HK suffers worst ever economic slump due to pandemic

By The SUN 

Hong Kong is going through a record economic downturn amid the pandemic

Hong Kong’s economy has shrunk 6.1 percent last year, its worst ever performance, amid the continuing onslaught of the coronavirus.

Previously, the city’s worst economic performance was recorded in 1998, when battered by the Asian financial crisis, the city’s GDP (gross domestic product) fell by 5.9 percent.

It’s the second straight year the economy has shrunk, falling by 1.2 percent in 2019.

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The news comes as health officials reported 50 new coronavirus infections Friday, all but two locally acquired. The city now has a total of 10,371 confirmed cases.

One of the imported cases was a 33-year-old man who arrived on Jan 27 from Dubai, and was found with the highly infectious variant from either Britain or South Africa. The second was a 44-year-old Indonesian foreign domestic helper who just arrived from Jakarta.

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan from the Centre for Health Protection said a partial evacuation of residents from Block R at Luk Yeung Sun Chuen in Tsuen Wan has been ordered, after a cluster of Covid-19 cases emerged there.

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Six residents from four different units on the 18^th floor of Block R tested either positive or preliminary positive, so those living in the remaining four flats on the same floor will be moved to a quarantine center.

“After the confirmation of the first case, we’ve advised thorough disinfection. But we found that there’s some clustering of the case on that floor, so as a precautionary measure, we’ll arrange all the residents in the other four units to stay in the quarantine camp because they might have been expose to similar risks as the other cases,” Chuang said.

She added the transmission might have occurred through common areas, such as the lift lobby, the corridors, or the rubbish dump.

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Of the 48 local cases, 16 were untraceable. More than 30 preliminary positive cases were also recorded.

Eleven of the confirmed patients live in Kowloon City, seven in Yau Tsim Mong, four in Jordan, and three in Sham Shui Po.

Also included were five workers involved in the redevelopment of Kwong Wah Hospital. Compulsory testing will be issued to all workers and anyone else who spent at least two hours at the site.

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An outbreak was also reported from Harbourfront Horizon, a serviced apartment block, in Hung Hom. Five security guards and a repairman have tested positive for the virus, prompting the evacuation of dozens of staff.

No new infections were found in Tung Fat building after the lockdown

Earlier, a second “ambush lockdown” and mandatory testing ordered by the government at four blocks of Tung Fat building in North Point yielded no new infection.

Of the 475 people tested at blocks A, B, C and D of the building on Kam Ping Street, not a single Covid-19 infection was found. But two environmental samples taken from there tested positive for Covid-19.

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An estimated 1,000 people live in the affected blocks, but the authorities said nobody answered the door at 190 households, and will follow up with the tenants. 

The lockdown which took effect at 7pm Thursday, ended after 12 hours, when the test results on the residents were known. By 7am, everyone who could show a negative test result was allowed to leave the secured premises.

Thirteen people living in block C of the 56-year-old residential building were earlier found infected. Residents of units 6 and 7 in the block were evacuated and sent to quarantine center.

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DH admits stealing boss’ jewelry, another set for plea in $860k theft

 By Vir B. Lumicao 

1 FDH admits stealing jewelry from employer, another set to plead 

A Filipina domestic helper pleaded guilty Wednesday, Jan 27, in District Court to a charge of stealing more than a dozen jewelry pieces of an undisclosed value from her female employer in Ap Lei Chau last year.

Another Filipina helper accused of stealing $860,000 worth of luxury watches, jewelry and gold bars from her employer in Homantin is expected to enter her plea on Feb 24.

Revelyn Resurreccion admitted the offense before Judge W.K. Kwok, who told her to return on Apr 15 for the sentencing.

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Resurreccion’s appearance in District Court was her second since her case was moved there from Eastern Court last Nov 30.

Serious criminal cases where the prescribed penalty is jail term of up to 7 years or civil disputes involving claims over $75,000 but not more than $3 million are heard in the District Court.

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The defendant was accused of stealing five necklaces with pendants, two other necklaces, five pairs of earrings, one ring, and four bracelets from her employer, Lai Ching, in the latter’s residence in South Horizons.

Resurreccion has been held in police custody since her arrest on May 1, after the employer reported that her jewelry pieces were missing.

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Also at the District Court was Edarlyn Emperador, 50, who is accused of stealing luxury watches and jewelry valued at $860,000 from her employer in Homantin, Kowloon.

The employer was looking for her Rolex watch when she discovered the theft

Her lawyer said negotiations were under way with the Justice Department and his client should be ready for plea after a three-week adjournment on Feb 24.

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Emperador was arrested on Aug 7 after her female employer reported to police that her watches and jewelry that she kept in a box in her closet had gone missing.

The employer said she discovered the theft when she tried to look for her Rolex watch in her closet on the evening of Aug 3. As she searched the box, she found out that her other watches and jewelry were missing.

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Emperador reportedly admitted taking the missing valuables when confronted by her employer. The theft was reported to the police, who arrested Emperador the next day. Pawnshop receipts for the missing items were also found, prosecutors said.

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Stolen were a Rolex watch, three Patek Philippe watches, a white gold Piaget watch, a Roger Dubuis watch, a pair of Hermes earrings, a platinum Roger Dubuis necklace and gold bars.

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‘Ambush lockdown’ on in North Point housing block

By The SUN 

The surprise lockdown of Tung Fat housing block will last until 7am Friday (Standard photo)

Residents of four buildings in a housing block in North Point were locked down without warning starting at 7pm tonight, Jan 28, as part of the government’s anti-epidemic measures. The lockdown of blocks A, B, C and D of Tung Fat building on Kam Ping Street will last for 12 hours.

Under the order issued by the government under Cap 599J of the Prevention and Control of Disease Regulation, everyone within the restricted area is required to remain in their premises and undergo compulsory testing, until the test results “are mostly ascertained.”

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The order was issued after eight confirmed cases and five preliminary cases of Covid-19 were found on Wednesday in block C of Tung Fat building, involving different units and floors.

A microbiology expert who inspected the premises said the virus was likely transmitted through the narrow and confined stairwell shared by residents of the block.

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All residents of units 6 and 7 of block numbering about 60, were evacuated and taken to a quarantine center.

Officials said they found it necessary to issue a compulsory testing order for all people in the restricted area “so as to break the transmission chain in the district and dispel the worries of residents in the district.”

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Temporary specimen collection stations were set up at the restricted area and required residents to undergo testing by 2am Friday. A door-to-door specimen collection for people with restricted mobility and the elderly was also arranged.

Chuang and Lau announce 39 new cases, a weekly low (RTHK photo)

The five preliminary cases from the housing block were among the 39 new Covid-19 cases reported today, which brought Hong Kong’s total tally to 10,322.

All but one of the cases were locally acquired, and 20 of these were of unknown sources.

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The sole imported case from South Korea was found to carry either the British or the South African variant of the coronavirus, said to be several times more infectious than the usual strain. 

Despite the marked decrease in the number of infections, Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan from the Centre for Health Protection said it was too early to say that the cases have eased.

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Chuang noted that the new cases were spread out in various districts.

"I look at the unlinked cases and their addresses. The cases are spread throughout the territory... they live in Lok Fu, Tai Kok Tsui, Ngau Tau Kok, Yuen Long, Tai Po, North District, Taikoo Shing and Central. So I think the cases are widespread in the community," she said.

The infectious disease expert also said residents of block 7 of Laguna City in Kwun Tong will have to undergo compulsory testing after three infections were found in two units of the building.

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But 25 environmental samples taken from block 5 of the same residential estate where 12 infections were previously recorded, all tested negative.

Two more deaths were reported, raising the city’s total death toll to 176.

Dr Lau Ka-hin from the Hospital Authority said one of the fatalities was a 47-year-old man who succumbed to the disease at 8:32am today at Kwong Wah Hospital.

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The other patient was a 66-year-old man with chronic illness who died at United Christian Hospital at 12:16pm.

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Filipina helper acquitted of stealing ring from socialite employer

By Vir B. Lumicao

Chua Eh Fong gave police mere segments of a CCTV recording of the alleged theft

A Filipina helper was acquitted today, Jan 28, of a charge of stealing a tourmaline ring from her socialite employer who claimed it was worth $100,000. 

Liverty Narcelles, 35, wept openly and hugged her lawyer and former employer after Magistrate David Cheung gave his verdict. She had been held without bail since her arrest more than four months ago, and just two weeks after she started working for the employer.

Narcelles’ accuser, Chua Eh Fong (also known as Cai Yifeng) was not in court for the verdict. The employer is reported to be the wife of former ATV executive director Sheng Pinru.

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The magistrate said the prosecution failed to establish that the defendant was guilty beyond reasonable doubt.

Cheung questioned in particular why Chua took three days to provide police a CCTV footage of the search she made of the defendant’s luggage at noon Sept 9 last year.

He said when the employer eventually gave the footage, it was only a 10-minute-long segmented recordings of events in the dining area that morning, instead of the unedited video footage leading up to the finding of the ring police had requested.

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Sources close to the case say the unedited video showed Chua watching Narcelles take out the contents of her suitcase for inspection, before suddenly bending down, then holding up the ring that was supposedly stolen.

A former helper at the employer’s sprawling townhouse at Regalia Bay in Stanley also said it would be next to impossible to steal anything there as there are CCTVs all over. Besides, she said Narcelles did not work long enough in the house to know where the employers’ valuables were kept.

After the hearing, Narcelles was led back by officers to the police holding area on the third floor of the courthouse. Reporters and her former employer who testified for her during the trial waited in vain for nearly an hour to talk to her.

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Officers in the holding area later said she had gone to the Immigration Department offices in Wanchai because her visa had run out. At about 6pm, Narcelles texted a friend to say she was still in Immigration but did not know what the officers were planning to do with her.

Tellez wants Narcelles to stay and press labour claims against her employer

Cynthia Abdon-Tellez, general manager of the Mission for Migrant Workers which had been advising Narcelles, rushed to court, and then to Immigration, after hearing of the verdict.

“I want her to remain here because she still has claims against her employer,” Tellez said.

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Cheung returned the verdict nearly a month after a three-day trial in which Chua and the arresting officer testified for the prosecution. Narcelles also took the stand in her defense, while her former employer, Portia Cheung, testified to vouch for the helper’s integrity.

Addressing the court on Dec 31, Narcelles said she was sure there was no ring in her luggage when she packed it before going to bed at dawn on Sept 9, so she was shocked to find it there. She cried when a video segment showing the ring and other items on her palm was played back.

The defendant had worked for Chua for just two weeks when she was accused of theft and arrested.

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Asked by the defense lawyer how she came to know the ring was valued at $100,000, the helper said it was what the prosecution had told her and what the receipt showed.

Chua said in her evidence that she fired the helper, who she paid $6,000 a month, because she damaged some expensive silverware and a Versace tableware, and stained her costly clothes and bra during washing.

After the verdict, the defence lawyer showed reporters photocopies of a jewelry box with three gem-studded watches, a pair of diamond earrings and an encircled empty spot where the ring was supposedly stolen from. He also showed a photocopy of shots of the ring, which looked inexpensive.

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Cheung, who had vouched for Narcelles’ character when she gave evidence for the defense, said after the verdict that she decided to help her former employee because she knew she was honest and good.

“If I could, I would have rehired her,” Cheung said of Narcelles, who worked for her for two years. The employer, who was identified in court as a director of a Korean company, said the pandemic had caused her financial difficulties.

“I know her very well, she’s basically a straightforward and happy person. It’s not easy to be away from home and working,” Cheung said.

She said she offered Narcelles to stay in her home after her release “because of my good relationship with her – she’s not a person who lies.”  

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Don’t lie, OFWs in money laundering scam told, as more arrested

By Vir B. Lumicao 

Syndicate members used the Filipinas' ATM cards to launder money through their bank accounts

Two more Filipino domestic helpers have been arrested by police in connection with a money laundering scam in which migrant women were convinced to hand over their ATM cards for moving huge amounts of illicit money.

This was disclosed today, Jan. 27, by the Consulate, which said that all the six workers arrested so far had contacted the assistance to nationals section for advice regarding their predicament.

But Consul Paulo Saret, who heads ATN, said he could not confirm reports that 11 others had been arrested.

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He said two of the accused had gone to the ATN to fill up reporting forms, one was arrested at the Hong Kong International Airport as she tried to fly out, and three had called but have not yet shown up.

He said earlier that two of the six were picked up by police in Tuen Mun and another two in Tseung Kwan O.

Saret said ATN staff had been advising the so-called “willing victims” to tell the truth and cooperate with the police investigating the scam to get hold of the perpetrators.

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He urged other workers who have fallen prey to the money laundering syndicate to contact the Consulate for advice.

One of those arrested lied to police about losing her ATM card

Earlier, two of the workers told The SUN that they were fired by their employers after learning of their involvement in the illegal operation.

The two, C.P. and M.N., said they were deceived into the scheme when they responded to an online offer of part-time jobs that would pay $2,000 or more a week.

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M.N. said she learned about that job offer from a friend who heard of their financial need and gave them a phone number to call. She and C.P. contacted the number and a Filipina said all they had to do was to open a bank account where their earnings would be paid.

The woman directed them to an HSBC branch where another Filipina helped them in opening accounts. The woman then collected the ATMs that were issued to them on the spot, saying the businessmen hiring them needed the cards for a week.

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On the advice of friends, one of the women told the police following her arrest that she lost her ATM.

The two workers said they were surprised to get online notices from the bank about unusual activity in their accounts, but when they told their Filipina contact about this, she told them to just delete the messages.

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C.P. said she panicked when police knocked on her employers’ door to arrest her. M.N. got scared upon hearing that her friend and a few others had been arrested since mid-January.

All the workers have been dismissed from work after their arrest and are now living in boarding houses, except for the one picked up at the airport who is now in detention, 

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