 30
Taipei 27 36
Harbin 18 26 Sapporo 15 25
Changchun 17 26
Shenyang 19 27
Seoul 22 27 Tokyo 23 28
Beijing 20 31
Hanoi 27 33
Xian 22 29
Singapore 24 31
Wuhan 28 36
Tianjin 20 30
Haikou 25 34
Kuala Lumpur 24 33
Calcutta 26 33 Fuzhou 26 36
Hangzhou 26 36
Hong Kong 28 33
Guangzhou 27
Phuket 27 30
28 33
Sundayfine and very hot but hazy.
28 33
Saturdayfine and very hot.
28 33
Fridayfine and very hot.
28 33
High 2.1m 00:58Low 1.0m 07:08High 1.5m 14:14Low 1.2m 18:38
PEARL RIVER DELTA REGIONAL AIR QUALITY MAP
GUANGZHOU
HONG KONG
Chengdu 22 28 Lhasa 9 20
Hiroshima 17 27
Kathmandu 15 29 Changsha 27 38
Qingdao 22 26
Kaohsiung 27 29
Ho Chi Minh City 25 33
Bangkok 25 33
Yangon 21 31
Chennai 28 36 Phnom Penh 25 31
Vientiane 23 32
Hohhot 13 25
Amsterdam cloudy 13 22 Athens fine 23 33 Barcelona thunder 22 31 Belgrade fine 18 32 Berlin cloudy 17 25 Brussels mainly fine 12 23 Budapest fine 18 31 Copenhagen few showers 16 23 Dublin showers 13 21 Frankfurt cloudy 15 26 Geneva showers 16 27 Helsinki few showers 10 22 Istanbul fine 19 29 Lisbon fine 17 28 London rain 15 22 Madrid fine 17 34 Milan showers 21 31 Moscow fine 10 22 Munich thunder 18 25 Oslo rain 13 19 Paris cloudy 13 26 Prague rain 16 23 Rome fine 20 33 Stockholm rain 15 19 Vienna showers 15 28 Zurich showers 16 25
Abu Dhabi fine 30 44 Amman fine 19 31 Bahrain fine 30 40 Beirut fine 25 32 Cairo fine 24 33 Cape Town mainly fine 9 18 Casablanca mainly fine 21 26 Doha fine 33 44 Dubai fine 32 43 Jeddah mainly fine 29 39 Johannesburg fine 7 21 Kuwait fine 31 48 Riyadh fine 33 45 Tel Aviv fine 22 31
Atlanta fine 21 31 Bogota showers 9 21 Boston mainly fine 22 31 Brasilia rain 18 25 Buenos Aires mainly fine 14 24 Calgary mainly fine 10 23 Caracas thunder 26 34 Chicago rain 17 27 Dallas mainly fine 26 41 Detroit few showers 19 26 Houston thunder 24 34 Las Vegas fine 26 39 Lima fine 16 20 Los Angeles fine 17 27 Mexico City showers 11 25 Miami thunder 28 33 Montreal mainly fine 19 22 New York fine 21 37 Ottawa mainly fine 18 21 Rio De Janeiro showers 19 22 San Francisco fine 13 23 Santiago mainly fine 4 24 Seattle mainly fine 13 27 Toronto few showers 15 23 Vancouver mainly fine 11 23 Washington DC fine 21 34
Adelaide fine 9 17 Auckland rain 11 18 Bangalore cloudy 20 28 Brisbane fine 14 27 Brunei showers 24 33 Busan (Pusan) fine 22 26 Canberra rain 2 12 Colombo thunder 24 30 Darwin fine 21 35 Delhi thunder 25 31 Denpasar fine 23 29 Dhaka thunder 24 32 Hobart showers 6 13 Honolulu fine 19 31 Islamabad thunder 23 34 Jakarta cloudy 24 32 Karachi fine 27 34 Male/Maldives thunder 28 28 Melbourne showers 8 15 Mumbai thunder 26 30 Perth fine 7 22 Sydney fine 10 20 Tashkent fine 14 31 Wellington rain 11 15
10081008
10101010
10101010
FORECAST API LEVEL MIN MAX
General Station Low to Medium 20 40Roadside Station Medium to High 50 70
POLLUTION TODAY'S FORECAST
GENERAL SITUATION (11PM YESTERDAY)
Under the influence of a ridge of high pressure, the weather was generally fine over southeastern China. On the other hand, showers affected the coast of Guangdong and the northern part of the South China Sea. Locally, it was very hot in the afternoon. The maximum temperatures over the northern part of the New Territories rose to about 34 degrees. The ridge of high pressure is expected to strengthen and bring generally fine weather to southern China in the next few days.
POLLUTION YESTERDAYGENERAL STATIONS API LEVEL MIN MAX
Central/Western Medium 21 48Eastern Medium 21 43Kwai Chung Medium 26 54Kwun Tong Medium 22 47Sha Tin Medium 17 47Sham Shui Po Medium 28 50Tai Po Medium 22 50Tap Mun Medium 18 43Tsuen Wan Medium 27 59Tung Chung Medium 17 57Yuen Long Medium 26 60
Causeway Bay High 49 76Central/Western High 54 96Mong Kok High 52 86
ROADSIDE STATIONS API LEVEL MIN MAX
API = AIR POLLUTION INDEX WWW.EPD.GOV.HK
HONG KONG OBSERVATORY
TEMPERATURES MIN MAX
YESTERDAY'S READINGS
Total rainfall since January 1st is 1,538.1 mm against an average of 1,812.8 mm.
Chek Lap Kok 29.1 34.3 Cheung Chau 26.2 31.0 Hong Kong Park 28.4 32.9 King's Park 28.1 32.3 Lau Fau Shan 27.3 34.6 Sai Kung 28.2 31.0 Sha Tin 28.6 32.7 Ta Kwu Ling 26.3 33.0 Wong Chuk Hang 28.2 32.0
Fine and very hot apart from isolated showers and thunderstorms. Temperatures will range between 28 and 33 degrees. Moderate east to southeasterly winds. Fine and very hot in the following few days.
Weather
Higher education in historyLet’s give the Jockey Club a break. Its idea of building a panoramicobservation deck on top of a new high-rise smack in the middle of thehistoric Central Police Station compound has merit. All those NGOsopposing the plan need to think outside the box. Forget about how awfulit is to stick a skyscraper into a treasured heritage site. Think of all thethings you can observe from the viewing deck. Bring along your AuntieAh Chun from the Tin Shui Wai housing estate for a history lesson on how
in her day you could seeclear across the harbourto Lantau. She’ll likelysquint and ask why all shecan now see are toweringgrey slabs against a hazybackdrop, wondering ifher eyesight has finallyfailed her. You canreassure her about hereyesight. But she’ll stareback blankly if you tryexplaining things like
“smog” and the “wall effect” of monster buildings ringing Hong Kong.“Oh, is that why I’ve got asthma? Is that why there’s no breeze in HongKong any more?” Back in her day, the wind at such a height would haveblown her away. You can tell her to look through the cracks of the “walleffect” for a view. But then she’ll ask if her eyes are playing tricks or ifboth the Star Ferry and Queen’s Pier have vanished. And if the harbourhas really shrunk. Hurry her back down if you don’t want to explain why amuddy moonscape has swallowed up half the harbour where the StarFerry once stood. So you see, an observation deck on a historic site hasits purpose. Auntie Ah Chun can visualise from up there what it’s like forour bureaucrats to live in ivory towers. And the deck can be our 21st-century monument to how hard those bureaucrats have worked tomake Hong Kong a world city.
Another relic bites the dustSenior civil servants are in a foul mood. They can’t understand whythey’re being forced into a 5.38 per cent pay cut when their lower-paidcolleagues are being spared. The senior bureaucrats say morale hasplunged and many plan to quit. Good. Public Eye can think of no betterway finally to break that leftover relic of bygone days – the iron rice bowl.
No-strings puppet mistressThere’s a stench in the air. It’s coming from the Fringe Club in Central.Follow the stink and you’ll end up at the Pottery Workshop inside. Acloser sniff will take you straight to its source – the workshop’s director,Caroline Cheng Wai. She’s pals with Hong Kong’s mainland bosses. Thatcomes with being a member of the Chinese People’s Political ConsultativeConference. There’s nothing wrong with that. What’s plenty wrong isflaunting this chumminess. The Fringe Club won’t renew Ms Cheng’slease. That got her mad, so she told a club official she had a “direct line”to Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen. But she says she hasn’t pulledany strings to get the lease renewed, nor does she intend to. The funnything is she still managed to get through to the right people when shecalled Secretary for Home Affairs Tsang Tak-sing to pressure the club. Gotell your Auntie Ah Chun and her friends they don’t need strings to reachthe right people in government. All they need is a phone. They’ll likelyburst into toothless cackles so loud and long you’ll think they’ve all goneloony. Ms Cheng’s phone call did the trick. Mr Tsang’s bureau is now pilingon the pressure even though it had earlier said the lease renewal wasnone of its business. When people know you can pull strings, you don’tactually have to pull them to get what you want. If the Pottery Workshopgets a new lease, Auntie Ah Chun and her friends will cackle some moreabout how the puppets still danced even without strings being pulled.
A2 Hong Kong & Delta WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2009 SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
Central Police Station
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The extra cost of using cleaner dieselin Hong Kong’s ferries is likely to bemuch less than ferry operators haveclaimed, the environment watchdogsays.
Ultra-low-sulphur marine diesel,which went on trial in five ferries yes-terday, would cost about 60 HK centsa litre more than conventional diesel,not up to HK$3 as the companies hadestimated, the Environmental Pro-tection Department said.
But one of the operators said thecleaner fuel would still push up itsoperating costs by 10 per cent, increasing pressure for a fare rise.
A department spokesman saidclean diesel now cost HK$4.50 a litre,compared with HK$3.90 for conven-tional marine diesel, subject to oil-price fluctuations.
Hong Kong & Kowloon Ferry saidthat price difference would lead to a10 per cent rise in operating costs if allits vessels used the fuel.
“The additional cost would erodeour meagre profit and increase pres-
sure for a fare rise,” general managerNelson Ng Siu-yuen said.
Launching the nine-month trialof the cleaner fuel yesterday, theEnvironmental Protection Depart-ment said it would pay up to HK$10million in incentives for ferry opera-tors to take part. The money was forfuel subsidies and technical monitor-ing. The trial would provide data onoperating costs, and the impact onmaintenance and technical perfor-mance to help officials decide wheth-er all ferries should use cleaner fuel.
The fuel, 100 times lower in sul-phur, will be supplied to five selectedferries by an oil barge operated bySinopec in Cheung Sha Wan.
These are New World First Ferry’sXin Hui III and VIII between Centraland Cheung Chau and Xin Ying run-ning from Central to Mui Wo; HongKong & Kowloon Ferry’s Hoi Mingconnecting Central and Peng Chau;and a Hong Kong and Yaumati Ferrycar-carrier between Kwun Tong andNorth Point.
The Star Ferry did not join the trial, saying its own trial of cleaner
diesel in 2006 resultedin loss of power, higherfuel consumption, andengine corrosion. “Wewill still keep track of
the trial results of other ferry opera-tors,” general manager JohnnyLeung Tak-hing said.
The department spokesman saidthere had been no mechanical prob-lems for government vessels sincethey started using the cleaner fuel in2000. He said there were other solu-tions to resolve the operators’ worriesabout the lubricating effect of sul-phur in the engines.
The spokesman said that if all local passenger ferries switched tothe cleaner fuel, the total sulphuremissions from the marine sectorcould be cut by about 12.5 per cent.Other sulphur emissions come fromdomestic vessels such as barges andfishing boats, as well as ocean-goingvessels and cross-border ferries.
The Marine Department said fourlocal vessel operators were convictedfor black-smoke emissions last year,compared with none in 2007.
Ferry operators getassurance on thecost of cleaner diesel
A ferry spews black diesel exhaust yesterday en route from Central to Cheung Chau. Photo: Oliver Tsang
Hong Kong’s trade suffered a majorsetback last month as total exportsshrank almost one-fifth year on yearin a worrying sign consumers are unconvinced about a recovery.
July’s 19.9 per cent drop in the val-ue of total exports to HK$212.28 bil-lion from a year ago followed fourmonths of steadily smaller declinesthat saw exports drop by just 5.4 percent in June, the Census and Statis-tics Department said.
Last month’s result was worsethan the 12 per cent average fall econ-omists had expected.
Between April and June, HongKong, Singapore and other marketsrecorded their first quarterly growthsince the credit crunch, spurringhopes of a quick turnaround.
A government spokesman attrib-uted the steep drop to the relativelyhigh base of comparison in July lastyear, when the value of exports roseto more than HK$265.1 billion, thesecond highest on record.
The weak performance was partof a trend across the region as demand for imports in advancedeconomies was still subdued, thespokesman said.
The recovery would be uneven
given that overseas demand had yetto show signs of near-term improve-ment, he said.
Of total exports last month, re-exports, which account for about 97per cent, fell 19.2 per cent toHK$207.14 billion and domestic exports dropped 41.3 per cent toabout HK$5.14 billion. Imports fell17.8 per cent to HK$233.95 billion,with the trade deficit widening to justunder HK$21.67 billion fromHK$16.48 billion in June.
Fall in exports a signof consumer doubt
Down in the dumpsY-o-y % changes in the value of Hong Kong’s external trade
SCMP GRAPHIC SOURCE: CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT
towards the edges, producing darkcorners with saturated centres. Saleswere so badly affected by the designproblem that Mr Lee was ready tostop the line.
“We mass-produced the firstbatch of 5,000 and it moved so slowlyI was going to discontinue after theywere gone,” he says. But the camerafound life overseas when a group ofanalogue photography enthusiasts inAustria who had been using a Lomomodel got their hands on the Holga.
“Ironically, they considered thevignetting problem an artistic effect,”Mr Lee recalls. “The popularity of thecamera picked up overseas and theorders started coming in.”
Over the next two decades, theHolga’s popularity continued tospread, especially in the UnitedStates and Japan. Even professionalphotographers began taking notice,most notably award-winning Ameri-can photojournalist David Burnett.
Much like an audiophile willclaim that vinyl records still soundbetter than digitally enhanced CDsand MP3s, many professional pho-tographers feel a similar partiality forHolga’s low-fidelity photos.
“Digital pictures are almost tooclean and too sharp; there’s no tex-ture to them,” says Norm Yip Wai-sing, 46, a professional photographerin Hong Kong. “But with film, because it’s made out of chemicals,there’s texture inherent in them andthat shows in the photos.”
Leading Hong Kong cinematog-rapher Henry Chung Yau-tim is evenmore extravagant in his praise of theHolga. “I am an avid stereo photogra-pher and I used to shoot with a Has-selblad XPAN. That camera costsHK$30,000 and the lens anotherHK$30,000,” he says. “I now use aHolga 120 Stereo Camera, whichcosts HK$600 and produces the samepictures. I seriously cannot tell thedifference.”
Mr Chung says he carries his Hol-ga with him at all times.
For many young Hongkongers,the appeal of the Holga lies in its sim-plicity. “What I love about the Holgais how basic it is, the lack of optionsmakes for an unpredictable shooting
experience,” says Jeffrey Siu Tsz-Hang, 15. “You never know how aphoto has turned out until you’ve developed the film. The anticipationfascinates me.”
Young Holga fans tend to gatherin Facebook groups to share photosand tips. Carmen Ng Ka-man, 22, ajournalism student at the Universityof Hong Kong, started one of the ear-liest Facebook pages for fans in thecity in 2007. “I noticed there wasn’t adedicated page for fans in HongKong,” she says. “I thought that wasweird, considering I know many peo-ple who love to capture Hong Kong’sspectacular east-meets-west city-scape.” The page, now just one ofmany on the social-networking web-site dedicated to Holga images, hasmore than 1,200 members.
Ms Ng fell in love with the Holga asshe was about to complete secondaryschool. “I love the lack of rules withthe Holga. It was a perfect tool to cap-ture our youth before we each head-ed off to different universities.”
Despite the Holga’s steady rise inpopularity this decade – the millionthHolga was sold last year and a searchon popular photo-sharing site flickr.com yields 22,975 Holga users – formany years Mr Lee and UniversalElectronics focused on manufactur-ing, content to leave the lucrative dis-tribution and marketing business toothers. However, that changed a fewyears ago following a split with Lo-mography Asia, which used to act asthe local distributor for the Holga.
“They came to us a few years agoand requested to be the sole distribu-tor of the Holga,” Mr Lee says. “I rejected their offer because I didn’tlike the monopoly aspect.”
Their relationship soured afterthat, Mr Lee says, and this year Uni-versal Electronics launched a mar-keting division, Holga Inspire, andopened five shops across the city.
Holga Inspire’s public relationsco-ordinator, Christine So Chi-yuet,says their main goal is to develop acommunity of Holga photographersworldwide through exhibitions.
Ever practical, Mr Lee sees HolgaInspire as a means of ensuring hiscompany’s survival, just as he didmore than 20 years ago when he cre-ated the Holga.
Flawed shot atsurvival nowa cult camera
A shot by young fan Jeffrey Siu shows the Holga’s vignetting effect.
