Benson Yeung at Hong Kong Today

Hong Kong Dominates the IPO World Scene

bensonyeung — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:30:31 +0000

According to the World Federation of Exchanges, Hong Kong has topped the world’s stock exchanges in the lucrative trade of IPO (Initial Public Offerings) in the first ten months of 2009. The total of funds raised reached US$13.82 billion, out-running Shanghai Exchange’s US$12.37 billion with a comfortable margin of 10%. Brazilian and New York Stock Exchanges are the 2nd and third runner-ups with funds raised between 12 and 13 billion US dollars. This year so far, 47 corporates have been successfully listed in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the numbers appear to be rising in the coming year as companies try to get in before the central banks change their lax monetary policy as the world’s economies slowly recover. Mark To of Hong Kong’s Prudential Brokerage commented that nearly 99 percent of the listing candidates in the coming year would generate income from the mainland (China). One notable exception would be US Rusal, the world’s biggest aluminium procducer. The Russian firm posts to become the first Russian company to be listed in Hong Kong before the end of 2009.

Image Credit: it.com.cn

Portrait of An Angel

bensonyeung — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:59:21 +0000

It is a chilly Tuesday morning. The homeless locals gather in the courtyard in front of the ancient temple on Temple Street, Yau Ma Tei, in Hong Kong. The courtyard is infamous for being a hangout for drug addicts, outlaws and the homeless. Drug addicts will come here to wait for the local Methadone Dispensing Service to open, if they run short of money to buy heroin. The people sitting in the courtyard look bored, possibly by the cold and the clouds which are predicted to hang around all week, bringing with them a depressed mood around the courtyard.
Seventy-five year old Nancy Tang, a regular visitor to the courtyard lightens up the courtyard with her visit. Year after year she turns up on mornings when the hong kong observatory issues a cold temperature warning. She comes to give away fifty or so gift bags containing food and scarves knitted by two of her equally elderly girl-friends. Nancy moves slowly because of the cold and her little left vision. She gives out the gift packs with the warmest smile on her face to chase the clouds away. For the weaker recipients, she wraps the scarves around their necks. Her children at work have never been told about her visits, in case they should be worried about her safety.

It’s difficult not to believe in angels if you have seen one.

Image credit: www.appledaily.com

Stand Tall - Help Promote World Osteoporosis Day

bensonyeung — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:01:07 +0000

World Osteoporosis Day 2009 falls on October 20. This will be the second year of a ‘call to action’ campaign. The theme of the World Osteoporosis Day 2009 is ‘Stand Tall’. The “Stand Tall” campaign seeks to mobilize the power of millions of voters, tax-payers and concerned citizens to improve osteoporosis healthcare policies amongst public and private healthcare and insurance decision-makers.

The focus of the World Osteoporosis Day 2009 thematic report will be on FRAX® (WHO Fracture Risk Assessment Tool - Identifying people at high risk of fracture). The assessment tool is a new tool which enables improvement in allocation of resources for public health.

The International Osteoporosis Foundation looks forward to presenting a brief overview of the foundation and its member societies and their activities as October 20th approaches.

World Osteoporosis Day 2009 is the second year of a two year campaign which called on government health officials across all regions to recognize osteoporosis as a health priority; spread the message that more needs to be done by national governments and health insurers to promote early detection and offer reimbursement of much needed therapy for those with osteoporosis; and to call on individuals to take responsibility for their bone health and to support the work and advocacy efforts of their national osteoporosis societies.

Despite significant advances in science and medicine, the reality today is that:

Between twelve to twenty percent of people die within one year following a hip fracture.
It is estimated that 80% of those who are at high risk of osteoporosis, and have suffered at least one fracture, have neither been identified nor treated for the disease.
Many national governments do not treat osteoporosis as a major health priority and fail to provide adequate resources for its detection and treatment.
Many health insurance schemes still do not cover diagnosis and treatment prior to the first fracture – even when it is cost effective to do so.

Look out for National Osteoporosis Day Activities in your locality, learn more about it and help to save lives and minimize suffering.

Image credit: International Osteoporosis Foundation

How About A US$ 3 Million One Bed-Room Apartment, Sir?

bensonyeung — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:53:30 +0000

As the anniversary of the downfall of the Wall Street giants approaches, a Tsim Sha Tsui property is released for sale in Hong Kong. The smallest one bed-room units are selling at 24 million hong kong dollars (or US$ 3 million). Investors have lost the ability to remember anything that has happened more than a couple of months before. I am not here to cry “wolf”. Nonetheless, with unemployment staying high and CPI staying low, one couldn’t help but wonder whether the price tags on these properties are reflecting the purchasing power of the economy. Of course, we do have new mainland millionaires buying Hong Kong assets without thinking twice. The questions are “how many”, “for how much longer” and “when are they selling”. I do hope that the recovery of asset prices can be sustained, but am in no hurry to be in this crazy chase for the next get-rich-quick hoax.

Bronwyn’s New-Found Guardian Angel

bensonyeung — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 03:03:19 +0000

I have three children. Bryce is seventeen, Brent fourteen and Bronwyn eleven. Bryce is the peace maker (by the way, everything is relative, like beauty, and wealth) amongst the children where Brent and Bronwyn tend to fight like cat and dog. Bryce and Brent share a room even though we have enough rooms in the house for them to have one room each. The reason is as simple as “we have always shared a room”. Bronwyn, being the only girl among the children, has always had her own room.
Bryce left for college two weeks ago and it has been hard for the rest of us. He has taken a piece of each of us with him and “ouch, it hurts.” His mother has been worrying about him day and night. His siblings appear to be coping well. The next thing I notice is that Bronwyn now sleeps in Bryce’s bed, sharing a room with Brent. They are still firing bullets of irony at each other. Nonetheless, they are virtually always together. Who would have guessed it? Brent, the sociopath in the family, has now turned into Bronwyn’s new guardian angel, and constantly makes sure that she is out of harm’s (or her parents’) way.

PHOTO CREDIT: WORTH1000.COM

Is This Karma, or the Law of Attraction?

bensonyeung — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:57:15 +0000

Every time a person acts there is some quality of intention at the base of the mind and it is that quality rather than the outward appearance of the action that determines the effect. If a person professes piety and virtue but nonetheless acts with greed, anger or hatred (veiled behind an outward display of well-meaning intent) then the fruit of those actions will bear testimony to the fundamental intention that lay behind them and will be a cause for future unhappiness. The Buddha spoke of wholesome actions (kusala-kamma)—that result in happiness, and unwholesome actions (akusala-kamma)—that result in unhappiness. The theory is not deterministic, as past karma is not viewed as the only causal mechanism causing the present; see below regarding others.

Why am I talking about this? I left home when I was seventeen and went overseas to continue my study. My eldest son is doing the same thing next month, after he turns seventeen. To me, my past action was the consequence of some quality of intention that existed at the base of my mind, and possibly the base of my parents’ minds. Part, or the whole of this intention is probably still there and now effects changes in the life of my family. I know next to nothing about buddhism but this concept appears to fit into my more recent experiences as I pause and ponder about life more these days. I am quite sure some readers will relate their own experiences to the Law of Attraction and find that fitting in equally well. The bottom line could well be: be careful with what you think about, it certainly causes effects much longer lasting than the thoughts themselves.
Quotation from J A Marie

Diarrhea and Gonorrhea: What the Traveler Might be Bringing Home

bensonyeung — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 00:18:10 +0000

Travel is definitely one of today’s favorite hobbies. While travel brings you new experiences and ideas, it also brings risks and things that you don’t want. According to WHO publications, travel is associated with the following risks:

Diarrhea and Gonorrhea
Out of 100,000 travelers, 30,000 to 80,000 will develop diarrhea. The numbers are really against you. Be ready for the runs. Gonorrhea, which of course is listed for better reasons than the rhymes, happens in 110 of the 100,000 travelers. This number might sound insignificant. But I don’t think the 100,000 travelers are all engaged in at-risk sexual activities. So for the small proportion of travelers having sex with strangers and sex workers, the risk is actually quite similar to the risk of having diarrhea. Anyone has the real numbers?

Wear a Mask, and not the one for beauty.
Out of 100,000 travelers, 1000 or 1% will develop respiratory diseases. So wearing a mask is a great idea even after the H1N1 panendemic settles a little.

Next Stop is Heaven
Death, or with luck, ending up in heaven, is an extreme case of going to the wrong destination. Eventhough rare, it happens in one out of the 100,000 travelers. Always keep that at the back of your mind. Think whether your spouse or children know where the insurance policies are kept. Of course, they won’t know where they are if you don’t tell them or you don’t have one.

A Noodles Bar for Mother’s Day

bensonyeung — Sun, 10 May 2009 01:42:07 +0000

No, he’s not taking his mother to the noodles bar for dinner on Mother’s Day, even though I’m sure they’ll be having noodles for lunch. He is giving her the noodles bar. Mrs Lai, aged 71, had been widowed for some time and stayed with her eldest son. Grief was an understatement for her since her eldest son died from bile duct cancer in October 2008. KW, her remaining son, knew just the thing to do to get her out of this half year long depression. Mrs Lai has always been proud of her pork-bone soup, which is the biggest secret behind a delicious bowl of noodles. He invested his life’s saving and spare time to come out with the perfect gift for Mother’s Day, a noodles bar which opens on Mother’s Day weekend. I’m grateful to KW who has reminded me that a big thank you to Mum often means a gift of PRIDE.

Photo: Mrs Lai and KW at the Noodles Bar, credit: Apple Daily News, Hong Kong

Writing is Great Therapy for Dr SY Chong

bensonyeung — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:38:55 +0000

Dr Siu-yin Chong is a psychiatrist in training in Hong Kong. Nonetheless, she was having unspeakable sorrow and shock from the tragic death of Lai-yin, her sister last year. The young well-liked university freshman was on a volunteer’s community service event when a tree fell on her. She suffered severe head injury and died a few hours later. Siu-yin was very close to her sister whose death left her devastated. She thought about suicide over and over but was painfully aware of the fact that her parents now only had her to lean on. Thanks to the suggestion of one of her mentors, she started writing about her feelings and the relationship between the sisters. Word after word, page after page, the writing worked as medicine to soothe her and help her make sense of it all.
Her book, “Walking through the Shadow of the Tree of Death”, is coming out in May in Hong Kong, as a living witness to sisterly love, courage and the incredible power to opt for happiness.

Doctors’ Health Tips

bensonyeung — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 14:34:04 +0000

April 09 sees the lauching of a new blog of mine. It involves me as the webmaster and many contributing friends, all qualified physicians. Some of them have been writing and publishing for a while. Others are coerced into this by me. Writing is in many ways similar to a religion. Once you are deeply involved, you also want to involve your friends, so that together you can build something bigger and better than what you can do on your own.

Please drop by and tell me what you think: Doctors’ Health tips.