Thursday, October 31, 2013
Chain reaction Marketing firm DCHL offers refunds to angry mainlanders
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LAW SOCIETY CONDEMNS CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE Legal group’s leader says he is angry about the disruption of social order and the rule of law by those who are ‘abusing the name of justice’ ................................................ Joshua But and Tanna Chong
The newly moustached “Solar Star”, one of Star Ferry’s fleet of nine boats.
Iconic ferry gets hairy in honour of Movember Bewhiskered boat marks start of month-long campaign to raise awareness of prostate cancer ................................................ Jeanette Wang jeanette.wang@scmp.com All aboard the Star Hairy: Hong Kong’s cross-harbour ferry service is sprouting a new look for November. In support of Movember, the annual month-long campaign where men grow and groom moustaches to raise awareness of prostate cancer, Star Ferry has given one of its vessels a fuzzy facelift. Two black moustache stickers, each a metre and a half wide, were yesterday stuck onto the bow and stern of Solar Star, one of Star Ferry’s nine-strong fleet that shuttle across Victoria Harbour. “We think the idea of Movember is very meaningful, but few people in Hong Kong know about it, so we hope to help in some way,” says Pally Tsang Kayam, Star Ferry’s operations executive. In addition to the unshaven
Everybody becomes walking billboards for … men’s health and Movember GREG RAFFERTY, MOVEMBER ASIA
boat, Movember informational posters will be placed at all three Star Ferry piers at Wan Chai, Central and Tsim Sha Tsui, says Tsang. The Star Ferry website will also carry information on the campaign. Movember started 11 years ago in a Melbourne bar, sparked by a joke about wanting to bring the moustache back into fashion. Thirty “Mo Bros” participated that year, raising money to grow their moustaches, and prostate cancer was chosen as the cause.
A closer look at the unshaven ferry. Photos: K. Y. Cheng
The campaign has since exploded worldwide. Last year, 1.13 million participants across 21 countries raised a total of A$141.5 million (HK$1.04 billion), a 14 per cent increase in funds raised from the previous year. “The moustache proves to be such a good marketing tool, because of the immediate impact it has on changing on your appearance,” says Greg Rafferty of Movember Asia. “Basically, everybody becomes walking billboards for prostate cancer issues, men’s health and Movember.” Eighty-five per cent of the money raised has been committed to programmes that tackle prostate and testicular cancer, initiatives that support men’s mental health and Movember’s international collaborative research programme, the Global Action Plan. Last year, the campaign’s first official year in Hong Kong, more than 1,800 local participants raised nearly HK$4.5 million, according to Movember Asia. Working with the Hong Kong Cancer Fund, 65 per cent of net funds raised was allocated to local research, and the rest to provide support for men afflicted by prostate cancer and their families. The cancer is on the rise in Hong Kong. In the past two decades, prostate cancer recorded the largest increase in incidence rate among the common male cancers here, according to the Centre for Health Protection. In 2010, prostate cancer was the third most common cancer in men and accounted for 10.7 per cent of all new cancer cases in males, the centre’s figures show.
CITY DIGEST 11 mainlanders held in parallel-trading blitz Eleven mainlanders were arrested in a crackdown on parallel-goods trading in North District. Six men and women, aged 17 to 57, were held for breaching their conditions of stay. They were allegedly trading in Lok Ma Chau and Sheung Shui. Goods seized included infant milk formula and diapers.
Driver arrested over death of woman, 63 A 31-year-old motorist was arrested for dangerous driving
causing death after he hit and killed a 63-year-old woman on Castle Peak Road, Sheung Shui, at about 1.45pm yesterday. Witnesses can call police on 3661 3857 or 3661 3800.
Man who posed as bus driver held for theft A 60-year-old man was arrested for theft after he allegedly donned a stolen Citybus drivers’ uniform and took a free bus ride on Saturday. The man was believed to be a security guard at the company’s depot on Chung Wai Street in Lantau. He was recognised by a colleague, who called the police.
Consultation for policy address, budget begins The joint consultation for the policy address and budget started yesterday with Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah meeting the pandemocratic Labour Party and lawmaker Leung Yiu-chung. Labour chief Lee Cheuk-yan told officials they wanted a tax reform. He also urged the government to set the goal of alleviating poverty in the city by halving the poor population before the end of its term. Consultation meetings with lawmakers will continue next month.
The city’s largest lawyers’ group yesterday joined the chorus condemning the Occupy Central civil disobedience plan, with its president saying the action was without legal grounds and the notion of “peaceful violence” was just “beautiful rhetoric”. And the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office warned against “a confluence” of the plan and Taiwanese independence, after a controversial meeting between a key Occupy Central organiser and a former leader of Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party. The movement plans to blockade the business district next summer if the government fails to come up with a satisfactory plan for full democracy in the 2017 chief executive election. Law Society president Ambrose Lam San-keung yesterday said he did not support any civil
disobedience action, and insisted the concept of civil disobedience “was not a legal principle”. In a rare gesture, he also said he was “angry” about recent attempts to challenge the social order, although he refused to say whether he was pointing the finger at the Occupy Central movement. He denied his comments were based on “orders from Beijing”. “I am angry that many people are disrupting the social order and the rule of law by abusing the name of justice,” Lam said. “There are ample channels for individuals to express their discontent against the system – either through the legislature or the courts to change the laws.” Lam also drew a comparison between the situation facing the Occupy Central movement and those of India’s Mahatma Gandhi and America’s Martin Luther King. He said Hong Kong’s situation could not be compared to the conditions faced by the two
civil disobedience advocates. “Our systems are running and working,” said Lam. “Peaceful violence was just beautiful rhetoric. It is never a legal principle that can stand up in court.” Benny Tai Yiu-ting, an associate law professor at the University of Hong Kong who first put forward the plan, said when there was injustice in the law and the legal system, it was impossible to achieve justice under the existing system. He insisted the plan was peaceful and non-violent and any civil disobedience action would only happen after existing channels had been exhausted. Criticism of Occupy Central has been mounting since a meet-
There are ample channels for individuals to express their discontent
ing between Shih Ming-teh, a former chairman of Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party, and three pan-democrats – including the plan’s core organiser, Reverend Chu Yiu-ming – in Taipei on October 19. Joseph Cheng Yu-shek, convenor of the Alliance for True Democracy, and Labour Party chairman Lee Cheuk-yan were also present. Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Fan Liqing , said Hongkongers would condemn the “confluence of the Occupy Central plan and Taiwanese independence”. “Advocates of Taiwanese independence are conspiring to mess up Hong Kong. [But they] won’t win public support and they won’t succeed.” The overseas edition of Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily also suggested yesterday that the Occupy Central plan was “an attempt to coerce the central government”, and the business district was being “threatened by extremists”. Core Occupy Central organiser Dr Chan Kin-man described the attacks as “mud-slinging”.
AMBROSE LAM, LAW SOCIETY
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