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Oasis: Hong Kong's Budget Airline Crippled By Costs, Halts Flights

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 12:12:28 -0700

With jet fuel rising to new highs at $137 a barrel, Hong Kong's only budget airline had to close down after only 17 months in operations, according to Bloomberg. Despite being financially-challenged in Hong Kong, Asia's third largest airport hub, Oasis Hong Kong managed to take on Cathay Pacific on some of its most profitable routes, including flights between Hong Kong and London. Oasis is now seeking a liquidator and new investors after losing near $1 million Hong Kong Dollars per flight. Although rising fuel costs were the main concern, high landing fees for Hong Kong International Airport seemed to ensure the budget airline's (or any other budget airlines that used to operate in Hong Kong) demise. There are no secondary airports in Hong Kong that allows for lower operations costs.

This shouldn't come as a surprise. ATA Airlines, Aloha Airgroup and Skybus Airlines all ceased operations after fuel costs rose 73% this year alone. However, to thousands of passengers and about 700 staff of Oasis, the news came in the form of an absence of notice. Many passengers with tickets were unaware of the situation until local newspapers reported the news on its front pages. What a bad publicity stunt.

Only In America Will A Pregnant Transgendered Man Thomas Beatie Be Treated With Respect

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 22:10:11 -0700

buzz of the internet world, he's also respected by one of the most powerful celebrities in media, Oprah Winfrey. According to Yahoo, Beatie, a resident of Oregon, was born a woman but decided 10 years ago to become a man. He began undergoing testosterone treatments and flattened his chests by removing hormonal glands. Beatie is legally male and has a "very stable male identity." His wife of five years, who has two daughters from a previous marriage, said that nothing in the family's relationship will change as a result of this pregnancy. So why does he want a baby now? As Beatie said, "It's not a male or female desire to have a child. It's a human desire." ]]>

Star And Rain Education Institute For Autism: One Chinese Mother's Response To Autism

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:00:16 -0700

Today is the world's first Autism Awareness Day, proclaimed United Nation's Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. He called on every country to raise awareness of autism and respond to the needs of autistic children and their families with "a powerful combination of determination, creativity and hope." Autism affects tens of millions worldwide, including 1.5 million Americans and (unofficially) 1 million Chinese. "Let us empower them and respond to their needs today, so as to make our societies more accessible, enabling and empowering for all our children tomorrow," said Ban. Therefore, it is only fitting for me to write about the only educational institute for autistic children in China, and one mother's fight against the system to give her autistic son "a little bit" of hope.

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This Week In China: Olympic Flame, Ethanol Cars And Tibetan Suicide Bombers

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:21:46 -0700

Indian national soccer team captain, Bhaichung Bhutia, is determined to shatter 1.3 billion people's dreams (China still has Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan on her side, though).
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Top 10 Reasons Why An American Is Like A Chinese

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 22:07:04 -0700

If you’re an American and enjoy living in your capitalist, laissez-faire economy, then I have a holiday choice for you: consider China. Why? There is more similarity between the average Chinese and the average American than you would like to believe. Here are the top ten similarities:

1. Large scale migrations: whereas Chinese people migrate from rural to urban areas (or special economic zones) for fun and work, Americans do so too by moving house every two years or so.

2. Over-reliance on trucks, cars and Wal-marts: neither government cares much about pollution, but the Chinese also use trains as a medium of transport, which is a plus. Wal-marts are a given.

3. Cultural insularity: either speak a Chinese dialect or speak English or have no friends. Both countries view themselves as superior. Both have inferiority complexes. Americans to Europeans, Chinese to Americans.

4. Large populations immune to reason: both countries have a large percentage of the population who will not reason with you. Stems from limited awareness of their surroundings.

5. Lack of social safety nets: both Chinese and Americans are equally concern about health care and pensions (yes, even in communist China), perhaps for different reasons.

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Will Tata Lead The Indian Automobile Industry To A New High...Leaving Chinese Competitors Behind?

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 14:27:39 -0700

Just as Tata Motors' purchase of Jaguar and Land Rover last Wednesday was about to become a moot topic, I read something that sparked my interest in the topic. According to this article by an expat in Mumbai, the $2.3 billion invested last week represents " a major shift in the way Indian companies are able to obtain technological growth, in a manner that possibly outstrips the latent capabilities of China’s auto sector." Basically, the article says that in the long run, India's privately owned auto companies will compete better in the international market than China's state-owned industry as long as India buys into foreign luxury brands (such as Jaguar and Land Rover) than forming joint ventures (JV) with Western companies. This, I think, is only partly true.

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Cultural Clash In Toronto: Chinese Riot Turns Violent As Tibetans Protest

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 13:31:29 -0700

If you've visited Canada before, you'll know that Toronto and Vancouver are filled with Chinese immigrants. Lots of them. Therefore it's not exactly a surprise that a group of Chinese students decide to rally on the streets against Tibetans. In a story by the Epoch Times, the "anti-violence" protest (under the wonderful name of "Love China Concert") began orderly but slowly disintegrated into emotions and violence as Tibetans took the stage and stole the spotlight. How ironic, as these things tend to become these days. Police at the scene intervened before the group of Chinese managed to attack the Tibetan. No one was injured. The usual good times in Canada.

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More Condoms In Beijing Hotels: A STD-Free Olympics

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 10:05:30 -0700

Seems like the Chinese government wants to contain the spread of sexually transmitted diseases ahead of the Olympics, before diseases once again spread too far and wide to challenge the government for yet another cover up. According to the minutes of the Beijing's city health work meeting yesterday, the capital will make condoms more accessible in area where people socialize and conduct sexual intercourse, such as hotels, nightclubs and construction sites (of all places). Guesthouses and scenic resorts will now be required to put the condoms in room toilets. Condom-selling vendors will be installed near clubs, public baths and major construction sites (again, funny).

Also according to the meeting, "the condoms shall not be used as evidence of prostitution and whoring." Then it appears very mysterious to me as to why they would select such venues and not just hand them out on the street. Wouldn't that receive more exposure? Anyway, that's not my call. The condom placement program is sponsored by the Beijing Municipal AIDS Prevention and Control Working Committee, who also provide training for hotel managers to promote condom usage.

In Case You Haven't Heard: China's New Enterprise Income Tax Law 2008

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 08:38:36 -0700

Apparently this is useful information, says Pacific Epoch, although I think that foreigners who are unknowledgable in Chinese culture and Mandarin, and have not been aware of this law, is few in number. Anyway, this is for your information (and mine, for future reference). For historical references, the old tax law states that domestic companies were taxed at 33%, unless they are low profit, in which case they were taxed at 27 to 18%. Foreign companies were taxed at 24 to 15%. As for the new enterprise income tax law...]]>

Hong Kong Rugby Sevens Once Again A Go

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 04:00:09 -0700

according to the tournament organizers. And Hong Kong had better build a larger one, just for this event. The annual Hong Kong Rugby Sevens is once again a mega-party for rugby fans, sports fans and even investors alike. For a complete tournament three-day pass at the 40,000 seat venue, fans will have to pay US $129 this year, a 20% price hike from the previous year. Despite the unwarranted inflation, demand for tickets is still high--if you bought tickets last minute, anything under US $775 would have been a discount. Only 5,000 seats of Hong Kong's most popular sporting event were available to the public, and were sold out within 4 hours.
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Chinese Milk Prices To Rise, But Not Coming From Mengniu, Yili

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 22:00:00 -0700

According to Reuters, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) approved Shijiazhuang Sanlu Group (SSG) to raise milk prices yesterday. SSG's subsidiary, Bright Dairy & Food Co., is the third-largest milk producer in the country, after Mengniu Diary and Yili Co. Bright Diary expects to raise prices by as much as 14% in some regions on fresh milk UHT milk. Why is this important? For two reasons:

1. The NDRC issued a statement back in January stating that all major producers of daily necessities such as dairy, flour, rice, pasta and cooking oil has to gain approval of the regulatory body before raising prices, in an effort to crub the continuously rising domestic inflation. The fact that NDRC is allowing the smaller dairy producer to lift its price ceiling is showing signs that price controls may be working, so as to lax the regulations and allow for some room in price fluctuation.

2. The country's second largest dairy producer, Mengniu Dairy, is a listed company in Hong Kong. Although the company is getting big fanfare from the Olympics (as it did for being the official Chinese space ice cream), even though Yili is the official Olympics sponsor, competitive pricing of its leading products in the dairy industry will affect the market in the long run. Maybe Mengniu should consider raising the price of its 1 yuan ice cream bars.

Chinese Food In The United States: Good Chinese Food Hard To Find

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:19:01 -0700

There's a Chinese takeout on the street where I live that serves General Tso's Chicken. In fact, all Chinese resaurants in this area serve some sort of General Tso's Chicken. Now I have to ask, what the heck is General Tso's Chicken (update: after some research, it's apparently a Hunan dish)? During all the years I lived in China/Hong Kong, I have never encountered such an amazing dish full of floury chicken and monosodium glutamate. It's tastes like sweet and sour pork, except it's not exactly sweet nor sour, and it's definitely not pork. If you and I went to a so-called Chinese restaurant in America, you'd see me complaining non-stop. And there's a good reason for it too: there is no (or at least very hard to find) authentic Chinese food in the United States.

Could China And Alibaba Be The Last And Final Hurdle For Microsoft's Courtship of Yahoo?

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 16:09:35 -0700

The story begins with a series of antitrust laws enacted by the National People's Congress last year. What Beijing wanted to give rise to was the right for Chinese regulators to examine the legality of foreign direct investment. Apparently too many foreign multinationals are acquiring Chinese companies under the nose of the government who notices these issues, but did not have the legal backbone to deal with the threat. But why would Chinese regulators have ties to the merger of two American multinationals? The answer is Alibaba.
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"Father Of Hong Kong Democracy" Martin Lee Quits Politics

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 22:28:38 -0700

Martin Lee is quitting politics before 2017, when Hong Kong can "possibly" elect its own Chief Executive. A long-time advocate of democracy and, since the beginning of his political career in the 1980s, direct elections for the Chief Executive and Legislative Council, Martin Lee has done it all. He was the founding chairman of Hong Kong's Democratic Party from 1994-2002. So why is he quitting now, when Hong Kong is ever so close, yet ever so far, to achieving universal suffrage? Lee said in a press briefing: he will be 70 in June and older than a lost of Chinese leaders. It's time for new blood...and no one is indispensable. Right on. The fragile balance of the Legislative Council means keeping political stars like Lee to keep the pro-democratic movement going. Apparently that limit has been reached: new stars will have to be born.]]>

Hainan Airlines Had A Profitable 2007, Despite Recent Chinese Markets Setbacks

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 22:27:30 -0700

As reported by Xinhua, China's fourth largest carrier, Hainan Airlines, said yesterday that its net profit quadrupled last year. Net income reached 651 million yuan, up from 166 million yuan in 2006, read the statement from the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Despite the recent downturn in Chinese equity markets, where stocks have plummeted from their all time high in October and benchmark indicies lost about 30% of the cumulative gains, Hainan Airlines benefited from a booming demand in domestic air transport and a stronger yuan.

China has the world's second largest air transport network after the United States. Whereas the airline garnered 11.3 billion yuan from 14.5 million passengers last year (an 8% domestic market share), cargo volume decreased by 0.5% to 197,800 tons. Thanks in part to the Beijing Olympics, Hainan Airlines has done better than most analysts anticipated. The carrier added 8 aircrafts to its fleet last year, bringing the total to 66, and anticipates adding a further 17 this year, including 10 Boeing 737-800s.