{headline} Child abuse in overdose case denied {article} A FOUR-YEAR-OLD boy was found to have bruises and burn marks on him and was seen being forced to eat dog faeces just a few months before he died from an overdose of methadone, the High Court heard yesterday. {para} Cheung Siu-fai, who admitted the manslaughter of the child, Poon Loh-man, however, maintained that he treated the boy as his sworn son and denied allegations he had ill-treated him. {para} He had pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the lesser offence. The plea was accepted by the Crown and Mr Justice Gall. {para} Cheung, 35, while admitting the methadone he had secreted out of a clinic had been drunk by the boy, denied he gave it to him deliberately to scare the child's father into repaying a debt as alleged by the Crown. {para} He contended that his guilty plea was based on recklessness and a hearing was held for the judge to determine the facts of the case. {para} According to the agreed facts produced by Senior Assistant Crown Prosecutor Mr Peter Cahill, the boy lived with his parents at Tai Wan Shan Estate and Cheung was a neighbour. {para} On August 29, last year, Cheung took the boy to Hunghom Methadone Clinic where Cheung was issued methadone in orange juice. {para} At about 7 pm, the boy appeared to be dizzy and suffering from a skin irritation. {para} He was certified dead at hospital at 1.25 pm the next day. The cause was adverse effects of ingestion of methadone. {para} The boy's father, Poon Ping-cheun, who is in prison for a drug offence, said he had known Cheung for two years and had borrowed money from him. At the time the boy died, Poon owed $1,800 to Cheung. {para} In May last year, he detected bruises on the child's back after Cheung took him home. He also saw cigarette burns on his body. {para} Cross examined by Cheung's counsel, Mr Michael Ko, Poon confirmed that both he and his common-law wife, a dance hostess, were drug addicts. {para} He disagreed that on the night in question, Cheung had told him the boy had drank the ``orange juice'' stolen from the methadone clinic and suggested that if the child got worse, he should be taken to hospital. {para} The court also heard evidence from three witnesses who said they saw the boy being hit on the thigh once by Cheung, who on another occasion, forced the frightened child to eat dog faeces. {para} These allegations, however, were denied by Cheung when he gave evidence. {para} The hearing continues. {/article}

{headline} Key change in airport panel staff questioned {byline} By JEREMY LAU {article} A KEY official on the Airport Consultative Committee, Mrs Stella Hung Kwok Wai-ching, is to be replaced by an expatriate, Mr Clinton Leeks, amid a growing controversy over the advisory body's role. {para} ACC members expressed concern on hearing the news, with some voicing scepticism at the change. {para} Mrs Hung, who is presently a deputy director of the New Airport Projects Co-ordination Office (NAPCO), serves as secretary to the 50- member ACC. She has worked as such for less than a year. {para} Mrs Hung is to step down next month to succeed Miss Jacqueline Willis as the Deputy Secretary for Home Affairs. {para} Mrs Willis will replace Mrs Helen Yu Lai Ching-ping to become the Deputy Secretary for Health and Welfare. {para} Mr Leeks, formerly the Government's refugee co-ordinator, will join NAPCO on September 1 upon his return from six weeks' leave. {para} The departure of Mrs Hung will be another major change to NAPCO's top management. Its director, Mr Rafael Hui Si-yan, is expected to leave his post later this year. {para} Mr Hui will succeed Mr Gordon Siu Kwing-chue as the Commissioner for Transport. {para} It is likely that the job of director of NAPCO will be upgraded to a secretary post to strengthen co-ordination of the airport and related projects. {para} ACC members have expressed growing frustration at the Government's apparent ``lack of respect'' for the role and function of the body, saying that the Government has failed to consult them about the airport plan. {para} ACC chairman Mr Wong Po-yan, commenting on Mrs Hung's departure, said she had been very co- operative with the members since the committee was set up in November last year. {para} An ACC member, Mr Cheng Yiu-tong, said he was surprised to learn of the sudden departure of Mrs Hung because the committee had been in existence only for less than one year. {para} Mr Cheng was sceptical if the change would benefit the committee although he agreed that staff reshuffles were common within the civil service. {para} He said it was inappropriate for him to comment on the change since he did not know the reasons, if any, for the move. {para} ``But I am concerned about the continuity [of the committee's policies] because the committee has just started to work,'' he said. ``Since the new secretary will be an expatriate, to me at least there will be a communication problem.'' {para} Another member, Mr Leung Kwong-cheong, shared the same view that the operation of the committee might be disrupted with the change of secretary. {para} ``Now we only hope that Mr Leeks can pick up the new job as soon as possible,'' he said. {para} Mr Leung said whether the ACC could function well depended on the Government's attitude towards the committee, rather than its staff arrangement. {para} Mr David Chu Yu-lin, said the committee had not been able to perform its duties well because the Government did not value much its existence. {para} Changing its secretary would not make the committee work well if the Government's attitude towards the body remained unchanged, Mr Chu said. {/article}

{headline} Actor to go on trial for blackmail {article} LOCAL Chinese actor Sing Fui-on will go on trial in the District Court next February on one count of blackmail after the alleged victim returned to Hongkong from Macau and complained to police. {para} Senior Crown counsel Mr Josiah Lee said the 60- year-old victim was assisting police. {para} The case was adjourned last week to give police time to locate the victim. {para} Sing, 36, better known as ``Big Silly'', had pleaded not guilty to having threatened the foreman of a construction company to pay him $320,000 at Sai Kung. {para} Mr Alan Hoo, QC, for Sing, succeeded in having the Crown lift reporting conditions and travelling restrictions on his client because of contractual arrangements overseas. {para} Judge Tyler set bail at $100,000. Two sureties totalling $200,000 were extended. {para} Sing's three-day trial will begin on February 18. {/article}

{headline} Manslaughter plea in killing of child {article} A DRUG addict told the High Court yesterday he managed to sneak a dose of methadone out of a clinic by holding it in his mouth. {para} Cheung Siu-fai said he spat the drug into an empty soft drink carton afterwards. {para} He had asked four-year- old Poon Loh-man to hold the carton for him and only when he later found it empty did he realise the boy had drunk the contents, he said. {para} Cheung, 35, denied murdering Loh-man on August 29 last year but pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter. The plea was accepted by the court. {para} He maintained that his cautioned statement, in which he allegedly admitted deliberately giving the methadone to the child to drink, was fabricated by police who assaulted him and extracted his signature from him by force. {para} Mr Justice Gall, after hearing evidence from Cheung and the police, was satisfied that the statement was made voluntarily and was admissible. {para} While Cheung said he admitted manslaughter on the basis of recklessness, the Crown contended he deliberately gave the drug to Loh- man in order to persuade the boy's father to repay a debt. {para} A hearing had been held before Mr Justice Gall on the admissibility of the statement. {para} The case has now been adjourned to Tuesday for evidence on the issue of alleged child abuse and the relationship between the boy and Cheung. {para} Cheung testified that when he was being interviewed by the police, he told them he went to a Hunghom clinic on the day in question to take methadone. {para} He said he did not swallow his dose, but held it in his mouth. {para} Once outside, he spat the drug out into an empty soft drink carton. As he had a pork bun in his hand, he asked the boy to hold the carton for him, he said. {para} He did not realise Loh-man had drunk the contents until sometime later when he asked for the carton back, he told the court. {para} Cheung said the police did not believe him and fabricated another version of events. {para} He was assaulted by police and also induced into signing the statement by a promise of getting methadone afterwards, he said. {para} Police denied the allegations and said Cheung made the statement voluntarily. {para} Satisfied the statement was voluntary, Mr Justice Gall said the only issue before him was the nature of the facts on which he should rely in assessing the sentence. {para} He said he was entitled to take into account the circumstances of the relationship between Loh-man and Cheung. {/article}

{headline} Welfare spending call {article} THE Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood yesterday demanded that the Government appropriate at least $100 million for the public assistance scheme. {para} In an open letter to Financial Secretary Mr Hamish Macleod, the association urged the Government to increase the amount of public assistance so that needy people could maintain a more reasonable standard of living. {para} It said the negative growth in public assistance had caused great hardship. {para} The association believed the Government was in a better position to increase welfare spending as the implementation of the compulsory retirement scheme would relieve the pressure on public assistance. {para} It said given the huge surplus last year, it would not be a problem for the Government to spend more. {/article}

{headline} Mainland proposal `could lead to higher taxes' {byline} By ESTHER WONG {article} CHINA'S proposal on using land premiums generated by property development along the airport railway for building the rail link might trigger a tax increase and a cut in public spending, local politicians said yesterday. {para} Independent legislator Miss Emily Lau Wai-hing said she was worried about the effects of such a proposal in relation to taxes and public spending and that she would discuss it in detail in the meeting of the airport committee on September 10. {para} Liberal group the Hongkong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood cast doubt on the viability of the proposal. {para} Noting that the Government would have to spend about $80 billion on the airport and related projects in the next five years, the group said that forgoing $21.2 billion in land premiums on the airport railway property development would mean an added burden on Hongkong. {para} It also said the move might lead to tax increases and cuts in public spending. {para} The association said the Chinese Government was interfering in Hongkong's internal affairs by demanding the Government invest in the airport railway. {para} As an alternative, the association said the Special Administrative Region Land Fund should provide low-interest loans to the Mass Transit Railway to finance the project. {para} Such an alternative was feasible as the Land Fund, with the SAR Government's share of $21.2 billion in land premiums from the railway property development, would swell to $100 billion, the liberal group said. {para} The cost of the airport railway could also be reduced to $10.6 billion if a section of the underground line in the West Kowloon area could be taken out from the main contract of the rail project, the association said. {para} Despite its reservations about the mainland proposal, the association said it might alleviate the loan and interest burden the Government would shoulder, and might lead to a lower increase in MTR fares in future. {/article}

{headline} TV property ads to come with warning {byline} By CONNIE LAW {article} CONSUMERS will be warned about the dangers of buying flats abroad in future television commercials about overseas property. {para} The Broadcasting Authority endorsed in April the idea that advertisements on overseas property would have to carry a warning saying such transactions were not governed by Hongkong law, and potential buyers should consult professional advisers. {para} The Executive Council approved in June the removal of the ban on overseas property commercials to enable the two television stations to compete more effectively with other media for advertising revenue. {para} The two stations are currently barred from running such advertisements. {para} An authority spokesman said the television advertising code was being amended and was expected to take effect next month. He said the exact wording and display size of the warning had yet to be finalised. {para} The introduction of the warning came amidst a rise in complaints to the Consumer Council about overseas properties. {para} The council recorded 12 complaints in the first seven months of this year, against a total of eight last year and nine in 1990. {para} The council's deputy chief executive, Mr Li Kai- ming, said it was difficult to say whether the warning would make people more prudent over the purchase of overseas property. {para} He said the council was concerned about the recent increase in newspaper advertisements on overseas properties. {para} He said the council had earlier proposed that the Planning, Environment and Lands Branch and the Monetary Affairs Branch consider vetting overseas properties before allowing them to be advertised in Hongkong. {para} However, spokesmen from both branches said overseas property was not their responsibility. {para} The decision to include the warning on television commercials drew mixed responses from the industry. {para} Land Power Property Consultants managing director Mr Michael Choi Ngai-min said it would create a negative image suggesting that any purchase of overseas property carried high risks. {para} But L & D Associates group general manager Mr Samuel Kuk Ying-chung hailed the move and believed the warning would not affect the industry. {para} Legislators believed the move did not go far enough. {para} The Co-operative Resources Centre's housing spokesman Mr Gilbert Leung kam-ho said legislation should be introduced to force all overseas properties to have legal representatives in Hongkong. {/article}

{headline} HK to pass on AIDS message {byline} From IAN STEWART in Singapore and FIONA CHAN {article} SINGAPORE'S Health Ministry plans to use video tapes from Hongkong to teach prostitutes how to reduce the risk of contracting and spreading AIDS and other sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs). {para} The tapes, which have been dubbed in Mandarin and Hokkien, will be used in a new campaign called Project Protect, one of the chief aims of which is to encourage prostitutes to make condoms available to their clients. {para} With the aid of the tapes and brochures, ministry staff will teach the prostitutes how STDs are spread, how to use condoms and how to seek medical attention where necessary. They will also be encouraged to have regular check-ups. {para} Several videos on AIDS prevention in Hongkong have been produced by the Government Information Services, which started a publicity campaign in 1987. {para} The Ministry said the campaign aimed to instil a sense of self-reliance in health among prostitutes and inform them of their right to protect themselves from STDs. It will provide them with guidance on how to persuade their clients to use condoms. {/article}

{headline} Committee's views sought {byline} By JEREMY LAU {article} THE department head of the State Council's Hongkong and Macau Affairs Office, Mr Chen Zou'er, arrived in the territory yesterday to gauge the views of the Airport Consultative Committee (ACC). {para} During his stay, Mr Chen will also meet officials of the Chinese Airport Committee team. {para} Mr Chen said yesterday he hoped his trip would be a fruitful one. {para} ``Since spring this year, we at the Hongkong and Macau Affairs Office have received many valuable opinions and suggestions from the Hongkong Affairs Advisers and individuals from many different sectors,'' he said. {para} ``I came with an intention of listening to the ACC members' views and I look forward to hearing valuable opinions and suggestions.'' {/article}

{headline} 500 Taiwanese stranded after ticket confusion {byline} By PATRICIA TANG {article} CONFUSION over ticket bookings has resulted in about 500 Taiwanese tourists being stranded at Kai Tak airport for up to six days, even though they all held valid tickets. {para} The travellers, who had to sleep in the departure hall and transit area, yesterday criticised Cathay Pacific and China Airlines for failing to make swift arrangements to end the ordeal, prompting the companies to put on extra flights to clear the backlog. {para} Cathay Pacific put on two special flights to clear about 400 passengers, while China Airlines used a bigger plane to take an extra 150 people. {para} The two carriers said the backlog had been caused by passengers who had not confirmed their return trips to Taipei, bringing chaos at the airport check-in counters at the height of the tourist season. {para} People who did not have valid entry visas had to stay in the transit hall, while those with visas were allowed to camp in the departure lobby. {para} The airlines said they were worried the chaos would be repeated today with more tourists holding unconfirmed tickets demanding seats. {para} One exhausted Taiwanese businessman, 33-year-old Mr Suei Tien-pan, said he had been at Kai Tak for three days. {para} ``I don't know when I can leave. I saw an old guy over 60 waiting for six days.'' {para} Another businessman complained of the indifference shown by the airline staff. {para} ``Some women with babies were just left to sit there; nobody even came to offer them a drink. It's totally inhumane.'' {para} Cathay's public relations manager, Mr Kwan Chuk-fai, estimated that after the airline had upgraded a flight and added another it could clear up to 600 passengers last night. {para} ``Because many of them haven't confirmed their seats 24 hours before take-off, we cannot offer seats to them immediately at this tourism peak season,'' he said. {/article}

{byline} By BERYL COOK {article} HONGKONG'S best-known schoolgirl turned up for her first day of lessons in the territory yesterday - and immediately won the approval of her new schoolmates. {para} Alice Patten arrived at Island School with mother Lavender bright and early at 7.45 am and fellow-students were soon singing her praises. {para} Pupils remarked on how popular the Governor's 12-year-old daughter was and said she was sure to make friends quickly. {para} And they stressed she would be getting no special treatment despite her celebrity status in the media. {para} Office staff at the Borrett Road school, seconded to gate-keeping duties at 7.30 am, waved down taxis and buses to stop them entering the main car park while one enthusiastic administrator hastily picked up crisp packets, disposable cups and other rubbish from the entrance. {para} One of the gatekeepers said that only staff were usually allowed in the car park, but the driver of the black estate car bearing Alice and her mother swept in to the area at 7.45 am and the pair alighted at the steps of the main entrance. {para} Mrs Patten wore a fitting, above-the-knee, green skirt with a cream blouse. Alice's short blue skirt was a few centimetres shorter; her hair was pulled back into a knot; and she carried a casual Thai woven backpack over her shoulder. {para} Alice and Mrs Patten ascended the stairs hand-in-hand and were greeted by a member of the Form Six welcoming party, Joel Goldstein, who greeted them as he had all the other parents and students and directed them to the assembly hall. {para} Photographers asked Alice to wave to the cameras, but she merely looked back over her shoulder and flashed a poised smile. {para} Alice seemed more perturbed at the prospect of school than facing the barrage of press. She paused a moment at the hall entrance to chew a fingernail then disappeared from sight. {para} Alice will join Form Three, Da Vinci House. Unlike students in more crowded schools, she will have only about 25 classmates. {para} A government spokesman said Mrs Patten had expressed a hope that the media would leave Alice alone after her first day or two at school, so she can get on with a normal life. {para} The school principal, Mr David James, confirmed this. {para} ``We want her to be left alone to get an education and so does Mrs Patten,'' he said. {para} Form Six prefects sympathised with Alice about media attention, but said they were sure she would settle in well. {para} ``After a few days hopefully it will wear off and she'll make friends,'' Kimberley Knight said. {para} Rachel Crawshaw said: ``She'll do well making friends. She has a head start with the publicity and she's already very popular. {para} ``Everyone sees it as a good sign that she wanted to come to school here rather than go to boarding school back home. At one stage there was talk of her having a bodyguard but that wouldn't have gone down too well.'' {para} Joel Goldstein said he did not think she would be treated differently. {para} The school was not particularly small with 1,200 students, but ``it's a smaller school in the sense that it treats everyone the same. Even some of the teachers have kids here and they don't get any special treatment''. {/article}

{headline} Father suspects evil spell behind son's flat leap {article} THE father of a 23-year-old clerk who jumped to his death claims his son may have been in the grip of an evil spell. The single young man had returned from a trip to Indonesia three days earlier. {para} A coroner's jury returned a unanimous verdict of death by suicide on Mr Chow Tai- wai, an employee with the solicitors firm of Woo, Kwan, Lee and Lo. {para} Mr Chow was found dead in Lok Sin Road after plunging 14 floors from Hong Tung House, Tung Tau Estate, in Kowloon City on April 23. {para} Dr Khoo Tun-oo, a forensic pathologist, testified that Mr Chow died from multiple injuries consistent with a fall from a height. {para} The deceased's father, Mr Chow Yun-chung, 53, said after the hearing: ``I couldn't understand why Tai-wai had taken his life. I believed he might have been enthralled by an evil spell during his trip to Indonesia.'' {para} Mr Chow senior said he did not think his son's death was related to pressure from work, adding that he enjoyed his job despite the heavy workload. {para} Earlier, in court, coroner Mr Warner Banks directed the jury to either return a verdict of death by suicide or an open verdict. {para} Mr Banks said there was sufficient circumstantial evidence for the jury to draw inference that Mr Chow had committed suicide. {para} Mr Chow's father said his son had suffered headaches when the weather changed since an operation for sinusitis about six years ago. {para} He said his son suffered Bell's Palsy in early March which caused the right side of his face to become swollen and his left eye unable to shut. {para} He testified that his son became depressed and withdrawn upon his return on April 20 from a six-day trip to Indonesia although Mr Chow Tai-wai had all but recovered from his facial problem. {para} On the fatal day, Mr Chow senior said, his wife rang up their son's supervisor, Mr Lai Tak-yan, and told him that her son was not feeling well. {para} But Mr Lai told the mother that the firm was short of staff and suggested her son go to the office that afternoon, Mr Chow senior said. {para} Without showing any abnormal signs, Mr Chow left home, telling his mother he was heading to the office some time after 11 am. {para} Police later informed the parents of their son's death. {/article}

{headline} New hearing ordered as drug conviction quashed {article} A MAN found guilty of a drug offence had his conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal yesterday. {para} While allowing the appeal of Emeka Joe Udeoji and setting aside his 20-year jail sentence, the appeal court ordered a retrial. {para} The court, comprising vice-president Mr Justice Silke, Mr Justice Power and Mr Justice Macdougall, will hand down the reasons for its decision later. {para} Udeoji, 36, had pleaded not guilty before Deputy Judge Jones to a charge of trafficking in more than nine kilograms of heroin mixture but was found guilty after trial by a jury. {para} He lodged an appeal against his conviction on the grounds that the trial judge had misdirected the jury on the issue of knowledge. {para} It was the Crown's case that Udeoji arrived in Hongkong on October 20 last year from Kathmandu. {para} Customs officers at the airport searched him and a total of 9,134 grams of a mixture containing 2,449 grams of esters of morphine with a retail value of more than $3.2 million at the time, was found in his trunk. {para} In his defence, Udeoji claimed that he was duped by a fellow Nigerian into carrying the drugs to Lagos, believing they were ingredients for making medicine. {para} Mr John Mullick, on appeal, submitted that in order to prove the charge, the Crown had to prove Udeoji knew the nature of the substance and the proof of such knowledge must be established beyond a reasonable doubt. {para} The trial judge misdirected the jury in his summing up in that he equated knowledge with strong suspicion coupled with deliberate shutting of the eyes to the obvious, said counsel. {para} Senior Crown Counsel Mr Steve Chui accepted that the trial judge erred in his direction. {para} However, the evidence against Udeoji was strong and even if there had been a mis-direction, there was no miscarriage of justice, he said. {/article}

{headline} Liberals `should be wary' {byline} By CATHERINE CHAN {article} LIBERALS will face stiff competition in the direct election for the Legislative Council in 1995 when conservatives in the territory are fully mobilised and better co-ordinated, according to a political analyst. {para} Dr Joseph Cheng Yu-shek, dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the City Polytechnic of Hongkong, said the lack of strong second-line candidates would be the liberals' major weakness in the next direct election. {para} ``If they fail to recruit stronger second-line candidates, they will be at a disadvantage if the single-seat, single-vote model is adopted in the 1995 elections. {para} ``And if the conservative forces are fully mobilised and be able to field competent candidates, they will provide stiff competition for the liberals,'' he said. {para} But Dr Cheng added the liberals' defeat in a close Legislative Council by-election on Sunday did not indicate dwindling voter appeal. {para} He pointed out United Democrat Mr Albert Ho Chun-yan received more than 30,000 votes in a constituency where he was thought of as having no roots. {para} Mr Ho, a vice-chairman of the party, lost to rural leader Dr Tang Siu-tong. {para} Dr Tang, who was said to have the blessing from left, moderate and right wings in the New Territories, won by a margin of 2,572 votes. {para} The associate director of the Asia Pacific Studies of the Chinese University of Hongkong, Professor Lau Siu-kai, said Mr Ho's defeat might affect the liberals' morale and prestige. {para} ``This will give the conservatives ammunition to attack the liberals' mandate,'' he said. {/article}

{headline} Prison for possession of gun that killed girl {article} AN unemployed man was yesterday jailed for eight years by the High Court for possessing a loaded pistol which accidentally went off and killed a 16-year-old girl. {para} Chiang Pak-sing, 23, who claimed the gun was sniffed out by his dog while he was walking near a cattle farm in Fanling, was last week found not guilty by a High Court jury of the manslaughter of Miss Chung Wai-lin. {para} However, he had admitted a charge of possession of the pistol and five rounds of ammunition without a licence. {para} Sentencing Chiang yesterday, Deputy Judge Sharwood said possession of a firearm and ammunition had been stated many times by the court as a particularly serious offence in Hongkong and everyone knew that. {para} In recent times, because of fatal robberies to which society was subjected, it had become more serious and people who had guns without a licence could expect little mercy from courts. {para} Deputy Judge Sharwood said he simply did not believe the gun was sniffed out by Chiang's dog. {para} He did not know how Chiang got the pistol but he could not treat him as an innocent young man who simply stumbled on the gun and kept it out of boyish curiosity. {para} He could not ignore the fact that the gun had been fired, which was an aggravating factor, the judge said. {para} The court heard that Chiang had given a statement to police claiming he was walking in a field in Fanling when his dog sniffed out something near a farm house. {para} He went to investigate and found a bag containing the loaded pistol. {para} He showed it to the girl at his Takwuling home on the evening of October 1 after removing the bullets, he told police. {para} He maintained that after the girl looked at the gun and handed it back to him, it went off accidentally and she was shot in the chest. He said he had not pulled the trigger. {para} He originally took the girl to Prince of Wales Hospital but because he was afraid he would be arrested, he did not take her in but left her at the roadside in Yue Tin Court, Sha Tin. {para} According to evidence called by Senior Crown Counsel Mr Peter Lavac, the girl's body was found by a security guard shortly after midnight on October 2. The cause of death was a gunshot wound to the chest. {para} Mr John Wright, counsel for Chiang, said his client was no doubt now sorry and bitterly regretted what had happened. {/article}

{headline} Arrests in food shop robberies {byline} By JIMMY LEUNG {article} WAN Chai police have arrested five men believed to have been involved in at least six robberies of fast-food shops in the area over the past few months. {para} Divisional Commander Superintendent Fong Kai-cheong said district crime detectives were looking into whether the men were connected with similar robberies elsewhere. {para} The men, all in their 30s, were arrested after a robbery alarm was raised at a fast-food shop in Johnston Road shortly after 6.30 am. {para} They allegedly entered the shop, which had just opened, and announced a robbery after one of them grabbed a knife from the kitchen. {para} A total of $200 in cash and a gold necklace worth $4,000 were allegedly taken from five employees. {para} The robbers fled on foot and the victims immediately alerted police. {para} A sergeant and four police constables from the Wan Chai task force intercepted two of the suspects at the junction of Hennessy and Marsh roads. {para} The pair were subdued after a brief struggle with the officers, who seized some exhibits in connection with the case as well as the key to a hotel room. {para} Officers from the Emergency Unit went to a nearby hotel, where they arrested three other suspects in a room. {para} ``We are investigating whether they are connected with some other robberies in which fast-food shops were reportedly robbed by some men soon after they opened for business in the morning,'' Mr Fong said. {/article}

{headline} Barker to return to his `beloved' Sha Tin {article} THE widow of Noel Barker, the former champion Hongkong jockey who died in Sydney yesterday after a 12- day battle to survive a horrific racing accident, says she plans to scatter her husband's ashes on his beloved Sha Tin racecourse. {para} ``It would be what he wanted,'' said Mrs Kelly Barker. ``Noel's heart was in Hongkong. The Chinese loved him as a champion and Sha Tin was where Noel had all his big wins.'' {para} Barker, 30, had been unconscious since suffering severe head injuries in a freak trackwork accident at Sydney's Randwick track on August 21 when his mount collapsed under him. His life support machine was switched off late last week. {para} A funeral service will be held for Barker at St Mark's Church, Darling Point, Sydney, next Monday and there are plans for a memorial service in Hongkong. {para} The Royal Hongkong Jockey Club's Clerk of the Course, Mr John Jeffs, will represent the club at the funeral service and while in Sydney he will liaise with Barker's family about a memorial service here. {para} RHKJC officials said they did not expect any problem in fulfilling Mrs Barker's request for the disposal of her husband's ashes. {para} The news of Barker's death was relayed almost immediately to Hongkong and fellow jockeys and trainers at Sha Tin for morning trackwork were sombre-faced. {para} Barker, who had returned to Sydney six weeks ago after three years in Hongkong with champion trainer John Moore, was extremely popular. He was champion jockey for the 1990-91 season. {para} Fellow rider Brent Thomson, who visited Barker in hospital before returning to Hongkong last week, said: ``You would find it hard to meet a nicer guy than Noel Barker.'' {para} Mr Jeffs said: ``I am proud to say that Noel Barker was a good friend of mine. He was an absolute gentleman, very considerate and brought great credit to racing generally.'' {para} The fall which led to Barker's death came during a trial on a horse the Sydney- born rider was not even meant to be on. {para} He was a late replacement for an absent jockey and the fall occurred when the horse tried to hurdle a bird that flashed across the track. The horse was killed in falling and Barker was trapped under its hind quarters. {para} Barker leaves his wife and a two-year-old son, Nathan George. {para} There are plans in Hongkong to establish a fund for the education of the child. {/article}

{headline} Racecourse ban on jockey's ashes {byline} By ROBIN PARKE {article} GRIEVING widow Mrs Kelly Barker will not be able to scatter the ashes of husband Noel over the Sha Tin racecourse he graced as Hongkong's champion jockey. {para} Chinese traditions over death and fung shui will prevent Mrs Barker carrying out what she believes her dead husband would have wished. {para} The 30-year-old Barker, who died 12 days after a barrier trial accident in Australia, will be cremated in his home town of Sydney on Monday. {para} Although it has not been officially asked for permission to scatter Barker's ashes over Sha Tin, the Royal Hongkong Jockey Club would be following established tradition in refusing permission. {para} The relatives of popular chairman of stewards, Mr Peter Williams, wanted to scatter his ashes at Sha Tin but his former colleagues on the stewards' panel reluctantly refused. {para} Sha Tin has an unfortunate history with leading English rider Brian Taylor suffering a subsequently fatal fall there and brilliant French champion jockey Phillipe Paquet's career was ended in a trackwork accident. {para} Four years ago a similar fate befell popular South African champion jockey Bart Leisher, who hovered between life and death for days. He has now largely recovered but is unable to ride. {para} As a result of these accidents, Sha Tin has been twice exorcised in special Buddhist rites. {para} A senior Jockey Club official said yesterday: ``It is an extremely sensitive area but the local feelings on such matters are very strong. Given the precedent established in the case of the late Mr Williams, it would simply not be possible to have Noel's ashes scattered at Sha Tin.'' {para} But there is no doubt that the Jockey Club hierarchy have been as affected by the death of Barker as his weighing room colleagues and other members of the racing fraternity. {para} Messages of sympathy have gone to Mrs Barker and the club has named the second race of the new season the ``Noel Barker Memorial Handicap''. {/article}

{headline} Plea to double public assistance {byline} By CATHERINE CHAN {article} PUBLIC assistance should be doubled from the current $825 a month because the sum was not enough to live on, legislators and unionists said yesterday. {para} Four legislators, including Mr Lau Chin-shek, Mr Cheung Man-kwong, Mr Jimmy McGregor and Mr Howard Young, agreed with petitioners that the sum was not sufficient for the needy to cope with the high cost of living. {para} Eighteen representatives from the Federation of Trade Unions petitioned Omelco yesterday urging the Government to increase the allowance for elderly people, as most of the retirees in the territory did not receive pensions. {para} Mr Lau, also a unionist, said the sum should be increased to a more reasonable $1,890 a month. {para} He said the allowance should be $966 a month for food, $820 for expenses such as water, electricity and transport and about $105 for clothes. {para} Legislators said they would liaise with welfare organisations to conduct an independent study to find out how much money should be given and whether further increases should be linked to the median income or the inflation rate. {para} They also agreed with petitioners that the Government should relax its stringent regulations and allow old people who were out of the territory for more than 90 days to continue receiving old age allowances. {para} They believed if the rules were revised, elderly people would be able to lead a more decent life in the mainland where the cost of living was lower. {para} The Government should not be mean to these people, especially those who had no pension, they added. {para} Meanwhile, the Association for Democracy and People' Livelihood also joined in calls for doubling the public assistance yesterday. {para} The association said the sum had virtually stayed at the 1981 level because there had not been any real increase for 10 years. {/article}

{headline} Appeal lost in sex case {article} A WATCHMAN convicted of the attempted rape of a 75-year-old woman lost his appeal against conviction yesterday when the Court of Appeal held there was insufficient evidence for the question of automatism to have been left to the trial jury to decide. {para} Mohammed Hussain, 31, withdrew his application to appeal his four-year sentence, imposed in April last year. His counsel, Mr Rupert Spicer, had raised a defence of automatism at the trial. {para} Automatism is a condition where the subconscious mind controls actions and a person is unaware of what he is doing. {para} During the appeal against conviction yesterday, Mr Spicer argued that the trial judge should have left the issue to the jury, which he did not do. {para} Having heard how the defendant, when caught, said the victim was a friend, Vice-President Mr Justice Fuad asked if a person affected by automatism could give an answer that would excuse his act when asked what he was doing. {para} Mr Spicer argued that these facts were relevant, but not conclusive and that the defence of automatism should have been left to the jury. {para} He accepted that medical evidence called at the trial said Hussain's conduct was too complex to be automatism. {para} But he argued that this evidence was only the opinion of the doctors. The matter should still have been left to the jurors, who should have been allowed to form their own opinions guided by the doctors' evidence. {para} Mr Andrew Bruce, for the Crown, said the trial judge was amply justified in ruling that there was no issueof automatism fit to go to the jury. {para} The Court of Appeal, also comprising Vice-President Sir Derek Cons and Mr Justice Rhind, dismissed the application. Reasons will be handed down later. {para} The trial heard that Hussain accosted the woman as she was walking along Texaco Road, Kwai Chung, on the morning of June 10, 1990. {para} The defendant did not know the woman. He spoke to her incoherently, grabbed her and then tried to rape her under a flyover. {para} The attempt was foiled when two young men in a passing car saw the attack and rushed to the woman's rescue. {para} The defendant claimed he had drunk four cans of beer and did not know what had happened before he woke up in hospital. {/article}

{headline} Green theme for carnivals {byline} By SUSAN FURLONG {article} AN unlikely combination of environmental friendliness and Chinese opera will be the two major themes of this year's mid-autumn carnivals. {para} Exasperated by the rubbish left by revellers last year, the Urban Council has invited Green Power and Friends of the Earth to operate ``keep venue clean'' counters at the two carnival sites in Victoria and Ko Shan Road parks. {para} Urban councillor Mr Mok Ying-fan said people who took their rubbish to the counters would be given lanterns. {para} The council and the Government Information Service had also produced a television advert to persuade people not to burn naked candles or leave melted wax on the ground, he said. {para} The highlight of the $1.2 million carnivals will be the three-hour production of a specially commissioned opera - The Lady of the Full Moon. {para} Written by a Radio and Television Hongkong playwright, 32-year-old Wan Chi-pang, the opera recounts the story of the mid- autumn festival. According to legend, a beautiful woman, after stealing the pill of immortality from her husband, flies to the moon where she lives with only a rabbit for company. {para} ``I put more emphasis on martial arts and music than did other versions of the legend because it will be produced outside and so has to be more dramatic,'' Wan said. {para} The opera will be staged at Victoria Park by a troupe of 20 performers from the Koon Kwan Fong Association of Chinese Opera. {para} The carnivals will also feature a Chinese acrobatic show, karaoke, riddle quiz, palm reading, video wall, Chinese chess competition and handicraft counters. {para} Two seven-metre-high lanterns by master craftsman Leung Yau-kam, 78, will feature prominently. {para} The mid-autumn carnivals will be held on September 11. {/article}

{headline} Open verdict on baby {article} A NEWBORN girl was found by a student under a drain pipe in a women's public toilet at a park in Shek Kip Mei in April, an inquest heard. {para} The identity and cause of death of the baby was unknown so Coroner Mr Li Zong-er recorded an open verdict. {para} An underage girl or an illegal immigrant could have given birth to the baby, police believed. {para} The Coroner praised police for carrying out exhaustive inquiries including interviewing morning walkers, residents in the flats nearby, hospitals and Chinese herbal shops. {para} The inquest heard that the toilet at Lung Chu Street Rest Park was cleaned at 5.30 am on April 15. {para} About two hours later two students who were on their way to school stopped at the toilet. One entered the only cubicle and discovered the baby with her umbilical cord still attached. {para} The motionless baby was lying under the drain pipe. The student ran out and made a report to police. {para} The post-mortem report said there was presence of bleeding spots and patches on the baby's heart and lungs, suggesting she might have been asphyxiated during or shortly after birth. {/article}

{headline} Baby girl died of natural causes {article} A BABY girl who lived for only two days after being born at Tsuen Wan Adventist Hospital died of natural causes, a Coroner's Court jury found yesterday. {para} Leung Suk-kit died on March 1 this year from aspiration of amniotic fluid - the watery liquid in which a baby floats in the uterus. {para} Forensic pathologist Dr William Li-chai said the umbilical cord was around the baby's neck during delivery. This had caused her to excrete meconium - a dark green material which forms the first faeces of a newborn infant - which was found in the amniotic fluid. {para} As a result of the baby inhaling the fluid with the meconium, the heart and lung functions were depressed, leading to a lack of oxygen going through her body. The inhalation of the fluid also brought about pneumonia. {para} Dr Richard Gee, of the Tsuen Wan Adventist Hospital, told the court he was summoned to the delivery room at about 6 pm on February 28 this year. {para} He testified that Suk-kit's head was quickly delivered and suction commenced immediately. {para} The mother was told to stop pushing temporarily as the umbilical cord was around the child's neck. {para} But the baby kept coming out and the cord was getting tighter around her neck. The cord was then divided and the child quickly delivered. {para} The baby was put on her mother's abdomen and suction was recommenced. {para} Suk-kit was put into an incubator and appeared to be breathing satisfactorily. {para} Later, she was discovered to be frothing around the mouth, and a paediatrician was summoned. {para} The paediatrician took over the case about four hours after birth. {para} At the age of 41 hours, the baby's condition deteriorated. Resuscitation was carried out for about 90 minutes without success. {/article}

{headline} Dead baby discovered in ceiling {article} MONGKOK detectives were last night trying to find the mother of a newborn baby girl whose dead body was found concealed in the ceiling of a women's toilet at the Allied Centre shopping arcade. {para} The grisly find was made by a woman cleaner yesterday afternoon following complaints of an odour inside the first-floor staff toilet. {para} The body had been wrapped in newspaper and put in a plastic bag. {para} A police forensic pathologist said the baby appeared to have no external injuries and had been dead for about a week. {para} Shop assistants told police that members of the public could not use the locked toilet, but all staff members had keys. {/article}

{headline} Deaths prompt fears over cyanide control {article} A CORONER investigating the death of a teenager who poisoned herself with cyanide, after being accused of stealing a school bag, yesterday said he was worried about the control of cyanide in the territory. {para} Coroner Mr Li Zong-er voiced his concern during the hearing into the death of Yu Po-shan, a 15-year-old student of Heep Woh College who died on March 16 from potassium cyanide poisoning. {para} Mr Li said his concern was prompted by the case of Po-shan and that of a married woman who recently poisoned herself with cyanide stolen from her workplace after an argument with her husband. {para} Mr Li said he had asked an expert from the Labour Department to tell the court which industries used cyanide and what regulations governed its use, but the department had not been interested in the case. {para} ``I'm very worried there's no control,'' Mr Li said. {para} Dr Anthony Chan, a senior pharmacist at the Department of Health, said potassium cyanide, like other types of cyanide, was a Part One poison which could be sold only by vendors holding a special licence. {para} Vendors are allowed to sell the poison only to those who can prove they need it for industrial use - cyanide is used in electro-plating, photography and engraving. {para} Dr Chan said government officers inspected sales invoices twice a year to ensure that the regulations were adhered to. {para} But the doctor said that, as far as he was aware, there were no controls over record-keeping, or dispersal of the poison. He said it would be difficult to impose such controls because cyanide was used in ``huge quantities'', particularly in the electro-plating industry, but only ``a minute amount'', equal to one-quarter of a teaspoon, was needed to commit suicide. {para} ``It is a huge quantity so it is very easy for someone to slip out a small teaspoonful,'' the doctor said. {para} Government forensic scientist Mr Wong Tze-tat, who inspected the dissolved potassium cyanide Po-shan used to kill herself, said only 200 mg was needed to kill a person. The post-mortem examination revealed that Po-shan had 953 mg of cyanide in her stomach. {para} Later, Luk Chui-kiu, 16, told the court that her school bag went missing on March 4, after she left it in the school changing room. On March 9, she saw the bag unattended on a bench and went to fetch a teacher. {para} She said that Po-shan claimed the bag was her own but Chui-kiu said she was sure it was hers because she recognised studs her father, a garment worker, had machined into the strap. {para} Later, Mr Li told coroner's officer Mr Philip Cantrill to stop trying to establish that the school had victimised Po-shan. {para} Under Mr Cantrill's questioning, school principal Mrs Kwok Leung Kun- shing had told the court that Chui-kiu was a good student who was likely to enhance the reputation of the school, but Po-shan's results had not been satisfactory. {para} Mr Cantrill said he was trying to establish that the school had favoured Chui-kiu but Mr Li told him to drop his line of questioning. {para} Mrs Kwok said the school had been at pains to carry out its investigation fairly. The school employed both counselling and disciplinary teachers, she said. A discipline teacher is someone who investigates an allegation and counsels the culprit and then refers the child on to a counselling teacher. {para} Mr Cantrill said they had not followed this procedure with Po-shan. ``In this particular case, you had the two teachers acting as policeman, judge and jury,'' Mr Cantrill said. {para} Mrs Kwok said Po-shan's case had not reached the stage where it could be referred to a counselling teacher because they had not decided whether a theft had been committed. {para} She said that, on March 16, teachers realised they could not carry the investigation further and telephoned the police. {para} The hearing continues. {/article}

{headline} Equipment boost for disaster rescues {byline} By KAREN CHENG {article} THE Fire Services Department is to get new equipment tested in earthquake rescue operations to upgrade life-saving systems for use in local disasters. {para} The new life detectors would not only pick up sounds made by survivors buried in debris but also indicate their location on a graphic display, Chief Fire Officer (Hongkong) Mr Chan Hoi said yesterday. {para} The two life detectors currently used by the department did not have a graphic display. {para} Mr Chan stressed that the acquisition was part of the regular upgrading of equipment and was not prompted by any event related to mudslides in the past few months. {para} ``We learnt of this equipment when it was used by other countries to help rescue survivors in an earthquake, and so we decided to buy two sets to try out their effectiveness,'' he said. {para} The equipment had been allocated to Kwong Wan station in Wan Chai and Tai Lam Chung station in Tuen Mun at the moment, and would be used in incidents similar to the Baguio Villa mudslide or major fire rescue work. {para} Mr Chan was speaking after presenting bravery commendations to seven fire officers for their part in rescuing three people trapped by the mudslide at Baguio Villa and Victoria Road during the rainstorm on May 8. {para} Senior station officer Wong Kwong-chi, principal fireman Tam Fai-chun and senior fireman So Yeuk-hon received personal letters from the Chief Secretary, notifying them they had been awarded the Governor's Commendation. {para} Firemen Mok Chun-keung, Ki Tak-yan, Chan Ming-chai and Leung Cheong-yuen were presented with the Chief Fire Officer's Commendation. {para} They were the first team to reach the scene and started rescue work. {para} Recalling his experience during the incident, senior station officer Wong Kwong- chi said he could think of nothing but to rescue survivors. {para} ``You don't get scared [at the time], and the only thing on my mind was to do my job and save lives,'' said 37-year-old Mr Wong. {para} He said information at the scene indicated two people were trapped inside a lift in the Baguio Villa car park, where the mud was already chest-high. {para} ``The situation was crucial because mud was still sliding down the slope and there was a strong smell of LP gas in the car park. {para} ``We had to act very fast. We opened the lift door in a few minutes, and not long after we left the car park a further mudslide covered the area. {para} ``The people we rescued then said thank you to us, and even sent a letter later praising our work.'' {/article}

{headline} HK Ballet supports boss who defected {article} THE Governor's wife, Mrs Lavender Patten, should go ahead with plans to become the patron of the Hongkong Ballet despite revelations that its general manager, Mr Anthony Wraight, had been convicted of leaking state secrets, members of the dance company's executive committee said yesterday. {para} Executive committee chairman Mr Darwin Chen said Mrs Patten had agreed shortly after her arrival in the territory to replace Lady Wilson as the ballet company's patron. {para} The revelations about Mr Wraight ``had nothing to do with ballet and nothing to do with her [Mrs Patten's] patronage of the company'', Mr Chen said. {para} The Sunday Morning Post revealed last week that Mr Wraight, a former RAF flying officer, defected to the Soviet Union in 1956. {para} He later returned to Britain and served a three-year jail sentence for breaching the Official Secrets Act. {para} Another executive committee member, Mr Clive Oxley, said Mr Wraight's past bore no relevance to his current work and should not influence Mrs Patten's decision to represent the ballet company. {para} Mr Oxley was a member of the three-man selection committee which in 1988 interviewed Mr Wraight for the general manager's post. He admitted the committee had not known of Mr Wraight's past when it offered him the job. {para} The committee last night issued a statement in support of Mr Wraight. {para} ``With regard to recent press reports concerning Hongkong Ballet's general manager, Mr Anthony Wraight, the Hongkong Ballet's executive committee wishes to state that the matters referred to in the report are totally irrelevant to Mr Wraight's present position with the Hongkong Ballet,'' it said. {/article}

{headline} Date set for bank fraud trial {byline} By ANGELA LI {article} THE managing director of Chesterton Petty Ltd and a former executive director of the Bank of America appeared in the District Court yesterday to face charges of conspiracy to defraud and false accounting. {para} Paul Varty, 38, and David Lee Chai-ve, 44, former vice-president of the bank, face two joint counts of having conspired together to defraud the Bank of America by dishonestly arranging for the bank to pay $721,250 to Chesterton Petty Ltd (CPL). {para} The money was purported to be estate agent fees owed to CPL by the bank for the sale of the 15th and 18th floors of the Bank of America Tower. {para} They face two other joint charges of having dishonestly falsified invoices of CPL on April 11, 1989, for estate agent fees totalling $1,276,250 by falsely representing that the money was payable by the bank to the company. {para} Lee and Varty each face a separate count of false accounting. {para} No plea was taken from Lee, who will appear in court again on September 8. Varty pleaded not guilty and will face trial on May 24 next year. {para} Judge Pang extended the defendants' bail at $100,000 cash each. {/article}

{headline} HSBC profits soar past $5b {byline} By LAURA TYSON {article} HONGKONG Bank profits soared past $5 billion in the first half of the year despite massive provisions for bad and doubtful debts arising from loans to groups such as Olympia and York. {para} The territory's premier banking institution has set aside almost $4.5 billion to help meet expected losses arising from its exposure to the troubled Canadian property development group and to cover problems in the bank's Australian and US subsidiaries. {para} Provisions against the group's original exposure of US$787 million (HK$6.08 billion) to Olympia and York have been set at US$187.5 million but shareholders were warned that additional provisions might need to be made during the second half of the year. {para} Proposals for the restructuring of the property empire built up by the Reichmann family are being ``closely monitored''. {para} Mr William Purves, chairman of the bank's parent company HSBC Holdings, declined to elaborate on the other provisions. {para} Details of the Olympia and York provision was only made public because of information already released during legal proceedings in Toronto. {para} ``It is not normal and it is not going to be our practice to disclose the details of our relationships with customers,'' he said. {para} Without the provisions, HSBC Holdings' net interim profits would have topped HK$9.5 billion for the six months to June 30. {para} But the $5 billion attributable to shareholders still represents an increase of 51 per cent over last year's figure of $3.3 billion for the same period. {para} Mr Purves said he hoped the results, which have been presented for the first time without any ``secret'' transfers of funds to the bank's inner reserves, would provide shareholders and analysts with a fuller and clearer understanding of the group's operations. {para} The first-half result does not include any contribution from HSBC's recently acquired Midland Bank in the UK because the takeover was not completed until after June 30. {para} A profit of $3.16 billion from the recent sale of shares in Cathay Pacific Airways will also be booked in the second half. {para} Mr Purves spoke strongly in favour of the wide margins between the rates paid to depositors and charged to borrowers which have contributed so greatly to the bank's enormous profits. {para} ``I think there has been a realisation on the part of banks that spreads are too narrow and risks were not covered.'' {para} ``I hope that margins become wider, frankly.'' {para} He said the Hongkong economic environment looked quite favourable, barring an unsatisfactory resolution to the China-US trade dispute which resulted in retraction of Most Favoured Nation trade status for China. {para} The group's reported profits of $5.03 billion exceeded most forecasts by analysts, who were predicting totals ranging between $3.3 billion and $5 billion. {para} Some analysts believe the profits were higher than expected because provisions against O & Y were about half of what had been forecast for the interim. {para} Market reaction in Hongkong is expected to be positive today. The group's share price fell $2 ahead of the results announcement yesterday, closing at $47.75. {para} And barring a further shower of global gloom, brokers believe the bank's results could kick-start a recovery across the entire market. {para} Yesterday's selling pressure was heaviest on the banking sector, where stocks reversed their recent gains. The sub-index plummeted 3.54 per cent. {para} The London stock exchange, still open at the time of the announcement, saw the HSBC group's share price immediately bounce up about $1.50 to $2. {para} In London, S. G. Warburg analyst Mr Chris Ellerton described City reaction to the result as one of ``bemusement''. {para} ``It's like getting a postcard from the Caribbean in the middle of a gloomy, dark winter.'' {para} See Business Post {/article}

{headline} Britain `trying to impose on SAR' {byline} By FANNY WONG and ESTHER WONG {article} BRITAIN is attempting to force the future Special Administrative Region (SAR) government to carry forward unconditionally any pre-1997 political model it designs, according to Beijing's mouthpiece, the Bauhinia magazine. {para} In its latest issue, Bauhinia carries a signed commentary claiming that Britain wants the last legislature under British rule to unconditionally straddle the 1997 change of sovereignty. {para} Describing the approach as unwise, the commentary says the move is tantamount to forcing China to amend and repeal the Basic Law. {para} What is significant is that the move was supported by the Governor, Mr Chris Patten, the commentary claims. {para} Such a move fully reflects that Britain has not changed its position that the Basic Law could be amended before 1997, it says, adding that Britain is likely to demand more from China. {para} The commentary says there will be fundamental differences between the pre- and post-1997 Legislative Councils as they will be formed under different sovereign powers. {para} ``Some people intend to deny the fundamental difference between the Legco under the British Hongkong administration and the Legco under the SAR and simply draw an equal sign between the two,'' it says. {para} Following such logic, the commentary says, simply meant that on resuming sovereignty over Hongkong, the Chinese Government would carry over the system under the British colonial rule in full, without allowing any room for changes. {para} ``It is believed that under no circumstances the Chinese side will accept such logic and proposition,'' it says. {para} ``If the British side still has sincerity in implementing the Joint Declaration, it should not have thought about such a proposition, and at least, it should not have talked about it.'' {para} Meanwhile, independent legislator Miss Emily Lau Wai-hing said Mr Patten might not push for greater democracy in his maiden policy speech on October 7. {para} She said the Governor was under pressure from China and other conservative elements such as the business community on the issue of giving democracy to Hongkong. {para} ``I don't think the Governor would come out on October 7 and do the right thing - giving Hongkong democracy,'' said Miss Lau. ``He is under a lot of constraints.'' {para} She believed Mr Patten was concerned about possible reactions to his speech. {para} Miss Lau added she would tell the Governor there were Hongkong people who would support him, and the legislators would also support him in pushing for democracy. {para} Mr Patten is expected to discuss with Mr Alastair Goodlad, Britain's Foreign Office Minister with special responsibility for Hongkong, the constitutional issues he will address in his October 7 policy speech, the airport issue and his upcoming visit to Beijing. {para} The discussion will take place when Mr Goodlad pays a six-day visit to the territory beginning tomorrow. {para} The Governor said yesterday he would also talk to the minister on a range of issues affecting Hongkong and the region, ``from trade to the economic and political development of Hongkong''. {/article}

{headline} China warning on Basic Law {byline} By JEREMY LAU {article} CHINA yesterday warned that failure to align the pre- 1997 political system with the Basic Law would amount to a breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration. {para} The warning on convergence, the second in a week from Beijing, was carried in a signed commentary in the latest issue of China's mouthpiece magazine Bauhinia. {para} Believed to be aimed at the Governor, Mr Chris Patten, the commentary also suggested that there should be agreement on convergence by all those who had a sense of responsibility for Hongkong's stability and prosperity, including any realistic politician. {para} Last week the director of the Hongkong and Macau Affairs Office under the State Council, Mr Lu Ping, said Hongkong's legislature would be dissolved if the pre- 1997 political system failed to mirror the Basic Law. {para} The commentary said China and Britain should intensify consultation on matters relating to the smooth transition and handover of Hongkong's sovereignty to Chinese rule. {para} ``Such consultation is neither an act of one side `kowtowing' to the other side nor does it amount to interference,'' the commentary said. {para} ``On the contrary, it is just a responsible act by the two sides to work together to implement the Joint Declaration and protect Hongkong's stability and prosperity,'' it added. {para} ``Any changes neglecting a convergence with the Basic Law, or any proposal calling for the amendments to the Basic Law to accommodate these changes, are not beneficial to the transition. {para} ``Neither are they in conformity with the spirit of the Joint Declaration nor the wishes of the majority of Hongkong people,'' it said. {para} Noting Mr Patten and the British Foreign Secretary, Mr Douglas Hurd, had repeatedly expressed their wishes for a smooth transition, the commentary said Britain should adopt a frank and positive attitude to co-operate with the Chinese. {/article}

{headline} Date set for BCC payouts {byline} By BELINDA WALLIS {article} THE special managers of the defunct Bank of Credit and Commerce announced yesterday that they hoped to start writing cheques to small depositors on September 21. {para} A prominent campaigner for depositors, Mrs Annabelle Shah, yesterday welcomed the decision, which followed a vote by major depositors, and said small investors would be happy to be getting all their money back. {para} ``The people of Hongkong are the lucky ones - they are more lucky than anyone else in the world who is a BCCI depositor,'' Mrs Shah said. {para} ``Anyone else who is still crying and making noise should realise they are very lucky to have got payment after only 14 months when people in London have got nothing,'' she said. {para} The scheme, which is expected to go ahead although vote counting is incomplete, was praised as ``satisfactory for all'' and ``beneficial all round'' by a member of the Committee of Inspectors, Mr Frank Knight. {para} Those whose savings were less than $100,000 will get their deposits back in full under the repayment scheme. Of the 35,000 people who lost their savings, 30,000 will get a 100 per cent return. {para} The KPMG Peat Marwick special managers also expect around 1,000 creditors whose savings are between $100,000 and $200,000 will opt for an immediate $100,000 payout. {para} They will have six months in which to decide. {para} Also on September 21, cheques will start being issued for large creditors - they will get an estimated 40 per cent dividend. {para} BCC special manager, Mr Nicholas Etches, said it was ``unlikely that it will not go through'' at this stage. {para} ``The liquidation is far from over, but hopefully this will enable 85 per cent of the bank's creditors to be paid in full, so from their point of view, it will be the end of the liquidation,'' said Mr Etches. {para} The decision to pay back the small depositors was voted on by large depositors through proxy votes at a sparsely attended closed-door court meeting at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium yesterday. {para} There were 2,025 proxy votes lodged - 83 per cent voted yes, carrying a dollar value weight of $3.3 billion. Coincidently the dollar value also equalled 83 per cent. {para} As well as the proxy votes, 192 voting cards were handed out at the court meeting in the main hall of the stadium. While the number of votes cannot affect the outcome, the repayment scheme needs the backing of 75 per cent in money terms from voting depositors. {para} The voting results, along with a report by the special managers will be presented to the High Court on September 14. If the scheme is approved, it will become binding on all creditors. {para} The special managers, along with the official receiver Mr Robin Hearder, will next meet with depositors on September 7. On the agenda will be the disclosure of the running costs of the liquidation by KPMG Peat Marwick. {/article}

{headline} Beaches better due to weather {article} ABUNDANT sunshine and less rainfall in the past two weeks have further improved water quality at several beaches in the territory, the Environmental Protection Department reported yesterday. {para} The acting principal environmental protection officer, Mr David Hall, said the strong sunshine killed the bacteria in the water, while rain flushed pollutants from the beaches. {para} But he warned that the improvement was not representative of long-term indications of water quality. {para} According to figures released by the department, four more beaches, in addition to seven upgraded earlier this month, improved from grade two to one. {para} They are at Deep Water Bay, Middle Bay, Repulse Bay and Tong Fuk. {para} Water quality in these four beaches improved from fair to good, with the expected risk of minor illnesses to swimmers undetectable. {para} Beaches at Butterfly and Gemini improved from grade three to two (poor to fair). But Mr Hall said on the average 10 out of every 1,000 swimmers still ran the risk of minor illness at the beaches. {para} Minor illnesses include eye or ear problems, stomach upsets or skin rashes. {para} Mr Hall said beaches in Tuen Mun were ``badly polluted'' with untreated sewage, such as faecal wastes. {para} The majority of beaches in Tuen Mun remained poor at grade three, with two of them - Old Cafeteria and Castle Peak - to remain ``closed definitely this year''. {/article}

{headline} Beauties vie for $200,000 {article} TRAVEL and jewellery worth more than $200,000 will be awarded to the winner of a Hongkong beauty contest for airline workers. {para} Fourteen female airline staff based in the territory have entered the competition. They will be joined by 10 others from around the world in the 11th Miss Interline Pageant at the Hongkong Convention and Exhibition Centre on October 12. {para} The organiser, the Hongkong Interline Association, is providing the first prize of a business-class return ticket to Canada and a diamond brooch. {para} The association, composed of airline staff working in Hongkong, hopes to raise money for the Po Leung Kuk during the finals evening, which will be screened live on television. {para} Interline Club chairman Mr Alfred Lui Suen-kong said: ``There are Chinese, Malaysian, Portuguese, Singaporean and Indian ladies taking part and others are coming from America and Europe. There are so many beautiful contestants, it will be very difficult to select a winner.'' {/article}

{headline} `Medical plea' by smuggler {article} A FARMER agreed to smuggle a stolen Mercedes- Benz from Hongkong to China to pay medical fees for his dying mother, the District Court heard yesterday. {para} Illegal immigrants Chan Sau-mai, So Pang-loi, both 22, and Chong Hung-chun, 21, pleaded guilty to carrying without lawful excuse a $900,000 Mercedes on a speedboat on June 15. {para} They originally faced another count of handling stolen goods but the Crown offered no evidence on this count. {para} Mr Alfred Leung, counsel prosecuting on a fiat, said Mr Mau Kwun-sung's Mercedes went missing after he parked it at Julimount Gardens, Sha Tin, on June 13. {para} Mr Raymond Yu, counsel for the three defendants, said Chan, an illiterate farmer, had promised to transport the car for $1,000, which would go towards his mother's medical expenses. {para} He added the co-defendants were also keen to get more money for family commitments. {para} Judge Longley deferred sentencing until tomorrow for information. {/article}

{headline} Jockey Club `theatre' for hire {byline} By NG KANG-CHUNG {article} THE Royal Hongkong Jockey Club is looking for social groups to use a theatre in its newest off-course Tuen Mun betting centre in a desperate attempt to keep it busy on non-race days. {para} This follows the recent decision of the Open Learning Institute (OLI) not to use it as an off-campus study centre. {para} However, some Tuen Mun District Board members have urged organisations to boycott the Jockey Club, condemning the offer as an excuse to encourage gambling. {para} The three-storey centre, due to open at the end of this month, is the biggest off-course betting centre in the territory, occupying a total floor area of 4,500 square metres. {para} There will be 72 ticket counters and 70 self-vending machines, with a capacity to serve 3,700 punters. {para} On the second floor will be a 460- seat, air-conditioned theatre allowing punters to watch live telecasts of horse races. The rear of the theatre will have standing room for 40 customers. {para} The club plans to open the theatre to schools and social groups for activities such as graduation ceremonies and cultural performances on non-race days to promote community services and maximise use of the theatre. {para} The OLI, which earlier showed an interest in using the theatre as an off- campus study centre, has withdrawn from the plan. {para} A spokesman said it would not be a suitable place for lectures and the institute had enough resources to open study centres in other places on its own. {para} A club spokesman said it was discussing with local groups on the use of the theatre but declined to reveal details. {para} Tuen Mun District Board member Miss Wan Shui-ling said: ``As far as I know, no groups here have any interest in using the theatre and we shall urge them not to hire it.'' {para} Her colleague Mr Chan Mo-pow accused the club of trying to build up a ``gambling culture'' in the new town. {para} ``We absolutely object to using the betting centre as a community hall. It is just a plot to pacify the residents' opposition. {para} ``We have a lot of venues in Tuen Mun. It is ridiculous to ask students to go to the betting centre for their speech day,'' said Mr Chan. {para} A Jockey Club spokesman argued that the betting centre was needed in view of the growing population in the western New Territories. {para} ``With a spacious betting centre, punters need not sit on pavements and it can also improve the environment,'' he said. {para} Club officials are expected to attend a Tuen Mun District Board meeting next month to explain the operation of the betting centre. {/article}

{headline} Worry over gas-fired Black Point {byline} By KATHY GRIFFIN {article} THE proposed 6,000-megawatt power plant at Black Point could be more hazardous than the coal-fired plant at Castle Peak where yesterday's blast occurred. {para} It would run on natural gas, which a report released last year said could be more hazardous than coal or oil, and would be one of the most powerful electrical generators in the world. {para} The Economic Services Branch commissioned the report after China Light and Power announced its intention to build the Black Point plant, and it looked mainly at the economic consequences of introducing liquid natural gas to Hongkong. {para} But a brief discussion of the risks said the gas supply process was much more complicated than that for oil or coal. Plans are to pipe the gas from Hainan Island to Hongkong. {para} ``From a safety point of view, liquefied natural gas is a more hazardous material,'' the report compiled by a private consultant says. {para} ``This real safety risk is reduced by proper engineering and design of the facility, and extensive training of personnel.'' {para} The report also said risks could be minimised by locating the power plant at a remote site, which would be the case if Black Point is approved. {para} The 6,000-megawatt Black Point plant, which is still awaiting a final go-ahead from the Government, would be one of the largest generators in the world and cost between $15 billion and $24 billion. {para} China Light spokesman Mr Albert Chan Yu-chung said it also would be fitted with a hydrogen cooling plant similar to that at the Castle Peak station. {para} ``This sort of installation is fairly common at power stations all over the world. It's a matter of safe operation,'' he said, adding that the power company hoped the Government would approve the project by the end of this year. {para} Natural gas is desirable from an environmental viewpoint because it produces less air pollution than coal or oil, although it could cost up to 25 per cent more. {para} The report was presented at an Environmental Pollution Advisory Committee meeting in June last year, which concluded further study was needed. {para} Chairman Dr Wang Gung-wu said then: ``There's no doubt from a purely environmental point of view that liquefied natural gas is preferable. But it's a very complicated issue.'' {para} China Light's plans to build the new station have had a rocky reception from environmentalists, who questioned the need for such a gigantic project. The power company claims it is necessary to meet future demand. {para} China Light originally included Fan Lau in Lantau Country Park on its short-list of possible sites, which further enraged environmentalists who argued public, protected land should not be used for this purpose. {para} The selection of Black Point as the final site in 1990 worried Tuen Mun District Board members who feared air and water pollution problems and possible health risks to the people of Tuen Mun. {para} The Castle Peak plant consists of two stations which together produce 4,600 megawatts of electricity and would have been operating flat out yesterday because of the high demand in summer. {para} The ``A'' station was opened in 1982 and the ``B'' station, which has twice the capacity, in 1986, and each station has four generating units. They provide more than 90 per cent of China Light's output, serving Kowloon and the New Territories. {para} Earlier this month China Light announced a $150 million project to re- fit the stations to make them less polluting. {para} The project will be completed in about three years. {/article}

{headline} New deal will help engineers win jobs {byline} By CONNIE LAW and DOREEN CHEUNG {article} WORKS Branch directors have been given greater flexibility in their choice of consultancies for jobs that do not exceed $2 million, a move which is likely to enhance the chance of local firms securing contracts, including airport projects. {para} The Secretary for Works, Mr James Blake, said the new arrangement would help smaller consultancies. {para} However, normal selection procedures still applied and approvals from tender boards were still required. {para} He said directors had agreed that the $2 million ceiling was appropriate. {para} Legislator Mr Samuel Wong Ping-wai welcomed the decision, which he said would help groom local engineers, but said the ceiling should be regularly reviewed and gradually increased to $5 million. {para} Mr Wong wrote to Mr Blake in July, demanding that local engineers be given preference over foreigners for airport projects if they had the competence. {para} In his letter dated July 7, the engineering profession's Legco representative said the Hongkong Institution for Engineers (HKIE) had a register of professional engineers waiting to be used which was preferable to the British register of chartered engineers because it required a record of local practice and had a far better procedure for monitoring current competence. {para} The Provisional Airport Authority last month indicated that it would give preference to established Hongkong consultants on the tenders on engineering infrastructure work in the Chek Lap Kok airport. {para} It was revealed in April that British consultancy firms have secured 70 per cent of the 37 consultancy contracts on the 10 core projects, and that a British consortium has won the single largest contract with the second lowest bid. {/article}

{headline} Health blitz on uncovered food annoys sellers {byline} By EDDIE LEE {article} LICENSED food operators say raids conducted by the Urban Services Department (USD) to check whether cooked food is properly covered are disrupting their business. {para} The owner of Chun Cheong Roasted Meat in Wan Tsui Estate Market in Chai Wan said if she put dishes like barbecued pork and roasted duck behind display windows as required by the USD she would lose at least 50 per cent of business. {para} ``It is virtually asking me to close down my business,'' said Ms Yiu, who declined to disclose her full name. {para} Many food operators said customers wanted to buy the food they could examine closely and even touch to feel if it was ``fresh''. {para} A group of 12 health inspectors yesterday morning charged 15 blacklisted food premises in the Eastern district for repeated violation of food business laws by selling food without suitable covers. {para} Ten of the premises were roasted meat stalls and the remainder restaurants. {para} The operation, headed by two senior health inspectors, is part of a four-phase campaign to improve overall food hygiene standard. {para} The USD has conducted frequent checks on food premises against illegal expansion, dirty toilets and environment in the first two phases over the past five months. {para} Inspections against broken and unclean utensils will follow in October. {para} Mr Wong Ip-wah, chief health inspector of the USD's Eastern district office, said the current operation against uncovered food would centre on Hongkong Island and Kowloon districts. {para} Routine checks would be made on food premises at intervals of one to six weeks. The USD will make an overall evaluation of the operation in December. {para} Charges have been laid against 35 food operators on Hongkong Island who failed to cover the food properly so far this year. {para} Food premises are subject to a maximum fine of $5,000 and a deduction of three points in a demerit point system imposed by the USD. {para} The USD will suspend a licence for two days if 15 points are deducted within 12 months. And the duration of suspension will increase accordingly if more points are deducted. {/article}

{article} The Governor, Mr Chris Patten, is preparing his landmark policy speech that will set Hongkong's agenda for the next five years. In the seven weeks that remain before the October 7 speech, the South China Morning Post will examine key areas that need to be addressed. Today, we look at the crisis of housing facing the sandwich class, how it affects one family and the possible solutions. {/article}

{headline} Site for detained vessels required {byline} By BONNY TAM {article} POLICE are having to build a special anchorage to hold the growing number of illegal vessels being seized in anti-smuggling operations, which are now cluttering inlets and bays around the territory. {para} An anchorage with a capacity for more than 200 detained craft would be opened at a restricted beach in Sai Kung in November, said Principal Marine Officer Mr Cheng Pak-kwan. {para} The Sham Tuk Bay anchorage, formerly a storage area for explosives used in reservoir construction, would provide buoys and docking facilities and maintenance and surveying services for vessels pending court disposal orders. {para} Mr Cheng said about 300 junks, speedboats and sampans were being kept temporarily in non-designated areas around the territory. {para} Some of the vessels had been held at the sites for more than a year, posing pollution problems and creating a threat to the environment. {para} The new anchorage is also expected to remove eyesores and ease navigation safety concerns for sailors using coastal water sport facilities, especially those around Sai Kung. {para} The Security Branch, Marine Department and Marine Police would share the cost of operating the anchorage, estimated to be about $5.6 million a year, Mr Cheng said. {para} A spokesman for the Marine Police said yesterday the various law enforcement agencies had found it difficult to accommodate the large number of vessels seized in operations over the past couple of years. {para} A smaller anchorage inside the Causeway Bay typhoon shelter, which was used in the past, is fully occupied by about 50 detained vessels. {para} The spokesman said the various legal and bureaucratic processes meant disposal of the vessels would take months, even years. {para} While the Marine Police north and east divisions have seized the largest number of smugglers' vessels, the south division has been worst hit because it lacks proper anchorages for the detained vessels along the coast. {para} West Division Commander, Superintendent Trevor Hollingsbee, said the problem had eased in his region, with all larger vessels removed in the past few months. {para} But about 40 sampans and small boats were still being kept at various remote beaches near the Marine Police base. {para} Mr Hollingsbee said he was concerned that smugglers would take advantage of the current fine weather to bring in more unwanted vessels. {para} Several smugglers' speedboats and fishing boats abandoned around Sham Tuk Bay and the Marine Police East Division base in Sai Kung had deteriorated the marine environment and caused potential hazards to navigation, anglers said. {para} Some vessels had been left uncleared for more than a year. {para} Boats had become rotten and half-submerged into the water. Refuse dumped by holidaymakers into the vessels were washed out and drifted in the water producing disgusting smells. {para} People fishing in the area said they were worried about the growth of bacteria and contamination of marine life. {para} Mr Kwok Chi-yan, 23, who was fishing near the base yesterday, said there were often more than five boats abandoned near the shore. {para} ``These abandoned boats also produce potential harzards to navigation of other boats. It's really a good place for fishing but I'm afraid the situation would change when all marine life are dead.'' {/article}

{headline} Prison for teenager over bid to sneak in illegal immigrants {article} A TEENAGER who brought 29 illegal immigrants to Hongkong in a vessel which needed regular daily pumping to keep it afloat was yesterday jailed for two years at the High Court. {para} Deputy Judge Daniell, in sentencing 18-year-old Ng Hon-kam, noted that while the illegals were concealed in the boat, there was no question they were sealed in. {para} Nor was there anything to suggest that it would be difficult for them to emerge from the place of concealment, he said. {para} While Ng was caught red- handed at the wheel, the judge took into consideration Ng's plea of guilty to a charge of being a member of the crew of a ship which entered Hongkong with unauthorised entrants on board. Using four years as a starting point, the judge said he would reduce the penalty to two years. {para} Senior Crown counsel Miss Catherine Fung told the court that marine police spotted an unlit Chinese vessel sailing to Aberdeen typhoon shelter at about 10 pm on October 26 last year. {para} The police launch sounded its siren and ordered the ship to stop, but was ignored. {para} Police gave chase and intercepted the vessel in the typhoon shelter. {para} The boat was searched and 16 illegal immigrants were found in two concealed compartments and another 13 were in the lower cabin. {para} After his arrest, Ng, who claimed he was the only crew member on board the vessel - which was not registered and had no sea-going documents - told police the boat belonged to his sworn brother, who charged each illegal 50 yuan (HK$71.50). {para} The vessel was found to have no life saving appliances or fire fighting equipment on board and there was no fixed compass. {para} Ng's counsel, Mr Andrew Macrae, said it was doubtful that a man like his client, who had little education, could engineer the expedition. {para} The fact was that he had struck a deal with a man called Lam Keung to take a consignment of illegals into Hongkong waters for an unspecified amount of money. If the vessel was stopped, Ng was to take the blame that he was the master, he said. {para} Lam was actually one of the 29 illegals on board, counsel added. {para} Ng was not a snakehead, but a young man who stupidly and tragically became involved in the enterprise in the hope of relieving his family's poverty, Mr Macrae said. {/article}

{headline} Drowning of sailor {article} A MAINLANDER drowned when his boat overturned after hitting a tow rope between two other vessels at 12.30 am yesterday. {para} A police spokesman said the man was aged 30 to 40, but his identity was not known. The incident happened near the Yau Ma Tei typhoon shelter. {para} The Chinese vessel, with three crew on board, started to pass through the space between tugboat No 1824 and the smaller vessel it was towing. It hit the cable, then the second boat and capsized. {para} Police said the crew might not have seen the tow cable in the dark. {para} Two of the crew were rescued by the tugboat, and the body of the third was found by Fire Services Department divers at about 1 pm. {para} The Marine Department is expected to conduct an inquiry into the incident shortly. {/article}

{headline} Camp riot `raged for hour' {byline} By AMY CHEW {article} THE riot at Sek Kong detention centre on Lunar New Year's Eve had raged for almost an hour before police charged in to restore order, the District Court heard yesterday. {para} Senior Inspector Tam Chi-wah, who was on duty in the centre when the riot broke out, was testifying at the trial of 21 Vietnamese boat people accused of rioting on February 3. {para} The riot was alleged to have broken out after a dispute over the sale of alcohol in the camp by the northern Vietnamese to the southern Vietnamese. {para} During the riot, hut C6 in Section C of the camp was set alight, killing several inmates. {para} The centre is divided into Sections A to E and has a population of 9,400. {para} Section C, where the riot broke out, housed Vietnamese who had volunteered to return home and had more than 300 southerners and more than 500 northerners who were segregated. {para} When the riot broke out, Inspector Tam and his men were at Section C and retreated to an administration block because they were outnumbered by the inmates who were armed with weapons. {para} Cross-examined by defence counsel Mr Tom Cheng, Inspector Tam said the riot started at about 11.05 pm and the police did not charge in until after midnight. {para} Asked by Mr Cheng whether he was put in a difficult position when he could not get in touch with a commandant for instructions shortly after midnight, he replied: ``I was already in a difficult position and I tried to deal with the situation with the available resources. {para} ``At that time, my thought was to look after the whole camp. {para} ``If I had charged into Section C, I ran a real risk of worsening the situation. The inmates were in a strategic area and if I were to charge in, the inmates of Section B would break out, which they did eventually. {para} ``Secondly, if I fired tear- gas before charging in, I'd drive them to the sterile area in Section D and they could have spread disorder to the entire camp through the perimeter road located there. {para} ``I had to keep my men to prevent the spread.'' {para} At about 11.20 pm, three emergency units had arrived. {para} Asked by Mr Cheng whether he knew that another three emergency units arrived at about 11.35 pm bringing the number of reinforcements to between 30 and 40 men, he said he was not sure of the number as he was on his way to Section D. {para} The fire brigade also arrived at around midnight but was unable to enter as the police had not taken control of the section. {para} It was some time after midnight when an order to charge in was given by a commandant. {para} The hearing continues. {/article}

{headline} Camp riot followed fight {article} A FIGHT took place several hours before a riot broke out at the Sek Kong detention centre on Lunar New Year's Eve, the District Court heard yesterday. {para} The serious injuries sustained by two men during the fight led to a search for weapons in Section C of the centre and iron bars, home- made knives and plastic utensils believed to be potential brewing equipment were found, the court was told. {para} Senior Inspector Tam Chi-wah, who was on duty at the centre on the night the riot broke out, was testifying at the trial of 21 Vietnamese boat people accused of rioting on February 3. {para} During the riot, a hut in Section C of the camp was set alight, killing several inmates. {para} Cross-examined by defence counsel Mr Peter Ip, Mr Tam said fighting among inmates was common at the centre. {para} ``However, the serious injuries sustained by these two men in the fight at about 6.40 pm was not usual and I ordered a search for weapons at Section C of the camp,'' he said. {para} His main concern was to prevent further fighting, he said. {para} He told the court disputes among the inmates over the distribution of food to huts was not uncommon. {para} When asked by Mr Ip whether each hut liked to get a bigger share he replied ``yes''. {para} Owing to frequent trouble during the distribution of food, police supervision was needed, Mr Tam said. {para} Cross-examined by defence counsel, Mr Andrew Ma, Mr Tam said that shortly after the fight, the southern Vietnamese inmates expressed grave concern over their safety. {para} They had requested that they be moved to Section B. {para} ``I told them that I could not carry that out that night but told them that I would inform the officer in charge of their section to increase police patrols that night to ease their worries,'' he said. {para} The hearing continues. {/article}

{headline} Camp riot witness describes beatings {byline} By AMY CHEW {article} MEN were chased and beaten up as a hut burst into flames after being deliberately set alight during the Sek Kong detention centre riot, the District Court heard yesterday. {para} Police officer Mr Wong Pui-ming, who witnessed events from the centre's command post, was testifying at the trial of 21 Vietnamese boat people accused of rioting on February 3. {para} The Lunar New Year's Eve riot, which took place in Section C of the centre and led to several deaths, was alleged to have been sparked by a dispute over the sale of alcohol by northern Vietnamese to southern Vietnamese. {para} During the riot, police officers were outnumbered by the inmates and forced to retreat to an administration block. {para} Mr Wong told prosecutor Mr John Cagney that several inmates from Section C were being chased and had tried to climb over the gate to the administration block. {para} ``Many of them were hit from behind by men armed with long objects and fell on top of each other in a heap,'' he said. {para} He described the scene in Section C as chaotic. {para} ``It was one where one man was chased by many persons. People were lying on the ground all over the place,'' he said. {para} He told the court there were about 300 people in Section C at the time. {para} Two or three men were seen setting fire to cloths and throwing them inside hut C6. {para} Mr Wong said he saw a man holding a burning torch at the hut, which housed northern Vietnamese. {para} ``The man went from one window to another, putting the torch through the windows and lighting up the inside. {para} ``Some of the windows were shut but he opened them and lit up the inside.'' {para} About three or four minutes later, flames shot through the roof and windows. Shortly after that, the middle of the roof collapsed. {para} Section C of the camp housed southern and northern Vietnamese who had volunteered to return home. {para} The southerners were housed in huts C1 and C2 while the northerners were housed in huts C5 and C6. {para} Mr Wong said that before retreating to the administration block, he was in Section C when a group of men wearing white bands broke through a small gate separating it from Section D. {para} He ordered the men to retreat but they ignored him and ran past him towards huts C5 and C6. {para} ``Just then another crowd came towards me and the person in front of the crowd stopped when he was about five feet [1.5 metres] from me. {para} ``He was holding an iron bar and pointed it at me when someone from behind told him not to hit ``Ah Ser'', he said. {para} He told the court ``Ah Ser'' referred to men in uniform. {para} When an order to retreat rang out, Mr Wong moved to the administration block. He said he saw men and women running from their huts and police officers took about 10 people with children into the administration block. {para} The hearing before Judge Wilson continues. {/article}

{headline} South Vietnamese victims of bullying {byline} By AMY CHEW {article} THE atmosphere in Section C at the Sek Kong Detention Centre was not ``sweetness and light'' prior to a riot in which several inmates died, a District Court heard yesterday. {para} On the contrary, southern Vietnamese of Section C were victims of bullying by the northern Vietnamese, the defence counsel for 21 Vietnamese boat people accused of rioting on February 3 submitted. {para} The riot allegedly broke out following a dispute over the sale of alcohol between northern and southern Vietnamese at Section C on Lunar New Year's Eve. {para} During the riot, a hut was burned and several inmates killed. {para} Defence counsel Mr Tom Cheng told the court it was the defence case that the southern Vietnamese in Section C were victims of aggressive conduct by the northern Vietnamese. {para} Section C housed more than 300 southern Vietnamese and more than 500 northern Vietnamese who had volunteered to return home. {para} Section D, which is located next to Section C, housed southern Vietnamese. {para} Mr Cheng said it was out of concern that inmates of Section D invaded Section C to rescue their relatives and friends from a rumoured revenge attack from the northern Vietnamese. {para} ``It's the defence case that there is a background to the sudden eruption of violence that night,'' he said, adding that this was highly relevant. {para} ``The atmosphere at the camp was not `sweetness and light' as the police officer tried to make us think,'' he said. {para} During cross-examination, Mr Cheng had asked officer Wong Pui-ming whether he was aware that southern Vietnamese lived in fear of the northern Vietnamese and he said ``no''. {para} Mr Wong also said that he was unaware that the southerners had their belongings stolen by the northerners and that the northerners frequently climbed on to the food van and took the meat. {para} Mr Wong testified that the only complaint of skirmishes at Section C was that between a husband and wife. {para} The hearing continues. {/article}

{headline} Bond goes free as case quashed {headline} Bond free as conviction for dishonesty quashed {article} ALAN Bond returned to his family in Perth yesterday after his conviction for dishonesty was quashed and he was freed from jail. {para} The West Australian Court of Criminal Appeal ordered a retrial of charges that Bond acted dishonestly during the 1987 rescue of Rothwells Ltd and released him on bail. {para} The Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr John McKechnie QC, must now decide whether to go ahead with a retrial or drop the charge on which Bond was sentenced. He declined to comment last night. {para} Bond, who had served 90 days of a 2 1/2-year sentence, left the minimum security Wooroloo prison farm looking thinner and unshaven. {para} In a short statement, given outside the jail, Bond choked back tears as he said: ``I am very pleased with the result and to be released. {para} ``It does support what I have been saying all along, that I was innocent of the charge in the first place and that the sentence was beyond any reasonable one that should have been imposed.'' {para} He then called an end to his statement, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family, and rushed to his car. {para} His former wife, Mrs Eileen Bond, said: ``Thank God, that is the best news. I was praying for this.'' She was speaking at Perth airport after flying from interstate to meet Bond. {para} The Court of Criminal Appeal ruled two-to-one that fresh evidence alleging Laurie Connell had said he would give false evidence at Bond's trial may have changed the jury's guilty verdict if it had been presented to the trial. {para} Bond divorced Mrs Bond shortly before the trial but she attended every day of the trial and appeal hearing. {para} Mrs Bond said she had visited him several times in jail. She said Bond had been kept busy answering thousands of letters. {para} The former high-flying businessman, who was earning A$25 (HK$137.85) a week working in the jail library, was picked up by his son John, driving a brown Mercedes-Benz car. {para} He was followed from the prison farm to his family's Dalkeith waterfront house by television news helicopters. {para} He was jailed after a jury of eight women and four men unanimously found him guilty of dishonestly inducing another businessman to join the 1987 rescue of Rothwells by concealing that Bond Corp Holdings Ltd would receive a fee for its part in the rescue. {para} All three Appeal Court judges rejected five appeal grounds which claimed the original trial was defective. But two accepted that new evidence that surfaced after the trial might have resulted in a different jury decision if it had been presented at the trial. {para} A bankrupt Perth builder, Mr Maxwell Healy, told Bond's appeal hearing that Connell had deliberately given false evidence so that Bond would be convicted. {para} He said Connell had told him that Bond was innocent, but Connell wanted him convicted because the more people convicted of Rothwells offences the better it would be for Connell. {para} Mr McKechnie argued in the appeal hearing that Mr Healy's story was incredible and a fairy tale. {para} But, in his decision, Mr Justice Nicholson said: ``It is my view that [Healy's] evidence, lacking conflict with the evidence at trial and being additional to the trial evidence, is not so inherently bizarre as to extinguish any possibility that a reasonable jury could accept it as true or be led by it to have a reasonable doubt.'' {para} He said the essential point of Mr Healy's evidence was that Connell had allegedly admitted his intention to give false testimony at Bond's trial. {para} ``In such circumstances it is clear that the evidence of Healy could have led the jury to have a reasonable doubt or to reject the evidence of Connell.'' {para} The Australian {/article}

{headline} Competition hots up in toilet battle {byline} By GREG TORODE {article} THE days of grubby, pungent tiles and scrappy stainless steel could soon be over for Hongkong users of public toilets. {para} Rockpools and waterfalls, solar-heated water and elevated space-age capsules have all been incorporated into some of the 26 designs competing for Hongkong's public toilet of the future. {para} Japanese public toilet expert Mr Koichi Nagashima yesterday joined three top local architects at the Hongkong Museum of Art to select a winner. {para} The top design will earn $70,000 for its architect and will be used in trials at two sites next year before eventually replacing all 300 or so public toilets around the territory. {para} The purveyors of porcelain all said the competing architects faced a difficult task, having to incorporate innovation into a very functional building while trying to create a ``social icon to merge into the urban fabric''. {para} Contest overseer, Urban Council chairman Dr Ronald Leung Ding-bong, said the winning design would also have to cope with the dicey combination of exceptionally high useage and a hot, damp climate. {para} ``The whole idea is that we get toilets that people can find and want to use,'' Dr Leung said. {para} He also said the council would consider an efficient charging system for some of the toilets in tourist areas and more secluded spots. {para} ``It's something we'll look into, certainly it keeps public toilets clean in China and France but a decision is a long way off,'' he said. {para} Another judge, Mr Barry Will, the dean of the Department of Architecture at the University of Hongkong, said he was impressed with the standards and believed many of the entrants were young private sector architects. {para} ``There's a lot of flair and a great deal of innovation, we're confident it's goings to be a very positive result for the people of Hongkong. {para} ``I think perhaps the layman and some architects alike may have previously underestimated the importance of such facilities,'' he said. {para} The vice-president of the Hongkong Institute of Architects, Mr Rocco Yim, and secretary, Mr Anthony Ng, are also on the panel. {para} A decision is expected today with the winner being announced on September 4. {/article}

{headline} Police in mix-up over boy {headline} Police in mix-up over missing boy {byline} By VIRGINIA MAHER and JIMMY LEUNG {article} THE parents of a ``missing'' four-year-old boy spent a frantic night worrying about the fate of their son while he sat crying for his mother at Tsim Sha Tsui police station. {para} A breakdown in police communications meant Tsim Sha Tsui officers were not aware little Chan Lung- wai had been reported missing in Tsuen Wan at 5 pm on Monday - two hours after being found by a patrolling police woman near the Peninsula Hotel. {para} They, in turn, forgot to update the police computer with details of a young boy found on the Kowloon waterfront, and consequently 100 Tsuen Wan officers spent most of yesterday scouring the area around his home believing Lung-wai had been abducted. {para} Last night, the boy's 28- year-old father, Mr Chan Kang, said: ``I am very grateful my son was found so quickly, but I would have been happier if one branch of the police knew what the other was doing.'' {para} Lung-wai spent the night at Chuk Yuen Children's Reception Centre in Wong Tai Sin, being taken there just before 11 pm when Tsim Sha Tsui officers were unable to discover where he lived. {para} While the force said it was impossible to say precisely how the mix-up occurred, a spokesman added: ``The child was unable to speak Cantonese and could not provide his address or telephone number.'' {para} Lung-wai only came to Hongkong three months ago after being cared for by relatives in Fujian province and only speaks Fujianese. {para} The drama began when Lung-wai went missing while playing near his home just after lunch. When he did not return home his parents became anxious and made a report to the police. {para} But while relatives were searching for him near his Tsuen Wan Centre home, Lung-wai had taken a minibus to Tsuen Wan MTR station - the driver let him off when he couldn't pay the fare - and then the train to Tsim Sha Tsui after ducking under the turnstile. {para} He had never been to Tsim Sha Tsui before. {para} Believing the boy to be still missing, Tsuen Wan police mounted an extensive manhunt while his parents held a news conference appealing for help from the public. {para} A team of Tsuen Wan CID officers conducted a floor-to-floor search of the Tsuen Wan Centre building where the boy's family live, while a platoon of 41 Police Tactical Unit officers searched the Tso Kung Tam stream that runs next to the residential block. {para} It was early last night that Mr and Mrs Chan were told that their son had been ``found''. {para} Mrs Chan Ho Sau-wan, 27, said: ``I am very happy to see my child home. He told me that he cried terribly when he was at the Tsim Sha Tsui police station.'' {para} But the youngster, described as ``very independent'' by his father, remained unrepentant last night. {para} All he would say about the ordeal was: ``It was fun at the reception centre. The food was great, the bed was comfortable and the people really nice. But I missed my mummy and daddy very much. I felt bad about that.'' {/article}

{headline} Addict `told father of dying boy's overdose' {article} A DRUG addict yesterday denied he watched a dying four-year-old's condition deteriorate without telling the child's father that the boy had overdosed on methadone. {para} Cheung Siu-fai, 35, told the High Court the boy's father had been aware of the drug overdose, but declined to take his son to a hospital. {para} Cheung has admitted responsibility for the death of the boy, Poon Loh-man, from an overdose of methadone, and pleaded guilty to a charge of manslaughter, denying that he deliberately gave the child the drug. {para} In evidence before Mr Justice Gall, Cheung said that about 6.30 pm on August 29 last year, he took the boy to the Hunghom methadone clinic after buying him a bun and a toy. {para} Normally he took his methadone between 8 and 9 pm each evening, but on this occasion decided to get his dose early to save a second trip, he said. {para} Instead of swallowing, he held it in his mouth and then spat it into an empty soft drink carton once he was outside. {para} He asked the boy to hold the carton for him and only when he later discovered it was empty did he realise the child had drank it. {para} Under cross examination by senior assistant Crown prosecutor Mr Peter Cahill, Cheung said he did tell the boy's father when he visited them half-an-hour later but the father said it was not necessary to go to hospital. {para} He disagreed with Mr Cahill that he had ``just stood by'' and watched the boy deteriorate without saying anything. {para} The hearing continues. {/article}

{headline} Child road accident writ {article} A NINE-YEAR-OLD boy knocked down while crossing the road in Chai Wan is suing the Urban Council for injuries including partial hearing loss. {para} Also named as a defendant is the driver of an Urban Council light goods vehicle, Mr Chan Po-lam. {para} The accident took place on August 29, 1989, while Wong Chi-lung was crossing Wing Tai Road. {para} The Supreme Court writ claims the accident was caused by negligence of Mr Chan, as an agent of the Urban Council, in failing to keep a proper lookout or observe or heed Chi-lung's presence on the road. {para} Chi-lung suffered a fracture at the base of his skull and severe bruising. {para} He spent more than a month in Queen Mary Hospital and suffered partial hearing loss in his right ear. {para} Chi-lung is claiming special damages of more than $50,000 for medical expenses, nutritious food and loss of earnings of his father, who had to give up work for six months to look after him. {para} He is also claiming further damages and interest. {/article}

{headline}> {headline} Shopping spree after boy beaten {byline} By RITA GOMEZ {article} EIGHT schoolboys kicked and beat a friend, then moved his ``collapsed'' body to a staircase in the hope he would be found and resuscitated. Then they went shopping, the High Court was told yesterday. {para} Law Mei-yi, 17, who witnessed the brutal assaults and who had been given immunity from prosecution, was the girlfriend of the ringleader. She said they feared being arrested if they took the victim for medical treatment. {para} While the assaults took place for more than an hour, Mei-yi said she made breakfast and some of the defendants took turns to eat while others beat up the victim, Ip Kin-kei, 14, the court heard. {para} On trial before Mr Justice Leong and a jury are the alleged ringleader, Lai Chi- ho, Lau Yiu-wing, and Wong Chun-kwok, all aged 14, Lau Yiu-kei, 12, Siu Kwok-hang, 13, Wong Kin- man, 15, Li Po-choi and Yeung Chin-keung, both 16. {para} They have denied the murder of Kin-kei on November 10 last year at the flat of the ringleader at Oi Chi House, Yau Oi Estate, Tuen Mun. Lai, Li, the two Wongs and two Laus have also pleaded not guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent two days earlier on Chan Siu-hung, also aged 14. {para} Questioned by Mr Peter Callaghan for the Crown about the events leading to the death of Kin-kei, the witness said she spent the night at the flat of her ringleader boyfriend. {para} The next morning she instructed that Kin-kei come over to that flat to clarify if he had asked two other boys to ``make trouble'' for an assault on him that took place earlier. {para} When Kin-kei came over at about 11 am, the other defendants were telephoned and told to come too. {para} Mei-yi said she questioned Kin-kei about whether he had asked the two boys to make trouble and when he denied it she rang one of the boys who said that Kin- kei had. {para} The defendants used their clenched fists and feet to assault Kin-kei for a few minutes in the living room. He was in great pain after the assaults, the court heard. {para} Mei-yi said she was sitting on the sofa and saw the assaults after which Kin-kei was given water to drink and Chinese medication rubbed on his body by a defendant. {para} She recalled two sets of assaults with an interval of 10 minutes. After the second assault when Kin-kei still maintained his denial, he was found to be weak and bluish. The beatings stopped when he collapsed on the floor. {para} Mei-yi said she was preparing breakfast at this time and the beatings took place in between eating. {para} Mei-yi asked if Kin-kei should be sent to hospital, ``however, we feared we would be arrested by police if we sent him to the hospital, so we did not do so''. {para} She said the defendants carried him two floors up and left the body at the staircase landing about two hours later in the hope he would be found and resuscitated. {para} She and the defendants then went shopping for clothes in Kowloon. {para} Asked by Mr James Kynoch for Lai if there was any intention to kill, Mei-yi denied it and agreed that the intention was to teach Kin- kei a lesson by beating him up for telling about the earlier assault. {para} The earlier assault took place two days before the killing when Kin-kei and another friend, Siu-hung, were accused of teasing a defendant's girlfriend. {para} Mei-yi said she went to the flat of her boyfriend on the morning of November 8, intending to go roller-skating that evening. {para} At about 7.30 pm several of the defendants came to the flat and Wong Kim-man told the others that the two victims had teased his girlfriend. {para} ``He asked us to give him a hand to beat up the victims,'' she said. {para} When Siu-hung arrived he was asked by Wong Kin- man if he had ``tampered'' with his girlfriend, which Siu-hung denied, but was beaten up. {para} Mei-yi decided to go to the kitchen and do the washing up and when she came out she saw Kin-kei holding his stomach in pain. {para} The hearing continues. {/article}

{headline} Burglary victim swindled of cash {article} A MAN whose belongings were stolen suffered a double loss when the person he paid $18,000 to help recover them disappeared, the District Court heard yesterday. {para} Pun Siu-keung, 21, was found guilty of stealing the money from Mr Lee Ngai-chiu. {para} The court was told Mr Lee found his home ransacked on October 7, 1989. {para} One gold ring, three cameras and 12 camera lenses were missing. {para} Mr Lee, who knew Pun, went to look for him. Pun denied committing the burglary, but agreed to help find the stolen camera lenses and a few days later claimed to have information. {para} Pun spoke to someone on the phone and then passed the receiver to Mr Lee. The person on the other end identified the lenses and instructed him to give $20,000 to Pun, who he said would return them. {para} Mr Lee gave Pun $18,000, all he had in the bank, but was unable to contact him again and neither the money nor the camera lenses were returned. {para} Pun later surrendered to police. {para} Judge Chua sentenced Pun to a detention centre, the lightest sentence she could pass. {/article}

{headline} New rules for the use of channel {byline} By BONNY TAM {article} BARGES and other vessels will be restricted from Rambler Channel in a bid to prevent further damage to the bridges which provide the only access for the residents of Tsing Yi Island, the Assistant Director of Marine, Mr Reggie Kent, said yesterday. {para} New legislation would be introduced by the end of the year to fine barge operators who ignored height restrictions in the areas around the island's two bridges, he said. {para} The south bridge was damaged by barge collisions twice last month, prompting calls for stricter control on barges in the area. {para} Mr Kent said an empty barge was seen drifting from 200 metres towards the south bridge on Thursday morning but was stopped from causing a third similar collision within a month. {para} Mr Kent said laws were being drafted to stop barges with superstructure more than 17 metres above sea level and without sufficient towage and secure berthing means from entering the exclusion zone. {para} The zone would span across the Rambler Channel from 300 metres north of the north bridge down to 100 metes south of the south bridge. {/article}

{headline} Rain holds up Lantau roadworks {article} THE large amount of rain from April to June has led to a delay in the completion of widening work on the road that leads up to the giant Tian Tan Buddha statue on Lantau Island. {para} According to the assistant inspector of works at the Lantau site office, Mr Luk Ying-bun, the completion date for turning narrow Ngong Ping Road into a two- lane road will be June next year - two months behind schedule. {para} ``Abundant rain in past months has swept away layers of pebbles that we laid and we have had to re-lay the ground twice,'' Mr Luk said. {para} But he said work on the project was well underway and a car park along Ngong Ping Road would be ready in two weeks. {para} Meanwhile, construction work inside the statue is continuing. It will house an exhibition hall and a memorial hall. {para} Project spokeswoman Ms Elaine Wan said the Buddha would open officially at the end of next year. {/article}

{byline} By ANGELA LI {article} AN 83-year-old woman died after receiving severe burns at a home for the aged when an infra-red lamp placed on her bed tilted and ignited the bed, an inquest heard yesterday. {para} A coroner's jury returned a verdict of death by accident aggravated by lack of care in the case of Ms Lai Fung, who lived in the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals' Shuen Wan Home for the Aged in Tai Po. {para} Dr Chin Boon-to, a visiting doctor at the centre, said Ms Lai, who suffered from Parkinson's disease and a heart problem, had developed bed sores while in hospital for septicaemic shock in June 1991. {para} She had been bedridden since then and her condition gradually deteriorated even though she was given a special ripple mattress and infra-red lamp treatment to improve her blood circulation, he said. {para} Miss Wong Lai-kiu, 27, an enrolled nurse, said the fire broke out in her absence on March 30 this year, minutes after she had applied the heat treatment to Ms Lai in a dormitory on the first floor of the centre. {para} She said she placed the lamp on one end of Ms Lai's bed before she left the ward to attend to another patient. {para} The incident came to her attention when she heard somebody shouting ``fire'' and saw black smoke coming from Ms Lai's ward. {para} The fire was put out by her colleagues before firemen arrived. {para} Ms Lai was rushed to a nearby clinic before being transferred to the Prince of Wales hospital, where she died 10 days later. The cause of death was recorded as septicaemia, secondary to burns over 50 per cent of her body. {para} The officer in charge of the centre, Mr Cheung Kuen, 46, said a registered nurse supposed to supervise Miss Wong was on sick leave when the incident occurred. {para} He said the centre had stopped using the type of lamp concerned since the incident but admitted that neither smoke sensors nor fire sprinklers had been installed due to a lack of funds. {para} He said other improvements included instructing staff to remain in the room when infra-red light was applied and placing the lamp on a table or a trolley rather than on the bed. {para} The Coroner, Mr Li Zong-er, advised Ms Lai's grand-nephew, Mr Lai Wah-king, against any civil claim for damages. {para} ``Assuming the old age persons' home is responsible, there is very little compensation you can get,'' Mr Li told the 36-year-old decoration worker. {para} He said the principal compensation was calculated with reference to the deceased's earning power, which was absent in this case. {/article}

{headline} Blaze work of arsonist {article} [[break]] The fire, which badly damaged the vehicles, was extinguished by firemen and later classified by the police as arson. {para} Meanwhile, police arrested two men for allegedly attempting to steal from a car parked on the fourth floor of the Kowloon-Canton Railway carpark in Hunghom. {para} Police seized a piece of wire from one of the two men, aged 43 and 46. Both men were being detained last night for further investigations. {/article}

{headline} Attack over drinking row {article} A MAN was jailed for three years by the District Court yesterday for attacking a fellow drinker with a knife. {para} Wu Chi-man, 21, was found guilty of wounding Mr Chan Siu-dan in the early hours of July 11 last year. {para} The court heard that the victim and four other men were drinking beer and playing finger-guessing games in a sitting out area on Sau Mau Ping Estate. All were either drunk or under the influence of alcohol. {para} A dispute arose between a man and the victim over pouring too much beer into each other's glasses. Following a row, the man left. {para} A few minutes later, the man returned with Wu. The defendant attacked Mr Chan with a knife and a broken beer bottle, wounding his forehead, shoulder, chest and hands. {/article}

{headline} Call to improve roads on Lantau {byline} By PAUL TYRRELL and BERYL COOK {article} YESTERDAY's bus accident on Lantau highlighted a growing traffic problem and the need to improve the island's road system, legislator Mr Zachary Wong Wai-yin said. {para} Mr Wong said last night the narrowness of many of Lantau's roads created hazardous conditions. {para} ``The Government should proceed quickly with further development and road constructions on Lantau, and the deadline for the construction of the new road to Ngong Ping should be brought forward from the middle of next year as soon as possible,'' Mr Wong said. {para} ``The volume of traffic on the roads makes this a matter of urgency,'' he added. {para} The accident yesterday brought back tragic memories for some residents of another Sunday afternoon bus crash less than two kilometres away. {para} On July 22, 1973, a bus travelling on the Tai O to Silvermine Bay Road tumbled more than 70 metres down a cliff face on Keung Shan Hill, claiming 17 lives. {para} Only one bus was involved in the 1973 tragedy and the driver of the vehicle, Kwok Ping-wah, was fined $1,500 and disqualified from driving for 12 months after being convicted of dangerous driving. {para} A later investigation revealed that the bus, owned by the New Lantao Bus Company was nearly one metre longer than the size permitted by the Transport Department. {para} A permanent memorial stone inscribed with the words ``May Buddha Bless You'' was laid at the roadside above the crash site by nuns and monks. {para} Ironically, the big Buddha built at Po Lin monastery has boosted traffic demands on the islands' roads. {para} Residents yesterday expressed concern over increasing traffic because of tourism, and the boost anticipated from the airport development. {para} Journalist and Lantau resident Mike Currie said: ``There has been a lot more traffic, particularly since the big Buddha was built. It's quite a twisty road up to Ngong Ping, so this also makes it more difficult for drivers.'' {para} One resident said that some bus drivers brought in for the extra weekend services drove recklessly. {para} ``Some of them are obviously used to driving like they do in Kowloon, but the roads here are different to those on Hongkong island and in Kowloon,'' the resident said. {para} ``Some of them speed, maybe so they can have more of a break between runs. {para} ``One friend of mine said he saw one bus overtake another on a blind corner - it seems senseless when they catch up at the next stop and they have to leave at the designated time anyway.'' {/article}

{headline}> {byline} By Staff Reporters {article} TWENTY-SIX people were lucky to escape with their lives yesterday when heavy underbrush stopped their bus from careering down a 100-metre slope after crashing off the road on Lantau Island. {para} Legislative Councillors will start an inquiry today to determine if urgent measures are needed to upgrade transport systems on Lantau following the accident, which injured all 26 people on board. {para} The convenor of the Omelco transport panel, Mrs Miriam Lau Kin-yee, said last night she would seek answers about the cause of the crash in which two buses collided and one plummeted over a 20-metre embankment. {para} ``Yesterday's accident may have been caused by driver negligence, or it could be that the road was too narrow,'' she said. {para} A government spokesman said a bus travelling to Mui Wo with 56 people on board had collided with a bus from Mui Wo, which was carrying 26 people towards Ngong Ping and Tai O. The accident happened near the Shek Pik reservoir at about 2.30 pm. {para} The driver of the second bus had swerved immediately after the collision, and his bus went off the road down a 20- metre embankment. It was only the undergrowth which saved the second bus from falling another 100 metres down the hillside. {para} Both buses were part of the New Lantau Bus Company's services. The company was recently taken over by Kwoon Chung Motors and associated companies which operate about 200 tourist buses. {para} Eighteen people, including a British couple, were transported to Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary hospitals by either Royal Hongkong Auxiliary Air Force helicopter or Marine Police launch. {para} Last night the 12 people who were admitted to hospital were in a fair condition. {para} One passenger on the ferry-bound bus claimed the vehicle was travelling at speed when it was involved in the crash. The man, who refused to be named, claimed the driver appeared to lose control of the bus seconds before the collision. {para} He claimed the bus seemed to be going too fast down the hill. {para} ``When we came to the bend, the driver couldn't keep it on the correct side of the road. We then crossed to the wrong side and hit the other bus.'' {para} Student Mr Lawrence Poon Cap-lai last night told how he was thrown from his seat as the bus plunged down the embankment, somersaulted twice and finally landed on its side. {para} Mr Poon, 19, had been travelling to the Po Lin Monastery from his home in Kwai Chung when the accident happened. {para} Speaking from a stretcher in Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where he was being treated for back injuries, he said: ``We were just travelling at a normal speed when another bus came towards us. It seemed to clip the side of our bus and our driver tried to swerve, but we went off the road. {para} ``I remember the bus spinning over and over and I was thrown out of my seat, but then everything went blank until I was taken out.'' {para} Mr Poon suggested that nobody had been killed because all the passengers in the bus were seated at the time of the accident. {para} ``If somebody had been standing up, they would have had no protection. I think we were all very lucky.'' {para} A holidaymaker who rushed to help the victims, Mr Chiu Hei-man, saw the bus plummet down the slope. {para} ``The situation was chaotic,'' said Mr Chiu. ``People were screaming and it was horrible to see the shoulder bone of a middle-aged man stuck out of his body.'' {para} Two of the injured were British tourists from London on a day trip to Lantau. Mr Alan McBride, 39, who was last night in a fair condition and Ms Jennifer Ventham, 42, who was treated and discharged, were treated for leg and chest injuries respectively. {para} Miss Ventham said: ``I didn't see anything until the moment of impact. It all happened so quickly and all I can remember is feeling this terrible pain in my chest.'' {para} Another victim, Chan Chi-yeung, 12, was still trying to recover from the shock and the scratches on his face. {para} ``I saw people fall out of their seats when the bus was rolling down the slope. I heard a baby cry and people scream,'' said the Primary Six pupil. {para} ``After the bus settled, I crawled out of the bus and looked for my parents,'' he said. {para} The youngest passenger, a nine-month- old baby boy, suffered from a slight bump to his head. He had been protected by his uncle, whose leg was injured, who embraced him tightly in his arms. {para} The driver of the bus which swerved off the road, 52-year-old Shan Kwok-wah, of the Ap Lei Chau Estate, was admitted to hospital with hand injuries but was last night in a fair condition. {para} Another victim, Mr Dennis Chan, who suffered from an injured knee, said the speed of the bus was not steady. {para} ``It sometimes went fast and sometimes slow. Before the crash, the bus had made a few turns on the narrow road,'' said the accountant who travelled with his son. {para} He said the road did not appear wide enough to be a double-lane road. {para} A double-decker bus joined two fire engines and four ambulances to deliver the passengers to the emergency unit at Mui Wo clinic, where a doctor and seven nursing staff were on duty. {para} Commander of the Marine and Off-shore Islands division, Mr Simon Sung Sau-man, said the driver was apparently frightened by the crash and turned the bus sharply to the edge of the road. {para} Most of the passengers managed to crawl out of the vehicle by themselves and made their way up the slope, many with blood streaming down their faces. However, three people were trapped in their seats until firemen helped them to get out,'' said Mr Sung. {para} He said 21 firemen from Hongkong Island were deployed to strengthen the rescue team. {para} An inquiry into the cause of the crash is expected to continue. {para} Mrs Lau said: ``I am aware the volume of traffic has increased on Lantau Island, particularly on weekends, and it is important that we get the roads in order to receive the volume of traffic now and the volume anticipated [from the airport development]. {para} ``On the whole the Transport Department has done well prohibiting buses and vehicles above a certain tonnage from certain roads it has recognised as being too narrow. If the roads are safe the volume of traffic doesn't matter, but we need to look at this.'' {/article}

{headline} Sex-change prostitute used man's passport to enter HK {byline} By GREG TORODE {article} IMMIGRATION Department officials have ordered an investigation into how a prostitute from Thailand who had had a full sex change was able to pass through Kai Tak airport with a man's passport. {para} The 29-year-old woman had been in the territory less than a week when she was arrested with 37 other foreign prostitutes walking the streets in Shamshuipo. {para} Sources said the woman told police and Immigration Department officials how she walked straight through checks at Kai Tak without any disguise. {para} She was never asked to explain why the name on her passport, which had not been updated since her operation, started with ``Mr''. {para} The transsexual was later examined by a female police officer to confirm her sex and placed in a female cell-block with the rest of the prostitutes to await deportation to Bangkok or Manila. {para} ``We had no idea how she got through. There was no doubt she was female and we had to ensure she was treated as such,'' one police officer said. {para} Another source said the discrepancy in the woman's passport should have been enough to alert an immigration officer at Kai Tak that the woman may have been part of a vice syndicate and warranted further checks. {para} The department inquiry into the incident is part of a wider investigation into the problem of Thais and Filipinos getting into Hongkong on two-week tourist visas only to immediately start work as prostitutes. {para} Police said many of the women arrested on Tuesday night had been in the territory for only a few hours. None have yet been charged but will be deported as soon as possible. {para} If any of the women arrested denied taking money while on a tourist visa, they would be charged and the case taken to court. {para} The Immigration Ordinance bars people on tourist visas from work of any sort. {para} However, a department spokesman said officials would not be departing from the policy of targeting certain nationalities. {para} ``Obviously we've got to try to see how abuses are occurring but at the same time everyone who comes in will be judged on their individual merits,'' the spokesman said. {para} The Shamshuipo deputy district commander, Superintendent Mike Mayger, said Tuesday's roundup was just the start of a crackdown of the international sex syndicates. It would concentrate on the operators rather than the women. {para} ``We could pick up girls every night of the week, but we know that tomorrow there will be more - these guys can tap into an endless pool in Bangkok,'' he said. {para} ``It is going to be at least six months before we can get to the bottom of things, but we know it's a highly organised international operation.'' {para} One of the women arrested on Tuesday night was said to have summoned a lawyer from the syndicate within minutes - a marked change in sophistication for Shamshuipo, traditionally considered at the bottom of the local sex trade. {para} Superintendent Mayger believed the syndicates brought in the women under the guise of tour groups. {para} The women would take about 100 ``tricks'' or clients of $250 each to pay off the syndicates for arranging visas, flights and contacts in Hongkong. Some took only a week to see enough customers, he said. {/article}

{headline} Call to help save historical buildings {byline} By BELINDA WALLIS and EDDIE LEE {article} A CALL was made yesterday on the public to support new efforts to save Hongkong's historical buildings - even if it meant sacrificing prime commercial real estate sites. {para} The plea was made by the Secretary for Recreation and Culture, Mr James So Yiu-cho, at the opening of a two-day conservation conference called ``In Search of Times Past''. {para} The conference, attended by representatives from Singapore, Guangzhou and Macau, is the second to be held in Hongkong in two years. {para} But Mr So warned that there would be little conservation and protection of Hongkong's heritage without public support. {para} ``We need more concentrated support from the public by agreeing and accepting certain buildings will have to be preserved for historical and education purposes,'' Mr So said. {para} ``And we must not look at the sites from a commercial angle. The public must understand that there is a need to preserve something of our past so we don't wipe out our past.'' {para} But Mr So said he was pleased to report that since the formation of the Lord Wilson Heritage Trust two months ago, $40 million in donations had been received. {para} He said a sizeable amount had come from small contributions. {para} The trust will help fund educational projects, restoration of temples and other historic buildings, as well as efforts to record old and local traditions ``which are being swept away by changing lifestyles''. {para} During the next 12 months the trust will be used to complete several major conservation projects. {/article}

{headline} Diplomatic links to help boost HK trade {byline} By KENT CHEN {article} HONGKONG'S role as the gateway for South Korean businesses to enter the mainland market would be strengthened following the establishment of full diplomatic links between China and South Korea. {para} South Korean Consul General in Hongkong, Mr Chung Min-gil, said yesterday indirect trade through Hongkong would grow alongside the expected boom in overall economic exchanges. {para} In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Mr Chung said formal diplomatic relations with Beijing were expected to greatly boost bilateral trade and economic co-operation. {para} ``It is thus projected that our two-way trade with China will jump from US$5.8 billion (HK$44.81 billion) in 1991 to nearly US$10 billion in 1992,'' he said. {para} Although there were concerns that Hongkong's position as an entrepot between the two countries would be weakened, Mr Chung said the normalisation of links would not only bring about a boom in direct economic exchanges, but also indirect trade through a third party, such as Hongkong. {para} ``We know Hongkong is a gateway to China. Therefore, expansion in our trading activities with China will equally offer the opportunity for expansion in our business links with Hongkong,'' said Mr Chung. {para} ``Many Korean businessmen are going directly to China but there are also many of them who take Hongkong as stepping stone to China.'' {para} On Taiwan's threat to impose trade sanctions against South Korean businesses, Mr Chung said: ``I am convinced that we can manage to resume our exchanges in terms of economic activities.'' {para} While a future visit by Chinese President Mr Yang Shangkun was not mentioned yesterday when both sides announced South Korean President Mr Roh Tae- woo's trip to China, Mr Chung said it would be a subject to be discussed by the two countries. {para} An invitation might be issued when Mr Roh visited Beijing. {para} Explaining the timing for the establishment of diplomatic relations, Mr Chung said the announcement was made now simply because the conditions for normalisation were right. {para} He said there was no timetable that said China and South Korea should establish diplomatic links only after Japan and North Korea resumed their relationship. {para} ``I don't think there is such an order which says who comes first and who comes second. It is based on their own convenience and conviction. We [China and South Korea] have successfully concluded our negotiations. That is why we agreed to come first,'' said Mr Chung. {para} Asked if North Korea had been informed of the normalisation plan before yesterday's announcement, Mr Chung said: ``I don't think we, South Korea, had notified Pyongyang. We presumed China might inform them.'' {para} Acknowledging South Korea was worried that North Korea would feel further isolated by the move, Mr Chung said hopefully the move would prompt Pyongyang to take a more flexible approach in dealing with other countries. {para} He predicted the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea would bring about a breakthrough in the negotiations between Pyongyang and Seoul over nuclear weapons and eventual re-unification. {/article}

{headline} Legco convergence main issue for talks {byline} From DOREEN CHEUNG in Urumchi {article} THE question of whether the 1995 Legislative Council will converge with the model set out in the Basic Law will top the agenda of Sino- British negotiations over Hongkong's political development, a top Chinese official in charge of Hongkong affairs, Mr Lu Ping, said yesterday. {para} The Director of the State Council's Hongkong and Macau Affairs Office expected that talks over Hongkong's political development would mainly be conducted by the Sino-British Joint Liaison Group (JLG) by the end of the year. {para} However, Mr Lu did not rule out other channels for discussing the issue. {para} It is expected to come up during the meeting between Mr Lu and Mr Chris Patten when the Governor visits Beijing from October 12 to 14. {para} Speaking at the end of a Xinjiang trip hosted by Hongkong affairs adviser Mr Tang Hisang-chien, Mr Lu said convergence would be the major issue for the forthcoming talks. {para} ``It is not necessary to conduct any negotiation if [the British side] does not want to have convergence,'' he said. {para} Mr Lu said the Basic Law had stipulated that there would be no great changes to the present political system. {para} The post-1997 political system had been modelled after the original system in the territory, he said. {para} ``If you [the British Government] want to ensure smooth transition, [the 1995 model] should converge with the blueprint laid down in the Basic Law,'' he said. {para} On the composition of the 1995 legislature, Mr Lu said the additional nine functional constituency seats should be allocated to representatives from different sectors in Hongkong. {para} Noting that there were quite a number of China-funded organisations in Hongkong, Mr Lu said the Hongkong administration should consider the Hongkong Chinese Enterprises Association request for a functional constituency seat. {para} On the formation of the 1995 election committee to elect 10 legislators, Mr Lu said it was still early to map out the details. {para} He told a Hongkong affairs adviser, Mr Cheng Yiu- tong, that local delegates to the National People's Congress (NPC) should be allowed to stand for the 1995 Legco polls. {para} Since local delegates to the NPC had formed part of the election committee and the preparatory committee for the Hongkong Special Administrative Region (SAR) in 1995, they should be eligible to participate in the Legco polls to ensure smooth transition, Mr Cheng, also a NPC deputy, quoted Mr Lu as saying. {para} Under the present legislation, local delegates to the NPC are barred from taking part in the polls because they have held office in another country's legislature. {/article}

{headline} Cambridge head praises scholars {byline} By BERYL COOK {article} THE astonishing performance of Hongkong scholars at Cambridge University reflected the high standard of secondary education in the territory, the vice-chancellor, Sir David Williams, said yesterday. {para} The professor said Hongkong students under the Prince Philip Scholarship had performed ``astonishingly well, well above the average student at Cambridge''. {para} This was because of the selection process under which bright, ambitious students from mostly low to medium income families were chosen for scholarships which covered cash, air fares and, in most cases, tuition fees. {para} Cambridge graduate and chief executive of the Bank of East Asia, Mr David Li Kwok-po, also praised standards at the presentation of the seven 1992 scholarships yesterday. Fifty-six scholarships have been issued since the scheme began in 1987. {para} Mr Li said scholars from Hongkong had taken 128 final examinations for Bachelor of Arts degrees, gaining 73 Firsts and 38 Upper Seconds and making the proportion of firsts for Hongkong students 3.5 times higher than the overall university average. {para} More than 70 per cent of Hongkong scholars also won some form of college scholarship or award for outstanding achievement. {para} The success rate had prompted The Friends of Cambridge University in Hongkong and the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust to extend their scholarship to help two more local students with graduate studies, Mr Li said. {/article}

{headline} Row over watchdog `bad for morale' {byline} By LUISA TAM {article} TAKING the investigation of complaints against the police out of their hands would be a vote of no confidence in them and would damage morale, a senior officer claimed yesterday. {para} The Deputy Director of Police Inspection Services, which oversees the Complaints Against Police Office (CAPO), Mr Benny Ng Ching-Kwok, said the standard of internal investigations of police was at present satisfactory and efficient. {para} He said transferring the work of CAPO to an independent body would cast doubts on the police. {para} ``It would make them lose confidence in the force and affect morale, because they may see it as we don't trust them to do the job,'' he said. {para} Mr Ng was responding to recent calls from both legislators and the public that the force should not be responsible for investigating complaints. {para} But Mr Ng promised there would be more transparency in the work of CAPO in the near future to improve public confidence. {para} ``I hope those who have suggested CAPO be revamped and independent from the force will come out and tell us what exactly they really want,'' he said. {para} ``I wonder to what extent they want police investigations to go independent. Does that mean they don't even want the police to inquire into other criminal cases. If the public really don't trust the police why do they keep coming to CAPO to file their complaints?'' {para} Police figures show that in the first seven months of this year, the police received 1,797 complaints - a 2.3 per cent increase over the same period last year. {para} Mr Ng said more than 50 per cent of complaints were related to assault, but they were mostly tactical complaints used by suspects as a defence. {para} Last year, 243 officers were disciplined as a result of internal investigations. {/article}

{headline} Damages claim on accident {article} THE family of a 29-year-old travel consultant has filed a writ against a driver and the Hongkong Baptist College which owned a car that mounted a pavement, leading to a fatal accident. {para} The writ filed in the Supreme Court by the husband of Ms Lo Pui-yi is seeking damages, interest and costs from the driver, Ng Sang and the college at Waterloo Road, Kowloon. {para} It stated that Ms Lo was knocked down by a car driven by Mr Ng as she was walking along the pavement of Peking Road at about 11.50 am on June 14, 1990. {para} Ms Lo suffered severe injuries and died the same day. {para} It was claimed that the accident was caused by the negligence of the driver who was driving too fast in the circumstances, failed to stop and slow down so as to avoid knocking down Ms Lo and driving on a pavement when it was unsafe to do so. {para} Ms Lo was married to a quantity surveyor and had a five-year-old daughter. Her parents were named as dependants. She was employed with Haniel Travel. {para} The family is seeking special damages of about $85,000 as funeral expenses, damages, interest and costs. {/article}

{headline} Trio jailed for car smuggling {article} THREE illegal immigrants who smuggled a stolen Mercedes-Benz to China were each jailed for 12 months yesterday. {para} Chan Sau-mai, So Pang- loi, both 22, and Chong Hung-chun, 21, pleaded guilty to carrying without lawful excuse a $900,000 Mercedes on a speedboat. {/article}

{headline} Rape case man, 75, goes free {article} POLICE yesterday withdrew charges of rape and indecent assault on several young girls against a 75-year-old man in Tuen Mun Court. {para} Following his arrest on Sunday, the accused was charged on Monday night with one count of rape and two other counts of indecent assault. No plea was taken. {para} The offences allegedly happened between 1989 and 1992 in a private tuition centre in Tuen Mun, involving girls aged from eight to 12. {para} Court prosecutor Mr Brian Chan applied to withdraw the charges without specifying any reason. Magistrate Ms Julia Livesey granted the application and released the defendant. {/article}

{headline} Illegal dentist gets $3,000 fine {article} AN unregistered dentist who was arrested by undercover police was fined $3,000 at Eastern Court. {para} Magistrate Mr John Meredith imposed the fine on Ip Ping-fai, 48, who pleaded guilty to a count of being an unregistered person practising dentistry. {para} Court prosecutor Miss Polly Wan said police acting on information mounted an operation last Friday at Ip's flat in Shau Kei Wan Main Street East. {para} Miss Wan said a policewoman posed as a patient and entered the premises after she made a request for dental treatment. {para} The policewoman saw Ip standing beside a woman who was lying on a dental chair in one of the rooms. {para} The policewoman identified herself two minutes later when she opened the door for her colleagues and produced a search warrant. {para} A doctor attached to the MacLehose Dental Centre was of the expert opinion that the equipment found in the flat was consistent with the practice of dentistry, Miss Wan said. {para} Ip admitted the offence under caution. {para} Investigation confirmed that Ip was not a registered dentist in Hongkong. {para} Ip's solicitor, Mr Peter Li, said his client had learned dentistry from his father who was a qualified dentist in China. {para} He said Ip had committed the offence to help relieve his friends' discomfort rather than for personal gain. {/article}

{headline} Hospital body defends public relations record {byline} By FIONA CHAN {article} THE Hospital Authority (HA) yesterday hit back at criticism from Legislator Dr Leong Che-hung, saying his attack on the body's community relations was not ``borne out by facts''. {para} The Secretary of the HA, Mr John Chambers, said Dr Leong gave a pessimistic picture of the authority which did not reflect the true situation in local hospitals. {para} Earlier this week, Dr Leong, a representative of medical professionals in the Legislative Council and an executive committee member of the HA, criticised the HA's public relations policy, saying it failed to maintain good communications with the public and its staff. {para} Mr Chambers said the authority had been actively setting up communication networks with staff as well as the public. {para} He pointed out that the authority had run two press conferences on bed reviews and its business plan for the financial year. {para} Public consultative machinery for different issues had been set up or was in the pipeline. {para} On staff communications, Mr Chambers said the HA had set up three levels of communication based on the Provisional Hospital Authority report. {para} Mr Chambers, who is responsible for community relations, said: ``I don't think community criticism comes from the community, quite frankly.'' {para} He added: ``Many of our members have other responsibilities which may conflict with the HA. It may be part of the reason.'' {para} Asked if the members were motivated by political interest, Mr Chambers said: ``I will not comment on it. A number of members do have their concerns.'' {para} The HA members were all appointed by the Governor in December 1990 and their terms will expire in November 1993. {para} Mr Chambers said the renewal of membership was the Governor, Mr Chris Patten's responsibility, but he expected most members to be re-appointed. {para} He pointed out that in other countries health policies were often treated as political issues. {/article}

{headline} Mother `talked' daughter into writing human saga {article} WILD Swans, an engrossing family history of China, was the book Jung Chang did not want to write. Her mother ``talked and talked and talked'' her into it. {para} ``I came to England in 1978. For 10 years I didn't want to write this book because, I mean, it was too painful - my past. I simply wanted to forget about China,'' she said. {para} But the 40-year-old scholar and adviser to the British Foreign Office was convinced that the story of her grandmother and her mother, and of her own 26 years in China, had to be told when her mother came to visit. {para} ``Once she started she really couldn't stop. It was quite incredible because we talked every day for hours. {para} ``We travelled around in Britain and then we went to Switzerland, and my mother was almost obsessed with just talking. In the evenings in the hotel, she would talk into a tape recorder and then she had 60 hours of recordings for me by the end of it. And that sort of made up my mind and I felt it was a story worth telling,'' Chang said. {para} The vivid family saga - supplemented by Chang's sound reporting and historical research in China and her own experiences exiled in the Himalayas, joining the Red Guards and doing peasant labour - makes a lively journey through 70 years of Chinese history. {para} The 508 pages span the fading days of feudal warlords, the desperate poverty during the Japanese occupation, the communists' civil-war victory and finally the brutal and misguided excesses of Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution. {para} The sweeping history is full of horrors. Chang tells of her mother being taken away from her young family for six months while she was investigated by the party. {para} She details the horrible famine which resulted from the complete neglect of agriculture to meet Chairman Mao's goal of doubling steel production in one year. {para} Party officials repeatedly beat her parents, jailed them, searched their houses and burned their much-loved books. Her father eventually went mad from the harsh treatment. {para} The book recently scooped the NCR Award, Britain's most lucrative book award at US$48,000 (HK$370,848), and has remained in the top three on British best-seller lists for 17 weeks. {para} Movie director Roland Joffe has purchased the film rights and the BBC has commissioned a documentary based on the book. {para} An American paperback edition will be published in the autumn. {para} From the binding of her grandmother's feet to the vicious beatings during Mao's anti-rightist campaign, it is life invaded by politics. {para} Her mother's keen memory, kept fit by years of party interrogation, helped provide the details which make Wild Swans so compelling. But it is Chang's controlled telling, without preaching or condemnation, that makes the book so readable. {para} ``I like to think of myself as a storyteller who tells the stories of the Chinese and in doing so tells people something about the culture, politics, history,'' she said. {para} A central part of the book is the tension created by her father's unremitting devotion to communism. {para} Chang, who married an English historian last year, has no children. Her mother and sister are frequent visitors from China and her two brothers live in Europe. {para} Associated Press {/article}

{headline} Charges for election spending {article} THE brother of Legislative Councillor Gilbert Leung Kam-ho, 38, who acted as his election agent for last year's Regional Council elections, was yesterday arrested and charged by the ICAC with three counts of incurring election expenses in excess of the allowable limit. {para} Leung Kam-chung, 45, an estate agent, was released on $10,000 bail on his own recognisance and was due to appear in Kwun Tong court this morning. {para} Gilbert Leung is currently awaiting trial in the High Court on three counts of offering an advantage to a public servant, four counts of bribery, three of which are alternative charges, and one count of incurring election expenses in excess of the maximum scale. {para} Gilbert Leung is alleged to have offered $100,000 to Regional Councillor Mr Cheung Hon-chung and $50,000 to Regional Councillor Mr Fung Pak-tai in return for their votes in September's Legco elections. {/article}

{headline} Man facing rape charge {article} A 75-YEAR-OLD man arrested on Sunday after three young girls from a Tuen Mun privately operated tuition centre complained they were sexually assaulted was charged last night. {para} Police said the man would appear in Tuen Mun Court today to face a charge of rape and two other charges of indecent assault. {para} The man's 19-year-old son, who was also arrested and detained overnight for further investigations was yesterday released on bail of $2,000. He was ordered to report back to the investigating officers today. {/article}

{headline} 21 months for fraud {article} A FASHION shop supervisor who allowed two people to obtain cash using counterfeit credit cards was jailed for 21 months yesterday. {para} Choi Yuet-yu, 23, was convicted of defrauding Always Win Limited between April 9 and 23 last year while he was supervisor of the subsidiary Lido Company. {para} The District Court was told he allowed the two people to obtain cash totalling $27,500 from Lido by using two counterfeit Hongkong Bank Visa cards. {/article}

{headline} Chemical waste levy bid dropped {byline} By KATHY GRIFFIN {article} A CONTROVERSIAL levy on chemical imports, which was expected to recover the $350 million annual operating costs of a new chemical waste treatment plant, has been dropped by the Government after vigorous opposition from industry. {para} Officials now are re-considering a direct charge on polluters for access to the facility, even though they fear this could discourage operators from using it. {para} But the plant will still open on time in April, with the Government funding its operation until a scheme can be worked out to recover the costs. {para} The plant, on Tsing Yi Island, will be the first in Hongkong to treat toxic waste. About 110,000 tonnes of chemicals were poured down drains last year where they corroded sewers and created toxic pollution in the harbour, which can enter the food chain and be harmful to health. {para} The proposed tax of 0.75 per cent on chemical imports had been considered the best way to fund the plant, because polluters' waste would be picked up, treated and disposed of without harm to the environment and without a heavy, direct expense on factory operators. {para} But the industry claimed it was unfair because more than 40 per cent of imports are re-exported and do not affect Hongkong's environment. The rest are used by electroplating firms, printed circuit board makers and other industries. {para} Opponents also claimed the levy would punish those who cleaned up their waste in-house, discourage waste reduction, and subsidise the worst polluters which ran counter to the Government's principle of the polluter paying. {para} Mr Tony Cooper, the Deputy Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands, said officials now agreed there were complications with the levy and would look at other means of recovering costs, but he could not say how long this would take. {para} ``Although we still see the obvious attractions of having an indirect charging scheme by an ad valorem levy, we accept that it will be difficult to introduce,'' he said. {para} The decision to scrap the levy was taken last week after more than a year of debate and discussion with the chemical industry, which was supported in its opposition by the Hongkong General Chamber of Commerce and others. {para} Mr Douglas Moorhead, executive director of the Association of International Chemical Manufacturers, said the association was pleased with the decision and offered to assist the Government in exploring other means of financing the plant. {para} ``The association has propounded the principle of polluter pays consistently throughout our discussions on this matter, so if that's the way the Government is going, we would applaud that,'' he said. {para} But Mr Gordon Ng Ting- leung of the Conservancy Association said the polluter-pays principle was more complicated than that, and the Government should continue to consider a tax levy. {para} Mr Ng favoured a straight tax on the industry, plus extra charges for those operators who polluted above a certain level, or created the most toxic waste. This would recover costs, encourage waste reduction and make the polluter pay, he said. {para} Mr Humphrey Keenlyside, co-ordinator of the Private Sector Committee on the Environment, said the committee was sympathetic to the need to guard against ``cheaters'', but felt there was a case for individual operators paying to have their waste treated. {/article}

{headline} Discussion urged on 1995 poll {article} CHINA and Britain should start discussing election arrangements for the 1995 Legislative Council as soon as possible, a senior Chinese official said yesterday. {para} The Deputy Director of the State Council's Hongkong and Macau Affairs Office, Mr Chen Ziying, said he hoped both governments would start discussing the issue soon. {para} Mr Chen was speaking in Shenzhen yesterday after meeting 18 Hongkong affairs advisers during the previous three days. {para} ``There has been wide concern about this issue. Since the Legco election in 1995 will affect the convergence in 1997, it has to be discussed,'' he said. {para} Mr Chen also said the date for the visit to Beijing by the Governor, Mr Chris Patten, was negotiable between China and Hongkong. {para} It depended primarily on Mr Patten's work schedule, he said. {para} Legislative Councillor Mr Fred Li Wah-ming said: ``The [Governor's] trip to Beijing is very important and it cannot be short. Therefore, Mr Patten should work on his policy speech and then spend, say, three days in Beijing discussing Hongkong issues in detail with China.'' {para} Mr Chen said the advisers had expressed opinions on many issues including the separation of the Legislative and Executive councils. {para} Exco member Mrs Selina Chow Liang Shuk-yee said communications between the councils were maintained because of the presence of Legco members in Exco. {para} Those who advocated a separation had to explain whether this would enhance the working relations of the two councils, she said. {/article}

{headline} Eight years' jail for death of child {article} A DRUG addict deliberately gave methadone to a four-year-old boy to drink in order to frighten his father into repaying a $1,800 debt, a High Court judge found yesterday. {para} Mr Justice Gall sentenced Cheung Siu-fai to eight years' jail for the manslaughter of the boy, Poon Loh-man. {para} He said the offence was not the result of recklessness or Cheung having closed his eyes to danger, but a calculated act by Cheung against a child to gain something for himself. {para} The judge said he was satisfied Cheung deliberately gave Loh-man the methadone with the intention of frightening his father. {para} In those circumstances the age of the boy was relevant because he was too young to resist Cheung, Mr Justice Gall said. {para} The judge said he had heard evidence that Cheung looked after the child like his own son and evidence to the contrary. {para} While he was satisfied that both states existed, it was clear that on the day in question, Cheung, by asking the boy to hold methadone he had sneaked out of a clinic, regarded the child as a tool to be used to avoid detection. {para} This was totally at variance to describing himself as being like a father or godfather to the boy, the judge said. {para} He said Cheung treated the boy, who died on August 30 last year after drinking the methadone the previous day, with care and affection at times, but at other times callously and with indifference. {para} The only mitigation was the guilty plea and that he had showed remorse. {para} Cheung, 35, had pleaded not guilty to murdering the boy but guilty to manslaughter. {para} He denied administering the methadone to the boy deliberately, claiming that he only asked Loh-man to hold it but the child had drunk it. {para} During a hearing for Mr Justice Gall to determine the facts, Senior Assistant Crown Prosecutor Mr Peter Cahill had called evidence that Cheung was seen slapping the boy on the thigh and forcing him to eat dog faeces. {para} Cheung denied the allegations. {para} In mitigation, Cheung's counsel, Mr Michael Ko, asked the court to disregard the child abuse claims because they had no connection with the methadone incident. {para} The boy's father, an unemployed drug addict, and his mother, a dance hostess who had to work every night, were in no position to look after the child, he said, asking the court to accept Cheung treated the boy as his own son. {para} Mr Ko agreed that allowing a child to hold a lethal dose of methadone was an extremely reckless act, but he asked the court to sentence his client on that basis rather than take the view he had deliberately set out to harm the boy. {para} Mr Ko said Cheung was remorseful and had written a note while in custody to express regret to the parents, saying he would do anything he could to compensate them for the death of their son. {/article}

{headline} `Inadequate health services' criticised {byline} By FIONA CHAN {article} LEGISLATOR Dr Leong Che-hung has made a scathing attack on the Government for failing to provide a clear health policy to meet increasing public demand for better services. {para} Dr Leong, a representative of the medical profession in the Legislative Council, said the development of public health was lagging behind. {para} Citing the satellite town of Tseng Kwan O as an example, he said the Government had set up housing estates but the district had no hospital services. {para} The Hospital Authority (HA) announced recently that it had suggested the Government set up a hospital at Tseng Kwan O. {para} Dr Leong said the drafting of a long-term health policy should be at the top of the administration's agenda. {para} ``To me it is a great disappointment,'' he said. ``Obviously, it is not fair to the public.'' {para} Dr Leong believed that the election platform for the year 1995 was not politics but people's livelihood. {para} Until then, people would not be thinking about leaving the territory but ``how could I better my livelihood'', he said. {para} To Dr Leong, better livelihood was health, rehabilitation, services for the elderly and education. {para} He added: ``The Government is not bold enough to stand up and tell the public that medical treatment is expensive.'' {para} He said heavy subsidies for nearly all public hospital services could no longer be maintained in the light of increasing demand from a better educated public, more sophisticated medical treatment, soaring medical costs and the need for medical research. {para} Extra revenue could be generated by charging people who could afford it for some non-essential services, Dr Leong said. {para} But he thought the administration should provide essential services to all members of the public, regardless of their financial situation. {para} ``For instance, the Government has to treat you after you are injured in a traffic accident. However, you have to pay yourself if you want to receive plastic surgery to remove the scar,'' he said. {para} The principle was that nobody should be deprived of health care, he added. {para} For less essential services, the poor could be subsidised. Other people should either bear the full cost themselves or costs would be covered through private insurance or compulsory employment insurance. {para} Dr Leong said he would continue to fight for the changes in the Legislative Council, adding that he was willing to play any role in the health sector, particularly in the Hospital Authority. {para} However, he said he was not interested in being employed by any institution. {para} The other major change he was seeking was the provision of family medicine so each patient could have a regular doctor. {para} He also wanted to see part-time doctors' posts at public hospitals to introduce talent from the private sector and enable private practitioners to have further medical training. {/article}

{headline} Chopper victims plea for leniency {article} A MAN who chopped his wife and sister-in-law saw his victims turn up in court yesterday to ask that he not be sent to jail. {para} Ko Shu-sing, 35, pleaded guilty to wounding his wife, Ms Lo Kam-chuen, and his sister-in-law, Ms Lo Kam-ying, on November 21 last year. {para} Judge Chua fined Ko $30,000, in default of four months' imprisonment. {para} The court was told the couple had been married for 10 years and separated four months before the incident. {para} On the evening in question, Ko went to the Hsin Kuang Restaurant at Aberdeen, where he sat at a table with his wife. {para} An argument broke out between the two and the defendant pulled out a kitchen chopper and hit his wife on her head and right thigh. {para} Ms Lo Kam-ying tried to stop Ko, who then chopped her on her left palm. {para} Ko left the scene immediately. {para} In mitigation, defence counsel Mr Kevin Egan said the defendant had not intended to hurt his wife and had gone to the restaurant to settle their matrimonial problems. {para} Ko had taken the chopper with him with the intention of threatening her, Mr Egan said. {para} He was under pressure as his business had failed and his marriage was failing and he had suspected his wife of having an affair, which later turned out to be true. {para} At the restaurant, Ko became angry and lost control when he asked his wife where she was the night before and she replied that she was out having fun. {para} He then hit her with the blunt side of the chopper. {para} Mr Egan said Ko also had no intention of harming his sister-in-law. {/article}

{headline} JLG airport talks `soon' {byline} By CONNIE LAW and JEREMY LAU {article} THE Joint Liaison Group (JLG) Airport Committee would meet soon, the Governor, Mr Chris Patten, confirmed yesterday. {para} However, he fell short of revealing a date, saying only that all those in Hongkong and in China had an interest in resolving these matters as soon as possible. {para} The two sides were sincerely committed to the most cost-effective solutions to the airport financing problems, Mr Patten said. {para} Sources said China had earlier indicated the possibility for resuming the talks at the Airport Committee this week but a formal approach to the British side for a meeting was made only yesterday. {para} However, the two sides have yet to agree on the date and it is now expected the meeting will be held next week at the earliest. {para} In preparation for the meeting, China will send a senior official responsible for Hongkong affairs, Mr Chen Zuo'er, to the territory next week to solicit Hongkong people's views. {para} A senior Chinese source said on Monday that the Hongkong Government should use land premiums generated by property development along the airport railway and land sales on Chek Lap Kok to build the rail link and the airport. {para} Mr Patten yesterday refused to be drawn on the latest Chinese proposals to resolve the deadlock on airport financing, stressing that the Airport Committee was the place to discuss the matter. {para} Although China has yet to officially inform the British side on its latest proposals, it is expected the recommendations will be tabled when the Airport Committee holds its next meeting. {para} During Mr Chen's visit to Hongkong next week, he also is expected to listen to the views of Hongkong Airport Consultative Committee (ACC) members. {para} Mr Chen, the State Council's Hongkong and Macau Affairs Office department director, is expected to arrive in Hongkong next Monday and return to Beijing the following day. {para} Because of Mr Chen's visit, the meeting between ACC members and the Chinese team of the Airport Committee was postponed. {para} The meeting, arranged by ACC chairman Mr Wong Po-yan, was scheduled for yesterday to let the ACC members voice their opinions on the deadlock over the airport financing arrangements. {para} Mr Wong yesterday said he had been told by Chinese members of the Airport Committee that a Chinese official would be coming to the territory to listen to the ACC members' views on the new airport project and therefore he notified the members that the meeting would be postponed. {para} He said he did not know the official was Mr Chen until yesterday. {para} He expected more ACC members to turn up at the gathering to be held at the old Bank of China building because of Mr Chen's presence. {para} It is understood that Mr Chen will not meet any British officials during his stay in the territory. {/article}

{headline} HK Telecom rival launches phone card {byline} By LOUISE LUCAS {article} CHINESE-OWNED City Telecom yesterday gave Hongkong Telecom an early dose of competition when it launched its cost-cutting long-distance calling card. {para} City Telecom International's calling card service - which neatly bypasses the existing monopoly by using telecommunications equipment based in Canada rather than in the territory - allows callers to access 28 countries. {para} The group says bills will undercut general international rates by up to 62.5 per cent. {para} Hongkong Telecom's group manager (media relations), Ms Judy Inn, said: ``We know it's competition. We knew it was coming. We are having competition in many areas already in value added services, such as AT&T's calling cards. {para} ``But in terms of exactly how much impact City Telecom will have money-wise, I would say that's minimal.'' {para} Launching the new card, regional director Mr Ricky Wong Wai-kay said it would cut out common hassles of using public phones, such as language barriers and finding change. {para} He said a five-minute call from Vancouver to Hongkong would cost between 14 and 62 per cent less than those of other companies, depending on the time of day. {para} Calls to and from European countries and the United States will undercut Hongkong Telecom's present charges by about 25 per cent at peak hours. {para} Ms Inn said once Hongkong Telecom's lower tariffs came into force early next year, following negotiations with the Government, City Telecom could be forced to slash its prices to keep up. {para} Hongkong Telecom has pledged to cut IDD tariffs by eight per cent across the board, but certain routes - including Canada, the US, Britain and Australia - will enjoy cuts of between 20 and 30 per cent. {para} Ms Inn said: ``Hongkong users are very sophisticated now. They ask for more than simple connections. They look at the quality of the calls or whether they have to memorise too many digits. All these things count.'' {para} City Telecom card holders have to first dial a toll free number. {para} This is followed by a personal 10-digit code number and the receiving party's telephone number. {para} The card can also be used for faxes. {para} Cards are available free of charge, and bills can be settled through Visa cards or stored value coupons. {para} Asked if other companies such as Hongkong Telecom were happy with the arrangement, Mr Wong said he did not know if they were pleased or not, adding that they still received a portion of revenue as network providers. {para} Asked if City Telecom creamed off smaller profits, he replied: ``Definitely yes.'' {para} City Telecom's preferential rates will apply for the first six months, but the directors said revisions were likely to be downwards. {para} It aims to attract Hongkong immigrants, students and tourists in Canada as customers. {/article}

{headline} Crash driver faces inquiry {byline} By GREG TORODE {article} THE New Lantau Bus (NLB) driver whose vehicle crashed on Sunday, injuring 26 passengers, has not yet been cleared by an internal investigation, a company spokesman said yesterday. {para} Driver Mr Shan Kwok-wah, 52, was yesterday discharged from hospital and is now on sick leave. Two people remain in hospital, one 42-year-old man is listed as fair and a 43-year-old man is satisfactory. {para} NLB general supervisor Mr Wong Wah said Mr Shan would not be able to drive again until he had been cleared by investigations. {para} The driver of the other NLB bus involved in the collision before Mr Shan's bus plunged 100 metres down a slope off the road between Mui Wo and Tai O is now back driving. {para} He was cleared after initial police investigations found he had not been speeding. {para} Mr Wong said Mr Shan would have to wait until the completion of examinations of his vehicle at least before he would be allowed back on the road. {para} ``At the moment everything is at a very early stage, we still don't know what caused the crash and the driver is still recovering,'' he said. {para} ``Certainly at this stage we are quite sure there was nothing wrong with the bus.'' {para} Transport Department inspectors will start examining the crashed bus at the NLB's island depot today. {para} The driver will also be questioned about how he came to swerve off the road instead of braking after the collision. {para} ``In many cases a driver would be expected to brake after a collision but we've got to find out the circumstances of the accident and what happened before and after. {para} ``We would always expect our drivers to do what is appropriate,'' he said. {para} Transport Department sources confirmed yesterday the condition of Lantau's road network would form a crucial part of the department's report to the Government on the crash. {para} Legislative Councillor Mr Zachary Wong Wai-yin and long-term island residents have said the crash highlighted problems of too much traffic on roads that were too narrow. {para} The issue will be tackled today during a special meeting of the Islands District Board. {para} The board has dropped plans to discuss recent price rises announced by the Hongkong Ferry Company for briefings from the Transport Department. {para} Mr Tony Henderson, vice-chairman of the newly- formed Islands District Council, said although follow-up investigations were vital, they should not be used to merely push through extra development. {para} ``We must look at this road widening very carefully, Lantau is a green area after all and should not just become another piece of motorway.'' {para} ``Safety first is the thing, and maybe drivers should simply drive within the conditions a little more,'' he said. {/article}

{headline} Clothes row led to death {article} AN argument over stolen clothes led to the fatal stabbing of a 26-year-old Vietnamese inmate at the High Island detention centre, the High Court heard yesterday. {para} Nguyen Van Viet received wounds to the heart and stomach, the court heard. {para} Hoang Ngoc Tuan, 25, pleaded guilty before Mr Justice Wong to a charge of manslaughter on June 13 last year at the camp and will be sentenced later. {para} The court heard both men were awaiting screening for refugee status when the victim was asked to discuss stolen clothes. {para} An argument broke out and he was stabbed twice by the defendant. He was taken to hospital but died later. {/article}

{headline} Row over mamasan in court {byline} By ELIZABETH NG {article} A NIGHTCLUB has taken a dispute over a successful mamasan who had up to 50 hostesses working under her to the High Court. {para} The woman was lured away by a rival club which paid her a $750,000 transfer fee, the court heard. {para} Club Deluxe, which is in the New World Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui, claims to have lost $1.71 million in 15 months because of a breach of contract concerning public relations manageress Ms Mona Chan Chun-yin. {para} It is seeking damages from Club Metropolitan, in Chinachem Golden Plaza in Tsim Sha Tsui East, Ms Chan, and her husband, Mr David Yu Tak-yuen, a former public relations manager of Club Deluxe. {para} Both began working for Metropolitan on October 1, 1990. {para} Club Deluxe says Mr Yu sent a circular to its customers encouraging them to patronise Club Metropolitan. {para} It also alleges Mr Yu solicited or caused Ms Chan and six hostesses to leave Club Deluxe. {para} Ms Chan has filed a counterclaim against her former employer, seeking payment of about $154,000, including outstanding salary and commission. {para} Deputy Judge Li adjourned the case to a day to be fixed. {/article}

{headline} Customs seize Chinese craft {article} CUSTOMS officers intercepted a Chinese coaster off Chai Wan yesterday and seized a large consignment of electrical goods worth $2.2 million concealed under a consignment of 12,000 boxes of tomato sauce. {para} Customs Superintendent Ronald Au Yu-leung said the master and nine members of the crew aboard the 199-tonne Cheung Shun No 3 were last night being detained for further investigations. {para} He said members of the detained crew, aged between 18 and 42, were natives of Fujian province. {para} Superintendent Au said the seized consignment included 176 television sets, 260 video cassette recorders and 160 sets of two-way radios for cars would fetch $4 million on reaching the Chinese mainland. {para} He said the coaster and the tomato sauce consignment would be returned to its Hongkong agents. {para} Investigations revealed that the master was promised a reward of 10,000 yuan (HK$14,300) on delivery in Fujian. {/article}

{headline} Corrosive fluid attack {article} A YOUNG man was admitted to hospital last night after reportedly being forced to drink corrosive liquid in a Yau Ma Tei park. {para} Police said Mr Ho Chun- kit, 21, was apparently walking past a park in Cox's Road when a man grabbed him from behind, dragged him into the park and forced him to drink a quantity of corrosive liquid. {para} He managed to escape and contact a friend but was unable to give police a statement after being admitted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital. {/article}

{headline} Brother `not guilty' of expenses {byline} By RITA GOMEZ {article} THE brother of a Legislative Councillor who acted as an election agent at last year's Regional Council elections pleaded not guilty to three counts of incurring excessive election expenses at Kwun Tong Magistrates Court yesterday. {para} Leung Kam-chung, 45, who is the elder brother of Gilbert Leung Kam-ho, will go on trial on November 30. {para} Leung denied paying $19,600 in excess of the maximum scale of election expenses in respect of the candidature of his brother in the election held on May 5 last year. The maximum is $70,000. {para} He was allowed bail of $10,000 in his own recognisance and was ordered to give the Independent Commission Against Corruption at least 48 hours notice before travelling abroad. {para} Leung, an estate agent, was allowed to travel to Canada on Sunday on business. {/article}