Inching Closer to $5K Handout

Chan warns people to use the handout only for local spending

 

The countdown begins to register for the HK$5,000 handout on July 4, but Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po warns people not to try to find ways to put that money into their bank accounts, that the money is specifically for local spending.

Permanent residents over 18 years of age can choose to have the money that is distributed in installments to be deposited into one of four payment platforms: Octopus, AliPay HK, WeChat Pay HK, and Tap & Go. 

Money will be deposited in 4 payment platforms

Those opting for Octopus will have their money given out in three payments of HK$2,000, HK$2,000 and HK$1,000, while the other three will have two installments of HK$2,000 and then HK$3,000.

Chan warned if merchants were found to conspire with consumers to cash in the vouchers would be blacklisted and dealt with by the relevant authorities.

"If a merchant that used to have small-sum transactions is found to have large-sum and unusual transactions, we may blacklist them if appropriate so they can no longer join this scheme," Chan said. "If there are elements of conspiracy and fraud, we won't rule out taking law enforcement action."

The HK$5,000 is meant to be used within a five-month period for shopping, dining and transport.

It won't be difficult for the average Hongkonger to use this money for everyday spending. This is HK$5,000 less they need to spend of their own savings for necessities. Instead it will be the credit cards and banks that will be hurting for a few months as people won't be using credit cards and cash as much. 

Registration begins on July 4 for Aug 1 payment

And HK$5,000 to be used within five months isn't a gob of money. For Chan to warn people to only use it for personal spending is ludicrous. What else are they going to use it for, since you must use up the money before getting the next installment.

Kiss those HK$5,000 Gucci sneakers goodbye.

It's not like Chan has given everyone HK$10,000 like last year. 

So while the intention is to encourage people to spend in local shops, it will only be those merchants who accept electronic payments that will win out. And for sure the supermarket chains will benefit the most. 

Can you imagine going to a fine dining restaurant to doot your bill?

Ted Hui's Financial Woes Continue

Ted Hui's war of words with HSBC continues with credit cards

 

Exiled former lawmaker Ted Hui Chi-fung is being slowly financially strangled while living in the UK now that HSBC has suddenly cancelled his credit card and those of his family.

He claimed the bank did this due to "political considerations" and "unlawfully embezzling" their money.

Weeks earlier the Hong Kong police accused Hui of misappropriating money from a crowdfunding campaign and froze his bank accounts and those of his parents and wife, including ones with HSBC.

Hui's credit card was suddenly cancelled

In today's Facebook post, Hui said the bank told him that all credit cards belonging to him and his family had been cancelled without notice as a "commercial decision".

"The decision to cancel the credit cards is a political one, taken out of HSBC's own political considerations, with a view to aiding the regime in cracking down on opposition voices," he wrote. "This deed has no legal basis at all."

Hui also accused the bank of "acting like a robber", saying he was told it "might not be possible" for him to receive refunds for certain goods purchased with the cards.

"All private property is protected by Hong Kong's Basic Law. It has now been unlawfully embezzled by HSBC without any explanation," Hui said, adding he and his family had a good credit history. 

He said the move reflected the business community's obedience to the regime under the Beijing-imposed national security law, which he characterized as overriding existing frameworks and constraining regulators, forcing them to be "politically correct".

Hui claims the bank is "acting like a robber"

While HSBC refused to comment on specific accounts, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority only said banks were required to conduct business according to applicable laws and international regulatory standards.

One broker surmised the move may be HSBC's way of trying to cut its ties from politically sensitive figures, while another pointed out Hui was basically unemployed now that he was not a legislator nor a district councillor, so he didn't have a stable income anymore.

Hui was out on bail and facing several criminal charges related to last year's anti-government protests when he fled to Britain via Denmark last month.

The police confirmed they froze HK$850,000 (US$109,600) in Hui's accounts with HSBC, Hang Seng Bank and Bank of China. 

Hui last year during one of the protests

The former legislator denied embezzling funds, saying a law firm was holding the funds in another account. 

It's a war of words Hui is having with banks and the police, and in the meantime his financial resources are shrinking very fast. It seems the Hong Kong government and by extension Beijing is like a snake coiled around Hui and making it harder and harder for him to breathe.

How will he survive? It would be difficult for people in Hong Kong to send money to him, as they could be accused of helping a fugitive and possibly charged. 

It seems starting a new life in Britain will be much harder than Hui thought...

Vancouver Eating Part 3

Fun dish of pork rinds from a maple syrup can!

One of the last restaurants I ate at in Vancouver was St Lawrence. I had wanted to visit this restaurant the year before, but heard it was impossible to get a table. It's not in the best location in the city, on the corner of Gore and Powell, but that means parking isn't too difficult to find.

The cozy interior of St Lawrence is like dining at home

This time my friends and I looked it up online and booked a table at the restaurant that serves Quebecois cuisine -- but that meant immediately putting down a credit card number. If one person was to drop out before 24 hours then there would be no penalty, but less than 24 hours then credit card would be charged CAD$25.

As a result it was a major commitment and we made sure we made it there on time -- 5.45pm.

The restaurant used to be a butcher shop, but walk inside and it feels like walking into an aunt's living room to have dinner. It's very cozy, with antique light fixtures that don't match, copper pans and plates hanging on the walls, mini curtains hanging from the open kitchen.

There's also a small bar area for customers to wait to be seated.

Paris-Brest using duck liver and foie gras in the filling

The menu is small, but a good selection. With four of us we ordered all six appetizers. The fried pork rinds with maple syrup and spice (CAD$12) are presented in an empty maple syrup can. The pork rinds were freshly deep fried and so good -- they would make excellent bar snacks.

Meanwhile the house-made terrine (CAD$18) combined with apricots was delicious and came with some mustards. Paris-Brest (CAD$22) is typically a dessert -- a round pastry with a praline mousse piped inside. But here it's a savoury dish, with the filling being duck liver and foie gras mousse. Very clever though hard to cut into four pieces. I don't usually like to eat foie gras, but this I had to try.

Refined cod cake quenelle with mussels

The escargots (CAD$18) were presented in small puff pastry cups with a generous serving of garlic sauce on top. Another highlight was the steak tartare (CAD$19) that had a lot of seasoning from the capers and onions, along with chevre noire cheese, and presented with waffle potato chips.

Finally the cod cake quenelle (CAD$22) was very smooth and came with mussels and Normandy sauce.

We also balanced our diet with two vegetable dishes. The ratatouille (CAD$17) was alright, but we preferred the Avonlea cheddar custard in the middle of the plate, while the baked potato (CAD$15) with Sauvagine cheese and poutine sauce was the disappointing dish that evening; it was recommended to us, but wasn't particularly interesting.

The very hearty pork chop with Robuchon potato puree

At this point we somehow managed to have room for a main course and we chose the pork chop (CAD$38) that came recommended to us. We were not disappointed. It was a giant pork chop on a bed of Robuchon potato puree (which means it had lots of butter in it), with Oka cheese.

The pork chop was amazing -- it must have been brined before because the meat was so tender and so juicy. I usually avoid ordering pork chops because they usually turn out dry, but here it was absolutely divine.

As if that wasn't enough food, we somehow talked ourselves into having three of the four desserts. One of them, sugar pie (CAD$11) is not regularly found on menus in Vancouver and it's a pretty dense pie that's filling and sweet.

Rice pudding with cinnamon buns, pecans and caramel sauce

We got a small portion of the rice pudding (CAD$20 for the whole table; so ours was less) and it's so cute: it comes with four mini cinnamon buns, caramel sauce, and toasted pecans. What a delicious combination and the rice pudding wasn't too sweet.

Many other tables ordered the lemon tart flambee (CAD$16) that the servers don't really like to send to the table because everyone wants to whip out their phones to video the tart being set on fire. So have your phone ready, because the server won't wait for you, and it doesn't set on fire for long, making it a bit disappointing visually.

However, the lemon tart is very good -- again not too sweet, and comes with an burnt soft meringue. Oh so good, tart custard, crunchy pastry shell and soft meringue. What a finish.

The lemon tart flambee was quick dramatic finish

St Lawrence
269 Powell Street
Vancouver, BC
(604) 620 3800

Picture of the Day: Tax Refund

The line went all the way down to the end and to the left. Daunting, right?

Italy encourages tourists to shop shop shop -- the more the better. That's because if you reside outside the European Union, you are eligible for a tax refund when making purchases of 155 euros (US$175.36) or more in Italy.

The shop should help you fill out a tax refund form with the receipt attached so that you can claim the VAT refund of 22 percent. It's a huge difference which is why it's worth getting the refund.

However, the refund can only be processed at the airport, which is why it's advisable to go there with plenty of time before checking in. The morning I went, my flight was much later, and so I had time to get the refund.

The line for the VAT refund (in a big yellow sign) was very long to say the least, though it did move, slowly. It was full of mostly Japanese people who were holding wads of receipts.

Another rule about getting the refund is that you may have to show the officer your purchase so you can't pack it into your suitcase.

My biggest panic was waiting in line and not being in the right line. When I bought a pair of shoes, the sales assistant told me I would need a stamp on the form and then get the refund. So when my line slowly inched closer to the counters, I couldn't see where you were supposed to get a stamp and started to worry.

The people in front of me were Japanese tourists. They were young people who had bought many name brand luxury items. Thankfully they had an Italian guide, a well-dressed middle-aged man who spoke good Japanese and helped them with translation or questions.

I quickly asked him if I needed a stamp and he said no, and that I was in the right line.

Finally it was my turn at the counter and after showing them the receipt, the tax form (filled out by the store), my passport and credit card, the whole process took less than five minutes. She was even busy chatting with her colleague next to her that she didn't even ask to look at the shoes I bought.

She gave me a receipt showing the amount credited to my credit card and that everything was done. I was able to pack my shoes in my suitcase before checking it in, so there was one less thing to carry.

And in my next credit card statement, the refund was credited. It made my expensive purchase easier to justify. Ha!

Word of the Day: Green Tea Bitches

"When the weather gets better, let's go to Lijiang together - but don't tell your wife."

Chinese can be a colourful language and nasty descriptions can be so apt sometimes.

One example is 绿茶婊 (Lǜchá biǎo) or "green tea bitches", which means a young woman who looks pure, fresh-faced, sugar-sweet, cute, and innocent-looking but is actually the total opposite.

Why are the called green tea? Because it is considered the purest type of tea that is made from fresh, unprocessed tea leaves. And so a green tea bitch is the deceptive combination of a woman having a good-girl appearance, but in reality is a total bitch.

She gives off the aura of a pretty-looking woman, a sweet talker who has the looks men have the hots for -- long, straight hair, and some make up to enhance their facial features. It doesn't hurt to show some skin.

Usually green tea bitches will badmouth other women, and are able to sweet talk unsuspecting men into emptying their wallets for meals and shopping until they get their credit card bill.

In short, men love them, women hate them.

Know any green tea bitches?

China Leads the Way in Mobile Payments

Scan the QR code, input your password and presto! You've paid the bill

China is way ahead of Hong Kong when it comes to paying without having to take out your wallet.

And I'm not talking about using the Octopus card either.

CNN's Will Ripley demonstrated this by going to a small stall that sells jianbing -- a giant thin omelet filled with various ingredients and then folded up to eat like a sandwich -- and paid for it by scanning the QR code with his smartphone on the shop door.

This payment system can be extended to large stores, taxis, and even utility bills.

To put this into context, almost 10 years ago when I was in Beijing, I had to walk over to the management office and buy electricity and gas before using it. I would know if I ran out if my air conditioner suddenly didn't work or didn't have hot water in the shower.

And paying rent? I had to physically take out cash from my bank account from where I did banking and then bring it to my landlord's institution and deposit the large wad of cash into his account.

CNN's Will Ripley with Gu Yu of Mileslife

These days people can pay their bills and even their rent with a click of a button on WeChat or Alipay their smartphones.

Gu Yu is the co-founder of a new payment app called Mileslife where users can share a taxi and split the bill at the end.

He explains that because China's credit card system is not lucrative, the Chinese have skipped credit cards and moved onto mobile payments.

The benefits are obvious -- no need to carry cash around, particularly in China where the biggest denomination is 100 yuan, electronic receipts and easily keeping tabs on spending.

So why doesn't Hong Kong move into this direction? When the Octopus card came out in 1997, it seemed so revolutionary at the time, being able to use it for all forms of public transport and buy items with it and pay for parking.

But is that all Hong Kong can do when it comes to electronic payments?

Is the Octopus card the best that Hong Kong can do?

As Alipay is run by Alibaba and WeChat by Tencent, the banks here would obviously want a piece of the action, which is probably why the city doesn't have this service now. And besides people obsessed with collecting air miles/points/cash rebates on their credit cards may find it hard to switch...

But aren't mobile payments the future? Or are we waiting for the rest of the world to get on the band wagon before we do?

Interesting that in terms of mobile payments, China is the leader with estimated retail sales on smartphones rose to 85 percent to around US$334 billion in 2015, according to research firm eMarketer. That makes the Chinese market more than four times the size of the United States'.

Mind boggling.

Picture of the Day: Threesome

Will there be more men applying for MasterCard than women?

Images used in advertising can subliminally influence consumers from deciding on what kind of milk to buy to clothing.

Depending on the advertising, the images give people a perception of what kind of lifestyle they will have -- or aspire to have -- if they buy a certain brand.

This ad on the taxi caught my eye the other day. It's a Standard Chartered bank advertisement promoting its MasterCard credit card.

And in it, is a man who looks successful and stylish, dining with two women in evening wear. On the table are Western dishes like rack of lamb, oysters, prawns and beef, and each of the diners are holding a glass of red wine.

The ad says, "Enjoy everyday rewards at all restaurants and up to 10% rebate till year-end".

We're assuming the man is paying with his nifty Standard Chartered MasterCard for this dinner, right?

And what about the ladies? Why is he in the company of two women? With statistically more women than men in Hong Kong, is this a hint that women are supposed to resort to sharing a man?

Or are they two lovely escorts he plans to continue having fun with after dinner?

Either way, to male consumers, the man in the ad is one lucky dog, and to women, an asshole.

Is this the message Standard Chartered and MasterCard want to send to consumers?

Or are we complete prudes and don't realize that threesomes are the "it" thing these days?