1402 HKSAR Name of the Day

Rio Lau, reporter, The Standard, Hong Kong

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1401 HKSAR Name of the Day

Coils Lam Wai-chun, chairman of CEC International Holdings, owner of the "759 Store" chain of snack shops, which plans to open its 78th branch in Hong Kong by the end of June 2012

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Name Category: Creation

1400 HKSAR Name of the Day

Iggy Cheung, 32-year-old dragon boat paddler, Hong Kong feature article in SCMP titled "Light up the track" about athletes who smoke by Sasha Gonzales (healthpost@scmp.com) on 12 June 2012

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1399 HKSAR Name of the Day

Barbie Hsu Hsi-yuan, actress (Taiwan? China?)

the meaning of "Barbie" is "foreign woman" ... or Gweipo !!

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Chinese Are Racist and Sexist and ...

This racist advert shows a male Chinese actor playing a domestic maid from the Philippines. Aside from the racial slur, I had to do a double take on the fact that the actor is male. Reminds me of the Asian preference of Little Boys Dressed As Girls.

Pic from You Tube

Hong Leong Insurance does not believe its advert is racist

Related Post

Little Boys Dressed As Girls


Reference


‘Blackface’ advert where Chinese man plays Filipina maid sparks race row in Hong Kong (SCMP; paywall)

Malaysian bank pulls video featuring Chinese actor playing a Filipino domestic helper
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 18 June, 2014, 3:12pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 19 June, 2014, 1:35pm
Christy Choi and Agence France-Presse
An advertisement for domestic helper insurance starring a Chinese man as a Filipino maid has been withdrawn after it was condemned as racist – but the bank responsible insisted it never intended to cause offence.
The advertisement for Malaysia’s Hong Leong Bank caused outrage on social media and was condemned by domestic helpers’ rights groups. It showed the actor wearing dark orange make-up and a curly wig as he portrayed a clumsy maid named “Maria”. The same actor plays her employer.
The bank confirmed it had withdrawn the advertisement, but stopped short of an apology.
“We regret that our recent advertisement … resulted in comments about the advertisement being racist,” said spokeswoman Norlina Yunus. “At no time did Hong Leong … intend to offend any person or be to any extent discriminatory on grounds of race, sex or otherwise.”
At no time did Hong Leong … intend to offend any person or be to any extent discriminatory on grounds of race, sex or otherwise HONG LEONG SPOKESWOMAN NORLINA YUNUS
The advertisement row comes amid growing concern about the treatment of domestic helpers and of the dangers of racial stereotyping.
“You are making comedy out of someone, out of a community,” said Eni Lestari, spokeswoman for the Asian Migrants’ Coordinating Body. “For [Hongkongers] it’s funny, but what they don’t realise is what’s funny is actually racist.”
Lestari questioned why the bank did not hire someone from Indonesia or the Philippines to play the maid.
The Equal Opportunities commission was critical of the ad, saying:
"The EOC disapproves of the stereotypical portrayal of domestic helpers in the advertisement and regrets that it has offended the migrant workers community."
It cautioned advertisers saying they should ensure "respect for human dignity, irrespective of race and ethnicity."
Posters on the bank’s Facebook page called for a boycott.
“The advertisement featuring a domestic worker in ‘blackface’ is racist and deeply offensive. It is simply dehumanising,” wrote Yael Marwah.
“Why do you have to solidify the omnipresent racial and cultural stereotypes?” added Marcin Rutecki.
The row comes only weeks after anger over textbooks that asked children to match people of different races to particular jobs. It also follows a series of high-profile cases involving the abuse of domestic helpers.
Others took to Twitter and Facebook to blast the advert.
“You guys should really take down that ad and apologise for it ... It’s really not appropriate for a professional representation of your financial services,” Kahlil Stultz wrote on the bank’s Facebook page.
“Why do you have to solidify the omnipresent racial and cultural stereotypes that are hurting so many people?” added Marcin Rutecki.
The row comes weeks after separate controversy over a Hong Kong school textbook, which critics said encouraged children to racially stereotype their neighbours.
The book asked children to match nationalities to the “appropriate” job description – such as Indonesian for domestic helpers, or Japanese for sushi restaurant owners.
The case of Indonesian maid Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, who allegedly endured a months-long torture campaign by her Hong Kong boss, has put a spotlight on the working conditions faced by the financial hub’s domestic workers.
Her employer, a 44-year-old mother-of-two, is on trial and last week denied all the charges against her.
Amnesty International last year condemned the “slavery-like” conditions faced by some of the city’s domestic helpers and accused authorities of “inexcusable” inaction.

1398 HKSAR Name of the Day

Aya Liu Han-ya, Taiwanese singer and television presenter and crowned Asia's sexiest vegetarian woman in a 2012 poll by Peta.

"Aya" is of Japanese origin and means "woven silk"

About Novel HKSAR Names
Name Category: Rare; Taiwanese novel name

1397 HKSAR Name of the Day

Khalil Fong Dai-tung, local Hong Kong singer-songwriter and named Asia's sexiest vegetarian man for a second time in a 2012 poll by Peta.

He's no Fruit Chan but is he muslim?

 Asia's sexiest vegetarian man !!

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1396 HKSAR Name of the Day

Choya Choi, reporter, The Standard, Hong Kong 

About Novel HKSAR Names
Name Category: Creation; Phonetic-based?

1395 HKSAR Name of the Day

Milia Chan, 40, a service business manager with an information technology company, Hong Kong.

Quoted in SCMP health article (May 2012) as someone who has experienced hyperthyroidism, or having an overactive thyroid, since being diagnosed in 1995. She had symptoms that include "an extremely fast heartbeat, shaking hands, shortness of breath and bad temper".

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Name Category: Creation

1394 HKSAR Name of the Day

Torres Yeung or Torres Ting, born June 2012 and son of Real Ting Chi-ko and Miriam Yeung Chin-wah

see 1300 HKSAR Name of the Day and comments.

The name Torres was chosen after Real Ting's favourite footballer, Chelsea and Spain striker Fernando Torres.

Miriam Yeung with Real Ting and their son Torres. Pic SCMP

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Doomsayer Pele Strikes In Time For World Cup

I've been waiting eagerly for Pele's predictions and it seems there will be no disappointments with the 73-year-old Soccer God's promising proclamations on the eve of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Pele is as consistent as ever ...

Pele Proclaims. Pic Agencia Estado/Rex

Before we get to Pele's most recent predictions, let's reflect on what he said this time four years ago on the eve of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Pele said:

"Brazil will meet an African side ... any African side ... in the Final"

As usual, Pele got it TOTALLY WRONG. The 2010 Finalists were Spain and Netherlands, with Spain winning the World Cup for the first time.


This time, Pele has said:

1) "I believe in Brazil, and I think we will get to the final"

2) "I hope Brazil win it"

3) "For this World Cup two teams from Europe [Spain and Germany] will be very good"


Compared with Pele's dire prophecies, a much safer bet would be to go with the prediction of a beautiful statistician ... the one and only Rachel Riley. One cannot possibly do any worse.

Countdown celebrity Rachel Riley predicts Chile could win the 2014 World Cup. Pic Ladbrokes.

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More Pele Pronouncements To Invalidate

Pele’s Pathetic Predictions Persist ... so let's ...

Pele the Anti-Prophet Supreme

Pele Proven Wrong ... Predictably

1393 HKSAR Name of the Day

Tanka Chungbang, Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong (SCMP letters 7 June 2012)

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1392 HKSAR Name of the Day

Wiva Wei, Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong (SCMP letters 7 June 2012)

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1391 HKSAR Name of the Day

Axel Lee Yik-man, six-year-old twin boy of father Aaron Lee Hung-shan (who watched the transit of Venus event on 6 June 2012 on the Avenue of Stars, organised by the Space Museum, the Astronomical Society, the University of Hong Kong's science faculty and the Ho Koon Nature Education and Astronomical Centre)

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1390 HKSAR Name of the Day

Karson Chu, Sheung Shui, Hong Kong (SCMP letters 5 June 2012)

see 0580 and 1019 HKSAR Names of the Day

About Novel HKSAR Names
Name Category: Rare; Substitution; son-suffix; somewhat common in Hong Kong

Please Sir, I Want Some More

A Fat Little Emperor among millions in China. Pic Reuters

There are now 62 million Chinese who are classified as obese. A ready market to do good business, if ever there was one.

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Reference


2.1 billion of the world’s population now overweight: China and US top fat list (SCMP; paywall)

China has the fourth-greatest increase in childhood obesity
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 29 May, 2014, 11:46am

Jeanette Wang jeanette.wang@scmp.com

China has the second-largest number of obese people in the world behind only the United States, according to a pioneering study published in a leading international medical journal.

Globally, there are 2.1 billion people classified as overweight or obese. Of that number, 671 million people were classified as obese, according to the report in The Lancet.

Overweight means that a person has a body mass index - which factors in weight in relation to height - of 25 to less than30. With a BMI of 30 or more, a person is classified as obese.

More than half of the world's obese population live in 10 countries, led by the United States with 86.9 million.

Study data showed said there were 62 million obese people living in China last year, or more than 9 per cent of the world's total.

Conducted by the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), the study, the first of its kind, analysed data from 188 countries over 33 years and found that nearly 30 per cent (2.1 billion) of the world's population were either overweight or obese last year, up from 857 million people in 1980. Over the same period of time, the overweight and obesity rates among adults had increased for both men (to 37 per cent from 29 per cent) and women (to 38 per cent from 30 per cent).

Lead study author Dr Marie Ng, assistant professor of global health at IHME, who had previously worked at Hong Kong University, told the South China Morning Post that although the overall prevalence of people being overweight or obese in China was relatively low compared to other countries, the total figure was "alarming" in terms of the consequent financial burden on the health system.

"Childhood obesity in China is another issue that really needs attention," Ng said. "The proportion of obese boys, in particular, is almost double the proportion of obese men [at 6.9 and 3.8 per cent respectively]."

Among the 188 countries studied, China had the fourth-greatest increase in overweight/obesity prevalence among children during the study period. In 1980, 5.7 per cent of people under 20 years old in the country were overweight or obese; last year, the number was 18.8 per cent. For adults (20 years and above), China had the 10th biggest absolute change in overweight/obesity prevalence, rising from 11.3 per cent in 1980 to 27.9 per cent last year.

"Obesity is an issue affecting people of all ages and incomes, everywhere," said Dr Christopher Murray, director of IHME. "In the last three decades, not one country has achieved success in reducing obesity rates, and we expect obesity to rise steadily as incomes rise in low- and middle-income countries in particular, unless urgent steps are taken to address this public health crisis."

The highest overweight and obesity rates were seen in the Middle East and North Africa, where more than 58 per cent of men and 65 per cent of women aged 20 or older were found to be either overweight or obese. Among children and adolescents, the prevalence of overweight or obesity increased by nearly 50 per cent between 1980 and last year.

Last year, more than 22 per cent of girls and nearly 24 per cent of boys in developed countries were found to be overweight or obese.

In the developing world, the figures for both boys and girls were about 13 per cent.

In developed countries, the peak of obesity rates is moving to younger ages.

The rise in global obesity rates over the last three decades has been substantial and widespread, presenting a major public health epidemic in both the developed and the developing world. Health risks such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, osteoarthritis, and chronic kidney disease increase when a person's BMI exceeds 23. In 2010, overweight and obesity were estimated to have caused 3.4 million deaths, most of which were from cardiovascular causes.

There is, perhaps, a little ray of hope from the report. The study found that in developed countries, increases in obesity that began in the 1980s and accelerated from 1992 to 2002 have slowed since 2006.

1389 HKSAR Name of the Day

Coco Lai, Sha Tin, Hong Kong (SCMP letters 5 June 2012)

see 0449, 1174 and 1189 HKSAR Names of the Day

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Name Category: Rare; Brand-based; Somewhat common in Hong Kong 

1388 HKSAR Name of the Day

Janny Hui, owner, Janny Hui’s Clay Studio (pottery workshop), 6E Yan’s Tower, 27 Wong Chuk Hang Rd, Aberdeen, Hong Kong

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Name Category: Creation; Substitution