3 Benzes the top draw in $30M bonanza for vaccinated residents

By The SUN 

3 Mercedes Benz C class will be raffled off to vaccinated residents

The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce has unveiled its own lucky draw meant to entice residents to get vaccinated, with three Mercedes C class cars, each valued at more than $500k, as the top prizes.

According to details released today, Jun 17, the total value of the pot is more than $30 million, with a raffle draw being held seven times starting on Jul 22. Up for grabs are more than 10,000 attractive prizes.

Registration will start on Jul 2, and participants will only have to register once to qualify for all the lotteries.

Call us!

Those qualified to join are residents (including migrant workers) who are aged 18 and above and have received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.

Apart from the cars, the prizes include 500 annual MTR tickets, shopping vouchers at Swire shopping malls (Pacific Place, Cityplaza and Citygate), Cathay Pacific business class air tickets, gift vouchers from Wellcome, Mannings and IKEA, hotel staycation packages, theme park packages, cable car tickets at Ngong Ping, meal vouchers, iCable mobile pass, shopping and service coupons, and gift sets.

This is the latest in a series of rewards being offered to residents to encourage them to get vaccinated before September, when the community vaccination centers close, leaving only public hospitals and accredited doctors to continue administering the jabs.

CONTACT US!

All residents aged 18 and above are qualified to win any of the prizes, except the brand-new flat worth $10.8 million that is offered jointly by property developers Sino Land and Chinese Estates Holdings.

The same lottery offers 20 pre-paid cards with $100,000 each. The registration for this array of prizes started yesterday via this link: https://register.vaccinationluckydraw.hk/en/index.html?fbclid=IwAR1grn1EbcH6sZoap_yvpv8oes_mgo5Ik_RCNAKIec0RHmA0v81gxrx4s9E

Another lucky draw that launched yesterday is the “Super Seacation Sweepstakes” of the Genting Group, where the grand prize winner will get an all-you-can cruise annual pass for up to four persons per sailing, valued at $3.8 million.

Genting Group will give an unli annual sailing pass for 4 to the grand winner in its lucky draw

Other prizes include a cruise for two nights on Genting Dream for up to six persons (worth $100k); and three winners of a 2-night cruise on a seaview balcony room for 4 persons worth $18,000 each.

The link for entering this lucky draw is here: https://campaign.dreamcruiseline.com/2021/sweepstake/en/index.html?fbclid=IwAR3XhMytB-bXY0-f12R5LuoN5_wicE9HVWD92qH4oUjqCnkPGmzk1HgthMQ

Another top draw is the $5 million cash voucher jointly offered by the Cheung Kong Group and the Li Ka Shing Foundation. An additional 36 vouchers with a total value of $20 million will also be raffled off. The vouchers can be used as downpayment for a flat sold by the CK group, as well as purchases in its retail companies such as ParkNShop, Watsons, Watsons Wine, and Fortress.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

Henderson Land is not to be outdone, with an offer of six lucky draws to be held between this month and September, where the top prizes include shopping vouchers worth over $1 million in total and 300 taels of 999 pure gold.

Cathay Pacific Airways has also joined the lottery craze, with its top prize being an exclusive flight around Hong Kong aboard its new A321neo, the world’s most advanced narrow-body aircraft.

Ten lucky residents will also be awarded one million Asia Miles each, enough for them to travel in luxury on a long-haul flight at least 10 times. Another 100 winners will each get 100,000 Asia Miles, which they can use for flights, hotel stays and lifestyle products.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love

The Airport Authority, one of the first to step up to the government’s challenge to businesses to help in the inoculation drive, is offering a staggering 500,000 flight tickets. Details have yet to be disclosed.

Car lovers would likely make a beeline for the Goodman Group lottery, where the top prize is a Tesla Model 3 Long Range valued at over $500,000.

Even cosmetics company, Sasa has jumped into the fray, with cash coupons valued at over $1 million to be given away to lucky winners.

Another no-strings-attached offer comes from Towngas, which will hold five lotteries between August and September. A total of 50 winners will each get $10,000 in shopping vouchers, and a further 2,500 winners will receive $1,000 cash vouchers each.

The other offers are tied to their company’s products and services, like 3 Hong Kong, which is offering 33 iPhone 12 Pros to the lucky winners of a draw where the participants are either renewing their existing contract or are signing up with them for the first time.

Both Hong Kong Disneyland and Ocean Park are also offering incentives. For its vaccinated patrons, Ocean Park is offering $200 in-park discount coupons, while Disneyland is giving each a gift bag valued at $250. Both promotions will last only until the end of June.

CALL US NOW!

Alleged stalker of Filipina DH arrested for assault

By Vir B. Lumicao 

The Filipina claims she was assaulted by her Indian ex-lover at TKO MTR station

An Indian asylum seeker who allegedly assaulted a Filipina domestic helper at Tseung Kwan O MTR Station in March has been arrested more than a month after the woman filed a complaint with the police. 

Police confirmed the suspect was arrested on Apr 16 by operatives of the Tseung Kwan O District acting on the Filipina’s complaint.

The alleged victim, 30, claimed she was assaulted by the suspect around 9:30am on Mar 3 at the MTR station after she took her ward to school.

Call us!

She said the suspect, her former lover, demanded that she make up with him but she refused. She said that the man grabbed her arm in anger and twisted her hand until she felt intense pain. She presented a medical report.

“Upon investigation by the District Investigation of Tseung Kwan O District, a 40-year-old non-ethnic Chinese male, suspected in connection with the case, was arrested on 2021-04-16 for ‘assault occasioning actual bodily harm’,” the police said in an emailed reply to a query.

“He was released on police bail and the case is still under investigation,” the police said.

CONTACT US!

A police team tried to arrest the suspect in his known address, a subdivided flat in a Yuen Long village in late March but could not find him, according to the complainant. He was finally arrested after he returned to his address, she said.

The suspect reportedly assaulted the woman again on the same morning at a kindergarten in Lohas Park, Tseung Kwan O, where he made a scene haranguing the victim and telling onlookers that she had skimmed more than $70,000 of his money.

The school principal called the police and the man was taken away. He was interviewed at the Tseung Kwan O Station but was released without any charge or bail. Police said the incident was just a dispute.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

On the same day, the employers took the helper to the Labour Relations Division office in Kowloon Bay and summarily fired her, saying she had put their child in harm’s way.  

The Filipina's stuff after she was fired on the spot by her former employers

The woman said the man had long been badgering her about taking out a $60,000 bank loan. She refused and, since then, she had been stalked, harassed and bullied online by the asylum-seeker, she said.

The Filipina, a mother of two teenagers, said she met the suspect on an online dating site in March 2019. She said the man introduced himself as an engineer who was an executive of a medical laboratory company and a staff at Justice Centre Hong Kong.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love

He also allegedly claimed he worked for International Social Service Hong Kong, a government agency proving refugee support, and was a distributor of Pakistani mango in Hong Kong markets.

The complainant said she was impressed and they soon became intimate. But she discovered later that he was a refugee with a recognizance paper, meaning he is fighting deportation.

About two months ago, the suspect reportedly created fake Facebook accounts of the woman and bullied her by posting her photos with captions portraying her as sex-starved and a thief who took his money.

Through those clone accounts, the suspect also dragged her 14-year-old daughter into the mess, portraying both mother and daughter as selling sexual services.

The woman said she avoided him by changing employer, but the suspect tracked her down to Lohas Park. She said the man often demanded money from and she ended up giving him $300 or more each time just so he would leave.

Things came to a head when he created a scene at the school of the Filipina’s ward, which led to her being fired. 

Luckily, she was allowed by the Immigration Department to stay and process a new work contract, and she is now happily working for her new employers.

CALL US NOW!

HK urged to stop ‘discriminating’ against FDWs

By The SUN 

AMCB protesters outside Labour Department in Sheung Wan

Migrant workers have called on the Hong Kong government to stop what they called its discriminatory policies and treatment of foreign domestic workers and address their working and living conditions with urgency.

The foreign workers, under the umbrella of the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body, marched on Wednesday to the Labour Department, Immigration Department and Central Government Offices to hand in their petition.

Call us!

The protest was held in commemoration of International Migrant Workers Day.

“In (the) time of pandemic, the working and living conditions of FDWs are worsening: long working hours and lack of rest, more work, lack of proper food; improper accommodation, lack of protective materials such as mask and sanitizer, denial of rest days, stigmatization as coronavirus spreader, termination and deportation and many more,” the AMCB said in its petition.

CONTACT US!

The workers said they have become an integral part of Hong Kong development and as such, they deserve better treatment and respect.

There were protesters also outside the Immigration Tower in Wan Chai

They listed four key demands in their petition:

1)    Stop accusing FDWs as job hoppers and allow them to change employers freely without forcing them to leave Hong Kong. The AMCB said that because of the false accusation of job hopping, hundreds of FDWs have been sent home, with little hope of working in Hong Kong again.The group said, “Isn’t this is a real case of discrimination, stigmatization and unjust punishment against FDWs?”

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

2)      Regulate working and resting hours of foreign domestic workers. Before the pandemic, many FDWs were already working very long hours, from 12 to 16 hours a day. This has become worse during the coronavirus outbreak.

Outside CGO, the workers demanded protection and help from govt

3)      Respect and uphold the rights of FDWs to have rest days.A survey conducted by the AMCB in 2020 showed many FDWs were denied rest days during the pandemic. Some were now allowed to take a day off for months while others saw their rest days become irregular. The group demands a continuous 11-hour rest period each day, plus meal breaks, for FDWs. 

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love

4)      Include FDWs in the government’s Covid-19 response. AMCB says foreign domestic workers, like everyone in Hong Kong, are also affected by the pandemic and thus need protection and assistance from the government. Specifically, they want the government to withdraw its advisory that FDWs could be convinced to remain at home during their days off. The group also demanded a stop to mandatory testing of all foreign domestic workers which they say leads to more discrimination and stigmatization of FDWs.

CALL US NOW!

 

 

Filipina in jobs scam told to do community service & pay back $63k

By Vir B. Lumicao 

File photo of Fernandez collecting payment for the bogus jobs 

A Filipina resident who admitted to nine charges of offering non-existent jobs in Hong Kong to at least 26 people between 2019 and 2020 escaped a jail sentence in Eastern Court today, Jun 16. 

Mila B. Fernandez, 45, was ordered to do 100 hours of supervised community service as her sentence for all the nine charges against her, and to pay back the $63,005 that she took from the job applicants, but on installment basis.

Magistrate Paul Yip imposed the sentence after Fernandez pleaded guilty on Jan 2 to nine counts of applying false trade descriptions to employment agency services, in contravention of the Trade Descriptions Ordinance (TDO).

Call us!

The magistrate delayed the sentencing for two weeks to await the probation officer’s  recommendation on the appropriate penalty in the case.

Yip told Fernandez to report to the probation officer and comply with his orders, otherwise she might have to spend time in jail.

But having regard to the defendant’s financial situation and the fact that she has a family to support in the Philippines, the magistrate allowed her to repay her victims Charito Delfino and Arlene Alday by installment.

CONTACT US!

Asked how much she could repay monthly, Fernandez replied $3,000 and the magistrate agreed. He set the payment term for 20 months starting Jul 31 and ordered her $4,000 bail money to be applied to the compensation.

The magistrate warned Fernandez she must pay her monthly installment before every end of the month starting with $3,005.55 on Jul 31. If she defaults even just once, the court would collect the rest of the payment immediately.

Delfino and Alday sought help from the Customs and Excise Department after Fernandez reneged on her promise to get their male relatives hired in Hong Kong for such jobs as yacht cleaners, babysitters and dog walkers with a monthly salary of $5,000 and food allowance of $1,000.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love

Delfino applied for 14 of her relatives and friends, while Alday enticed 12 of hers. These took place between Jan 20, 2019 and Aug 31, 2020.

Investigations revealed Fernandez was not connected with any employment agency when she offered the non-existent jobs, although she had previously worked as a secretary for one.

But when she met Alday, Fernandez claimed she had been working for World Wide Consultancy Agency for 16 years. She later called Alday about a family in Shek O supposedly looking for a houseboy at $5,000 a month and $1,000 food allowance.

Twelve jobseekers applied for that position and other jobs through Alday. The other 14 were offered the same jobs through Delfino.

Some jobseekers sent money directly to Fernandez from as far away as Butuan City

When the jobseekers realized they had been duped, they complained to the Consulate. A meeting with Fernandez was arranged on Sept 1, 2019, but she did not show up and had since avoided her victims.

Subsequently, a total of nine people, including Delfino and Alday, went to the Consulate in December 2019, claiming Fernandez had tricked them into paying a total of $112,000 for the bogus jobs, then disappeared.

The Consulate endorsed the complaints to the police as a fraud case but were not pursued. Instead, Customs took up the cases with just Delfino and Alday as complainants.  

Fernandez was first arrested on Dec 13 last year on Alday’s complaint. She was freed on bail. On Feb 26 this year, she was rearrested following Delfino's complaints.

CALL US NOW!

Several other people emerged on social media after Fernandez’ arrest and guilty plea was reported, but it is not clear if they have decided to file complaints.

A statement issued by Customs after the sentencing warned job-seekers against dealing with unlicensed recruiters and for traders not to violate the TDO.

Under the Ordinance, any trader who applies a false trade description to a service supplied to a consumer commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for five years.

Members of the public may report any suspected violations of the TDO to Customs' 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk).

 

Macau reports reinfection of HK Covid-19 patient

By The SUN

 

The reinfected patient entered Macau through the HK-Macau-Zhuhai bridge

Macau has informed Hong Kong authorities that an 18-year-old local male patient who tested positive for Covid-19 in the city in December was found to carry the coronavirus again.

According to a statement issued by the Centre for Health Protection today, Jun 16, the patient was found positive for the virus on Dec 16, 2020 and was deemed linked to another local infection. He recovered and was discharged from hospital on Dec. 30.

Call us!

He took a test for Covid-19 on Jun 13 this year on the way to Macau and was found negative. But two days later, while in quarantine in Macau he tested weakly positive. A subsequent test showed he was positive for antibody against the coronavirus.

The CHP said it is following up the case with the Macau health authority, including comparing the genetic sequencing of the samples taken from the patient.

CONTACT US!

 

In the meantime, those identified as close contacts of the patient will be moved to a quarantine center, and the building where he had resided, which is Wah Chun House in Wah Fu Estate, Pok Fu Lam, will be put under a compulsory testing notice.

Meanwhile, only one imported case was reported in Hong Kong today, involving a 45-year-old man who had flown in from Sri Lanka. He was asymptomatic.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love

At the same time, health experts have discounted the possibility that the rare mutant strain first found in a 17-year-old local school girl earlier this month had come from a pack of frozen crocodile spare ribs in her family’s refrigerator.

Tests showed that the frozen meat package was contaminated with the virus, so health authorities immediately ordered its importer to stop selling frozen crocodile ribs, and provide samples for testing.  

CALL US NOW!

 

However, during talks with investigators the girl reportedly admitted having sneezed on the package, suggesting it was she who contaminated the frozen product and not the other way around.

Prof Benjamin Cowling from the University of Hong Kong’s School of Public Health told RTHK it was unlikely the virus had come from the frozen meat, as packaging wasn’t a major route of transmission.

But to be sure, he said the virus samples on the packaged meat be compared with the specimen from the girl, then analyze whether a transmission had occurred, and how.

“Was the virus on the meat packaging first, and then infecting the girl, or was it that the girl had the infection and breathed on the package of meat and that’s how the virus got there – and because it was frozen it was able to stay there?,” Cowling asked.

Despite extensive investigations, the source of the girl’s infection, which ended more than 40 days of no untraceable case being found in Hong Kong, has yet to be determined.

The girl, along with her mother and older sister whom she infected, had no recent travel history.

 

 

 

 

Owner of lost HKID falsely charged with theft

By Vir B. Lumicao 

The court heard that the Filipina who jumped bail in a theft case had used someone else's HKID 

A Filipina resident of Hong Kong went to Eastern Court on Tuesday, Jun 15, expecting to face only a minor charge of illegal gambling, but was shocked to hear that there was an outstanding arrest warrant for her non-appearance in a theft case.

Call us!

But after C.F. Isidro, a laid-off airport lounge staff, was called to the stand, the prosecution told Magistrate Peter Law that it was a case of mistaken identity.\

CONTACT US!

It turned out that Isidro had lost her HK ID card and it was used by another Filipina when she committed theft earlier this year. After officers from the Central Police station arrested the impostor she posted bail but did not appear in court for a hearing, so a warrant was issued against her.

On Apr 20, Isidro was arrested for illegal gambling in Hung Hom. She posted bail of $1,000 and was told to report to police on May 21. When she returned on that date, the police told her she must report to the Central Police District for another case.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love

Isidro complied but investigators showed her a photo of a different suspect who had used her HKID card. Isidro told them she had lost that HKID card some time ago but did not report to police.

In court on Tuesday, a case officer from the Central Police confirmed that Isidro was not the woman they had arrested for theft.

CALL US NOW!

The magistrate ordered a break in the hearing so the defense and prosecution could thresh things out. When they returned, Law agreed to reset the hearing date on Jul 27 at the request of the prosecution.

Thousands scramble to register for house, $100k lottery

By The SUN 

A one-bedroom flat in this new development awaits the lucky winner in the raffle draw

Hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong permanent residents signed up for a lottery where the top prize is a $10.8 million flat located at Grand Central in Kwun Tong, as registration began today, Jul 15.

Online registration for the lucky draw began at 9am today, but many others registered at various properties owned by co-organizers Sino Land and Chinese Estates Holdings.

Call us!

The organizers said that as of 5pm today more than 338,000 people had registered.

The one-bedroom flat to be raffled off is a one-bedroom unit with a floor area of about 449 square feet. Organizers will pay for stamp duty and registration fees, as well as management fees for the first year.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

Also being raffled off are 20 pre-paid or credit cards, each with a value of $100,000 for which non-permanent residents, including foreign domestic helpers, may qualify.

The idea of giving away stored-value cards instead of cash is to compel the winners to spend the money for goods within Hong Kong.

CONTACT US!

To qualify, participants must be Hong Kong residents aged 18 years old and above and have received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine on or before Sept. 1, 2021.

Those who have already received the two doses immediately qualify, while those still intending to, or are already in line to complete their vaccination by the cut-off date may make a declaration to this effect when registering.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love

To register online, click this link: https://register.vaccinationluckydraw.hk/en/register_hkpr.html

Those who prefer to register on site may visit the following Sino Land properties: Island Resort Mall, Lee Tung Avenue, The Centrium and Sino Plaza on Hong Kong side; China Hong Kong City, Olympian City, Tsim Sha Tsui Centre and Yue Man Square in Kowloon; and Citywalk and tmtplaza in the New Territories.

The winners will be randomly drawn at 12noon on Sept 8, 2021 via a specialized computer system. The result will be announced on the website above, and published in The Standard and Sing Tao Daily on Sept 13, 2021.

All winners will be notified individually through a telephone call or SMS. 

PADALA NA!

Call us!

 

 

 

 

Filipina who kept friend’s HK ID card still refused bail

By Vir B. Lumicao 

One Filipina fails to get bail, another pleads not guilty to assault in Eastern Court today

A Filipina domestic helper who kept her friend’s Hong Kong ID card failed in her bid to be freed on bail when she returned to Eastern Court today, Jun 15, despite an offer from Bethune House Migrant Women’s Refuge to give her shelter.

M.K. Maing appeared before Magistrate Peter Law to apply for bail amounting to $1,200 and presented as her proposed address the charitable group’s shelter while awaiting the next hearing of her case.

Call us!

She faces a charge of possessing a Hong Kong identity card belonging to another person and another for overstaying her visa. She has been in police custody since her arrest on May 12.

Maing was arrested during a spot check after officers found two HKID cards in her wallet, hers and another card issued to her friend who had already gone back to the Philippines after apparently overstaying.

CONTACT US!

The duty lawyer representing Maing said Bethune House, whose executive director Edwina Antonio was in court, was offering to give shelter to the defendant. But Magistrate Law refused the bail application after the prosecutor objected, citing the seriousness of the case.

Antonio, who attended the hearing along with Maing’s two relatives, was surprised by the court’s rejection of the bail application, and why the defendant’s case was said to be so serious.  

Antonio was surprised by the court's refusal to grant bail to Maing

She was also baffled why Maing was charged with overstaying when helper already had a new employer, and they were just waiting for her visa to be released on May 20. As a result of her arrest, the employer has backed out, Antonio said.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

Under the Registration of Persons Ordinance, anyone found in possession of another person’s HKID without lawful authority or reasonable excuse may be liable to pay a fine of up to $100,000 and imprisonment for 10 years.

Even a summary conviction would result in the offender being fined up to $50,000 and jailed for 2 years.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love

Filipina to be tried for alleged boarding house assault

Meanwhile, a Filipina domestic helper is set to stand trial at Eastern Court on Jul 16 after she denied today, Jun 15, a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm on a fellow helper during a boarding house spat in Siu Sai Wan in January.

L. Regidor, 32, pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to her before Magistrate Peter Law. She first appeared in court on Mar 30.

According to the prosecution, Regidor had just woken up and was set to make coffee on Jan 9 when she heard two other boarders talking about her. After accosting the pair, she threw a mug at them, hitting one on the right side of her face, injuring her right eye.

The prosecution asked for a one-day trial saying it will present two witnesses, the alleged victim and her friend. The defense said will also have two witnesses.

Magistrate Law extended Regidor’s bail until her trial.

PADALA NA!

Call us!