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HUNG FOOK TONG X FSES X Home Care Apparel “Shopping Social in the Year of Tiger”

Sending Warmth and Blessings to Cancer and Chronically ill Patients

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 9 February 2022 – Giving red packet or “lai see” in the Lunar New Year is a tradition for sending blessings and good luck from the older generations to the younger. With the blessings received, have you considered using a portion to support social enterprises (“SEs”) and fulfil your social responsibilities simply by practicing ethical consumption? Now you can do so by purchasing selected adaptive clothing on TECM MALL and the social enterprise will send the adaptive clothing as a Chinese New Year gift on your behalf to the underprivileged groups in Hong Kong.

This Lunar New Year, Fullness Social Enterprises Society (FSES) has prepared a double surprise for you! FSES is now partnering with local healthy food and beverage company “Hung Fook Tong” and social enterprise “Home Care Apparel” (“FPP HCA”) to launch a Lunar New Year Charity campaign “Shopping Social in the Year of Tiger” by encouraging the public to make purchase on TECM MALL and donate tailored made adaptive clothing to cancer and chronically ill patients. Additionally, attractive shopping discounts are launched on the TECM MALL so everyone can support various local social enterprises at their fingertips.

 

Shopping Social in the Year of Tiger

From January 15th to February 28th, you can purchase adaptive clothing to donate to cancer and chronically ill patients on TECM MALL’s “Buy to Donate” page, and as a token of appreciation, you will receive a New Year goodie bag specially packed with Hung Fook Tong’s sponsored products (including 2 homemade soup packs and 2 bottles of healthy drinks). Better yet, every goodie bag you receive means another corresponding goodie bag will be sent to cancer and chronically ill patients, thus the patients will receive both the adaptive clothing and the goodie bag! Visit TECM MALL to shop social to send warmth and blessing to the needy now!

Hung Fook Tong New Year Goodie Bag

Each includes 2 homemade soup packs and 2 bottles of healthy drinks.

* Limited quantity is available on a first-come-first-served basis until stock lasts. Promotion is subject to terms and conditions.

 

Live with Dignity and Pride with Tailored Made Adaptive Clothing

Due to the changing physical conditions of patients, whom may have difficulty moving their arms or body, or have other physical support needs, their normal clothing may no longer be suitable for them. Many caretakers feel challenging whenever they needed to help chronically ill patients to get change. Former social worker Ms. Swing Lau, founder of social enterprise – “Home Care Apparel” (“FPP HCA”), felt a strong need to help the patients to live more comfortably and with dignity. Based on her previous experience from serving in nursing homes, Lau founded FPP HCA and introduced the concept of adaptive clothing to the city. She designs personalized clothing according to the needs of her patients including urine bag pants, jumpsuits, anti-strip pants, etc. She strives to smoothen the caring process as well as to minimize possible injuries for both the patients and the caregivers.

 

In the past, FPP HCA tailor-designed clothing for an old man who had dementia, poor self-caring ability, and foot pain problems. With one specially made pants, the client’s life and relationship with his caregiver was improved.

 

For more details on this case:https://www.fpphca.com/2021/01/%e6%b8%ac%e8%a9%a6%e6%a8%99%e9%a1%8c/

Urine Bag Pants

The design allows user’s urine bag to be hidden inside the trousers, making it more comfortable for users to wear it and permits them to go out without physical obstacles.


Understanding Patient Experience: A Workshop for Rehabilitation and Nursing

To help the public to better understand rehabilitation care, Home Care Apparel and Hung Fook Tong’s new café concept store “HFT Life” will jointly host a “ Introductory Workshop for Rehabilitation and Nursing “, where Ms. Swing Lau, the founder of Home Care Apparel, will introduce a variety of adaptive clothing as well as the proper methods of using them. In addition, participants can try on the specially designed adaptive clothing and experience their significance for cancer and chronically ill patients. Participants will also receive HFT Life shopping coupons after the workshop. Stay tuned for the event date and registration details!

“Home Care Apparel” not only focuses on the appearance and comfortability of the fabric, but also concerns on the needs of their users. Firstly, it increases the users’ self-care ability. Secondly, it reduces the burden of the caregivers, thereby helping users to develop self-confidence as they live their life with dignity and pride.

 

TECM MALL Exclusive: Shopping for Lunar New Year Products from Local Social Enterprises

Aside from the “Shopping Social in the Year of Tiger” charity campaign, TECM MALL has also launched a series of Lunar New Year promotion for everyone to practice their ethical consumption at the one stop e-platform with over 200+ products from local social enterprises. Limited-time offers on four consecutive Wednesdays in January will be offered. For more details, please visit the TECM MALL website: www.tecmmall.hk.

Recommended Lunar New Year Products

【FairTaste – Joyous Cashew Brittle & Tea Gift Box ($168)】

The gift box includes popular organic cashew brittle made from large and sweet Indian organic cashew nuts and Paraguay organic raw cane sugar. The cashew brittle is unforgettably crispy and delicious; besides they are produced by low-income women in the Kwai Tsing district.

 

【Joyous Kitchen – New Years’ Delights ($108 each) 】

This year, Joyous Kitchen has introduced a total of 4 Lunar New Year’s Delights, of which the taro cake is added with Chinese preserved sausage. If it is steamed, you will soon smell a rich aroma of the sausage; if fried, the cake will be crispy with a golden layer. Joyous Kitchen will donate all the net proceeds to support free meals distribution and poverty alleviation work!

About FSES

Contribute Profession, Promote Innovation, Advance the City Fullness Social Enterprises Society Limited (FSES) (www.fses.hk) is an NGO established in 2011 by a group of knowledge volunteers to support social innovation and social entrepreneurship development in Hong Kong for societal betterment. FSES works to create practical knowledge to social enterprises through coaching, training, education, applied research, and publishing. The goal is to develop a structured Social Entrepreneurship Body of Knowledge (SE-BoK) for Hong Kong. The knowledge volunteer team has over 100 members equipped with academic, social and business expertise, steering projects in five major sectors including social, consumer, commercial, education, and church.

Website:www.fses.hk

About Hung Fook Tong

Established in 1986 and listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited in July 2014, Hung Fook Tong is a food and beverage enterprise with a modern wellness concept, offering a wide range of additive-free healthy food products for 35 years. Currently, it has more than 120 self-operated retail shops in Hong Kong, thus it is the top retailer of Chinese herbal products in Hong Kong in terms of the number of retail shops. To capture the growth potential of the huge consumer market in Mainland China, the Group’s long shelf-life drinks and fresh drinks are sold to third party retailers and distributors covering a number of cities in Mainland China.

Website:www.hungfooktong.com

About Home Care Apparel

Home Care Apparel Company Limited is a social enterprise which designs, manufactures, and sells adaptive clothing and related products locally. The founders, executives, product consultants, and sewing masters are all experienced in residential care as well as clothing making. The team are also familiarized with the rehabilitation and nursing related knowledge, especially in the production of adaptive clothing.

Website:https://www.fpphca.com

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

FWD upgrades vPrime VHIS medical flexi-plan

Enhancing benefits limits and deductible options, increasing value for money with more comprehensive coverage

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 9 February 2022 – FWD Insurance (“FWD”) first introduced vPrime Medical Plan (“vPrime”, Certification Number: F00045), a flexi plan under the Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme (“VHIS”), in 2020. The plan has become increasingly popular in the local market with its innovative features, accounting for almost 30% of VHIS product sales under FWD’s life insurance business*. FWD announces today it upgraded vPrime with annual and lifetime benefit limits increased to HK$10 million and HK$60 million, respectively. Additionally, two more deductible options have been added to the existing four options (please refer to Table 1 below).  Through the enhancements, FWD realises its commitment to providing “better coverage, more comprehensive protection”, allowing customers to enjoy higher levels of health protection with more flexible premium options to suit their financial situation.

Realising its commitment to “better coverage, more comprehensive protection”, FWD Insurance has upgraded its vPrime medical plan. Through a short video series ‘FWD Troubleshooter’, actor Johnny Hui tells his stories of helping his clients, actress Florica Lin and actor Expert Dickson, to solve their hair and health problems as a hair master and health insurance expert.

 

FWD recently conducted a survey1 to better understand consumer behaviour in buying health insurance. Results showed that the key concerns were around the comprehensiveness of coverage (39%), premium levels (27%), and benefit limits (14%). In addition, customers found it challenging and confusing to choose among a wide range of medical insurance plans in the market.

 

Kelvin Yu, Chief Product Officer of FWD Hong Kong & Macau, explained, “Since the launch of our first VHIS product, we’ve been aiming to provide sustainable, flexible, and comprehensive health protection for customers with different needs. In light of technological advancements, an aging population, and imbalanced supply and demand of public and private hospitals, we expect medical costs to keep rising. By raising the annual and lifetime benefit limits of vPrime, we want to better equip customers and their families for potential medical inflation. For customers who already have individual or employer’s group medical insurance, the new deductible options of vPrime can offer them even more flexible and affordable means to enhance their medical protection and bridge the protection gap when people change jobs or retire.”

Lifetime benefit limit of vPrime increases up to HK$60 million

FWD’s survey revealed around 70% of respondents who have at least one medical insurance policy find that their policies have itemised medical expenses with claimable sub-limits in place, while 20% of the respondents don’t know whether their policies have such limitation. The finding suggests that a considerable portion of the public aren’t familiar with their medical protection plans. This could be due to losing track of insurance policy details over time, resulting in mismatch between expected coverage and claimable amounts.

 

vPrime provides full coverage2 on medical expenses for hospitalisation and surgery without itemised sub-limits, with annual and lifetime benefit limits raised to HK$10 million and HK$60 million respectively.

 

Additional deductible options with market-first3 crises deductible waiver

In addition to the four existing annual deductible options, vPrime has improved flexibility with two new deductible options of HK$100,000 and HK$250,000 (please refer to Table 1 below). These options are particularly suitable for customers who have individual insurance plans and/or are covered by their employers’ (or their family members’ employers’) group medical insurance to enhance their existing protection with affordable associated premiums. The deductibles are waived for treatments on 16 designated crises, including the three major diseases in Hong Kong – cancer, heart attack, and stroke – enabling customers to focus on treatment and recovery.

 

Daily premium as low as HK$6.84 for HK$60 million lifetime benefit limit

Nearly 70% of the survey respondents are willing to spend more than HK$300 every month on medical insurance, with an average distribution ranging from HK$300 to more than HK$1,000. The range indicates that customers have different medical priorities. With the additional deductible options, vPrime customers can enjoy high levels of medical protection of up to HK$60 million lifetime benefit limit and a suite of additional rehabilitation services5 at a daily premium as low as HK$6.84.

 

 

* The sales performance is in terms of both annualised premium equivalent (APE) and number of policies sold. 

1 This survey was conducted by FWD through a market research company, InSites Consulting. A total of 762 respondents aged 25-60 were interviewed through an online questionnaire in mid-January 2022 to investigate consumer behaviour in purchasing health insurance.

2 Full cover mean no itemised benefit sublimit and is subject to the annual benefit limit and the lifetime benefit limit. Full cover applies to selected benefit items only.

3 This is the first in the VHIS market as of 24 January 2022, compared with other certified VHIS products provided by major insurers in Hong Kong.

4 The standard premium refers to the premium before discount, and it’s the calculation of the “vPrime Medical Plan” premium for a  24-year-old (attained age) with HK100,000 deductible in annual premium mode. The standard premium is non-guaranteed. The above premium does not include the premium levy.

5 This benefit/service is optional and does not form part of the Terms and Benefits of vPrime Medical Plan. You have the right to opt-out from this benefit/service. Please inform FWD in writing if you

do not want to receive this free additional benefit/service.

6 Congenital condition  is only covered for a condition which has manifested or been diagnosed after the age of 8 (attained age) of the Insured Person.

7 FWD shall guarantee the Renewal at each policy anniversary up to the Age of 100 (attained age) of the Insured Person. As long as FWD maintains the registration as a VHIS provider, FWD guarantees that the Terms and Benefits will not be less favourable than the latest version of the Standard Plan Terms and Benefits published by the Government at the time of Renewal. FWD reserves the right to revise the Terms and Benefits, subject to the prior approval and re-certification by the Government, upon Renewal by giving a 30-day advance notice.

 

The vPrime Medical Plan (Certification Number: F00045) is underwritten by FWD Life Insurance Company (Bermuda) Limited (incorporated in Bermuda with limited liability) (VHIS provider registration number 00036). The above information does not contain the full terms. For detailed terms and conditions, benefits of the policy, major exclusions and key product risks of vPrime Medical Plan, please refer to its product brochure and policy provisions downloadable at https://www.fwd.com.hk/en/protect/health-accident/vhis/vprime/. The premiums mentioned do not include levy which is collected by the Insurance Authority.

 

Appendix 1

 

Other vPrime Medical Plan product features:

1.       Covers unknown Pre-existing Conditions6 starting from the 31st day of the first policy year

2.       Comes with a suite of extra benefits and rehabilitation support5 to help insured customers regain health. It brings extra care to stroke survivors by covering a series of stroke-related treatments and recovery services, including consultations, medical treatments prescribed by specialists and Chinese medicine practitioners, as well as reimbursement for home facility enhancements prescribed by occupational therapists.

3.       If no claim is made for more than two consecutive policy years, a no claim premium discount of up to 15% will automatically be applied to the next renewal premium. For customers who also have policies with their specific relatives as the insured persons, they may be entitled to the market-first3 extra no claim premium discount of up to 10% (see Tables 2.1 and 2.2) with their vPrime policies. Total individual and extra no claim premium discount can be as much as 25%.

Table 1 – vPrime Medical Plan’s premium comparison among available deductible options4 (based on an insured person of age 24 (attained age) in annual premium mode)

Annual Deductibles (HK$)

Certification Numbers

Annual Premium (HK$)

$ 0

F00045-01-000-03

$ 8,349

$ 16,000

F00045-02-000-03

$ 4,363

$ 25,000

F00045-03-000-03

$ 3,778

$ 50,000

F00045-04-000-03

$ 2,884

$ 100,000

F00045-05-000-01

$ 2,480

$ 250,000

F00045-06-000-01

$ 1,961

 

Table 2.1 – vPrime Medical Plan’s individual no claim premium discount

If the customer has not made any claim for two or more consecutive policy years, vPrime will offer him/her a discount of up to 15% on his/her next renewal6 premium as follows:

No claim period immediately prior to policy’s renewal7

No claim discount on renewal7 premium

2 consecutive policy years

10%

3 consecutive policy years

10%

4 consecutive policy years

10%

5 consecutive policy years or above

15%

Table 2.2 – vPrime Medical Plan’s extra no claim premium discount

For policies held by a customer with him/herself and his/her specified relatives as the insured persons, vPrime offers extra no claim discounts on renewal7 premiums if the customer and his/her specified relatives have not made any claim for two or more consecutive policy years with details as follows:

Number of in-force vPrime Medical Plan policies issued to the customer (which are also eligible for the individual no claim discount in Table 2.1 on the policy renewal7 date)

Extra no claim discount for the eligible policies

(Discount rate on renewal7 premium)

2 or 3

2.5%

4

5%

5 or above

10%

About FWD Hong Kong & Macau

FWD Hong Kong & Macau are part of the FWD Group, a pan-Asian life insurance business with more than 10 million customers across 10 markets, including some of the fastest growing insurance markets in the world.

FWD Hong Kong has been assigned strong financial ratings by international agencies. It offers life and medical insurance, employee benefits, and financial planning. FWD Macau provides a suite of life and medical insurance.

FWD is focused on making the insurance journey simpler, faster and smoother, with innovative propositions and easy-to-understand products, supported by digital technology. Through this customer-led approach, FWD is committed to changing the way people feel about insurance.

For more information about FWD Hong Kong & Macau please visit WWW.FWD.COM.HK and WWW.FWD.COM.MO.

#FWD

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Real-time Social Networking Company TIYA Establishes Global Headquarters In Singapore

  • First international office to expand presence globally
  • TIYA plans to make the app’s latest version available globally, including Singapore by Q1 2022
  • TIYA looks to expand staff strength, with a fully operational team in Singapore
  • Collaboration in place with NTU Singapore’s Career & Attachment Office to offer graduate employment opportunities

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 9 February 2022 – TIYA, a real-time social networking platform backed by US-listed company LIZHI INC. (NASDAQ: LIZI), announced the official opening of its global headquarters in Singapore today. The all-new global hub will accelerate the brand’s official launch into Singapore, with the audio-based app made available for download, as early as the first quarter of 2022. 

The 10,000 square foot TIYA space located in the centre of the Central Business District, represents a growing strategic investment for the brand, since making its debut in the USA, in 2020. With key in-app features that enable ‘live’ social networking, TIYA offers users the experience of real-time, off-the-cuff conversations, by leveraging on the emotion of the human voice. 

In tandem with its expansion strategy, the new space emulates its contemporary vision of ‘design with purpose’. Having performed an in-depth geographical assessment, TIYA narrowed in on Singapore as the chosen city for its global headquarters, with the aim of reflecting their commitment to innovate and invest in the region. TIYA has since built a creative space, designed on an overarching concept of promoting collaboration and community as part of their on-going mission and vision for the company. 

Located at Mapletree Anson, alongside other large corporations such as Yahoo and Goldman Sachs, the flagship office will serve as an ode to the brand’s instantly recognizable aesthetic. The new headquarters will be home to in-house functions including departments such as Big Data, Human Resource, User Research, Administration and Operation, that will support TIYA’s technology platform and product development plans. TIYA is also looking to expand its staff strength, with a fully operational team in Singapore by the end of 2022, as it looks to progressively launch its latest version of the app around the world.

TIYA also plans to amplify its hiring with a graduate employment programme and has established its inaugural talent partnership with the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore)’s Career & Attachment Office.The programme will be the first of many future collaborations, as TIYA looks to offer students invaluable career opportunities with the brand. 

Jinnan (Marco) Lai, Chairman of TIYA, commented “We are very excited to be establishing a permanent presence in Singapore, as it is an essential milestone that is aligned to our global geographical expansion strategy. Our audio-based ecosystem will reinvent the social networking norms and will revolutionise the way communities and interest groups interact. We are confident that with the introduction of TIYA in Singapore and with our local team of world class talents, we will be able to achieve greater success in the region.”

“At TIYA, we strongly believe in the importance of cultivating young talent and with our new home in Singapore, there will certainly be many career opportunities offered to fresh graduates, who will in turn fuel TIYA’s continuous innovation and progression,” he added.

Prof Tan Ooi Kiang, Deputy Provost (Education) of NTU Singapore, said “The University is always looking to establish close partnerships with top industry players, such as TIYA, to meet their talent needs. This also gives our graduates more opportunities for internship and industry experience, which expand their horizons and career prospects. We look forward to fostering a stronger talent partnership with TIYA in the future.”

 

Currently, TIYA App has had nearly 20 million downloads worldwide, the latest version of the app will also be launched globally in Q1 2022.

For more images, please refer here. For more information, please visit https://www.tiya.com.

About TIYA

Founded in 2019, TIYA is a real-time social networking company, backed by a US-listed company, LIZHI INC. (NASDAQ:LIZI). Launched in the US market in 2020, the TIYA App provides dynamic and interactive experiences to connect friends and users globally. Featuring a ‘live’ social networking experience, the TIYA App encourages real-time, relaxed and off-the-cuff conversations, by leveraging on the emotion of the human voice.

Headquartered in Singapore, the team consists of individuals from diverse backgrounds that unite in a shared vision, and are from all over the world including Singapore, the United States, China and Japan.

For more information, please check out https://www.tiya.com or follow @tiyausa on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

#TIYA

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

HAF Picks 28 In-Development Projects and 15 Work-in-Progress Projects, Runs Online for The Third Year

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 9 February 2022 – The Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum has shortlisted 28 in-development projects for its 20th anniversary edition (HAF20), which will run online for the third consecutive year from 14 to 16 March in conjunction with the 26th Hong Kong FILMART. 

The projects, selected from 222 submissions from 38 countries and regions, include eight from Hong Kong, 12 debut features, as well as projects from such renowned filmmakers and producers as HUANG Ji, Jun LI, MARIKO Tetsuya, Ida PANAHANDEH, LIM Lung Yin, TSANG Tsui-shan, Michael J. WERNER, Fruit CHAN, Nonzee NIMIBUTR, YANG Chao, DING Yuin-shan, and Jane ZHENG.

“Unfortunately, we won’t have the opportunity to celebrate our 20th anniversary by hosting our usual in-person event due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions,” HKIFF Industry Director Jacob WONG said.  “Nevertheless, based on experience gained from the last two years, we will strive to improve our online booking and meeting system to make it a breeze for all participants.”

Some of the selected HAF20’s in-development projects (IDP) are as follows:

Hong Kong spotlight

HAF20 spotlights eight Hong Kong in-development projects, the most in recent years.  They include I Might Write About Us, a personal LGBTQ+ drama by Jun LI (Drifting, winner of Best Adapted Screenplay at Golden Horse Awards 2021); High Noon, a drama about a cop who unearths the brutal past behind a recent robbery, directed by award-winning film editor WONG Hoi and produced by Michael J. WERNER; and Smashing Frank, a dark comedy about four millennials who rob the rich, by Trevor CHOI, director of a local popular YouTube channel 16:9, with Fruit CHAN attached as producer.

New talent showcase

In line with its continuing support for new talent, HAF20 presents 12 debut in-development projects, many by young filmmakers who have cut their teeth by making short films.   Among them, DUONG Dieu Linh (A Trip To Heaven, winner at Locarno 2020), follows a middle-aged Vietnamese housewife who voodoos her husband back into love in Don’t Cry, Butterfly; In Summer Breeze, HO Yuk-fai (Eternal Sunshine, winner of Best Director at Hong Kong’s Fresh Wave 2020), creates a eulogy to Hong Kong’s young generation through the bittersweet lives of three graduates; Moxie PENG (one of the six directors of “Disney Launchpad: Shorts Incubator” programme) tracks the bleak reality of a family of four in social drama Tender Is The Night, which Jane ZHENG of The Farewell fame produces.

Both WU Lang‘s Absence and ZHANG Yudi‘s The Midsummer’s Voice are based on short films of the same name, which competed in Cannes and Palm Springs International ShortFest, respectively.

Award-winning filmmakers

Several award-winning directors are bringing their latest projects to HAF20.  MARIKO Tetsuya (Destruction Babies, winner of Best Emerging Director at Locarno 2016) examines what a father will do to get his son back in Missing.  Ida PANAHANDEH (Nahid, winner of a promising future prize at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard 2015) focuses on a gypsy woman temporarily released from prison who is suddenly revered as a saint in Passion.

Meanwhile, XU Zhenhao (Give Me A Ride, Firebird Award for Best Director of Young Cinema Competition at HKIFF43) describes an encounter between a man who accrues huge debts and a bar girl, both of whom are lost in the whirlpool of money and desire in The Millionth Lipstick, produced by YANG Chao.  Jill LI (Lost Course, Best Documentary winner at Golden Horse Awards 2020) makes her narrative feature debut in The Returning Tide, which explores the world of two elderly men as they embark on a final journey to their hometown in Chaozhou.

Impact of COVID-19

The pandemic has found its way into everyday life, bringing filmmakers new experiences and inspirations.  Some of HAF20’s IDP projects are conceived and set in the unique pandemic world, including A Woman Builds by HUANG Ji (Egg and Stone, winner of Rotterdam Tiger Award 2012), which sees a woman return to her hometown to build a house when the pandemic keeps her husband and her daughter from travelling home; and Chifan by TSANG Tsui-shan (Big Blue Lake, winner of Best New Director at Hong Kong Film Awards 2012), which follows a Belgium-born Chinese woman who is rendered an outsider in the eyes of the locals in Antwerp when the pandemic strikes.

Some filmmakers turn to magical realism amid the pandemic, blurring the line between fantasy and reality in their stories.  Projects which carry time travel or supernatural elements include Insectum, by Bhaskar HAZARIKA (The River of Fables, winner at Indian National Film Award 2016), which focuses on an Indian young man who descends into an insect-like state; Colleen KWOK‘s The Stars The Sun The Moon sees two primary schoolmates travel 20 years into the future where one of them has died, and the first-ever Thai-Muslim horror The Cursed Land directed by Panu AREE and Kong RITHDEE and produced by Nonzee NIMIBUTR.

Meanwhile, Malice, by LIM Lung-Ying (Ohong Village, winner of Cipputi Award at Torino 2019), follows three men onboard a boat searching for the almost extinct giant swordfish, and HUANG Ningwei‘s Not Found is a road movie in which a struggling writer meets three characters from his unfinished script.

The Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum completes the line-up for its 20th anniversary edition (HAF20) with the announcement of 15 projects shortlisted for the Work-in-Progress (WIP) section, including nine debut features and works by Stanley KWAN, Winnie TSANG, WONG Lina, Matan YAIR, and YANG Heng.

There were 84 WIP submissions from 23 countries and regions this year.  Commenting on the selections, which have become an increasingly significant part of HAF since their introduction in 2017, HKIFF Industry Director Jacob WONG said he was particularly pleased to present BORROWED TIME and The Sunny Side of the Street.

“They are the first projects to have progressed through the HAF eco-system, from Film Lab to In-development projects, and now onto WIP,” WONG said.  “We set out to provide coordinated support across various stages of independent filmmaking, covering every aspect from early-stage project development, financing to post-production and promotion.  It is very satisfying to witness some of these projects coming through.”

BORROWED TIME and The Sunny Side of the Street both won script consultation service awards at HAF Film Lab in 2019.  They participated in HAF’s In-development projects section the following year and are currently in post-production. 

BORROWED TIME, which Stanley KWAN produces for first-time Chinese director CAI Jie, is about a daughter who sets out from Guangzhou to Hong Kong to look for her long-missing father, played by Tai Bo (Suk Suk).  In The Sunny Side of the Street, Anthony WONG (Still Human) plays a taxi driver who forms an unusual father-son relationship with a Hong Kong-born Pakistani child refugee.  Winnie TSANG produces for Hong Kong-based Malaysian filmmaker LAU Kok Rui, making his directorial debut.

Other WIP highlights include Silent Ghosts by YANG Heng (Ghost in the Mountains, Berlinale Panorama 2017), in which a tourist follows a mysterious woman to a small town where he encounters men with different memories of her.  The recipient of an excellent screenplay award and production funding from Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture, LEE Yi-Fang‘s debut feature Little Blue is an intimate portrayal of female erotic desire.

Bad Rabbit Pictures, the Beijing-based production company founded by cinematographer CAO Yu and actress-producer YAO Chen, has two projects on the shortlist.  WONG Lina, whose A First Farewell won the Firebird Award winner of HKIFF’s first-ever Chinese-language Young Cinema competition in 2019, returns with Village“Senet”, a poetic musical about a boy from a remote village in Xinjiang’s Taklamakan Desert.  QIAO Sixue‘s debut feature, The Cord of Life, explores the notion of hometown through a nomadic electronic musician who brings his Alzheimer-stricken mother back to the Mongolian grassland for her last days.

While Chinese-language projects dominate the field, this year’s WIP line-up still features an Israel-Italy co-production.  A Room of Its Own by Matan YAIR (Scaffolding, Best Film at Jerusalem Film Festival 2017) is about a 17-year-old teenager searching for his path in the world when his mother moves into his room after his father has moved out of the house.  Also making the shortlist are two projects from India: documentarian Rajesh S. JALA‘s first narrative feature, The Spark, is about a victim of violence who creates havoc in the ancient city of Banaras.  He is joined by first-time director Syed Maisam Ali SHAH, whose In Retreat follows a marginalised character who returns home in a dream-like journey.

WIP Open Pitch (Hong Kong Time)

Date: 14 March 2022

Time: 15:30 – 17:30

All accredited FILMART and HAF guests are welcome to attend the online WIP Open Pitch through this link: www.hktdc.com/hkfilmart.  Please refer to Appendix for details on all shortlisted WIP projects.

WIP began in 2017 as a dedicated platform for later-stage projects seeking completion funding, post-production partners, distributors and sales agents, and film festival support, extending the services of the main HAF programme, which is for projects in the pre-production or development stages. 

WIP projects have performed remarkably in film festivals internationally.  As recent as Venice in 2021, Arsalan AMIRI‘s Zalava won the International Film Critics’ Week grand prize, with Kavich NEANG‘s White Building winning the Orizzonti Best Actor award.  GAO Linyang‘s To Love Again and LEI Lei‘s animated Silver Bird And Rainbow Fish both competed in Rotterdam’s Tiger Competition this year, with To Love Again winning the Special Jury and FIPRESCI awards.  Ananta THITANAT‘s documentary Scala will premiere at Berlinale Forum.

Guest Accreditation for HAF

Guest registration for HAF20 is now open to investors, festival programmers and other industry professionals through https://industry.hkiff.org.hk/guest-registration. Accredited guests will receive a complimentary code for registration and schedule one-on-one online meetings with HAF filmmakers to discuss their projects. 

For more up-to-date information about HAF, please visit our official website at https://industry.hkiff.org.hk or our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/hkiffindustry/.

About Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF)

The Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) is widely recognised as Asia’s premier film financing platform. HAF brings Asian filmmakers with upcoming film projects to Hong Kong for co-production ventures with top film financiers, producers, bankers, funding bodies, sales agents, distributors, and buyers. Around 30 in-development projects (IDP) and ten work-in-progress projects (WIP) are selected annually to participate in the three-day event attended by more than 1,000 filmmakers and financiers from over 35 countries and regions. HAF has the added advantage of being held in conjunction with Hong Kong FILMART, Asia’s largest film market, attracting over 8,000 professionals.

HAF enhances the prospects of the participating projects through close collaborations with international organisations such as iQIYI (Mainland China), Fox International Productions (Greater China), Cinemart (the Netherlands), Asian Project Market (South Korea), Golden Horse Film Project Promotion (Taiwan), MIA (Italy) and more. Cash and in-kind awards to the value of around US$250,000 are made with support from Create Hong Kong and Film Development Fund, among others.

#HAF


About Hong Kong International Film Festival Industry Office (HKIFF Industry)

To promote and support the film industry development more effectively, The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society restructured its industry services and set up Hong Kong International Film Festival Industry Office (HKIFF Industry) in 2021. From polishing up projects with a better appeal (HAF Film Lab) to getting them off the ground and finding post-production assistance (Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF)), to exposing the projects in major international platforms (HAF Goes to Cannes), and on to planning the career of finished films (HKIFF Collection), HKIFF Industry offers independent filmmakers comprehensive services and windows to the world.

About The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society Limited (HKIFFS)

The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society Limited (HKIFFS) is a charitable, non-profit and non-governmental organisation dedicated to discovering and promoting creativity in film’s art and culture. It organises the annual Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) and the Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF). Another highlight is the Cine Fan Summer International Film Festival (SummerIFF) held every August. In 2013, HKIFF introduced the repertory HKIFF Cine Fan Programme to enrich and deepen Hong Kong moviegoers’ experience through a monthly programme of contemporary, retrospective, and thematic showcases. In 2021, HKIFFS restructured its film industry services and set up HKIFF Industry to promote and support non-mainstream film industry development through co-production and festival strategies and overseas distribution (HKIFF Collection).

Official website: www.hkiff.org.hk

#HAF #HKIFF #HKIFFS

Compliance Automation Platform for SaaS Companies, Sprinto, Raises $10M Led by Elevation Capital, participation from Accel and Blume Ventures

To Be Used for Team Expansion, R&D; Opening First U.S. Office

BANGALORE, INDIA – News Direct – 9 February 2022 – Sprinto, the compliance automation platform for fast growing SaaS companies, has raised $10M in Series A funding led by Elevation Capital with participation from Accel, and Blume Ventures. The funding will be used for team expansion across key functions and R&D to ensure long-term growth. Earlier, in January 2020, the company had raised $1.5M in seed funding from Blume Ventures. Reflecting this expansion, Sprinto will open its first North American office, in Utah, by this quarter’s end and will ramp up North American hiring.

Publicly launched in mid-2021, Sprinto is a compliance automation platform that helps SaaS companies obtain compliances, such as SOC 2, ISO27001, GDPR, HIPAA etc., in a quick and hassle-free manner. Obtaining these compliances helps Sprinto customers close enterprise deals and pass vendor security assessments easily. It was co-founded by Girish Redekar and Raghuveer Kancherla, who have been colleagues for 15 years.

Developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), SOC 2 (Systems and Organizations Controls 2) is a set of compliance requirements for companies, especially service organizations, which use cloud-based storage for their customers’ data. It is based on five core Trust Services Criteria of security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy. SOC 2 audits have become essential in regulatory oversight, vendor management programs, internal governance, and risk management.

As enterprise SaaS continues to grow exponentially, businesses are increasingly relying on compliances like SOC 2 to get assurance that their SaaS vendors keep their data safe. And SaaS vendors need SOC 2 compliance to close high-ticket deals.

Currently, obtaining and maintaining SOC 2 compliance takes 300+ hours of work each year. Sprinto’s SaaS platform makes this process 10x faster. It helps clients create a real time monitoring system that provides visibility into the processes and policies governed by compliance checklists, tracks the status of these systems, and alerts relevant teams if a system is not operating within the required baseline limits or in case of any policy violations.


“As compliance with these standards, including SOC 2, is becoming a critical business need, most companies must rely on infosec consultants and auditors to get the necessary certifications,” explained Sprinto co-founder Girish Redekar. “With a consultant, companies would take around 3-4 months to be ready for SOC 2 assessment. Using Sprinto’s compliance automation platform, companies can complete the SOC 2 readiness assessment in just days. This levels the playing field, helping smaller companies lacking the resources of larger firms.”


Sprinto co-founder Raghuveer Kancherla added, “A decade ago, only large enterprises demanded SOC 2 compliances. With the changes mandated by the AICPA in 2018, all SaaS businesses, irrespective of size, need to be SOC 2 compliant and are required to collect SOC 2 reports from their critical vendors. Thus, being SOC2 compliant has become a revenue concern for SaaS businesses of all sizes. Recognizing this growing need, Sprinto aims to become the infosec OS of choice for SaaS service providers. It’s creating a new product category that’s fundamentally different from existing automation tools. Sprinto is focused on delivering outcomes, not just automation. This is ingrained into the team’s design, outlook, internal processes, and culture.”


“We’re very excited about partnering with Raghu and Girish as they build the future of compliance automation. Sprinto solves a critical business need in a growing market. It has created a world-class product which is already emerging as the compliance automation platform of choice for SaaS companies and generating tremendous customer acclaim,” said Deepak Gaur, Partner, Elevation Capital.

Since its website launch in June 2021, Sprinto has grown rapidly, doubling its ARR over the last 10 weeks alone. Despite competition from a few emerging U.S. companies, Sprinto is proving to be the compliance automation platform of choice. It’s already acquired 100’s of customers, including such enterprise-level accounts as HP and Hackerrank.

About Elevation Capital:

Elevation Capital is a leading venture capital firm which provides seed and early stage capital for emerging companies in India. Elevation Capital has been investing in India since 2002 and is currently investing out of its seventh pool of capital. The firm is led by Co-Managing Partners Ravi Adusumalli and Mukul Arora, along with three Managing Directors Mridul Arora, Deepak Gaur and Mayank Khanduja. The firm has invested in over 150 companies across Consumer Internet, SaaS, Fintech, D2C, Edtech, Healthtech and Web3/Crypto, and has offices in Bengaluru, Gurgaon and Salt Lake City.

#ElevationCapital

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Laos Records USD 1 Billion Trade Surplus in 2021

Laos sees trade surplus in 2021

Laos recorded a trade surplus of USD 1 billion in 2021, with the country’s overall imports and exports, excluding power exports, totaling USD 13 billion.

Colony Coworking Space Signs Largest Contract with Carsome to Build and Manage Carsome HQ

The biggest flexible workspace deal sets in the Malaysia’s coworking space industry

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Media OutReach – 9 February 2022 – Colony Coworking Space, Malaysia’s luxury coworking space provider has signed the largest coworking space deal with Carsome, Southeast Asia largest integrated car e-commerce platform at KYM Tower, Mutiara Damansara. The 6-year deal involves Carsome taking up 41,860 sqft of office space across 4 floors which will be designed, built and managed by Colony to house Carsome’s expanded headquarters.

“We’re honoured to be a trusted partner in Carsome’s journey of growth. Working with them behind the scenes to build out their offices, I’ve been able to witness what makes them who they are,” said Timothy Tiah, Executive Director of Colony.

Carsome Co-founder and Group CEO Eric Cheng said, “To keep up with our office needs and growing workforce, we’ve decided to extend our relationship with Colony to expand our existing headquarters. We appreciate the service and hospitality from Colony, who really helps us take good care of our team stationed here.”

The expansion comes after Carsome became Malaysia’s first technology unicorn after a swap-share deal with Catcha Group in 2021. In addition to this deal, Colony is also providing Carsome an option to further increase their workspace by 33% during this 6-year period.

Carsome has been one of Colony’s anchor tenants in Colony @ Mutiara Damansara since 2019 and has been growing rapidly within spaces managed by Colony.

If you’d like to find out more about Colony, or make a reservation or booking, please visit their official website at https://colony.work

About Colony

Colony is a luxury coworking space and serviced office provider based in the heart of Kuala Lumpur with plans and pricing curated to eliminate hefty set-up costs, maintenance hassle, and long-term rental contracts. Raved over for its chic and Instagram-worthy interior, the company aims to enable guests to focus on their life’s work and reach new heights while all else is taken care of. The company is backed by Oak Drive Ventures, Cornerstone Partners Group and family offices around the region.

Website – https://colony.work
Facebook – https://facebook.com/colony.work
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/colony.work/

#Colony

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Fosun Tourism delivered outstanding performance during the Chinese New Year Holiday, High-quality products lead new trends in ice, snow and island vacations

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 9 February 2022 – Fosun Tourism Group (“Fosun Tourism” or the “Group”, HKEX stock code: 1992), one of the world’s leading leisure-focused integrated tourism enterprises, is pleased to announce that during the 2022 Chinese New Year Holiday[1] – with  the overall recovery of the industry still weak due to the resurgence of COVID-19 and tighter preventive measures, the Group’s core businesses in China, including Atlantis Sanya, Club Med China Resorts and Thomas Cook lifestyle platform, have significantly surpassed their performance during the 2021 Chinese New Year[2], respectively, and have recorded outstanding results.

 

According to the Data Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China[3], in the seven-day Chinese New Year Holiday, there were in all 251 million domestic tourists in the country, down 2% year-on-year and 73.9% of the number in the pre-pandemic 2019 Chinese New Year Holiday. Domestic tourism revenue for the period amounted to RMB289,198 million, representing a 3.9% year-on-year decrease and 56.3% of the revenue for the comparable period pre-pandemic in 2019. Compared with the industry’s slow pace of recovery, the Group has led the sector in a number of performance indicators.

 

Although some Chinese destinations were affected by the rebound of the epidemic and resultant prevention and control measures during the 2022 CNY holiday, the renowned Club Med China Resorts registered an over 50% increase in Business Volume over the 2021 CNY holiday period. In addition, The Club Med Changbaishan Resort, which newly opened prior to the CNY at 23 January. Benefiting from the steady heating up of “snow and ice travel”, the seven-day average occupancy rate of Beidahu and Changbaishan Resorts was as high as 90%. Atlantis Sanya, which is located on a tropical island, also recorded an average seven-day occupancy rate of nearly 60%.

 

Atlantis Sanya has continued to be the preferred holiday destination for many tourists, owing to its high-quality product, growing word-of-mouth, upgraded IP content and superior geographical location. During the 2022 Chinese New Year Holiday, its Business Volume increased by 46.1% when compared with the 2021 Chinese New Year Holiday. The total number of visitors reached 183,000, representing a 28.4% increase when compared with the 2021 Chinese New Year Holiday. Its occupancy rate was 98.6% and average daily room rate was RMB5,135. To welcome the Chinese New Year, Atlantis Sanya held the “Chinese New Year Holiday Fair” between 15 January and 15 February. The Aquaventure Waterpark, which operates all year round, also held a Chinese New Year Holiday Night Carnival that presented such programs as street beating show, creative graffiti show, BOX acrobatics show, band performance and light show. What is more, The Lost Chambers presented the Chinese New Year Holiday, featuring exclusive mermaid underwater performances on a daily basis and the introduction of an “underwater treasure hunt” event; creating a powerful new year atmosphere on the island, backed by delicious food, a variety of entertainment programs as well as unique Chinese New Year island holiday experiences for customers.

 

Fosun Tourism has built a rich leisure and vacation ecosystem in Sanya, Hainan. Benefiting from the island’s tourism boom, the Albion Residence Haitang Bay Sanya operated by Albion, a professional destination operator under the Group, recorded a seven-day average occupancy rate of 97.9% during the 2022 Chinese New Year Holiday. During the Chinese New Year Holiday, the Group’s Fanxiu Performing upgraded its main series of performances at the Atlantis, enabling business volume to rise 74% when compared with the same period in 2021.

 

The Thomas Cook Lifestyle Platform (“TC China”) is a Group-owned one-stop scenario-based platform which focuses on leisure lifestyle products. As at the end of the Chinese New Year Holiday, the app recorded cumulatively about 2.58 million downloads. Relevant data showed the platform’s Business Volume grew by 107% during the 2022Chinese New Year Holiday against the same period in 2021. Among travel members, repurchase users accounted for 50.6% of memberships. The platform’s key customers mainly come from first-tier and new first-tier cities, with Shanghai, Beijing, Jiangsu and Sichuan constituting the top four sourcing markets. Sanya continued to rank first among the most popular destinations.

 

Benefiting from the rising popularity of short-haul trips, the Group’s Miniversity, which integrates education, amusement, retail and catering to give one-stop international play and learning experiences, has been widely welcomed by families with children. During the 2022 CNY holiday, its Business Volume increased by 208.0% when compared with the 2021 CNY holiday period. Also, the number of trainees and per capita expenditure have increased, rising by 118.3% and 41.1%, respectively, when compared with the same period in 2021 Chinese New Year Holiday.

 

Fosun Tourism has continued to seize opportunities from the winter sports economy and has expanded the presence of its snow and ice businesses. The spectacular Northland snow scenes in the Changbaishan International Ecotourism Demonstration Area is set to draw patronage of those attracted to ice-and-snow travel experiences. In addition, the main structure of our indoor ski domain of “Alpes Snow World”, a core project in Taicang Foliday Town, was topped out on 21 January, marking a step closer for the Group in completing a world-class benchmark indoor ski resort project. The resort is expected to be in full operation in 2023. On top of popular traditional ice-and-snow travel destinations, tourists from southern China will have more choices of skiing trip destinations to enjoy holidays with a difference. Ice-and-snow tourism is expected to continue to unleash consumption growth potential.

 

References:

[1]  Chinese New Year holiday in 2022: 31 January 2022 to 6 February 2022

[2] Chinese New Year holiday in 2021: 11 February 2021 to 17 February 2021

[3] The State Council of the People’s Republic of China: http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2022-02/08/content_5672479.htm#:~:text=%E6%8D%AE%E6%96%87%E5%8C%96%E5%92%8C%E6%97%85%E6%B8%B8%E9%83%A8,%E4%BA%BA%E4%BB%AC%E5%87%BA%E6%B8%B8%E7%9A%84%E7%83%AD%E9%97%A8%E9%80%89%E6%8B%A9%E3%80%82

 

About Fosun Tourism Group (Stock Code: 1992)

Fosun Tourism Group is one of the leading leisure-focused integrated tourism groups worldwide. It was listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in December 2018. In terms of revenue in 2019, it was the largest leisure tourism resorts group worldwide*. Currently, the Group operates three main businesses including resorts and hotels, tourist destinations, and services and solutions, across various tourism and leisure settings. Within its resorts and hotels business, the Group has sales and marketing operations in more than 40 countries and regions across six continents, and operates over 60 resorts. It also manages and operates Casa Cook and Cook’s Club hotels under a light-assets model. As for the tourism destinations segment, the Group develops and owns Sanya Atlantis and its own brand “FOLIDAY Town”. It is currently building Lijiang Foliday Town and Taicang Foliday Town. The Group owns Thomas Cook, the world’s oldest travel agency brand, and operates the online “Thomas Cook Lifestyle Platform” in China and an Online Travel Agency in the UK, forming an open internet platform based on vacation and lifestyle products.

Advocating the lifestyle of “Everyday is a FOLIDAY”, Fosun Tourism is committed to integrating tourism and leisure concepts into everyday life, and provides customers with tailor-made one-stop solutions through the FOLIDAY global ecosystem.

* Frost & Sullivan, an independent international research & consulting firm


#WinterOlympics #ski # ClubMed #travelrecovery #FosunTourismGroup

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.