2011年3月25日 星期五

Star-studded cast gets in tune for Victoria Park show to help victims

Star-studded cast gets in tune for Victoria Park show to help victims

Natalie Wong andDiana Lee 

Friday, March 25, 2011

More than 100 Hong Kong celebrities will perform at a charity concert on Friday for relief efforts in Japan.

"Artistes 311 Love Beyond Borders" will be telecast live from Victoria Park from 7pm.

Singer Hacken Lee Hak- kan, actor Eric Tsang Chi- wai and model Angelababy are among those who will perform and appeal for donations during the four- hour concert.

"We, as members of the entertainment industry, wish to bring hope and support to the people in Japan," said action superstar Jackie Chan Kong- sang, one of the event's initiators. "We are also here to praise their tenacity in face of hardship."

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About 100 celebrities assembled at RTHK yesterday to record the event's theme song, Succumb Not to Sorrow.

The organizing committee, comprising 18 organizations, aims to raise about HK$40 million for Salvation Army's direct relief efforts in Japan.

Simon Wong Kwok-ching, senior relief project officer, said its 80 community centers in Japan have been turned into emergency shelters for survivors, and it plans to expand efforts to provide more emergency items for the needy.

"Our colleagues in quake-affected areas reported they faced challenges when getting bottled water from retailers amid escalating fears about radioactive contamination," he said.

Meanwhile, pan-democrat lawmakers will hold a candlelight vigil on Sunday to mourn quake victims and to show support. Japanese consul- general Yuji Kumamaru will attend. It starts at 8pm in Statue Square in Central, said Democratic Party chairman Albert Ho Chun-yan.

They will fold origami cranes to symbolize peace and best wishes to Japanese residents, and raise funds for quake victims, with money going to the Hong Kong Red Cross.

Meanwhile, supermarkets and department stores are also pitching in. Wellcome's group marketing manager Annie Sin Pik-kwan said the company will donate HK$1 for each purchase of products from two designated brands, First Choice and No Frills, until Thursday.

A cash donation campaign running until April 14 will benefit World Vision.

YATA Japanese Department store in Sha Tin and Tai Po will host a large charity sale of accessory and fashion items next month, while donation boxes have been put in all CitySuper branches.



Daya Bay opens up to say nuclear danger is remote


Daya Bay opens up to say nuclear danger is remote

Colleen Lee 

Friday, March 25, 2011

The management of the Daya Bay nuclear power station has sought to allay fears, saying the problems that are plaguing the Fukushima nuclear power plant are highly unlikely to repeat itself in Guangdong.

Following the crisis in Japan, the company's nuclear safety expert, Chen Tai, also made it clear the chances of a nuclear explosion happening in Daya Bay are remote.

"From the physics point of view, it is impossible to have a nuclear explosion [in the plant]," Chen said.

He said a nuclear explosion occurs when the concentration of uranium-235 reaches more than 90 percent. "The concentration [of uranium] in Daya Bay is below 4 percent," Chen said.

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The Daya Bay Nuclear Power Operations and Management Company yesterday opened the 17-year-old, two- reactor plant to the media.

The plant, which supplies about 23 percent of the territory's electricity, lies about 50 kilometers from Hong Kong.

Chen said Daya Bay is equipped with back-up power in case of an electricity failure. He stressed the reactor core can be cooled down even when there is no electricity.

He also said there is little chance of the plant being hit by a tsunami as the sea around Daya Bay is just 20m to 30m deep and surrounding islands can act as natural shields.

Nevertheless, walls as high as 16m above sea level run along the perimeter of the plant area.

Daya Bay, he said, is on the Eurasian plate and about 1,000km west of the boundary of the Pacific plate and 2,000km east of the Indian plate.

Since 288 AD, the most severe of the 46 earthquakes recorded within a 150km radius of the plant reached magnitude 6.1, he said.

Daya Bay management plans to hold a massive drill in November. Qiao Enju, the firm's emergency expert, said: "During that drill, we may add some scenarios based on the ones to be drawn up following the Fukushima incident."

When asked if the drill may take into account a scenario in which the plant's cooling systems fail to work after being hit by a tsunami - similar to Fukushima's problems - Qiao said they will wait until investigations into that incident are completed.

"When the probe is done, the Daya Bay plant will learn from the Japanese experience and find out if there is any area that needs improvement," he said.

Qiao said the drill may involve about 200 to 300 people drawn from various departments of the 3,000-strong workforce.

The station usually holds two to three main drills every year, with the next one in June. The scenarios for the upcoming drill have basically been set, Qiao said.




Food gets all-clear as ban starts


Food gets all-clear as ban starts

Diana Lee and Samson Lee 

Friday, March 25, 2011

Twenty-nine batches of imported Japanese food have been found to be clear of radiation contamination.

Authorities banned food from five prefectures close to the stricken Fukushima nuclear power station on Wednesday. The cleared batches comprised seven brought in by sea and 22 by air.

The ban was gazetted yesterday on dairy products, infant formula, vegetables and fruit produced in Fukushima, Tochigi, Gunma, Ibaraki and Chiba prefectures.

The authorities dismissed the idea of a ban on all Japanese food and said it will only do so if there are reasonable grounds that these products are contaminated.

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Undersecretary for Food and Health Gabriel Leung said Hong Kong is maintaining a "double protection" system by inspecting all types of food imported from Japan.

Other goods from the five affected prefectures have to obtain Japanese government health certificates before they are allowed in to the SAR.

Leung said radiation checks on all imported Japanese goods were started on March 12.

"We would not hesitate to adjust, vary or extend the ban order should new evidence suggest there are higher risk categories both in terms of food types or geography," Leung said.

Three samples found contaminated were intercepted in port and were never on sale.

Leung said the government will not remove the ban before a WHO expert group completes a comprehensive risk assessment conference.

A Japanese consumer, Yuko Yoshicla, said: "I believe the Japanese food is safe. And I still eat Japanese food because I do not think the quality of Chinese food such as vegetables is good enough."

Another shopper, Rika Hashimoto, said: "I have been eating Hong Kong organic food and Japanese food. Both of them are good. I would not reduce my consumption."

Joanne Ko Ho-yan said: "I trust the Hong Kong government that the food on the market is safe. In addition, Japanese food has become an indispensable part of many Hong Kong people's lives. I cannot live without it."



2011年3月22日 星期二

差勁工作更損精神健康

  生果日報 - 2011年03月21日


Apple health:差勁工作更損精神健康

2011年03月21日

一份筍工可以助人提升自信,改善生活,一份「衰工」則會影響精神健康,令人情緒失控。澳洲一項最新研究發現,打工仔長期忍受一份很差勁的工作,對精神健康的負面影響較長期失業還要嚴重;一份差勁工作的元素包括老闆要求多多、支援不足或薪酬偏低等。

追蹤研究逾七千人

澳洲國立大學一項研究追蹤 7,155名成年人的精神狀況,當中包括對工作現狀很滿意、騎牛搵馬、對現時工作極不滿但不能辭職、長期失業等多種類型的打工仔,再以填寫問卷方式為各人的精神狀況評分。
調查結果顯示與整體有工作的人士比較,失業的組別評分明顯較低;但若以工作滿意度計算,研究人員發現自覺工作很難忍的打工仔,精神健康評分竟較失業的組別還要低,最低分的一組則由失業,轉而任職一份很差勁的工作。