declining English proficency in HK

Dear friends,

I went to RTHK3 this morning to talk about declining English proficiency in HK. Here is the link if you are interested in the topic:
http://programme.rthk.org.hk/channel/radio/programme.php?name=radio3/backchat&d=2012-10-29&p=514&e=&m=episode
Rgds,

Victor

Exorbitant provident fund fee chargers should be shamed

HK Opinion
H03 China Daily Hong Kong Edition Victor Fung Keung
2012-10-27

Exorbitant provident fund fee chargers should be shamed

A survey by Hong Kong’s Consumer Council found that the average fee charged by a Mandatory Pension Fund (MPF) provider equates to nearly 2 percent of the assets under its management. The fees three fund houses have charged, at 4.62 percent, 3.88 percent and 3.86 percent respectively, are the highest. These high fee chargers should be named and shamed.

The council said the fee charged in Hong Kong is higher than those charged by fund companies in several other countries.If Hong Kong citizens purchase (invest in) mutual funds, the charges range from 0.1 percent to 0.5 percent. That makes the high charges for MPF a blatant rip off, which remains an enigma. Nevertheless, the mystery isn’t hard to solve. The cause of high fees is written on the walls. There is a structural problem in the fee-charging regime, which the government’s Mandatory Pension Fund Authority should consider tackling.

The MPF is a compulsory pension scheme established 12 years ago. The MPF’s value now totals HK$400 billion. The law requires all employees in the city to pay in 5 percent of their salaries per month, which will be matched by their employers. The contributions will be managed by an MPF provider which might be a bank or a fund company.

The structural flaw is that employers would invariably solicit benefits from the MPF providers they appointed, in kind, including providing free financial services and worse, kickbacks. Employers could care less about the high fees charged by the fund providers, since the fees are paid by the employees. The high fees wouldn’t hurt the employers a tiny bit.

The government on Nov 1 will introduce a new scheme called MPF Employee Choice Arrangement, which will allow employees to shift to new fund managers if they are not happy with the ones chosen by their employers. But this half-hearted scheme applies only to the additional contributions to pension funds made by an employee. The bulk of their pension money (the 5 percent pay-in by an employee and his employer, totalling 10 percent of his monthly income), as required by law, still stays with the fund houses picked by their employers.

Some unscrupulous MPF providers, on top of demanding high management fees, also charge other fees, including annual fees and fees for the fund companies’ annual bonus for their own employees.

The only way to reduce management and other fees charged by MPF providers, and hence increase competition, is to empower employees to shift at their discretion their employer-contributed funds to another fund manager, if they become disenchanted with existing ones. Economic efficiency will work only when the financial ties between an employer and an MPF provider selected by the employer are severed.

The irony, and bad news for many Hong Kong salary-men, is that the high fees charged by an MPF provider have absolutely no relation to the fund’s performance. In 2011, an MPF stock fund that charged its clients 4.62 percent fees suffered a loss of 15.53 percent. Another provider that invests in European stocks suffered a loss of 14 percent, even though it charged fund owners (employees) 3.88 percent in fees.

Some experts suggest capping the fees charged by MPF providers. This is hardly a good solution. The way to enhance competition and lower fees charged is to take away employers’ right to appoint fund managers. It is only natural that employers would appoint fund managers that offer them the highest “reciprocal benefits”, or commonly known as “kickbacks, in kind”. Another consideration can be linking the fees to the fund managers’ annual performance.

Hong Kong’s economic freedom should be upheld. Any policy that stifles competition should become anachronistic and abandoned. Enough is enough. The government should take employers’ power to appoint MPF providers away and hand it over to employees to make their own choices.

The author is coordinator of the B.S.Sc in financial journalism program at Hong Kong Baptist University.

United States Far East Policy

好文共賞 V26	Sharp Daily - Hong Kong Version	馮強 2012-10-18
United States Far East Policy美國的亞洲政策
美國駐聯合國大使Adlai Stevenson於1955年接受總統候選人提名時發表演說節錄 On this April evening I remember vividly ① that it was in April just ten years ago that the largest conference in all diplomatic history met at San Francisco to write the Charter of the United Nations. The spirit of San Francisco was one of optimism and of boundless hope ②. The tragedy is that the possibility of war just now seems to hinge upon ③ Quemoy and Matsu; islands that presumably have been fortified by the Chinese Nationalists with our approval and assistance. Should we be plunged into ④ another great war, the maintenance of our alliances of the uncommitted nations of Asia will be far more important to us than the possession of these offshore islands by General Chiang Kai-shek ever could be. Moreover, the main-tenance of a united front ⑤ is of vital importance to the defense of Formosa ⑥ itself, since their moral support and the knowledge by the Com-munist leaders that they would be facing a united free world would be a much more effective deterrent to an assault on Formosa. Joint action along the lines I've indicated would put Formosa policy on a more comprehensive basis. We would thereby achieve a consistent and morally unquestionable position in providing for the protection of the Formosans according to the principles and ideals ⑦ of international law. In the eyes of our European friends and allies we would once more have asserted our full belief in the value of main-taining the alliance of the free world against the slave world. But if the Chinese Communists insist on force and reject any peaceful solution ⑧, then at least it would be clear to everyone who the aggressors were. And, clearly, if the Chinese are so bent on violence, then we have no alternative but to meet force with force ⑨. 馮強短評 好辭彙共賞： ①　vividly =如在眼前的，生動的，栩栩如生的。A vivid imagination=活躍的想像力。A vivid description=生動的描寫。Vivid in one's memory=記得清清楚楚。 ②　boundless hope = 無限 的，無窮的，無邊無際的。Boundless ambition =欲壑難填，無限大的野心。Boundless energy = 無窮的精力。 ③　hinge upon =看……而定。Victor's acceptance of the writing job will hinge upon the terms =我接受與否將依條件而定。 ④　plunged into =陷入。 Plunge into the river=跳入河中。Plunge into war =投入戰鬥。Victor is plunging deeper and deeper into debt = Victor的債務越陷越深。 ⑤　a united front =聯合戰線。Cold front =氣象學上的冷鋒。In front of =在……的前面。Up front =預先。 ⑥　Formosa =台灣（Taiwan）。 Formosa是16世紀時葡萄牙對台灣的稱呼。 ⑦　the principles and ideals =原則和理想。An ideal place for a holiday =度假的理想場所。 ⑧　peaceful solution =和平解決方案。 ⑨　meet force with force = 以暴力對付暴力，以暴易暴。 短評共賞： 美國官員說得很清楚，它會連同亞洲其他盟友力抗北京進攻台灣。此政策60年不變。 馮強 浸會大學傳理學院財經新聞統籌主任 逢周四刊登

in the middle of nowhere

好文共賞
V27 Sharp Daily - Hong Kong Version 馮強
2012-10-11

"Of course, it's easier if you hold an Olympic Games in the middle of nowhere."

"Of course, it's easier if you hold an Olympic Games in the middle of nowhere."

英國首相卡梅倫David Cameron

1."Make no mistake (1), this apartment was designed (2) to kill whoever entered (3) it."

（Dan Oates）

背景：James Holmes在丹佛市Aurora鎮附近一家電影院殘殺12人後，Aurora警務處長Dan Oates如此形容Holmes的住所。

2."Of course, it's easier (4) if you hold an Olympic Games in the middle of nowhere (5)."

（David Cameron）

背景：　英國首相卡梅倫說美國2002年在鹽湖城舉行的冬季奧運會與英國今年在倫敦舉辦的奧運會不能相提並論。

3."Call me chauvinistic (6), call me jingoistic (7), but I think we knocked the spots off (8) Beijing last night."

（Boris Johnson）

背景：現任倫敦市長Boris Johnson這樣來形容在倫敦舉行的2012年奧運會開幕禮。

馮強短評

好辭彙共賞：

(1)make no mistake = 不用懷疑（certainly） 。例句："Make no mistake－I'll vote for the Democrats no matter who runs for Legco this September."

(2)designed = 設計，草擬，擬定，籌劃。By design and not by accident = 是故意不是偶然。

(3)enter = 入；擠進。Enter a profession =就業。Enter into an agreement = 締約。Enter的同義詞有go into和penetrate等。

(4)it's easier = 比較容易。It's easier said than done=說時容易做時難。Feel easy=舒服；安心。Easy on the eye（s）= 好看的。

(5)in the middle of nowhere =荒野（A very remote place far away from other places; or far from other human civilization; or a place where you aren't quite familiar to）。

(6)chauvinistic =沙文主義的，極端愛國主義的（fanatical patriotism）。

(7)jingoistic = 具有侵略味道的民族主義（Extreme nationalism characterized especially by a belligerent foreign policy）。

(8)knock the spots off =令他人相形見絀，徹底擊敗，超過，凌駕。Spots是spotlights的簡稱。Hit the spot = 正合要求；恰到好處。In a spot = 處在困境中。Touch the（tender）spot = 碰到痛處。

短評共賞：

James Holmes在丹佛市Aurora鎮附近一家電影院殘殺12人，還在家設下炸彈陷阱。後來才曉得他患有精神病。我們要對精神病人多加照顧。

馮強

浸會大學傳理學院財經新聞統籌主任

逢周四刊出