Mao Porcelain for Grabs

Looks quite ordinary but worth quite a lot: Mao porcelain bowl up for auction

A hot ticket item is up for auction by a Hong Kong collector in May in the UK.

It's a rare porcelain bowl that was commissioned by then Chinese leader Mao Zedong for his own use.

The bowl is part of a collection that includes cups and other tableware, and were made towards the end of the Cultural Revolution when Mao's power was considered at its height in China.

He ordered 4,000 pieces of porcelain, including bowls, cups and other tableware be made under demanding conditions in Jingdezhen, the well-known porcelain-producing town on the mainland.

Mao commissioned his own porcelain made in Jingdezhen

"In order to make sure they were safe for Mao to use, all porcelain made in Jingdezhen had to be lead-free," said the collector, who would only give his name as Alex.

"Two hundred artisans spent a full two years making the porcelain, and in the end 900 pieces were chosen to be sent to Beijing for the use of Mao and other official dignitaries," he said.

"The rest were ordered to be destroyed. However, the director of the Institute of Arts which made the porcelain did not want them to be destroyed, so he made up an excuse to put them into storage -- so that the institute could send replacements to Beijing if the cups and dishes were broken."

The institute later fell into financial difficulties and gave some of these porcelain pieces to staff in lieu of salaries -- meaning that some items made for state leaders were now in the hands of ordinary people.

With this bowl being up for auction, there's going to be a big buzz around it, as "Mao porcelains" are considered special because of their historical significance and fetch high prices at auction.

In 2013, a set of about five rice bowls commissioned by Mao was sold for HK$8 million by Poly Auction Hong Kong, but they were made in his home province of Hunan.

The Hong Kong collector's family bought a few dozen of these rare items when they did business on the mainland.

The items were put in family trust, but they decided to put the bowl up for auction "to test the market".

In 1996, a 68-piece set of Mao porcelain fetched 7.9 million yuan (HK$10 million) when it was sold in Beijing.

CY Leung Rises up Beijing Ranks

CY Leung walks to the rostrum after being elected vice-chairman to CPPCC

Beijing welcomed its favourite son to the fold, with Hong Kong Chief Executive elected as a vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference today.

In a vote, 2,066 voted in favour to appoint him as vice-chairman, 13 against, and six abstaining. Six delegates did not vote. Wonder who those 19 people are...

After the formal closing of the plenum, President Xi Jinping strode over to shake Leung's hand, followed by Premier Li Keqiang.

Afterwards Leung is congratulated by Xi Jinping

Reports say Leung looked tense as he bowed to the audience and bowed to state leaders and the standing committee of the CPPCC.

He becomes the first chief executive to hold two roles simultaneously, though his first job will end at the end of June when he steps down as CE.

It is believed Leung got the vice-chairman gig as a big thank you from Beijing for curbing pro-independence forces in Hong Kong, but really their numbers are minuscule. He must have really frightened them to be awarded such an honorary post.

However being a vice-chairman of the CPPCC isn't going to land him big bucks -- he will make HK$12,000 a month.

But he won't necessarily be immune from investigation or prosecution. Between 2012 and 2013, Leung received HK$50 million from a deal between his former company DTZ and Australian firm UGL.

The position didn't protect Su Rong from prosecution

Leung says he formally resigned from the position of director from insolvent property firm DTZ on November 24, 2011, and ceased to be a director when he signed a "non-compete and non-poach" agreement with UGL, which bought DTZ in early December that year.

But we have seen former CPPCC vice-chairman Su Rong get in trouble with the law. A year after his appointment to the senior leadership position, in March 2013, Su was probed for bribery.

In January this year, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for taking bribes upwards of 116 million yuan.

Over-the-Top Housing Prices

A prospective buyer looking at Alto flats located in Tseung Kwan O

Hong Kong developers are getting even greedier.

They think there is an endless supply of customers willing to shell out almost HK$20,000 per square foot for a new flat.

On Saturday flats were for sale at Alto Residences in Tseung Kwan O. The prices were 57 percent higher than the first phase which turned off buyers. Only four were purchased in the project that is a joint venture Lai Sun Development and former Sun Hung Kai Properties chairman Walter Kwok Ping-sheung.

In October last year, the prices for the first phase were at HK$14,000 per square foot, and units sold briskly. But at a 57 percent mark-up to HK$21,980, that's too much for customers to swallow.

A showroom flat for K City in the former Kai Tak site

Today K Wah International managed to sell 23 of 42 units offered at its K City project located in the former Kai Tak airport site.

It was the sixth batch of sales, with price increases each time Last week its fifth batch sold units priced between HK$17,401 to HK$23,694 per square foot. The average price increased 11 percent compared to the first batch a month ago.

According to a K Wah spokeswoman, 584 out of 598 units in the first four batches were sold by March 7. No comment on how sales went for the fifth and sixth batches.

Alto's poor sales reflects people's sentiment -- you want me to pay how much? -- and they are not taking any of it. It's Tseung Kwan O, not Wan Chai!

In a way that's the beauty of capitalism, but the fact that these developers think they can gouge more out of consumers is just evil.

The ability to afford a home at a decent price should be a right, not a privilege.

Arthur Li Dismisses John Tsang as CE

Arthur Li says John Tsang isn't the best person to be the leader of Hong Kong

Arthur Li Kwok-cheung can't help himself from bad mouthing Chief Executive candidate John Tsang Chun-wah.

The professor who is an Executive Council member of Hong Kong and a delegate of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, says Tsang gives the public the impression he is a "gentle and nice guy", but that the city's next leader had to be more than that, adding that Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor fits the bill.

"Carrie is extremely hands on, very dedicated and will tackle problems. She will not shy away from difficulties. John is a very nice person, he will sit back, relax and let you get on with it," explained Li.

Li says Carrie Lam is more diligent at getting the work done

He said having a laid-back management style was the worst thing for Hong Kong, which is facing stiff competition from Singapore, Shenzhen and Shanghai.

"Executive Council members have worked with [Lam and Tsang] for a number of years and have seen how they performed. I do not think a single Exco member is supporting Tsang," said Li in Beijing.

Li cited examples of how issues were handled by Tsang, such as HKTV not getting its free-to-air license, Cable TV is shutting down, and how the recently debuted food trucks in the city aren't working out well. "It's disaster after disaster after disaster," he said.

While Tsang came up with the idea of having food trucks in Hong Kong, it was Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Gregory So Kam-leung who implemented it, but less than a month in, some operators are complaining about the locations and the lack of customers. One operator has already decided to quit even before rolling out his food truck, despite having paid for it.

John Tsang came up with the idea of food trucks in HK

However, Tsang has said in a previous interview that teamwork and mutual trust are important.

"I rely on my people to do things because... the people you appoint are the people you should trust," he said. "If you don't trust them, why appoint them? And if you appoint them, but you still don't trust them, there must be an issue in your judgment."

Interesting that Li is so outspoken and critical of Tsang -- is he a proxy for Leung Chun-ying, whom Li supported in 2012? For his loyalty, Li was rewarded with an appointment to the governing board of the University of Hong Kong, a move that was strongly criticized by academics in the institution.

May we also add he is the younger brother of David Li Kwok-po, chairman of BEA Bank, and they are the grandsons of the bank's co-founder, Li Koon-chun.

There probably aren't many people on the fence who need to be swayed in this three-horse race -- people on the Election Committee pretty much know who they are voting for. Maybe Hong Kong people want an easy-going guy?