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Debenture debate
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I am writing in regards to your article “What is a debenture?” (Sai Kung Magazine, September 2012). Myself and my husband moved to Hong Kong two years ago with our four-year-old and had a tough time finding a space at an international school for her. We experienced the entire debenture process.
The article does not clearly specify the trading of “secondhand market” debentures. When we looked into the matter, we were told by various agencies that they don't take a cut; they add a fee of 1-1.5 per cent based on the face value of the debenture. And not all schools accept or sell their debentures secondhand.
Our child attends Kellett School, which is strict about this. (We were allocated a corporate debenture through my husband's company.) Canadian International and Chinese International School (CIS) do not accept secondhand debentures.
Also, these debentures – like corporate debentures – do not guarantee automatic entry. A friend’s child did not pass the assessment at CIS and was not offered a place even though he was under a debenture. Parents need to know this.
Schools including Kellett, Canadian, ISF Academy and CIS give families an opportunity to purchase a debenture if an employee leaves the company and their child is under that company's debenture.
I have learned a lot in the process and an article with more information would have been of great help to me.
Barbara
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Reality bites
Bring back Dr Carmel Taylor! Dr Carmel's columns were hilarious and the main reason I picked up Sai Kung Magazine. Please also get rid of the double-page-spread infomercials on ridiculously overpriced mansions. How about more realistic homes in Sai Kung with the mould, leaking internal walls, rattling windows and odd sewerage-y smell?
Sorry to the super-rich, but I'm also not interested in bespoke Ferraris. Hello? Am I the only person driving around in a shonky
Volvo bought secondhand (who can afford the tax on new cars?) from a dealer who taught me the true meaning of caveat emptor?
Trudi Charlesworth, Sai Kung
Clarification
Readers voted Hebe One O One as Best Restaurant in 2011, not Jaspas as we incorrectly implied in our Readers’ Choice Awards results issue (Sai Kung Magazine, September 2012). Jaspas won the Best Restaurant Award in 2012 and 2010, and Most Child-friendly Restaurant in 2011. Congratulations to both restaurants.
Thanks for the help
I am new to Hong Kong and have just moved to Clearwater Bay from Bangkok. Just wanted to let you know that Sai Kung Magazine is a great publication, which has been very useful for me as a newcomer.
